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Well! I have to thank the comments made by Kristina,Susan,Bailey and Lindale.
Kristina's observation that BC is a more 'feminine site' than some other TG sites gives gives me an intersting insight into the sort of readership that comprises possibly the majority of devotees of BC.
The other observation about readers preferring to read of empowerment through the trials and tribulations of transgenderism is an interesting insight.
I like to think that my stories cover a very wide range of of transgendered themes though untill Sissy farm, I tended to stay away from fetishistic material. It seems to be a bit of a no-no on BC. I must say, I'm not a fetishist myself unless you call transvetism a fetish, and I do not!
An example of empowerment through adversity is Space tran and that was my first ever story posted to the internet. I've often considered going back to Space Tran and re-writing it in the light of what I've learned since those early days. However, I'm too busy with the 'Angry Mermaid at present.
For the moment, I'm busy with these two stories so little else will happen but the continued postings.
OK, I hear you all saying Sissy farm is a big turn off but I believe we should have variety on BC so I'll persevere in the face of much adversity.
Thanks for the comments though (and I mean it) because it'll give me some idea of where to go with future stories.
Oh, By the way! Does anybody have any original ideas for making a young boy transgendered. I don't want to use |Nancy and Persephone's idea of a sword play accident exposing the true female condition because that's already been done in Elfidre, (By Nancy and Persephone.) nor do I want to resort to magic or some such supernatural device.
Ideas welcome please if I'm to successfully create a transgendered version of the angry mermaid.
For information purposes, the hero Drustan (a celtic boy circa 300 AD shortly after the Roman retreat from Britain,) is forced to flee with his twin sister and older sister from the advancing norsemen. He has built a boat which more by accident than design is incredibly fast and seaworthy. So far after encounters with a norse pirate jarl named Blueface in Cornwall and a couple of Corsair pirate ships near the pillars of Hercules (Gibralta,) Drustan already has some spectacular scars from battles and he is not yet 15. I's a bit like a waterborn juvenile 'Conan the Barbarian' except he is only a boy with a boat and two vulnerable sisters for whom he feels responsible. He's trying to get his 19 year old sister Aiofe to Carthage where her betrothed awaits her. After that who knows where the story will go.
Any ideas as to how I can effect a sex change or some other TG angle to the re-write.
Thanks.
Bev.
Cheers for Now.
Beverly.
Comments
Ideas...
First of all, the low counts for Sissy Farm might be due to the subject matter - but then again, if nobody liked the subject matter, StaceyInLove and Vickie Tern wouldn't have an audience. So perhaps it could just as easily be those who've either read it before on FM or (like me) have been naughty and read ahead on FM...
As for your story idea, perhaps after acquiring the battle scars, Drustan realises that he can't survive many more AND get his sisters to safety. The dressing could initially be a disguise - three teen girls attracting less interest from warriors than two girls and a boy - but he still keeps is sword / weapon handy, just in case...
From that point on, you're probably entering the realm of TG Tropes - the sisters may relate to him better en femme, he finds pretending to be a girl a lot more pleasurable than living up to the ideals of manhood, and perhaps even after spending so much time with his sisters en route, doesn't want to leave / abandon them again to go back to the male lifestyle of more battles and bloodshed from which he may not return - even though they're relatively safe.
EAFOAB Episode Summaries
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
A BC No-No?
Where are the rules posted about what is acceptable as a story topic and what isn't?
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
I'm pretty sure she just
I'm pretty sure she just meant that the loudest people on BC don't like those types of stories. We all know that the vocal minority will always speak for the majority.
I don't think it's about rules ...
... so much as it's about what the people who come to BCTS like a lot and what they don't like (or like not so much).
Nobody's saying Beverly can't post whatever she likes - the closet door is, after all, wide open, and there's always room. But, as the Sages say, if you build it and they don't come, you're obviously NOT Kevin Costner. *smile*
In any case, a previous commenter is probably correct - some folks DO skip over to FM and read ahead if they like something posted here that was already posted there. I did that with Crescent City. *grin* So that could be why the numbers are down.
As for me, I stopped reading Sissy Farm around part 3 when I realized there would eventually be lots of forced sissification, which is definitely not something I'm particularly fond of -- and who needs to go looking for things to get upset about? *smile*
Randa
Let's see....
1. The witch Circe turned a bunch of men into pigs, which wasn't exactly magic, nor terribly spectacular when you think about it, but it's a start. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circe
2. Ianthe married Iphis, who was raised as a boy because his father hated girls. Isis changed her into a man so she could marry her true love. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iphis -- Mind you, this went the other way.
3. When the Scythians plundered the Temple of Venus at Askelon and raped the Priesteses, Venus Castinata turned them all into women. "The Scythians who plundered the temple were punished by the goddess with the female sickness, which still attaches to their posterity. They themselves confess that they are afflicted with the disease for this reason, and travelers who visit Scythia can see what sort of a disease it is. Those who suffer from it are called Enarees." — The Histories, I, 105. Herodotus.
4. Marry Emperor Nero. He's supposed to have had one of his male slaves castrated and turned into a woman so he could marry properly. This may or may not be true.
Cheers,
Puddin'
-
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
Why?
It sounds like an interesting story as is, so why force yourself into a TG rewrite of it? Not everything has to be transgendered-focused to be a good story, after all, and if it's problems with places to post it, well, BC does offer an option under the labels of "non-TG story by TG author," so you could always just use that label on it.
Besides, it sounds like a story where any kind of TG transformation to the main character would make it fall under the "forced femme" label to a lot of the readership here, which would cause you a lot more trouble with some of them than even the "sissy" label does. And if you're just wanting to expand the range of stories on the site, then there's far less non-TG stories here than any other kind!
If you really want to write a TG adventure story, don't cut up something else that, in all honesty, sounds like it works much better without a TG element just to add one in. Instead, work on a story with the TG element in mind from the beginning, otherwise it will feel just like what it is -- tacked on.
If you want an idea for a story, I had one a while back I'm never going to use that you're free to utilize. I called it "The Curious Case of Georgie Fitzgerald," and it's about a young boy who receives a rather dubious blessing from a gypsy woman that results in every time he does a good deed, he becomes more beautiful. The idea was for it to be a series of short adventures chronicling the various events throughout his life that eventually result in him becoming a beautiful young woman, kind of a combination of Nancy Drew with a fairy tale, and though my idea had been for the story to be set in the fifties, it could be set any time.
If you're interested, let me know!
Melanie E.
Idea
Here's a possibility:
There's a unseasonable storm that lasts for several days, and everything is soaked. Younger sister comes down with a fever. Older sister realizes that she still has dry clothes in her wedding chest, and she insists that her brother wear one of her dresses, lest he get sick too. He turns the boat toward land in hope that they can find some way of getting help for their sister. In the morning, they anchor the boat and he wades to shore. He's too protective of his sister to make her go seek help, so he has to do it himself. Sister makes our hero keep his dress on and teaches him how to hike his skirt so it doesn't get wet. He's really embarrassed, so she plucked his sparse facial hairs and told him to pretend to be a girl. Maybe one of the battle scars he's already got was a throat wound, so his Adam's apple isn't as noticeable.
He eventually finds some women tending a flock of goats. He tells them his sister is sick, and asks where he can get help. They fetch some more women, and he leads them all back to where he left the boat, and he discovers it mired in the mud of a dry riverbed. The women tell him it was only the recent flash flood that had caused the river to fill, and they didn't expect the river to run again until the spring thaw. They unload the boat, but it still won't budge. The women offer to let the "girls" stay with them, and they reluctantly agree, especially since the sick one needs tending.
It turns out the women are pagan priestesses (or possibly early Christian nuns) who live secluded from society in an all-female enclave. By the time the siblings learn this it's too late, so they decide to maintain the charade.
Then there's an incident where the fake girl accidentally walks into the corner of a table and winces in pain. "Her" sister covers by saying that "she" gets really bad cramps. One of the older women says she has a remedy for the pains of the moon's curse, and she mixes a brew of something like maiden's wort and valerian root boiled in the urine of a pregnant goat by moonlight. It tastes horrible, but he's backed into a corner and can't refuse to drink it. She makes him take it daily for a couple months, to make sure that it worked.
So he's getting some minor hormone changes, like loss of muscle tone and preliminary breast growth, and when he notices it he thinks it's some kind of sorcery, but every trick he tries to avoid taking the potion fails. When his sister is better, he decides they're going to flee. But before that happens, he is accidentally discovered, and the women are furious that a man desecrated their holy place. They decide to castrate him like they do to uncontrollable billy goats, and then flog him to death. But when they strip him down for punishment, they see his budding breasts and take it as a miracle and a sign to spare his life. Perhaps the wise woman knew all along, and makes him keep taking the potion.
In the spring when the river rises again, the three sisters are finally able to get their boat back out to sea and continue their journey.
Words/Names That Hurt.
With all due respect, I believe that the term "sissy," for many people, is an offensive name or term that is used to hurt, and engenders bad feelings in the TG community, much the same way the "N" word is distasteful to people of African American descent, or "Injun" is to Native Americans. Thus the lack of comment/reads on your latest story.
Operating under the theory that writing is mostly considered above such hurtful feelings, or is at least supposed to be, being "art," while I agree with your right to write a story using that word, but I will not read it or comment on it's content, since I believe in the old adage: "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."
When one attempts to use words or concepts that are distasteful to others, one takes the risk of losing the audience to which they might otherwise be accustomed to attracting to their other works, or even engendering distaste or even hatred amongst those to whom the term is distasteful or insulting. Since the word "sissy" has been used as a term of derision against many who are TG/TV/CD/TS, I can understand that any story using that word might be unpalatable to the greater amount of readers and commenters who might normally be expected to read a story from an author who, otherwise has enjoyed success with other stories.
While I can respect the creative process that might take an author into the territory of risk by using hateful terminology, I too find the word particularly onerous and distasteful and, hence, I do not read stories which utilize those words that are designed to hurt one's feelings.
I hope my comment does not insult you in any way, for that was not my intent. I merely felt that I might express an explanation of sorts to help define the reasons why your story has, seemingly, engendered a lack of interest among the readers.
Again, I DO defend your right to use whatever words or concepts you deem appropriate to help tell your stories, but you must expect disinterest or even vitriol for having done so.
Respectfully,
Catherine Linda Michel
As a T-woman, I do have a Y chromosome... it's just in cursive, pink script.
Like the community
The use of the word within the 'community' tends to be less disparaging than use by those outside it. Just as the 'N' word is freely used by African-Americans but not acceptable from outside.
'Sissies' are part of the pantheon of alternate life styles and transgender folks. Some portion of folks revel in the name and all that it signifies - as long as they are the ones using the term. So stories about them in which 'sissification' is practiced are not that far out of the realm. I think many of those that object to the word sissy still find the clothes and descriptions endearing and you really can't have it both ways. The line between 'sissy' and 'pretty little girl' is often blurred and sometimes there is movement from one to the other.
The use of the word 'sissy' is MUCH more derogatory when it's used to describe a boy or young man simply because of the way he looks or acts than those who actually tend in that direction. It's really not that much different from the use of 'tomboy' to describe certain girls. The difference is in a male oriented society the use of one is designed to denigrate someone who doesn't come up to 'masculine' standards while in some ways the other is less pejorative because striving towards a bit of masculinity is not necessarily a bad thing
Commentator
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sort of amusing
Vocal minorities.... rules... where did Bev or my earlier comment or any of the others say that? It's just what works or what may not work as well. I tried to give a few thoughts as to why I thought things went that way. Stacy in Love and Vickie Tern.... the stories here of late are reposts of older stories and generally don't get huge comments. Vickie Tern is a great writer and very generous to 'talk' to but even her latest things on FM are getting lots of... oh I wish you'd try something new... type comments. Tastes evolve and change.
I recall a story not long ago here, it featured the S word prominently, first as a sort of self derision then as a sisterly bond. I thought it was great, yet comments focussing on that word... well the story didn't get posted any further. I have touched on bondage and dominance a little and got reasonable comments, so it's sort of how you go at it. But I still didn't expect gangbusters, I'm just not sweet enough.
Anyone within reason can post whatever they wish, just don't expect huge responses if you step too far from the main game here. Always exceptions but as generalities go, I'll stand by that one. Anyone want to disagree? Feel free, I'm no great sage, just a slightly stroppy feeling nutjob that scribbles now and then. Who am I to have an opinion.
Kristina
It's just personal tastes
really for me really, I actually liked Skipper quite a bit although I'm not finished reading it yet. It's a good story though.
Bailey Summers
Up The Flagpole
To my mind, there are two ways to look at the story popularity issue. One is, run it up the flagpole and see who salutes, so to speak.
The other, to decide whether you're writing primarily for an audience or for yourself, and how much audience appreciation and affirmation you need if you're writing for yourself. If the latter and the response doesn't meet your needs, then shop around for a more appreciative venue. On the other hand, if you're writing to garner an audience, you have the age-old entertainment industry task of figuring out what they respond to, and meeting or exceeding their expectations. Judging from all the flops on Broadway, this is no easy task.
Achelles
According to legend, Achelles was raised as a girl to keep him from dying young after his mother had recieved a prophisy. Odessus found him out in the Illiad, and broght him to the battle of Troy, where he was killed. Just a thought, but since prophets and such were very seriously followed, maybe it is predicted, and he can either try and fight Fate or accept it?
According to my memory
Achilles was raised as a warrior all right but was disguised as a woman when the recruiters came. However, a commotion was stirred by claiming an attack on the palace was commencing and, being the warrior he is, Achilles took a sword and ran to the sounds. And the disguise failed.
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!
Achilles as Pyrrha
There are several ways to deal with this issue. One who be having the protagonist raised as a boy until puberty, at which time the onset of menstruation causes the sisters to take the heroine to a healer who discovers the truth and clears away the blockage much as Tanya Allen did in her story, "The Hard Way." Roman surgeons did have skills that were lost and did not reappear in Europe until the 1700-1800s.
Below is some old research material on Achilles I used when digging about for the book, 'No Greater Love.'
Nancy Cole
Achilles disguised as a girl
Achilles, they say, would not accept to be dressed like a girl, no matter how much her mother worked on his rough heart, until he noticed that this was the only way to come closer to the king's daughter Deidamia 1. Having accepted the looks of a girl, he was presented by Thetis to the king as Achilles' sister. And the king swallowed the lie, for a mortal cannot avoid being deceived by a deity. But some have thought that the story of Achilles disguised under the name Pyrrha in Scyros is absurd, and argue that Achilles lived in that island because he had conquered it.
Achilles' true identity discovered, (Various version of this part of the story)
When war approached, the trick of Achilles being his own sister was discovered by Odysseus, who, for the purpose of revealing Achilles' true identity, used a trumpet. He reasoned that a girl would not react to its sound as a man does.
He was found out, however, by Odysseus, Ajax the great and Phoenix, who arrived disguised as a peddler with trinkets and weaponry. Achilles was marked out from the other women by admiring the wrong goods. Alternatively, he was found out by a blast of the trumpet, whence instead of cowering he grabbed a spear to ward off the attackers.
Thetis, mother to Achilles sent her son to King Lycomedes's court when he was nine and presented to the king as Achilles' sister. There he dressed as a girl and was brought up among the daughters of Lycomedes It is thought the boy went under the name "Pyrrha" (the red-haired girl). Thetis preferred to have her son live a long inglorious life rather then that risk the ravages of war.
According to this story, Odysseus learns from the prophet Calchas that the Achaeans would be unable to capture Troy without Achilles' aid. Odysseus goes to Skyros in the guise of a peddler selling women's clothes and jewelry and places a shield and spear among his goods. When Achilles instantly takes up the spear, Odysseus sees through his disguise and convinces him to join the Greek campaign. In another version of the story, Odysseus arranges for a trumpet alarm to be sounded while he was with Lycomedes' women; while the women flee in panic, Achilles prepares to defend the court, thus giving his identity away.
"You may be what you resolve to be."
T.J. Jackson
TG fiction is a big umbrella
I've always seen it as a two part answer which goes to the core of the relationship between author and reader.
The first part is (as mentioned earlier) what is the reason for your writing. If it's for your own pleasure, who cares if no one reads or comments? You've achieved your aim already by writing a story you've enjoyed. If it's for others to read primarily then you have to tailor to your audience. And that may mean that what goes well on one TG site will fall below the radar on another depending on how the audience breaks down.
The second part is the what the reader wants to read. Factors such as the quality of the writing, the quality of the concept and the preconceptions of the reader come into play here. How much emphasis is placed on these factors determines whether a reader will read the story and this is where the story tags come into play.
For example, I will often go for a concept over perfect spelling and grammar. As a matter of personal choice I won't read stories with certain tags either. As a reader I don't get a say in what is posted (that's down to the site rules) and I think it's right that way. As a reader though I do have a choice in what I read. In the case of the 'S' word, it's a word I personally find very offensive so I choose not to read a story based around it.
That doesn't mean that I won't read something else of yours in the future if it (a) contains a concept that interests me and (b)the right tags that interest me.
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
I always avoid stories…
…with the word “sissy†in the title like the plague. I also avoid stories by people who include Sissy in their name. Okay, I'm a bigotted cow.
Morag
Do you mean...
Allow the transgendered boy to transition? I don't believe one can "force" a person to be transgendered...
So, assuming the child is apparently male, but has successfully hiding that she's really a girl inside... You have several possibilities - for back in that time frame:
1) Androgen insensitivity. That could happen back then as much as now.
2) Kidnapped by "bad guys"... Kid acts up & they decide to "settle him down" removing his "maleness".
3) If the child has a relatively small stature, let him fight with being mistaken as his sister. & then someone have the idea to make him hide. Why? Maybe someone's looking for the three (boy & 2 girls) while he might not be recognized when three girls are found.
Good luck,
Anne
P.S. I also tend to avoid stories with the term "sissy". Perhaps I'm missing something good, but the name has connotations (associated with literature) that just aren't "me". I wonder if it was seeing the effect of the word being used on people...