-1 What is your preferred chapter length and story length?
I think twenty minutes is ideal. Not too long, not too short. As for story length, probably 30 chapters, more or less.
-2 How important are choices? Do you prefer it if the choices matter?
I have absolutely no problem reading a story without choices, especially if the story is excellent. However, if you are going to include choices, they should matter or have different outcomes. Don’t give me the choice to reject the LI that I’m not interested in and have me “cave in” and kiss him anyway. I hate that, especially if my character is already supposed to be in a relationship with the LI that I’ve been choosing throughout the whole story.
-3 What is your favorite kind of MC? (looking at personality and maybe even looks)
As I said in another thread, I prefer MCs that I can relate to somehow. They don’t have to be EXACTLY like me, but I’d much prefer rooting for an MC that shares my values and has similar likes and dislikes, than someone who I can’t relate to at all.
-4 What kind of MC do you absolutely hate?
Boring Mary-Sues that do everything perfectly but still act like a victim all the time, cold and heartless MCs, the ones who only care about sex, and the ones who have no hobbies or interests aside from going to parties and hooking up with the LI. As for looks, I don’t really have a preference, but there’s one small detail that does annoy me, and it’s when a character’s eyebrows are barely visible. I don’t know why; back in the early 2000s, I did overpluck my brows, but… it just doesn’t look right to me anymore. Sorry if anyone actually has brows like this, but on Episode characters, it just looks weird.
-5 What is your favorite kind of LI? (looking at personality and maybe even looks)
I like guys with a kind heart that can talk about anything and everything with the MC. But I also love some good character development. In quite a few stories, I picked the LI who at first seemed a bit unkind and aloof (NOT toxic, NOT violent, NOT controlling, but not a Gary Stu, either) and those guys later turned out to be so sweet. I also like LIs who DON’T talk dirty. Talking dirty is something that I’m personally not into.
-6 What kind of LI do you absolutely hate?
Violent, toxic, controlling LIs who will burst into a rage of jealousy just because the MC hugs someone else, and CHEATERS. Yuck, ew, nasty. I hate LIs that cheat with a burning purple passion. That, for me, is never justified. And, of course, the ones that talk dirty or can’t say one sentence without cussing is just something I don’t like in an LI.
-7 What kind of side characters are your favorite and do you want to see more often?
Kids; I love kids. I mean, I’m a teacher and an aunt (well, I don’t have siblings but my cousin’s kids are my nephews), so I love it when there are little siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins, or even when the MC or LI already have their own children. I also love seeing more supportive best friends, parents, and relatives. And villains don’t have to be just straight up hateful in every area. Give your villains a soft spot for someone! Make them relatable so that sometimes, you want to root for them, but then they do something bad that hurts a character we care about.
-8 What kind of side characters do you hate?
The stereotypical friends. The ‘bad influence’ bestie that drags the MC to parties all the time. The pink-haired gay bestie that only cares about shopping and the MC’s love life. The ‘comic relief’ characters that have no relevance in the story but get their own scenes. (This is more common in telenovelas than on Episode, though).
-9 Do you like to have the choice to play as a male or female, and the choice to date a male or female?
Well, when given a choice, I usually play as a female because I am a female, but I like reading stories with a male MC, so I can see a different perspective. And I do prefer the LI to be a guy because I’m romantically attracted to guys.
-10 Favorite kind of stories? (Genre, anything special you saw in a story you wanna see more, highschool, college, mafia, business, etc.)
I love stories about groups of friends and families, and it really doesn’t matter if it’s a high school or a workplace story. I like both, as long as they are well-done. I don’t really have a preference with genres. I definitely do not like mafia stories nor anything that’s too sexual. (Even with series on Netflix, I will not watch anything that’s rated TV-MA).
-11 How important is CC for you? Do you rather have limited, or none?
I really have no preference.
-12 Do you like playing more like yourself, or as the character the author makes? (Like changing the name of the MC, CC, etc.)
I like playing as the character the author makes, but if I’m playing as a YOU character, I usually invent a name, or name the MC after one of the characters from my stories. I don’t like playing as myself because often, the YOU characters are nothing like me at all.
-13 Preferred amount of LI’s? And why?
One. I’m not a fan of love triangles nor having the MC go back and forth between two or more LIs. But if we DO get to choose between 2 or more LIs, I seriously hate it when authors try to force the one we didn’t choose on us, and make us kiss them or develop romantic feelings for them. Choices should definitely matter in this case.
-14 What makes you read(/click on) a story?
There’s no exact formula for this. It could be that the cover caught my attention. Maybe the title. It might be because there’s something about the description that I can relate to, but also it could be because I’ve read another story by that author and like their work. It could also be because of an Instagram post or something the author (or a reader) said when promoting or discussing the story.
-15 Biggest pet-peeves?
The glorification of CHEATING, unrealistic dialogue, Mary Sue and Gary Stus, characters that have no hobbies, likes/dislikes, nor real interests, too much sex and explicit sexual references, terrible directing errors, toxic MCs/LIs, when the characters see their significant other hugging someone and just run out of the room, assuming the worst.
-16 Do you like art scenes?
Not really, because most of the ones I’ve seen are just a still drawing of the characters with lots of romantic, flowery narration. There have been a few exceptions, but I’m not a big fan of most art scenes.
-17 When you look at a story cover, does it matter to you whether it is edited, drawn, or maybe even a self-made picture? What kind of cover makes you click the fasted?
It doesn’t matter to me if it’s drawn or edited, but I do like it when the covers are neat, the title pops, and it actually gives readers a feel of the story’s vibe (a colorful cover for a light-hearted story, for example).
-18 When looking at the description of a story, what is the best thing an author could put in there? (Like questions, the amount they tell you about a story…)
Something that actually tells us what the premise of the story is.
-19 Do you like to see self-made background characters or people’s characters that the author asked for on the forums (or other social media)?
This doesn’t matter much to me, but if you are going to make background characters with a randomizer, at least make them look realistic. That also goes for their outfits. If the story is set in December, why is there a background character wearing a bikini?
-20 Do you more often read stories that came from contests (whether they won or not) or just stories that aren’t made for contests?
Both.
-21 What do you think of the author’s notes?
I’m okay with them, as long as they are actually explaining something important related to the story (like translating when a character speaks another language, describing a cultural dish or festivity mentioned in the story) or answering frequently asked questions. I do not like it, however, when the author comes onto a black screen just to introduce themselves and apologize for the quality of the story.
-22 What do you think about authors putting themselves in stories? When does it get annoying? (For example, if they give themselves a big role, they just randomly show up, they use themselves as background characters, etc.)
I think it’s fine when they participate in the story as an actual character, not as the author who breaks the fourth wall and starts arguing with the MC.
-23 When you look at outfits, on a scale from 1 to 10, how much does it annoy you when the outfits of background characters don’t fit the setting? (Like casual clothes in a club where the MC, LI, etc. go to with exclusive clothes)
I don’t pay that much attention unless it’s something very obvious, like someone wearing shorts and a bikini in December, while everyone else is wearing winter clothes.
-24 How important is advanced directing for you?
I enjoy seeing advanced directing in stories and love learning new tricks and tips, but as long as the directing is neat and has no major errors, I’m fine with standard, intermediate directing.
-25 What gem choices do you really dislike in community stories?
“Wear this beautiful dress that your mom spent her last penny on!” (25 gems)
or
“Wear a dirty bath robe and get mocked” (FREE)
… also…
"Stand up for yourself and tell everyone you didn’t cheat on the exam! (50 gems)
“Take the blame for Regina Richgirl and go to detention in her place” (FREE)
Basically, anything where you have to suffer a consequence just because you don’t have enough gems.
-26 What gem choices do you “like” in community stories?
I’m fine with the ones where you get to buy an exclusive dress for gems, but the free outfit choices are nice as well, and I don’t mind the “support the author” ones.
-27 Do you prefer stories with or without sound? Or do you rather have a made playlist by the author? (Music, sound effects, etc.)
I like sound because it sets the scene and enhances the story. However, if the author makes a playlist and writes a reader’s note so the reader can listen to a particular song during certain scenes, I think that’s great. I might do that in certain scenes of the story I’m writing. However, I don’t listen to my own music while reading a story because there’s no way to know if it fits the scene.
-28 Since most people’s pet-peeve is grammar/spelling/punctuation, how many mistakes can you tolerate before clicking off?
I can tolerate typos and a few simple mistakes, but if I’m halfway through the chapter and it’s full of errors, then I don’t think I could continue. Especially if the dialogue makes absolutely no sense and sounds like it was run through Google Translate.
-29 Are there certain scenes you absolutely despise? (For example, a shower scene of just the MC singing to fill in some time)
Filler scenes with “comic relief” characters that aren’t funny nor relevant to the story, very detailed sex scenes, when the characters are supposed to go somewhere important or do something crucial to the plot, but instead they get distracted and waste time doing something silly.
-30 Are there certain scenes you absolutely love?
I love scenes that are actually funny, where characters are interacting with each other in a spontaneous way. I also like the scenes where the MC and LI first realize they have feelings for each other, scenes where there’s a big reveal of some sort, and scenes where an unexpected character sides with the MC.
-31 How fast do you prefer character development to go?
At a medium pace… not so fast that we don’t know what’s going on, but not so slow that nothing ever happens.
-32 When the author also writes a bit in another language, do you think it is annoying, nice, cool, or something else? And how much of the other language is too much since reading the reader’s messages can be very annoying sometimes?
I like it! Of course, it shouldn’t be in every other line since it would be hard for the readers to read the scrolling messages so quickly, but I enjoy learning new words in other languages.
-33 When reading a story, how annoying is it to you when there isn’t a lot of diversity?
It really depends on the type of story. If it’s set in a small village in a country where there isn’t much tourism or immigration, then that is diverse in itself because we get to see a different type of culture. But if it’s set in a modern high school in the United States, and all characters are way too similar to each other (and not just racially or ethnically; sometimes they are all of different ethnicities but religion is never mentioned).
-34 When reading a story with diversity, but the more diverse characters are purely stereotypes and inaccurate, what do you do with the story you were reading?
If I belong to the group that is being misrepresented, I might send the author a message to try and help them out. If the author is rude and refuses to correct it, then I probably would lose interest in that story and stop reading.
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