Ahhh! So lovely to finally see the conclusion of this delightful piece :D It really reminded me of Neil LaBute's "The Shape of Things" but with much more positivity to it. Such a heartfelt departure scene, and great critique of the fact that everyone was cheering for new genitals. I'm a little surprised that our character is fully hetero and not expressing something queer, especially with Rose's influence. Anyway! I was meaning to comment all along, but wanted to see where it actually ended up. Is going back even a viable option? And something still does feel vaguely...non-consensual about all of it. I'm sure in time, though, Emily will find the kind of girl she really is, maybe even take up work helping boys in transition herself!
An odd sort of wrap-up request: Could we maybe get a look in Rose's head about all this? Does she have any feelings of guilt for the manipulative things she did? Is it all just a job to her or does she have a moral feeling that any boy should be a girl? Just a quick re-cap-cap for her before she's off on another assignment...
THANKS as always!!! Can't wait to see more :D - DAGS
Anon- glad you liked it! DAGS- I've not seen 'The shape of things' but having read the wiki page, it sounds good; I'll have to check it out. Emily isn't necessarily straight, per se, if you read closely all the stuff in panel 22 is about how others treat her, rather than her own desires. Her male friends now see her as a potential mate, her female friends as a potential competitor, though yeah, she does seem to go along with the assumption. The whole issue of consent is a really tricky one in a lot of my caps, and to be honest, it's not something I feel entirely comfortable with. Some of my stuff - like the summer camp cap - is entirely consensual, and most of my stuff is miles away from the 'drugged, hypnotised and sex-changed by my ex' stuff you get in a lot of caps, but even so... there's still an element of coercion, of pressure, and manipulation that I obviously (I hope) would in no way endorse in the real world. But the thing is, we're never truly free of coercion, or pressure from others in our world. This story is set in a world which is like our own but has a very different set of assumptions of normal behaviour. Both this story - and the previous, for that matter, start out by saying 'when my mother decided to have me girled' as if that's a perfectly normal thing to happen. Out here in the real world, putting pressure on your teenage son to become a woman - or at least to try it out - isn't okay, but then, neither is telling five year old girls that they should only play with pink toy hoovers and dolls when they might want to play at being engineers instead. The former is a more extreme change, but at least the victim of it is older, and more able to make up their own mind. Part of the reason I write this stuff is because I want to understand it; understand why we are so fascinated by the idea of changing gender, and it seems to me that the idea of coercion is a big part of that - I suspect if you counted up the stories on fictionmania, at least 80% of them would involve significant pressure being put on the victim, and a lot of the rest would involve an accident or virus or some other event that puts the matter beyond the protagonists control. That element of power and control is a fundamental part of TG fiction, for some deep psychological reason that I still haven't figured out yet, and writing this stuff is -in part - my attempt to do so. I hadn't really thought about doing a sequel or spin-off, and I generally create my captions weeks or months before posting them. I agree, though, Rose's motivations are mysterious, though perhaps it might be best left ambiguous. After all, as fans of TG fiction, we're in no position to condemn ambiguity.... :D
I believe coercion/virus/etc is such a central part of TG fiction because of the insecurity involved in accepting it, whether it be just a silly fantasy or real desire or anything inbetween.
That said, I think you do a good job with your coercion and make it a normal part of the world. It's definitely mean for parents to selfishly make such a big decision on their behalf, as parents are want to do with many things, but it could be a lot worse. Compared to those feminism ones in the past, and that The Journey story (which is truly chilling), it makes things a little more interesting than if everything was always willing captions. And definitely more well done than the sea of bimbo captions.
The mention of the 'mind-controlled' Michelle in your Negotiations captions also seemed like a step too far (for the parents), but also had me pretty interested all the same.
Anyways, keep up the good work, always love to see more captions from you.
Well, I see your point, and you're probably right in regard to a lot of people a lot of the time. But if you look at sites like, for example thecominggynarchy.blogspot.com then I think it would be difficult to argue that coercion, domination and humiliation are anything other than rather prominent themes. Equally, if you're acquainted with Freud (or psychoanalysis in general) he argues that (simplifying a lot here) a young boy learns obedience to authority through fear of paternal castration. In Freud's view, a young boy learns that girls don't have penises, concludes that they were castrated, and that he needs to behave himself or the same will happen to him. Freud believed that in the child's fantasy it was the father who was responsible for the castration, but in some versions, IIRC, the mother plays this role. Add to this the fact that sex and power are fundamentally related anyway (see any S&M, the aphorism 'power is the ultimate aphrodisiac', etc,etc) and I hope you'll appreciate why I think that power and coercion are a key ingredient of TG fantasy. I'm glad you think I make it work in my stories, though, and that you enjoyed The Journey and Negotiations, and I hope I can continue to create caps you enjoy.
I just realized it has been just over a year since I started reading your blog.
I stumbled upon your blog and was faced with "The Au Pair - Part Two" as the latest post. I was immediately hooked on the story and read most of your blog in less than a day. And waiting for part Three wasn't easy! And what a sweet ending to the story. The choice of images is also always great and very suiting.
I personally like these stories where it's not entirely voluntary.
It's always great to receive comments - and a nice surprise when they're buried deep in the archives. In a lot of ways, the Au Pair has been one of my more significant caps - I had to work with about four different image sets to produce it, and at the time it was one of my longer works, so I'm glad it's still popular. I'm glad you like the semi-coerced stories too! I kind of like working in the grey area between consent and coercion: in real life, people make decisions under all sorts of social pressure and so on, and drama requires conflict and TG fiction which is purely voluntary tends to lack drama. Anyway, I'm glad you like my stuff!
The work you've done in this series is very appreciated. It's one of my favorites. I'd love to read another story in the same line.
I believe the semi-coerced factor of this is what got me interested in your blog. It was different from the other things I had read. It's more real and the characters are relatable.
Most times there's some coercion in TG fiction it's about sissies or some crossdressing punishment, sometimes even too magical. Rarely ever any actual drama.
Not that there's anything wrong, but I feel it's overplayed and too predictable. And as you said, it requires conflict. There's a lack of harder conflicts and situations to overcome in the genre. I even started trying to write some of my own stuff to try to kick start something different, but I've found out I'm horrible at it. English is not my first language and the words and expressions often fail me.
Well, I'll think about doing something similar, though it's tricky to say what similarities people want :) It probably is about time I tried to do something large-scale, with multiple characters and interpersonal conflict and psychological growth and so on... though that said, telling a story with still images of internet porn is really, really restrictive from a story-telling point of view. There are times when I kind of wish I could commission a photographer and a model (or two) to create custom images for a script I wrote. There's nothing wrong with the classics, and I reserve the right to delve into the cliches of "I found your porn stash! I know how to teach you to respect women... and simultaneously reinforce the idea that femininity is inherently humiliating and objectifying!" In art, sometimes it's necessary to stay true to a deeper reality than the literal one. Every writer starts out horrible; I can think of a few legendary writers who wrote half a dozen mediocre books before they got good; most novellists don't get published until their third or fourth attempt. Self criticism is important, but save it until after the first draft or you'll never get anything done. Being basically monolingual, I can't really speak to the issue of writing in a second language; but there are enough non English stories on fictionmania that writing in your first language shouldn't be an issue. Some people will like it, and you can always work on a translation later. Plus, I kind of like the idea of translated TG fiction, when I read Murakami (not TG), I like the fact that some of the idioms need footnotes. So yeah - write your story. Even if it's awful, there's a real sense of accomplishment to finishing writing something. And it's the only way to get better, to figure out what you like, and to try and encourage others to write similar stuff.
Excellent cap. Very well thought out and written ;)
ReplyDeleteAhhh! So lovely to finally see the conclusion of this delightful piece :D It really reminded me of Neil LaBute's "The Shape of Things" but with much more positivity to it. Such a heartfelt departure scene, and great critique of the fact that everyone was cheering for new genitals. I'm a little surprised that our character is fully hetero and not expressing something queer, especially with Rose's influence.
ReplyDeleteAnyway! I was meaning to comment all along, but wanted to see where it actually ended up. Is going back even a viable option? And something still does feel vaguely...non-consensual about all of it. I'm sure in time, though, Emily will find the kind of girl she really is, maybe even take up work helping boys in transition herself!
An odd sort of wrap-up request: Could we maybe get a look in Rose's head about all this? Does she have any feelings of guilt for the manipulative things she did? Is it all just a job to her or does she have a moral feeling that any boy should be a girl? Just a quick re-cap-cap for her before she's off on another assignment...
THANKS as always!!! Can't wait to see more :D - DAGS
Anon- glad you liked it!
ReplyDeleteDAGS- I've not seen 'The shape of things' but having read the wiki page, it sounds good; I'll have to check it out. Emily isn't necessarily straight, per se, if you read closely all the stuff in panel 22 is about how others treat her, rather than her own desires. Her male friends now see her as a potential mate, her female friends as a potential competitor, though yeah, she does seem to go along with the assumption.
The whole issue of consent is a really tricky one in a lot of my caps, and to be honest, it's not something I feel entirely comfortable with. Some of my stuff - like the summer camp cap - is entirely consensual, and most of my stuff is miles away from the 'drugged, hypnotised and sex-changed by my ex' stuff you get in a lot of caps, but even so... there's still an element of coercion, of pressure, and manipulation that I obviously (I hope) would in no way endorse in the real world. But the thing is, we're never truly free of coercion, or pressure from others in our world. This story is set in a world which is like our own but has a very different set of assumptions of normal behaviour. Both this story - and the previous, for that matter, start out by saying 'when my mother decided to have me girled' as if that's a perfectly normal thing to happen. Out here in the real world, putting pressure on your teenage son to become a woman - or at least to try it out - isn't okay, but then, neither is telling five year old girls that they should only play with pink toy hoovers and dolls when they might want to play at being engineers instead. The former is a more extreme change, but at least the victim of it is older, and more able to make up their own mind.
Part of the reason I write this stuff is because I want to understand it; understand why we are so fascinated by the idea of changing gender, and it seems to me that the idea of coercion is a big part of that - I suspect if you counted up the stories on fictionmania, at least 80% of them would involve significant pressure being put on the victim, and a lot of the rest would involve an accident or virus or some other event that puts the matter beyond the protagonists control. That element of power and control is a fundamental part of TG fiction, for some deep psychological reason that I still haven't figured out yet, and writing this stuff is -in part - my attempt to do so.
I hadn't really thought about doing a sequel or spin-off, and I generally create my captions weeks or months before posting them. I agree, though, Rose's motivations are mysterious, though perhaps it might be best left ambiguous. After all, as fans of TG fiction, we're in no position to condemn ambiguity.... :D
I believe coercion/virus/etc is such a central part of TG fiction because of the insecurity involved in accepting it, whether it be just a silly fantasy or real desire or anything inbetween.
DeleteThat said, I think you do a good job with your coercion and make it a normal part of the world. It's definitely mean for parents to selfishly make such a big decision on their behalf, as parents are want to do with many things, but it could be a lot worse. Compared to those feminism ones in the past, and that The Journey story (which is truly chilling), it makes things a little more interesting than if everything was always willing captions. And definitely more well done than the sea of bimbo captions.
The mention of the 'mind-controlled' Michelle in your Negotiations captions also seemed like a step too far (for the parents), but also had me pretty interested all the same.
Anyways, keep up the good work, always love to see more captions from you.
Well, I see your point, and you're probably right in regard to a lot of people a lot of the time. But if you look at sites like, for example thecominggynarchy.blogspot.com then I think it would be difficult to argue that coercion, domination and humiliation are anything other than rather prominent themes. Equally, if you're acquainted with Freud (or psychoanalysis in general) he argues that (simplifying a lot here) a young boy learns obedience to authority through fear of paternal castration. In Freud's view, a young boy learns that girls don't have penises, concludes that they were castrated, and that he needs to behave himself or the same will happen to him. Freud believed that in the child's fantasy it was the father who was responsible for the castration, but in some versions, IIRC, the mother plays this role. Add to this the fact that sex and power are fundamentally related anyway (see any S&M, the aphorism 'power is the ultimate aphrodisiac', etc,etc) and I hope you'll appreciate why I think that power and coercion are a key ingredient of TG fantasy.
DeleteI'm glad you think I make it work in my stories, though, and that you enjoyed The Journey and Negotiations, and I hope I can continue to create caps you enjoy.
I just realized it has been just over a year since I started reading your blog.
ReplyDeleteI stumbled upon your blog and was faced with "The Au Pair - Part Two" as the latest post. I was immediately hooked on the story and read most of your blog in less than a day. And waiting for part Three wasn't easy! And what a sweet ending to the story. The choice of images is also always great and very suiting.
I personally like these stories where it's not entirely voluntary.
Thanks for the enjoyment for all this time.
It's always great to receive comments - and a nice surprise when they're buried deep in the archives. In a lot of ways, the Au Pair has been one of my more significant caps - I had to work with about four different image sets to produce it, and at the time it was one of my longer works, so I'm glad it's still popular.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like the semi-coerced stories too! I kind of like working in the grey area between consent and coercion: in real life, people make decisions under all sorts of social pressure and so on, and drama requires conflict and TG fiction which is purely voluntary tends to lack drama.
Anyway, I'm glad you like my stuff!
The work you've done in this series is very appreciated. It's one of my favorites. I'd love to read another story in the same line.
ReplyDeleteI believe the semi-coerced factor of this is what got me interested in your blog. It was different from the other things I had read. It's more real and the characters are relatable.
Most times there's some coercion in TG fiction it's about sissies or some crossdressing punishment, sometimes even too magical. Rarely ever any actual drama.
Not that there's anything wrong, but I feel it's overplayed and too predictable. And as you said, it requires conflict. There's a lack of harder conflicts and situations to overcome in the genre. I even started trying to write some of my own stuff to try to kick start something different, but I've found out I'm horrible at it. English is not my first language and the words and expressions often fail me.
Well, I'll think about doing something similar, though it's tricky to say what similarities people want :) It probably is about time I tried to do something large-scale, with multiple characters and interpersonal conflict and psychological growth and so on... though that said, telling a story with still images of internet porn is really, really restrictive from a story-telling point of view. There are times when I kind of wish I could commission a photographer and a model (or two) to create custom images for a script I wrote.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing wrong with the classics, and I reserve the right to delve into the cliches of "I found your porn stash! I know how to teach you to respect women... and simultaneously reinforce the idea that femininity is inherently humiliating and objectifying!" In art, sometimes it's necessary to stay true to a deeper reality than the literal one.
Every writer starts out horrible; I can think of a few legendary writers who wrote half a dozen mediocre books before they got good; most novellists don't get published until their third or fourth attempt. Self criticism is important, but save it until after the first draft or you'll never get anything done.
Being basically monolingual, I can't really speak to the issue of writing in a second language; but there are enough non English stories on fictionmania that writing in your first language shouldn't be an issue. Some people will like it, and you can always work on a translation later. Plus, I kind of like the idea of translated TG fiction, when I read Murakami (not TG), I like the fact that some of the idioms need footnotes.
So yeah - write your story. Even if it's awful, there's a real sense of accomplishment to finishing writing something. And it's the only way to get better, to figure out what you like, and to try and encourage others to write similar stuff.