Watching Others Watch Size

[Olo]

@blehb said in Go-to sizey daydream?:

Here’s a weirder one I’m wondering if any of you can relate to: I love imagining peoples reactions to size content. Good or bad, I’m just fascinated by people’s thoughts on it (beyond the “wow how strange!” part). Like how into it would they be? What role would they want to play? How would they feel towards someone who was really into it?

And I don’t mean this in a way where I’m trying to project my own fantasies onto them, or hope they’re going to love it as much as I do. It is just a genuine fascination. I don’t have the guts to bring it up to anyone though.

I am probably more interested in normies’ reactions to size content than I am in kinksters’ reactions, tbh. I’m no longer trying to “recruit” people into size fantasy, but I do think it doesn’t have to be as insular as some might think. The aesthetic I’m aiming for in my stories is an engaging story that “just happens” to have size content.

Accordingly, I want to know how much size content normies will entertain before it gets too silly and they stop engaging with it. For example, if I come up with a mixed-size society and describe certain accommodations that are made for People of Unusual Size, my goal is to make the normie reader say, “That’s clever, that’s probably how it would have to work” rather than just laughing at the sight gag.

Once they buy into the premise, then the size smut should sell itself.

[blehb]

I’m glad the post resonated with someone else! I was worried I sounded gross or like I was trying to project my own kinks onto other people. I really am just fascinated by how people might respond to it. I would like to tell a partner one day, so I guess that’s the source of that concern?

I know there have been a few size-related scenes in a lot of shows or movies recently. I don’t really use social media anymore, but I imagine people’s responses to it would be super interesting. Of course, it all depends on how the content is depicted in the first place.

[Olo]

@blehb Coming out of the cupboard certainly plays a role in trying to anticipate normies’ reactions. It’s always a fraught situation; you hope that the size content is able to explain its appeal, but at the same time it’s so easy for it to be cringey.

The reactions to Termite in The Boys and Little Cricket in Gen V have been all over the place, but that hasn’t kept me from trying to spot any gi-curious commentary.

I remember when the movie Downsizing was about to come out, I was all excited to see how normies would process it. Then it flopped and I was glad everyone quickly forgot about it.

[foreverlurk]

@blehb You’re not alone, I’m fascinated with human nature and thus I’ve also been trying to see normies reaction to size media. I can’t find it right now but I saw a good reactions videos to HISTK on yt, and of course a few good ones to the recent Gen V scene.

Oh and I’m in the same boat about wanting to tell a partner eventually (gulp!), so I totally understand the concern.

[blehb]

@Olo said in Watching Others Watch Size:

gi-curious commentary

Lol

I remember when the movie Downsizing was about to come out, I was all excited to see how normies would process it. Then it flopped and I was glad everyone quickly forgot about it.

This movie is actually very interesting to me because (and correct me if I’m wrong because I haven’t personally seen it, so I don’t know how true these criticisms are) it seemed like a lot of people were disappointed the movie strayed away from further world-building. Like they were excited to see these special effects and quirks and stuff but then the movie just took a totally different turn.

[blehb]

@foreverlurk Arrietty is a fun movie to show people. The animation is beautiful and so creative! Definitely a movie to turn your brain off to, but I love seeing reactions to it.

[foreverlurk]

@blehb I saw Arrietty as a grown ass 20-something and it blew my mind. I’m such a sucker for impossible or forbidden love stories. I’m never fully comfortable watching sizey stuff with other people, even to this day.

[miss-lillipants]

@blehb said in Watching Others Watch Size:

it seemed like a lot of people were disappointed the movie strayed away from further world-building.

Haven’t seen the movie either. I think most normies have shown a general, albeit fleeting, fascination for size content and are genuinely interested when there’s world-building or there’s a reason for it to exist - like most fantastical themes; vampires and werewolves being classic ones. I’ve been lucky to have been able to tell a handful of friends and partners, and be met with curiosity and a “oh, that’s cool!” And then we move on to other topics - hence the fleeting part. If there’s nothing to keep them interested, that’s it until it’s brought up again.

I think the sexual part doesn’t tend to come up because people are being polite. Amazon has probably answered some common logistics questions (including The Boys, Gen V and American Gods) at least.

[Olo]

@blehb said:

[Downsizing] is actually very interesting to me because (and correct me if I’m wrong because I haven’t personally seen it, so I don’t know how true these criticisms are) it seemed like a lot of people were disappointed the movie strayed away from further world-building. Like they were excited to see these special effects and quirks and stuff but then the movie just took a totally different turn.

So Downsizing was written and directed by Alexander Payne, who had previously made such adult satirical movies as Citizen Ruth, Election, Sideways, and About Schmidt. Not only did those films have smart and funny scripts, they also featured scandalous scenes of full-frontal nudity that were more comical than arousing. There was every reason to believe that Payne would deliver the long-awaited mainstream size smut crossover, and he had the budget to do what none of us would even attempt in terms of special effects.

Unfortunately, Payne’s goal was about satirizing how narcissistic Americans pursue individual remedies rather than taking collective action. So, instead of reducing carbon emissions to mitigate global warming, a privileged few reduce themselves in the hopes that they will set a good example for the rest of the population. Much of the screen time is spent on several Downsized people interacting with each other and demonstrating the hollowness of the entire project.

Almost all of the special effects and tiny people interacting with Biggos was in the trailer. Even normies were expecting more of a fantastic experience. The review in The New Yorker actually referred to Brobdingnag from Gulliver’s Travels and said the film needed more giant-tiny sexytimes. It doesn’t get more disappointing than that.

[blehb]

@Olo said in Watching Others Watch Size:

So Downsizing was written and directed by Alexander Payne, who had previously made such adult satirical movies as Citizen Ruth, Election, Sideways, and About Schmidt. Not only did those films have smart and funny scripts, they also featured scandalous scenes of full-frontal nudity that were more comical than arousing. There was every reason to believe that Payne would deliver the long-awaited mainstream size smut crossover, and he had the budget to do what none of us would even attempt in terms of special effects.

I was unaware of this, which I’m kind of thankful for because it spared me the disappointment. I couldn’t even imagine looking forward to that! I guess that explains why I didn’t hear much about it in any of our forums after it was released.

BUT the fact that both “normies” and the size community were craving more of that content is kind of promising no? And I feel over the past few years people online have been a lot more forward regarding “unusual” attractions they have. The internet lost its mind with Lady Dimitrescu.

[littlest-lily]

Yeah it can be fun talking to normies about this stuff! (if anxiety inducing, if they bring it up unexpectedly lol) Most of the reactions from people I know is that they think it’s really cute - and I’ll take it, I like the cute stuff too. But I’ve even had a friend who told me something like, “Yeah, I think I get it. I remember feeling a certain way when Hook captured Tinkerbell. It’s kinda hot.” That BLEW my mind, because she definitely doesn’t have the kink like I do, and yet there’s still an appeal there. And I can understand it if I think about other things. I’m not into something like, say, merpeople. But I think it’s such a cool fantasy race, and I can certainly get behind a concept where a hot merman takes me on a magical underwater adventure lol.

Okok here’s something that I think could actually truly work if it’s done right. In mainstream media, I feel like sizey things are supposed to be funny, cute, or “fun” scary (ie big scary monster that needs to be defeated). But I think it could be truly engaging as a horror premise. And I’m thinking about the popularity of shows like “You” and the whole sexy serial killer trope (I’m glazing over the problematic aspects of that here). I’ve thought about this a lot and can picture it…

He’s charming, engaging, hot, albeit a bit reserved. She doesn’t realize he’s been stalking her for weeks, but finally he hits it off with the girl, they talk and laugh, enjoying a meal and some drinks. She starts feeling dizzy, fearfully realizing her drink was spiked with something before she blacks out. She wakes up and she’s tied up, alone, in an unknown space. She’s panicking, fighting the bindings, looking around. There’s a spotlight on her, too dark to properly see past, but she vaguely sees a massive shape moving in the darkness. Something comes into the light, slowly revealing itself to be giant fingertips, a hand sliding across the floor that’s actually a table, reaching for her, with a softly booming chuckle as she hyperventilates and recognizes that voice.

If the filmmakers actually took this kind of scenario seriously and made it scary, I think normies would take it seriously too. Make the giant kidnapper just sympathetic (and sexy) enough and I think it would really awaken something in certain people.

[Olo]

@littlest-lily THIS. Horror in unquestionably one of most normie-accessible modes for introducing size content, and that’s almost certainly why I keep returning to it. (The other mode, of course, is comedy, which is why I expected Downsizing to get into some explicit sexytimes.)

[littlest-lily]

@Olo Yeah I feel like the Gen V sex scene was meant to be comedic. And that’s fine I guess… But I feel like it takes a bit away from the sex appeal for me? I’d just love to see a scenario where the size difference is meant to be taken seriously. What I’d love is an earnest wholesome romance a la Minami Kun but I don’t know how well that would work here.

[Olo]

@blehb said:

BUT the fact that both “normies” and the size community were craving more of that content is kind of promising no? And I feel over the past few years people online have been a lot more forward regarding “unusual” attractions they have. The internet lost its mind with Lady Dimitrescu.

Absolutely. Deviance is becoming normalized. It’s been a long time since I’ve been single, but it does seem everyone has at least one weird little fetish and not being able to admit to some kink would raise eyebrows. Considering what’s out there and what people are willing to admit, size kinks are cute and relatively harmless.

[Olo]

@littlest-lily said:

I feel like it takes a bit away from the sex appeal for me? I’d just love to see a scenario where the size difference is meant to be taken seriously.

I feel exactly the same. Given our society’s immaturity regarding sex, I don’t expect any mixed-size relationship to portrayed completely without humor, but I would like the participants not to be depicted as crazy or wholly in thrall to a weird fetish (or the tiny as an unwilling captive of a priapic giant). I genuinely think the appeal isn’t that difficult to appreciate.