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I think about transformation too much
14 years ago
Feel free to ignore this one, this is another late night journal to exorcize the ghosts demanding access to my brain. I gotta sleep here, ghosts. Go away.
I've been meaning to draw clown tf for a while. I knew I was running the risk of alienating everyone, but I went ahead and did it anyway because I wanted to know if there was a right way to do it and if I was capable of doing it in a way that could be considered appealing! I actually enjoy failure, if I can learn from it—which is why I despise those one word "wat" comments, they just drive me into an irrational frothy rage, which is I guess the point, but I digress—that's why I draw a lot of really weird stuff. It's experimental, it's a learning process, and since I love TF so much I want to understand how it works and why people like me like it so much.
You know that game Mastermind where you have to guess a sequence of four colored pegs, where all you're told is how many you got right, but not which ones? That's how I feel whenever I press submit. Only there are an infinite amount of correct sequences and four times as many different colored pegs and I'm kind of losing the metaphor here, but you know what I mean. Some things are popular, some things aren't, and because the appeal of transformation is such a lizard brain phenomenon, trying to determine which elements of a given picture worked and which didn't is a gong show. I might have drawn the right thing the wrong way, it might have been perfect except for the style in which I drew the eyes. You can't please everyone, but you sure can get an impression of what's a niche interest and what, statistically speaking, people are going to +fav the most.
Let me just rattle off some TF format stuff. Transformation is all about the change from form A to form B.
This is usually initiated by some trigger macguffin. The trigger usually doesn't matter, unless it's a person (e.g. a witch) because her relationship with form A is going to change when it becomes form B.
The person in form B is going to be treated differently by everyone else than they were in form A, and so form B ought to contrast in a meaningful way with the person's former lifestyle.
The relationship that the TF-ee has with form B should dictate the duration and setting for the transformation.
Shorter, even instantaneous "poof" TFs are used when you want a person to keep a drawn character somewhat ignorant of their body's changes, and that works best in a public setting where people might comment on a part of your body you didn't know you had. Since people only see you once the transformation is over, they'll never guess that you used to be something else, and your former identity is a secret.
The longer a transformation, the more you have the ability to get used to the changes as they come, since you'll be aware of every change as it happens. That said, longer transformations lend themselves to a more pleasurable experience, and are best used when a person's relationship with form B is a positive one.
Most furries like TF because they find animals (especially anthropomorphic animals) to be more aesthetically appealing than human beings. Part of the TF attraction in the fandom is body dysmorphic. That's why most TF furries prefer slow, generally pleasurable and clean transformations into things that other furries will find attractive, and why they dislike quick or awkward/weird transformations into generally unappealing creatures. Pleasurable TFs are kind of a checklist: looking at hands, feeling face, side view of muzzle/beak growing, back view of tail coming out of pants, paws ripping the soles off of the shoes, maybe clothes bursting as muscles bulge, gender normative body, visible arousal, look of relief as the transformation ends.
The others like TF because it's an alienating, humiliating, or confining experience, and so quick and dirty and awkward and weird are the operating terms. This is the kind of TF I like, but that's because I'm one of those horrible fetish guys who is ruining the fandom. IMHO, this kind of TF is for locals only, it's not for the tourists who are into TF on a lark because they wish they could become a furry IRL to match their true soul, it's for the people who would specifically enjoy the awkwardness of becoming a furry IRL.
Anyway gosh I've written enough about this. That is all!
I've been meaning to draw clown tf for a while. I knew I was running the risk of alienating everyone, but I went ahead and did it anyway because I wanted to know if there was a right way to do it and if I was capable of doing it in a way that could be considered appealing! I actually enjoy failure, if I can learn from it—which is why I despise those one word "wat" comments, they just drive me into an irrational frothy rage, which is I guess the point, but I digress—that's why I draw a lot of really weird stuff. It's experimental, it's a learning process, and since I love TF so much I want to understand how it works and why people like me like it so much.
You know that game Mastermind where you have to guess a sequence of four colored pegs, where all you're told is how many you got right, but not which ones? That's how I feel whenever I press submit. Only there are an infinite amount of correct sequences and four times as many different colored pegs and I'm kind of losing the metaphor here, but you know what I mean. Some things are popular, some things aren't, and because the appeal of transformation is such a lizard brain phenomenon, trying to determine which elements of a given picture worked and which didn't is a gong show. I might have drawn the right thing the wrong way, it might have been perfect except for the style in which I drew the eyes. You can't please everyone, but you sure can get an impression of what's a niche interest and what, statistically speaking, people are going to +fav the most.
Let me just rattle off some TF format stuff. Transformation is all about the change from form A to form B.
This is usually initiated by some trigger macguffin. The trigger usually doesn't matter, unless it's a person (e.g. a witch) because her relationship with form A is going to change when it becomes form B.
The person in form B is going to be treated differently by everyone else than they were in form A, and so form B ought to contrast in a meaningful way with the person's former lifestyle.
The relationship that the TF-ee has with form B should dictate the duration and setting for the transformation.
Shorter, even instantaneous "poof" TFs are used when you want a person to keep a drawn character somewhat ignorant of their body's changes, and that works best in a public setting where people might comment on a part of your body you didn't know you had. Since people only see you once the transformation is over, they'll never guess that you used to be something else, and your former identity is a secret.
The longer a transformation, the more you have the ability to get used to the changes as they come, since you'll be aware of every change as it happens. That said, longer transformations lend themselves to a more pleasurable experience, and are best used when a person's relationship with form B is a positive one.
Most furries like TF because they find animals (especially anthropomorphic animals) to be more aesthetically appealing than human beings. Part of the TF attraction in the fandom is body dysmorphic. That's why most TF furries prefer slow, generally pleasurable and clean transformations into things that other furries will find attractive, and why they dislike quick or awkward/weird transformations into generally unappealing creatures. Pleasurable TFs are kind of a checklist: looking at hands, feeling face, side view of muzzle/beak growing, back view of tail coming out of pants, paws ripping the soles off of the shoes, maybe clothes bursting as muscles bulge, gender normative body, visible arousal, look of relief as the transformation ends.
The others like TF because it's an alienating, humiliating, or confining experience, and so quick and dirty and awkward and weird are the operating terms. This is the kind of TF I like, but that's because I'm one of those horrible fetish guys who is ruining the fandom. IMHO, this kind of TF is for locals only, it's not for the tourists who are into TF on a lark because they wish they could become a furry IRL to match their true soul, it's for the people who would specifically enjoy the awkwardness of becoming a furry IRL.
Anyway gosh I've written enough about this. That is all!
*dodges the flying bricks*
Nothing really to add, but i enjoy reading your late night missives. It's good to know that I aint the only weirdo out there!
XP
I do like transgender TF's I don't know what it classifies as though. appealing or humiliating or both.
Being somewhat familiar with your art, I'd lean toward the former.
I suppose there is always room to improve on the TF formula and expand on personal exploration of the subject. But, you do make a good point. TF has a lot of facets and I'm sure different aspects appeal to different people.
As for myself, I have a passing interest in TF. I tend to find it interesting for the most part.
The human to furry TF is surely interesting and I'd say the body dysmorphic issue is at the forefront. Sometimes I find this more interesting in some depictions but I'm not sure what sticks out for me. Adding a gender shift in there definitely adds some appeal for me (I blame my mild gender issues).
What I REALLY like is humans or furries being transformed into just an animal. Especially when surrounded with permanent implications.
Permanence seems to be a recurring theme in a few of my kinks, now that I think about it...
Ultimately though, yeah, people all have different likes and/or expectations for their art, so it's hard- nigh impossible- to please everyone. So draw what you like, ultimately! As hard as that can be sometimes.
It's also good to just write and get the thoughts outta your head sometimes, so props to you for that.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1162916/
Here's something that didn't work. What's going on here? Nothing interesting. Why is this situation happening? There's no personality to the character, there's no clear before-and-after, even though it's showing a sort of transformation. I like the idea of someone pulling themselves apart and dehumanizing themselves that way, but this isn't a very good example!
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/707867/
Here's another good example of something that didn't work. The expression is nonplussed, this person has no character, the way I drew the proportions of the head changing just doesn't read right unless you know what I was trying to do. It's hard for anyone to put themselves into this character's shoes, to empathize with their situation, and from the outside it's not a very visually appealing transformation.
Both of these situations could be better if I drew them differently! It's not about not drawing the stuff I want in favor of aiming for the middle of the bell curve, it's about taking this idea in my head and getting it into other peoples' heads with the least amount of broken telephone action. It's the difference between having everyone like a thing I drew and having everyone understand why I like the thing I drew. :)
Yes, I do lean towards the first group more often. I like guys becoming over-exaggerated male virility versions of furries. Its just what I really like. Though I don't enjoy rippage like most of the furry-muscle TF people out there. I prefer the clothes stretching around the muscle/groin, though often it is hard to explain when magic or a costume is not the TF trigger. Anyway a skinny guy into a big buff stud of a furry (with permanent erections) is what I like to see.
But I get some flack for the stuff I commission by being partly in the latter group. While the transformation may be to a form appealing to a majority of furries out there, I prefer the subjects to NOT enjoy the change. Most people would be horrified to be changed into a huge lion or wolf, so that's the reaction I like to see most often. It's a form that is unappealing for most. Sure they've got a ginormous, erect penis, but who gives a a crap when they've become a huge furry freak of nature. And the big bottom lip growth, something that I enjoy immensely, is something that ALOT of furries don't like seeing happening on guys.
And with your stuff, if Muscle is involved (like the body form sequence, or Genie TF) I love it no matter how weird the TF gets.
I like the male form being reshaped. Animals are easier to depict than inanimates in my type of digital sculpting manipulations. So yeah, I love a guy with a muzzle. But almost any sort of change works as long as my mind isn't tired of it. Variety becomes a key component to whether or not I want to take on an idea.
...and I don't consider myself a furry. I'm just here for the TFs. I've come to appreciate creating a correct depiction as I learn from other artists. Anatomical comparison between human and the secondary form. Yeah, the alienation, oddness, shocked or otherwise expressions - they're usually still a part of it for me. But screw the poof type TFs I needs me some time to enjoy the process. So yeah, I don't seem to care much about how they relate to their new forms, just getting them there.
The situation is all the more interesting when form B includes an altered state of mind which has some impact on the scenario. Most commonly this is an escalation, but playing out any change of mind is interesting.
A theme of being happier in an undesired form crops up a lot.
I dunno... just throwing stuff out there,
And I hope you don't mean that part about "ruining the fandom." People like you are what make the fandom worth it!
I've always found it odd how all over the place my tastes and desires are, TF-wise. I like some pretty simple or happy sorts, sometimes quite a lot. I think some of those are less powerfully sexual for me, but make up for it somewhat in other areas. On the other hand, some of my deeper desires are very clearly alienating, even amongst the fandom here. There was some point that I realized that since in many ways furry forms do appeal to me more, twisting them or even undoing them often gets the most reaction from me. I've always Pravusbelua's Killer Klown TFs for that reason, especially the ones that only use the original fur's species as part of the clown's costume. It's so strange and grotesque, and there's so little of what's innately cute or sexy about the fur in the end, that it's all the sexier. Things that heavily reshape some part of the body to unrecognizability, especially heads, while leaving the rest are also very appealing, once again leaning heavily towards the strange or grotesque, but complete remakes of someone into something and someone unrecognizable are really nice too. Slow, long term changes have a certain sensual quality to them, but I also appreciate a casual poof TF for how easily and quickly someone's life can just be completely changed.
Then again, I like pretty normal things too, so I never really know exactly what I'm getting out of this broad range of weirdness. I'll probably just keep enjoying it all and never fully understand.
One thing I love is furs / people getting rubberized / vinylized and being turned into living dolls or products, and their new body being perhaps a bit of a mockery of their old selves, so piercings or birthmarks might survive, or their hairstyle becomes an inflated or nylon version... And their colours or markings might reflect their personality as they change.
The fact that you enjoy what you do shows through your work, and even if I don't find the subject matter particularly appealing I have huge amounts of respect for the passion you put into it. I save an awful lot more of your work than I favorite it...not sure what causes it though.
I mean, fetishes are a huge mystery to begin with. They seem absolutely random at times. It is harder for a person with a fetish in the sense that "normal" sexual things have been explored pretty thoroughly and are much more socially acceptable to talk about.
But, when you have a fetish (especially a very... niche one) your avenues to explore and discuss your sexual desires are extremely limited. This is especially true for ones that are impossible or very difficult to do in the real world. When the usual avenues of exploration are closed and you are rife with explosive sexual desire, whats a person to do?
I can relate to you in the sense that you have a fetish/interests that is kinda niche with a bizarre appeal that makes no sense unless you are a part of the fetish community yourself. I can also relate in wanting to test the limits and ideal of the fetish, what makes it tick, why one thing is considered sexier than another when it can seem completely arbitrary. I can also relate exploring it with your artwork. It's much easier and more efficient to just draw them out to see if they push kinky buttons. I can also understand the desire in wanting to post them to see the reaction they get to fully understand the fetish, and I can understand the rude ultimately useless comments that just makes a frustrating endeavor all the more, well, frustrating. (I mean you know it is weird, do you really need to be told over and over again?)
Though, the more you devote your time to exploring your fetish the more you DO alienate those who have no interest in it. (that is true for every sort of interest though, really.) But, hey, it is your talent and time and you draw what you damn well please. You will always have people like me who enjoys your artwork not because they find it sexy but because they really enjoy the quality and surreal aspect of it. (I know your artwork explores your sexual desires but still make it look damn cool/pretty)
Also, on one last note. I think the reason fetishes like vore, TF, hyper, ect are so popular in the fandom is because the idea of an "alternate fantasy world" is widely accepted.
*COUGH*
I mostly like TF that forces the person changing to move or behave differently. Though I like certain restriction of movement from new forms, inanimate TF doesn't appeal to me as much because the victim can't really struggle and adjust to their new situation.
There are always going to be wat-ers, just have tact and don't let them bother you. Because they should know better than to obnoxiously react to the weird when the entire fandom is pretty weird already.
I think you of all people can wrap it all up into a pretty cogent argument. :)
Rather, the biggest tourists I feel are people who get big boners about getting others to suffer on their behalf, kind of like Kora's commissions of girls turning into living septic tanks or dildos or Demon Man's turning young girls into piles of cocks.
In fact, it's that kind of sadistic / misogynist streak which seems to be the bigger touristy aspect of TF to me, because it's on the Venn diagram with more general aspects of power / bondage fantasies for people who would swear blind they ain't furry.
And that makes a BIG difference. You're like Egypturnash / PushyGarnet, you have a strong sense of burlesque / showmanship, for want of a better term.
Loss of control is a big part of your pieces - and that's a massive turn off to me personally, but I certainly wouldn't lump you in with Kora - as you say you have whimsy. =3
And I must admit, I do like some of the depowering pet-TF stuff, even on the cusp of what The Vetenarian draws, but I only get a kick out of it when I'm imagining a kind of loving relationship around it, the the pet being a lot more powerful than she seems. (Seams? Ho ho ho...)
Not nearly enough stuff in furry with a sense of style - and I apply that criticism to my own scribbles. =D
I am totally into the loving TF thing as well *_* It's the sort of thing that unfortuantely really requires a comic book approach to getting those ideas across (and which I want to do sometime)
I think a lot of people these days who say wat are just trying to be ironic or silly, they don't actually feel that way, but it's good to let them know that it bugs you, so that the ones who don't mean any harm will stop.
I already do that all the time! But sometimes I want to draw a crowd-pleaser, or I want to fill a specific niche, or do something that's not just for me (I'm not so self centred that I never want to devote six plus hours to drawing stuff that people besides myself will like) I'll go into my stats and see what got the most favs or comments or views or whatever. I'll look at stuff that didn't get any attention at all, and I'll try to figure out what the common threads are. I don't just draw because I like getting showered with positive attention, I like drawing because I feel like I'm paying back a community, specifically the TF community, that has been giving me free art and entertainment and friendship over the years, and I want it to be work that's of a decent quality. I'm not the type that believes in the solitary genius, and by caring what other people say, I've been able to improve my work so much more than if I was plugging away with my paws over my ears going LALALALALA. That's why I care what other people say.
honk honk! hyuk hyuk hyuk
Goodness, where did that come from?
But I know a few people that don't like them. ^vvv0
I never really had an opinion of them one way or the other, I find them intimidating and off-putting in person but I think that's just because I know they're real people with greasepaint all over their faces. The thing is... I like cartoons, I even kinda like cartoon humans, depending on the situation. If you made a venn diagram where cartoons and clowns cross over, I'll like the middle ground, but as soon as it crosses over into regular IRL clowns, my interest takes a sharp nosedive. I don't want to say it's the uncanny valley or anything, I just like cartoons enough to make up for my natural aversion to professional clowns. Large hands, big feet, exaggerated features and an insistence on humor are all common qualities and I like to see those played up over everything else.
I'm reluctant to even talk about this anymore because it's definitely a fringe interest, and once people realize that I have a fringe interest that they find funny and weird, they start linking me to tons of really awkward things that just highlight how alien I must seem to them, and it's done with the best of intentions but you know what they about the road to hell. It's happened before and I really just don't want to go there.
Nevertheless, I wouldn't need to go out on a limb to say that a lot of furs find the idealized furry versions of themselves to be less ugly and awkward than their flawed human bodies, or else why commission someone to draw the latter turning into the former and acting relieved? There's people who like TF because it turns them into something-that's-not-them for a while, and others like TF because it turns them more into themselves. I've never found anyone from the latter category who could tolerate a poof-style transformation.
I found it interesting that you gave the clown subject a try - it seems to me like clowns and toons have many things in common with how they look and behave (Roger Rabbit comes to mind), and yet there are so many who have a strong dislike for clowns. Funny Animals are more aesthetically appealing than Funny Humans for most people i suppose :)
The "Post-TF" aspect is something i'd like to see elaborated further. "Waking up as something else" for example is a great theme that hasn't been used often enough. While slow and detailed changes are awesome in making an idea look realistic/plausible, it deals mostly with the physical, not the psychological side of things.
About Body dysmorphism - this is very true, in TF art it's important to cater to people's dysmorphic needs. There are artists whos commissioned works i've found boring, because "B" is always the commissioner's ideal fursona character (with all the vanity items such as markings, tatoos and hairstyles). These make it harder to relate to "A" and what they're going through because the picture is clearly about someone else. And often it's much more fun when you don't know what you're going to turn into.
With Flir, the problem isn't so much the vanity aspect though, but the sheer repetitiveness of it. It gets old even if there IS funky goo action going on. I can give Kuma as an example here - his drawings are awesome, but the commissioned work is obviously more business than art. It's just not easy to remain original when taking requests or commissions...
I am generally about fluffyness. =-<
If i had some excess cash lying around, i'd rather spend it on something more elaborate that i can't (or don't know how to) make myself, like an actual rubber panther mask...
Commissions just can't motivate someone to explore new ideas, so eventually the whole thing starts to stagnate.
I'm just really amazed/yeah-probably-a-little-jealous that the Flir-critter has been able to market himself so well! A lot of us have been sitting in the fandom way too long and I think it's cool and no insult to admit to some how'd-he-do-that? whiplash.
So let me try some armchair analysis (AKA "guessing"), and if he has the bad luck to stumble onto this thread maybe he can correct any details and learn us in the ways of the meowsqueaky jedi:
1. Dude knows what he likes! I have yet to throw money at any artist (though if you look at my faves and watchlist I think a looot of people deserve some!) because I've never been able to settle on any one something I've really needed to ask someone to take the time to draw for me.
2. Both the character and the subject-matter are definite and distinctive. My operative fursona has ended up meandering across species where all members kinda look the same anyway, and I haven't hit on any special marking or accessory that I'd actually want to be seen with. Rabbit's got the scarf. A rabbit getting rubberpantherfied is novel (pretty sure there was a definite lack of it prior to the past year or two!), and since the rabbit's got the scarf, we know which rabbit it is.
It's not like memes don't sporulate all the time, anyway (remember that time Everyone Discovered Paint TF? and we're still getting a lot of mileage, or at least footage, out of snout-stretching). This is just one of the rarer ones involving one specific character in a trademark situation, and may also have accidentally found an optimal position as far as weird-but-not-too-weird goes.
3. Per 2, Flir-feet might just be lucky! He got the ball rolling with the right critters, stepped in a sweet spot of weird-yet-cute/cute-yet-weird, and/or if commissions are a lubricant, we're back to 1.
So I guess picking one unique thing to be known for is a good way to become That Guy With A Unique Thing That He's Known For, if it doesn't make anyone turn green and run away and you can successfully multicast the fact. If it's overwhelming (my reaction is more just "Wow, he got drawed again!") maybe it's time to figure out what to pay or beg artists to depict besides that?
Accordingly, is it fair to leave it that being a good person with a straightforward idea that you're not shy about commissioning artists to draw is the full secret recipe? (Because a lot of people who would like to hope they haven't completely failed at the first part are going to cry into their Wheaties if that's all it takes. The having-something-to-actualize and actually-actualizing-it therefore seem to be the obvious missing links!)
Also, this goes to prove that it's impossible to discuss an individual like this without coming off like a dick or making things really awkward.
Flir: Sorry, man, I've been on the receiving end too, and I know it's like watching social sausage being made! But I just wanna be more like you-oo-oo, maybe, or figure out why I'm not!
I DEMAND TO KNOW WHAT WAS SAID TO ME!
=-P
I disagree with triggers being solely a macguffin. Triggers, to me, are the source and direction of the change or mutation. They dictate the direction, style, speed, and outcome of a TF. An ingested material that causes a TF is going to be radically different than a paint TF or mask TF. Say the subject pricks their finger, and the trigger is some sort of poison. That means it travels in the blood. The arm pricked would likely change first, before moving to the heart and radiating. An ingested material might change internal organs first – causing rapid expansion or alternation internally, and the subject can only see or feel the interior changes for a time, such as an expanding stomach or moving lungs.
I agree with you that form B should be a different lifestyle or treatment than form A. Anything else would mean that it’s purely a cosmetic change, like getting sunglasses and a new outfit. Why even bother?
I’m hesitant to agree with you on the idea that the relationship with form B should dictate the duration and setting for the transformation. You mention ‘poof’ TFs should have the subject be ignorant of the changes. You go on to say this works in a public setting. I agree and disagree here. The subject could be painfully aware on the onset, but still be ridiculously confused. Take a crowded mall setting, maybe at a food court. You’re biting into a burger, and in a few seconds, you’re some sort of freak. People panic, scream, and take picture with their camera phone. Out of sheer adrenaline, you bolt, trying to understand what’s going on with your body.
Afterward, you stated that the longer a transformation, the more pleasurable the experience. I’d like to use District 9 as an example. Instead of coming to grips and welcoming the change, think instead of the feeling of dread – you’re turning into one of those! You have time to imagine ways to stop it or slow it down, but nothing works. Every hour or day, you notice something new, something that wasn’t there before. Every new sensation, urge, or craving sets you on edge. You start questioning your identity. You spend your time rocking in a corner.
As for the two ‘columns’ of TFs you describe, I’m firmly in the second column. I don’t have some sort of idealized identity or fursona. I’m not against pleasurable TFs, but most involve beautification by purely human standards. Bigger breasts? Very few species have naturally large mammary organs. Why does becoming part animal increase a subject’s sexiness by human standards, for no reason?
I’m all about the radical changes. How would I react? What would that feel like? Man, walking would never be the same again. That level of awkward (body part) alone would change things. The whole point of TFs is to put the reader/viewer into an alien frame of reference and make them wonder about the ramifications.
Lastly, the Clown TF. I’m perfectly fine with it. Clowns and mimes are unique in that they are some sort of human subspecies. Everyone can tell they are not animalistic in any way, yet they aren’t human by normal standards. What are they? The only downside I found with your take was the fourth panel: to sudden or strong a mental change dulls the effect: the subject is losing control. To strong a mental TF, and you really are killing the original subject. Recall your own musings, at some other point, of being forced to smile for an extended duration. People would take it at face value, and you mentioned about the permanently positive expression being slowly infectious. To me, that’s an area you could easily explore with the clown stuff.
When it comes down to it, you aren’t getting paid outside of commissions. Do what you feel like! If I could draw worth a damn, I’d be making column weird crap a-plenty.
As for the quick ones, even if you're poofed on a stage by a magician, the period of time it takes before you're gazing at your changed reflection in a mirror becomes a really potent one. It's amazing what a mirror will do to your self image. I don't think panic and a public kerfuffle is necessary for the narrative because it's all about the brain/body mismatch, and how if you're changed suddenly, your mental self image is kind of in limbo. If, for whatever reason, the transformation lead to you having no reflection... mirror gazing would be impossible. You know, how would that sort of story play out?
I don't think the trigger needs to be a macguffin, but there are so few instances where it isn't. Like in R.L. Stine's Haunted Mask, the mask is a character as well as an object, and it stays relevant throughout the entire plot. In that case, the bust of the girl's head is more of a (late) macguffin than the mask is. But anyway, more often than not the trigger will fade in importance pretty quickly as the story advances beyond the TF scene. Admittedly, it's not a really typical macguffin! But people rarely care about the method of the TF unless they're more into body coverage than physical transformation. :)
Let's not totally discount the interestingness of the trigger. Is it something you have control over? Is that control only ostensible? Is it something you keep doing / feel compelled to keep doing? Is it cyclical? And if it is - or any other kind of thing that flops back and forth - can you control your exposure to it, and how does that force you to adjust?
Ranma ½ might not be great shakes, but it pops to mind as an example of how that can stay in the forefront (and [risk?] get[ting?] meta- as far as exploring the adjustment to being someone-who-changes, rather than to the destination form itself).
BlackFedora brings up 'cosmetic' changes, and... well, just changing outfits can have a big impact, too: Someone opens a TF parlor downtown, you're drunk, you go for it, and now you're back at work and everything's the same except you're shedding [and still responsible for those TPS reports no matter what body mods you picked up on your personal time].
And back to the actual? subject here - first you've got the four seconds of utter confusion, then you've got the initial realization. and then the clock starts on the waaay too much time you've now got to figure out what this actually means (in the next 5 minutes, 5 hours, days, months, years)... The Callahan's Place setup of the ol' TSA-List's "Blind Pig" universe kept transformees in touch and was able to take that in some interesting directions. [But as far as fetishizing TF, there's a certain reproductive response that also involves a couple seconds of blank-minded confused tingling, so it's easy to keep those wires crossed...]
(Again, maybe I'm getting old or weird or not-weird-enough, but as far as ongoing tracking and monitoring and radio-collaring, it can be nice to see TF'd critters having "normal" relationships post-TF... not least as a reminder not to get too hung up on just the initial surprise and the inherent narcissism thereof, and to present examples of the sorts of pair-bondings our happiness circuits are also supposed to come wired for.* Then I'll just pull up some Blotch art and try to imagine how fresh the characters are out of the transmogrifier rather than expecting to scratch that itch within the 'TF' subculture. ;))
*Psych students and English majors who took the one course seemed to get into proposing the whole werewolves=animal-lust=dopamine vampires=gothy-romance=oxytocin thing [in interpreting America's awkward Twilight fetish (is that finally over by now?)]. The 'seconds of confusion' probably does have kind of that dopamine rush thing going for it.. the everything's-cool even-if-it's-awkward Hollywood ending I mentioned I might be looking for below (waking up to discover the magician's Lovely Assistant finds you really cute as a rabbit, say) must tickle the slower-acting feel-good neurochemistry. [And as someone who's been at low points lately, bonking into even a fantastic example of something you can say 'Yes, that could in fact be satisfying or enjoyable on an ongoing basis!' about can be a refreshing reminder that there are experiences out there worth aspiring to. Or something like that.]
Cartoon TF is something I looove to draw, and it's not because I saw a pair of cartoon gloves and they inspired me to like the idea of turning into a cartoon. I like the body shapes, the physical material of cartoons, I like the surreal zaniness, I like that they're subject to timing and humor more than physics, and the situation I put my main character in, as well as the trigger that sets off the transformation, will emerge naturally out of what appealed to me about cartoon TF in the first place! If it's a sort of wish fulfillment scene, it might emerge out of watching TV, or wearing some sort of costume. If it's something a little more ambivalent or non-consentual, it might be a cartoon trapped in reality that's going around making other people into fellow cartoons, or some sort of memetic virus. Really it's the transformation and the aftermath that are important, the specific trigger is just whatever you want it to be to contextualize the rules your subjecting your character to.
The word MacGuffin might be inappropriate, especially since it's meaningless by definition, but in my experience the trigger is wholly arbitrary until the TF scene collapses the waveform. :)
There's that thing about whether the trigger is something you're going to keep doing - if those gloves or the suit doesn't come off, or you can't go a day without more Alpo now that you've got a taste for it, then it's all intertwined with the destination (and I bet I just wanted to point that out as far as inspiring critters to be creative - too many darts to the neck and you start building up a callous, ferinstance, and a distaste for getting jabbed with things if you think about what that would really feel like and decide it's not a good feeling!).
In my case, I guess there've been plenty of times I've hit on a new mechanism (something about being a gadget-/bio-/pharma-nerd, perhaps?) and then tried to figure out what goes with it. TMNT mutagen, Calvin's transmogrifier box, the Ubiquitous Sealed Lab Room Where Something Goes Wrong, some strange medical/veterinary treatments I've come up with, paint, and even toon gloves are all kind of "general-purpose," after all! Sometimes I do have a result in mind, other times I think I'm really jonesing for that whole process of hearing the collar go click or the chamber shut or getting convinced to try whatever and having to live with the could-well-be-a-surprise result (as long as it falls in my pretty-incredibly-wide 'more aesthetically-pleasing than being human' net).
On the other paw, I don't find things with muzzles aesthetically pleasing just because they eat dogfood any more than 'toons are all-about-the-gloves (which is to say they're not) for you. But since I do end up putting the transmogrifier before the horse(/dog/weaselpede/opossum/whatever) often enough, and/or come up with nifty ones before I know just what to set them to, I guess my thinking starts from "What do I want to experience?", which runs from somewhere T-minus-trigger straight through to 'how would I feel about this after a year?'
Possibly another way of looking at the differences in perspective/fetish-skew, or whatever: I think I would probably find poking at a trigger that doesn't work interesting, as long as the tension (and perhaps paranoia that it's done something) is there. Which is pretty much what happens when playing with collars or fursuits and stuff with the right mindset out in the Boring World, anyway.
So if there's anything left worth exploring here, how would a Swatcher feel if he was given a small obsidian cube that's gonna do something to him but he doesn't know what? How important or unimportant does the cube feel?
The hotness comes from Swatcher not being as in control as he thinks he is.
I've talked to at least 2 TF fans who are born ladies RL who curse having larger / back breaking bosoms and really dig the idea of having away with them except for pregnancy.
I stick to mostly "safe" cartoony ways of portraying weird species like cockroaches, so even my roach girls have a kind of "warner brothers" boob shape on their chest even though they don't actually have or need breasts. I guess I still have a pretty small comfort zone. =-P
All I`m saying is that there are better ways to represent `sexy` than reproductive organ hyperbole.
Anyway all that's to say that big tits are idealized and unrealistic and unobtainable IRL and that's why they're attractive.
Personally, I do like it aesthetically pleasing, but I've got a weird and flexible sense of aesthetics. Sometimes this puts me at odds with people who like weird for the sake of weird - and from my own boner's perspective, that means they're more enjoying playing with ideas ("Look at this shit I can come up with!") rather than really getting sensual about it. Feels sort of like one of those being-laughed-at vs. laughed-with kind of things. (Poor sometimes-horny me winds up in similar binds with people who like playing with the *idea* of hypnosis rather than actual hypnosis.. um, either y'all know what I'm talking about there or you don't.)
...and after hyperanalyzing it all this time, one cliché I gotta admit I like is the idea that you can go through something so 'changing' - whether it's the immediate self-actualization of a murrsona, or ending up something you'd never intended on being at all - and have things end up okay. There's definitely a Hollywood aspect to that, or Hollywood knows that it sells, but in a fantasy.. well, it's a fantasy, so damn straight I want a happy ending! That said, I sometimes get frustrated that there's not more interesting "followup" out there - while it's possible to overdo it and leave no room to explore adjustment ("And a year later he was still happy to be a horse and fucking everything in sight The End") as well as just completely fucking it up in my eyes ("And the pig was sold to be slaughtered for bacon Bye Now.")
So yeah, despite it being a "cliché," explorations of how it goes on an ongoing basis are something I don't see enough of lately! (This might also be the reaction of someone who thinks he's still a crotchety hard-SF reader even though he ran out of the good stuff years ago - failing to explore the impact is like ending a story with "The time machine was finally complete and ready to go.")
Way back at the other end of the scale... once I got to a certain point in my life, mental TFs - even full ones - stopped bugging me as long as there's a glimmer of consent somewhere in there. Painful loss-of-self isn't good, but otherwise.. if-it-feels-good-and-is-going-to-continue-to then why not? I suspect this does have a lot to do with how much pride-of-ownership people feel about their existing identities, though; I ain't got a lot to lose lately, but other folks find the scales tip differently, especially when it's hard to imagine actually being in constant orgasm as a chewtoy or whatever.
Just a couple disjointed thoughts from this end. Since we apparently are supposed to state our opinions about clowns - I'm not into them from any angle, but that's no reason not to go exploring them if y'want.
And finally - I think, Mr. Swatcher, you are a quite notable exception to the weird-for-the-sake-of-weird-isn't-sensual opinion above, not least since you take the time to write posts like these and remind the studio audience that you are really, really into what you create. That's cool - and rather teasing, inclusive of how it makes a critter sit down and tap out all this to try to figure out how he relates to it. I don't get that vibe from some of the "I'm a video game character who's going to make someone else into a video game character that shits its pants or something" people out there, but maybe I'm getting old or my expectations are too high or something. (I guess it's hard to get a read on people when "I'm a 1-dimensional magical jerk" is their character and they're more 'manning the controls' than projecting any self into it. Or my self-dar could just be broken.)
For someone whose sense of self is pretty mutable (or understands that it's pretty mutable, unless I'm way down the wrong hole there), the idea that a Big Change could lead you to discover a "self" that 'fits', or at least one that can sustain the illusion of having "found one's self", is a nice fantasy.
Seems it's quite possible to be less-than-chuffed about the body you're in without having one specific "improved" destination in mind. Like finding something on TV late at night - you've got criteria that have to be met, at the same time as you're flipping channels just because you know you'd rather be watching something than not.
My personal tastes in transformation tend to the toony and simplified, with sexual elements either embraced or ignored. Seeing transformation in the dull yellow glow of horror is kind of like a palate cleanser, shocking my senses so I don't become numb to the emotions. Making the subject seem alien and weird brings back that sense of wonder and curiosity that I had when I first fell into the fandom.
And for the record, I LIKE clowns, and think they are funny. Those that laugh maniacally while rolling on the ground, however, I am ambivalent about.
I think I need to know more about the awkward kind before it clicks, though. This does happen, so that's not an empty statement of trying to relate. Good explanations sometimes make things click.