Saint James Infirmary 569: Aide-mémoire.

[Daphne]

[Haight]

I like the looks of this...

[laguna85]

Deeper in her head,  nice
More about Mind control
I see why if more pend it you use more mind can get mist up

[Rift120]

Mm this one is good.. hopefully we'll get a follow up of a goo dinduciton/brainwashing via the crystal scene instead of cutting away to somewhere else... that would be such a tease.

[jmundt29]

And see I HATE this one!!!!    At least the endpoint.

In spite of the fact that this is illustrative of what happened to Pearl, that we get to see Meghan again (even if it's in this funhouse memory mirror), and its demonstration that Jakob has several reasons to be jealous of Adrian, the idea of a parasitic shade paralyzing both Erin and Pearl is just personally enraging.  I suppose a Rain or Mallory rescue could save this before the damage got too bad, but it reminds me of

A. Cherry running over Dani straight into hiatus and
B. Cherry mind-gaming Erin into attempting suicide.

Those were very well rendered and necessary plot points, but definitely lowpoints for me as a reader.

[Haight]

Hey, we don't know how this scene is going to turn out. It might be that Erin's watch programming helps her fight through the memory. I just hope there's no sudden cut away =/

I don't think Jakob planted this as a specific trap/stumbling block, but it's still a bit of a booby trap.

[mns_95125]

My reaction is pretty much the opposite of jmundt29's -- I thought this was the hottest installment in a very long time.  Unlike the two Cherry cases, this was telegraphed as a possibility well in advance, to the extent that multiple people were speculating about the possibility in the discussion thread for #566.  We know Erin is sometimes reckless, and she explicitly acknowledged in #565 that she didn't know what she was doing.

My sense is that her magic is taking Miriam's memories and making them visible.  Since the pendant's effect is visual, and Miriam definitely got a good look at it when the events originally took place, it's reasonable that the magic reconstruction could have the same effect.  I don't think this is a trap, just an unexpected consequence of the way the spell happens to work.  If I'm right, then Erin is about to receive whatever programming Miriam originally got when this event first happened.  This could be good, bad or random.

[Haight]

My reaction is pretty much the opposite of jmundt29's -- I thought this was the hottest installment in a very long time.

I'd agree with that. After all, I think erotic mind control is hot (I might be on the right site for that). The only downside is that it's the villain's programming... but we'll see how that goes.

My sense is that her magic is taking Miriam's memories and making them visible.  Since the pendant's effect is visual, and Miriam definitely got a good look at it when the events originally took place, it's reasonable that the magic reconstruction could have the same effect.  I don't think this is a trap, just an unexpected consequence of the way the spell happens to work.  If I'm right, then Erin is about to receive whatever programming Miriam originally got when this event first happened.  This could be good, bad or random.

That's where I'm at. However, it might be possible that Miriam, due to the watch, would be able to receive the programming but not be completely controlled by it if it would cause her to disobey her master. I'd imagine that Miriam (and possibly Raven) might be affected, though, *hopefully* necessitating some watch programming ;-)

Here's hoping Adrian gets proactive about that at some point, though. It's hard to root for the heroes if they're in the 'anti-hot hypnosis' camp, and I don't want to root for the villains. Anything Adrian does that differentiates him from a harem anime protag is good by me.

[mns_95125]

Anything Adrian does that differentiates him from a harem anime protag is good by me.

Adrian is frustratingly passive.  He never set out to be the master of a harem, and his reaction to finding himself in that role seems to be to use a minimal touch.  He wants to let the girls lead their own lives as much as possible.  I think he'd ignore the fact that he effectively owns them if only they and circumstance would let him.  This helps keep him a sympathetic protagonist over the long haul, but leads to a lot of 'missed opportunities' from a hypnofetish standpoint.

So here's a plot idea: Derek finds and uses some sort of magic to swap minds with Adrian.  Derek-in-Adrian's-Body reworks the harem while Adrian-in-Derek's-Body tries to figure out what happened and how to get his life back.  That way Adrian stays sympathetic but we the viewers get to see a bit of what 'sociopathic controller Adrian' would look like.

[GodWilling]

Firstly, the execution of this set piece is really great. For my money this is the first bit of mind control in the comic that I could "use" this year.

I guess the pop-up text gives an indication of where Erin's training is heading.

Sadly though, I'm fully expecting Raven to ruin everything.

So I don't know how much more of this we're going to see. But for me this one page could have done with a little expansion (not BE, obviously). I'd have liked to see more of Miriam's mind slipping away from the safety of Erin's clutches, and maybe Erin herself being distracted (i.e. seduced) by watching Meghan - perhaps joining in with the cock sucker's mantra before being caught off guard by the pendant.

Who knows though? Maybe Raven is already ensnared too. There are three women in both scenes after all. I really hope this is a deliberate trap. But I can't help suspecting that the upshot will just be Adrian getting a really good blow job later.

[jmundt29]

See....audience splitter.  Though apparently, I'm the only one on this side so far.

But again, I'm the guy who felt Michaels' appearance at the end of Waiting Room #4 very RUDELY interrupted one of the best issues of any comic ever on this site.  I think this is the same thing.

Maybe I'd feel different if Jakob were imaginative and charismatic, a Hans Gruber type.  Brainpower, sinister charm, control.  Michaels is a LOT closer.  The only reason he's an intruding presence at the end of Waiting Room 4 is that he's getting in the way of a more appealing option.  Laurel can do bad all by herself and it's really sexy to watch her work.

By contrast, everything about Jakob so far is kid-in-candy-store excess combined with sadistic pleasure in tormenting and overcompensation (which we can now visually understand).  He's more Jabba the Hutt or Derek gone "Donald" than Hans Gruber.  Jabba's scenes are sexy for the outfits he makes his companions wear and the control, not his physical presence.  As far as watchability for me--Dr. Laurel>Dr. Michaels>Jakob>Levesque>Bertram.  But that's me.

I might feel differently if it were Claudia or Jacqui or Rain or Meghan's twin sister, or Erin gone "Dark Phoenix" as the opponent.  But if they presented like Jakob, maybe not.  However, imagining a hypothetical toxic "her" finally brought low like the priestess in Cuckoo's Nest would be a great counterbalance to other intermediate frustrations. *shrugs*  It's the greatest positive of Cherry's continued survival.

On the other hand, maybe this turn of events will force either of two positive things to happen:

1. Adrian will begin to intervene with the Watch as a defense mechanism and/or
2. Raven will get some playtime in control if she wants it.

She hasn't been around much and has been roughly handled.  And only some of the rough handling was play, she might still be smarting a bit from being sent offstage after the Dani incident.

ETA--While I disagree with mns about hotness quotient of this particular sequence, I applaud the analysis.  Kudos.  I guess I'm hoping for this to be a little random, but just troubling enough that Adrian would notice it and be goaded into using The Watch himself for the first time.  Remember, all the programming we've seen so far is offshoots of Dani's experience.  Seeing him take an active hand could be great.  Unless he botches it like trying to deprogram Dani.  That could be funny, though.

ETA--But a definite Please GOD NO! on the Derek in Adrian's body thing.  Nope.  Derek has the same imagination limitations as Jakob.  I'd much rather see him use hypnosis to ensnare succubi or bacchai and get er...consumed by their ravenous affection.  Or...it works for a hot minute but he keeps walking into walls and accidentally punched in the stomach solar plexus, jaw, nose, and groin by his overenthusiastic new harem (maybe the PC survivors from the low-rent club where Dani used to dance) because of a poorly worded command.  You don't need a complete Jakob or Bertram sociopathy to maximize opportunities.  Look at By the Book and Audiophilia.  I like SJI more than either of them, but I really both, and those controllers are opportunists without going the full Bertram/Jakob route.

ETAA--I would be relieved if after Adrian uses the Watch (possibly with Dani's guidance) to clean this mess up, if the only vestiges left were additional oral skills for Erin and Pearl.  Frankly, that doesn't seem to be an area where Erin needs instruction.  Or, if she does, the tutor she needs is Jaqui, not Jakob-Shade.

[Daphne]

Well, it's scripted for a few months to come, so you'll just have to see...

[GodWilling]

The watch is a product of Jakob's imagination. Adrian has a harem because of Jakob's imagination. We have a story because of Jakob's imagination.

Jakob makes things happen. Adrian stops things happening.

I don't care what happens to these fictional characters as long as something does.

If nothing's going to happen to the harem between now and the end of the story then we may as well stop reading now, right? And by something happening, I don't mean Adrian giving each of them a cuddle.

[Daphne]

I have 600 pages of Miriam and Erin sword-fighting queued up. Enjoy! 

[GodWilling]

I have 600 pages of Miriam and Erin sword-fighting queued up. Enjoy! 

I never actually said "rapier".