Wow! I didn't post on Friday, I didn't post on Sunday... good thing I have this habit of posting on Tuesdays! Let's hear it for the power of habit, eh? Let that be a lesson to you all!
Now if only I had a habit of writing smut at a set time...
So! The big news is of course the release of CORE #10, available over at Uzobono's DeviantArt page.
NOTE: SPOILERS follow, so if you haven't read the issue, go read it now!
I'm pretty happy with it, although there are a few commentators (a small number, but ones whose opinions are of outsize importance to me) who are displeased with the, shall we say, tone of the ending.
This is of course ironic, given that just recently I was being lambasted for always having the bad guys win. I guess if I displease only some of my audience with any given story then I am doing alright!
I'm actually kind of glad to go the other way with CORE #10 - it gives me some mental leeway to indulge in "bad" endings again. As regards CORE, the medium kind of constrains the message. If I want to write episodic entertainment with a given set of characters, I can't eliminate those characters.
I have looked into the face of Saturday morning cartoons, and they have looked back into me!
I am also reluctant to add more than a handful of new characters in any given issue because finding the art assets for each character - the skin, hair, outfit, face, etc - represents a non-trivial amount of work for my awesome partner in this endeavor. "Oh, we need to introduce 6 more people" -> hours of work I am blithely handing off. So I don't do that.
Also, as regards CORE, I have actually been planning the whole showdown and dramatic role for Lilit for, oh, many issues now. I was going to have my showdown surprise by God, so things were gonna be made to work out that way.
On the other hand, trilby did accuse me of going soft in my old age, and he may have had something there.
So, what's on the drawing board currently? Hmm. I should finish 'Pierced', and indeed that is my intention, but demands for it have intruded on my feedback for CORE and this is causing my mule-like hindbrain to dig in and refuse to write. Yes, I have a grumpy old person inside me. "You want what? Screw you!" But I do need to finish it to clear the decks for whatever I want to do next, and I basically have the entire conclusion done in my head, *and* now I can indulge myself in a
In a what? In a what?
And as usual, I've spent the last 24-48 hours loading and reloading Uzobono's page (and checking the MC Form and MC Garden) to see if anyone liked my story, and although there were a few very nice notes it's never really enough, is it? So I'm also having a fair amount of "eh, why do I even do this?" - which I always do after releasing anything - and will require a bit longer to restore my illusion of an adoring public before I turn my hand back toward smutty endeavors.
So nothing Tabening at this exact moment. The conclusion of 'Pierced', eh, fairly soon. Probably.
Well now that we're in spoiler accepting territory:
ReplyDeleteI thought the story tied the arc very nicely in a bow. Most of the plot lines were resolved in a satisfying conclusion. I particularly enjoyed the Hive's expansion subplot and the showdown. Overall I'd say that this was a very fine ending that left me content with the ending, but still curious to see how things will play out further down the line.
In regards to Exis's escape, I've on the fence about it. On the one hand, Exis's hubris was the key to her downfall, so the clone escape plan seemed a bit out of character. On the other hand, this does mean that Exis isn't just some flat 2D evil mastermind, so I can see this as an opportunity for interesting development for as a character. I'm also interested to see how the Hive handles Exis-Drone now.
Honestly, I really want to just say "You do you". If it amounts to anything, you have at least one person who believes that your work stands for itself and is interesting however it plays out.
(And you can always indulge yourself with getting Hyped for The Lilith Device :3 )
That's exactly right - you can't please everyone, and you shouldn't try - just please yourself!
ReplyDeleteI find myself ambivalent about the ending. It *IS* very well written, of course, and the denouement with our villain was nicely done. Of course, this being a 'good guys win' ending, that means all of the mind control shenanigans stop, except for the people already permanently transformed.
And those people who have been transformed can't really communicate whether they're happy or sad, they just exist as blocks of human...play dough. We see their friends sitting around sad because their friend is effectively no longer with them - her mind completely overwritten. That instills more sadness than anything else. So I think the ending was bittersweet for me.
There is, of course, the hive. But they didn't really do much in this part of the tale, which I kind of regret, as they were always the dark underbelly that might show up at any time to enslave someone (but more often than not their plans never succeeded, or were subverted by a third party).
I understand the constraints of comic books - it takes an amazing amount of time to write them, and to illustrate them. And this one is masterfully done. But I sure do miss my Tabiconic happy ending. :)
Dear Tabico,
ReplyDeleteYou don't know me, but i have been reading your work for many years, and in places returning to it over and over.
i have been reading CORE with the same feeling of dread and fascination your work always creates, and personally, i felt the ending was as perfect as it could be, a massive relief, a good conclusion to the arc. Of course Mel is still secretly enslaved by the Hive, and Nicole is a drone in a human body, and Tammy, well, she is a programmed superhuman, so they're none of them in the same mind they started with. It is perfect. It hit all the buttons. That is all.
I like the occasional Tab happy ending. ;) And this one was fantastic.
ReplyDeleteI'm the unknown just above, for some reason it won't let me edit my comment, so sorry for double-posting! Wanted to add, I definitely understand the conflicted feeling about "good" and "bad" endings.
ReplyDeleteAs a huge fan of your writing, I find myself sort of dreading the end of Pierced as an example, and have been for some time, sort of reading it through splayed fingers as it were.
Just the nature of the fetish, perhaps...
I like your "bad endings".
ReplyDeleteMy apparently unpopular opinion is that the proper bad ending was the only thing that could have saved this story. For me personally in the second half of issue 9 and first half of issue 10 it kind of fell apart. :|
Sorry....
I think it's unpopular to say that because (I know at least I) dread saying that I didn't fully enjoy some of my favorite author's work. It's the nature of the beast - not everyone can be pleased, and I fully recognize that fact. So I'm not too bothered that I didn't enjoy it.
DeleteTrue.
DeleteMaybe Tabico's stories kind of grew out of my reach. Got complicated and overly elaborated.
Tabi is a great writer and takes her writing seriously.
But I think I just found out I don't like having the shit scienced out of my porn all that much. :D
Oh well.
I have some of the same sins while writing - I'm a bit too wordy when I write and I have the tendency to try and be very serious about the tales. They become more than just stroke material. And that's okay, but it does mean some heat is sacrificed to the requirements of building complex plots.
DeleteI must confess my favorite Tabico tales are still almost purely stroke material, like 'Herd Instinct' and 'Weaponized,' but there is still significant heat in her other tales as well.
I'm hoping I'll be able to cram enough hotness into the last two chapters of the tale I'm working on for it to be worth it!!!
Oh, and just a quick note - We DO adore you, Tabico. (Well, your stories, you know what)
ReplyDeleteDon't you ever think we won't be hyped beyond the moon when ever you decide to publish something.
Let me chime in here too. I totally agree with everything you just said. :D
DeleteLet me just say, your work will always recognized by many individuals who simply don't reply. For whatever reason. Do know, that this has truly been a great a wonderful series. I also think that many of your stories on MC stories are wonderful hits as well. You truly have a gift. and never stop writing. As you will eventually be discovered as time goes by, if that were to be a passion in the future. Heck you already are, with this small niche group. Thank care. John262626
ReplyDeleteI sadden myself to hear that you go through a cycle of 'why do I bother'? even as I understand it. God, so many people like your stuff! And yet, *I* didn't rush to find a forum in which to give my feedback. So let me try:
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed most of CORE. I love Melanie's arc, and where she has ended up; so much so that I was hoping to see more of her Hive condition in the last issue (greedy, I know). The images of her being condition in the Hive, and of her being re-conditioned while staring into the light in (I think) issue #9 were amongst my favourite anywhere. And the signature Tabico idea that she 'surrendered easily' and is 'enjoying betraying her friends' gets me right in my gut.
But I think the favourite journey is Nicole; from her almost casual capture when doing research, to her eager acceptance of being cored, to her confused transition to Lilith's slave. I really liked not just the sex, but the character and her journey. Tammy does less for me (having been Cored so early - though I did enjoy THAT). I like Nicole less as the automaton, but I'm imagining you have plans for that.
The resolving of the plot was fine with me - Lilith as a fifth column was unexpected, and well-layed out. You have to have Exis escape of course - this IS a comic book. But there are lots of loose ends out there to create further adventures.
I don't think the good guys win/bad guys win matters; I'd be surprised if it mattered to you. I imagine you write what occurs to you, and no chorus of 'have the good guys win' would impact that. But hey, I'm not in your head, so what do I know?
Besides, you are an excellent writer. the genre you pick, or the direction your plot takes is incidental to the care, deftness, subtlety and cleverness with which you get there. A Tabico story doesn't pull me in so that I can get to the end; it doesn't even pull me in because I know I'll read scenes that turn me on. No, I eagerly start a Tabico story because I know I'll be reading a good story, that is put together well, flows, has characters with whom I can identify, and prose that flows easily and with skill.
I've enjoyed some of your stories more than others; but never because they were written better or worse. I've always enjoyed the read. You are a damn good writer AND plotter (in a genre that, let's face it, has plot as optional). If I can help with your writing by showing up every second Thursday to tell you in a different way that I like what and how you write, I'm happy to do that.
It seems the least I can do.
Saint Germain
P.S. I think lots of your stories have happy endings, including "Blue", "Fitness", "Kalaidescope Mind" and others. Maybe I'm missing something.
ReplyDeleteSaint Germain
The interesting thing about Tabico's stories is a lot of them lack a conventional villain. "Alien mind-controlling hivemind" is an easy villain trope, and yet three quarters of the cyborg overlords, xenomorphic hives and even ancient demon-gods contained in the story are... kind. They're compassionate. They're loving. Their drones are not only well-cared for and perpetually happy, they are also friendly and rational.
DeleteIt's interesting you brought up Blue because Blue ends with Cthulhu winning, except it's more or less the gentlest and most benevolent Cthulhu-type entity ever put to fiction and it leaves you vaguely rooting for it to succeed because it would legitimately do a better job running the Earth than the crummy homo sapiens have.
Lens is another favorite of mine because "Mistress" in Lens is clearly the hero of her own story, motivated enormously by (an internal and perhaps disagreeable) morality and by the end the protagonists seem to have... forgiven her? Are on their way to reconcile with her as peers and offer her their understanding instead of trying to bash her head off?
That is also why Tabico's ending can hardly be classed as "Good" and "Bad" in a conventional sense. The Tabico's model ending that would outside the genre considered "Bad" usually ends with heroines content with their fate and generally happy, while otherwise "Good" endings tend to be ambiguous at best and often leave a sour note behind, hinting that things should have been resolved in better way.
DeleteI really like it. The "Bad" endings more than "Good".
Stories like Kaleidoscope Mind where the character tastes the submission but comes out on top of things seems... inappropriate.
That is also the reason why I overreacted after finishing the latest CORE. As the story was unfolding, our heroines followed a very fluent and nice downward spiral which was here abruptly bumped back up, at the first glance, and advertised ending turned out to not be an ending at all. Shocking, surprising. But I am now at peace with more waiting
*screams internally*
Right, precisely. The Tabiconic ending is typically considered a 'bad end,' but the characters like it so much they would, if asked, consider it a good ending. That's my favorite type of ending. Everybody loses to the mind controller, but they're all happy in the end.
DeleteDear Tabico, For What It's Worth,You Rank, (To Me), As The Greatest (Erotic) Mind Control/Sci-Fi/Alien Invasion/Serial Recruitment/Heroine Corruption/Evil Subversion Author That has Ever Been...You Set The Pace/Standard of All Authors (Male & Female)...Your Stories Are Well Paced, Never Rushed, All Characters Are Well/Evenly Fleshed Out. I'm Always Amazed As How you can Write A Story, give it A great Plot,& yet Keep The Heat Factor So Great, that it all Ties into whatever Story it Applies to....Hell, I'm Guessing that You Probably are a Professional Writer as Sorts? Because, If You Aren't? You Should Be...Your Invasion Stories If Made Into Movies, Would be, (in my opinion), Some of the Greatest Invasion Movies i would Watch,(I'm Talking Story-wise/Plot-wise) Even if you Tame Down The Sex Scenes, The stories & infiltration/subversions/corruptions in the way that you weave them together? Would Make Up For The Sexual Scenes that would have to be "Tamed" For Cinematic Release.....All that Being Said, I Also Know What It's Like to go through a cycle of 'Why do I bother'? even as I understand it. I Run A blog, & i Post Clips of pretty much the Genre That we, in our Community Love... (Female possession/corruption/mind control)...& I Get Burned Out From Time To Time, It's A Thankless Job for the most part, But The Satisfaction From That "ONE, or TWO, or Hundredth Person Who comments that they like what you do? inspires me to keep on...I Mean, You Have To Be Inspired in the first Place,& Want to do this More than doing it waiting just for someone to say they love your work....Your Collaboration with UZOBONO is awesome, The CORE series is Dope!! I love how it's blossomed into what it's become, keep on being T.A.B.I.C.O I wouldn't have it any other way, & YES! I patiently await the finishing of PIERCED? Take your time to give it a sendoff it deserves (or sequel?)...I wont lie, i am hooked on that Story,& i want to see how it will end... many loose ends were tied up in the last chapter, but its been like, (to me), a runner running a marathon & all they have to do is cross the finish line....they know that the race is won,(Or lost, in this matter), but i want to see the last two protagonists -- (Margot, & Sargent Stone) eventually realize that their plight is lost, & either fight to the end? (which makes their conversions, & acceptance of the brood even more erotically hot), or one is converted separately, & slowly converts the other one...either way, the ending to that story is still waited upon by me....
ReplyDeleteTabico, we corresponded briefly last year, although I don't have that email account anymore and it's OK if you don't remember, but I just wanted to let you know that what you do is special. I've read everything you've ever made and I rarely comment because I rarely get socially involved with... anything, online or otherwise.
ReplyDeleteWhile there are other good writers in the MC realm, nobody captures the quasi religious biological horror-turned-longing spark the way you do. Thank you for everything you've shared with us.
Sorry to hear that you struggle with motivation after major releases like this. I'm still working up the nerve to show my writing (especially my smut) to anyone, so I can't say I know exactly how you feel, but I definitely sympathize.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, I thought CORE 10 was phenomenal - the pacing was perfect, Nicole's fate was delicious, Hive's continued machinations in the University are fascinating and hot, and you genuinely surprised me with Lilit being the deciding factor in the final confrontation. Also, I giggled hard at the "Republic serial villain" line.
And thank you for all that you do. Your writing helped me explore what has become my primary fetishize, you've given me innumerable ideas for play with my long-distance domme, and beyond all the delightful pervy stuff, you create worlds I want to explore and learn more about. Seriously, you have a gift.