Okay okay. I admit. I've hardly read it all. I probably haven't even scratched the surface when it comes to what's out there to read. The problem is that most of it, doesn't appeal to me. I often even start reading a story, and then a few chapters in I'm like. Meh! Usually only because the main character suddenly starts fawning over guys. Yes I know. Kind of a lame reason to suddenly not like a story. That's just me though.
I want a story with an actually transformation from guy to girl and this character has to end up (still) only liking girls. No preference for the mechanics behind the transformation, just that there is an actual and complete transformation. There doesn't even have to be any actual romance. That's just 2 things I wish to see in a gender bender story. Unfortunately for me, it seems that that only leaves a small percentage of all the stories written.
Anyone else in the same boat as me? Do you feel like you've read every story that appeals to you? Or do you just not have any reading preferences?
Another thing. There are exceptions of course. "Somewhere Else Entirely" comes to mind. That story is just so good that I can overlook the fact that Keren is a guy :P. Besides, maybe it's a good thing that I don't like every single story. I wouldn't have the time to read them all. Ah well. First world problems. Anyway. Complain away.
Comments
You're the exact opposite of me
in that lesbian romance tends to be an immediate turn-off to me. That said, there ARE a lot of REALLY GOOD stories that have characters who are only attracted to girls or, at the worst, are bi- with a preference for girls.
Emily is an OLD Sarah Lynn Morgan story that got a lot of praise in its day, and the main character(s) are lesbian.
Or how about Changes by Sue Brown?
These are of course fairly popular stories that you may have already read, but in my experience it seems the current theme runs much more toward lesbian romance than boy-girl romance in stories, hence a general lack of comments/reads on my part.
Melanie E.
I concur as well.
I concur that my preference tends toward heterosexual romance. So that would mean that an MTF would be attracted to males. It seems that FTM folk are not even remotely attracted to me as a female. In my experience they generally still prefer females.
In stories, I do not prefer two males together, though I did read a story in which one of the male characters sort of drifted into the female role.
No reflection at all on anyone, just my preference
Sexuality
I have written a number of things that look at sexuality, and I have done my best to cover as many facets as I can. Something to Declare has two people falling in lust on first sight, and gradually finding their feet as a hetero couple.
Cold Feet has a transwoman who has always been straight, but includes lesbian couples.
The Ride books have a couple who have always been friends when both were 'men', but the real man is strong enough to overcome their history. The books also include a very, very strong lesbian pairing.
Too Little too Late? and Extra Time not only include lesbians, as well as a gay couple, but also centre on a couple who started out as a 'hetero' couple until the 'man' transitions. How does a straight woman cope when her 'man' is really a lesbian?
Melanie, of course, the core of the Sussex stories, was always a lesbian. That is part of her tragedy. The book that I nearly didn't finish, Sweat and Tears, however, is all about someone trying to make a young heterosexual male into a woman. Stevie will not give in, though, and neither will his friends, who include several gay men.
I am not going to stick to a formula if I can help it. I am trying my best to look at as wide a spectrum of human affection as I can, and because I tend not to write 'bedroom' stuff I avoid (I hope) grossing people out. I just like to portray humans who care for other humans.
main character suddenly starts fawning over guys
You wrote that you often don't like a story, "Usually only because the main character suddenly starts fawning over guys." I'm with you. I guess that I want to read stories that validate what's going on in my life. My wife and I are looking forward to our 50th anniversary in a few years and couldn't be more in love. I can honestly say that I love her more each day.
When I was in my late 20s and early 30s, I finally worked at coming to grips with the feminine in my personality. Like many, I had to consider if my need for feminine expression meant I was gay. (Remember, this was the early 70s; we didn't have the internet.) For several months, I ran all the scenarios I could imagine. Me as a top, me as a bottom me as a bi in between. I was even offered an evening with a gay cross-dresser. It was then I decided that I wasn't gay. the very thought did nothing for me; even left me feeling a little creepy when it was a real possibility.
I know that for much of the T community Tri-Ess is in disfavor, but for me, Tri-Ess validated me. Heterosexual Trans-people.
Like you I want to read stories about people like me.
My wife is fully aware of my feminine nature and, if you read my blog you'll see, she is about as accepting of my nature as a woman, who was raised Catholic and initially opposed to any interaction with my feminine side, could be.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
Light the blue touch paper and stand back!
Experience suggests that once someone starts taking hormones there is no way of guessing how their sexuality will develop. Even now years later I'm slightly grossed by guy-on-guy and girl-on-girl descriptions despite in real life having both gay and lesbian friends.
As I have similar racial reactions whilst living a very multiracial life it seems my prejudices were learnt not genetic. I know it is not just me as I've noticed in modern movies authority figures are very often of a different race to the intended audience presumably because we've learnt to distrust our own
Rhona McCloud
My preferences aren't quite
My preferences aren't quite as extreme, as I have read and enjoyed many stories with the protagonist ending up into boys. However, them ending up lesbian is definitely my preference. Try reading stuff by Poetheather and Elsbeth and some of the stuff by Amethyst--some of these have protagonists with some attraction towards boys, but others don't, and in all they're mainly lesbian.
Stories that appeals to me
Personally, my preferences are romantic MTF (F on M) and lesbians (whether MTF or simple bent). The stories that fit my preference is few and far in between, so I ended up writing my own stories, because I couldn't wait for someone else to write it. Recently I've been reading lots of lesbian mangas, including one where sisters fell in love with each other. Oh yes, I'm into lesbian incest too.
For some reason I just can't stomach gay stories. I can read crossdressing gay stories, but outright gay is a definite no-no for me, even if it's romantic. Yaoi genre is genre that doesn't appeal to me in general, though there are a few exceptions.
So you see how it's very hard to find stories that fit my preferences.
I prefer lesbian MtF, too
But if it's well-written and they end up dating men, that's not a dealbreaker :3 I do, however, have a strong negative reaction when protagonists suddenly lose attraction to what they were originally attracted to. I'm cool with them becoming bi or developing new feelings but to suddenly discard old relationships rubs me the wrong way.
Personally, I write what I like and know, which is lesbian and F/M romance :3
Some stories matching your criteria
You probably already know some of these, but a fair number of Morpheus' stories fit your criteria. All, I think, of his stories involve physical transformations, high-tech or magical, and a fair number -- maybe the majority -- end with the transformed person bi or (more often) lesbian. For instance, all but one or two of the Twisted stories and the Burke's Virus stories, several of the Legacy stories, "The Excalibur Principle", and probably many others that don't come to mind at the moment.
Some of Grover's stories fit your criteria, particularly "Who Do That Hoodoo?" if I'm remembering its title correctly.
Some of Bek D. Corbin's protagonists become bi or lesbian after their transformation, though I think the majority of hers are straight. If I recall correctly, the protagonists of "Trading Faces" and "Making the Upgrade", plus Toni Chandler in the Whateley stories, are bi; Harlan/Harley in "The Big Idea" is lesbian when in female form (though she's not female full-time, IIRC).
I seem to recall that Heather O'Malley's main characters tend to be lesbian, though I haven't read them in a long time (her writing style is not to my taste) and I may be misremembering.
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Another
Another story that come to mind is Sleethr's "More than Meets the Eye" here on BigCloset.
If I recall correctly, R.G. Beyer's science fantasy epic "South of Bikini" (on Fictionmania) might suit you as well. Lots of men get tranformed, and some end up straight, some lesbian, some bi.
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