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Script: Daphne • Line Art: Plutonian Knight • Colors and Lettering: Octavia Moon

So the question I particularly have right now is who on earth is going to end up being the saving grace given that everyone seems to be down for the count, so to speak?

Think back to the night in the theatre (yes I know that was maybe-probably-technically different than the current soul-sucking shenanigans but go with me here). The initial forage into the mindscape demonstrated that you could exert your own will if all things were neutral, given that Erin and Miriam were in full control of their faculties up until Erin got sucked into the crystal memory and... well, started sucking something else, with Miriam soon to follow. Even when Raven and Reka both were yanked into the mindscape as well, it's clear from their dialogue that they are conscious and able to act beyond the memories up until the moment when they see the crystal. Dani herself is the ultimate example of this, as she is able to recall the memory herself and snap first Erin and the rest out of it; you can assume that, knowing how everything worked (and the lack of brains between the four other girls at that moment), she could act quickly enough to break the spell by rousing Miriam.

In contrast, Miriam's web seems far more sinister and far more controlling, particularly due to the unique scenarios each person has been thrust into. The scenarios do the job of keeping each respective victim pacified in their specific role, seemingly without any knowledge or memory of the fact that they were in an outside world (save Erin, but I'll get to that momentarily). Aiken, Reka, Jacqui, and Ama all seem to have been fully immersed in this dreamscape by Miriam, and they have been either kept there by the lure of pleasure as in Aiken's case or by the chain of slavery in the case of the girls, all for whatever nefarious purpose Miriam originally had, whether it was hers or some other hostile party's.

Erin, like the rest, initially seems fully sucked into the fantasy; there may be some initial confusion when she's strapped to the doctor's chair, but I believe that by the time she'd been stepfordized, she was fully immersed in her role as a demure, submissive housewife. The point where I think Miriam screwed up without realizing it (and subsequently the thing which enabled Erin alone to initially break free) was when she sent Aiken's soulless body into the bedroom to fuck her. Aiken and Erin's powers are still hazy in their scope and structure, but one thing that's been well established is that Erin's "mana" or whatever it is charges through sexual contact (recall her brief orgy with Adrian and Jacqui in preparation for unlocking Miriam's memories the first time, as well as Miriam fingering her in the back seat on the way to the airport). I think that Erin, being the one most familiar with whatever spiritual powers Miriam used to initiate this process, began to come back into full knowledge of herself as Aiken fucked her IRL body; the girlfriend fantasy in her stepford dream is planted by the doctor, but the implication seems to be that it is Erin herself who sucks Miriam into her own trap and fits her into that role as a distraction so that she can begin enacting her jailbreak.

However, this is where Miriam's mindscape rears the second part of its intimidating head. Erin seems to think that if she gets through each phase of the mindscape (theoretically the DnD fantasy styled world for Reka, the beastgirl harem of Ama, Jacqui's cum dumpster experience, and Aiken's girlfriend obsession), that she would somehow be able to escape. Originally, I thought it would be by waking people up as she went along similar to Dani at the theater, but obviously that doesn't seem to be the case given that she left Reka. The problem is that the fantasies aren't limited to each individual. Erin phases into Reka's and is immediately swayed by the gem her other self is wearing, throwing a wrench in the works until she is once again able to throw a dream Miriam to the wolves to make her getaway. Then, as we see currently, she finds herself victim to the chemical lobotomy of Jacqui's fantasy, which is where she is when Adrian and Dani come in to rescue them.

This leads me to my main point. Elegua indicated that Adrian (or the Baron? I'm slightly unclear on who her patron is in Elegua's meaning) wouldn't be happy with her going into the mindscape. This indicates there is some level of risk with whatever is happening within Miriam (recall, her promise was that everyone would be "such different people" when they came out the other side). This prompted Dani to take her place as she and Adrian ventured in, just in time to find Jacqui and Erin up for sale. Initially, I thought Adrian might simply be playing a role to get them away from whatever figments had sway over them, but his choice to use the fantasy on Dani as well (especially to this current issue's extent) seems to indicate that he's just as much under its sway.

So now, we have Jacqui and Erin, both of whom are brainless cum dumpsters; Dani, who seems well on her way to joining them as a brainless cum dumpster; and Adrian, who seems more than happy to help Dani along that path and use all three of them as cum dumpsters. Perhaps he's playing some kind of long game and its all a ruse, but barring that possibility, I really don't see a way this ends up working out for our heroes. Perhaps due to Miriam's incapacitation, but Aiken is no longer following his command to fuck Erin's body, meaning she is no longer being charged; even if she were, she could have all the ability in the world and wouldn't be able to use it in her current state as a semen sponge. Without any outside interference, I don't know how this ends up resolving itself.

I trust that the true ultimate controller (Daphne) has worked out a solution that is surprising but in retrospect feels inevitable.

I'm still betting on Erin being the one who breaks everyone free, but now I'm curious if she'll need to break Adrian free as well. Is he playing along or being compelled by the scenario? We almost certainly aren't going to get Adrian in his own bespoke controller fantasy scenario (though I am intensely curious about what that would be).

Also, once things are resolved with Miriam there is still the outstanding issue of Laura and her crew. They might serve as an interesting parallel to see what happens with the perfume without magical intervention. (Will they wake up in the morning mostly normal? Will there be long-lasting effects? Will things continue to escalate?)

Aiken and Erin appear in silhouette in 1417, and Aiken's there engaging with Erin in the first two panels of 1419 too. He isn't drawn in the central panel of the latter, but that doesn't mean he isn't there - it's a white background. What else would he be doing other than having some kind of sex with Erin? (I don't think the question of where Adrian and Dani's bodies have gone has been addressed.) In 1330, before he entered Jacqui's house with Amaltheia, it was spelled out to us that Aiken has a deep love for Erin.

Or maybe they'll all be knocked out of the dreamscape by a whack fom a mermaid's tail.

By the by, I was hoping we might have a quick exit from this when, in the bedroom [1419], Erin was touching Raven, who was touching both Mallory and Eleguá (with Aiken assumed to be touching Erin), whilst in the dreamscape [1420], Jacqui was touching Adrian, who was touching Dani, who was being touched by Erin. "Teleport now!" But no.