TMZ story codes
Here's a little more explanation about how these website-specific story codes are used to flag my episodes. (I never expected to post this much TM shit...)
FTM = Ticklers who are apparently female. If they're invisible, I'm not sure how we can be certain... These TM's sure sound as if they're female.
FV = There is somebody getting tickled who is female.
MUL = More than one person getting tickled, simultaneously or one at a time. Several episodes say or imply that there are multiple victims, but I flagged only those which describe actual tickling of more than one victim.
NCO = The TM ain't talkin'. Not out loud, so the victim can hear it. Not within his head, either. No conversations, no answers to his questions... Oh, there's almost always hints and visual taunts to make the experience that much worse for the victim. But I think that when a TM uses props and papers heavily, or goes to great lengths to be responsive to what the victim says, that counts as "direct" communication. (Tickling him harder is one response, but it's not a high-level dialogue.)
FUT = Careful here - this code is for episodes that take place in the future (even, say, twenty years out) or have considerably advanced technology, possibly including mecha.
PAS = Episodes which occur in the past. I picked an arbitrary cutoff of about fifty years prior, but more often it means "ancient past". Some of the time-bending episodes may have an event in the past, but if most of the action is later than, oh, 1951, I left this code off.
SUR = (I know, "all this TM stuff is preposterous." Stick around, ace - the future's here.) The TM displays abilities way beyond anything we know to manipulate space, time or matter. Not all episodes set in the future are "bizarre or fantastic" - some have ordinary enough settings. And not all surrealistic episodes involve technology. Sometimes it's just extremely mysterious or weird.
MC = Mind control. I used this code whenever the episode includes any kind of irresistible power to make the victim do what the TM wants. Among other things, it can include changing the victim's thoughts, desires or his memory (sometimes with gadgets), as well as seizing control of his brain or his limbs. Contrast it with simple physical force (the TM being stronger, dragging the captive into a room and tying him up).
TRI = Usually, somebody else's story or illustration "reminded me of an TM episode I heard about, once..." I've tried not to lift anything longer than a phrase from the original story, and I try to rewrite every sentence. But if the action sounds really familiar, it was probably "informed" by someone else's creativity. At least one episode is a continuation of where another author's story left off (with that writer's permission), and that's often the case for illustrations... where I write about a "similar" predicament and the events that immediately surround it. I don't know about you, but most of these episodes grew out of a "snapshot", kinda like a seed, and I continue to appreciate the effort and the courage of those who were posting their TK-stories and art on the internet before I started (in 1992).
NDA = No mandatory drug or alcohol use - except maybe a sedative, or choloroform, used only to kidnap the victim. Alluded to, in some other episodes, but not "enjoyed". (Oh well, there's always next time.)
NS = No forced smoking. (Tobacco.) Oh, it might be there and off to the side, before the victim is captured. But it's not part of the action, really. I'm using this code in reference to the events rather than the victim - so the episodes with smokers who are forced to abstain and are really ranting about how bad they want one, and those with smokers getting mercilessly teased about it without being allowed to smoke, are not flagged with 'NS'.
NTK = No tickling. There's more of these than I thought. I've written somewhere else that I get a big ol' kick out of all the things leading up to the first tactile contact - when an ordinary day takes that staggering turn for the... weird.