Pretty slow week...

There's this usual update at Stone Of Adventure, WLP... Litch updated...

Uh, just two weeks left for the story contest.

But if you like - here is my essay on female transformation - as has been pointed out, more observation than analysis but I'll work on it more later... maybe:

Female transformative fetishes – that is fetishes pertaining to
changes of the female body (and the somewhat different but related,
mental transformation) – include a huge variety of different fetish
interests: everything from simple enhancement of existing body parts,
to lycanthropy, to size changing, all the way to changing a human to
an inanimate objects. So transformation, in itself engenders and
encompasses a wide spectrum of sub-fetishes which exist within a
strange, tangled and complex web of involvement.

Most transformative fetishes seem to almost inevitably split between
benign and malign in occurrence and/or usage. That is to say, that the
woman is invariably empowered or enslaved by her transformation.
Equally subsequent to an empowering transformation she can be
magnanimous or misanthropic. This generally represents within the
author a love or fear of women and a desire for a submissive or
dominant role in the women subject to transformation. Although
inevitably, these are not often clear cut but one can see general
trends in certain areas. For example mind control - is almost entirely
misogynistic whereas the opposite is true of growth/ giantess stories.

On that theme, perhaps the most commonly known fetishes are those
pertaining to size change – these will almost certainly be familiar to
anyone versed in popular culture as they are staples of TV and film.
Shrinking women and giantesses are among the largest online fetish
groups and it seems likely that this is directly related to the fact
that they are so often shown in mainstream media that they are such
common fetishes. Shrinking and growth do in themselves however
represent diametric opposites in terms of situation, in obvious ways.
While growth and giantess fetishes, generally put men at the mercy of
women – sometimes in particularly violent ways – the opposite is
generally true of shrunken women.

The two are essentially two sides of the same coin. Whereas GTS
stories will generally see smaller, weaker girls elevated – literally
– in status and power, SW stories will often do the exact opposite,
putting more powerful girls in a situation where they are ever
shrinking. The GTS punishes whereas the SW is punished and so on. This
is an obvious dichotomy which is paralleled in many transformation
fetishes and can be seen to represent the inherent power play aspect
that comes into play in almost all fantasy scenarios.

Closely related to the GTS story we have the similar but disparate
branch of Amazons and female muscle growth. Of all the TF fetishes,
this one is one of the few that ever strays away from empowerment of
women and is one of the more realistic fetishes (it is entirely
possible for a woman to increase her musculature after all). Here
again we see the weaker, smaller or less popular girl gifted with the
power to right wrongs – and in some cases actively seek vengeance (as
with violent GTSs). This is very much an empowerment related desire
and unlike the GTS/SW situation there is no real equivalent with women
being deprived of power (except possibly by being usurped by an even
more powerful woman). Amazons and FMG hence stand as one of the few
transformative fetishes where women can only be empowered and never
objectified.

By comparison breast enlargement is very ambiguous. Breast expansion
can of course occur by itself but it is common for it to be paired
with – mind control, GTS, Amazon, PE, bimbofication and various
anthromorphic transformations – these tend to compliment themes either
of sexual transformation or objectification. Hence, BE can fall into
either an empowering or disempowering experience for the woman.
Needless to say the reaction is critical, if the woman becomes a
bimbo, then she is often at will of men, whereas if she is in a
situation where she finds her condition is transmittable or she –
rather than a third party – is responsible for the growth, the story
tends to be more… innocent in its sexuality. However, it is not
uncommon for women in BE to become enslaved by their breasts or by a
man – often one who she has humiliated. Which is what allows for the
ambiguity, the sexual power of the breasts can either enslave or
empower. Themes such as revenge are not uncommon either and hence, the
very act of BE can be degrading and a means to shame a character –
conversely though one can see BE as a method of. Hence while both
extremes are represented, most stories inevitably gravitate toward the
centre ground but with a slight bias toward disempowerment – almost
inevitable given the overwhelmingly male nature of the community.

Anthromorphic alteration – most commonly seen in the form of
lycanthropy but extending to the reach almost every conceivable
creature (both real and fictious) anthromorphic alteration is
inevitably linked to the "furry" community. As always there is the
dichotomy between empowerment and humiliation in the transformation
but here the element is complicated by the fact that popular mythology
has vilified lycanthropes for centuries.

The dichotomic nature of female transformation is likely a reflection
on the fact that sex in general falls into the patterns of dominance
and submission. It would be logical to assume that this pattern
extends to this fetish group but it's a misconception to think that a
preference for the opposite role. Indeed, the fetish can often be
extremely compartmentalised by the individual – to the point where it
has no perceivable effect on their expectations of real world scenarios.