The Island: Changing Terms

By AJ

When we  started writing the TI stories several years ago, we needed terms for the roles that our characters portrayed. After discussion with our writing partner at that time, we agreed on Top and Brat. Top was a common term for the role we had in mind and we knew that several discipline stories used Brat as a term of affection so it seemed like a good choice.

However, as time went by,  we started having second thoughts. The common definitions of the word Brat and the common connotations of that term do not fit the stories that we write, especially in the TI Universe.

Our characters are not "a child, especially a spoiled or ill-mannered one" or "a sub who tries to get the attention of a Dom/me by stirring up trouble".  They're not subs or bottoms or inferior to the 'Top' in anyway.

We also feel that the statement "brats have no sense. tops have too much. tops try to spank sense into brats. sense lasts until brat can sit comfortably again" goes against everything we believe in. It in no way reflects the relationships that we have carefully crafted and defined in our writing.

But the biggest drawback in these terms is that we couldn't imagine the characters on TI, especially Gunther and Erich coming up with them. They might possibly choose Top but there would be no logical reason for them to choose the term Brat.

Therefore, we've decided to change the terms we use in our TI universe.

Normally, once we post something we consider it canon for our stories but, after a lot of thought and discussion, we've decided to make an exception here. There doesn't seem to be any logical way to change them within canon. Having the TI admin decide to make changes wouldn't work because we don't write the stories in chronological order. We feel trying to co-mingle the terms would quickly lead to chaos and leave everyone totally confused, including us.

Our solution was to write a new Gunther/Eric story. We feel that as the founders of The Island it's only appropriate that they announce the new titles, as well as their explanation for them. At the same time we are replacing 'Top' and 'Brat' with the new titles in all of our TI stories.

Thank you for your patience and understanding and we hope that the new terms quickly become as familiar as the old ones.

AJ

Please note: This refers only to our version of the TI Universe. What Dash decides to do in his version is up to him.