Edit: Sorry this is later than promised! I accidentally scheduled it to be posted tomorrow instead of today at 5 as usual, so I've fixed it now that I've noticed! Enjoy!
So as promised, I decided to give a review of my favorite cap from each author who submitted at least one cap to the Sissy Caption Contest! I tried to talk about design/artistic choices when possible to give ideas of what accentuates certain parts of the cap, but I will admit that I am suckered in by some storylines and will talk about those as well. Hopefully this will provide a way for captioners who submit to contests to see how a different person (me!) looks at their caps (and others' caps) to see what works/what could help improve their captioning!
Natasha
First we have the lovely Natasha, who submitted caps in her classic style, namely printing bold font over the image itself. This does a great job of bringing the text closer to the image, making it easier for the reader to associate the image with the story, as well as condensing the size of the image. I was especially pleased with the choice to make this a salon makeover cap...that image screamed "MAKEOVER" to me, so I'm glad that was the direction she chose to go in :)
The Zoligomyst
It was hard picking a favorite between Zoli's two excellent caps, but I thought the dialogue/characterization plus over-the-top aspects in this cap were too much to pass up. This cap excels at using the dialogue and blocking to make the reader FEEL how aggressive/dominant the female boss is in contrast to how meek/weak the sissy is. Plus, the details about the punishment, especially the vibrator and taping the button down so it stays on permanently is so deliciously evil, making it a perfect forced sissy caption for me!
Darrell
Darrell's cap had a fantastic idea - a sister in debt selling her brother as a Russian male-order bride. To things jumped out to me about this. First, it's unique in that it's a close family member selling out this main character, where usually it's the character himself who gets into trouble. Secondly, the idea that the "groom" who purchases this bride may not know that he's a sissy was nice because it left a lot to the imagination about what would happen. Finally, as a minor artistic point, Darrell likes to ring his image with a colored border. Doing this, especially with a color that contrasts from both the image and the background color behind the text, can make the image pop out and can draw attention to it if that is the desired effect!
C2Sanon
I really loved this caption by C2Sanon because the contrast between the first and second paragraphs. Visually, the two are set in different colors (thus making them seem distinct even with a brief perusal), while thematically it shows the main character before and after Aunt May gets through turning him into a sissy wife who loves BBC. I also like how the first portrays much sadness/anger, while the second evokes much more happiness/contentment in order to show the mental changes that occur in the cap.
Anderson
Anderson was a new captioner who had six really good, crisp looking caps that I had a hard time picking a favorite from! Although I loved the SISSY Service cap's dialogue and concept, I settled on this cap because I wanted to talk about the way this cap is structured. Anderson introduces the cap with some brief dialogue, goes deeper with some third person background, then finishes up with a little more dialogue. I like this choice and recommend trying it because it can simultaneously play out a sexy scene (in this case a sissy getting bent over) while giving background information that illuminates the scene. A great technique chosen by a promising captioner!
Ian
Ian's cap does a really good job of developing a story while hinting at the surprises to come. Talking about a robbery, mentioning how upset Becky is, having her blurt out that he's really a sissy, then the conclusion that Becky is keeping him that way. There are a lot of little clues left in there that end up with a satisfying conclusion that the main character is trapped in a sissy life that may be worse than being in prison! Really enjoyed this one because of that :)
Amy Harris
Similar to Ian's cap, I like the way that Amy developed this story. A particular strength is the way this plot/the reader's awareness takes sudden sharp turns. For example, the opening sets up a crossdressing habit that is accepted and a brother doing a favor for a sister. But this innocent moment is shattered by the line "Is this the sissy gang bang shoot?", at which point you instantly know that the sister is not so loving and is trying to literally fuck over the brother. Yet soon after, it is revealed that the brother is really a cock-hungry sissy slut who has been going behind the sister's back for years! It's a deliciously naughty twist that is improved by the wonderful paragraph at the end that reveals how slutty the sissy brother really is. Great work Amy!
Musta
Musta had a lot of really excellent caps - I particularly recommend the second/fourth caps as great examples of shaping the cap to imitate some design for an effect (in this case an Instagram/Tumblr blog to show off the sissies in the caps) - but I really loved this one the most. The three "voices" - the sissy's voice, the male's voice inside the head, and the daddy's voice - are all distinct and obvious based on the font type and color, and the characterization of each are truly fantastic. The way the male voice reacts to the sissy's voice is extra awesome - definitely something worth repeating/imitating!
Christina
There are two aspects of Christina's cap that I think are important to note. First, the text is center-aligned. which alone isn't important, but does a good job of mirroring the vertical shape of the bodies in the cap as well as filling the space outside of the image nicely. Secondly, Christina does something I like which is referring to specific aspects of the image as part of the transformation, which draws attention back to the image and thus makes you FEEL like it's real. For example, when the tattoos were referenced, instantly my eyes jumped over to the image, confirmed that they were there, and tied the character in the story with the model in the pic.
Brittany7
Last but not least is Brittany's cap, chosen from her four great submissions. I must admit that I'm a sucker for this image - it's the perfect 'crossdressing sissy' cap for me - and Brittany did a great job with it by making it a classic salon transformation cap. As a stylistic note (which I wanted to touch on even though I technically did this as I put the cap together for Brittany), notice the effect of changing the dialogue color relative to the rest of the text. It makes it pop out and is great in this cap where certain trigger phrases are uttered, making them more poignant to the reader because of their unique viability.
