Episode's 2017 Diversity Standards

Sigh. I said Episode in capitals because this post is about the COMPANY, not every single writer.

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:clap:

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Thank you for your intelligent and well-thought-out response. I have a few comments, a few disagreements and general points to add with regards to this and Iā€™m grateful that youā€™re being kind enough to have a debate and consider my side. Iā€™ll do my best to do the same!

I definitely agree with this! My main issue with the over-sexualisation of the featured section isnā€™t that itā€™s an issue to have a sexuality. In fact, I promote women who want to explore their sexuality (even if Iā€™m religious and donā€™t do the same myself). My problem is that they make sex seem cool and sexualise women too much. It normalises treating women as objects and making sex a gameā€¦ with women as the prize. Very few of these stories are about sexual liberation. Theyā€™re about sex as a way to control.

In terms of diversity, all of the stories push a (slightly) liberal, middle class, American agendaā€¦ even if the skin colours and locations change. It doesnā€™t matter if there is a black girl as a lead because itā€™s still not diverse. She still acts like every other character that came before her and has the exact same priorities and motivations. What about cultural or socio-economic diversity? What about having an MC whose main problems arenā€™t annoying parents and mean girls? What about an MC who actually struggles to get by? I mean, look at Tangled Love! Itā€™s set in France (supposedly), but everyone speaks English (I would much rather the author just make it clear that itā€™s translated and they are actually speaking French), the education system is American and everyone acts like Paris is just a city in the US. Some stories take distinctly American names like ā€œBrodyā€, ā€œTylerā€ or ā€œChadā€ and give them to British kidsā€¦ those names really not very common in the UK.

Definitely! People start to see bad things as normal if theyā€™re constantly exposed to it through the media they consume. Itā€™s Episodeā€™s responsibility as a platform with so much traction and influence to make sure that theyā€™re not normalising negative things (as they make very clear in the guidelines for stories).

I both agree and disagree with this. I mean, thereā€™s a whole world in the 1800s and slavery is very entrenched in American life. Itā€™s not so true of the rest of the world. I mean, sure there was the occasional slave here and there in Europe, but also important people of colour! For example, Mary Seacole and Equiano. Queen Victoria even had a man from the Indian colonies come to the palace to teach her Hindustani ā€“ the language of India when it also included Pakistan and Bangladesh. There were even free men/women of colour in American society. People often forget about this kind of thing. And women were only really less than men in the middle classes. At the time, Britain had a female monarch and lower class women worked just as hard as their husbands and were valued in the households.

But at the same time, it is true that the vast majority of American black people of the time were slaves and that women were largely silenced in the circles that influenced the world. However, does that mean that they should be excluded from stories of the time? I donā€™t think so. In fact, I think it would be even more interesting if a writer is able to humanise a black slave from the 1800s and show their life and its strugglesā€¦ even if the story isnā€™t about them. Shakespeare does it beautifully. Even when he brings ā€œMoorsā€ into his plays, they arenā€™t bland characters with no personality. They all have motivations and lines and you can really sympathise with them. Take The Tempest as an example. Even though the story is about a, well, Tempest (it focusses on a shipwreck), there is a side story about the wizardā€™s black slave and individuality. He isnā€™t the most likeable of characters, but he is a 3-dimensional character.

The same goes for women. Even though they had no formal say, both women and people of colour did influence the world in their own ways. It just gets brushed under the rug by the formal successes and failures of white men. For example, music today wouldnā€™t be what it is if it werenā€™t for the cultures that the slaves brought from Africa to America. Women could sometimes control their husbands like puppets even if they couldnā€™t gain any formal politicalā€¦ and men would often consult their wives behind closed doors.

The main problem is that history is so well and truly ā€œwhitewashedā€, if it were. Many people forget that the history that we read in textbooks and are told about in school and documentariesā€¦ well, itā€™s the history that a bunch of old, dusty, white men want you to know about as they sit and rub their hands together in their University lairs. A lot of history that doesnā€™t involve clear political repercussions isnā€™t seen as ā€œinterestingā€, and so it gets abandoned or neglected for something ā€œmore interestingā€. Maybe itā€™s time for more stories to open our eyes to the 99.9% of a periodā€™s history that we donā€™t get in our standard books. The women who helped their husbands run a country. The slavesā€™ struggles. The influential woman whose contributions are forgotten because they arenā€™t massively political. The evidence and sources are out there waiting to be discovered.

I disagree with this. There have always been underground LGBT communities and there have always been gay people in society. However, the way they responded to their sexuality and were treated because of it changed drastically over time. Of course, it would be historically inaccurate for a gay person to come out as gay and be dramatically fabulous in the 1700s (Iā€™m going for this period because there are plenty of out gay writers like Oscar Wilde from the 1800s). But maybe thatā€™s what makes their story so interesting! Gay people existed. They just didnā€™t have gay pride marches like we do now. I would be fascinated by a story of how a gay man or woman had to deal with their feelings.

I guess my main message here is that historical silence doesnā€™t always mean historical absense. James VI and I of Scotland and England was historically accused of homosexuality, but at the time, it was all euphemisms and ā€œmale favouritesā€ at court becuase no one would even dare think about him and his (possible) lovers. Their silence says a lot. Itā€™s often deliberate.

Yeah, thatā€™s pretty much what I mean by that. Also, promises like a ā€œgender fluid storyā€. I was excited about that, but they really didnā€™t follow through. Also, I donā€™t mean to prioritise different types of diversity or claim that certain minorities arenā€™t important, but I donā€™t know why I trusted them to tackle gender fluidity when they havenā€™t even had a homosexual or male MC in a featured story. The closest theyā€™ve come is appeasement by throwing in a poorly-thought-out love interest at the end of a story and suddenly claiming that the MC had been bisexual all along even though the story revolved around her relationship with the two men. I donā€™t know why I expected them to deliver on gender fluidity when they canā€™t even get the ā€œmore commonā€ types of diversity right.

I think this is where we need a change. In order to truly embrace diversity as an app, Episode should start to promote stories that arenā€™t set in America with an American cast. Theyā€™re out there. Iā€™ve read a lot and written a few. If Episode makes the first step, maybe they can make a positive change. Mybe people wonā€™t see foreign countries as too weird or scary to write a story about. The stories exist. Episode just decides itā€™s going to keep promoting the same stuff.

I have to agree with you here. Although, I think that when it comes to negative things (like an abuse of power or a lack of diversity where it belongs), having a vague story with no clear morals can actually be equally as dangerous as promoting bad morals overtly. What it does it normalise bad behaviour. If a story neither promotes nor condemns a student-teacher relationship, what it is doing is desensitising its audience to the very idea of a student-teacher relationship. The more stories thet see like that, the more it seems normal as a thing in general. So, even though the writers arenā€™t necessarily trying to openly promote the abuse of power, they are contributing to people slowly thinking itā€™s normal.

The same is true of a lack of diversity. A lot of really right-wing people will say ā€œwell thatā€™s just how the film industry is. Deal with it. I donā€™t cry when thereā€™s a black lead in a filmā€. Thatā€™s because weā€™re so used to consuming media with predominantly white casts and white MCs that itā€™s now odd for it to not be a thing. Granted, it is getting much better nowā€¦ but it is still deeply ingrained in our minds. When you think of a character doing a heroic act, do you think of a man or a woman, for example? When you think of a terrorist, do you think of a specific race? When you think of a villain, do you think of either a British or a Russian accent? I know most people doā€¦ because itā€™s seen as normal. Itā€™s what weā€™re often exposed to and the thing that needs to change. The story may not be promoting viewing women as weakā€¦ but if all films have weak women in them, that doesnā€™t really matter. Weā€™ll end up seeing that portrayal of women as normal anyway.

Thank you again for this post! I actually agree with most of what youā€™ve said and I was delighted to read this and respond. Itā€™s interesting to hear the perspective of someone who is so willing to hear other people out. Youā€™re yet more proof that people who are aware of the influence of the written word are less susceptible to it ā€“ though not completely free.

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My 2018 Diversity Standards Proposal

By the end of 2018, a portion of the Episode community sat down at their computers and looked at the Episode app to decide what we wanted the team to focus on in the coming year. Although we may have small disagreements about the execution and the philosophy, one thing was clear: Episodesā€™s stories and platform have failed to reflect the amazing diversity of the players and the world around us. In regards to that, you have continued to let us down, and I (along with many others) have spent over a year reflecting on how we want you to do better.

When I use the term ā€œdiversityā€, this includes but is not limited to age, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, culture, socioeconomics, gender identity and expression, sexuality, mental health, and physical disability / chronic ailment.

I want to share a few suggestions I am hoping you will adopt as a team for the upcoming year (2019). I hope theyā€™re reasonable and will be heard by the Episode team:

  • A promise from you that you will commit to at least 50% of new Featured stories being created by Episode community members who havenā€™t been featured before. By April, I would love to see more liaison with Episode writers who are willing and able to provide the diversity that Episode so strives for. That starts with the writers themselves. I would like to see a diverse team of Episode feature writers from different backgrounds to spice up the stories that are being produced.

  • A promise that you will prioritise the promotion of more underground writers in your weekly shelves. As of recently, two of my favourite writers have been featured in the shelves, both of whom already had millions of reads before they got the extra promotion. I hope you will spend more time curating themes that are different and unique and look for undiscovered talent to place on them.

  • Your assurance that these partnerships with creators will see fruition. I would like to see more writers with interesting user stories placed on the app and not Wattpad stories with a negative representation of both men and women and promote the same middle-class, American story dynamic. I want to see your stories go around the world. The best way to do that is to form partnerships with writers from all around the world.

  • That you will continue your good work with your diversity of clothing, hair styles, character features and backgrounds to empower everyone to tell THEIR story. This means more landscape pictures of cities from around the world, along with the inclusion of longer skirts for Limelight.

  • That you set a time pre-production time that may include speaking to other Episode users who might be able to give an insight into the community.

  • That you will set aside some of your time to the dedicated search of underground, under-appreciated stories instead of relying on the users to do it, or that youā€™ll add features to the app which allow for the discovery of stories with very few views that were written a long time ago. If a story hasnā€™t taken off, how are the users supposed to know that it is a good one?

  • Your promise that you will be more open and honest with whatā€™s happening on Episode so that we know what to expect and what not to. As a team, you have been surprisingly silent about this issue since releasing this statement, which is beginning to make it seem like the forums are nothing but a pretence. I mean, even the shelf suggestions happen over Instagram instead of the forums. This is really lowering my (and many other peopleā€™s) faith in the integrity of Episode and how much you as a team care about your users.

  • The implementation of some official guides so that writers can be up to date on what you think is the best way to approach diversity in a story. I hope that youā€™ll work with some people to come up with a Google Docs tutorial on sensitive topics and diversity to help writers who want to help themselves. You have your own specific way of dealing with diversity (or at least the pretense of your own way) and I would like you to follow that through by introducing it to us.

  • For you to get some more community authors on board in your team. I cannot speak for the Episode budget (otherwise Iā€™d ask you to put together a team who are responsible for finding good quality user stories to promote), but I am sure there are many Episode writers (myself included) who would be happy to team up with you for the perk of Writerā€™s Payments at a lower read count in order to provide you with some insights on how WE think the community should move forward. I am unsure if there is actually a representative Episode council. If there is, why arenā€™t they being promoted on here for us to talk to?

Of course, I didnā€™t ā€“ and still donā€™t ā€“ expect these changes to happen overnight. I did, however, expect to see more visible improvements over a year on. I would love an update on the stories that you have in development which help to reflect your dedication to representing your diverse community. At the moment, very little has changed since the beginning of 2017 and I would like to know what happened to the stories you promised.

I hope that you will be as transparent as you claimed to be when you set out your diversity goals for 2017 and I hope you listen to our attempts to hold you accountable to them. I wish there was feedback and a dialogue, but there has not been so much as an update on this for over a year, which really makes it seem like this was disingenuous. You didnā€™t learn from your mistakes, and have let a lot of people down.

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By the title alone supports the fact that Diversity is way too subjective to please everyone. Donā€™t get me wrong, you guys have come up with some points but all I see is people with different views on what Diversity should be. As long as we as a people- have different perspectives on diversity, then there is no way that Episode will be able to make everyone happy in regards to it.

Thatā€™s not how Episode works. Thereā€™s a whole process,

There are featured writers from different backgrounds but then again seems like a subjective statement.

Again, Episode has teamed up with writers around the world, but Iā€™m not sure if you mean certain countries or cultures.

Agree with this. I was actually looking for long skirts the other day.

They do that. I donā€™t know if they still do it but I know for a fact that they get on Skype or make calls with members of the community.

And boom here we go. What does this have to do with diversity? Hey, to be fair maybe to some people this falls under diversity, like you. But to meā€¦ this does not and it doesnā€™t belong in the standards. Subjectivity at its finest,

Since the statement, they released stories that they thought would make everyone happy with diversity but quickly found out that it didnā€™t. Again some of us have a view on how diversity should be and thought that their attempts were not good enough.

Again, ā€œon what YOU think is the best way to approachā€? Very subjective, still wonā€™t make everyone happy if they donā€™t agree on what they think is the best approach,

Ouch and now this statement might make your whole ā€œdiversity Standards postā€ discreditable, I donā€™t know about other people, but this makes it look like you are trying to use Diversity for personal gain by suggesting to be PAID (what does getting paid have to do with diversity?) to provide insight and how ā€œYOU thinkā€ (again subjectivity that will not account for everyone) the community should move forward.

So I donā€™t mean to be a killjoy but Episode is a business, there is a strict process, stories have to perform a certain way to get featured. This is reality, this is life, this wonā€™t change. They will not just ā€œpick peopleā€ for featured stories.

And like I said, in my opinion, as long as people have their own versions of what diversity should be, it shall never completely be fulfilled.

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Good points.

I agree with diversity being different for everyone. Iā€™m okay with ā€œwhite, cis, heterosexual, Christianā€ characters as long as the story is good.
(However I would prefer them not to be from the same country. Even a non English name is good enough)

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Okay, here we go.

Of course itā€™s going to be subjective. I donā€™t claim to speak for anyone but myself. People are free to agree or disagree. Iā€™m not a spokesperson for the whole of Episode. Iā€™m someone who is making suggestions. Hence:

Iā€™m not trying to speak for the whole world and I wonā€™t try. We all have our own opinions on how this should work. As I said here:

Because most of us agree that Episode hasnā€™t met its goals, but we disagree on execution and philosophy.

How exactly is this a subjective statement? Itā€™s stating what Iā€™d like to see, sureā€¦ but writers from different backgrounds is hardly a subjective idea.

Are there people from different countries but not different cultures? Or are there people from different cultures but not different countries? Often different countries will have a plethora of different cultures that vary massively from other countries.

Itā€™s good if they do this already. It would be even better if there was a way to see the conclusions that are made in these discussions for us to access if we want to.

What it has to do with diversity is that it promotes stories that may not usually be made popular. Iā€™m not sure if youā€™ve noticed, but first and foremost, Episode does what sells. Straight, middle-class, high school American girl with boy troubles is the most common type of Featured story, regardless of ethnicity. Of course, if itā€™s whatā€™s normal, itā€™s understandable that people cling to that as a crutch, but itā€™s not very representative of Episode at a large. Promoting stories that are not as popular because theyā€™re out of the ordinary is a great way to show the diversity of Episode.

Theyā€™ve released Venomous. They almost released Instant Princess. Iā€™ll look through the featured section now. Living with my Crush, Back and Forth, It Started With a Bra, Love and Warā€¦ these all follow the exact trope I was talking about. American, straight, middle class, boy troubles, most likely in High School. Because diversity isnā€™t just about producing stories from the same neck of the woods with different skin colours. Episode listed many, many things in their definition of diversity and I agree with it. But where are the straight-up gay MCs? What about the male ones? Disabled MCs? Iā€™m not even going into skin colour, race or ethnicity here.

Again, I named this as MY proposal because I knew not everyone would agree with me. Of course, itā€™s going to be subjective. Unless you expect me to just solve the issueā€¦ I could solve the Israel and Palestine controversy whilst Iā€™m at it.

Iā€™d much rather people pick up on certain points to agree or disagree with than act like my proposal has no weight just because itā€™s MY proposal.

To be honest, fair enough if some people think that. What I think is that Episode makes enough money to not expect people to give out all their aid and advice for free. I mean, I am already doing that with my own blog, which I link to on a regular basis for people who want to improve their writing, but I am also conscious of the fact that EPISODE is making money from diversity and maybe some people would want a little compensation for their time spent. Itā€™s fair enough if you ask me. Trying to help with a messy subject like diversity can be gruelling and require a lot of hours.

This is the worrying thing for me. Episode does what sellsā€¦ including falling flat on their own diversity standards? Why is it that these particular stories sell so well? Whereā€™s the gender fluidity story they promised? Back and Forth is a great story and I love it dearly, but changing bodies with another person isnā€™t the same as gender fluidity. Iā€™d love to know where that story is.

Which is trueā€¦ but Episode should start first by meeting their own standards and following their own version of diversity.

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I think that white, cis, heterosexual, Christian characters DO count as diversity if the whole cast isnā€™t white, cis, heterosexual and Christian. Diversity is about including people from various different backgrounds and walks of life. That does include cis white people.

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First of all, that was an excellent reply, and just, incredibly amazing of you to reply with such length.
Iā€™m sorry, but Iā€™ll have to keep this reply short and sweet as Iā€™m replying from school.I definitely agree with you that women needing to explore their sexuality is very normal and a good message to send out as a theme where women come to terms with themselves (same for weight)
I usually donā€™t talk about this when discussing episode, but here goes:
I both agree and disagree about your points on sex. When you argue that sex seems cool, I think what you mean is that they make the theme of sex overused and used in the wrong context. To some people, sex is a everyday thing, whether itā€™s for strippers, for couples, but in context Iā€™m assuming not all strippers (and Iā€™m not here to judge, just what I think) are strippers for the love of stripping, but because they have financial situations that lead them to this. I think that these themes I would be fine with, but they should be used in context not just to be unrealistic and oversexualize women just for oversexualizing women. I agree with the fact that sex isnā€™t a game- but in context. You could argue that the sex seen in some of these stories may be what happens to some people in real life, but I think too much of this leads people to caution this subject. I think there should be different themes and the problem with this topic is people are making too much of the same thing. It all comes down to personality and character of each person in the story, and it should make sense or have a backstory or be able to explain their behaviour in a realistic way. I agree with your point when you state that in stories, sex is a way to control, which can be seen in themes (I will not point out) such as gangs and mafia. In reality, they are nothing like what is portrayed, and research should have been done prior to introducing this. I agree that there should be realistic situations for the MC, as untrue ideas of reality could get into readerā€™s minds and influence their way of thinking in a bad way. I have not read tangled love as of now, but I think, and I donā€™t mean to offend you, that the way you saw the situation was wrong. I understand that as itā€™s set in France, people should speak French. I agree that there should be at least some french dialogue with reader message or overlay translations, but you could also argue that around, I guess, 80% of Episode readers can speak and read English, as it is one of the most common languages in the world, and more people would be able to read and understand it with another language. However I agree that at least some language should have been used. I do think the problem with the kidā€™s names arenā€™t huge. Many British people may like American names, and I donā€™t think thatā€™s a defining problem at all. Iā€™m so sorry about the way I explained period eras. First of all, I completely forgot I was talking about the world, and there is a movie about a black young aristocratic lady who is entitled to huge amounts and faces challenges in England due to her colour. The movieā€™s called ā€œBelleā€, but obviously that isnā€™t my point. Yes, I agree that there were black people at these times with these problems, etc, and there should be more of these stories. However, I have to point out there are not as many episode stories or writers who are so interested in writing periodical stories. However, these themes could open the mind of people. There are some MCā€™s whoā€™s problems are not just mean girls and annoying parents. I know one amazing story I could recommend, and Iā€™m assuming the other answer you arenā€™t looking for is from not high school stories, because they mainly involve not so appropriate themes and one theme thatā€™s almost particularly consistent in almost everything I see- the so called hot person. Well yes, I agree we should look top Shakespeare for that. In my last reply, I forgot so much stuff, and Iā€™m sorry for that. (And yes, the Tempest was great) I agree with all the points you listed in the paragraph. Itā€™s the age of femininity, but I think it may be misinterpreted incorrectly, which is what I think is also a problem. There are many women in history (Iā€™m not saying their motives were good) that have been able to lure men by not just their beauty, but by their friendliness and brains, I think the problem is that ā€œlureā€ is the theme right now, whether it is to lure, or be lured by. This is extremely consistent. I agree with your points about history, and Iā€™m sorry for my rebuke,
yes. Iā€™m sorry. I was looking more to America when I was talking in terms of LGBT community, or just modern times, really. I know that some monarchā€™s had preferences which I had read, and at the time wasnā€™t controversial at all. I know this wasnā€™t your main point, but Oscar Wildeā€™s homosexuality is most likely a misconception. See: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/may/07/top10s.oscar.wilde. I agree, having this would a theme of historical homosexual people would be quite emotionally grasping.
I understand your message completely and Iā€™m sorry I didnā€™t look out for that.
For your point of gender fluid stories, I understand that you think there are stories with badly thrown in characters in a poor attempt at diversity. There are, however, some stories with a LGBT (MC) and in some stories, you get to choose in the start your preferred gender. I understand you think that embracing diversity is a huge problem. However, some peopleā€™s target is not on LGBT- their main characters are supposed to be straight, because of their envision, and maybe because of the stress of this new theme, it may be poorly managed. I saw think itā€™s hard to think for a LGBT mind if youā€™re straight, which messes up the way they are portrayed. Overall, I agree that there should at least be background characters of the sort to show reality, but the sexuality should be up to the author0- you can give them as much as itā€™ll mess up their vision. I think there could be more of LGBT stories, of course, but I donā€™t think blame should be put on authors entirely. Hereā€™s the thought process:
This new theme is making authors frantic, which causes them to try implementing these themes. However, it comes out wrong, because theyā€™re not exactly sure how it should be used. In consequence, we blame for this. However, I think, either they use it, or they use it properly- which is harder for them.
I agree, there should be more stories not set in America. Again, I think this is just propaganda and generation influence from the American dream. (And I really am not trying to offend anyone, but propaganda has been Americaā€™s biggest weapon since the 1950s. (Riddle, Lincoln. ā€œAmerican Propaganda in World War II.ā€ WAR HISTORY ONLINE (blog), August 6, 2016. https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/american-propaganda-world-war-ii.html.) ) Well, I really havenā€™t heard of these right wing people before, but your view on it should be correct. I completely agree with you about terrorists and all- but for me, itā€™s because of the news circulating recently. However, the times are changing, and I think it becomes better. When I think of someone doing a heroic act, I think of a woman, I think mostly because (and Iā€™ll mention this again) now being the age of femininity, and also because of Wonder Woman. (The movie) I agree we should definitely not be promoting women as weak. My point is not to say that women should control men, which is the wrong way of seeing feminism. Instead, itā€™s equality, I see it as gender equality, and we should not hold it down.
Sorry for the reply being such a long time difference! I started writing this 11 hours ago, in the morning at school, but I had only a few minutes breaks everytime I started typing, and I typed more on the bus, but I couldnā€™t press reply because of the wifi. Anyhow, thank you again for such a lovely long reply, and how you spent so much time thinking of this.

Yes, I agree, even now, Iā€™m basically putting out propaganda with what Iā€™m saying. Itā€™s everywhere.

Edit: However, I do have to agree with @/S.Langdon that, (and if you look at this from their perspective) Episode is a money making app. American cliche gang/well I wonā€™t mention, but those stories are what bring in the audience. I would like to say that they are at least, trying to help. Perhaps they will as this is quite the topic currently. However, I would have to say that keep in mind Episode also cannot function to run on everyoneā€™s opinions as everyoneā€™s biases varies.

Anyways, happy reflecting!

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Hello again!

Thank you so much for your reply! Iā€™d like to respond with a few things :slight_smile:

This is very true and I have a lot of respect for strippers. One of my friends is a stripper who does it to put herself through medical school, which I find so inspiring (even if I donā€™t have the body confidence to strip regardless of if I needed the money or not) that sheā€™s using her job to make a better life for herself. My problem with sex as a game comes actually from the more patriarchal implications of this. Sex as a game is often for the pleasure of men and at the expense of women, which is frustrating and sexist in my opinion. In general, the culture of sex shouldnā€™t be about one-upping people and mind games. If any games are played, it should be literal ones between consenting individuals who are enjoying themselves. I should have mentioned that, so Iā€™m sorry! I agree with pretty much everything else you said here.

I agree with this. However, I people in Paris donā€™t really go around speaking English all their lives. They speak French! I think the author should have done a Les Miserables thing where they make it clear that the characters are speaking French even if we hear it in English. This could be done by incorporating words like ā€œMonseuirā€ every so often instead of making French a foreign language class in her French school. A lot of Parisians speak English as a second language, sureā€¦ but if sheā€™s gone to France as part of an exchange programme, itā€™s ridiculous that she can function and get around in France with terrible French without a single person in a supermarket or library or something trying to speak to her in French before switching to English. Thatā€™s realistically what happens when youā€™re in a foreign country. Unless they know youā€™re a tourist, people are going to try to speak to you in their own language before switching to English. If sheā€™s living and functioning in a French school and not just mini America given the name France, it should at least be clear that the English weā€™re reading is just a ā€œtranslationā€ of what she said, because French teachers arenā€™t just going to deliver the whole lesson in English just to suit one student who came to France unprepared.

Itā€™s pretty easy to pull off, actually. You start the sentence with a French greeting and continue in English. That way, people understand that itā€™s actually French theyā€™re speaking. Also, if her French is really that terrible, it would be funny to have her speaking poorly in English and for the people around her to say ā€œYour French is terribleā€, so we understand better. I donā€™t think the whole story should have been in French, but I think the writer should have made it clear that even though weā€™re reading English, theyā€™re speaking French there.

That is fair enough, but if the writer is trying to make us aware of how quintessentially British this person is, choosing the 1% of American names youā€™re unlikely to find in Britain is disingenuous. There are so many names that Britain and America share, but itā€™s bizarre to me that British people who are supposed to be ā€œso Britishā€ in an Episode story (or even TV show) would have one of the 5 names you wonā€™t find in England. There are hundreds more that they could use! It shows a lack of research to me.

Forgive me, but this article says that Wilde wasnā€™t gay from Childhood and that he came out of the closet later in his life:

  • ā€œHis ā€˜conversionā€™ to homosexuality probably came about in 1886/7 with a young man who was to remain a lifelong friend, Robert Ross.ā€

  • ā€œAfter Oscarā€™s conviction he [Douglas] wrote a defence of their love for a French journal, which would have done more harm than good, and was never published. He also helped Oscar financially after his release from prison.ā€

He was also on trial for homosexuality because of his relationship with Douglas.

These happen a lot in community stories, but the featured stories rarely deal with this. When they do, itā€™s often a ā€œI know weā€™re friends but I like youā€ at the end.

That may be true! I hope, therefore, that Episode works with some LGBTQ writers to create LGBTQ Featured stories.

I have to admit, this really made me smile. Iā€™ve asked so many people this and they always answer with a character like Iron Man, Batman, Superman or Spiderman. The thing I personally think of when I think ā€œheroic actā€ is Lily Potterā€™s sacrifice for her son in Harry Potter.

The sad thing is that Episode is also an influential app. They do contribute to create the ideas of what sells. If Episode pushed good stories that broke from the mold slowly and well, they could really make an impact. They just need to make the leap.

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I donā€™t know, the rich in general were all pretty dramatically fabulous in the 1700s, at least by todayā€™s standards. :joy:
On a more serious note, I agree that LGBTQ+ people have always existed. The same language hasnā€™t always been used, but thereā€™s historical evidence that the experiences of LGBTQ+ people have always existed. They havenā€™t even always been demonized.
That being said, Oscar Wilde was most likely bisexual. Some historians have just been arguing over whether heā€™s gay or straight because they like to ignore the existence of bisexuality.

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Thatā€™s true! Although it is clear that he has an innate attraction to the male figure. He attributes masculinity to the ideal aesthetic! People do often forget that bisexual people can be attracted to men and women for different reasons, too!

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Oh lord. Iā€™m so sorry, this will have to be an extremely short reply, as I have to do my homework now.
Yes, I agree with what you said in your first paragraph.
I agree, I think at least common phrases and terms should be used, which is what I suggested as well. This would make it at least more accurate according to itā€™s setting, and give more of a vibe. I agree with the ā€œyour french is terrible,ā€ actually. This is actually pretty funny and would give the author an excuse to use google translate so that the characterā€™s French is bad enough to seem bad enough.
I understand the ā€œSo Britishā€ theme, but I think being British doesnā€™t necessarily come down to your name. You could be mixed and born in Britain with the name of Muhammed. It comes down to your behavior, language use, and the way you present yourself as well as your common traits with other people of the same country as you.
You caught me there. Forgive me on WIde. I was looking through mostly on his relationship with his family, and I didnā€™t read the second part. I assumed the first part meant he was accused as he was friends with Robert Ross, but it wasnā€™t anything, and I didnā€™t read about Douglas. (And, I have to say, that Douglas from what you said, seems like a great guy). Anyhow, thank you for correcting my mistakes.
Well, I canā€™t judge how LGBT stories are, as I donā€™t usually have time to read stories and I rarely read LGBT stories (based on my own sexuality, please donā€™t judge me, because I feel like people are more inclined to read stories of their own sexuality). I think this whole new theme is a leave it alone, or do it well sort of thing. You canā€™t go on a middle ground, It is also excessively annoying from a different sexuality if the sexuality you arenā€™t attracted to continues does pester you during the story, but obviously, I canā€™t judge because they at least put two different options. I would just prefer to have a story stick to one sexuality (Iā€™m not trying to accuse bisexual stories here, but Iā€™m just saying itā€™s a little annoying to jump around all the time and itā€™s just my preference. I have respect for people who spend so much time working on these and really, I donā€™t mean to offend anyone at all).
Lily Potterā€™s sacrifice was amazing. Now I think about it, I understand why I thought women- because a motherā€™s love is always portrayed as a brilliant, amazing one. That is a stereotype- but it doesnā€™t state a father cannot be as loving, which I like. Also, a mother has connection to her baby through her womb and pregnancy, so I genuinely cry when these parts come up.
Yes, I agree. Episode is influential- everything popular is. However, I canā€™t tell if they choose the be or not. At its base, the core of it was to make money. Sharing stories and creating them is part of its function, and influence is what comes after money and popularity. I agree they have to work harder in terms of diversity, but Iā€™m extremely happy where they are starting to listen to our suggestions ( see the new updates) hopefully, for diversity as well.
Iā€™d have to agree diversity is different for everyone else in terms of how you cope with the word. Diversity is diverse, and diverse things are diferent for different people. However, I think the true word isnā€™t diversity at all, itā€™s accepting.
However, if to be abel to accept all the ā€œdiversityā€ then all types of relationships might just be included. For example, syudent- teacher relationships.
Now, I canā€™t judge if itā€™s wrong or right, but mostly I stick to how I was taught.
Episode has to take big risks to put ā€œdiversityā€ out there.
I agree my point may not be valid, because student teacher relationships are all out there on Episode, butā€¦
agh, my point doesnā€™t make sense. Let me rephrase:
Diversity is a confusing topic.
Thatā€™s what I mean.

Alright, Iā€™m starting to get confused now, so anyways, again,

Happy Wondering!

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I really think some people donā€™t understand some things about this, so let me just keep it short and simple: If you supposedly think we are all equal then why arenā€™t people from different minority groups shown as much? I donā€™t have a problem with seeing white, cis characters but itā€™s very constant and always ignored other races. We are trying to say that we shouldnā€™t have to ask for diversity, it should be already done and added. We shouldnā€™t have to correct people for how to do it. But since we have so many stubborn, close-minded people, we have to speak up. Thatā€™s the problem. Itā€™s messed up that we have to continuously have this discussion. We need to be all shown and not ignored nor silenced. Thatā€™s all we want and people need to understand that. :woman_shrugging:t5:

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@ShanniiWrites is highkey queen atm, well written and said.

People seem to forget diversity should come off as natural, blend and synthesized in the story.

Honestly, I canā€™t even think of a single white person in my own story thatā€™s truly significant lmao. Somehow I havenā€™t gotten 'ur a reverse racist!!!111" yet.

I just donā€™t understand how people are so BORING with the same kinda characters (even background characters) over and over again. Likeā€¦ itā€™s honestly not even just racist.

It straight up tells me youā€™re not creative enough to create a plethora of a rainbow of POC, LGBTQA and disabled people, EVEN as background characters. Enough for me to lose interest real fast.

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The fact that people here are STILL stuck on us people tired of hearing excuses and believing that we want a ā€œquotaā€ā€¦just proves that youā€™re missing the damn point.

I hate being a POC sometimes, and the sad part is, itā€™s because of silencing and speaking over our frustrations.

When your voice has been suppressed so long, donā€™t expect someone to not scream if they finally get a sliver of the chance to.

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Here is the definition of a story
story:
noun
an account of imaginary or real people and events told for entertainment.

So what exactly are you proposing? to force writers to write stories about cultures, and or under represented communities because?.. you want them to.

like you stated yourself, Episode posts what sells. They are a company, and I am pretty sure they arenā€™t going to risk losing money simply to please a small number of people.

Yes most of the stories are based in the United States because it is an American made company.

People read more heterosexual stories because they are a majority, sure a lot of people support LGBTQ but that community only makes up about 1% of the population. Over all they are a much smaller group.

Sure it doesnā€™t mean they shouldnā€™t be represented, but they should be represented by people who want to do it and will be able to do it well.

Yes, story books and Entertainment TV and Entertainment movies, are simply that ENTERTAINMENT. sure they get some ideas from real life, But Iā€™m sure no one is out there yelling that fairy tales and animation movies arenā€™t realistic enough to represent everyone. (although I am sure there will be some people complaining about that) That is truly ridiculous. Episode is no different. books and film and such do not let you pick your character or give you different possible outcomes. This app was created to entertain.

Learning a lesson or having a theme in a story is completely irrelevant to the fact that stories are not real.

Yeah slow and steady wins the race, the fable about a turtle and a rabbit racing (not a real thing). One has nothing to do with the other, they could have used an old man vs a young man and you would end up with the same lesson.

No one reads a story because they want to learn something. People read stories because they want a good read. If it so happens to teach a lesson then great, usually the lesson is for the character. Many times the reader will catch it as well and learn something, depends on the person.

And with the reference to Hitler, are you serious? It was never written to persuade, he wrote down his thoughts ideas and thats where he himself went back to. He had other means of propaganda. Are you seriously taking things to that extreme? saying that if episode doesnā€™t do what you want they are basically agreeing with hitler. For not giving light to other cultures or people. Give me a break.

What is truly not fair is subjecting people to give you what you want by force just to make yourself feel better.

Lastly, Yes the United States has people from many backgrounds, but Iā€™m not sure if you realized this but, there are 50 states, and not all 50 states are extremely diverse like states that have major cities.

Its like forcing a person who lives in China to tell a story about Latino people. How ridiculous does that sound. While there are people of different races who live in China, they arenā€™t all over China and they arenā€™t a majority either. No one would expect them to accurately represent a Latino person because that would be ridiculous. That doesnā€™t make you ignorant or that they are avoiding anyone. Would you write a story about a group of people you donā€™t surround yourself with, donā€™t live around, and not nothing about their culture? I know I wouldnā€™t.

Iā€™m from New York, but Iā€™m not going to write a story about what its like to live in Japan or Africa, because Iā€™m not from there and I wouldnā€™t be able to accurately write a story about it, even if it is for entertainment purposes.

Same way Iā€™m not going to write about what it is like to be gay, because Im not gay.
Ignorance would be me actually writing about that as if I knew what I was talking about.

BTW not all people of color have the same experiences, same with LGBTQ or disabled people or any other ā€œminorityā€ group.

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Iā€™m afraid to share my view on this problem since there is kind of a huge argument going on at the momentā€¦ but Iā€™m going to. I donā€™t want to start any fights and this isnā€™t exactly my ā€œopinionā€, I just try to see the problem from all points of view and this is mine.

I am not a POC or a part of the LGBTQ+ community, or at least I donā€™t think I am, and so I cannot speak for the people who are. I respect them and understand they want to be represented. When I read stories, race isnā€™t something that comes to mind to me, and of course, that can sound somewhat ignorant i canā€™t think of the right word coming from a white female, but itā€™s true. Iā€™m not saying I donā€™t appreciate it. I often get delighted when an author includes a character from a different race or religion than I am. Iā€™m just trying to say I focus on the story, which is odd to say because all I read is romanceā€¦ Back to the point! When I write and I want to include a POC or a LGBTQ+ person because thatā€™s how I imagine the character or thatā€™s how I created them, I am afraid I am going to represent them wrong and offend so many people. Although I can just ask on the forums or research it, itā€™s still something that lingers in the back of my mind because I canā€™t have them accurate enough. I donā€™t want to have a character just be the ā€œstereotypical black femaleā€ or ā€œstereotypical trans maleā€ and offend readers. I think that other authors feel the same way, or maybe theyā€™re just dumb, closed-minded people which is more likely the case.

I apologize if this is offensive. Iā€™m not intending it to be. I completely get if it does, and Iā€™m sorry for that. Iā€™m not trying to say this to ā€œpityā€ POC or LGBTQ+, because I know some people do, thatā€™s just plain rude imoā€¦

I donā€™t read Episode official stories so I canā€™t discuss how POC and LGBTQ+ communities are included in them, because I think they all suck, but from what I hear on this topicā€¦ they arenā€™t represented either, which actually really upsets me because it might have them loose business.

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That is exactly what I have been saying.
It isnt ignorance to acknowledge there may be some things thats you donā€™t know. Because you know that you donā€™t know. lol (not sure that made sense.

Ignorance would be if:
you did write about what you didnā€™t know.

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