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Male Protagonists to Avoid in your Writing:  An Illustrated Guide.

1.  The Edward Cullen (i.e. the glorified stalker)

How to spot him:

He’s gorgeous.  Brooding.  Bejeweled with countless sequins.  He stresses over and over again that he and the female protagonist have a “connection,” are “soulmates,” or something else that you’d generally expect to hear from that one creepy kid who used to stare at you in class.  Similarly, in true creep fashion, he uses their supposed connection as an excuse to blatantly stalk her, and is narratively treated as nothing short of a romantic in spite of it because he’s attractive (and sparkly) enough to pull it off.

Examples:      

In the Twilight Saga, Edward is canonically over one hundred years old, making it extra creepy that he’s A) hanging around a high school for no particular reason, and B) dating a seventeen-year-old girl.  He uses derogatory terms about past lovers, attempts suicide when Bella tries to break up with him, and shows up at her home uninvited to watch her sleep.  Moreover, his systematic isolation of Bella from her friends and family is all-too reminiscent of real life abusive dynamics.  

How to avoid him: 

Read up on signs of abuse in a relationship.  This is a good thing to do anyway as a means of self-education, but it’s also important for writers who plan to include romantic subplots.  A good one to start with can be found here, at least in terms of emotional abuse: https://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/10/13/21-warning-signs-of-an-emotionally-abusive-relationship/.

Try to avoid a blatant power imbalance.  Edward is stressed to be older, stronger, more experienced, and more intelligent than Bella.  Sometimes power imbalances are unavoidable due to species differences, but this can be countermanded by giving the human love interest qualities that make them valuable in other ways.

Overall, if you’re attempting to portray a healthy relationship, try to base it on an equal exchange of power and mutual respect.

2.  The Christian Grey (i.e. the glorified rapist)

How to spot him:

When I first found out that the 50 Shades of Grey franchise was originally Twilight fanfiction, I initially (incorrectly) presumed it to be a joke.  After I’d come to terms with the fact that it was not, my next thought was that it made perfect sense, because Christian is literally Edward Junior on steroids:  the same abusive brand of stalker who gets off on a blatant power imbalance, with the added unpleasantries of excessive wealth and bad BDSM etiquette.  Oh, yeah.  And he’s a rapist.    

Examples:

Christian disregards Ana’s request for a condom, stating “her body belongs to him,” threatens punishment when she refutes his attempts to discretely grope her in public, and at one point, ignores her safe word.  Throughout the book, Ana is pressured into sex she feels uncomfortable with.    

How to avoid him: 

If you’re going to write about BDSM, actually study BDSM etiquette.

Healthy BDSM relationships are forged on mutual trust and a consensual, mutually beneficial exchange of power.  Even if you are writing about BDSM, if you intend to write about a healthy relationship, be sure to base it off of these values. 

Just because a character is dominant doesn’t mean they need to be emotionally callous;  Christian completely neglects Ana’s emotional needs, such as her aftercare (i.e. the period of tenderness recommended after BDSM sessions to compensate for the emotional and physically taxing task of surrendering one’s power.)

In short, don’t use kink as a means of excusing emotionally unhealthy and abusive dynamics.       

3.  The Ross Geller (i.e. the entitled “nice guy”)

How to spot him:

He thinks his hot female friends (and only the hot ones, mind you) are owed to him because he’s “nice,” romantic, and intelligent.  However, upon closer scrutiny he really isn’t a particularly nice guy (i.e. he bullied his sister Monica and benefits from enjoys her emotionally abusive parents’ favoritism), is self-centered, and consistently places his needs ahead of her own.

Examples:  

The minute Rachel begins to find self-fulfillment in her career, Ross becomes jealous and hounds her at work, accuses her of “not having enough time for (him),” and generally tries to make her feel guilty for being successful and having priorities other than him. 

How to avoid him: 

Again, I cannot stress this enough:  mutual respect.  This is literally the foundation of all successful relationships, fictitious or otherwise.

Have your male characters support their significant other’s decisions and allow them to be happy for their success.  

Your male character’s significant other is allowed to do things that don’t necessarily involve him.  Make sure he understands that.

Intelligence in and of itself does not make a character a better person than his fellows, and intelligence does not have to equate the superiority with which Ross appears to associate himself.   

Just look to the healthier couples Friends churned out in its time:  Monica and Chandler, for example, love and respect one another’s goals, and are no the less interesting and hilarious because of it.  

4.  The Sheldon Cooper (i.e. the annoying autism stereotype)

How to spot him: 

He’s a bloated paragon of autism stereotypes.  He’s got zero regard for the feelings of his friends, considers himself superior to everyone, and is incapable of talking about anything but his own interests.  As someone who’s on the spectrum myself, he’s basically my personal pet peeve.

Examples:   

“His spot” on the sofa, his need to knock three times before speaking to the person on the other side of the door, etc.  These are stereotypical and inaccurate portrayals of some autistic people’s comfort in routine.   

How to avoid him: 

Research symptoms of Asperger’s in adults (and for god’s sake, stay away from Autism Speaks.)  Similarly, try and learn from actually people with Asperger’s, as anti-autism, “cure”-based sentiment tends to run high in allistic academia.  

Study the mannerisms of famous people who may have been on the spectrum, such as Albert Einstein, Allan Turing, Leonardo da Vinci, and Sherlock Holmes’s inspiration, Joseph Bell.

If you’re not ready to depict an autistic character, I’m going to say wait.  It’s okay to admit to ignorance, and it’s okay to wait to do more research before depicting a certain subgroup.        

Try to avoid inserting autistic symptoms into characters to use as comedic fodder.  

Asperger’s coded (and confirmed, by creators and cast) characters like Temperance “Bones” Brennan (Bones) and Spencer Reid (Criminal Minds) have their stereotypical moments, but they’re still successfully presented as lovable, intelligent, and productive characters;  look to them to see better representation of intelligent, autistic characters in mainstream television.  

5.  The John Winchester (i.e. the abusive parent with a redemption arc)

How to spot him:

The John Winchester is a textually abusive or otherwise toxic parent who damages his children’s lives for his own purposes, inflicts emotional or physical harm, and is shown or mentioned to be violent, controlling, and/or neglectful.  However, his redeeming/sympathetic qualities or otherwise heroic actions lead him to be narratively treated as a benevolent character and “good” parent. 

Examples:  

In Supernatural, John leaves his boys for weeks on end in motel rooms, sometimes over important holidays (and keep in mind that this was in the 80s and 90s, when child sexual abuse was at an all-time high.)  He often places his eldest son as the soul caregiver of his other child, despite the fact that he was a child too at the time, and left them both alone with loaded firearms. He also uses unfairly harsh punishments, such as leaving his young son alone at a boy’s home for an entire summer because he stole food for himself and his brother.  His son literally, unironically realized he was being possessed by a demonic entity when it said it was proud of him. 

How to avoid him:    

Educate yourself on the different definitions of abuse (emotional, verbal, physical, etc.) and what qualifies as each.  Psychology Today is a great resource for this (they have some rudimentary definitions here:  https://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/child-abuse.)   

Feel free to endow abusive parents with sympathetic qualities (in fact, please do;  100% evil characters tend to be campy, boring, and/or unintentionally hilarious) but be aware that no sympathetic qualities negate or justify child abuse.

Please, for the love of God, don’t use the “he was doing his best” excuse as a resolution.  Many abusive parents legitimately are doing their best, and many abused children are acutely aware of this.  It really doesn’t provide much comfort.

Remember that abused children frequently refuse to turn on their parents, often defending them long into their adulthood.  The child’s forgiveness does not equate the parent’s redemption.  

Similarly, I’d personally recommend staying away from the “I can finally forgive him” trope as well;  it’s done to death, and often frustrating to real-life survivors. 

Before the Meninsits™ come for me about this, I am going to be writing a list of female character archetypes as well, and then make lists of positive attributes to include in male and female characters, respectively, to provide a counterpoint.  I might also make a part two of this post for all the other characters I hate, because I fear it would get too long. 

In the meantime, there will be essays like this published at least once every other week, so be sure to follow my blog and stay tuned for future writing advice and observations!

8/7/17:  Updating with the link to the female counterpart post, because people keep asking me for it.  Read it here!  

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Please read this****

If a thief forces you to take money from an ATM, do not argue or resist. What you should do is punch your pin in reverse. EX: if your pin is 1234 you punch 4321. The moment you punch in the reverse, the money will come out but will be stuck in the machine and the machine will immediately alert the police without the theif’s knowledge. Every ATM has this feature.

Reblog this so everyone knows, this happens all the time especially in the city

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Woke Giant, retro political art for third century America

Over at Woke Giant you’ll find some seriously cool, retro-styled “political art for third century America.” Don’t miss the downloadable protest signs!

https://boingboing.net/2018/08/16/woke-giant-retro-political-ar.html

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I complain because I can’t have feelings for ages and suddenly I have a crush on several people and it’s too much for me to handle and I know I’m ugly and they won’t ever like me and I am distressed ! Why am I the most useless most dumb lesbian in the world

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13-year-old boy must save the world by unraveling an ancient Mayan prophecy Zane must not only grapple with a family history that connects him to the Mayan gods, but with newly acquired knowledge that his ancestry may have something to do with a leg deformity that requires he use a cane — not the greatest reality for a middle schooler. Feisty heroes, tricky gods, murderous demons, and spirited giants are just some of the pleasures that await in this fresh and funny take on Mayan mythology, as rich and delicious as a mug of authentic hot chocolate

The Storm Runner comes out on September 18, 2018.

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STILL ON PATROL

I learned something new and horrifying today which is… that… no submarine is ever considered “lost” … there is apparently a tradition in the U.S. Navy that no submarine is ever lost. Those that go to sea and do not return are considered to be “still on patrol.”

?????

There is a monument about this along a canal near here its… the worst thing I have ever seen. it says “STILL ON PATROL” in huge letters and then goes on to specify exactly how many WWII submarine ghosts are STILL OUT THERE, ON PATROL (it is almost 2000 WWII submarine ghosts, ftr). Here is the text from it:

“U.S. Navy Submarines paid heavily for their success in WWII. A total of 374 officers and 3131 men are still on board these 52 U.S. submarines still on patrol.”

THANKS A LOT, U.S. NAVY, FOR HAVING THIS TOTALLY NORMAL AND NOT AT ALL HORRIFYING TRADITION, AND TELLING ALL OF US ABOUT IT. THANKS. THANK YOU

anyway now my mother and I cannot stop saying STILL ON PATROL to each other in ominous tones of voice

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Blow me up!

Tell me on anon how you’re going to fatten me up.

Tell me in detail how big you’re going to make me, how you’re going to do it and what you’ll do with me afterwards. ;D

Bonus points for creativity. Inflation totally allowed.

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you few are the best! I love you!

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Tbh I can't even say the word "belly" out loud without getting flustered

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i wanna be dominated in non sexual parts of my life pick out my outfits order my drinks for me tie my hands up and gag me while we’re watching a movie together y'know that kinda thing

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Plus-size master list

Me and @fluffyybabe decided to do a big list of plus size websites, there is a mix of UK, Australian and American/etc  websites. Feel free to add more onto our list, no doubt we’ve left off a few plus size sites! Some of these websites are a little pricey, just a warning.

A-

Asos Curve

Avenue

Asda

Amazon

Anna Scholz

Ashley Stewart

Attitude Clothings

Adoreme

Ann Summers

Alice & You

Additions Elle

B- 

Boohoo

Bravissimo

Black Cat Bikinis 

Big Smalls

Becca Etc 

Buxom

Beth Ditto

Bon Prix

Blame Betty

Bones Lingerie

Big Gals Lingerie

C- 

Chubby Cartwheels

Curvissa

Chic and Curvy

Carmakoma

City Chic

Collectif

Curvy Kate

Copper Union

Charlotte Russe

ChicStar

Curvaceous Beautys

Chi Chi

Catherines

Christian Ome’Shun

Cherry Velvet

Cabiria

Candy Strike

Curvy Girl Inc

D- 

Deb

Dorothy Perkins

Debenhams

Dirty Dolls Lingerie

Dream Diva

E-

Eloquii

Evans

Eshakti

Embody Denim

F-

Forever 21

Fashion to Figure

FiftyPlus

Fashion World

Fig Leaves

Fullbeauty

Freemans

Feminine Funk

G- 

Gs Love

G World Plus size 

H-

H&M

Hips and Curves

Holy Clothing 

House Of Fraiser 

Hissyfit

Harlow

I -

Igigi

J- 

Josephine Swim

Just my Size 

Jibri

Joe Browns

Jacamo

John Lewis

JcPenneys

K- 

Killstar

Kiyonna

Kohls

L- 

Lane Bryant

Love Honey

Lovedrobe

Littlewoods

Lala Belle

Leg Avenue

Little Mistress

Liesl Binx

M-

Marisota

Mod cloth

Monif C

Marks and Spencers

Mode Merr

MandCo

My Tights

Mango

My Size

Misguided

Mynt1792

Matalan

Myers

Making It Big

ModDeals

N- 

Nakimuli

New Look Inspire 

Navabi

North Face 

Nordstrom

Next

Neon Moon

Nasty Dress

O-

Old Navy

OneOneThree

Overstock

P- 

Poshshoppe 

Plus Cutie

Pin Up clothing

Pink Clove

R- 

Redress

Ready To Stare 

Rue107

Rue21

Rainbow

S -

Sick For Cute

Simply Be

SWAK Designs 

Sock Dreams

Stop Staring

Select

ShopStyle

Soft Kitty Clothing

Smart Clothing

Shavonne Dorsey

Size Queen Clothing

Shop Majour

T- 

Torrid

Taking Shape 

Target

Tkmax

Tadashi Shoji

U- 

UllaPopken

V- 

Very

W-

Wetseal

WitchWorldWide

Women Within

Walmart

Y -

Yours Clothing

Yandy

Z

Zalando

Z By ZEVARRA

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dealing with the worst case scenario

your condom breaks

you feel a lump on your breast

your friends are ignoring you

you’re stranded on an island 

you got rejected by a crush

you get into a car accident

you got stung by a bee/wasp

you got fired from your job

you’re in an earthquake

your tattoo gets infected

your house is on fire

you’re lost in the woods

you get arrested abroad

you get robbed

your partner cheated on you

you’re on a ship that’s sinking

you fall into ice

you’re stuck in an elevator

you hit a deer with your car

you have food poisoning

your pet passed away

you fall off of a horse

you or your friend has alcohol poisoning

you have toxic shock syndrome

your house has a gas leak

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trans people taking testosterone need to drink orange juice cause testosterone weakens your immune system!! trans people taking estrogen need to drink milk cause estrogen causes calcium to be absorbed less

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Sportscaster Dale Hansen defends student wrestler Mack Beggs and takes a stand against transphobia

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TAKE'EM!

This is your reminder to make sure you took your meds today.

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sending “I hope you get that job” vibes to the people out here tryna get jobs