Typical BE authors compare expository structures during a story discussion in The Plume

I have been having to keep a low profile ever since our illustrious editor gonZo told the staff to go "kick some ass". You know what it's like having about 20 guys trying to kick you? Well, it's not fun! Why couldn't he have said "go kiss some ass" instead? Wait... we have guys on the staff; that won't work either! Well, after a fifth of whiskey, St. Stephan looks kind of cute, but that's it. Then again...NO! YUCK! Boobs; we need to talk about BOOBS. Gosh, what is this, an autobiography? I was born very young. All I recalled happening is that after I was born, the doctor looked at me and then slapped my mother. Oh, not that kind of boob story. FINE!

Say, speaking of flame wars, have you seen The Plume at BEArchive lately? You are missing a mighty fine one if you haven't! You know, there was talk on the General bulletin board at BEA stating that anything written in The Plume was condemned to "oblivion". Oddly, it doesn't strike me as oblivion when there's a full scale nuclear war in progress at that location. It's a pretty polite flame war, but a glow-in-the-dark radioactive one, anyway.

'Tis a fun flame war though. You will find people upset over furries, transgender, transculture, and other plot elements. Furries? Yes, Furries. You see, the BEA also has an Addventure section. It works just like a "which-way" book, but the reader becomes the author. It started some time back with a single entry from Mark T about Jim waking up in his bed. From there, you got a couple of choices (like Jim gets out of bed, or Jim stays in bed). You choose one or the other, and that links you to what happens next to Jim. It could be that what happens next is a blank page, at which point you can write what happens next to Jim, and add your own set of options at the end of what you wrote Then the next person completes your choices, and can add his or her own choices. The Addventure becomes a "never-ending story". The focus of this Addventure is BE (Breast Expansion).

Then again, it still needs a story! When every link is "her boobs get bigger", eventually her boobs wind up bigger than the planet (and of course there is one of those storylines within it), and the story stops. So there need to be a few story elements that don't involve BE. That's where the flame war in The Plume comes from. It seems some folks like their characters morphed into creatures of some kind with hair all over their bodies (aka furries), or have males changed into buxom females (transgender), or have characters change race (transculture), or whatever, limited only by the writers' imaginations. These ancillary elements have caused some people to take umbrage, and --in the spirit of tolerance-- to add bits that either kill or tweak the storylines, to the immense dissatisfaction of the original authors. There are hundreds of story lines at this point, so killing a "thread" doesn't stop the entire story. Anyhow, people are arguing the pros and cons of all this in The Plume, so you'll find substance rather than "oblivion" there, and you'll also have the Addventure --another fun area of BEA-- to explore.

Then again, speaking of MONEY! I like money. You can buy boobs with money, in more ways than one. If you get over to The Plume, you will see how you can actually make money at the BEA!* Imagine, big boobs for your enjoyment and profit! And who doesn't profit from big boobs?

So you got your flame wars and your money-making opportunities, not to mention the opportunity to chat with many of the famous (oops, mistake) infamous authors of BE stories right there at The Plume.

There are people who do not read the General Board. They exclusively read The Plume, so you will find people there with whom you have not chatted before. There is more to life than your philosophy Horatio, if you think nobody goes to The Plume because you don't go to The Plume.

Still, let's give the devil his due. The Plume has fewer posts and less to read than the General board. But why wouldn't it? The purpose of The Plume is for authors to discuss their work, review stories, or make comments about the writing activity at the BEA. This is a rather focused activity, and does not generate the volume of entries found on the General board.

I guess it turns out like this: if you want an opportunity to perhaps make some money at the BEA, and to find in-depth discussion about the appropriateness of Furries, then you gotta get over to The Plume!

:-P
~Bad Irving

*- Oh, you want me to explain HOW to make money at BEA? For that, go to The Plume and read about it!