Romance and sexuality are key to many types of erotic writing, but they are curiously absent or underdeveloped in many forms of transformation stories. I want to explore the place these themes have in fiction, what makes them work and what makes them fail. Warning! This is going to be a very long, complicated discussion.

In many transformation stories, the transformation is the erotic element. That doesn't meant that there is no sex, but sex acts aren't often the focus. Instead, the process of the transformation becomes the most-described part of the story. In just about every commission I've done, a laser-like focus on the transformation has been a request, which is understandable. What's a transformation story without a vivid transformation?

Typically, romance and sexuality - if they are present at all - serve to highlight consequences and implications of the transformation. I'll discuss Matt L's stories as an example, because he's written a great deal of stories and I've read them all. Generally, they follow a pattern: either romance and sex are entirely absent, or the transformation causes the male love interest to lose interest in female because she's no longer conventionally attractive. After the transformation, the female might meet an unconventional man and fall in love. But this is described usually in a brief way, serving mainly to highlight the degree in social hierarchy change that has befallen the character. 

Other types of transformation stories tend to follow the same pattern: in age progression stories, for example, sex and romance are typically included as a 'mirror,' to show to differences between the characters post transformation. Gender change stories are more likely to include vivid sex scenes, but I've found most of these are based on exploring the concept that the gender change allows for a new expression of sexuality or a new kind of humiliation. Either way, they are done to show the effects of the transformation, not as an independent plot point.

Though I'm by no means unique, I do feel that my stories are often a bit out of sync with this trend. A few of my stories focus almost exclusively on romance and sexuality. In The Concert, for example, there is no transformation element. In Embers in the Frost, the transformation element exists, but it is a small part of a story which is ultimately driven by a romance.  

Why do I write like this? 

That's a question that needs a lengthy answer.

I've enjoyed transformation stories longer than erotic stories, but that's possibly because I was exposed to transformation stories far earlier in my life (in 'choose your own adventure' books, as a child). But when I first was exposed to erotic writing, I enjoyed depictions of unconventional or taboo relationships. When I first started writing, transformations become an end to creating those types of relationships, rather than ends in and of themselves. This is essentially an inversion of the gender transformation focus I mentioned earlier. Instead of showing how exciting the transformation is by describing it leading to sexuality or romance, I like to show how exciting the romance and sexuality are through the transformation.

I'm a romantic at heart so I tend to enjoy sexuality being connected to some type of romantic feelings. I'm also a sex-positivist, so I don't understand why sex is often depicted as depraved or dirty in stories or in porn. Even when I write taboo stories, I still usually lean to the sexuality itself being very loving and affectionate. 

I know a lot of people tend to avoid romance and sexuality in stories because they are often written very poorly and with certain gender expectations. In other words, they are often written as gross, predictable, un-romantic, and always male-dominant. Read my takedown of the BBW 'Romance' genre to learn more about this trend. My first erotic story ever was a gender change story in which a man became a woman and a lesbian, written because I wanted a male character to have access to sexuality that didn't comport with the traditional model. 

So I actually started writing by creating a gender change story to avoid norms, but I ended up conforming to different norms. I created a story in which access to alternative sexuality was the product of the gender change, which I said is the focus of most gender change stories.

Over the years I started to shift away from describing two female characters doing what I wanted a man and a woman to do, and just started writing the man and the woman directly. It was a bit difficult as there really isn't a good genre or even a good label for my style, and not a lot of good stories out there like it. I can't really describe my stories as 'female dominant,' because women in my stories always wield a loving/nurturing kind of power, and are never cruel or humiliating, as is often in the case in stories that are labelled as 'female dominant.'

Perhaps it is my passion for describing alternative relationships that lead me to place heavy emphasis on them in my writing. Yet I have to admit I've never written about my ideal relationship in any one story. The romance in Embers in the Frost is sweet, but it was written ten years ago, and doesn't reflect exactly how I see things today (specifically, I don't think of myself as a self-esteem rescuer.) The erotic element of Relationship Realignment is still great, but it's too fantastical to serve as an outline for a relationship. Other stories, like The Princes and Graduation Day, are very close but aren't it exactly.

I'd like to think that my thoughts on relationships are obvious from reading many of my stories, but given the fact that my thoughts do evolve over the years and the fact that most of my stories don't have super-well developed male characters (exceptions include the stories mentioned in the previous paragraph,) I can understand if I've been less than clear.

That's about all I have to say on this topic for now. As for what I'm writing, I'm working on the last part of a six-part commission currently and a story swap. I have another commission that I'm likely to start soon after that. Then I'll be starting grad school, which well take up some of my time, but I'll try to keep writing when I can.

I've written and read erotic short stories for over a decade and I've come to a simple conclusion about what works and what doesn't in a story. 

A story works if it has a single memorable moment.

This may seem like a gross oversimplification. Surely, there are some stories that are good that don't have memorable moments. And surely there are some terrible stories that have memorable moments, but not in such a way that it redeems the story.

Yet, when you think about your favorite stories, you always tend to focus on the memorable moments, don't you? The best paragraph, the best sentence, that echoes over and over in your mind. I've even remembered very powerful moments in stories that I otherwise found unremarkable, and yes, I consider those moments redeeming for the entire story. 

Do you agree or disagree with this sentiment? What do you consider to be the most memorable moments of stories I've written, or of other stories you have enjoyed? Let me know in the comments.

Today's offering, a parody of the song "Gold Digger": funny, but not exactly size positive.

I also wanted to share "Made to Measure" by My Ruin, one of my favorite bands. It's a heavy metal song that's very pro-alternative beauty, song by a gorgeous chubby goth chick, but no transformation element.

You have have seen this woman, Hilda, around the internet lately. She's not only been featured on some plus sized art sites, but also more 'mainstream' locations like Huffington Post. Perhaps what makes Hilda so alluring is the fact that she and her beauty were once mainstream.

I highly suggest you check out more Hilda images. Though she doesn't look the same in every photo, there are a few constants. She is always plus sized and a redhead. She is always engaged in simply enjoying the world around her. Unlike today's models, who always feel the need to strike 'sexy' pouty poses, Hilda's sexuality was always part of her ordinary life. And she was usually happy,  not looking scared or sultry. What's more, Hilda wasn't depicted as being extremely young. Depending on the painting, she could be a woman of varying age, but she hardly looked like a teenager. 

What happened to the America where Hilda calendars were for sale, and nobody batted an eye? How did we go from a thin dominant culture - which the US certainly already was by the 1950's - to a culture where thin was the only way to be beautiful?

I don't have the answer to that question. But I do feel our culture is in a state of reawakening. Why else would pictures like Hilda suddenly have appeal to so many? Our culture craves this type of expression, because we are in a state of flux. And that's a very, very good thing in my book. 

If you like Hilda, please share your favorite plus size beauty icon.

Age Progression is my second most requested transformation, after Weight Gain. Of course, weight gain is often part of age progression - so I don't know how fair it is to separate the two.

Like weight gain, age progression is taboo because it involves attaching an erotic element to something our society is hell-bent on avoiding. This taboo is part of the allure in many stories.

Age progression typically involves an acceleration of the aging process, by magical, scientific, or unexplained methods. This results in graying hair, wrinkles, weight gain, fat distribution around the body, and more. 

Like weight gain and nerd transformations, age progression can be part of a punishment/humiliation story. It can also be about beautification and empowerment, depending on the perspective of the writer. Or it may simply happen, independent of any overarching reason.

The story that introduced me to the genre is "Spider Bites" by greinskyn, and it has some great visuals and a fascinating set up. Generally I'll prefer a fantastic concept told adequately to an adequate concept told fantastically, and this story is certainly the former.

Ones of my personal favorite age progression stories is "Graduate to Maturity" by Kronostar. This story is about empowerment and, in a rare twist, is a voluntary transformation. The voluntary change motif is one that I enjoy in part because I feel it makes a change more consequential if it is something chosen, rather than merely received.

I'd say the biggest dividing line in age progression stories is how old the person usually gets. My unscientific observations suggest that about two thirds of those interested prefer to see characters reach ages of around 40-60, in other words, middle aged, while the rest want characters to become very elderly, usually the older the better. My interest lies with the first camp. 

One aspect of age progression that I enjoy in particular I feel has been generally neglected - the ability of age progression to imbalance the power dynamic between men and women. A woman who suddenly becomes an older woman might be economically more successful, have more sexual experience, more confidence in what she wants, or many other traits which are traditionally associated with dominance in a relationship.