Before I get going, I really did enjoy having a few days away over the Christmas period with Mum and Bessie (her yellow labrador).
However, on arriving back, I discovered the disadvantages of:
a) being a BCTS addict,
b) Going offline for a few days,
c) Reading so many concurrent stories on BTCS...
I've just spent the best part of 3 hours locating and reading all the updates since Christmas Eve to:
Bike
Changes
Eve
Football Girl
Kira
Sarah Carerra
Something Feels Strange
Tamara
The Princess and the Plague
Totally Insane (putting that on the back burner as I've forgotten the plot since September, so will need to skim through the 29 other chapters first!)
Oh, and not forgetting: Skin Horse (!) Good job I haven't started reading Venus Touch, Healing a Princess or Splintered Life yet...
I'm not complaining - it was just scary realising how many stories I'm currently reading here - and of course that doesn't include stories/serials which haven't been updated recently e.g. The Center, Venus Cursed.
Meanwhile, I encountered further symptoms of BCTS addiction as I started reading a physical book given to me at Christmas (Stephen King's "Under the Dome"):
a) I had to remind myself on a few occasions that none of the characters were TG.
b) I idly wondered about potential plot impacts of characters being TG.
Hmm...some of these could make entries in one of those canonical lists you often see scattered around joke sites - "10 signs you're addicted to BCTS..." (perhaps one of the top ones being: first activity on starting computer is to load browser, head to BCTS, and catch up on overnight story updates)
Now, do I look through the Retro Classics that have been posted over the past few days, catch up on events in the Whateley Universe (and the forums) over at Crystal Hall, catch up on other areas of the 'net I inflict my presence on (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, PM Blog), or call it a night and go to bed (perhaps demolishing a chapter or two of Dome before I turn out the light)...? :)
Comments
Canonical List
Hmm...some of these could make entries in one of those canonical lists you often see scattered around joke sites - "10 signs you're addicted to BCTS..." (perhaps one of the top ones being: first activity on starting computer is to load browser, head to BCTS, and catch up on overnight story updates)
OK, here's a start.
Ten signs you're addicted to BCTS:
10. You have an RSS feed configured.
9. You're grumpy if today's installment of Bike is late.
8. ...
Potential Symptoms
Bike Resources
Continuation
3. You PM tha authors of the stories you liked - to point on an inconsistency, to thank for the great story, to ask for a new chapter - and to politely inquire what was the reason for the author's long absence.
2. You can consistently say who is who in which story, given a story title and a name. In fact, you can say a catchphrase associated with this character right off the top of your head. However, IRL you can't match a name to a face.
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
BCTS addiction?
I'd have to agree with Ben, my daily fix of Bike or continuing chapters of other stories (too many to mention right now, I'll compile a list later and that will be incomplete).
I was away for a few days over Christmas at my brother's. Due to a recent home move he didn't have broadband installed yet. I had my 3g dongle but suitable times to access BCTS (or any website) with mother, brother, sister-in-law and 3 children in the area were few and far between.
Of course, Angharad's double posting on Christmas day threw me completely.
Topsy
Mostly Harmless