I had to mention that white mcs aren’t as bad thing, it’s just toooooooo overused. I am white (Albanian to be specific), but I have been raised in a diverse place with lot’s of people from different cultures and have learnt so much throughout the years.
It’s not that hard writing about a different culture accurately, with the technology and resources of today, there is no excuse
Of course, don’t just put diversity just for the sake of it and make sure it’s done properly. I don’t want to see a story that claims to be diverse but there is literally nothing said or even shown about the beauty of the said character’s culture. And it’s clearly used just to get more attention, if that makes any sense
White mc’s obvsly ain’t bad but what I’m saying is a lot of stories you see on the trending section have a white mc
Ops, I wasn’t trying to say that you were saying it was bad! I was just explaining why I had written that haha. And so true, i was looking at the trending section… you can literally count with your fingers how many diverse characters there are on the covers AKA VERY LITTLE!
I just want to say this. If you want to put diverse characters in your story, please do it because you actually want to, and not because you feel pressured to. It’s very obvious when an author just uses a character for diversity points, vs actually wanting to have diversity in their story.
Yes, I have mentioned something similar in the comment
Oh, oops. I didn’t see that part. Yes, I 100% agree.
Moved to Episode Fan Community since this is about Episode stories. Make sure to check out our Forum Tutorial for more info about creating topics, and feel free to PM me if you’ve got questions.
Naw, is okaii! I just meant that I agree as well
But I’m genuinely confused because I’ve seen white authors put POC as their MC’s best friend and people complain that they’re trying to please people and it’s not adding diversity but if the author doesn’t they get called out for it
There is a difference between a supporting character and an actual character. The reason why a lot of people get mad is because the POC friend is literally… a supporting character. They’re only there to help the MC and nothing more, no scenes of their own, no sort of character development, nothing.
A great example of a good character would be Aftertaste where the main characters best friend whos Asian has quite some scenes of his own. He also has a little problem which he has to deal with as well. I hope that’s helped
Thank you I think I understand now
Bump; share your experiences and anything else that you feel is relevant to this topic! It’s important and a lot of people need to continue to see and be reminded
Yes! I agree!
I think if we make a character that isn’t the same race as us we should do our research on them, what features they’d have, customs, culture.
People should also stop the stereotypes, the thing i like about episode is that it’s a pretty diverse community, so we don’t rly have to be afraid of asking questions.
Exactly!!! I’ve had story apps that have like four shades of skin tones and literally two-4 different generic hairstyles which aren’t inclusive, or very little inclusive. It’s hard to find an app ad unique as Episode and with the amount of choice, people don’t have an excuse and with the Internet, they need to do their research
Yes!
What’s also sad is that I cant remember a story where there were any asian characters, except for like four stories…
Also it bothers me that people always put chinese characters in red…like why? Specifically the short silk red dress that I dont know how to describe.
That’s so true! There is rarely any stories with Asian characters. And really? I haven’t noticed that! Good observation. Urgh, there was a time where people would also use sari tops as a normal outfit to go to like parties
I do get this sometimes; as a Latinx/mixed raced reader, I usually find a little discomfort while seeing that most stories portray Mexicans as the stereotypical “morenito” when, in reality, there’s plenty of variation within our country. I’m not saying that there aren’t fellas with these characteristics, I’m just putting a pin on the fact that not all Mexicans look the same, nor we have the same skin colour. There’s a wide range of characteristics that make our country (and any other) truly diverse.
This might be off topic but I think it’s important to mention that not all mafias come from Mexico, nor all “rich” Mexicans portrayed in stories should somehow and somewhat be related to illegal actions. Please don’t mirror these stereotypes in your stories, as it might come off as not deeply-researched plot or story.
(My apologies in advance if this came off as rude, just thought that it was important to mention it here. Thank you @Zondiewriter for providing this thread to talk about this topic)
First of all, this thread was created to bring light to a topic which NEEDS to be discussed! So your point is 100% valid and no one should take offence to something that is the truth! Urgh, that clearly tells me they haven’t done the correct amount of research! Always call them out if you see it. And if they don’t listen, you may post screenshots here so others can see the problematic issue.
And usually, I always see mafia stories with Italian | Mexican characters. It pisses me off, it’s so overused. And it strives from the stereotype of mafias and drug cartels. Like Tee (@tc.xo) was telling me the other day how she wished there were different backgrounds, like having a mafia story where the mafia group is Brazilian. Mafias are literally EVERYWHERE in EVERY COUNTRY.
And this thread was created by both me and @tc.xo!