What’s a real ‘Episode turnoff’ for you

Yeah, I feel like if a minor or something is writing a pregnancy story they could atleast look up some things or ask people in their family about what it’s like to be pregnant to atleast make it a smidge more realistic.

I’ve never read Unconventional, I’ll check it out.

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Oh yikes. I couldn’t imagine how annoying that must be! Being a mom and reading up on unrealistic pregnancy stories are…eugh.

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I’ve noticed something always goes wrong near the end of the pregnancy, premature labour, or that it’s almost always twins in Episode stories.

It’s a different take on a pregnancy story, I highly recommend it. No one night stand or barely adult accident.

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I think the only pregnancy story that I have read on episode was Pregnant by a nerd by trisha. It cliche but pretty good

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It’s so annoying :woman_facepalming: Every pregnancy is different, unless it’s an Episode pregnancy in which case it’s always morning sickness, can’t bend down, something bad happening…

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I tried to read it but I couldn’t continue it. I’m not a huge fan of cliche’s anyway but I thought I would give it a try. Pregnancy stories just aren’t my taste I guess.

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You should read Trophy Wife. It make take a while to get to the part but it does portray relationships and pregnancy right :slightly_smiling_face: Like real symptoms of it

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Thanks for the recommendation! I might try it in the future :slight_smile:

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Another turn off for me is Mafia or gang stories where the mc is belitted and called names by the bad gang leader and then she ends up pregnant and marrying falling in the love with the guy at the end. I don’t whatsoever find that attractive or romantic at all. It’s disgusting

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Turn Ons

  • Really awesome directing!
  • Choices- they don’t necessarily need to make a major impact on the story, but I like feeling that my choices my some impact on things.
  • Unique plots. I don’t mind stories that are a little cliche as long as there’s a twist on them.
  • First episodes that get us straight into the action/start in a unique way. I love when my very first reaction to a story is “WOW”.

Turn offs

  • When you die/have a crappy ending in a story because of ONE wrong choice and the only way to see the other endings is to replay (I don’t care if I die lol, but I like to be able to see the other endings. I hate replaying)
  • Excessive narration.
  • Bad directing- I don’t mind if the directing is clean and basic, but a lot of glitches will have me exiting the story.
  • Really bad grammar- Errors are fine, but if I need to reread a sentence multiple times for it to make sense, I’ll be exiting the story.
  • MCs who seem to do nothing but cry, faint and whinge about everything.
  • Stories that seem to drag on… I’ve quit reading a few stories by episode 30 or so just because I felt like the plot was dragging.
  • Being told to name my MC before customising only to find out that I have to play as a white, blonde girl :roll_eyes: (I don’t care if the MC is white, but I wouldn’t give her my name if I knew that.)
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Oh yeah, that one is a definite turn off. There’s this story called The Ruby Tiara (one of my favorites, I recommend if you haven’t read it already,) which allows you to view every possible ending there is at the very end of the story.

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I love that story too!
I have multiple endings in most of my stories so I always make sure to include bonus episodes with all the available endings as I know how much I hate replaying myself :rofl:

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Turn ons
Choices wether they matter or not any choice i will like(as long as they dont override my choice no means no)

Customization of the MC i want her to look like me in addition to being able to change outfits/hair

Personality choices(where im not abrasive and dont cuss ppl out for nothing i can choose how i rrspond)

Branching storylines shows a lot of effort in a story if it includes all of wat i said above i greatly appreciate it

Option to get to know the LIs before being forced to “love” them and an option at the end to choose no one at all(ppls choices differ greatly in crushes)

Turn offs
Sex in any way shape of form(excessive kiss which leads to it/MCs being overtaken by lust and i get no choice to not do it/virgin shaming)(the ur bf and gf so u have to do it or have already done it) type stories to stories where u absolutely have to do it because “romance”

Forced/underminded choices(self explanitory) no means no

Bland love intrests tht u (the MC) are forced to like cuz he called u “beautiful” once have more self respect

Cheesey dialouge

Sterotypical black ppl in stories who speak only in ebonics and are always the rude(which is disqused as “sassy”)

Sassy MCs and “strong” and unrealistic no u cant beat highly trained assasains in a fight when u have NO experince…nor are u gonna talk back to ur kidnappers ull be afraid. Being rude to ur friends and family dont make u sassy funny or strong makes u a bitch.

When author notes pop up in a story to mock my choice
Choice A- stay quiet
Choice B-be unecessarily rude
(Chooses A)
(Author note: be more assertive minus 1 point)

When the author is rude to the readers in fanmail(ik repeating urself can be exhausting but be grateful these readers ur being mean to are the reason ur story has gotten far…EVERY SINGLE 1 should be appreciated)

When “bad” traits are described as my own personality kinda hurtful…
“Ur a shy quiet loner…a loser until mr hot popular notices a nobody like u”
Theres more than 1 way to be ;-;

When ppl misuse being a bitch and being sarcastic
Its not(or it shouldnt be) mean for sport
Teacher:stop talking why r u interrupting my class
MC: why r u interrupting my conversation(eyeroll)
Thts sassy aka rude aka not sarcasm i see tht too much v.v and they are praised for not being a doormat…
Sarcasm
Friend:why dont u just be more outgoing…
MC: ur are correct…uve opended my eyes im free from the shackles of introversion bless u.

Ill add more as i remember

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I don’t know why, but this made me laugh so hard. Probably because it’s so true in a lot of cases.

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But yeah, I agree with A LOT of these.

Sorry ha :no_mouth:had some bad reading experinces

I have to agree with most of the stuff you guys mentioned above:

Bad directing is a major turn off for me. If the author includes unique cliffhangers, plot twists, backgrounds I’ll be more than happy to wait for a few hours to spend my passes on it.

Very SHORT EPISODES. It’s a real waste of my passes if the Episode ends so quickly with no exciting ending to let me continue on. I prefer long Episodes, but with quality content.

My definition of Episode quality content
Includes unique perspectives, awesome directing, plot that makes sense and doesn’t repeat itself over and over again. (So if MC has a problem, she’ll go have a break down in every Episode.) Like THAT’S BORING!
Or spending more than 15 Episodes for the MC attempting to achieve her goal.

First Episode: CUSTOMIZATION!!!
Okay, is CUSTOMIZATION a classic EXCUSE for a FIRST EPISODE? I want to have an idea about the plot before I spend a pass on the second Episode! I get that customization might take plenty of lines, but still, it shouldn’t be the only thing on the first Episode.

Which leads to my second point: Because of the customization, I’m going to have less content on the first Episode! That’s what I really dislike. I mean, what if I don’t want to customize? I just skip to the content, and it’s only 5 minutes long…what a waste.

That leads to my third point. Customization is often a time-consumer, to make the Episodes seem longer. I really abhor when the first Episode is the longest because of the customization, and the other Episodes aren’t that long because there isn’t a customization. It should be as long as the first Episode. With or without customization.

That leads to my fourth point. Why is the customization always like: "This is your friend, Caleb, how do you want him to look like? (Oh and by the way he OBVIOUSLY a love interest, so make it HOT!) It just makes it so unrealistic, I would exit the story. It’s better if we just put the customization template so where that doesn’t ruin the illusion that much.

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Things that put me off a story

1. Bad Boys

UGHHHHHHHHHH. This is so overused! I see it in many episode stories and it drives me away from the storyline. Don’t use a bad boy!! There are many other types of love interests - The nerd, the artist, the jock, the guy next door (etc.) Bad boy is so overused and can break a story.
There are some good uses of the bad boy in movies like Heathers, The Breakfast Club and Freaky Friday, but bad boys like the one in the kissing booth can ruin a story.

2. 'Why would he choose me?"

Let’s used an example
Here’s a fake story called the ‘Bad Boy’s Babe’

‘Why would he choose me?’ Cassidy wondered, her crystal blue eyes tearing up. “Why would the bad boy of the school choose me as his date?” Her long blonde hair flowed down to her waist as she tossed her head sadly. She knew she was pretty and rich and nice, and the most popular girl of the school. But why her? Cassidy sighed as she started to cry.

Stop right now, thank you very much. ‘Why me?’ monologues are over used and often do not make sense, as the character has many reasons why she might be chosen as a love interest. Usually the girls going ‘why me?’ should be going ‘why not me?’

The only way a ‘why me’ monologue could be good is if the character has a physical/mental disadvantage/abnormality that makes them an unusual choice. (Eg. If the character is bipolar, and is known for her unpredictable mood swings, or if a character is deaf and chosen as a date to a concert). Only if they have something exclusive that they worry about (or are discriminated because of) should a ‘why me’ be appropriate.

3. Mary Sue’s.

Lets return to our hit novel.

Cassidy saw the gang members surrounding Luke and she screamed.
“Luke!”
She suddenly kicked one of the members and punched the other. They slammed into the wall and she swung her fist at the man on her right, knocking him out with one punch. Cassidy flicked her hair and straightened her dress as she curtsied.

Cassidy looked down as Luke cradled her.
“Why me?” She asked. “I’m not pretty!”
_Luke smiled and pressed her head to his leather jacket. _
“Yes you are. You’re strong and pretty.”

Urk. Cassidy has no weakness and no fear. She’s also pretty and rich. Mary Sue.
A Mary Sue is a basic character - pretty, rich, powerful and usually the hero/heroine. They are over used and a common characters in beginner writers. They are a major turn off for any story. Characters need to be original.

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Ohh I hate this too!
If the first episode is solely customisation and I’ve never read anything by that author before, there’s a good chance I won’t even bother continuing to be honest :woman_shrugging:. It depends what mood I’m in :rofl:

Also… another turn off for me is having to customise every single character possible. Just the MC and one or two love interests is enough for me.

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Hey Everyone!

So I’ve noticed that some of you don’t like character customisation in the first episode. I’m currently writing a story and I’d love an answer to a question.
Would you be more likely to continue the story if the cc was in the second episode, or would you not mind?

Thank you!!

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