Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Tabenings - Round Edition

Sweet Fancy Moses, is it Tuesday again already? Sheesh.

So, let's see... not much to report on the smut production front. I've been playing and enjoying Roundscape: Adorevia. Mmm, that Meredith is such a spicy minx once she's got a little corruption in her. Rrrr.

Oh! But more importantly, Callidus has released a new episode of the Black Room! Yes! You should go listen to it right away. He talks about Sleepy Gimp, his own latest manip 'Failsafe', some tumblr stuff, and has more of his interview with Jukebox! And a few kind words for CORE #11. You should check it out.

Let's see, what else... oh yeah, I mentioned last week that I had some questions about your impression of certain elements in CORE #11. Now, if you haven't participated in the official questionnaire, you should go do that. It covers general topics that help Uzobono and I shape the direction the series is going in. And by answering it, you'll get CORE #12 days earlier than other people!

But I had some more specific questions about a couple of things we introduced in #11. To whit: the Mindshaping Drone, and the Bunnygirls.

What did you think about them? Were the character designs visually good? What might have worked better for you? How about the characterization - did they have enough specific character and life for you? I'm curious as to people's impressions of them. Feel free to just put down whatever observations come to your fingertips.


9 comments:

  1. Right, the Mindshift Drone. First up, Great name! Loved the intimidating and super hot the black faceless look. This reminded me of a sci-fi version of the dancing temptress from Legend. It also brought to mind the drone like guys in Black Hole (though she was considerably more attractive). The tubes worked very well at creating an interesting look, plus maybe hinting at new technologies? As a new type of drone I wonder how they fit into the wider Hive. We've seen standard drones undertaking this work before. Is she a one-off or a new model? Characterisation was good, cold, methodical and imbued with total conviction. Definitely enjoyed the "can and will" lines. I can't think of anything that would have improved this character.
    The Bunnygirls were very nicely done. I was unsure how you would get these characters to fit into this universe. I enjoyed the way you revealed their character. From the introductions through to the revealing of their true intentions. I thought the three were distinct, both visually and personality wise. Sami's eyes and teeth made her look cute yet threatening, I got a strong Smeagol/Gollum vibe from her. I would have liked to better understand why they remained at the facility, given that even their burrow was not safe from the infested ones.
    Overall, I thought these were all well crafted, engaging characters.

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  2. Mindshaping drone – my initial reaction was “oh hey, that’s new. And cool. I wonder if it will have a larger role to play later?” I spent a while suspecting that maybe that drone has its face covered because it will turn out to be a character we already know, or the enslaved version of her. Like someone from one of Uzo’s other comics. I dunno though. Visually I thought the design was cool, though Uzo could do a bit more on tightening up the texture design around the breasts and in the cleavage area – maybe smooth out the jagged lines and remove that excess cleavage bit completely. Also maybe that drone could do with some footwear, especially if it’s going to be used more frequently. Some kind of sci fi boots would make it more intimidating and that’s the sort of quick design alteration you could get away with without having to explain it or confuse readers on whether it’s the same character. Overall made a good first impression and stood out as noticeably new/different.

    Bunnygirls – initially not a big fan of these. Visually they don’t look particularly sexy and given all the designs that could have been used plus the titillating nature of the comic it seemed a waste to go with those particular choices. However, the writing and use of the bunnies in the story made up for the first impression, with the mischief/cuteness winning out overall. I think they could have done with more interesting ears to match their tail design. Fantasy-style ears would even have helped to balance out the overall appearance, toning down how large the bodies looked proportionally (e.g. using Goblin ear morphs would have done this). The two main issues I ended up having after reading the comic a couple of times were: (1) Use of glasses on the leader, especially pristine ones with no sign of wear or damage. Where did she get those? How does she maintain them? How did she learn she needed them? Which optician prescribed their use, etc? I guess you could resolve these points if the leader was converted into becoming a bunny girl at some point after first being a regular human, but I didn’t get the impression that bunnygirls worked in that way. (2) The ultra-skimpy bikinis. Do the bunnies want sun tans? Where’s the sun? Why wear anything at all if the choices are nude or string bikinis? I thought the choice of clothes was funny and cute, but applying any thought to the context makes them feel comical.

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  3. Okay, now one real negative point on the bunnies: the killing of the infested bunnygirls. I thought this was a misstep, as it generated several effects/consequences that I am guessing were unintentional. First, it made Nicole/Tammy appear brutal and remorseless. Fine for Nicole in her new state, but Tammy? And with almost no hesitation? Second it made the bunnies seem equally (and inexplicably) callous, as the one present barely reacts to her former friends/relatives being murdered. Third it created a theme of prevailing sadness for the bunnygirls, given that there were only a few to begin with, are only three left, and two of their number are now definitely dead. I felt very sorry for them, which jarred against their own apparently blasé attitude towards their own predicament.

    As you know I’m a big fan of being mean-spirited when it comes to this sort of fiction, but fatal physical violence is a mismatch and very rarely fits into the fetish make-believe world of these kind of stories. I think neck-snapping falls into the same category as depicting violent rape or stabbing/shooting; those acts raise alarm bells immediately as things that don’t belong.

    The modern mind control fetish phenomenon of hypnosis, drones, forniphilia etc (as opposed to the older traditions stemming from Greek Myth and vampires) emerged due to an ironic accident. Violence and gore were banned from movies/cartoons/comics, so writers and artists had to find other imaginative ways of putting heroes in peril that didn’t create visual offence. Thus we had a deluge of kids entertainment from the 1970s onwards that depicted mind control and mental possession/enslavement, directly influencing an entire generation of TV/comic viewers and informing their personal fetishes.
    In my opinion, inserting blatant violence into MC material therefore feels weird, so the plant bunny deaths were a negative for me.

    Overall I’m hoping the bunnygirls discover that there are far more of them living elsewhere and their infested sisters don’t really constitute 75% of their total population. This would greatly alleviate the sense of sadness that accompanied their introduction, I really don’t like the idea that there’s now literally just a pair of them sitting around in an urban ruin being hunted by a mindless gang of their former sisters. There’s fetish-dark, then there’s ridiculously bleak :O

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    Replies
    1. Hi there, just read your feedback and just wanted to offer some defence regarding the fate of the infested Bunnygirls. Firstly, it is strongly indicated that the infested ones cannot be saved and now actively hunt the survivors. Secondly, they do try to just subdue them, only after this totally fails does Nicole take more drastic action. I feel this showed Nicole as being pragmatic, maybe coldly so. It also highlighted her physical strength. The last point is that even after having their necks broken, the infested Bunnygirls are ultimately unhurt (being basically indestructible). I do get your point that this makes the Bunnygirls seem tragic, but is this not what makes the revelation of their predatory nature all the more compelling?

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  4. I think they are perfect.

    Yes, they were.

    And Yes, of course

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  5. The mindshaping drone was extremely sexy and creepy in one character. I love her design with the ominous gray and black playing with the neon red, more than anything it reminded me of some old Eighties and early Nineties science fiction show that had similar coloring.

    What she did to Melanie I think was possibly the best scene in the series so far. There are a multitude of possibilities that a drone that can change someone's sexual orientation can have, and that Melanie was the one to go under her knife, so to speak was the icing on the cake.

    The bunnygirls I felt weren't as strong visually, they could have used some more rabbitlike or animallike features, but their characters were quite fun and well written with lots of great lines. I loved the part where they mention they don't have males but they do have a lot of sex lol.

    I'll admit I felt disappointed that the two other bunnygirls were left behind, because it seemed like they were already living very spartan and dangerously, and if they also left it would leave the door open for the metamorphosis and laying eggs in their slaves for future episodes.

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  6. I like the variations on a theme of the drone design. variety is the spice of life. If you are interested look at the art of Kevin O'Neill in Marshall Law and Nemesis the Warlock. O'Neill likes to introduce variation in his designs. Specialised drones is a good direction and an opportunity to explore the design philosophy behind Hive.

    The biological enslavement used by the Bunnies reminded me of my 'The Horses' storyline. But I am hardly original in that area. I must emphasise I make no claim of prior art. I find your ReWired and Community stories inspirational. You are one of the best MC writers around. The movement from cute to sinister was a nice touch.

    Exploring the factory reminded me of dagny Taggart and Hank Reardon's factory trip in 'Atlas Shrugged', and is a nice touch. The whole abandoned town storyline/backstory provides depth in the mythos is the development of mind control technologies as it shows us a glimpse of the world on the cusp of these technologies and perhaps shows us how someone anticipated what was going to happen when the emerged and what they did about it. It enhances the timeline.

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  7. The Mindshaping Drone was great. I don't usually enjoy the drone / doll themes in comics, 'cos you go from 100% normal to 100% enslaved in the space of a couple of pages. So, I think that the Mindshaping Drone fitting in with the slow pacing and style of Mel's brainwashing/mindshaping (especially the betrayal stuff) makes it soo good. Brainwashed to love being brainwashed - genius.

    I didn't like the bunny girls at all, though. Weird proportions, skin colour, childish manner, etc., didn't do it for me. The grey / metallic skin colour coupled with their stupid lookin' hair cuts, c'mon, if they didn't have a bunny tail you'd assume they were weird looking drones.

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  8. Mindshaping drones:
    - Excellent visuals, love the tubing
    - It's funny but overall I didn't think of the new drones as more than an appliance/tool of the Hive; from a storytelling perspective she provided greater depth to the
    - A one shot or subplot concerning how one becomes a mindshaping drone would be very welcome

    Bunnygirls:
    - Reasonably good visuals, the size/scaling of the bunny girls took a few frames to figure out. I was expecting longer ears and I question their wardrobe choice given the hostile environment.
    - As others have mentioned, seeing what exactly is meant when a bunny girl's new thrall is metamorphosing would be great.

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