CORE Questionnaire #6

1) a) I actually really liked Laurel's introduction. I was immediately interested in her because of what she was saying she was capable of doing. That drew me in because I know what Hive likes to do with geniuses like her. When she is walking around and thinking and rolling ideas around in her mind it helped sell that powerful intellect and curious mind very well. I was nervous and curious to see if that mind would survive the issue, especially since the cover art and title made it seem like Mel would be on the prowl recruiting for Hive.

b) The dual betrayal arcs of Mel and Laurel were incredible. Knowing who Mel used to be and knowing the conditioning she's received to enjoy betraying her friends and the time they all spend around each other all culminates in that one moment where Inogene expresses such indignation at Mel only to have her experience bliss at the thought of her betrayal and thank Inogene was a super powerful moment. Laurel going through the same thing as well after spending so much time around her, seeing her bond with Inogene, and so forth only to have her eagerly push that button. Back to Mel again this felt like such a final moment for her. It was like the culmination of all the conditioning and influence of the slave persona to the point that Mel is a finished and eager slave for Hive willing to do anything to serve their goals. Almost every scene serving that arc was terrific, hot, and I loved it.

c) Erin enslaving Celia is a great scene. Erin is such a fun character to have around with her eagerness. That scene was especially fun on rereading though with the knowledge that Sami was going to take her regardless of her conditioning to Hive. Sami's control of Celia was an unexpected delight. Sami's deep black eyes and hypnotic effect and impregnation of Celia were all great and compelling.

2) I think it did make the issue better.

Nicole's scene was short, but it helped a lot to establish her as the new character she has become. Giving her that brief moment to ponder over her identity and purpose and so on was great. I liked seeing her ask herself questions that I have wondered about her after Exis got droned and she was "freed."

Tammy's was less interesting as a character moment as it didn't introduce anything new for her, especially with what happened between her and York in the last issue. That being said, I fully expected the mind control play between them to manifest as something more insidious or severe. Seeing their scene play out purely as a cnc scene with out of character giggling was really adorable and I loved that.

I saw Sami's scenes as the B plot of the whole issue. Unless I missed something from an earlier issue I thought that Sami was a nice and peaceful bunny against mind control, so I was very curious why she was taking control of people. I also thought it was a super important point that her bunny hypnosis/pheromone powers can override Hive control, at least to some degree. That might come in handy if Sami does really see her friends as friends and not potential pouches.

Overall at the least the scenes provide a little break from the main narrative and have some nice interactions with characters that I like, but I think they are great teases of stories to come for these characters in later issues.

3) As I said Mel's betrayal moment(s) were fantastic. Her face and bliss at the people she's betraying calling her out on her betrayal were fantastic. Mel behind Laurel encouraging her betrayal and "service your oppressor" were as well.

Sami utterly dehumanizing her captive and calling her a pouch was personally unexpectedly erotic especially given how I am not a huge fan of furry related things.

The green glow effects are great for making a mind control effect feel more real and physically present, especially when the glow is on a character's skin.

4) Oh so many. Are things going to progress with Tammy and York, will Nicole reach a conclusion in her search for an identity; will she decide on a new name? Even though Mel's arc seems over there's still questions: will Mel ever be discovered, will she ever be saved, is there more to her conditioning despite claiming that she is totally loyal, will she be forced to betray Tammy or Nicole in some way, is she hiding something from her enslaver persona? How much does Melcthion know, will she follow up with Mel's outreach and discover that Mel is a drone? Will Melcthion's personal agent (Katka?) discover something in her surveillance? What is Sami doing, why is she doing it, and does she think she's doing something good or is she really just as nefarious as her bunny sisters? What's going to happen when/if Celia's Hive controllers find her pregnant and with orders in her brain that they didn't put there? Will she discover Mel is controlled and override that control? What will Laurel become once she is finished with her own conditioning? Will she work with Mel to convert the rest of Core?

5) I think a bit of question four spilled into this one. I would definitely be interested in seeing more of Laurel, potentially flanked by her former friends as drone servants to control. I would love to see more of Mel's service to Hive, or more of Tammy as the sole "free" human agent without some secret agenda, or more of Nicole discovering herself. Even Sami (who was previously the character I was the least interested in due to aforementioned reasons) has a curious and yum.

6) The betrayal elements were hugely powerful as I've said. I would like to see if Mel is set to do more of that but with people she is closer with, such as her friends or Melcthion, or if she is going to be saved in some way or taken by someone else. I would love to see development of Nicole and some resolution to her identity crisis. York and Tammy were adorable and I really liked their consensual mind control play and I would enjoy seeing more of them doing that together. I would also like to see some more of Melcthion and Katka (I think her name was Katka, the thief Exis modified) as they had a unique dynamic and Melcthion's brain is such a fun place to spend time in.

7) I don't think I can be of any help here. I am not aware of any practices that other comic artists or writers utilize. Most mind control stuff I read is either Tabico or people Tabico already speaks highly of or worked with. I'm sure you both are aware of more things than I. I really love Rupert Everton's comic (I Roved Out...), but I don't know if there's anything there that's applicable in terms of technique.

8) Yes.

Outside of critique I just want to say that I really love this series and it makes me so happy to read it! I really appreciate that you and Tabico put so much work into making it!