Monday, June 17, 2013

Grace and Elegance

Can you become elegant for Grace?

This is a cap I made for commentator over at the Haven.  I'm still feeling Dawn (as commentator likes to be called) out and went in a more directly forced direction than I did for her previous caption ("Do Not Point Camera At Mirror").  Besides being more forceful, I also decided to give a cross dressing and shemale direction a try.  I'm not sure that Dawn really loves these themes, but she does offer it up in her preferences saying:

"Not many of you have an outlet for crossdressing caps. I think they are more difficult for the protagonist/victim than a simple change. So feel free to get them out of your system here."

I always enjoy the theme of feminization starting out with the masculine form and taking small steps.  Normal man to cross dressing to body enhancers, to mild procedures like lip enhancement, to breast augmentation surgery to full on SRS.  While I intended to have 'Dawn' take all these steps individually, there just wasn't room for each step to have it's say.  So a lot of them got mushed together with the final step being left up in the air.  I'm not sure which would be 'better' for Dawn in this story... to end up an elegant shemale or to fail and end up as a fully elegant female.

Design wise, the story got out of hand again.  I edited about a quarter of the story away... no major parts, just a few words here and a few words there... but it was still far larger than I had room for.  Sadly that meant covering up the cigarette holder (and therefore editing that part out of the story).  You see my first thought when I saw how big the story was, was to split it up like I did in "Striving for Perfection".

Oh well... I think the design still works and maybe this will let the readers focus more on Dawn's new beautiful face.  I hope Dawn as well as all of you out there enjoy it!

13 comments:

  1. Needless to say my dear Caitlyn, but I love this caption.

    Kisses,

    Leeanne

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Leeanne!

      As I was writing this I figured it would appeal to you even without the overt sissy references.

      Delete
  2. Yes love this caption I think the slow transition and the forced work well plus still trying to escape with a shred of manhood left.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Ian!

      I almost wish I had a couple more photos to work with as I feel that I hurried the slow transition. I'd have loved to really draw out the process some more.

      Delete
  3. Caitlyn did a very very nice job on this cap for me. I'm actually more about the backstory than a detailed rundown of the changes anyway. Why it's being done, the reaction, etc. The elegant picture sets the mood and as I don't smoke I'm perfectly happy the holder is gone. I leave my preference open because I'm always amazed at the stories people tell me when they aren't limited. I think it makes the process more enjoyable for the capper.
    Personally I'm kind of the opposite. I love the challenge of creating a story that fits the reader like a tailored suit. Check out the one I did for Caitlyn on my blog: http://dawngs.blogspot.com/2013/06/blog-post_7.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Dawn!

      I'm glad you enjoyed the back story as I too agree that it helps set up the emotional tone for the actual transformation. I'm always hesitant to use images that involve smoking as it seems to be a hot button topic. People either really like it or really hate it. in this case, I'm now glad that it got obscured and removed from the story.

      I can see what you mean about leaving your preferences open. Sometimes it allows that odd spark of creativity to really flame up into a hot story that wouldn't seem appropriate for anybody that has more specific preferences. My only issue is that sometimes I am not feeling all that creative. Sometimes I need a direction to move in. I'm actually surprised that I found an image to spur on this story as I wasn't in a particularly creative mood when I wrote it. There have been times when I was trying to cap someone with very open preferences and it took me weeks to get inspired. Even when I finished those caps (this cap too), I wasn't sure if it would go over well as I don't have a measuring stick (preferences) to gage it against.

      I try to straddle that divide in my own preferences. I have the bare minimum I would need to enjoy a cap (my name, race, and memory retention), and I also have a more expanded list of preferences that people can use. I also include a small list of themes that people can draw upon if they are struggling with an idea.

      Like you mentioned, you like hitting your subjects sweet spot and making a cap that fits them perfectly. I too often enjoy that, but with your very open preferences I have no idea if I even came close to it.

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    3. re-edited because my typing sucks!

      On preferences I agree it's a difficult line. I do have some things I like better than others but I fear that if I list those that many cappers will gravitate directly to them trying to make me happy when in fact any story told well and with feeling will do just that. I actually would like to think that if a capper has a great idea but they don't know where to go to place it that they'll think of me.

      I know some cappers REALLY like certain tropes and I'm more than happy to oblige them. And when that kind of story pops into my mind I know right where to go. But when I have a story that doesn't bring any Havenite to mind I find myself trying tailor the story and in doing so I think the story suffers.

      I have stepped on a few folks preferences rather than compromise the story but after a couple of nice emails I'd rather post them on my blog directly.

      Sometimes my challenges to cappers reveal my preferences but sometimes I select a trope that's out of my comfort zone just to experiment and learn. Some cappers personal preference bleed into their caps even when they don't intend it. I know I can be guilty of that.

      But every picture inspires a new story and I wait to see what my fellow cappers will come up with next.

      Delete
  4. LOVE it......and I'd fail the test on purpose. ;-D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Alana!

      I'm sure many readers and cappers alike would throw the test!

      Delete
  5. I loved everything about this caption. It's another example of Caitlyn's fantastic story-telling as well as her ability to choose images that fit the fantasy. It's obviously the image is the star but it wouldn't be more than a pretty picture without the accompanying story. Bravo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Simone!

      I think in this case that the image deserves top billing. The story really leans on the image to demonstrate just how far our slovenly Dan has come.

      Delete
  6. Thank you all for your kind words. When I was writing this cap I felt that the story was really lacking. Even re-reading it just now I feel that I left a lot of the story on the sidelines. It's nice to hear that the story went over well!

    ReplyDelete