Have you ever done anything involving clowns? Any general thoughts on clowns in the transformation or mind control setting?

I have never done a clown TF story before, and to be honest, I don’t understand it particularly well. This is, in part, because I don’t know much about clowning, which for all of it’s buffoonery, is actually a very complex pantomime and routine, with particular characters and plots. I simply am not well enough versed in it to understand it particularly well, but I can certainly take a (most likely wrong) attempt at rationalizing it.

I think part of the problem is that a “clown transformation” doesn’t fit neatly into either half of the MC/TF genre. In this sense, I would probably classify them as a “class TF” (in the same category as rednecks, most racial transformations, business suits, etc.). I also think that, like many class TF’s, a clown TF can have both negative and positive connotations, so I’m actually going to split my analysis in that way.

Looked at positively, it requires a certain understanding of clown characters. I think that, or at least in the stuff I’ve read, the clowns which are viewed most positively are the Augustine variety (you know the “hobo clown”? Those ones). They are, really, a strange mix of character traits–stereotypically they are not particularly bright, but they are at heart anarchists–characters who rebel against power and usurp it. One trope of clowning acts is a Whiteface clown commanding an Augustine to do some task, and either on purpose or accidentally, the Augustine makes a comical mess of things. Being turned into a clown is, in a way, giving that character a persona, someone unbound by the rules of society, who operates in a different way, and who is free from many of the rules that someone might feel oppressing them. 

Negatively, I would say that a clown TF slots in very easily with a lot of humiliation triggers. There’s the muteness of the character, the fact that they are openly ridiculed, that they are clumsy and dumb and lack self-control. 

Now, here’s the aspect that I don’t particularly understand myself. I personally don’t find any of the above very erotic, and when I try to figure out, I usually just shrug and move on. I’m not even sure that clown TF’s necessarily need to be erotic to be effective, but I think that’s just me not getting it. So, this is my best guess–take it or leave it.