Thoughts on Extremes of Various Kinds

Here's another scene from my new superheroine-in-peril novel, Game Theory:

Now some of you might be thinking that I could have posted that on my Deviant Art page and you're probably right. I've certainly seen images at D.A. depicting scenes that are much more violent, graphic, bloody, and just plain dark (and I don't mean just the light level). In fact so far from what I've been told and have been able to discern there are two principal image elements that will violate D.A.'s guidelines: penetration (vaginal or anal) and/or an erect penis. 😲

(After thinking about it a bit I came to understand that last one. Nothing else really constitutes as much of an obvious "ready for sex" signal. After all nipples can get erect just because it's cold out. Whereas a penis gets that way for one main reason—overly tight jeans notwithstanding.)

(Strangely though, speaking as a heterosexual and not really homophobic male, the sight of an erect penis has never bothered me. It's flaccid ones that gross me out a bit, but those are a-okay at D.A. So as a result I've see a lot more of them than I ever wanted to…)

(And one last thing… I've never liked that word "penis". Dunno why but it just sounds gross. Dick, prick, cock, phallus, shaft, member, manhood, Johnson, purple-helmeted warrior, one-eyed trouser snake, heat-seeking moisture missile… all fine. But "penis"? Ugh. Go figure.)

Anyway yes I could have posted this one at D.A. but I chose to put it here not out of fear of the slender chance of violating D.A.'s guidelines but out of deference to my watchers. As I've posted more erotic art and I've gathered more watchers and received more feedback I've noticed that some of my images don't always rub people the right way. (Go ahead and insert your own joke there. 😉) That's to be expected; everyone has slightly different tastes, preferences, kinks, fetishes, and especially limitations. By creating and sharing erotic content I'm bound to push some people's buttons both positively and negatively. But in general I think my most successful images at D.A. have something lighthearted about them. Either I've tried to insert some humour or there's just something ridiculous and over-the-top about the situation. (Which is not hard, frankly, when you're depicting people with superpowers who wear colourful costumes as they fight crime.)

I think those elements of humour and whimsy provide a sort of comfort zone for most of my watchers. It makes an image with sado-masochistic elements safer because it's obvious it isn't real and that you're not supposed to take it seriously. But some of my images (especially a lot of those that illustrate my stories, which tend to have more extreme elements in them) are not depicted humourously and they also aren't inherently ludicrous. In fact I try to make my stories as realistic as possible (despite the fact they're about people with superpowers), so it follows that illustrations of scenes from those stories would also be realistic—perhaps even disturbingly so. As a result many people comment on how much "darker" those images seem compared to my other ones.

Now I don't want to limit my inspiration and I know just as many people really like those types of images as don't. But the thing about D.A. and its notifications is that if you're watching someone you don't have a lot of choice in what you're going to see. A thumbnail of every image they post appears on your notification page. Even if you want to see it, you might need a moment to mentally brace yourself to experience a "harder" type of image. But that automatic thumbnail doesn't give you that chance.

So posting those sorts of images here on the blog is a better compromise. I can alert my watchers to their presence with a status update: text only, so no unexpected visual surprise. And even if you want to come here and see the image you have a chance to take a moment and just mentally prepare yourself for something stronger than you'd normally see at D.A. I think that's valuable and important. As a result from now on I'll try to post images of a "darker" nature here even if they would pass muster at D.A. Of course I'm relying on my own judgment so I can't promise I'll make the right call every time. Still, doing the right thing sometimes is better than never doing it at all.

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Another thing I thought I'd share (as it may have gotten lost in the D.A. comments where I posted it the other day) is that, in case you didn't notice, my Duster figure is significantly buffed up in these Game Theory images. That's deliberate; Game Theory stars an "elseworlds" version of Duster who becomes more of a hardened, ruthless, determined vigilante. The commissioner who requested the story wanted her to be slightly more muscular, which is how I described her. So of course that's how I depicted her in these images to be consistent. Below is a quick comparison render with Game Theory Duster on the left and "Duster Prime" (the figure I use in all my other artwork featuring her) on the right.

Duster Prime is still toned and athletic (a fact many of you have noticed and commented upon before), but for GT Duster I increased her muscle tone a bit and amped its definition a lot. It's most noticeable in her abdominals and thighs, and if you look closely you'll also see differences in her calves, arms, and so on.

Of course I could have gone further but I don't have a muscle fetish. Like most other fetishes I've got nothing against it but I prefer women to still look "feminine". I realize that's a loaded term we could argue about and I admit its perception is subjective. To me it means there must still be some "softness" in the figure. I prefer to not see so much musculature that the woman starts looking like a man in many respects. The Game Theory Duster figure I created for these images was my attempt to achieve a balance between muscularity and femininity that I could live with.

Anyway that's probably it for the Game Theory images (aside from one more going up on D.A. tomorrow). I created a total of fifteen images to promote the book, sixteen if you include the Duster figure that EXitZero included for the cover. Game Theory is selling well; it's been out just over a month at this point and it's already sold as many copies as each of my other books with the exception of Harem. I think the image-based promotional campaign helped in that regard. Which makes me think I should go back and do some of the same for my older books, so watch for that in the future.