Reap What You Sow

Hey... I made a cap!

So... I had the desire to make a cap.  I'll go into why I think this came through later though.  I had the feeling, and decided to try and run with it.  I really didn't intend to make a cap for Bren even though she's next up on my cap debt list, just because I didn't think I'd come up with a good cap.  But when I saw these images, I knew I had something to work with.  I liked all the images from this set, but focused my attention on two of them:

To be honest, I wasn't thinking of using both of them at this point.  I had the vague idea of a man forced to swap bodies with the woman who he was having sex with, and I figured one or the other image would work for the story.  The fist image seemed to nail the feeling I was going for.  Her body position is just screaming 'Why me!?".  But the second image was a bit sexier to me... with her hands between her thighs and the way her ass is pushed out.

So while I had both images up, I tried to think through the story.  If I could incorporate one or the other position in I would go with that.

My first thought at the story was him making some stupid remark to his girlfriend, and she not only puts him in her body (and no... I don't know why I was focusing on a body swap.  It was the first idea and I just continued to run with it), and also sends him back in time making him seduce his former self.

But that was just to complex and I figured the story would be focusing on the magic involved, and not the experience of being in the new body.  So I changed it around a bit.  He still says something stupid, and she still puts him in her body, but instead of involving time travel, she would send him to her husband, saying he needed to fool him.

I think it worked better, but the inner dialog I was imagining focused on being upset at her instead of the new body.  It was at this point that I realized I was dealing with some kind of karmic revenge.  And when I think Karmic Revenge, I think Bren!

So to make it fit her a little more, I wanted to focus on that Karmic side a bit more.  Instead of him being directly punished by her, he would simply be coming up on the short end of the stick.  I figured a curse would work nicely... I would leave the specifics out, and just hint at it.  By having sex with a married woman, the curse would make him replace her.  If he did it well, he could get his body back.  And if he didn't?  He would simply have to find someone willing to help him cheat on his husband later on.

Now I knew at this point that the story would be fairly short... but that I could divvy it up and make it fit two panels.   So I went back to the images to look them over and see if I could focus any part of the story on something in it.... the lamp in the background? The rattan bed-board? The curtains?  It's then that I noticed her garter in the first picture (which ended up being the image used in the last panel).  It felt odd that the front garter was so loose, while the others were tightly hugging her.  When I zoomed in on the image to get a closer look though, it cropped the view-able area so that her head wasn't in the photo.  And I really REALLY liked the way that looked.... it went from an exasperated pose, to one of nervously waiting.

A similar crop on the second photo worked just as well.  It lost her 'patient' facial expression, but left her mouth in the photo giving her a breathless look that matched the new 'nervously waiting' pose of the other photo.

So with the images cropped that way, I went to writing.  Writing was.... odd.  Since earlier this month, I haven't really written all that much and the gears were more than a little rusty.  I did eventually get through it, and started working on the layout.  I knew I couldn't use a symmetrical layout, as the photos were just laid out too differently.   It took a bit, but I think the layouts work together.

I was happy with the design, and the layout... but when I saved it all, I felt that the story was just... 'off'.  I couldn't put my finger on it, it just didn't feel right.  Thankfully at that time, Kyra came online.  I shared what I had with her, and even though she liked it, she pointed out that the last paragraph wasn't quite right.  Here's the version that I had sent:

I agreed that it didn't read all that well, and my first thought was to just delete most of it.  I'd just keep the "Oh Shit! He's Home!!" line.  I think the story would work just fine and be better with that deletion... but the layout would suffer a bit.  I would have far less text on this second panel... and the panel already suffers from too much empty space (when paired with the first panel that is!).  

So instead of deleting it, I let myself take one last swing.  Instead of focusing on how else he could get out of this predicament, I made him think through what the husband would see/hear/touch.  I think this newer version (the one posted at the top) works much better.  And I (as well as all of you who agree) have Kyra to thank for it!

We both realized after I sent her this new version what the problem was.  The entire cap is focused on the here and now.... but that last paragraph wandered out of the immediacy of the moment.  It didn't work to build up the tension and even let some of it out.  Yes... 'Brenda' is still thinking of the future, but the future that's right at hand... not weeks down the road.  

So... thank you Kyra!!

That's the story behind the cap... let me share a bit whats been going on with me.  I'm still struggling with being 'Caitlyn'.  I still feel like her at times, but it's more frustrating than anything.  Much like that last paragraph, it just feels 'wrong' when I'm her.  Yes, I channeled her well while writing this cap, but halfway through this write-up, she's gone.  

Looking at the cap just 10 minutes ago I was thinking that it was fairly sexy.  It had a little squirm factor to it, and that Bren would more than likely enjoy it.  But now... it does nothing for me.  

I think the only reason I was able to let her out at all was becasue I had a pretty busy week as 'Calvin' last week.  I actually had my first face to face job interview and thought it went pretty well.  Sadly, I didn't get the job which left me in a bit of a tailspin of depression and desperation for the weekend.  

So putting two and two together... I think Caitlyn served as a good diversion this morning.  I don't think it means I'm back to normal... but it's a good sign that she can come back, even if it's just for a short while.