Mind Control Comics Forum

An interesting question was raised: What would you think of multipath stories without images? I've been assuming they are mandatory, but maybe not?

And, a hybrid: a gallery for character portaits, but no scene-by-scene imagery.

Thoughts?

I would always prefer SM’s long text plus artwork format. It strikes a perfect balance for me. Pure text can be extremely hot and immersive, but I often wish for clear visual depictions of the characters and of what is happening. Conversely, when I read comics I sometimes wish there was more text, more detailed descriptions of the sex, the emotions, and induction.

Text with portraits feels kinda weird cause even during intense moments, the characters just keep staring straight into your soul.

If images genuinely elevate the text, and you have the artists and/or the tools, I don’t see why one would choose the other approaches. A practical compromise is also available: release the full text first, then later add the artwork.

I apparently spawned this discussion. Tbh, I love images despite bringing up initially the possibility without. It's more so that I probably like new work more if imagery is bottlenecking the process. It is Mind Control Comics after all, but even Comics have plenty of text and certainly images are not required for me to enjoy something.

I agree with all of this. I'll add that the unity of image style and coherence is a big part of why SM works, for me. There's exactly two images (two of the dream cards, Allison and Annie embracing and Allison as prostitute) that don't quite match the style of everything else and it annoys me whenever I see them. I could see the text without images, or with placeholders, released as a sort of pre-release, early-access thing, but I would want there to be, eventually, final art.

Images are great, especially when characters are being transformed.

That said, if it comes down to AI images or no images, I'd choose no images.

I regularly play Choice of Games's offerings with no pictures, so I can safely say that I enjoy that.  I also very much enjoy the pictures on SM. 
I like the hybrid suggestion that others have mentioned of a gallery.  Possibly 6-12 pictures of each character to reflect their general mood/level of control.
And as I have mentioned elsewhere, genAI images are never welcome.

I voted for "I really prefer them" but I'd like to take that vote back.  If fewer images meant quicker updates, that would probably be a good thing.

Actually I've long thought that MCC should include more prose.  Like, turn some of the shorter comics into prose stories as well.  "Obedience" would make a terrific prose story.  So would "A Friend of the Family."

I prefer them, but I'd be okay with partial coverage if allows for an earlier launch.

If you do that, I'd rank the requested arts by importance so that the initial version (e.g., 4.2) covers the biggest moments. Then, when there's a enough piled up for an update, you could add those (e.g., 4.2.1).

I see the multipath stories as lagniappe to the site. They’re cool and interesting, but they aren’t why I subscribed. I subscribed for the comics, both serial and monthly/weekly, and to the extent that the multipath artwork interferes with generation of the serials and monthly/weeklys, as with SJI for the past several months before its return a few weeks ago, I find them more a nuisance than a pleasure.