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I am relativeley new as regards this site.
Maybe the timing was a bit serendipitous. (type o's? Dont care)
When I first discovered this site I loved it a lot!
Now I think it has moved away from reality too much.
I see a pattern of nonsense within these "retcon/ Sci-fi stories.
Due to the lowering quality of realism on this site I feel myself gravitaing to FM and various other sites.
I will not appollogise for this comment as my instinct tells me I am right
The King is FM and he is not dead.
Long live FM
Comments
The last 4 stories I've read here have been:
Charlie (a hard hitting unsentimental portrait of a determined FTM student.)
How I became a Girly Girl (following the death of their parents a young woman becomes the legal guardian of a tg teen, and learns a lesson in diversity)
The Pink Mini (A grandmother's final gift helps a young transgender student learn to face the world as herself)
My Dearest Charlotte (A tale of one child soldier's sacrifice during the American Revolution)
Not a spandex outfit, metagene or a spaceship in the lot. Good, QUALITY realism is here, IMHO.
If there's more superheros here than ever I think it's a generational thing;
can't say I love it but the culture is dynamic, tastes changing, as new blood
who grew up on graphic novels and anime show up and bring their talents to BC.
FM is FM, and I'm not gonna slam it for its horny cornucopia of erotic stories.
It's all a matter of taste. But I'm glad you're finding stories
you like somewhere, even if its not here...
~hugs, Veronica
And remember...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifLqzLEB3E0
everybody's different
if you like real life, "Riding Home" is fantastic. But everybody's tastes are different. Some of us like the Ret-con silliness...
Dorothycolleen
Sorry to sound dumb.
But there are huge chunks missing from my 'education'! (Put it down to early years.)
What does 'ret-con' mean?
Bev.
Growing old disgracefully.
No question is dumb, nor are
No question is dumb, nor are you.
Ret-Con is short for Retroactive Continuity, a rewriting of an established continuity something common in comic books. In this case it is for Lilith's Superhero Ret-Con Universe. It's seen elsewhere though, an entire season of Dallas was ret-conned into a dream.
Ummmm...
--- Original post removed by author ---
As I've never seen you comment on any story I read - we obviously read different things. If you like FM, nobody here will stop you from going. I hope you find what you want to read there.
Anne
Simple solution
Write the stuff you like to read and post it. It will draw more stories like it.
But seriously, in the last 7 days, 25 stories have been posted at FM while 91 were posted here. Even if a third of the ones posted here were Supers/SciFi/Magic (actually, just less than 1/3 were), there were 10 sci-fi or magic stories posted at FM. So 15 new non-fantastic at FM versus about 60+ new non-fantastic at BC.
I'm really not sure just exactly what you are talking about. As your headline says, WTF?
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
All I do is realism
Not for nothing, but I am a little offended. My stories deal with nothing but realism. I work hard to get the posts out and to make things enjoyable. So for everyday for about a month i had posted a very realistic tale. I know it wasn't that popular, and I have my theories about that. But the one thing I know, it was based in reality. Maybe your reality is different then the rest of ours.
K.T. Leone
My fiction feels more real than reality
Katie Leone (Katie-Leone.com)
Writing is what you do when you put pen to paper, being an author is what you do when you bring words to life
poor choice
The title I mean. While I sort of agree re Retcons, I roll my eyes and skim past the string of call and response comments, but many do seem to like them. Each to their own. Just not my thing at all.
Can't say I agree about FM though, it has it's place but here is far superior in many respects which is of course partly why so many Retcons are being posted lately, but there ya go. There is still enough other stuff and of a quality you don't see as much elsewhere. As long as you find what you want eh.
Kristina
Cutting Off Your Nose To Spite Your Face
About a year ago I would have agreed with you that there was far too much MtF Superhero stuff on BC. In fact I earned myself a reprimand for complaining about it.
However, the volume of such stories has diminished considerably in relation to the overall content in the last year and there is a balance now....maybe not as perfect as I would wish to my taste....but certainly I feel that there are plenty of non-superhero stories to read.
A few examples;
Riding Home
Sarah Carrera
Catwalk Confidence
The Angry Mermaid
Charlie
EAFOAB (of course)
And a number of one-offs of quality which I won't try to enumerate.
I don't say I read every one (and I apologise to any authors who I missed) but I do feel that you are remiss to cut yourself off from the pleasure of reading here. After all, you only have to log-on and log-off again if there is nothing that appeals on the particular day.
Even when I was in high dudgeon about the perceived multiplicity of superheroes I didn't contemplate exiling myself from the site.
Still, chacun-a-son-gout, as my friend Nick B would say,
Joanne
I would never be remiss
I only made a viable point.
It would only be remiss of myself if I thought I was burning a bridge. I have so much respect for BC and if they ex-communnicated me then I would be inconsolable.
The beauty of this site is freedom of opinion.
No story fiction or fact beyond constructivism.
BCTS
I can't get on with FM so well, as it has a deal of pr0n frothing about. I pop in here each day. Now, apart from a couple of "holiday" stories, everything I write is an attempt at realism. I log in, I look down through the new stuff, and surprise, surprise, what I am looking for is stuff to my taste, which is reflected in what I write. Realism.
I skim past the fantasy and retcon stuff, simply because it doesn't speak to me, just as I skim past the ones with tags such as "sissy" or "femdom" as they are not my dish of cawl. The point that has already been made is simple: every day I log in, there is something for me to read. If I don't want to follow the sex change adventures of The Mighty Atomium, I don't have to read them, just as I don't have to read anything that contains whips and chains.
That is the delight of coming here, seeing the familiar name listed against a new story and thinking "Oooh!" and with things like the Summer Holiday competition we have all sorts of delights to pick over.
Now, some of you familiar names, off your backsides and write!
WTF
WebDeb there are more than retcon stories here at Bigcloset TopShelf. To zero in on them as the reason for preferring FM is your choice, but I hope that you will continue to come here.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
O_o
>>>>Now I think it has moved away from reality too much. <<<<
I've never understood this mode of thought regarding this genre of writing.
At what degree of realism should all of the authors aspire to?
Almost by nature, TG fiction is going to unrealistic.
Popular Example: Regular guy puts on his girlfriend's clothes and slaps on a little makeup then poof, she a hot/cute/stunning/etc. girl that fools everyone!
Then there's this one:
>>>>>Due to the lowering quality of realism on this site I feel myself gravitaing to FM...<<<<
O_o Really?
Just for giggles, I went over to the last full day something was posted (3 days ago) to get a sample of the genres that are prevalent at the moment. I'm extrapolating the genre from the summaries and keywords only. I haven't read them, so if you want to find out exactly what they are then you'll have to read them yourself.
2- Sci-Fi
1- Magic
2- Heavy XXX Porn (probably highly unrealistic)
1- unknown, but it looks kind of sci-fi'ish
Then I checked out the front page of BCTS (using the same criteria)and found 9 (non-sci-fi, magic, etc)and 5 (sci-fi, magic, etc. Two of which are retcon.) stories on it's last full day of postings (yesterday).
Exactly what criteria are you using to come to your conclusion? I'm boggled. If anything, there is a preponderance of "realistic" stories.
I get that the "Universe" stories aren't everyone's cup of tea. Personally, I can't see the attraction to a lot of them myself, but the deal is, they're (Several universes) here and at FM. There are people that like to read them, and there are authors that like to write them.
~Lili
Blog: http://lilithlangtree.tglibrary.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lilith_langtree
~Lili
Write the story that you most desperately want to read.
FM has it too
If i remember correctly FM has a comic ret-con as well done by "Morpheus" i haven't kept track of it lately but i remember reading at least 8-10 of them
im not big on comics either, but i'm no fan of "reality". i Love sci-fi and Magic, but what i enjoy the most is seeing other people's imaginations spark, unfold and present them to us for a 10-30 min read. To say that one Site is better than another is simply an Opinion, personally i prefer it here at Bigcloset because it's not dripping with XXX material written for the sole sake of being trashy.
Bye
No one is forcing you to stay and read on any site. You might try Nifty and Literotica also.
A matter of perception
Several commenters above have broken down the prevalence of stories by themes to show that the great majority
of tale here aren't Retcon and "sci-fi". And yet if you'd asked me yesterday I would've said they were.
I think the reason for this perce[tion is what stands out when you scroll the front page:
The superhero stories have all the eye-catching graphics, foxy women in tight colorful
costumes, while the real life-ish stories often don't have any picture at all.
I think that's what that's all about, especially if these sorts of pictures
irritate a person with their blatant unrealism...
My only retcon to date, an INCREDIBLE HULK story, died at midpoint when I realised I hated the big moron
(you don't see the orange rock guy from FANTASTIC 4 carrying on like that!) and making him a girl didn't
help much at all. But there is one DC comics character I love, and can relate to to a frightening degree,
neither super nor a hero but sort of the ultimate co-dependant, who it'd be simple enough to retcon into
transgender psychology student Harlan Quinn, who after being taken hostage by a wacky and flamboyant
bank-robber goes all gooey for the big Bozo, and he teaches her to surrender to her angry rampaging
sociopathic side (and to really get back at her abusive parents) in ..... NATURAL BORN JOKERS.
~hugs, Veronica
And remember...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifLqzLEB3E0
I can see that. The
I can see that. The marketing of a story (Picture, Summary, Title, Keywords, etc.) is what pulls me into reading what it's all about. I'll have to say the "real'ish" stories you mentioned above do have pics. I just scanned the front page to see what you were talking about. A number of them do have something, just not as flashy as a person in spandex, I admit. And there are a few that don't have anything at all: no summary, no picture, very few keywords, just a title.
How about this thought as well: The retcons stand out because they are retcons. They're part of a universe and are identified as such, so they're clumped together as a single thought. If you had a labeled listing that clumped the real'ish stories under a single "The Real Universe by XXXXXX XXXXXX, et al." You'd identify them just as much as retcons.
I think there's a keyword or theme for Real World, but it's not really used all that often, well, in comparison to the others I mean.
Then you have another mode of thought: "I hate retcons.I hate Crossdressing stories. I hate Sci-fi stories. I hate magic stories." So it stands out more because you (not you, just you in general) don't like them. "There's another one, there's another one, there's another one. They're taking over my interwebs!!!! Save me Ceiling Cat!" :)
Except they're really not. It's like a book store, Ladies and Gentlemen; you have your favorite section that you like to check out. You also have the option to click on a keyword or theme to limit those choices here at BCTS. You can click on it and it'll list all the stories in your favorite genre... if the author's label it properly that is, in a format similar to the front page.
~Lili
Blog: http://lilithlangtree.tglibrary.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lilith_langtree
~Lili
Write the story that you most desperately want to read.
Highs and lows
I have also notice what others have been saying but in a different way. The highs and lows of what type of stories do appear. When Lilith first did the Center universe and opened it up to everyone there was an influx of stories. The say is true with the Retcon stories.
My opinion is that people flock to these as a release from the real life that surrounds us. I like to read stories that can take me away from reality, especially when my day is tiring and have to do the same old grind each day. Its refreshing, relaxing and enjoyable in most cases.
I've read all type of stories here and while some do not fit my needs, I tend to wait until a story comes along to give me that fix I need.
This is not to say that I don't go out and buy books also.
To me (and I'm not trying to bash FM) its hard to find any stories on FM that fill what I'm looking for.
We only see a snapshot of what this site has to offer on a daily basis but look at the whole year and I think you'll find that Sci-Fi or fantisy for that matter is over used here.
Real World Stories, 3000+ in a year, count them!
Here's a link: A Year of Real World Stories. There are over 3000 of them. In the same period, there were about 2300 that were some sort of SF/Fantasy/Superhero/Transformation. Some of the transformation stories are not SF or Fantasy but I filtered them out anyway.
Only about 40% of the site at any time is Fantasy oriented. People who complain about this proportion kind of annoy me. Since there are 50% more Real World Stories than fantastic ones, what exactly is the problem? It's perception.
I think you WON'T find that fantastic themes and genres are over-used at BC if you actually look at what is posted instead of guessing.
Sometimes people at FM complain about this, too or that there are too many crossdressing stories. There are temporary over supplies from time to time, but the actual proportions at BOTH sites are about the same over any period longer than a month or so.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
The last part should have
The last part should have said as follows: "We only see a snapshot of what this site has to offer on a daily basis but look at he whole year and I think you'll find that Sci-Fi or fantasy for that matter is 'Not' over used here.
One simple word forgotten.
My apologies to Erin.
Horses for courses
Different people have different tastes. Some prefer one thing, some another. If you have a very specific taste in story, you may prefer FM - although in my experience general random browsing is trickier, and even if it wasn't there's a lot of forced fem and erotica there, which definitely aren't my cup of tea!
The RetCons have picked up a significant following - perhaps at least because with many of them, because they're being written in prosaic form rather than graphical form, allows for more character development. There have been a significant number of "major" characters recently, but there are also a few minor ones, whose powers aren't so bold and brash. Within that, we've had the "chip slavery" story arc, which has at its core a very macabre TG twist on the Stepford Wives concept.
In the early days of the Retcons (and Center universe) there were numerous stories being released each day, which lead to complaints that they were clogging up the front page. However, presently there's usually only one or two per day, compared to oodles more of different types.
As an example, in the last week alone I've read episodes of Bike, Sarah Carrera, At Last 'A Life', How I Became A Girly Girl, My Mistake, You Have It All Wrong, Becoming Robin, Boys Don't Cry, Catwalk Confidence, Simon(e), God Save The Queen... they're all "real world"(ish) and with the exception of Bike don't contain any supernatural stuff.
There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't...
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!