TGHawk555: The Interview!

[Vengeance1701]

1) Why TGHawk55? Is there a good story behind your nome de plume?

Haha, it's actually a little weird. See, I was kind of new to the internet around the time I made this screen name (or at least, still somewhat green), and I made it just slightly different from an older user name that I would use. I can't divulge much more info on that matter, but let's end it with a bimbo-ish answer: I like birdies! I want, like, 5 of them~!

2) Being a long-time observer/poster/etc, what do you think of the direction the transformation genre has gone? For the better or for the worse?

Hmm, good question. In terms of the genre as a whole, I can only really speak on TG and possibly a little on bimbos. Looking at Fictionmania, for example, it has definitely become more about sissification, real-world transitioning, crossdressing, and shemales. I'm all for a variety of stories, but it feels like it's starting to lean too far to one side. But looking at TG from a broad point of view, it feels like it has started to wane a little bit in comparison to other transformational genres. If you look at the recent posts section, you tend to see a lot more transformation, growth, and shrinking than any other category (from my perspective, anyway). Who knows: maybe this is just a lull in TG activity and we'll be seeing a spike soon!

3) Related to that: being a long-time member of the Process...why here, why is this (seemingly) one of your favorite places?

Haha, I guess you could technically ask that of almost any site. I like it here because the people are friendly (most of them, anyway) and have similar interests. I mean, I remember that I was drawn to the site in the first place because of the TG section, and from there I just started to integrate myself into the community (which was a little rare for me at that point in my life).

4) Bimbos always seem to come under some form of controversy. Whether it be about being demeaning to women, identity death, etc, bimbos generally get blood roiling. Why do you think that is and is there any substance to their claims?

Well, it's hard to say. I mean, it's like you said, there are claims of being demeaning to women and identity death, and there's also people who just aren't interested in "stupid" women. To be perfectly honest, I'd say that at least some of them are partially right. I recognize that there are depictions of bimbos in which they're treated as practically subhuman. I tend to rescind my support from those situations, though. Sometimes, though, the act of being a bimbo is meant for the individual and them alone. Personally, I enjoy the concept of bimbos because I've been one of the smart people my entire life. With bimbos, it's almost a kind of reprieve from that intelligence, you know? I still have my reservations when it comes to bimbos and their perceived sexual activity, though... People always seem to think that bimbos and sucking cocks/having sex with anything that moves go hand-in-hand. I'm of the opinion that those two are not necessarily linked, personally.

5) How did you come to get interested in transformation? Did it start as a kid or when you got older?

Heh, this is something I'm still not too sure about myself. I don't remember much about my childhood, but I do remember that I was exposed to transformation material from time to time. Things like The Swan Princess or some random Spiderman transformation (not to mention things like Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z) were probably the earliest instances I can remember. As I started to get older, I guess it just kind of became more interesting naturally, you know? I mean, the idea of being someone or something different? How cool would that be? So, from there it just kinda progressed to a full-on interest in transformation

6) Is there anything which you'd like to see change about the way we do things on the Process?

There's not much that I can think of. I mean, we have a pretty good forum all around. We've got a governor who listens to us, and we have some moderators (I think?). Our PM system is pretty good, and things like subscriptions and creating threads are both fairly simple. I guess I'm always interested in seeing people continue to be civil towards one another. Also, it might be nice if we could get some more games and RPs set up (more games than RPs, though). (I hope that answered your question!)

7) Why do you think lurking seems to be more prevalent here in the transformation genre than in others?

I would guess that is has something to do with shame, in a sense. I mean, what we are interested in can be seen by others as more perverted than just liking pornography (some of what we post is pornographic, but that's beside the point). It's easy to just "ride the coattails" of people who post content for others to see. It's like, you still get what they've offered, but there's that anonymous disconnect that sort of separates you from what you're viewing... Sorry, that might not have made much sense (it's easier to say than it is to type). Basically, the membership is free, and the content is free, so why worry yourself with interacting with others if you're just there to get your jollies? Of course, I'm sure not everyone feels that way: there are likely people who are just too shy (sort of goes along with the shame factor), and there are probably others still who have some other reason for lurking.

8) Are there any artists you think have been UNDERrepresented in the community at large? I'm sure you see a few!

Ooh, under-representation! That's a tough one. I tend to follow a good portion of the popular artists and writers, so I'm not sure that I'm too familiar with many of the under-represented ones... Well, if danielsangeo is under-represented, I'd sure like to see more of his work, and yamigalence is producing some requests right now, so hopefully that will lead to bigger and better things for them. Additionally, nsfwdizzy (deviantART) seems to be becoming more prevalent in the transformation community, and I'd be interested to see if skaplip (YouTube) will ever make any more animations!

9) Would you be ashamed to tell anyone you're a member here? Would you be more likely to tell family or friends or neither?

I'm slowly reaching the point where I wouldn't mind it if people knew about my membership here. I mean, with parents, there will always be that disconnect that makes me uncomfortable telling them, but I've shared this information with a few of my friends, and they've supported me for it. Of course, this isn't the kind of information that most people will divulge upon meeting a person. You've gotta make sure that you trust the person enough and that they won't have a negative reaction to what they learn.

10) What do you think when people bring up real-life problems into all these fantasies? IE: rape, gender discrimination, transgender rights, etc.

It's debatable, but sometimes these things are important. I mean, it depends on how it's brought into play. Things like rape get used as a revenge tactic (for example, raping a recently transformed mean boss who fired you), and gender discrimination is predominantly used either as the cause of a transformation or as material to work with after the transformation has taken place (things like a guy being transformed as retribution for ogling a woman, or a newly transformed woman having a sudden desire to go shopping). For the most part, a lot of these issues aren't taken as seriously as I hope they would be in real life, and for a lot of people, that's the reason. It's ok to use rape or gender discrimination in these ways because "it's just fiction." On a more depressing note, I worry that some artists/writers/"consumers" actually think these things are ok in real life... Really, though, we could use some more realism in this medium (I know it's fantasy, but still). Too many stories and sequences glamorize things like transgender transformation, not taking into account how the human body works or the effects that a transformation like that can have on a person. Too often, you see things like "oh no, I'm a hot woman! I better suck a guy's dick!" or "these boobs are so big, it's great! I'll never have any back problems or anything!" and after a while, those get stale and, in some cases, offensive. Still, the more positive uses of these "tropes," the better.

[MsMako]

These interviews are great, Vengeance1701. Really cool idea. Thanks to you and the people who took the time to do this.

MsMako