A Recap of 2021 and My Hopes for 2022

Good morning everyone,

Be advised, this article will be longer than average, surprisingly melancholy, and also more personal and political. Discussing fictional works produced over the last 12 months also requires remembering the real-world events which happened over those 12 months. I heartily enjoy size-fetish media, but consuming and producing those stories does not encompass the totality of my existence. There are also family and friends, people that I care about who are affected by politics.

The overwhelming majority of the content reviewed at this blog was created for mature audiences. Mature content includes explicit depictions of sex acts, but also encompasses other adult topics such as issues of morality, politics, violence, etc. Since the folks reading this blog should be of mature character in order to read about mature content it logically follows that they should be able to handle discussions of frank subjects beyond just sex, but which also discuss the loss of loved ones and politics. So, those topics will be discussed today.

This is the beginning of 2022 and the fourth year of Japan’s Reiwa (令和) era. But before we can look forward, it’s necessary to look back.

Last year was personally tragic. It began on a rough note in late January when Mrs. Solo underwent surgery to remove a small cancerous tumor on her bladder. Thankfully, a biopsy later determined that the cancer was not malignant. Still, it gave our family quite a scare.

Afterwards, we made plans to move across town. Moving everything you own is a long process, particularly when your household consists of a family with kids and pets. At that point during the year, the move was an arduous enough task that I thought that the cancer surgery and the move would be the most challenging tasks for 2021. Nonetheless, we were happy to now be within walking distance of a train station and more importantly closer to friends.

Months later, a daughter of one of those friends attempted suicide. The young lady survived, but she and her mother are still in the midst of a prolonged and slow recovery.

Then my only brother died in October. The news of his sudden passing arrived only a few hours after my review of Brazzers “Shrink Her!” was posted online. I was busy planning Halloween reviews that morning. At the time I was blissfully ignorant, happily preparing to update my Twitter to reflect the season. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and many months beforehand I commissioned artists CAPP and Trent Harlow to create size-themed scary art for my Twitter header and profile pictures. (NOTE: Those beautiful images can be found at Deviant Art.) Before the day became one of my very worst, I was looking forward to showing the world the art that had been patiently waiting on my PC for October to finally arrive.

Instead, my wife sent me a short message via Facebook. She asked if she could call me. At that time, our youngest daughter was struggling with significant social anxiety. Our daughter had already been absent for several days during the first two months of the school year. When that text appeared my first thought was that our daughter wanted me to pick her up from school. I sympathized with her struggles, but worried that her academic progress would suffer if she missed any more schooling. So, it was with some trepidation that I waited for my wife’s call. Unfortunately, the news she gave me was much worse than I feared.

On the phone, my wife gently told me that my brother had contracted COVID and had passed.

It’s amazing how dramatically life can change during the span of just one moment. In the short time it takes to speak a few words over the phone, everything becomes different. During the time it takes to snap one’s fingers, life is irrevocably altered.

After we ended the call, and at first unbeknownst to me, my wife contacted our oldest daughter. Normally, our oldest daughter is notoriously difficult to wake up, but not that day. That day she got out of bed immediately. When it really counted, she was there to comfort me. I’m immensely grateful for that. She swiftly walked downstairs and found me sitting silently in my chair, crying at random times. It wasn’t an unrelenting flood of tears, but rather long bouts of silence punctuated by tearful moments.

One moment I had two siblings, a brother and a sister. The next moment, that brother was gone. Decades ago when we were teenagers still living with our parents we would amicably argue over which snowmobile manufacturer made the better snowmobiles. (Snowmachines in the Alaskan vernacular.) A silly feud centered on the differences between two different companies. I rode a sled made by Arctic Cat; he drove one made by Ski-Doo. My cause was strengthened in 1993 when Bill Long won the Iron Dog, a long-distance snowmachine race which runs along part of the Iditarod Trail, while riding an Arctic Cat. My brother would counter by extolling the benefits of the Rotax engines used in Ski-Doo’s. The argument never ended, but it also was never taken too seriously.

Undoubtedly, that sounds trivial, but as young boys becoming men we were competitive and thought it was a very important subject. I will miss those arguments. I would have liked to hear him brag about Ski-Doo’s 2021 Iron Dog victory.

I didn’t know he was sick. No one in the family knew. My brother was the only member of our family still living in our small home town, and thus none of us could easily see him on a regular basis. My mother last spoke to him on the phone about a week before he died. At that time he was fine and everything was normal. Shortly afterwards he came down with symptoms, but never told his family. Those ailments progressively worsened over the course of a few days until he asked someone to drive him to the hospital. But it was too late. He collapsed and died before he could even step inside the hospital doors.

This tragedy was made worse due to the fact that it could have been prevented. It is probable that if he had been vaccinated then he would have survived. (NOTE: For those in doubt about the protection provided by COVID vaccines, please read this article: How do death rates from COVID-19 differ between people who are vaccinated and those who are not? That article’s chart concerning mortality in the United States was built on data collected by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Obviously, data collected by medical professionals dedicated to preventing the spread of disease is preferable to the uninformed opinions presented by grifters on social media or Fox News commentators like Tucker Carlson.) Awhile back, Mom tried to convince him to vaccinate. He dismissed Mom’s concerns about the threat as merely media hype.

Furthermore, even without a vaccine, if he had quickly sought medical treatment when he first fell ill that might have increased his odds of surviving. But he didn’t. So, now he’s gone.

After high school, my brother and I went our separate ways. He enlisted in the Army. I enlisted in the Air Force. However, my brother was ill-suited for the discipline of military life, and separated from the Army less than two years after joining. He returned home and never left again. I spent over twenty years in the service and and eventually retired. I never again lived in our home town, and now spend most days over three thousand miles away from there.

Returning home after his death was unsettling. The trip caused me to wonder how things would have played out if I had not left. Local restaurants dutifully posted signs recommending the wearing of masks, but those signs were regularly ignored. Most restaurant patrons were maskless while at the same time a hospital official was dutifully updating the number of local residents killed by COVID to include my brother. Before I left Alaska, that number increased yet again. An ominous development in a town of only a few thousand people.

Nonetheless, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy decided to endanger his constituents by issuing Administrative Order No. 325 on November 2nd, 2021. That order, which can be read here, includes measures to stymie federally-mandated COVID testing and vaccine policies. Alaska’s Attorney General and state agencies as a whole were directed by the governor to fight those efforts, instead of working with the federal government to enact policies which have proven effective in reducing the spread of COVID. (NOTE: For more on that topic, please read this ArsTechnica article.)

At least one of my brother’s old friends still held anti-vaccine sentiments. I also had an awkward dinner with an uncle who “trusted his immune system” and likewise refused to get a vaccine. My immediate desire was to curse both my brother’s friend and my idiot uncle for their stupidity. Yet, I did not want to add to my parents problems and cause a scene. The pain of burying one of their children was already more than enough.

Many other people lost loved ones to COVID in 2021. A friend lost a grandmother to COVID. Another creator also lost a brother. Victims suffered all around the world.

That brings us to my first and most important hope for 2022. My number one desire is that people trust medical experts and take the precautions they advise to fight the pandemic. That includes getting vaccinated, practicing social distancing, and wearing masks. Bottom line, if people have legitimate concerns about those preventative measures then they should ask medical experts.

If folks seek information on any topic then asking professionals who have dedicated their lives to studying that topic is a smart course of action. If I had a question about a toothache, I’d ask a dentist. If I had a question about interpreting the phrase “適当” then I would ask a linguist fluent in Japanese. If I wanted to know how to change the crank shaft in a Chevy 350 engine, I’d ask a car mechanic.

That makes sense, right? There’s no reason to ask a mechanic to remove your wisdom teeth, or to ask a Japanese linguist how to adjust the points on the distributor for a classic Chevy 350.

Conversely, if I had questions about what life was like growing up with wealth and privilege, then I would ask Tucker Carlson. My claim that Tucker’s life was more privileged than the average American is based on the fact that Tucker’s father, Dick Carlson, was the President and CEO of King World Public Television and also served as the United States Ambassador to Seychelles, and Tucker’s step-mother, Patricia Caroline Swanson, was heir to the Swanson Enterprises fortune. So, he could give first-hand testimony on what his childhood was like as a rich kid. However, based on Tucker’s lack of medical expertise, it makes no sense to give Tucker’s opinions on COVID any more consideration than the thoughts of the average layperson. Tucker has had no medical training. He has zero expertise in that area. Why should anyone care what he thinks about the effectiveness of virus prevention measures?

The same applies to former President Donald Trump. If folks want advice on navigating the New York real estate market, then Donald Trump might be able to help. Trump was involved with the renovation of the Commodore Hotel into a Grand Hyatt Hotel and he built Trump Tower. But why on Earth would anyone follow his recommendation of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID treatment?

The photo above was taken by Tyler Merbler from USA – DSC09523-2, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=98637510

On that subject of Trump, let’s transition to the topic of politics. The previous year began with an ill-legitimate attempt to disrupt the American presidential election. Specifically, on January 6th of 2021 supporters of then-President Trump forcefully broke into the Capital building intending to disrupt a joint session of Congress formed to count electoral votes and certify the election of then President-elect Joe Biden. (NOTE: I recommend watching the Visual Investigation created by the New York Times.)

I’m ashamed to admit that some of those rioters were fellow veterans. They were men and women who previously served in the military and had once sworn an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States. Yet, during a crucial historical moment they betrayed that oath and violently opposed well-established constitutional process based on the feeble lie of a stolen election. Their willingness to place themselves above the law and follow a lie discredits them and brings dishonor to their reputations.

The lie, a claim that there was voter fraud significant enough to alter the outlook of the 2020 Presidential Election, was never proven despite multiple attempts. There was voter fraud, but it was at such a minuscule scale that it could not have affected the results even if all of the illegitimate votes had been for one candidate, which they weren’t. The Associated Press (AP) determined, in mid-December 2021, that there were fewer than 475 cases of potential voter fraud. Quote:

“Democrat Joe Biden won Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and their 79 Electoral College votes by a combined 311,257 votes out of 25.5 million ballots cast for president. The disputed ballots represent just 0.15% of his victory margin in those states.

The cases could not throw the outcome into question even if all the potentially fraudulent votes were for Biden, which they were not, and even if those ballots were actually counted, which in most cases they were not.” (Source: Far Too Little Vote Fraud to Tip Election to Trump, AP Finds)

That was during an election in which Joe Biden won the popular vote with a total of 81,268,924 votes compared to 74,216,154 votes for Donald Trump. (Source: “Official 2020 Presidential General Election Results” from the Federal Election Commission)

Accordingly, legal efforts failed on numerous occasions to overturn the election results. In just one example, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an attempt by the State of Texas to throw out the election results in four other states. (NOTE: That court order can be read here.) Three out of the nine Supreme Court Justices (Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, and Neil Gorsuch) were personally appointed by Trump. Presumably, if there was actual evidence and proper cause to nullify Biden’s victory in those four states then the justices appointed by Trump would have supported the case. They did not.

So, that leads me to a second hope. A hope that American voters will choose better leaders. Midterm elections are scheduled for early November 2022. To all American readers, I urge you to remove those Representatives and Senators who repeated and supported Trump’s lie. They put political ambition ahead of their sworn duties to the nation and to their constituents. Please vote for people that will support democracy instead.

A call for change leads into another recent event which worried sex workers around the world. On August 19th, the subscription service OnlyFans, which hosts erotic content from thousands of adult models including a few who produce size content, announced their intentions to ban pornography from their site beginning on the first of October. OnlyFans reversed that plan less than a week later on August 25th.

The reluctance by several large banks to process financial transactions for sex workers was reportedly the reason for OnlyFans’ aborted attempt to ban pornography. (NOTE: For more information, see the TIME Magazine article: Why OnlyFans Suddenly Reversed its Decision to Ban Sexual Content.)

Obviously, it is unnecessarily difficult for creators to produce and sell erotic content (which is legal by the way) when there’s a significant chance that they won’t be paid due to the prudish opinions of senior financial executives.

The solution is simple, accept that sex work is real work and treat it accordingly. If someone doesn’t want to financially support sex work then they certainly do not have to support it. However, they just as certainly have no right to dictate to others whether or not they partake.

Anti-pornography organizations such as Exodus Cry try to use valid criticism against child pornography and sex trafficking as weapons against pornography created by consenting adults. They try to equate legal pornography with the scourge that is child porn and the exploitation of unwilling performers. Let it be known, trafficking and sex work are not the same thing! Many people consciously and willingly choose to be sex workers. (NOTE: For a previous discussion of Exodus Cry’s tactics used against PornHub, please read my editorial Size-Fetish Creators and the Potentially Problematic Platforms they Use: “Are We the Baddies?”)

Moreover, efforts to combat child pornography and human trafficking are often based on faulty data and consist of draconian measures which hurt more people than they help.

For example, a 2006 study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that U.S. government estimates of the number of people annually trafficked across international borders was “… developed by one person who did not document all his work, so the estimate may not be replicable, casting doubt on its reliability.” Given that the data is potentially unreliable, it should not be used to drive decision making. (NOTE: That GAO report can be read here.)

Furthermore, raids on brothels are often large-scale affairs which result in mass arrests. Law enforcement officials treat trafficked and non-trafficked sex workers in the same manner. In those situations, prostitutes who want to continue working are denied the opportunity as their places of employment, the brothels, are shut down due to police action. Therefore, those workers with direct knowledge of trafficked victims may be unwilling to notify authorities for fear of losing their only employment. Additionally, prostitutes experience sexual abuse and violence at the hands of police. However, if sex work to include prostitution was legally permitted then those workers could report information about illegal trafficking without fear of losing their jobs. (NOTE: I recommend reading “Behind Closed Doors: An Analysis of Indoor Sex Work in New York City” written by Juhu Thukral, Esq., Melissa Ditmore, Ph.D., and Alexandra Murphy for the Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center (SWP).)

So, along with electing rational leaders who support democracy, let’s advocate for policies which legalize sex work. In my opinion, that approach would be the most effective way to combat child pornography and human trafficking.

The photo above was taken by Flickr user Romeo Reidl from Budapest, Hungary. It showcases the “Belle” statue which has an inscription reading “Respect Sex Workers All Over the World.” This public art piece is located in front of the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam’s De Wallen, the city’s largest red-light district.

Transitioning away from politics, let’s turn to those live-action giantess films which have been announced years ago but as of this writing only linger somewhere out there in the void, as yet unseen by the size community. That includes Jeff Leroy’s “Giantess Attack vs Mecha Fembot” which IMDb claims was “released” in December 2019 ❗

Technically, speaking IMDb was correct in the worst possible way insomuch as “Giantess Attack vs Mecha Fembot” was technically screened once in December 2019. That physical screening at one location does not qualify as a “release” in my opinion, but it may count using the most pedantic interpretation. To the best of my knowledge, there is no place to view this online and no way to purchase a copy. Perhaps it will be released this year?

Similarly, Nightveil Media may eventually produce more giantess films. The DVD for “Ghost of Garganta Part Two: Garganta Got Milk,” released in 2017, teased upcoming films “Colossa” and “Revenge of Garganta.” In February 2019, I asked Bill Black of Nightveil Media and he replied that they had to finish the movie “Scarlet Scorpion” before those new giantess movies would be produced. The Scarlet Scorpion was released during fall 2020. Maybe Revenge of Garganta and Colossa are right around the corner? Here’s hoping!

In more upbeat news, there were many positive developments in the world of CGI artistry. Giantess Tina put a ton of work into the “DestroyForDaz” project and she shared it for free with the community. Many artists have since used her tools. One example is above, while a few more are shown below:

The previous blog post, Top Ten of 2021, mentioned that Tetsu returned to making CGI GTS comics after a 7-year hiatus. Additionally, Bmtbguy’s “Cheap Tricks” series made a welcome return. Unfortunately, Alex GTS’s “Jessica and Michael” (JnM) still needs a Chapter 17. Chapter 16 came out way back in 2015. However, Alex produced three issues in the “BluePhone” series and still managed to provide fans with free content on DeviantArt in the form of the ongoing Growth Diary, including the following:

In the world of giant lovers, SizeCon founder Jitensha created the “Daddy’s Dollhouse” forum in February.

The site focuses exclusively on “giant men and/or tiny women.” It suggests that fans of “giant women and shrunken men” should check out Giantess City instead. Daddy’s Dollhouse can be found here: https://forum.daddysdollhouse.org/

Another positive development for giant lovers was the many audio and video productions released by BattleBeauties. That includes, but is not limited to, “Giant Erotica Tale: Giant Man on the Loose,” “The Giant Accident at the Labs,” and “The Evil GoldRod shrinks you puny ass down and does what he wants with your tiny body” (could have used a shorter title!).

Returning to the topic of size forums, the creation of Daddy’s Dollhouse was already mentioned. Other size forums had a less eventful year with nothing new happening to their basic appearances or functionality. Giantess City operated reliably and in a steady-state with no significant changes. The Process Forum went off-line for a few days at a time throughout the past year, but nonetheless continues to soldier on. The Coiled First looks positively ancient, but did host interesting content such as an intriguing comic from Angel called “Giantlands.” That can be found at Coiled Fist and at Deviant Art. Here’s a little taste:

Regarding the lack of forum updates, I think that’s a case of don’t fix what isn’t broken.

In the preface to Tuesday’s Top Ten list, size comics from Black Horse and Image were mentioned. However, older publishers like DC also made relevant content. For example, Wonder Woman Black & Gold Issue 6 included a short story in which Giganta and Wonder Woman switched powers:

Not to be outdone, Marvel had a giant Wasp during September’s Episode 5 “What If…Zombies?!” from the first season of “What If?”

In the realm of adult comic publishers, BotComics and Interweb Comics regularly produced content over the course of the last 12 months. However, BotComics consolidated its once-separate sites (BE Story Club, Bimbo Club, and Giantess Club) into one. A few years back, in mid-February 2017, BotComics made all of its membership plans Cross-site. So, membership at Giantess Club also provided access to comics at BE Story Club and Bimbo Club.

Continuing that trend BotComics eliminated the different clubs at some point after April and re-directed their URLs to point to “BotComics.com.” Fingers crossed that this is not an ominous sign that the publisher is beginning to falter and may cease operations altogether.

Switching gears to the subject of gratitude. First and foremost, I owe Mrs. Solo so much! Whether QC’ing blog posts late into the evening or helping me through the loss of a family member, she was always there when I needed her.

Additionally, many talented creators took time out of their busy schedules to complete interviews. Thank you all so much! Your answers meant a lot to me and it was always interesting to learn about the different approaches to size fetish and varying perspectives on our shared interest in macrophilia.

That’s it for today’s post. Now I turn the question around, what are your hopes for this year? Please comment below or send me an e-mail. Next week will begin with a regular review. Until then folks, keep growing!

All Rights Reserved.