So the Geek Husband What Rules has been watching dungeon terrain tutorials on Youtube, and has decided to get back into that.  It helps that these tutorials are available and he’s no longer reinventing the wheel.  He was telling me about a conversation with a friend of ours who didn’t get why he’d want to do something so tedious.

The thing is, tedious is all in the eye of the beholder.

I knit, do needlepoint, cross-stitch and various other crafts.  All of these can be, and are, classified as tedious by someone.  I feel that way about cooking.  I hate cooking.  I’m pretty good at it, but it’s time I could spend doing literally anything else.  But I will knit an entire sweater, scarf or whatever without batting an eye.  Because I find it soothing.

I think that’s a lot of what DIY culture is about, it’s finding things you enjoy doing because you think the world would be a poorer place without it, or because you find it fun, or relaxing, or whatever.  If you’ve ever watched NCIS, picture Gibbs and his boat.

Honestly, anymore, it’s actually cheaper to buy sweaters off the rack than to knit them.  Yarn has gotten pretty stupidly expensive, particularly the softer, natural fibers.  I admit, I’m a sucker for alpaca. I can definitely buy a sweater for less than the yarn costs, and if you factor in labor then yeah, definitely cheaper to buy a sweater.  But you don’t knit sweaters to save money anymore, except if you do things like pick up sweaters at the thrift store and unravel them to knit something new.  You knit sweaters, blankets, etc… because you want to, because there is something pleasant in the doing of it, and because you can customize what you are doing to be exactly what you want.

So I can find patterns that are ALMOST what I want, and tweak them.  I can add a boatneck, lengthen or shorten the sleeves to 3/4, lengthen the hem, or shorten it.

And this is where I bring it around to sexist asshats.

See, the indie games scene is people DIY-ing the games they want to see.

And Gamergaters are people who walk up to me when I’m wearing a sweater I’ve knit to tell me they don’t like sweaters like that so no one should ever wear them.

Except that last part doesn’t ever happen.

It would be like me announcing that because I don’t like to cook, no one should cook.

But there exists and entire culture of dudes who are more than happy to tell people who want broader representation in games that they’re doing it wrong, and you can only have stubbly white guys who fight orcs, and female characters in chainmail bikinis who become functional prizes for their stubbly white dudes.

So, do not let the assholes get you down.  Keep making the things you want to make and doing the things you want to do.

And fuck anyone who tells you you’re wrong because you don’t do it like they do.

Am I saying those dudes are wrong?  No.  They’re just not who I want to game with.  And that’s ok.  What they’re wrong about is trying to force the rest of us to only game like that.  Or thinking they are the arbiters of what should be.

Seriously, if you want to play another Stubbles McWhiterson, action hero, knock yourself out.  Have a blast.  But shut the fuck up when I don’t.

This has been a public service announcement.

Thank you.

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