DISCUSSION : Stories with Male Protagonists

Community Episode Fan Community
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I’m not asking for help, or guidance.

I want to join in a conversation that talks about stories with ‘Male Protagonists’. Here are some base questions, but anything related to the topic works.

  1. Why do you think authors started adding the option to play as a male.
  2. Do you like to play as a male protagonist?
  3. Is a story truly different if the protagonist is male?
    3A. An argument is that even if you are a male, the character still acts ‘feminine’ thus is still technically a
    female lead story. This usually happens when the author just replaces the MCF with MCM without
    changing any dialog. (Main Character Female / Main Character Male)
  4. Should every story include an option to play as a male?
  5. What are the benefits / disadvantages to writing a story with a male option.
  6. Does Episode equally represent males in their own featured stories?
    6A. Should Episode write a Gem - Featured story inwhich you can play as male. (Or if they have one, write
    more?)

I started this particular topic, as it hit me. Episode wants to get more diverse, but ironically that does not include genders. I understand that this is a female dominated app, but at least giving the option to play as male opens up the story to even more readers.

My other Discussions
Stories with Male Protagonists
Stories within the Comedy Genre
Stories with Cliche Plots
Stories and the Fanmail that comes with them
Stories that NEVER leave the trending
Stories with Multiple Endings

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I agree, I’m not male myself, but it definitely would be interesting!

  1. I dunno.
  2. I never played as a male protagonist.
  3. I won’t really know.
    3A. Eh, it depends on how the author wrote it. They gotta atleast change SOME dialouge?
  4. It would be cool, but it would kind of take a lot of work, you can’t just replace it and that’s it…
  5. Maybe males act differently? But then again, everyone’s persona should be different.
  6. I don’t think so. Every story is basically “Wowee, a girl falls in love with a boy when she wasn’t supposed to, whoops.” (I’m not saying every story is like this, it’s just that it’s the girl who always falls in love [for ex.] and who’s always the protagonist.)
    6A. Yes! They should do it!
    I agree, many girls play episode, but I don’t see males that frequently… (I’ve seen some males, like Joseph Evans, etc.) but not that many.
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How frequently, if ever, do you see a story that gives the option to play as a male protagonist?

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There IS this story that plays both female and male characters. (Basically a love story between two of them, but both point of views at different times.) I forgot what it’s called, though. It’s really good.

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  1. Well, although the majority of people on Episode are female, males play too. By making male protagonists, stories become more inclusive and reach a wider audience.
  2. Sometimes I do, though I choose female if there is a option.
  3. It depends on the story. In some stories, the gender of the character affects their perspectives and how they view things. Most of the time, it really doesn’t.
  4. Definetly not. In some stories, a male lead is random or just odd.
  5. I suppose you include more diversity, but coding would definetly increase.
  6. Episode should write a story where your only option is to play as a male. That would balance out with all of their straight female only style.
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  1. I haven’t really seen any stories where you can pick your sex.

  2. I do like to play as a male protaganist-- mainly because such stories tend to be more unique.

  3. I can speak only for stories with only a male mc or alternating perspectives, but yes-- again, mainly because such stories tend to be more unique in the first place.

  4. No, not every story should include the option to be male. It would almost always be only a cosmetic change and not a truly different story.

  5. The disadvantages are that you can’t have your MC become pregnant with the bad boy, mafioso, billionaire teacher’s baby of course!!!
    The biggest disadvantage is probably that most Episode writer’s are female, and they may have a difficult time not writing a teenage girl in a man’s body.
    The advantage is that it offers a different perspective and could help force an author to think outside the box.

  6. No, Episode does not.
    Yes, their target audience is young women, but perhaps they could attract a wider audience by promoting more stories with male MCs and having some respectable ads that show that not everything on the app is a trashy romance.

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If you had to pitch a story that would interest males, what would you pitch?

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OH NO! Crap, that is a huge disadvantage! I wanted my boy prego, you know?

Your right, there are some stories in which your perspective changes between male and female, do you find these stories better then just the perspective of one person?

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Most stories I have read that did that for longer than “Oh, she’s the love of my life. So hawt. How did I get so lucky?” were pretty well written, and I do think the multiple perspectives did add to the stories.

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This seems like a fun discussion! :slight_smile:

  1. I think authors started including the chance to play as male because… you know, inclusion? The world is not made up of only white, CIS females. There’s so much variety and beauty in this world, why not show more of that within our stories?! :heart: In my first story, the main character is male and I honestly enjoy writing from that perspective myself.

  2. I do like to play as a male protagonist! As long as the protagonist is well written and fleshed out, I usually enjoy the story no matter what they are; whether they be male, female, white, POC, LGBTQ+, or straight! :smile:

  3. I guess it depends on the author and how they tend to view characters and things like gender roles and who they base that male character off of. Sometimes it doesn’t matter and sometimes it does. Do I think some of them have a portrayal that I’m not used to? Definitely! But just like women, men are very varied in their personalities and I would love to see different kinds instead of the usual tropes.

  4. No, I don’t think so. Each story has a type of main character for a reason I think. If it’s about a girl trying to make it in a man’s world, for instance, then I don’t think it’s necessary to have a male protagonist. If it feels organic and natural to be able to choose between each, then I think it’s fine. Don’t force something that doesn’t feel natural.

  5. Hmm… :thinking: Benefits would be insight from a different point of view, the ability to talk about things that aren’t often talked about such as mental, physical, and emotional abuse that men suffer through a well, things like their POV when a woman decides to have an abortion, and several other things that we never think about with a mainly female led app. Disadvantages would be things like pregnancy, women in male dominant jobs, and other things. I think that the pros and cons list evens out in my opinion.

  6. Not really? For the most part, the males are just love interests under an overused trope- they’re all the same. And more often than not, any of the good guys you find in their featured stories get crapped on by the FMC and everyone else in the story. It’s like they try to perpetuate that being good will get you nowhere and that you’ll only get the girl if you’re an asshole to her. I would LOVE to see a male lead featured story. Don’t know how good it would be, but it would be nice to see one.

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That’s awesome that your first story had a male protagonist. What made you choose that? Was it the plot, or just for the challenge etc?

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Haha, he was actually originally a character from one of the roleplays I have going on with my best friend! I was curious as to why he acted the way he did there so I decided to do his backstory for NaNo, did awful on NaNo so I tried my luck here on Episode instead! :laughing: He’s quite fascinating, and while irritating, I do love him! So I guess I chose him for the challenge for he is a challenge to write! Different than my usual male characters! And I definitely think my first MMC for a novel-eque type of story. In the end, I absolutely fell in love with his and his sister’s story and I’m determined to see it through because I feel like it needs to be told. I don’t think I’ve ever been scared to write from a male’s POV or write stories with male leads because I grew up in a male dominant house (These days it’s just my father, four brothers, and I) so I don’t get the same dread a lot of girls I know that write do when it comes to the opposite sex. I feel comfortable in my ability to write relateable male characters.

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  1. Because not all who play Episode are girls - gotta include the guys, y’know?

  2. Yes! Playing as a male character lets me get into the roleplaying aspect a bit more, maybe, play as myself. I am a trans male, after all, and putting myself in a female’s shoes is something I would rather not do.

  3. When you say it that way, not so much. I’m gonna be honest, I’ve never really played many stories that give me the choice to choose my gender. But, uh, the few I have, the male version doesn’t seem very feminine.

  4. No. I don’t think that writers should be forced to write male character MC’s if they don’t want to. But it would be nice.

  5. No benefits, I think, and no really disadvantages.

  6. That’s a funny question! NO. Episode Official’s portrayal of males in stories really pisses me off, actually, The bad boy love interests are assholes and the gay best friends are painfully stereotypical. I just want to see some good male writing from EO, and a story with a gender option! For God’s sake! Not your entire fanbase is made up of girls! Learn how to write a decent god damned male character and go from there.

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I think I will do the same question as above, if you had to pitch a male - protagonist story to episode, what would you pitch?

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It depends what kind of story they’re looking for! I have two stories in the works, currently.

One features a gay man as the main character. It explores his life with his foster family and time in high school, and touches on student-teacher relationships and how they aren’t normal, nor should they be romanticized. It also touches on sexual assault, I suppose, from a male point of view - something that needs to be done, because a lot of people even seem to think that men can’t be raped.

The other has a male main character in a medieval setting - it’s about two kingdoms, both with supernatural creatures, warring against each other. The male character is the king of one of those nations. It doesn’t particularly touch on any issues, it’s more for fun. And for a well-written medieval fantasy story.

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Seems interesting! The first one, specifically, caught my mind! Please let us know when you’re publishing it 'cause I wanna read them ASAP! (Nah, I’m just kidding, take your time. But seriously, I can’t wait to read them!)

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Why thank you! And I’ll be sure to do that! It may be a while, as I do have school and I’m working on a H & V contest entry, but I’m very excited for it, so I will be working on it as frequently as I can. c:

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  1. Because although they are in minority, there are still male players on the app, and this can be interesting for female readers as well, as it makes the story different.
  2. I would love to, but I can’t find many stories like this and most of them are poorly written.
  3. I think the female authors who are “too feminine” in real life and don’t have male friends either, shouldn’t write stories with male MC because they can’t portray them properly. The only thing that distinguishes a guy in many stories is that he finds all the girls “hot” and calls all his friends idiots. This is true for several guys in real life, but still there are many other things that build up their personality.
  4. No, because of the reasons I mentioned above. If a female author can portray a girl better, I think she should stick with that.
  5. Mostly answered in 1-2-3-4 :slightly_smiling_face:
  6. No, and I think they should, because that would maybe attract more male players.
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Why do you think authors started adding the option to play as a male.
Because, even though the app is mostly dominated by female players, (like myself) there are still male players who play and enjoy the app.

Do you like to play as a male protagonist?
I would, if I could find more stories that have male protagonists that aren’t the cliche “bad boy.”

Is a story truly different if the protagonist is male?
it depends on how the author portrays said male character.

Should every story include an option to play as a male?
No, my reason being that some of the writers on Episode (not just on the Episode team) don’t know how to properly portray a male character. It would also take a lot of work and time out of the writers.

What are the benefits / disadvantages to writing a story with a male option.
The benefits are that I think that if the stories are more diverse, (gender wise) it will draw more male players to the app. It would also give players the chance to play stories with different perspectives. I can’t really think of any real disadvantages

Does Episode equally represent males in their own featured stories?
Absolutely Not. Almost every featured story I’ve read the male love interest is a painful bad boy stereotype who treat the FMC (Female Main Character) like literal garbage until one episode they open up about there troubled past and then you, the reader, are supposed to feel bad for them? Like, not every boy is a stereotypical ‘bad boy’. And then all of the supporting male characters are bland and/or unoriginal.

6A. Should Episode write a Gem - Featured story inwhich you can play as male. (Or if they have one, write more?) Yes and no. I think it’d be great to have a story like that on the app. But on the other hand, I don’t want them to make the MMC (Male Main Character) stereotypical like all the other boys in their stories.

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The first one sounds very interesting, do you know what you’re going to call it and when you plan on publishing it?