Friday, November 9, 2012

Fade In Fade Out

How well do you know your friend?



I don't know where this specific idea came from... but I can tell you that the first thing I thought of with this cap series, is the design and NOT the story.  I've read stories and caps before that involved someone falling in and out of consciousness and honestly enjoyed them.  I've always thought it was an interesting way to help pull people into the subjects roll.  You never know what happened in between the bouts of consciousness, and it offers many more opportunities for fun little reveals.

With a story it's easy to write this in.  Each new bout of conciousness will start with the subject waking up, and can end with them simply fading away.  But in cap form, I thought that it might be kind of cool to show that fading in and out visually.  It would remove the need to narrate anything with phrases like "...and the world slowly faded to black.".  And with the way that I lay out many of my caps, it wouldn't be too hard.  Simply have the text fade from the color of the text background to a more contrasting color.  Each text box would be a moment of consciousness and could remain just his/her voice.

So I knew roughly how I was going to lay this out.  I just needed a story.  And last night it came to me.... at least the basics of it.  I was watching "Last Resort" (a completely meh show, but it passes the time) and they had the crew drugged up.  At one point the captain falls unconscious only to wake up with a needle sticking out of his chest (it was full of adrenaline and had saved his life).

Now I wasn't going to set this cap on a rogue nuclear submarine... but having an injection knock someone out would be a nice story tool.  Now I just needed a reason that someone was transforming our subject, and using a needle to knock him out over and over again.

To be honest, I didn't come up with this story.  Killing a wife in a car accident and being forced to take her place has been done before (and wonderfully too!). I just took the idea since it worked with everything I had set up, and told it in my own way.  I went to writing, and planned that the first few words and the last few words if each paragraph would be obscured, so I had to write something to fil the space, but not have it be important enough to be missed.

And seeing as I still owed Brenda a cap, and this involved a karmic revenge, I figured it would be right up her alley.   Sadly after I finished writing it, I double checked her preferences and realized that she didn't like the idea of full memory loss, nor the idea of being transformed through surgical methods.   So I simply edited out any references to 'Brian' and 'Brenda' and replaced them with 'Calvin' and 'Caitlyn'.

I think the story is a little weak... I originally had intended there to be sex involved in a more direct way.  Something about 'Calvin/Caitlyn' performing a blow job and half way through remembering that she wasn't really Caitlyn (and of course getting an injection to knock him out because of it), but as with the last few caps, I just couldn't write that out with any zeal.   So the only sex is mentioned in passing.  I think the story suffers from that, but it's just a limitation that I have to live with for now.  Hey... at least it might work for all those people out there that don't want to read a XXX cap.


13 comments:

  1. OK as you say not a new idea but you have done the theme very well.You can always put more into a caption but sometimes leaving stuff out can can be just as effective and let the readers imagination work alittle.
    Ian

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    1. Thanks Ian!

      That's actually where I generally run into trouble... trying to leave things out. I've gotten better over time, but it's something I still struggle with. I think the reason I was able to pull it off this time with relative ease, is that I was focused on the design element of it, and not the story (although I did only plan on this being a single panel!)

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  2. Whether the basic themes have been done before is not an issue, Caitlyn. The concept is well-executed!

    I doubt that in any form of literary composition there exists any story which has not already been written in some form or another. How we express them is where the differences come into play. This is part of the reason I don't spend as much time surfing the vast and growing plethora of TG Blogs as I once did. Trying/hoping to not end up composing a cap that too closely resembles anothers' work.

    This is a wonderful piece, Caitlyn. Be proud of your ingenuity!

    Peace,Love&Kisses;
    Elle

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    1. Thanks Elle!

      I hear you on all stories having been written. I guess I should have explained that a little better. This is one of the first times I've taken an idea directly from another cap. Most of the time when I tread into well worked material before, I do it without a specific story or cap in mind. I didn't this time, although for the life of me I can't find the original that I had in mind when I wrote this.

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  3. I love the effect of the fading text incorporating the fading in and out of consciousness. While the general tale has been covered before, you've brought it to a new level :)

    Now how about that caption on a rogue submarine ;)

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    1. Thanks Kyra!

      You know... that might make a fun caption assuming I could get the images. After all there aren't many women on a sub, and being rogue means no getting home soon. Hmm... the wheels are turning on this one!

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  4. One of the best uses of layout to tell a story I've seen in awhile. And thrusting us right in the middle does a great job of making us share her confusion. You kind of see how she might deserve it, but her terror is so palpable that it makes it hard not to feel sorry for her and her "happy" ending.

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    1. Thanks smitty!

      Once I started writing it and realized I was going to go over a single panel, I considered adding a 'first' panel set just before the accident. I'm glad that I didn't now.

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  5. It's a "classic" concept but you did it soooo well. Kudos!

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  6. Well, if you like to consider the following images for those "Submarine Rogues", here's a link, Caitlyn!

    http://xhamster.com/photos/gallery/1060227/navy_fantasy_-_submariners_dream._military_uniform_submarine.html

    Peace,Love&Kisses!
    Elle

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    1. P.S. just for those who don't know, they pronounce it 'submareeners', since a sub-mariner is, by definition, a less-than-capable sailor!

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  7. Dear Caitlyn,

    It seems only yesterdayish that you were having difficulty creating caps. But you have been on a tear and and this one is awesome! No matter if the story line is not your idea. Vicki Tern and Sara Desmarais, two excellent erotic authors, each claim no story is new. It is what the author does with it that matters. And you have done something amazing here. In my humble opinion. Thanks.

    Hugs & kisses,

    Leeanne

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  8. I haven't seen the movies yet, but this reminded me of victim and skin I live in. Especially skin I live in.

    The first page felt like it could have ended right there and this would have been a solid cap. But the next two pages builds on it so well, that the brainwashing ending blew me away and I'm SO glad this was more then just a single!

    Lovely work all around Caitlyn. Love the faded text too!

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