One can criticize a work, create AU fanworks of it, or create an entirely original work. I would encourage everyone to write the story they want to read. Be the change you want to see in the world!

(^Unfortunately, many PoC in VC have unhappy endings. Keep in mind that she’s an evildoer in the book, which wasn’t explicitly stated in the movie. She murdered her clients.) 

I’m a straight white lady, but I can understand how frustrating it must be to see one of your favorite authors release novel after novel in one of your favorite series and feel left out of the story bc your race/gender/etc. is not represented (or it’s fetishized, or represented negatively). I can understand how it might feel like the author is saying that you don’t exist (or matter enough) to them to place someone like you on their stage. It may be that they would love to write about a character like you but don’t have the knowledge/confidence/etc. to do the character the justice they need. 

However, in my opinion, an author is not a vending machine. No matter how successful they are, an author is not required to cater to their readership. Sometimes they make an effort to do so, as in the case with J.K. Rowling supporting her readers in their headcanon of Hermione Granger as a PoC. (Another concise article on that here: X).

AR has always advised us to write the story we would want to read. Publishing houses turned her work down for years until she found one that chose her story for what it was. Knopf felt her story would sell really well so they took the gamble on it. A publishing house doesn’t want to invest huge sums of money in something unless they think the odds are very good that they’ll make a worthwhile profit. I would ask that the criticism be leveled more towards publishers than the authors of stories which lack representation.

In this day and age it is easier than ever before to self-publish and get your story out there. Anna Todd did that with her One Direction fan fiction, “After”, and here’s a quote from AR (w/ my underlines) about it bc I feel it’s relevant here: [X] 

In the same post, AR writes: “And in this great world in which we live, no writer is really in direct competition with any other writer. There’s room for us all. We can each try our personal best to write the books of our dreams and to become the writers of our dreams. And I’m really glad Fifty Shades came along. I am happy for E.L. James. And I’m happy for all the people who like “Fifty Shades.“ ”

“…The amazing thing about the writing world is that there has always been a lot of room in it, and a lot of heartbreak. We’re never directly in competition with some one who makes it big; there are so many avenues, so many spots on the bestseller lists of the world…… We’re really in competition with ourselves, driven to outdo ourselves. That’s how I see it anyway.”

So, write the story you want to see in the world! If it’s compelling, others will want to read it, too.

List of more VC PoC under the cut. 

(Not including PL characters bc there are so many! And some ppl do not recognize PL as canon. Go to wiki for those.)

David Talbot – he becomes Anglo-Indian

Davis – from the Fang Gang, not explicitly stated other than “black,” so African American, possibly.

Merrick Mayfair – mixed race 

Tarquin Blackwood (I think he is, can’t remember specifically), and other supporting characters in Blackwood Farm.

Akasha – from Egypt

Enkil – from Egypt

Khayman – from Egypt

Avicus – from Egypt

Azim – 

Himalayan? Maybe? He has bronze skin. That’s where his temple is. 

Benji – Arab, Bedouin 

Eudoxia – Can’t remember specifically, but I think she is a VoC. She is described as having white skin, but that may be due to her age (centuries old already when Marius meets her).