So, CORE #11 is out! You should go read it, if you haven't, but I expect anyone who is here reading this post already has. If not clicky-clicky for link:
And then hit the "Download" button on the right.
In related news, we'd really like to know what you thought about CORE #11, so you can leave notes here or you can fill out the official questionnaire. The questionnaire has the advantage that, if you fill it out, you will get your copy of CORE #12 early!
For questionnaire, clicky clicky:
And in unrelated news, Anaximanes has posted a video to his YouTube channel about me! And that is over here:
He had, not unreasonably, hoped that I would provide verbal responses to his questions, but sadly I only provided text, so you don't get to hear my 80s valley girl tones in the video. On the other hand, he got an actual voice actress to read my responses! So there are WAY fewer "um"s and "uh"s than there would have been had I done it. Altogether it's very nicely put together, and you should check it out.
I also have some questions of my own about your thoughts on CORE #11, but it's late and I'm bushed, so I shall save those for another post - which would mean at least two posts in a week! Woo!
The high point for me is the continuing slow burn of Rossi's enslavement. On the one hand I was hungry for much more; on the other hand, it wouldn't be a 'slow burn' if we got it all at once, now would it? I loved the flashback panels with the fading 'original' text followed by the same panels with her edited memories, and the brief flashes of awareness before, er, the materials's native persona was taken offline.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe I've commented on your work before, indeed it's only recently that I discovered your blog, though I've been a fan at mcstories for years now. Seeing a new story, or chapter thereof, is always a high point of my day when it happens. Particular favorites include "Rouge," "Weaponized" and "Weapon Ready," and "Compromise."
Anyway, thank you for everything you do.
Well, damn. I haven't read #3 in years. I'd forgotten that Melanie Rossi actually ceased to exist all that time ago...there's just a drone walking around with her memories that is sometimes programmed to think it is Rossi.
ReplyDeleteI've stayed up entirely too late. I'll be in my bunk....
You bring up a great point here which I've been wondering about since I've started reading CORE. Was Rossi fully under Hive's control ever since her aborted encounter in #3, or did it date from her 'capture' in #7, when Tammy 'rescued' her? In this installment, 52 days was mentioned but I wasn't quite able to trace that back to answer the question. I've long suspected exactly what you said here, perhaps because it's that much more of a slow burn, but I'd love to hear Tabico's thoughts on it.
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DeleteReading issue #3, the first time we come back to the Hive after Nicole's visit to Core, we get a series of monitor shots. First a completed memory download, then a memory wipe, then burn-in and installation of a slavemind, then memory upload. Naked subject that appears to be Melanie. Then instructions to the drone to awaken, followed by blurry shots that come in to focus with disguised Melanie being awakened by an unnamed messenger, who tells her the machine *hadn't* finished *reading* her mind, let alone anything more sinister yet.
DeleteSo it seems clear that Melanie Rossi ceased to exist in Core 3.3, that the character we've known for most of the series is a sleeper hive drone that for the most part has been unknown even to itself. Acting on programming at all times and subject to full control at any time.
What I have to wonder is whether the "native persona" was genuinely desirous of enslavement, as the drones this issue tell us, or if the tendencies described here were edited into the original memory upload, and that is the "native persona" they are contrasting with the tampering in Issue #7 (which I haven't reached yet in my reread).
I don't think you're correct here.
DeleteMy reading of issue #3 has always been that Mel is rescued before anything serious happens to her. She never takes off the Hive disguise, and neither does anyone remove it from her. That page featuring the memory purge, programming and memory re-upload are not being done to Mel - you can see by the loose hair that the person being brainwashed is the woman Mel runs into after she's awoken. I think the point that Tabs/Uzo were trying to convey in those scenes was a surprise twist - you think that maybe Mel has been brainwashed, but when the black-clad drone calls out to her and the other woman, it's the latter who responds; not Mel. That woman then tries to subdue Mel, but is blasted by Nicole.
Mel's not a proper Hive subject until much later.
It is, of course, entirely possible that the screenshots are misdirection, and her anonymous savior, unseen before or since savior, is entirely on the level and not deliberate misdirection on HIVE's part. We may, or may not, eventually know which layers are real. In the meanwhile, it's fun to speculate...
DeleteWell given Mel's memories are now tampered with and she's an unreliable narrator, Tabico could pull all sorts of tricks and retcon previous events Mel experienced, if she wanted :)
DeleteI had actually Mel's brainwashing in #3 as a 'close call,' especially given Uzo/Tabico's propensity to use the last panel on a page as a transition slide. In this case I read it as a switch to Nicole's brainwashing, but it seemed to be quite deliberately left vague ... a nice touch. And of course, someone mentioned Haven's brief cameo; that too is a loose thread that has yet to be paid off. But the commenter just above made the best point of all ... with Mel an unreliable narrator, Tabico could do nearly anything, so it'll be a fun ride.
DeleteI think CORE has been one of the best pieces of work in the mind control literature scene ever. Taken all together, its one of the deepest and slickest written pieces of fiction around.
ReplyDeleteThe way the characters have evolved, how their personalities are shaped by the extremely hot events around them is nothing short of amazing.
I read through the series recently, and the reversal of Melanie and Tamara is so fun to look back on, and that is coupled with the fact that with Melanie in this issue being rewritten completely, none of the original characters are still original! The best part is it all felt so natural and not forced. Melanie didn't simply get captured and reprogrammed and Tamara's journey was from slave to freewoman and now her future is in doubt as well.
Thanks very much and keep up the great work!
Heya Tabs,
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw Anax advertise your intervview and then went to hear it, I was very perplexed by the voice of the person providing answers. I was certain that wasn't you, so kinda glad you just explained what happened :) I was worried a pod person or evil drone had taken your place and been interviewed instead! :O
Thank you again, m'lady for your time. Yes, I did mention in the video as well that Tabico wanted to keep her voice private, and I understand completely.
ReplyDeleteI forget whether it's you or Uzobono's scripting that includes them, but my feedback is: more Erin Van Zant & co! Drones who know they're drones but also still behave mostly like they used to are my favourite part. (Like Rebekah in this issue - lots of fun and super hot.) If those characters are from Uzobono's section of the story, pass it along to them. :)
ReplyDeleteI uncritically adore Core.
ReplyDeleteCould someome please upload Synthetic Evolution and CORE 11 to a google drive or E-Hentai (if Tab and Uzo are ok with it). An online gallery/album is the only way I cam read their stuff.
ReplyDeleteI can load it up to a drive folder for you in the next day or two.
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