NOT AN AFROOO 
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I just don’t like how authors use big lips as a mean girl or “ugly” girl because I seen plenty of authors do it.
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Personally ive become extremely desenitized to this.
Deadass whenever i see it i just try to tell myself that the character is pretty regardless because those are my lips. all of my family has those lips i see them everywhere it just makes me love myself more because my lips are so desirable now. I never got bullied for them but if i did itd kind of be like my ’ I told you so’ to the world. again this is Me and nobody has to agree with me. I think gorgeous on every and any character. even if its misrepresented these are pixels.
I just try to make My characters as diverse and visually pleasing as possible.
This is My Mc and i already know im going to get some type of hate for her even if i know what she is.
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Honestly I’ve seen ‘Full Round Pouty’ on white characters being used for two different and contrasting reasons.
- one is, like you said, for mean girls or negative characters who are supposed to be unlikable > ‘Full Round Pouty’ = fake
- the other, to make MC or any other character (who have them lips naturally) seem extremely beautiful, someone we’re supposed to like > ‘Full Round Pouty’ = beauty standard
So, according to Episodians, if your white character has fake plump lips she’s a b~, but if she has them naturally she’s an angel of beauty herself. Why–
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I’m honestly guilty of having these “fake” lips on my mean girl character, but I swear, I’m planning my best to make her seem like more than a b*tch. I know what I’m doing when it comes to customization for my characters (besides, two other characters have these same lips)
You need to put things into perspective. Usually if plump lips are included, it’s either just for mean girls or just for good characters. Perhaps it’s both, but almost never for characters who aren’t that important to the plot. Meaning, if it’s a mean girl the message is “I’m fake like my lips” and if it’s the MC it’s “she doesn’t know it, but she gorg”. Still talking about white caucasian characters here.
In an upcoming story of mine, I have both characters with lip injects and ones who were naturally gifted plump lips. You’d be able to see both cases as positive and negative characters. Balance is key, just with everything else.
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Honestly I don’t know I don’t mind them naturally with big lips because anyone can have big lips I’m a black girl with big lips and when I see a author use a character with big lips and a dark tan as a mean ugly girl it doesn’t sit right with me. But then again they can mean no harm.
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I understand what you mean, but it’s not like there’s an imbalance between my characters and who they are just based on how they look. Again, I’m planning on putting room for all my main and side characters here.
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I wasn’t trying to say there’s an imbalance in your cast 
I was saying that in general out of the example I made from my cast.
I know it may be excessive to use on a single feature such as bigger lips, but it’s somewhat of a rule when making a diverse cast to really have it diverse in appearance, personality, and roles in the story. Idk, it’s just funny to notice how those pouty lips can change the way you look at a character depending on their role in the story. Just an observation of mine.
Perhaps it’s because they’re so controversial idk 
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It had become extremely well known that many, not all, of the popular stories in the app have featured either currently or in the past Bigger lips in there story
This is not to say that all popular stories contain these lips, as the writers on this app have produced some amazing stories, but some less than so.
Recently a friend sent me a screenshot of a popular story that she was reading that had Black and white character’s and The blacks looked like terrible While the whites looked amazing That’s messed up
Have you noticed these things among popular stories? Do you think Episode should be stricter in managing them?
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Here are my opinions! As a writer I try to include diversity without offending anyone and that can be though considering the only diversity I have around me are my asian sisters. But nonetheless I feel that what you’re saying is true! And my characters are based off of real people I’ll just show you!
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It’s such a weird thing. A featured story in the first chapter did a similar hypocritical thing where the LI was talking behind this girl with surgically big lips and the Smokey eyes (saying she overdone the mascara or something)’s back while the default look for MC has assumedly natural big lips and the Smokey eyes too.
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Reaction be like:
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I’ve been tempted to bring it up but haven’t for fear of some sort of backlash, but I agree. It’s ok to see a couple of white MCs with lips like that here and there. But when all of them have it, then it just becomes ridiculous and unrealistic.
And another thing that kind of bugs me is when people make an episode version of themselves then do a side by side with their actual photos, the characters don’t look like them. You have girls with small lips in real life but their avatars have full plump lips. Then on the other hand you’ll have girls with larger or broader noses and their avatars have smaller petite noses. It’s a little saddening to me because it gives me the idea that they aren’t fully comfortable with what they look like.
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I definitely understand your frustration and where you’re coming from. Personally, I scarcely use big lips on white characters if I know they wouldn’t logically have it.
For me, I write POC characters ALL the time. From African American, to Middle Easterners, To Hispanic/Mexicans, to North Africans, and everything in between, so it’s nothing out of the ordinary for me to use features that are accustomed to those groups.
Often, I look up references of these people from these groups to give myself a general idea of what they should look like. I feel like if people started putting more effort into developing the character’s background, maybe they wouldn’t have to find the need to put those kinds of lips on the MC and turn them into a character that looks like every other MC.
That being said, that does not mean I don’t have a white character with big lips, because again, white people can have big lips, but it’s just not that common. 
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I really dont see the big deal I mean, sure it isnt a common thing to see but like one author isnt responsible for what other authors do with their characters. So if everyone does that in their story whose fault really is it?
It’s still the author’s fault. They didn’t have to follow what other authors were doing. The majority of BIPOC don’t like those lips on white people and find it harmful. That’s it. The big deal is that people are being negatively affected by it so it’s time to make a change.
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Except it literally denigrates white people. I understand where he is coming from, but I wish he could do so in a way that does not put down people who happen to have European ancestry because it’s hurtful. I hope no one has ever made you feel that way because of the color of your skin; NOBODY should be made to feel less than because of who they are.
I don’t want to deny racial discrimination that has happened in the past and continues to happen in the present. But we can’t solve racial disparity by continuing to attack each other and saying that intentional/unintentional appropriation is the same as colonization. This isn’t meant to be a repetition of the Scramble for Africa, which was a dreadful thing. People are not “savage” because their society is different/has less advanced technology. They have their own languages, cultures, traditions, lives, and they don’t deserve to be taken over and subjected to brutal torture. What happened in Africa was inexcusable.
And I don’t want to be a jerk or take away from anything you feel, because I have different experiences than you and may not always understand where you are coming from. You and your opinions are valid.
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What I’m confused you brought up Africa when her post had nothing to do with. She is saying that some authors that are not poc have having been racist to poc people. And that they use the figures that are made for poc for white people. But pretty much you just ignored her point and also proved her point how blind people can be and miss the true meaning of what she just said.
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Exactly you’re so right! I’m European so making characters that are let’s say muslim could possibly offend people because I only have one muslim person in my entourage, so I just don’t wanna anger any by making a character from another culture, but as you can my sisters are asian so I know how not to offend Asian people!
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