#and the pacing and panelling of the story is well thought out plus the equal balance of humor and angst is so entertaining & heart wrenchin

[dawdlecentric]

Man, this doujin isn't fucking around

Meanwhile, Seikuri in the background...

Doujin: Flashbackers by Totobe

[oosteven-universe]

Minerva's Map #1

Minerva’s Map #1 By Stefan Tosheff THE KEY TO A PERFECT APOCALYPSE: CHAPTER 1      Marshal Minerva has been hired by the Saving Hand Foundation to locate two equally ancient, otherworldly items and the individuals who hold them. Sounds easy enough. But she suspects there might be something larger at play. Car chases, fist fights, Euro tracksuit thugs, unwarranted self-confidence, and a fish named Conor – Marshal Minerva has a dangerous road ahead of her. Oh my stars and garters I think i’m in love with this book already!  I mean I wasn’t sure what to expect with this as it comes from an imprint of Lev Gleason’s, formerly Chapterhouse, but I have to say I love, love, love finding surprises like this!  Now i’m going to have to find a physical copy because if it’s this good digitally I can only imagine what the physical copy is like.  What attracted me to this is that it is from Gleason and the other thing is the title, with the Key To A Perfect Apocalypse.  I mean who doesn’t love the prospect of a good apocalypse?  I know I sure do and that was all she wrote, signed, sealed and delivered i’m yours. I am a huge fan of the way that this is being told.  The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is exceptionally well organised.  I also greatly appreciate that there are these kind of holes that allow the readers’ mind to become engaged in the story and I do have the feeling that at some point in time those holes will be filled in but in the meantime I am definitely into what we see.  The character development is utterly sensational to see.  Minerva is a sassy, brutally honest and a completely no nonsense kind of gal and it makes reading this and seeing her interact with others purely and absolutely enjoyable.  The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing this world, the story and these characters not once do you stop smiling. I like the way that this is being structured and how we see the layers within the story start to emerge.  There is a really nice way that they all tie together and make this feel like the sum is greater than the whole.  I’m also very much liking the way everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow. The interiors here are amazingly delightful.  The linework is gorgeous and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work we see is stunning.  The faces and facial expression plus the body language all help bring us deeper characterisation and the cars, trains and that Cathedral are definite wow moments.  The way we see backgrounds being utilised and how they work within the composition of the panels to bring us depth perception, a sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the book is amazing.  The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkable eye for storytelling.  The colour work is divine!  How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a sensational understand of how colour works.  Also that we see colour blocking and gradation depending on the moment is a joyous thing to see. ​ Marshall Minerva has a 100% close rate and to find out how this is possible you’ll have to read the story.  Suffice it to say that the world Stefan has created here is extremely well thought out and filled with a wide variety of characters that will undoubtedly thrill and entertain you.  For this is up there with The Joker for best surprise Gem of the week.  Put another notch in the lipstick case because Lev Gleason struck gold with this one folks.

[bymyside-fic]

Date (~1300 words) read on AO3 // AFF

- February 14, 2010 - 

The occasional blades of grass were poking through the crusty blanket of snow along the well-worn path to Hogsmeade. Each speck of green caught Kibum's eye as they strode after the others on their way into the village for the holiday. Couples paired off, whispering to each other while the single students who came for the specialty sweets talked loudly with their friends as they meandered through the snow. 

Minho was beside him, of course, but they weren't holding hands like the others. They stayed close, though, fingers brushing together with every other step. Kibum struggled to keep himself from reaching out to just...take his fucking hand like he so badly wanted to.

His breath clouded around him as he let out an exasperated sigh when it happened yet again, and Minho chuckled. He must have read Kibum's mind, or he was feeling equally frustrated because he stuffed his hand in his coat pocket just as they were turning the corner by the post office. 

"Where to first?" Minho asked as the others were dispersing, heading to Honeydukes which looked like it was already at capacity. 

Kibum shoved his hands into his jeans pockets, swiveling toward him. "Puddifoot's?" 

He followed Minho's gaze as his attention shifted down the lane. Unsurprisingly, Puddifoot's looked busy too. "I can just go in. You just want your usual, right?" 

Kibum nodded, and they were off. The line inside dwindled enough to let Minho inside, but then he had to wait in the cold for what, he assumed, was hours. In reality, it was probably only ten minutes, but that didn't stop the warm blossoming of happiness upon Minho's return, the happy jingle of the bell echoing Kibum's sentiments. 

"Where to now?" 

"I have an idea." The twinkle in Minho's eye was worrisome, but why shouldn't he trust him? 

He got his answer when they crossed behind Spintwitches and Kibum's eyes landed on the snowy silhouette of the Shrieking Shack. Kibum slowed his pace, which Minho didn't notice until he was halfway over the fence. He dropped on the other side, his eyes never leaving Kibum's. "What?"

"Really?" 

"No one else will be there!" 

"It's almost like there's a reason for that." 

Minho snorted, reaching out his hand to take Kibum's hot coffee before he reluctantly joined him on the other side of the fence. He laced their fingers together, swinging their hands lightly between them as they started trudging through the untouched snow. He paused on the porch when Kibum hesitated, then came back down the steps, a soft smile brightening his features.

"Bum, come on, it won't be that bad. We've been here before, so we know what to expect. Plus, we can actually, you know...be ourselves here."

That's true. No one else was anywhere near them. 

"Plus, I brought snacks." 

"Why didn't you say that before?" he asked as he let Minho lead him up the porch and into the infamous Shrieking Shack. 

It wasn't exactly the most romantic setting, but he could tell that had whatever happened here not...have happened, it would be quite the cozy and charming little spot. Even with the dilapidation and the damage, it reminded him of a scene in one of the wizarding romance novels he had had the misfortune of stumbling across in Grandma's room one day. 

Grimacing slightly,  he shuddered and followed Minho. 

Panels of striped floral wallpaper lining the hall curled in the corners, some edges were ripped, not to mention the thick gouges of scratch marks…

“Kibum?” Minho called to him, and Kibum tore his gaze away and kept on to the kitchen. 

On the countertop was an array of pumpkin pasties, chocolate chip cookies, and scones from Madam Puddifoot’s. Minho had clearly wiped down the counter, given the clear distinction between the clean butcher block and the sweeping line of dust on the rest of the counter. He was pulling up stools to the counter, and Kibum sat, setting his coffee down on the counter and watching Minho as he sat beside him. 

“I know it’s not perfect or anything, but—”

Kibum leaned over, kissing his cheek with a smile. “It’s okay. I didn’t want to go to Puddifoot’s anyway. It’s always so uncomfortable on Valentine’s Day.” Minho’s eyes widened as he nodded solemnly, and Kibum chuckled at that. He reached for the pumpkin pastie, splitting it in half and passing the larger half to Minho. “You know what’s sort of funny?” 

“Hm?”

“Remember back in third year?” Minho hummed again. “During our first trip to Hogsmeade?” He smiled, his eyes glittering as he looked Kibum’s way. “Our very first stop was Puddifoot’s. I hadn’t known what the shop...was. I just knew it from my parent’s stories.” 

“Right,” Minho said, his voice a barely concealed laugh.

“Why’d we keep coming back, then, after we found out what it was?” 

“Why do you think?” 

True… Kibum let out a long sigh, shaking his head as he bit into his pastie. "Damn, we were stupid.”

"Okay, Jjong," he said in a voice just sarcastic enough to make Kibum nearly choke on his pastie from laughing. After a few quiet bites, Minho glanced his way. "So…" Kibum's eyebrows rose in question. "Which of our non-dates was your favorite?" 

Kibum sniffed a laugh. "Uh, let's see…" He squinted as he thought, glancing Minho's way to find him mirroring him, even down to his nose scrunch and slight shake of his head. "The ice skating one. Not the one with your parents, the one—" He gestured toward the window he thought might point to the secluded pond behind the train station. 

Minho nodded, his gaze dropping to the space between them as the tips of his ears reddened. 

"What?" 

He shook his head, then after a slight hesitation, said, "I just had this...reoccurring dream...after that." 

Kibum sat up a little straighter, unable to keep from grinning at Minho's embarrassment. "Oh?" 

"You kissed me in the trees. Or were going to, but I always woke up before that happened." 

He watched him break a chunk off of the chocolate chip cookie. "We could reenact it." Minho snorted, his ears reaching a deeper red, and Kibum's smile grew. "Might be fun, you never know." Minho licked his lips but didn't respond further. "What about you? What was your favorite non-date of ours?" 

“Um... Off the top of my head?” Kibum nodded, taking a sip of his coffee. “It’s so hard to choose.” 

“I know.” 

“Hm…” He shook his head slowly, his gaze drifting away and then back to Kibum. “I can’t decide. Every day I spend with you is my new favorite.” 

Kibum let out a long sigh, shaking his head when Minho’s eyebrows quirked in question. He was too cute for his own good… “Why are you so sweet to me?” 

Minho smiled and shrugged before he picked up his coffee. “I dunno. It’s kinda fun, though.” 

“Is it?” 

He nodded, his smile turning a little wicked. “You should try it sometime.” Kibum scoffed, and Minho laughed. “Bum, I’m just teasing.” 

“You’d better be.” His mock disdain melted away when Minho leaned over to kiss his cheek. But, before he could, Kibum turned his head, intercepting it with his lips. Minho smiled as Kibum’s hand cupped his cheek, and Kibum pulled away enough to whisper, “Let’s hurry and finish eating so you can show me that spot in the woods.” 

Minho was a fast eater—always had been—but Kibum had never seen him eat that quickly before, in all the years they’d been together.

[comicteaparty]

May 20th-May 26th, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from May 20th, 2019 to May 26th, 2019.  The chat focused on Soul’s Journey by Sophie Pfrötzschner.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Soul’s Journey by Sophie Pfrötzschner~! (https://soulsjourney.gerritianchronicles.com/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PDT), so keep checking back for more! You have until May 26th to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. How do you feel about Anrak’s decision to flee from his arranged marriage? What do you think Anrak intended to do overall with the feat? Also, do you think there is anything else in the letter he left that might reveal more information?

AshAngelV

Favorite scenes are so hard to chose. 2. I think it's understandable, but I also don't think he intended to just run away. I think he meant to look for another solution to the problem. And there may be. We've also not seen what was in the letter he addressed to his father.

keii4ii

^ Yeah, I don't think he ran away to live out the rest of his life hiding in the wilderness. That said, I also don't think he had a solid plan on finding another solution. Maybe he thought about starting by investigating those destroyed villages near the borders?

AshAngelV

That would be a bad idea. He could get killed trying.

keii4ii

I can see him being like "oh I'll be careful"

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 4. What do you think will happen to Anrak once he reaches the Kiroja mountains? Will he and Kanar be able to undo the binding? If so, how will it happen? Is Anrak in danger from this in some way do you think, or will it be a smooth process?

AshAngelV

3. Probably Namide. She's kind, and selfless, as well as being cute and cuddly. I also really like Anastasia, though we don't see much of her. She's smart, grounded, and has more than a little fire.(edited)

4. I'm not sure how it'll go, but it will most definitely not be smooth. Clearly there are sinister forces at work, but it's hard to say what their goal is or even who they're allied with.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. What has been your favorite illustration in the comic so far? What specifically about it do you like?

QUESTION 6. What do you think Vivianne is attempting to accomplish by teaming up with Itami? Also, why do you think she approached Ana, and what role might Ana have to play in dealing with whatever Vivianne is planning?

AshAngelV

5. I really like the transformation pages with all the glowy magics. 6. I think she wants out of this arrangement as much as Anrak does. And I think her reasons for approaching Ana are mostly what she said: she's looking for allies and the fact that Ana isn't from this country gives her a unique perspective, though her motives might be more sinister than typical courtly drama. Ana's smart, I don't think she'll let anything slip like Vivi might hope and she's observant enough to pick up on things Vivi might wish she missed.(edited)

RebelVampire

1) My favorite scene is now that scene where Anrak and Sincato have a heart to heart. For me this really took what had been established for the characters and kind of flipped it on its head. You've got Anrak who is accepting help and admitting he needs it, then you've got Sincato who for once is kind of slightly chill even if hes being Sincato about it. This was a scene that really changed my perspective on the characters, and I have to appreciate that. 2) Honestly I think Anrak just wanted to embrace the last vestiges of freedom. I don't think he intended to run away forever, but to just try and find some alternative or at least find some way to feel less like a marriageable pawn. Granted, I do agree with the other characters it might not have been the best time. As for the letter, I do think there is stuff we haven't seen yet. But more in the ways of we don't have the full context of what was exactly written. And the way the characters' read it isn't the way Anrak meant it.

3) Jack cause Jack is getting all the short sticks right now. Plus I feel like Jack is the only person in this story so far who doesn't have some hidden motivation. He just honestly wants to find Anrak, help the country, and go home to his wife where he can be happy and have a family. 4) Bad stuff. I actually think they'll get there only to find out that Kanar doesn't know wtf she's doing and the unbinding isn't as straight forward as she wishes. Cause I get the vibe that Kanar is overconfident. Thus, Anrak will despair cause it will seem like his quest is in vain, but they'll have to do the spiritual side quest first. I do feel like Kanar isn't telling Anrak about the process. Like maybe it'll kill him cause what does she care if Anrak lives or dies XD

RebelVampire

5) Gotta go with this page for fave illustration http://soulsjourney.gerritianchronicles.com/comic/159 that top panel just is so utterly atmospheric and it gives me chills while at the time making me fearful for anrak's safety. It's got that beautiful one two punch that really just adds a mood to the story. 6) Honestly, at this point I get the impression that Vivianne has been sent by her country not to marry Anrak but to assassinate him. But Vivianne is like "eww i dun wanna and i dont think i can" so she teamed up with itami so itami can do her dirty work. I think the reason she approached Ana is partly cause she's using Ana to improve her position in court but also for the reason she said: shes a stranger in a new country and would like someone to talk to about that. cause even if she is evil, that's gotta be lonely.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you?

QUESTION 8. Whose side do you think Itami is actually on in regards to the current people in the story? What is Itami’s ultimate goal, and who do you think might get the most hurt by those goals?

AshAngelV

7. Ana and Jack because they're cute, have great chemistry, and are the only thing going right in this comic world. Everything else is going to pot. 8. I think Itami is on his own side or in league with Kanar. I expect Anrak will be hurt the most by them.

keii4ii

7. I really liked the earlier scene of Anrak and Jack interacting. They know they can be honest with each other, and they genuinely want to have each other's back, even amidst multiple (sometimes conflicting) priorities. There's almost a mentor/mentee-like aspect to their relationship. I appreciate seeing that. Not every positive close-range relationship has to be 100.0% equal! In this case, the (slight) imbalance doesn't hurt their bond. It just is.

RebelVampire

7) Probably Anrak and Kanar. Kanar is kind of the most immediate threat to Anrak imo, so it always makes any of their interactions extremely tense. It's hard to really make a call one way or another on whether Kanar even likes Anrak enough to not screw him over. But I liked this on edge feeling cause it's just so different than any other relationship in the comic. 8) Itemi is on Itami's side. I strongly believe that Itami is both out to get a real human body and then get vengence on just basically the entire world. So while everyone thinks nah, Itami is on my side, nope. Itami is just lying in wait to stab everyone in the back and everyone is gonna gasp in surprise.

AshAngelV

I must be the only one that likes warm fuzzies.

Desnik

what are you talking about, warm fuzzies are great

AshAngelV

Lol Just commenting on Rebel's talking about the Anrak/Kanar tension being cool and I'm all Ana/Jack are so cute and I love them.

Desnik

haha, just being randomly supportive!

AshAngelV

Yay fellow warm fuzzy lover.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention?

QUESTION 10. What is your personal interpretation of Kanar’s past given the flashback? Do you think she’s really going to help Anrak, or will she betray him at the end? What do you think she’ll do once free?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 11. What do you think are this particular comic’s strengths? What do you think makes this comic unique? Please elaborate.

QUESTION 12. What do you see happening in regards to Sincato and Namide’s roles in the story, especially when it comes to helping Anrak? What about Jack? How might he help or hurt Anrak in his quest?

RebelVampire

9) ive really enjoyed the work done on the backgrounds. theres no shyness away from it and every scene feels decently filled and like the characters are actually in the world. gotta appreciate good backgrounds <3 10) Kanar was in love, her lover died, she tried to resurrect him, whoops now they have no human forms. I 100% think Kanar is gonna betray Anrak. I do not believe she gives a single damn about whether Anrak lives or dies. The only reason shes helping is she doesn't want to be dead herself. As for once she's free, probably try to bring her dead lover back again and make things 1000% times worse. 11) i think this comic's strength is probably the sort of gray character writing. like theres no character i think is 100% evil. but even the "good" guys like anrak are going around making some hard to forgive mistakes. and i like that sort of thing. really i like the entire premise of this comic is kind of that a character screwed up big time. it adds the right amount of imperfection to human portrayal. 12) I feel theyre gonna help him get to the mountains all the way and ya know, make sure he doesnt die. I think along the way Sincato and Anrak will bond though past all odds and come to a mutual understanding as they both care about namide. As for Jack, I feel like he's gonna figure out Anrak is the wolf and help him at some point. IDK how, but they keep bumping into each other enough it'll keep happening. And I think he'll help Anrak for sure...if only as an extortion to get Anrak to come back and not let their country fall to war.

keii4ii

^ Yeah! I'm also super looking forward to what will happen with/between Sincato and Anrak. I really like Sincato; not everyone can be a Namide, and someone's gotta keep the priorities straight for the whole group. Not saying he's perfect (I agree with Rebel that this comic has good grey writing), but he seems like someone Anrak at this point in time could learn from.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

QUESTION 14. At the end, do you think Anrak will regain his human form? If he does so, will he be able to stop the looming war? What will it take to prevent the war if so?

RebelVampire

13) Jack and Anrak reuniting in the sense Jack knows it's Anrak, regardless of the circumstances. That's gonna be some tense, A+ drama right there, and I really just want to see how Jack is gonna deal with everything that's going on with Anrak. 14) Yes I do think Anrak will regain his human form eventually after a lot of trials and tribulations and probably betrayals. As for the war, I think he'll stop it more indirectly than directly. cause i think even if he married vivianne, that wouldnt do crap. and i think somehow the supernatural junk that happens during his journey will weed out a surprise catalyst for the war that anrak's quest will remove from the picture.

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Soul’s Journey this week! Please also give a special thank you to Sophie Pfrötzschner for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Soul’s Journey, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: https://soulsjourney.gerritianchronicles.com/

Sophie’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/sophiepf

Sophie’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiepf_

[yurionice-secretsanta]

To @yuuris-piano​ From @veyzex​

Voyage Into 空白(Kuhaku (Space))

VIK  

PROLOGUE

Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Viktor Nikiforov. Born into a prosperous family, he had an incredible obsession with space. This is the story of him and the former crown prince JJ.  

During his ninth birthday party, Viktor was allowed to look through the telescope of a renowned scientist. Ever since, he was fascinated with space and everything about it. “I want to explore space!” he exclaimed happily to his parents. For some reason they didn’t happy about that. Viktor was confused, for they never let him near a telescope again. They wanted him to be a lawyer like them to continue the family legacy.

Viktor’s parents died on a Thursday when he was eleven. They were murdered in their sleep, broken bodies found at the break of dawn. Someone had robbed quite a bit of their riches too. The only reason why Viktor wasn’t harmed was because he was at a friend’s house. He was sent to an orphanage as he had no other close relatives. He mourned, but he felt like he should have cried more. He was never really that close to them anyways, nor did he ever feel that they truly loved him.

To Viktor, the orphanage was strange at first. When he first moved in, there were whispers, for he had come from a rich and wealthy family. Being a relatively social person though, he made friends quickly and easily. Since they had to stick together through tough times, the kids in the orphanage were like his second family.

The first time Viktor met JJ was when the royal family decided to visit a few orphanages, as the orphanages in the area were less than stellar. He noticed how the young prince seemed restless, energetic, and slightly arrogant (he could relate), even going as far as to tease young Yuri about his small stature and obsession with cats. This resulted in the toddler beating JJ with a shoe. They talked, and while Viktor found JJ slightly irritating, he was ok with this because JJ was enraptured with space, much like Viktor.

They met again in a bustling market 4 years later. Viktor was surprised JJ still remembered him. They exchanged contact information and parted ways again. The prince wasn’t supposed to wander the streets.  

Viktor and JJ kept in touch, both growing weary of the fast paced everyday life, both wanting to escape. Eventually, they decided to meet in person to talk about their plans.

They decided that they would meet at night, steal a government-issue space cruiser with the help of local acquaintance and tech expert Seung Gil (he owed JJ a favor), and silently fly away.  

Viktor didn’t pack much. Just a bit of food, water, a few pairs of extra clothes, all his money, and a towel. He took Yuri’s knife shoes (the boy had allowed him to take them, albeit reluctantly) and put on a black sweater. Outside of the atmosphere, the temperature would drop very fast. Even if the space cruiser would be able to keep it comfortable, it was better to be safe than sorry. Plus, it would help to blend in with the environment. Taking one last look at his roommates and a deep breath, Viktor quietly picked open the window and snuck out. He would miss them. The crisp, cool air brushed his face, and he took to the alley shadows, where JJ would be lurking in the dark, waiting for him.

Chapter One

Viktor and JJ snuck quietly down the hallways of a top secret government building. Seung Gil had hacked all the doors and security systems so they could get through without sounding an alarm or notifying anyone of their presence. The only threat was if they happened to be caught by a wandering android or living guard. The atmosphere was rather ominous in the building. Viktor shivered, feeling uneasy.  

“Seung Gil, where do we go from here?” Viktor hissed into his earpiece.

“Turn left, there’s a door. Open the door. There’s your ship,” came the response. Viktor and JJ snuck into the room, careful not to make a sound.  

The ship was magnificent. A soft blue glow glinted off the shiny white exterior, and the streamlined shape suggested that it was extremely fast. Golden letters dubbed (or subbed, take your pick) the ship as Victory. Most of the top half was covered in glass. Viktor stepped up to it and took out a key card (they had stolen one not too long before). As soon as he stepped inside, an alarm started blaring, “UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS DETECTED. UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS DETECTED, ROOM 39.”  

Guards came charging in and Viktor panicked. “JJ, start up the ship please, and let me borrow your laser gun!” JJ tossed him the gun and ran to the control panel. “Seung, I thought you disabled all the alarms!”

Seung Gil’s voice came through, sounding slightly worried for once, “I thought I did, but I guess my hacking didn’t go all the way through! It’s really hard hacking through these government buildings, they have state-of-the-art tech! It doesn’t matter, but please pay attention to your surroundings, as you are in immediate danger.” One of the guards had managed to climb in, and Viktor shot him. The laser was reflected back, and Viktor was confused. Then he realized the guard’s coat was impenetrable.  He would have to get blood on his knife shoes, or at the very least, knock the guy out. The ship started to take off, and Viktor charged at the surprised guard, knocking his head with the side of his shoe, as he didn’t want to kill the guard. He took the coat, then pushed the guard off the ship.  

Viktor felt a little guilty, but it was necessary. He looked at the coat. It was purple with three gold loops on the chest and one on the left shoulder. He shrugged it on and turned towards JJ who was frantically trying to work the ship but failing. The ship steadied and JJ let out a whoop, “I did it!”  

“No, you dumbass, I did it,” Seung Gil’s voice sounded through their earpieces. “Both of you need a crash course in ship flying. Aren’t you glad I’m here? Hover above my house for this lesson, because if you leave the atmosphere of this planet, we’ll lose connection. I’ll be waiting.”

They were hovering about 50 dors (roughly equal to about 2 human meters) above the building. JJ started up the ship again…well, tried to. “JJ, please let Viktor fly the ship.” Seung Gil ordered, sounding slightly annoyed.

JJ smirked, “The king never backs down from a challenge!” They heard Seung Gil grumble and curse under his breath, something about goddamn arrogant princes and I didn’t sign up for this much work.  

Viktor decided to do something before Seung Gil got too annoyed. He walked over and tapped JJ on the shoulder. “Would you kindly let me drive the ship?” he said with his best heart shaped smile. His voice had a threatening edge. There was something adorable, yet oddly terrifying about it when he did that.  

However, JJ wasn’t fazed. “You can fly it after me. After all, the king always deserves to go-“

He didn’t get to finish his sentence as Viktor picked him up out of the chair and sat down in his place. Viktor grinned, “Thanks for letting someone who actually knows how to fly the ship at the controls!” JJ pouted and proceeded to sit down in another chair, playing on his

iPhone 96X.

Viktor started up the ship again, and in no time, they were 50 dors above Seung Gil’s house.

“And that is the navigation panel. This ship runs on space dust so you don’t have to worry about power. Any more questions?” Seung Gil asked over JJ’s iPhone 96X on video call. Viktor and JJ both shook their heads. “Great. Go explore space or something. My debt has been granted so please don’t bother me again. Goodbye,” Seung Gil then hung up.

“Where do we go from here?” JJ exclaimed, excitement glimmering in his eyes.  

“We can go anywhere we want!” Viktor exclaimed happily, excited as well. He started up the ship again, and they raced away, sucked up by the sunrise and vanished into air.  

Chapter 2

Soon after leaving their dear home planet of Glavnaya, Viktor and JJ paused to stare at the beautiful wonders that their eyes beheld. The faraway stars were sparkling specks in the sky, and even though they had seen their own home planet from space in pictures, somehow seeing it in person was even more stunning. Pale pink cotton candy clouds swirled around the planet, and rich orange ground peeked through. The deep purple waters had never seemed more gorgeous.  

Interstellar space travel had been a part of Glavnaya for quite some time, so Viktor and JJ had the option of faster than light travel. Viktor revved up the engine, and they proceeded to zip towards the nearest solar system, approximately 5 light years away.

Viktor used the navigation panel like Seung Gil instructed, but somehow, they ended up not exactly sure where they were. The panel said they were next to the planet Prathesthiy, but Viktor didn’t see anything. He wondered if the navigation panel was broken. This was until JJ pointed out that there was in fact a planet there.  

Prathesthiy was covered in dark clouds, camouflaging into the background of space quite well. It was very hard to see unless you were deliberately looking for it, and even then, it was still hard to notice.  

“Should we go there?” Viktor asked JJ. JJ nodded, now looking extremely excited at the prospect of exploring another planet. Viktor steered the ship towards Prathesthiy, and they began their descent, landing successfully soon after.

The terrain of Prathesthiy was bright under the incredibly dark clouds. It was eye-blindingly colorful with tall, twisty looking cities looming in the distance. Viktor and JJ stepped out of the ship, where they were immediately greeted by…giant hamsters.  

They heard a squeak next to them, and saw a brown hamster with gray spots. It wore a black cap too. It tried squeaking at them, as if to communicate. Viktor and JJ shook their heads. The hamster pulled out a rectangular box and squeaked into it. Surprisingly, Viktor and JJ could understand it completely now.  

“Welcome to the happy planet of Prathesthiy, travelers! What brings you here?” the hamster asked. Viktor shrugged his shoulders and tried to tell the hamster that Prathesthiy was the first planet they had come across, and that they were new to space travel. The hamster gave him the box.  

“I said,” Viktor paused, “That we are new space travelers and Prathesthiy was the first planet we came-”

“I’M THE KING JJ!” JJ interrupted.  

The hamster took the box back and grinned in a way that only hamsters can, “Oh I see. Come! You’ll have fun here in Prathesthiy. My name is Phichit by the way, and I’m the official greeter for anyone unfamiliar that decides to visit here…although we haven’t had many come here in a while.”  

Viktor and JJ followed Phichit. After walking for a few minutes, they arrived at the main city. “Phichit, where are we going?” JJ asked.  

Phichit replied, “You’re going to need better communication than that box if you’re wanting to be space travelers. Hey, but can we take a picture in front of this coffee shop? This view is aesthetic.”

Viktor stared, “How do hamsters take pictures…?”

Phichit grinned and took out smaller rectangle, “This is a phone specially designed for life forms that don’t have opposable thumbs!” He pressed a paw on the screen, and a hologram appeared in front of him. He swiped and tapped a few times on the hologram and then said, “Smile, everyone!” The picture was taken, and Phichit posted it on what looked like a social networking site, “They call me Hamster King of Social Media for a reason,” Phichit declared proudly.

They moved on from the café, and arrived at a small store called “Universal Communications”. The shop, as promised, was filled with communication gadgets of all kinds. Phichit led them to an aisle near the back, and pointed to a rack of moustaches, “Those are the most reliable and probably the most permanent translator you can have,” he said.

“The…mustaches?” Viktor asked.  

Phichit nodded, “You eat them. They’re nontoxic and won’t get stuck in your throat, I promise.” Viktor and JJ looked warily at the mustaches, wondering if Phichit was trying to kill them. “They also make excellent selfie props if you decide not to eat them!” Phichit exclaimed happily. JJ decided Phichit was too innocent to be plotting anything bad. Viktor was still wary. Phichit bought two mustaches, one for Viktor and one for JJ.  

“Eat them,” Phichit directed, “Nothing bad will happen.” JJ took a small bite of a mustache. It was hairy and felt weird, but that was to be expected.   Surprisingly though, it was kind of delicious. The mustache had a slightly sweet, but nutty flavor. It also tasted a bit like over the counter medicine. Suddenly, he could understand all the hamsters around them. Without much thought, he quickly ate the rest of the mustache.

Viktor sniffed the mustache but didn’t eat it. There was something off about this. One does not just simply eat facial hair. He pretended to take a bite, but slipped it in his pocket instead.

Phichit led them to a restaurant. “You must be hungry,” he said, “Let me treat you to one of the best dining spots in the universe. You’ll never want to leave once you’ve eaten here.” Viktor and JJ followed him.

Delicious aromas hit their senses as soon as they stepped in. They could smell the various rich scent spices, and the sugary scent of cake, among other things. They sat down at a booth and waited for someone to take their order.  

Soon, a hamster in a worker’s uniform approached them. Viktor could not understand the

sequence of squeaks, but judging by JJ’s response, the hamster must have asked, “How may I take your order?”

He ordered something that looked like a cheesecake, while Phichit and JJ ordered something similar to pancakes. They waited a little while, and the food soon arrived.

The food was so delicious that JJ swore his taste buds had died and gone to heaven. It was all gone before he even realized it. He then ordered seconds, and then thirds, until he was so full he felt as if he would explode he took another bite. He still wanted more of those soft, buttery pancakes.  

Viktor did not experience such things. To him, all the food looked like gray gloop mixed with bits of nuts. Utterly disgusting. He could not understand why JJ was eating his food so ravenously when it had the texture of lumpy toy slime and taste equivalent to that of dog feces.  Then it hit him. The mustaches…why would they do this?  

He toyed uncomfortably with his “cheesecake”. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Phichit eyeing him curiously. Did he do this on purpose? Viktor proceeded to push the plate away from him, “I’m not hungry.”

Soon after finishing his pancakes, JJ passed out. Phichit’s eyes narrowed, and he whispered threateningly to Viktor, “You didn’t eat the mustache, did you?” His eyes were starting to glow red.  

Viktor shook his head, grabbed JJ, and booked it. JJ was heavy, but adrenaline gave Viktor extra strength, and he was already in top physical condition. Viktor had just carried JJ out a few steps, when the café suddenly exploded. Bit of wood and metal flew around them. Phichit had smashed the wall, and was now coming after them like some giant fluffy adorable ball of doom. Which is exactly what he was. This spurred on Viktor further and he ran faster. He quickly hijacked a hamster ball, and threw it at Phichit.  

When the hamster ball collided with Phichit, he stopped in his tracks. Phichit was now twitching erratically, with electrical sparks running all over his body, and a distorted voice that sounded somewhat like the Phichit that had greeted them when Viktor and JJ first arrived squeaked, “COMPLETE SYSTEM FAILURE. SELF-DESTRUCTION: COMMENCING IN 3…” Viktor bolted out of there. “2….” He was almost out of the city… “1…SELF-DESTRUCTION INITIATED.”  Viktor was now far out of blast radius, and watched the street and the streets around it blew up, shattered into little smithereens. He saw a lot of the hamsters glaring at him, slowly approaching him. The ship was only a few meters away. His arms and legs were hurting like all hell, but he had to do it. Painstakingly, Viktor somehow sprinted the last couple of meters to the ship. As soon as he reached the door, there was a hamster there, ready to block him off. Viktor threateningly brandished his knife shoes, and the hamster backed off, allowing Viktor to rush inside the ship and slam the door shut.  

He ran over to the control panel, and then, with hamsters ramming themselves against the ship, he managed to lift the ship off of the ground and shake off any remaining hamsters. Viktor raced out of the atmosphere of Prathesthiy, panic coursing through his veins. He turned the ship on autopilot to give his arms and legs a rest. Stretching, he walked over to JJ and patted his forehead. Viktor hoped JJ was ok, as the other was still out cold. He carried JJ into the sleeping quarters and placed him on a bed, before climbing into another bed himself. The ship would be alright flying by itself for a few hours.  

Viktor drifted off into a fitful sleep.

Chapter 3

When Viktor awoke again, he fell off the bed. Muttering curses under his breath, he looked at JJ on one of other beds, and saw a pair of…hamster ears?  Viktor had to admit, it was kind of adorable. He bounced on the other male’s bed in attempt to wake him up. JJ’s eyes flew open and he groaned as he sat up.  

“I feel like…I feel like…I have a hangover…” JJ grumbled. He rubbed the top of his head when he felt a pair of fuzzy things that he didn’t recall being on his head. Suddenly feeling very awake, he jumped up from the bed, dislocating Viktor in the process. He looked into a nearby reflective window. The JJ reflected back at him had hamster ears. JJ cautiously pet his hamster ears. They were soft and fluffy. The king certainly could rock this look.

Meanwhile, Viktor had found something interesting. Because JJ had gotten up so fast, Viktor landed on the floor and had rolled to a previously unexplored corner of the room. There, he found a large metal object.  

Upon further investigation, the object was an android. It had light, unruly brown hair, and a sparkly blue suit. A scruffy beard adorned the bottom half of its face. The android appeared to have been there for watching over the ship while no one was there to man it. Viktor carefully poked it, filled with paranoia. The thing seemed to be stable. Searching around, he found an instruction manual. He looked warily at the android, and flipped to the page with all the parts labeled. The android didn’t seem to have any trackers, nor did it look to be unsafe. Viktor felt around its back and found a power switch on the neck. He flipped it.

Immediately, Viktor felt a faint vibrating through the metal. Then, the android stood up, eyes starting to glow blue. The glow intensified, and then regulated. The android stood still for a few seconds, as if trying to gain its bearings, or perhaps it was just doing a few automatic system repairs. Then, it knelt down, and enthusiastically shook Viktor’s hand, “Hi! I’m Emil, guardian of the Victory! Who are you, and how may I be of your assistance?”  

Viktor blinked and smiled his heart shaped smile, “I’m Viktor. Nice to meet you, Emil!” The android bounced back to his feet, and almost tripped on his charging cable. Viktor stifled a giggle, and Emil detached himself from the wall.

By this point, JJ had detached himself from the reflective window, and was staring at Emil with undisguised awe. Emil noticed him and practically bounded over. “Hi! I’m Emil, guardian of the Victory! Who are you, and how may I be of your assistance?” he greeted JJ.

JJ clapped his hands gleefully, “I’m King JJ, captain of this ship-”

Viktor coughed loudly and muttered under his breath, “And I smell some bullshit.”

JJ continued on as if Viktor hadn’t said anything. “And he’s my royal subject. I don’t know where we’re headed, but we’ll have fun all the while.”  

Emil saluted and said, “You should stop by Obchodovani soon. It’s a universal trading spot, only 2 light years away, and you need more supplies.”

“Do you know how to get there?” Viktor asked.  

“If it’s okay with the captain, I can fly the ship.” Emil looked back and forth between Viktor and JJ, still unsure which one was captain.

They both told Emil to go ahead as they glared at each other. Not long after, they laughed it off, but both knew the debate was not settled.  

Soon, Emil called JJ and Viktor over. “We have arrived at Obchodovani. Should I land?” he asked. Viktor nodded, and so did JJ. Emil proceeded to fly the ship into the planet. This one looked much more friendly than Prathesthiy. It was a pretty blue color, with bits of orange dotted here and there. They landed on a road that had a plethora of other aircraft stationed on it and stepped out.  “The market isn’t far from here,” Emil said. When he looked back, he saw the other two distracted, enraptured by the sights of the foreign planet.  

On the travel to the market (which wasn’t very long), they came across a multitude of different creatures, all of which looked very busy. Viktor and JJ could not help staring. Soon, they arrived. There were even more creatures at the market. Colorful foods lined the shop windows, with high tech items almost right next to them. Shops of all sizes and shapes seemed to stretch on forever in the street.  

“Do you guys think I can get a translator that doesn’t involve me eating mustaches and growing hamster ears?” Viktor inquired.  

“You should go to Otabek’s Multi-Dimensional Translators and Motorcycles for that. You’ll also probably need disguises because pretty much the entire galaxy will be after you because you assisted in killing the Hamster King of Social Media,” Emil advised cheerfully.

JJ was shocked, “How do you know all of this?”

“The intergalactic social media is very complex nowadays. When a user dies, it automatically makes a post on how they died, and you two are no doubt featured in that post. Because you took a selfie with him at a coffee shop, everyone knows what you look like. He had literally billions of followers too,” Emil informed, still way too happy, “I know this because I’m a very advanced android and can access all the data on the intergalactic internet.”  

Viktor pointed to a nearby shop, “Georgi’s Costume and Make-Up shop is nearby. How about we go there for disguises?” The exterior of the shop was a dark, sparkly purple, and a pair of make-up caked eyes surrounded the sign. They walked into the shop and a small tinkling bell announced their entrance. A man with a black pompadour and extremely dramatic purple make-up sat behind the counter. As they walked closer, they could see very visible tear tracks down his face. The man noticed their presence and greeted them with a half-smile.  

They walked through the store, pausing occasionally to look at wigs and outfits that looked acceptable. Viktor eventually decided on wearing a mask that had bright shiny teal melting into gold. He would cut is hair later. JJ found a nice green suit and put on a purple mask, then proceeding to style his hair straight, but curving it around his hamster ears. They walked to the checkout counter where Georgi himself was waiting.

As JJ handed Georgi the mask, Georgi put his hand on JJ’s shoulder. “Anya used to love the color purple…that was one of her favorite items in this store,” he sighed. JJ was somewhat creeped out by this gesture, mumbled a quick thanks, and took the mask and suit. Viktor proceeded to give his mask to Georgi. Apparently, Georgi was not done talking about “Anya”. He sighed once more and a single tear ran down his face, “She used to wear a dress that had the same colors as that…It matched so well with a purple mask. My Anya, she was beau-”

Emil quickly stepped in before Georgi could ramble more. “While we would love to hear more about Anya, we need to go places. I’m sorry, Georgi, but farewell, and good luck with Anya, even though I don’t even know what happened.” He took Viktor and JJ by the arms and marched them out of the store, leaving the heartbroken shopkeeper to wail once again about his Anya.

Emil breathed a sigh of relief when he stepped out of the shop (well he didn’t exactly breathe), and said, “It’s time to go to Otabek’s first. Hopefully he won’t try to tell us everything about his love life…”  

After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at a gray building, which was a drastic change from all the bright and colorful structures surrounding it. Upon entering the shop, they saw the shopkeeper sweeping the floor while attending to the hundreds of gadgets on the walls and motorcycles in the middle of the room. He seemed to be a gray life form known by some as an “octopus”, or something like it, as he was able to breathe on land.  

Viktor coughed, “Excuse me sir…is it Otabek? May we have your best universal translator?”

Otabek jiggled his body over to one of the shelves and pointed a tentacle to one of the devices. “Most of my items have similar quality, but this shelf contains my best,” he said. His voice was distorted, almost intelligible, and his stoic expression never changed.  

Viktor, JJ and Emil stepped over to the shelf. Their eyes bright with excitement, Viktor and JJ examined the objects with unparalleled glee, fascinated by the devices in their hands. Eventually, Viktor picked out a small gadget he could attach to his ear.  “How much does this cost?”  

Otabek thoughtfully looked at the device and grumbled out, “That’ll be…500 coins.”  

Viktor fished around his pockets and brought out a Glavnayan bill equal to 500 coins. “Will this do?” he questioned.  

Otabek nodded and took the bill. “Thank you, have a good time on your travels,” he said, face blank as ever, and showed them to the door.

Trekking back to the ship, Viktor laughed joyously as he listened to all the voices of creatures throughout the universe. It was like a while new world had been opened up to him.  

JJ smiled at him and chuckled, “It’s exciting, isn’t it?” Viktor nodded, and as they walked back in a comfortable silence, they even heard their names and Phichit’s mentioned several times.  

Upon arriving back at the ship, they found that the door slightly ajar, unlocked.

Chapter 4

“Did you forget to lock the ship?” JJ asked Viktor, a hint of annoyance showing on his face.

Viktor answered, “…I must have forgotten. You know how I am with memory, right?”  

Emil pushed open the door. “We should check everything to make sure nothing has been tampered with or stolen,” he stated, still in the annoyingly cheerful tone.  

They decided to split up and search for anything that seemed out of place or missing. Soon, they all met back up together. Nothing seemed amiss, and they all breathed a sigh of relief. This time, JJ took to the controls, and they lifted off. Since everyone needed to sleep, and Emil needed to charge, JJ left the ship on autopilot before dozing off.

Viktor awoke to the sound of rustling. His eyes took their sweet time adjusting to the darkness, and as he squinted, he decided his brain was too tired for this, and tried to go back to sleep. Still, an unsettling feeling that something wasn’t right kept nagging at him. Finally succumbing to that feeling, he stumbled out of the sleeping room.  

As Viktor trudged around the ship, he started feeling like this was all a waste of time. He was missing his beauty sleep, dammit! Then, as he was about to leave the kitchen, a shadowy figure slipped by his peripheral vision. He was standing next to a convenient light switch, and mumbled a tired, “Who be?” before switching on the lights and then swearing while regretting his life decisions. Meanwhile, the shadowy figure had gone away, and Viktor mumbled another string of drowsy swears. At this point, he assumed that the figure was just a part of his half-asleep imagination, before he saw it slip by another door.  

Viktor was beginning to get annoyed. “Who are you?” he asked, agitation at the tip of his tongue. “I’m not going to hurt you, but I would like to go back to sleep.”  There was only silence at these words, and Viktor sighed. He hated to do this, but he walked over to the control panel and slapped the alarm button, alerting everyone of an intruder and probably scaring the ever loving hell out of JJ. The alarm rang, and JJ jumped out of the chair, flailing and tumbling to the floor. Viktor wheezed in laughter.

“whAAAA-HAhnnngh-oof- TURN THAT FUCKING ALARM OFF!” JJ’s startled screams rang through the ship, and Viktor swore he heard the faintest chuckle somewhere. Soon, after JJ had gotten his bearings, he glared at Viktor and grumbled, “You asshole. What happened?”

Viktor cleared his throat and winked, “There’s an intruder on this ship. They won’t reveal themselves, and you’re a heavy sleeper, so what can I say except you’re welcome.”  

JJ blinked, and he reluctantly accepted the fact that Viktor had good reason to wake him up. “Okay, I’m going to go turn on Emil, and we’ll split up and try to find him.” Viktor nodded, and began searching in the kitchen where he first saw the figure. But nobody came.  

Soon, Viktor heard a call from Emil, as he just used his built-in scanner and tracked down the intruder almost immediately. The intruder was in a random storage room. Viktor accidently stopped by several rooms before finally stopping at the right one. The trespasser had almost shoulder-length dark brown hair and a nervous grin. He had tan skin that melted into fur and goat legs. Some organisms call these creatures “satyrs”. Viktor was ready to jump at him with his knife shoes if the satyr tried anything funny, and he made a point of this by pointing at his activated shoes and smiling threateningly.  

“H-hi I’m Leo,” the young man stuttered out. He was clearly nervous, as one naturally was when you had two sleepy, annoyed men, one with knife shoes, and a multifunctional android staring at you.  

“Would you like to tell us who you are and why you’re here?” Viktor asked, voice cold as the ice only found at the furthest reaches of any given solar system.  

“Er…I’m a traveling merchant, and my ship was hijacked and stolen on Obchodovani. It was parked right next to yours. I probably should have locked it. So I boarded your ship because I needed some form of travel. It was also unlocked and nearby. It wasn’t long before I heard you people walk on, and I hid myself in the hidden rooms usually in furthest reaches of every ship that most people don’t realize exist. Any more questions?”

Viktor squinted at Leo, “Nah, I don’t buy it.”

“Look man, do you want proof?” Leo asked anxiously. Viktor squinted more, but nodded. JJ had gone at this point, too sleepy to care that much, as he figured Viktor would be pissed enough to deal with the intruder on his own.  

Leo beckoned for Viktor and Emil to follow him. They went through many hallways before entering through a wall, surprisingly. Viktor and Emil were greeted with the sight of several bags and an ukulele. The bags were filled with goods. Leo walked over to one of them and pulled out a card.  

Pointing at the card, Leo said with a hint of agitation in his tone, “See here? It says ‘Leo De La Iglesia: Certified Traveling Merchant’. Look, it even has an official universal council stamp.”  

Viktor was finally convinced, and deactivated his knife shoes. “Fine, I believe you. But we’re going to drop you off at the nearest planet, okay? How did you even find this place?”  

Leo was relieved, “…I accidently tripped over one of my bags and fell into the wall. How far away is the nearest planet anyways?”  

Viktor groaned, and led Leo to the control panel, which was literally on the opposite side of the ship.

“We’re approximately…fifty light years away from the nearest habitable planet that isn’t Obchodovani.” Viktor sighed, “It’s gonna take around 49 hours, so settle in, but don’t get too comfortable.”  

“Okay! I can play the ukulele and sing for you as payme-” Leo was cut off.

“Please don’t, I need sleep. I guess we’ll allow you to sleep in one of the beds on the ship.” Viktor grumbled. Leo nodded, and they headed to the sleeping quarters. “Emil, please keep an eye on our new friend. I don’t completely trust him yet,” Viktor commanded. Emil saluted.  

A few hours later, Viktor awoke to the sound of the cheerful playing of an ukulele. He rolled over, but tumbled to the floor again. Wearily blinking his sleep-drunk eyes, he stood up, stretched, and looked around for the ukulele noise. Faint words passed through his hearing, “…wherever I go, god stays with me.” He could see that JJ, Emil, and the stowaway…what was his name again? Viktor couldn’t remember too well. Sounds of applause came through the door as Emil and JJ congratulated Leo. Right, the stowaway’s name was Leo. They were already awake, and Leo was strumming his instrument, singing a cheerful tune. His voice was rich and beautiful. It warmed you like the sun right after a long, cold winter. Viktor decided this wasn’t the worst to way to wake up.

Just as he was about to greet his friends and Leo, he paused and observed them from afar. They all looked so happy, bright smiles as they sang along to the tune, albeit off key.  Viktor grinned because he hadn’t ever seen his crew members smile this much before. Maybe this stowaway wasn’t so bad after all.  He almost didn’t want to let Leo leave in forty-two hours.  

“Good morning everyone! I see Leo has fit himself quite well into this little group!”  

“Hi...uh…you didn’t tell me your name yesterday.”

“Viktor. Nice to meet you too.”

The next forty-two hours were spent getting to know each other, sleeping, more singing, admiring the cosmos, playing random games, and a social media break.  

“Hey, aren’t you people the guys who blew up Phichit?” Leo inquired curiously after tapping through his phone for a few minutes.  

“Self-defense! We weren’t trying to blow him up! In fact, I quite liked him!” JJ said defensively.

“I wasn’t even activated yet,” Emil looked up from where he was fiddling with a random metal bit.  

“Ok, but why would you blow him up? What did he even do?” Leo asked.

Viktor tapped his chin in thought, “See, he was a friendly guy at first. Shit happened and I ended up throwing a hamster ball at him. And before you know it, the Hamster King of Social Media is now the Hamster King of Death by Hamster Ball.”  

Leo blinked disbelievingly, and then just accepted the explanation. He looked at the navigation panel, and saw they were less than a light year away from the nearest habitable planet: Tiandian. “We’re almost there… I think I might miss you guys, despite only knowing you for 49 hours.”

“We’re not going to leave immediately after dropping you off…we’re going to explore it too!” Viktor said, eyes lighting up.

“It apparently has the most delectable sweets and bakery treats in the entire universe,” Emil informed, “I’d love to go there!”  

The last thirty minutes on the ship were spent with slightly melancholic, but still happy chatter. It died down when JJ called they were landing soon. The atmosphere of Tiandian was tinted a pastel cotton candy pink. They plunged into the atmosphere, and crystals of sugar lined the swirled candy pathways. The ship plopped down near a small café. Everyone aboard the ship hopped off, and this time, Viktor made sure to lock the ship.  

Chapter 5

They decided to enter the cafe. It was very cozy, with gray paint and homey paintings covering the walls and light brown wooden floors. A small man sipping an extra creamy spiced caramel rainbow swirl macchiato and a light fluffy cinnamon roll with extra cinnamon sat at one of the tables, scrolling through his Galaxy Phone 101. He had messy light brown hair and a smattering of freckles across his cheeks. He was also a satyr.

Leo stopped dead when he saw the man, and his face lit up. “G-guang! Ji-ji! It’s been a long time!”  

The man at the table almost spat out his coffee before quickly swallowing it down, looking at Leo in shock. An adorable smile and a blush spread across his cheeks as he almost knocked down the table to leap into Leo’s arms.  

“Leo! Where have you been? You were supposed to meet me on Huiyi a month ago!” the man muttered, rubbing his face in Leo’s sweatshirt.  

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I wish I could have, but business affairs popped up, and then my ship got hijacked…I hope you don’t mind too much.” Leo sighed patting the man’s hair.

“Are they…dating or something?” Viktor whispered to JJ, accidently a bit too loud.

Leo and the man’s cheeks flushed, before Leo said, “No um…. fuck I forgot to introduce you.” The man shifted a little behind Leo. He seemed shy. “Guys, this is Guangdong. He’s my best friend and local food enthusiast. Ji, the one with the silver hair is Viktor. He and JJ are the captains of the ship. The one with the black hair is JJ. Emil is the one with the brown hair. He’s an android,” Leo introduced everyone.

“Nice to meet you,” Guang Hong moved to shake hands with the crew members. He still had a shy smile and a flushed face. When he got to Emil, the android gave him a big bear hug.  

Guang stiffened in shock, but hesitantly returned the hug. He backed off soon, and somewhat relieved, and returned to Leo’s side.  

“Are you people going to get food?” Guang Hong asked, “Its super good. I recommend the sugary vanilla bean cinnamon roll.”  

They stepped to the counter and ordered their respective food items. Soon, the orders arrived.  As soon as the icy mocha latte with extra whipped cream, peppermint sprinkles, and a cherry on top hit Viktor’s tongue, he knew he had died and gone to heaven. The sweet taste of peppermint blended into the rich coffee taste in a heavenly manner, and a bit of whipped cream topped it all off with a bit of fluff that was creamy yet light. A succulent, enticing red cherry decorated the top as he saved it for last. The entire thing just melted on his tongue pleasantly, and Viktor almost moaned. Before he knew it, he was finished. A sweet, icy taste still lingered. There was still that juicy red cherry left. He raised the moist cherry to his lips, licking it before biting down on it, letting the juices flow into his mouth. The heavenly juice traveled down his esophagus and he didn’t think he could ever grow tired of it. All too soon, he finished the rest of the cherry.  

“That was definitely the most delicious thing I’ve ever had…” Viktor breathed out, stars in his eyes.

“I know right? That’s why I decided to live here,” Guang Hong munched on his cinnamon roll.  

Emil had finished his milkshake before Viktor and was staring at JJ, who was taking his sweet time finishing his sugary vanilla bean cinnamon roll. The man looked like he was enjoying it way too much. But with food items like these, it was hard to judge what counted as enjoying something too much. Was there really such a thing as enjoying oneself too much? Soon, JJ finished as well, and the group headed out to explore the streets with Guang Hong being a tour guide. Leo kept his merchant bags with him, so he tried selling some of his goods to passerby.

Guang Hong led them down the streets of Tiandian, and they figured out the city they were in was called Rouguijan. They pathways were covered with miscellaneous sweet food stands, making it hard for Viktor to resist impulse buying all the foods he saw. They just all looked so delicious. The buildings also had some interesting architecture, with a mix of skyscrapers and plain flat lands. They explored the city for another two hours, before finally deciding it was time to leave. Soon, they arrived back at the ship.

“Are you two not coming with us?” Viktor asked when he, Emil, and JJ all boarded the ship but Guang Hong and Leo stayed where they were. They shook their heads.

“We’ve really enjoyed our time with you, but I honestly don’t think traveling the cosmos as anything other than a merchant and a loner is for me,” Leo said shaking his head, albeit sadly, “And Jiji is still studying.”  

“Oh…then do you have any SNS accounts?” JJ inquired. Leo and Guang Hong nodded.  

They exchanged social media accounts and a few last hugs before JJ, Emil, and Viktor stepped back on the ship and the doors shut behind them.

Right before the doors closed, they heard Guang Hong ask, “Hey Leo, when I finish my studies, can I travel with you?”

“Always Guang, always.”

JJ started up the ship again and Viktor looked out of the window to see Leo and Guang Hong waving at them from the ground. Viktor and Emil furiously waved back before the ship took off and zoomed out of the atmosphere.

I N T E R L U D E

Viktor, JJ, and Emil traveled the universe at will, occasionally completing quests and conquering pirate ships for money. They became the Vigilantes of the Universe, and were somewhat legends. Sometimes, they arranged meetings with Guang Hong and Leo, or other friends they made along their travels. This continued for several years until at one point in time…

Chapter 6

It had been 8 years since Viktor and JJ set out from Glavnaya. They made history and were well known across the universe. On this day, Viktor was driving the ship, Emil was cleaning the kitchen, and JJ was taking a nap.  

“Would it be okay to visit Glavnaya?” Viktor wondered, “It’s been 8 years, surely they would have forgotten us by now.”

“You forget that we’re famous space vigilantes,” Emil called from the kitchen, “They’ll probably recognize us.”

“Yeah but…” For the first time in forever, Viktor felt a twinge of homesickness. He shook it off and focused on steering the ship. “But what if we wear disguises?”

“You also forget that almost every planet has DNA tracking systems now. They’d most likely still have your baby DNA.” Emil replied.

“Your right,” Viktor sighed, “Emil, can you steer the ship?”

“I’m cooking, sorry.”

Something at the back of Viktor’s mind made him want to say ‘Hi cooking, sorry, I’m dad’, but he instead pouted and said, “I can try to cook…”

“The last time you tried to cook, you almost poisoned us,” Emil was adamant about not letting Viktor cook.

Viktor sighed again, “True true, but I just want to rest right now. I’ll turn the ship on autopilot.”

Emil nodded, but then remembered Viktor couldn’t see him. “Okay,” he called.  Soon, he finished cleaning the kitchen. On his way to his charging port, he accidently tripped over a stack of books. His back slammed into a button no one had found over the course of 8 years. Suddenly, the ship was surrounded with a plethora of bright colors inside a spinning tunnel of sorts. Now that he thought about it, he remembered something…interesting one of the scientists had said during the time of his construction.

Emil laid still on the lab table, not that he could really move around. After all, he was just a head and a torso with a tangled bunch of wires and the ability to think. Scientists walked by, often carrying metal bits. They were constructing the Victory, or so he heard. “Lilia, this time travel contraption is untested. Are you really sure you want to put it on the Victory? Please don’t be too brash.” An old scientist with a fedora was speaking.  

“It must be put into the Victory. Otherwise, It’ll never be tested,” Lilia’s voice was cool and determined.  

The old scientist tipped his fedora at her, “Do what you must then, but please make the activation button hard to find.”  

“Well I guess I must have accidently activated that contraption then…” Emil whispered to himself.  He decided not to say anything.

When Viktor woke up, he immediately noticed something was different. For one, there were more celestial bodies in the surrounding area than usual. Everything seemed to glow brightly, and the fiery stars seemed to be at the brink of explosion. Viktor peered out the window curiously, and saw that the ship was steering to a nearby planet.  The navigation panel said they were heading towards Saishu Mokutekichi. In all of his years traveling, Viktor had never even heard a mention of this planet. It seemed to be very… rainbow and dazzling. The navigation panel also said that there were life forms and it was habitable. He decided to take control of the ship and steer towards it. He still had no idea what was going on, or why the sky was unusually bedazzling, or why everything was so close together, but maybe that planet had answers.  

JJ had finally woken up and trudged into the room. “…what’s up with space?” he murmured sleepily.  

Viktor shrugged, “I don’t know, but I’m steering towards this random planet to find answers.”

JJ accepted this answer, and they soon landed on the mysterious rainbow planet of Saishu Mokutekichi. Colorful swirls of various harmless gases filled the air, and the ground practically glowed. Tufts of bright, lush springy grass covered it. Golden particles, almost like stardust, surrounded them. Strange creature noises resonated throughout the place. It all felt…magical. In the horizon stood a squat but fairly large house, situated between the looming trunks of two giant trees. Viktor, JJ, and Emil stepped out onto this strange planet.

A man with jet black hair and blue glasses playfully danced around the building with a big yellow space chicken. Soon, he noticed the travelers and the government-issue space cruiser.  

“V-Viktor! JJ! Emil! Welcome back! It’s been a while since you last visited,” the man greeted. The chicken crowed happily, ruffling his bright yellow feathers.  

“How do you know our names?!” Viktor asked, “More importantly, where are we?”

“You’re on Saishu Mokutekichi at almost the end of all time…I mean, I thought you knew that,” the man tapped his chin thoughtfully, “In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve had a bad memory, but never on this scale…”

“Who are you?!” Viktor and JJ screamed in near unison.  

“E-eh? How do you not remember me? Wait…this is probably your first trip here!  Heh, you always seemed to know me before…maybe this is why. In that case, welcome, I’m Yuuri Katsuki,” Yuuri finally introduced himself, slightly bashful.  

“…I would introduce myself, but you seem to already know who we are,” Viktor stated.  

`Yuuri laughed lightly, “I suppose so. Come into the house then. We have cookies…and other people.”  

As they walked to the house, Viktor noticed Yuuri had a nice ass.

When they arrived, they were greeted by a pretty woman with short black hair. “Yuuri, where were you? It’s time for foo- oh my, we certainly weren’t expecting you today, Emil, Viktor, JJ.” Her eyes softened a little when she said ‘JJ”.   She proceeded to give them all a big hug.  

JJ pushed her off of him, but didn’t shove too hard, “Seriously, who are you people?” The woman looked hurt and a little bit embarrassed.  

“JJ, darling do you not remember me?” the woman asked, “I’m Isabella, your wife.”

“…No?” JJ was confused.

“Isabella, it appears we have finally found their first time meeting us,” said Yuuri, “Therefore, they don’t really know us. It’s a little bit ironic isn’t it? The universe on the verge of collapse, and them meeting us for the first time, though they have encountered us many times before.”  

“Oh, well that makes sense,” Isabella looked a bit sullen, but she accepted it.  

Viktor interrupted, “How do we get out of this weird dimension?”  

“It’s not another dimension, it’s the end of this universe…time-wise. There’s approximately…twenty days before it ends. Everything is almost completely crunched together,” Yuuri informed.

“How are we not dead?” JJ wondered.

“This, the great planet of Saishu Mokutekichi is the planet of the starchildren. We’ve been watching over the cosmos since more or less the beginning of time, or time in this universe. And since we need to watch over this universe until its collapse, this planet is completely protected from all the dangers out there. So even if a star is only one dor away, we wouldn’t exactly be screwed.”

Viktor was startled, “Wait, how did we get here? Where we came from, the end of the universe was super far away…”

“I think our ship has a time travel function. I accidently fell into the activation button,” Emil admitted sheepishly, “I guess it was set to this time, but actually I’m not too sure how it works. I hope the button isn’t broken from having a one hundred twenty-five-kilogram android slam into it.”

“…Let’s check first!” Yuuri suggested after a moment of silence. They went to the ship, and Emil detected that miraculously, nothing much was broken, just the outer button. That in itself would take around ten days to fix, since it was ridiculously meticulously hooked up to so many wires, and some of those wires would have to be fixed.

“That’s fine then. We should move this stack of books so no one trips over them again,” Viktor said with his oddly menacing heart-shaped smile.

“Heh…sorry,” Emil looked very embarrassed.

JJ patted his head, “It’s fine, as long as we can fix this.”

Suddenly, Viktor felt a sharp jab at his feet. The space chicken that was playing with Yuuri earlier happily pecked Viktor’s toes (Viktoes). “Whose chicken is this?” he asked as he picked up the chicken and looked at it. The chicken had a bright yellow color to his feathers and was extremely adorable. A vibrant red comb perched on his head, with a splotch of red feathers on the left side of his head. The chicken tilted his head and cooed curiously at Viktor. Viktor stared at the chicken, and cautiously pet his feathers. The chicken snuggled against him.

Yuuri smiled, “It seems like Minami likes you.” The chicken trilled in agreement, and then leapt into Yuuri’s arms as if to say, ‘but I like him better’. Yuuri set Minami back down on the ground, and the chicken rubbed himself against Yuuri’s legs, wanting cuddles.  Yuuri pet the chicken, “Viktor, meet Minami, local space chicken with a tragic backstory. I guess you could call him my chicken, but he doesn’t really have an owner…we should fix the ship before we run out of time.”

Viktor was befuddled why Yuuri changed the subject, but nodded. A loud crash sounded from somewhere, making them jump.

“Sara, please go oil yourself, we don’t want your joints to get creaky again! And have you-”

“Mickey. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. You’re making my head overheat.”  

“See, you need to oil your joints, and now you should go-”

Yuuri smiled, amused, “That would be the android twins. They’re uh, an interesting pair. Michele is really protective about Sara.”

“I can tell.”  

“I think Isabella called them to help work on the ship. With their help, the process should take around nine days.” Yuuri said, “To be honest, we should probably go help them right now.”

“Awwww, but there’s a happy little space chicken sleeping on your feet,” Viktor cooed.

Yuuri sighed, and then picked up Minami. The chicken squawked in surprise, but settled for a small glare in Yuuri’s direction. “Sorry Minami, but I have to move,” The chicken reluctantly got off of Yuuri’s feet. They looked over to the other people and saw JJ and Isabella debating where a certain wire should hook up. Michele didn’t seem to like Emil, probably because Emil was trying to talk with his twin. Minami was there too, running around like a headless chicken, even though he did have a head.

Chapter 7

The next few days were filled with productivity as everyone worked together to fix the button. They took breaks in shifts, so Viktor and Yuuri were the only ones working at that moment. Yuuri felt some sort of bond between all of them, a bond like that of atoms among the brightest stars, and he really didn’t want these people leave so soon.  

“Hey Viktor,” he said as he hooked up two more wires. The two of them were standing closer together than usual, and maybe it was just because there wasn’t that much space around the button, but Yuuri felt all warm and fuzzy inside.  

Viktor looked up, “Yes?”

“I wouldn’t mind... I don’t think anyone would mind really, if you guys stayed here for a few more days…” Yuuri looked the other direction as he said this.  

“Really?” Viktor face lit up with his heart-shaped smile, “I was going to ask if we could stay here for a few more days, but I guess I don’t need to.”  

Yuuri smiled, a warm smile that could warm the coldest of souls. It certainly warmed Viktor. “We’re almost done fixing it, and there’s a giant lake that’s in perpetual freeze not too far from here. Shall we skate sometime?”  

“Ice skating? What’s that?” Viktor was genuinely perplexed.

Yuuri stared at Viktor, “You’re Glavnayan, yet you don’t know what ice skating is?”

“No? Glavnaya never had ice, it was always warm or really hot.”

“Right, you came from when Glavnaya was still warm,” Yuuri said thoughtfully.

Viktor looked curiously at Yuuri, “What happened to Glavnaya?”

“Glavnaya doesn’t exist.”

“Eh?”

“Glavnaya turned more or less into ice and was swallowed by a black hole just nine thousand years ago,” Yuuri clarified.

“Ohh…” Viktor connected two more wires, “It’s strange knowing your planet doesn’t exist…” “Yeah.”

The two worked in comfortable silence for a while before Viktor remembered why the topic of Glavnaya’s death had been brought up. “So Yuuri, what’s ice skating?”

“You know what water is, right?”

“Of course.”

“Well sometimes, large bodies of water are frozen into ice, and you can even sing, jump, walk, run, do all sorts of stuff on it,” Yuuri explained.

Viktor looked incredibly confused. “What sorts of magical sorcery do you need to freeze that much water?”

Yuuri laughed, “You just need to have really cold temperatures, that’s all. And the only reason that lake stays cold all the time is because there’s an incubus that enjoys the cold who lives around there. He’s relatively friendly, and can probably teach you a few tricks on the ice… Unless he manages to seduce you, which mean you’ll have a very different experience that night.”

Viktor looked a lot less confused, but it was replaced with wonder. “Amazing! How do you ice skate then?”

“Uh…so you have blades on your shoes, and you…walk I guess, on them on the  ice, and you end up gliding somewhat? They’re called ice skates,” Yuuri tried to explain.

“Wow, so I’ve been wearing ice skates this entire time!” Viktor activated his knife shoes, and the blades slid out. “See? They have blades! You skate on your toes?”  

“No Viktor, those are knife shoes, not ice skates! Ice skates have blades on the bottom, not the toes!” Yuuri chuckled.  

“Well I guess I have to see for myself what this fascinating thing is with you later. Can JJ, Emil, Isa, Sara, Mickey, and Minami come too?”

Yuuri grinned, “Well of course! I was planning on them joining us. You know, as kind of an outing for everyone here.”  

By now, they had finished repairing the button, and were chatting idly, staring at the stars that appeared giant and were never gone from the sky, a stunning yet slightly scary sight.

“We’ll go tomorrow.”

When they arrived back at the shack, food was waiting for them. An assortment of wonderful dishes adorned the table, prepared with love by JJ and Isabella. They made the androids take a break from doing all the chores, so the three were playing with Minami outside in some sort of strange game of hide-and-seek tag. The poor chicken was having trouble keeping up with the androids. Even so, he was having fun, and they took a break whenever he needed to.  

They heard Isabella calling for dinner but didn’t go inside because androids don’t eat. However, Minami did need to eat, so he went inside.

Dinner was a cheery affair as usual. Delicious food, laughter, and chatter filled the table, and Viktor felt…at home? It was his first time really experiencing this feeling, but he decided he liked it. Even though he had only known them for several days, Viktor felt like he had known them forever. Now he really didn’t want to go back. He stared at the table with a pensive and slightly melancholic smile on his face. There was a beautiful warmth blossoming in his chest. He felt a somewhat familiar point in his toe, so he absentmindedly put a chicken nugget under the table. An indignant squawk startled him out of his chance as a pair of beady eyes glared at him from under the table. Suddenly, a chicken flew and smacked him in the face, landing in his lap. It took a moment for him to realize what happened. The table had gone silent.

“OH! Oh Minami, I’m so sorry! Um… CORN! I forgot you were a chicken!” Viktor frantically gave corn to the chicken. At this, the table burst out laughing, and Minami seemed to be laughing in a chicken way. He was still glaring at Viktor. Viktor was a little embarrassed, but shook it off and laughed along.  Viktor was dreading the end of the universe. He never wanted to leave.  

Chapter 8

Twelve hours later, after a dinner and some sleep, the group headed out to go ice skating. There had been extra ice skates in a storage shed, so everyone was accounted for. Yuuri led everyone else into the forest with a Minami in his arms. Soon, they arrived at the lake.

A lone silhouette of a figure danced on the ice, graceful body in fluid motion. Viktor watched in awe and quietly whispered in awe to Yuuri, “So is that what ice skating is?” Yuuri nodded. The figure seemed to have noticed them, and in the blink of an eye appeared in front of the group. It was a tall, suggestively dressed male with wings and a devil tail; your average incubus. He had blond hair styled into an undercut with green eyes and long, lustrous lashes. He was wearing an outfit with a translucent gray top and sparkly red lines. The sides were more or less nonexistent, back and front being connected by a crisscross pattern and revealing slivers of skin.  

“Why hello there,” the incubus said. He had a deep, buttery voice.  

“Hi Chris,” Yuuri greeted. Isabella waved, and Minami squawked in greeting.  

“Welcome back~,” Chris sauntered over, “Haven’t seen you three in a while,” he tilted his head towards Viktor, JJ, and Emil.  

“Why does he know us too?” Viktor asked.

Chris looked shocked and slightly hurt, “Mon chérie, do you not remember me?” Yuuri quickly whispered something to Chris, and his expression faded back to normal. “Oh, well I guess that makes sense. Welcome to my lake! Just put on your skates and follow me onto the ice.”

They did as they were told, and soon were having a whale of a time after some instruction. Viktor couldn’t keep his balance and had to constantly rely on Yuuri for support.  

“Now take my hands, come on! Right, left, right, left, slow down…Keep going, you got this!” Yuuri encouraged.  

Viktor looked at Yuuri, and felt a warm sensation in his chest. He moved his feet to try and match the pace of Yuuri, and for a moment, they were perfectly in sync. This was until Viktor slipped again. He laughed it off, but then told Yuuri he was going to sit out for a while.  

Sitting on the edges of the lake, Viktor watched everyone skate. He decided Yuuri on ice was a very lovely show. Minami was trying to skate, but he wasn’t wearing skates. He awkwardly flapped on the ice, seeming to do a little boogie. Michele was teaching Emil how to skate, and the enthusiastic android was learning very quickly. Nearby, Chris was skating seductively and moving his hips in a very mesmerizing and intoxicating manner. Viktor had to force himself to tear his eyes away. Meanwhile, JJ was already somewhat decent at skating due to either Isabella’s instructing or natural talent. It was like they were skating a serenade for two, or maybe JJ was skating his own theme. In regards to love, Viktor had never thought that much about it. However, an inferno in his heart blossomed like the perfume of the flowers whenever he looked at Yuuri. He didn’t quite know what it meant, but he supposed his heart was trying to tell him his emotions were still alive. His train of thought was cut off when Sara sat down next to him.  

“Hey Viktor,” she greeted.  

“Hey.”

“Are you going back on the ice?” Sara questioned.

“Yeah, I’m just admiring the wa-” Viktor was interrupted by Minami sliding to a halt next to his feet. The chicken let out a pant as if to say ‘I’m exhausted, please help’. Viktor picked Minami up and sat him down on his lap, petting his comb. The soft ball of feathers more or less melted into Viktor’s arms. Viktor looked at Sara, and Sara stretched her arms towards Viktor. He handed Minami to her and picked up his skates to go skate again.  

Once on the ice again, Viktor immediately sought out Yuuri to continue their skating. Yuuri taught Viktor well for several hours, and they were soon dancing around each other like they had been doing it for years. They danced and danced until their legs were sore, and finally collapsed happily into a heaping pile of snow, near where most of their friends were waiting. Chris had gone back into his house. Only one pair was left on the ice, and that was Emil and Michele. They looked more alive than ever.  

“Should we go back soon?” Viktor heard JJ ask Isabella.

“Let’s let Michele and Emil have a little more fun, and maybe then we’ll head back.”  

They watched the two androids for a few more minutes. This gave Viktor and Yuuri time to recuperate and sit up.

“Michele! Emil!” Sara called, “It’s time to leave!”  

The two androids, seemingly in a daze, broke apart and almost looked like they were blushing. Michele definitely was.  

On the way back to the house, Viktor was silent and staring at Yuuri’s back. Some people came up to him occasionally, but he was in deep thought.  

In regards to love, he had never felt this way before.

Chapter 9

A few hours of sleep and a stretch later, Viktor awoke to the delicious smell of food being made. These days were passing by too quickly for his liking. He could feel the ever looming end of the universe as it came closer, stars slowly growing before his eyes. Shaking these thoughts out of his mind, Viktor decided he would stay here until the very last second, because he definitely couldn’t bear leaving Yuuri, Minami, Isabella, Michele, and Sara behind. It really hadn’t been that long, but Viktor didn’t care. Currently, the smell of food was tempting him, so  Viktor pushed that thought to the back of his mind and decided he would tell Emil and JJ later.  

Breakfast was delicious as usual, yet it was somber. Viktor, JJ, and Emil were due to leave on that day since the button was completely fixed. Since the universe was ending, Isabella, Yuuri, and Minami, the starchildren were starting to fade. They had woken up one day and Emil noticed he could see the countertop a little bit through their bodies. Viktor still didn’t want to leave yet. Soon, they were standing outside the ship, waiting for Emil to finish adjusting the settings so they could travel back to the correct time period. The controls were located in a secret compartment near the button. Emil came out of the ship and signaled it was time to go. As JJ started to step on the ship, Viktor suddenly called out, “Wait.” JJ and everyone else turned to look at him, “I don’t want to go yet.”

The expression on everyone’s face was that of bewilderment. “Why not?” Isabella asked.  

“As cheesy as it may sound, I think I finally found a home when I’ve never had one before. I don’t want to leave any of you behind yet…” was Viktor’s reply.

“But you can just travel back in time and meet us again,” Isabella pointed out, “And not risk dying here at the end of time.”

Viktor wasn’t swayed, “It won’t be the same. You won’t know us. The scenery around us is also stunning, and besides, we won’t get the chance to actually see the end of all time if we don’t stay.”

“Well if you stay longer, that will make it all the harder to leave,” Yuuri interjected kindly, “But if you really want to stay, we’ll just have to make sure you have enough time to get out.”

JJ spoke up, “Honestly, I wouldn’t mind staying here until the last few seconds…as long as we don’t die that is.”

“Are we staying then?” Emil piped up from inside the ship.

Isabella let out a sigh, then relented. “Fine. I hope we’re making the right decision, because otherwise this entire timeline will be changed.”

Viktor grinned, then pulled everyone into a giant group hug. “Even though we haven’t been here all that long, I love you all.” Emil and JJ were quick to hop off the ship and join the hug. Their combined weight pushed everyone to the ground where they all landed in a big, heaping mess. Surrounded by warmth, love, friends, and adventure, there really wasn’t anything else he needed, right?

Except maybe Yuuri’s ass.  

Chapter 10

As the days passed, Viktor took many pictures to keep fond memories. Even so, the days still passed too quickly for his liking. All too soon, it was the last day of the universe.

Viktor awoke again to the smell of a delicious breakfast. A sense of déjà vu washed over him as he walked into the kitchen. The starchildren had almost completely faded, and their feet were sparkling, sparkling into nothingness. This signaled the final stage of disintegration. The ground was shaking, something that had never happened before. Explosions outside of the planet’s atmosphere rocked the world, a brilliant spectacle to behold as dying stars gave their last breath. Viktor picked up Minami and cuddled the chicken one last time. Emil seemed to be hugging the life out of Sara and Michele, and JJ seemed to be taking his time parting from Isabella.  

“You must go now,” Yuuri ushered Viktor to the door, “You can’t do anything for us, nor can you stay any longer.”  

“I know, but…” Viktor put Minami down, and wrapped his arms around Yuuri, “I’ll never forget you.”

“Viktor, there isn’t much time left,” Yuuri whispered, “Leave now, please…” Viktor buried his face in Yuuri’s shoulder. “No tale is more compelling than one that never ends. If you end here, that’s it. You’ll see me in the past, but please continue doing what you love to do.”

“I would love to do you,” Viktor muttered.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear that.”  

“Anyways, can’t you come with us? I don’t want to have to leave you here…”

“No, because I’m literally everywhere in the past. That would screw with the timeline way too much.” Yuuri seemed incredibly calm.

“I’ll continue on then. Goodbye, Yuuri.” Yuuri was just a floating torso now, and golden flecks of stardust poured from his body like a spilt sandbag as the rumbles around them grew ever louder. A cry of anguish was heard as JJ’s arms were covered in stardust. Isabella was nearly gone. Viktor felt tears pricking the corners of his eyes. He collected himself and grabbed JJ and Emil by the arms. There wasn’t any time to lose.

“GOODBYE!” Michele and Sara cried after them. In the shadows of the trees, a faint glimmer could be seen as a certain incubus was no more. All luggage had been taken into the ship the day before. There wasn’t anything else they needed to do except press the button. The world was shaking even more, throwing them into momentary panic as they tripped over each other. Finally, JJ was able to slap that button. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, they were thrown into a swirling space-time vortex as the planet around them exploded. Saishu Mokutekichi was no more. A second later, the universe would compress and collapse, but our heroes weren’t around to see that.  

Intense, blinding rays of color whirled around the ship. Viktor slumped against the floor, and JJ face-planted on one of the beds. Then, they were barreling through an atmosphere before crash landing into a backyard. Luckily, the ship wasn’t damaged.

A tired looking Seung Gil spat out coffee and grabbed a laser gun. When Viktor, JJ and Emil poked their heads out of the door, Seung Gil let out a string of curses.

“GODDAMMIT! PLEASE GET OUT OF MY BACKYARD! I DON’T WANT THE GOVERNMENT HERE!” Seung Gil looked very panicked, “WHY ARE YOU SHOWING UP IN MY BACKYARD AFTER DISAPPEARING OFF THE FACE OF THE UNIVERSE FOR TWO YEARS? ACTUALLY DON’T ANSWER THAT, JUST PLEASE GET OUT OF MY BACKYARD!”  

Viktor slid back to the control panel and started up the ship again. “Oops. I guess the time wasn’t completely accurate.” Somewhere in his backyard on the surface of Glavnaya, Seung Gil breathed a sigh of relief.

Epilogue  

Two years after Viktor, JJ, and Emil had left Saishu Mokutekichi, Viktor pensively sat on his bed. “I wonder where everyone is,” he suddenly said. Colors whirled around the ship.

“Hang on Viktor… we’re almost there,” JJ mumbled from the control panel.  

Soon, they landed on a small planet. Stardust shimmered in the atmosphere. A recent explosion had happened around there, so there were many small planets. Nearby stars looked younger than Viktor had ever seen during any of his adventures, and most of the planets had extreme climate and weather. Everything was closer together than usual as well. The ground was familiar with fresh, budding sprouts springing up. A small swirl of rainbow gas blew past their heads. A young boy playing with a little chick was running around as a small girl watched. Both had black hair. A smile broke out on Viktor’s face as he stepped out of the Victory.

“Yuuri!”

Fanmix: https://8tracks.com/veyzex/voyage-into-kuhaku

[grassangel]

I left grumpy comments on the BBC fan panel forums! You might like them!

Also, again! You want to grumble or exclaim at the producers and stuff? Go here!

(In response to Kerblam!)

This was a fun and well made episode. The references were fun, it trotted along at a decent pace, the dialogue was smooth, team TARDIS got to show off their strengths, the robots were appropriately creepy, and the stakes at risk with disappearances and the bombs felt high. My dad thought it was a great episode. But the message I got from the end did not sit well with me. The Doctor assumes that the company is endangering an employee. In the episode Dan and Kira's stories tell us that the employment situation on Kandoka (and its moon) is dire, that there aren't that many jobs due to so many of them being automated or being done by robots. We are told they are thankful for what they have, even if the pay's not enough to afford the things they're helping to ship, that they have to essentially live where they work, never see their family and are constantly watched and monitored. Oppressive perhaps, but not the dangerous situation that the Doctor was expecting. No, the danger is an idealistic, if misguided, young man who believes that the situation will only get worse, that increased automation will bring no benefits, and that instead everyone should have the chance to work in this oppressive environment, because at least then it's work for everyone. He intends to achieve this by killing people and blaming the system. I did not enjoy Charlie being the clear millennial stand-in, but with anxieties borrowed from another generation that's afraid of technology and how it can equalise people. I did not enjoy the way the system (both the corporate system and the computer system, which ALSO killed a person to make its point) was framed as being fine and free from criticism. It disquieted me. And though a lot of people have said this about the new series, although for very different reasons, this episode did not resemble the Doctor Who that I love. On both the level of the Doctor being a character who tends towards being anti-authoritarian and anarchist, but also the series being generally hopeful and optimistic about the future. Yes, 'gritty' realism has a place in fiction and entertainment but not, I believe, in Doctor Who. Doctor Who should be full of optimism and hope that things will get better, that things do become more equal. And this episode didn't do that. Workers didn't overthrow the company's owner, the system wasn't exposed as being cruel and inhumane. It was hopeless, not hopeful.

Will Chibnall read it? Probably not? Will McTighe? Probably not either. (And for all people talked up how he wrote some Dr Blake Mysteries, that was a rather conservative Australian period crime drama. I think there was only one episode each about queerness or people of colour? Very heterosexual with a slow burn relationship. Meanwhile Miss Fisher was out there with 50/50 male/female split in front of and behind the camera, with a female lead! It had a recurring lesbian plus had a few cases involving queer characters, and while it was slightly iffy on the people of colour issue it did have more than three episodes in which they appeared. It had conversations about religion, about class!)

(in response to the finale and the series as a whole)

It's a nice change to see people having valid complaints about the episode, rather than complaining that the liberal attitude Doctor Who has always had is now 'too PC'. :P This episode. Predictable. In the week leading up to it, I was basically spoiled looking at speculation. People were speculating that the Stenza and/or Tim Shaw would be returning, that Ranskoor Av Kolos was actually Desolation. One of those turned out to be right, and the other would've made things more interesting. (On the bright side, easy enough to understand when you've recently received news of the death of a family friend?) I did like the resolution to Ryan and Graham's relationship. Ryan admitting he loves Graham, calling him granddad AND giving him a fist bump? That was a treat. Though there didn't seem to be anything equivalent for the Doctor or for Yasmin, which felt particularly unfair to the main character of the show. The Doctor breezed through the challenges given to her and the pace didn't even slow down to allow her to show off her competence, and there were no moral quandaries to agonise over. It made that lovely little speech at the end feel unearned because of that lack of hardship. In regards to the series as a whole, I loved It Takes You Away, Demons of the Punjab, Rosa, The Ghost Monument, and The Witchfinders. I got a real sense of what the Doctor stands for and believes in, and in particular I think It Takes You Away was a stand out story with the way it was unafraid to be chilling, weird and emotional all at the same time. The Ghost Monument also provided the most wonderful reunion between the Doctor and the TARDIS that I'd been impatiently waiting for since their separation at the end of Twice Upon A Time. Everything was perfect for that reunion and it's one of my favourite moments of the series. But looking back at the series I'm most betrayed that I never got the bright, optimistic, new future that the promos and press were promising this series was. I wanted something hopeful, something inspiring, for this rather bleak political climate. Because while 'sit down, don't change history' was a brilliant theme in Rosa, making the audience sympathise with the TARDIS team's helplessness over their inability to help Rosa Parks, it was not a suitable theme in episodes that followed. In Arachnids, Robinson doesn't pay for his carelessness and there's still presumably rubbish piling up around Sheffield. Demons of the Punjab - did Prem have to die there, unwitnessed, when Partition was so bloody and violent? In Kerblam! the Doctor didn't do what she's done before: overthrow and ruin companies and empowered employees to demand their rights. Instead she was content to let the company continue to exploit people. It's telling I think, that as a person who dabbles in fanfiction, I want to write stuff that fixes these things, makes them more hopeful, more radical, rather than being interested in exploring the characters. I fell in love with Jodie Whittaker's warmth, enthusiasm and insistence that she was playing an alien, not a man or a woman,  which endeared me to her incarnation of the Doctor before the series started. It's just unfortunate that an entire season hasn't added anything to her performance as the Thirteenth Doctor that makes it unique beyond little things like awarding points and gold stars or her bounciness and face scrunches. (I love the face scrunching though. Please don't listen to people who groan about it. It's wonderful and just as important to Thirteen's character as Twelve's eyebrows was to his. If you'd continued to ask about Jodie Whittaker's performance as the Thirteenth Doctor, I would've kept mentioning how much I love those facial expressions.) Most of all, I'm disappointed that only about 15% of the writing in this first series with a female Doctor was written by women. Is it better than previous series? Yes. But it could've been even better. I read the list of writers before the series aired and was really hoping that Blackman wouldn't just be writing the obvious choice of a story that dealt with race, but another episode as well, one that maybe tackled issues of technology and humanity. I don't know Joy Wilkinson's previous work, but I think I would've enjoyed seeing another episode from her too. Instead there were 2 episodes written by women, one of which was co-written alongside a man; 8 episodes written solely by men, 7 of which were written by white men, and 5 of those by one white man. There should've been a stronger female presence amongst the writers for this series, this first and arguably most important series of having a female Doctor. I hope series 12 will have more women writing for it.

[dipulb3]

2021 Porsche Cayenne GTS first drive: The right place to be

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2021 Porsche Cayenne GTS first drive: The right place to be

Porsche’s GTS badge is conferred upon some of its best-driving vehicles, positioned in a space above the base models but below the true insanity of the Turbo and Turbo S variants. It’s generally assumed that any Porsche is good to drive, even its larger SUVs, but the GTS treatment takes it a step above. Returning for the 2021 model year, the Cayenne GTS proves that its two-door models don’t get to have all the fun.

Usually, you have to pay for a sinister look, but the Cayenne GTS — and all GTS models, for that matter — makes it standard. It’s a good look, too, with tinted headlights and taillights, 21-inch black alloy wheels and the elimination of every smattering of chrome. My tester is a Cayenne GTS Coupe, which picks up even more character by way of sleeker rear-end bodywork and the additional spoilers that come with it. This specific car also comes with the $10,350 Lightweight Sport Package, which adds another inch to the wheel size in addition to a carbon fiber roof and a sharper exhaust with centrally mounted tailpipes. It all looks the business, but then again, regular ol’ Cayennes look pretty darn good, too.

While the Cashmere Beige Metallic paint ($3,150) might not be the most aggressive motif out there, my tester ramps up the character inside by way of proper houndstooth cloth inserts on the seats, which look and feel fantastic alongside the leather-clad interior panels. The GTS doesn’t go too hard in the paint otherwise, adding some subtle trim finishers on the dashboard and some suede throughout but generally leaving the rest of the interior as-is. My tester adds a bit more sport by way of Race-Tex suede on the steering wheel (part of the lightweight package) and the center console’s grab handles ($1,380). Despite the Coupe’s abridged roof, the second row still has enough space for me to stretch my 6-foot frame in either of the two rear seats — the middle’s been carved out with a storage cubby.

2021 Porsche Cayenne GTS is always ready for a good time

See all photos

All that stuff is well and good, but the real important bits on the Cayenne GTS are the ones you can’t see. A V8 has triumphantly returned to its position underhood, which replaces the old GTS’ high-strung V6, and while its 453-horsepower, 457-pound-foot output doesn’t sound impressive against the 541-hp, 567-lb-ft Turbo, I can guarantee you that the GTS makes the most of every single inch of its new 4.0-liter. Acceleration comes on quickly, but not brutally so — Porsche estimates a 0-to-60-mph sprint of 4.5 seconds, dropping to 4.2 with launch control. The Coupe accumulates speed quickly, but not so quickly that it catches me by surprise, even though most of my brain power is spent enjoying the louder exhaust barking like a pack of pissed-off dogs as the revs rise.

That’s kind of the name of the game with the Cayenne GTS: Predictable, but ample performance. Acceleration only tells part of the story; despite being on the larger side, the Cayenne GTS is agile. In its perkier Sport and Sport Plus modes, the standard air suspension keeps things sufficiently stiff, holding the body flat through tight corners. The steering, which has been tweaked to provide better feeling, is tight and direct, and the corner-carving on my tester is further enhanced through all-wheel steering ($1,620) and active anti-roll bars ($3,590). The eight-speed automatic transmission is thoroughly competent, rattling off shifts so precise I thought it was a dual-clutch, and it holds gears at appropriately high revs when placed into one of the sportier modes, although I prefer to use the shift paddles for a bit more control.

Usually, leaving the suspension in its softest Comfort setting while keeping the powertrain in a sharper setting is my jam, but that’s not the case with the Cayenne GTS. Comfort mode is actually way too soft for spirited driving, which is fine, because that means regular driving is rewarded with some impressive comfort. Combined with thicker glass ($1,130), the cabin is serene and free of jostling in daily use. Even though the GTS is all about driving, Porsche clearly understands that owners do occasionally want to chill out.

Some of the prices mentioned might sound appalling at first glance, but that’s par for the course at Porsche. Even though the Cayenne GTS Coupe starts at $111,850 including $1,350 destination, a surprising amount of kit is not standard. While I understand that Porsche wants every owner to truly customize their next car, I don’t think it’s appropriate at this price point to charge $940 for keyless access, $420 (nice) for auto-dimming mirrors, $990 for four-zone climate control or $1,060 for four heated seats. Further adding to the frustration is the fact that you can see the grayed-out buttons for absent options on the center console. Even at this price stratum, you’re still getting poor-shamed. My tester’s out-the-door price is a staggering $162,760. Jesus.

The buttons around the shifter look cool… until you realize you can see the switches for the options that aren’t installed.

Andrew Krok/Roadshow

Blissfully, most of the Cayenne GTS’ tech is straight-up standard. Four USB-C ports provide juice for each passenger, but with the addition of wireless Apple CarPlay (standard) and device charging ($690), the cord isn’t technically necessary, though it’s frustrating that Android Auto is still not present. Smack dab in the middle of the dashboard is a 12.3-inch screen running the Porsche Communication Management infotainment system. It’s one of my favorites, with tons of configurability, individual driver settings, a Wi-Fi hotspot, embedded navigation, you name it. Two smaller screens flank the central tachometer in the gauge cluster, bringing things like audio and map information front and center for the driver. This is further enhanced in my tester by a $1,720 head-up display that, while small, puts all the relevant information even closer to the road.

When it comes to safety, it’s time to pay the piper once again. A surround-view camera system with impressive resolution will set you back $1,200. A night-vision getup adds another $2,420 to the bill, and blind-spot monitoring requires $950. The proper good stuff, though, is hidden behind Porsche’s InnoDrive suite, which combines adaptive cruise control, active steering assist and lane-keeping assist to keep the vehicle pacing traffic in its lane. This hands-on system feels pretty solid, with very little lateral motion and smooth braking when needed. I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to drive this car yourself, but hey, everyone needs a break from time to time.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the 2021 Porsche Cayenne GTS is a hoot on the road, because every iteration that’s come before it has been equally exciting. Whether you want it in “coupeover” form or not, the GTS will reward you with a driving experience to which other sporty SUVs should aspire.

[dreamingnaturaljelly]

Now before I start volume 3, I want to say: What the heck is this pacing?? 

Volume 3

- It's not that I think the pacing is off! Like so far it's been swift-but-good, and I don't remember disliking the pacing of the 3rd volume. But the fact that all the awakenings of the Mashin + the battle with Zagato + the final battle are in one volume? Sure doesn't make sense in theory!!! 

- I'm so incredibly fond of Umi and Ascot's battle like. Fuck yes. Umi's so very good. I like the way this story does nuance by the way, like not everything is black and white or good and evil, but at the same time... They're not gritty complex stances for adults. Kids can use their brains!!! "I'm sorry I hurt your friends before I got to know them" is the perfect take away of_any_ issue where you're not sure what to do with people who are different than you in whatever way.

- The designs of these robots are ridiculous. I love them. I also wonder what served as inspiration for them because I can't really think of any other mecha that look like this? But also I don't know that many mecha other than a general idea of what gundam and transfomers look like. (And stuff like in NGE and Escaflowne but i'm p sure both happened later?) 

- Mokona being deadly serious and looking constipated before kissing Umi is like, peak Mokona content and i'm sure Mokona Modoki has done the exact same to Watanuki despite being capable of speech. 

- I never thought about how much that floating platform looks like the eggs in Angelic Layer. 

- This is so dumb but one thing i really like about Gardina's design is that she wears flats?? Like okay we're drawing a sexy lady in a revealing outfit that's not gonna do much good on the battlefield BUT SHE WILL WEAR FLATS. This is probably why she thinks she's gonna be more successful than Alcione, and honestly, that tracks. 

- Why the heck does Zagato's rat tail look good

-THOSE PAGES WHERE THEY TRANSFORM INTO ACTUAL REAL MAGIC KNIGHTS!!! so pretty!!

- There are two entire things i do not like about MKR, one is the chibi presea wearing a native headdress (which doesn't even make sense??? because presea doesn't even know what an earth cake is, how would they have war bonnets???) and the second is that Fuu loses her glasses when she becomes a magic knight. Like I know it doesn't actually fix her eyes permanently and that her armor somehow functions the way her glasses do, but it just looks a bit too much like the hey fixing disabled ppl trope.

- You know, Alcione and Gardina? Totes in the territory of sexy evil fantasy women right? BUT I NEVER GET IF EMERAUDE FALLS INTO THIS TROPE BC HER OUTFIT IS SO WEIRD like is it sexy or not? I can't tell? Which is weird because that's generally not something I have to wonder about when it comes to CLAMP lmao. On the other hand, I'm also not sure if sphinxes are supposed to be sexy or what so I guess at least that adds up.

- Look this is about localization but... The font used for the sfx in a certain panel in the middle of the FINAL FIGHT looks like it's intended use is a flyer for a party with a 70's theme.  thanks tokyopop

- Despite the fact that MKR is one of those stories that feels loosely connected to the rest of CLAMP's verses, it's still got all those Solid CLAMP Themes going. Like MKR taking place in Cephiro makes it disconnected to anything else - even if it'd be easy to place in the same verse as the CLAMP campus stories, that doesn't really matter when they hang out in there for like, maybe 10 pages. Even so, it does all hinge on One Wish and Fate, and if that's not solid CLAMP content i don't know what is. 

- I made one of my friends read this back when I was in high school and she hated the ending so much. I will admit it's SO RUDE but I love it? Like... It's such a shocking twist when you read it for the first time, but at the same time to me it doesn't feel shocking just for the sake of it? (Which I guess is what you get when  you don't fridge a lady so a man can be sad about it!) 

Like the whole thing suddenly turns ever bit of agency anyone had in this story on his head, as well as what willpower even gives you? (And of course there's no agency in a story that followed the RPG format to a T, plus all the mashin related fights are about the lack of agency, Ascot's monsters don't get a say in anything, Gardina literally takes over your mind, and then Zagato's under mindcontrol himself.)

Like shit! Emeraude is in this absolutely unfair position where she wasn't allowed to care for one person more than for everyone else, but then the magic knights are put in an equally unfair position where nothing they care about matters. Like their willpower is their strength, but 14 yo's want their friends to be okay, they don't want the willpower to kill someone for the greater good and tear down an entire world's pillar like what the fuck ANYWAY

I do really like this manga.

[andrewromanoyahoo]

While you were tweeting: Seven overlooked stories from 2017

In the 1985 cinematic masterpiece Back to the Future (and its sequels), teenager Marty McFly often relies on a simple but effective method to escape unpleasant situations.

“Whoa, whoa, Biff,” Marty says nonchalantly, pointing over the shoulder of his nemesis, Biff Tannen. “What’s that?”

Again and again, Biff, or one of his equally loathsome relatives, wheels around to see what Marty is pointing at — and again and again, Marty socks him and runs away.

In 2017 America’s collective news feed was like one Marty McFly after another: a nonstop succession of tweets, insults, novelties and transgressions, many of them coming from the current occupant of the Oval Office, that compelled us to look this way and that way and this way and that way.

Meanwhile, the deeper story of the day often receded into the distance, cast aside by a news cycle struggling to churn through all the conflict and chaos created by our Disrupter-in-Chief, President Donald Trump.

Now that 2017 is coming to a close, however, we thought it would be useful to look back on the year with some perspective and highlight some of the most important stories that didn’t get the attention they deserved the first time around — usually because America was too distracted by whatever that was over there.  

In no particular order:

_____

Trump’s campaign to reshape the courts

President Trump (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos; AP (3))

Amid all the punditry and prognostication about the administration’s fumbling attempts to advance its agenda on Capitol Hill, the press and the public largely overlooked how successful Trump has been at leaving his mark on a different branch of government: the judiciary.

When Barack Obama took office in 2009, he had 54 judicial vacancies to fill; when Trump took office, he inherited twice that number, thanks in large part to Mitch McConnell’s strategy of halting the judicial-appointments process during Obama’s last two years in the White House. The new president has proceeded to fill these vacancies at an unprecedented rate, and his nominees have been “the youngest, whitest, male-est, and most conservative in modern memory,” as the New Yorker’s Jeff Shesol recently pointed out. As a result, Trump has brought about “a wholesale change among the federal judiciary” that will “have a significant impact on the shape and trajectory of American law for decades,” says Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware. “This will be the single most important legacy of the Trump administration.”

And the president may only just be getting started. Last month, the founder of the influential Federalist Society unveiled a plan that would allow Trump to add “twice as many lifetime members to the federal judiciary in the next 12 months (650) as Barack Obama named in eight years (325)” — and would ultimately leave the courts evenly divided between judges appointed by Trump and those appointed by the previous nine presidents combined.

_____

  Mike Pence prepares for Trump’s downfall — just in case

Vice President Pence at the White House on Dec. 6. (Photo: Alex Brandon/AP)

In public, Vice President Mike Pence, Trump’s staunchly evangelical No. 2, is the very picture of deference and loyalty; he has repeatedly demonstrated that he will defend the president no matter what he says or does.

But behind the scenes, Pence is reportedly thinking ahead to a time when he may no longer have to play the good soldier. In May, Pence became the first sitting veep to form a national political action committee at the beginning of his term, a move that will make it easier to campaign for other Republicans now — and later, perhaps, for himself. (Pence’s PAC has gone on to raise more money than President Trump’s.) In July Pence installed Nick Ayers, a sharp-elbowed political operative, as his chief of staff. Pence has traveled to important political events in Iowa, the first caucus state, and opened the vice presidential residence to key conservative activists. Finally, “Multiple advisers to Mr. Pence have already intimated to party donors that he would plan to run if Mr. Trump did not,” according to the New York Times.

Pence rarely surfaces in the headlines; his boss sucks up all the oxygen. But he’s worth watching. Earlier this month the Atlantic reported that after the “Access Hollywood” tape threatened to derail Trump’s presidential campaign, Pence was “contemplating a coup” — and he immediately “made it clear to the Republican National Committee that he was ready to take Trump’s place as the party’s nominee.”

As Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation digs into Trump’s finances and closest confidants — and as a potential Democratic wave builds in 2018’s House and Senate races — it’s easy to imagine Pence himself preparing for a post-Trump future that could come sooner than expected.

“It’s not a matter of when Republicans are ready to turn on Trump,” one senior GOP Senate aide told the Atlantic. “It’s about when they decide they’re ready for President Pence.”

_____

All talk — and little action — on the opioid crisis

President Trump greets New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at the White House after speaking about the administration’s plans to combat the nation’s opioid crisis on Oct. 26. (Photo: Carlos Barria/Reuters)

It was one of 2016’s signature campaign issues: the opioid addiction crisis ravaging small towns from New Hampshire to New Mexico. Every candidate, Republican and Democratic, vowed to do something about it once in office, including Donald Trump. “[T]he people that are in trouble, the people that are addicted, we’re going to work with them and try and make them better,” Trump said. “And we will make them better.”

As president, Trump issued an executive order to establish the Presidential Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, a five-member panel tasked with proposing solutions to the drug epidemic. But the commission missed its first deadline, in June, and its second one, in July, before finally releasing its report in August. Then, after insisting that “we’re going to spend a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of money on the opioid crisis,” Trump repeatedly promised that he would declare a national emergency “next week” — and repeatedly missed that deadline as well. When the president finally got around to making a declaration, in late October, it was as a public health emergency and not as national emergency — a distinction that meant no significant new federal funding, even though experts inside and outside of the administration argue than tens of billions of dollars would be needed to even begin to combat the epidemic.

_____

  The unprecedented surge of Democratic candidates

Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Getty Images

Democratic victories in Virginia and Alabama have already gotten a ton of attention. Less noticed, however, is the fact that Democrats already have 400-plus candidates running for the House in 2018. That’s more than twice as many as either party has previously boasted at this point in the election cycle.

Political scientists say there’s a strong relationship between the number of candidates a party recruits and the party’s win-loss record on Election Day, as we’ve noted before.

In a recent analysis for the data-focused FiveThirtyEight website, Seth Masket of the University of Denver plotted the Democratic share of viable early House challengers — that is, candidates who raised more than $5,000 by June 30 of the year before the election — against the number of seats Democrats eventually gained or lost on Election Day.

He found that in every election since 2004 in which Democrats fielded more candidates than Republicans, they also wound up gaining seats — an additional 2.5 House members per each additional percentage-point advantage in early House candidates, on average. The most extreme example was 2006, when nearly 70 percent of the early House candidates were Democrats. That year, the party netted 31 seats on Election Day.

Apply the same formula to the 2018 cycle, Masket noted, and Democrats will be on track to pick up 93 House seats — the third-largest gain in U.S. history.

Will Democrats flip that many seats? Unlikely. But the party only needs to net 24 to retake the House. That’s much more plausible. The only way to lay the groundwork for a wave election is by fielding solid candidates for as many flippable seats as possible, then waiting for the national mood to turn in your favor. That’s exactly what Democrats have been doing.

_____

  Trump’s behind-the-scenes effort to sabotage Obamacare

The enrollment page for the Affordable Care Act on Nov. 1. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Republicans have made no secret of their desire to end Obamacare. They spent much of 2017 repeatedly trying — and repeatedly failing — to get repeal legislation through Congress. But while that drama was unfolding on Capitol Hill, the Trump administration was quietly doing everything in its power to set the system up for failure — regardless of whether or not it was ever officially repealed.

Over the past 12 months, Trump & Co. have cut the open enrollment period in half, from 12 weeks to six weeks. They have slashed funding for Obamacare advertising by 90 percent, from $100 million to $10 million. They cut funding for in-person assistance by 40 percent — then let the budget run out entirely. And at the last minute they pulled out of state-level open-enrollment events and stopped federal payments to insurers, driving up premiums by as much as 30 percent for some plans. All of this while hinting that the individual mandate — the fine on people who don’t have insurance — would not be enforced.

Despite these efforts, 2017 Obamacare enrollment proceeded at a faster pace than in previous years. And even with less time to sign up, the total number of HEATHCARE.GOV enrollees — 8.8 million, according to figures released by the White House on Thursday — nearly matched the figure for 2016. For now, that unexpected result seems likely to stave off the  self-perpetuating cycle of falling enrollment and price increases known as a “death spiral.”

But Republicans are still in the hunt. The party’s new tax bill eliminates the individual mandate altogether, which could wreak further havoc on the otherwise stable system in 2018. So  the next time Republicans claim Obamacare is failing, it’s worth remembering why — and who’s responsible.

_____

America’s neglect of Puerto Rico

In this photo from October, Arden Dragoni, second from left, poses with his wife, Sindy, their three children and dog Max, surrounded by what remains of their home destroyed by Hurricane Maria in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico. (Photo: Ramon Espinosa/AP)

The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, whose residents are American citizens, was devastated earlier this year by Hurricane Maria. This didn’t exactly go unnoticed at the time. When President Trump traveled to San Juan and threw paper towels to survivors, or got in a Twitter war with the city’s mayor, or accused Puerto Ricans who criticized the federal response of “want[ing] everything to be done for them,” the mainland press paid attention.

But since then, the spotlight has moved on — while the island continues to suffer. The official death toll is 64, and Trump has bragged about how it’s not “in the thousands.” But a recent New York Times investigation has found that it very well may be. According to the Times, 1,052 more people than usual died on the island during the 42 days after Maria made landfall on Sept. 20. Many of these additional deaths are likely attributable to delayed medical treatment or poor conditions in homes and hospitals — consequences of the power outages and water shortages that have afflicted Puerto Rico since the hurricane.

Even now, three months later, only 64 percent of the power grid has been restored; clean water is still scarcer than it should be. At the same time, the U.S. House has included a 20 percent import tax on products manufactured in foreign jurisdictions in its tax-reform bill — a tax that could cost the “foreign jurisdiction” of Puerto Rico tens or even hundreds of thousands of jobs. The island still receives only a fraction of the Medicaid funding for which it would qualify if it were a state. And so far Congress has approved a mere $5 billion in aid — far less than the $94 billion the Puerto Rican government says it needs to recover.

_____

  Defeating ISIS — but backtracking in Syria

Members of the Iraqi federal police dance with children and a national flag during a celebration in the Old City of Mosul on July 2, when the grueling battle to retake Iraq’s second city from ISIS fighters was nearing its end. (Photo: Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images)

On the 2016 campaign trail, Trump famously pledged to “bomb the s*** out of [ISIS].” That’s largely what his administration has been doing. Then again, it’s largely what the Obama administration was doing before Trump.

Trump has made some changes, loosening the “rules of engagement” and allowing war planners at the Department of Defense more autonomy. But those are tactical shifts. In 2017, under Trump, the United States’ overarching anti-ISIS strategy continued to work — to the point that the Islamic State has basically been defeated, at least for the time being.

This welcome progress on one of the world’s most dangerous situations has gotten lost amid headlines about ISIS-inspired attacks, whether in London, New York or elsewhere, which lone wolves continue to carry out. The operation to take back Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq and the place where ISIS had first declared its “caliphate,” began in October 2016  and concluded in July; in October, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces captured Raqqa, the Syrian city that had become the caliphate’s de facto capital. These successes followed earlier wins across Iraq and Syria, and have led Iraq, Iran and Russia to declare victory over ISIS in recent weeks.

U.S. military officials warn that the jihadi group is resilient and could always stage a comeback. But with ISIS on the run, the question now turns to the larger Syrian civil war, which has killed more than 400,000 and displaced more than 10 million. Under Obama, the U.S. supported the Syrian rebels in their efforts to oust dictator Bashar Assad. But the Trump administration has backed away from that commitment, allowing Russia to fill the void. It now looks as if the war will end on Vladimir Putin’s terms — with Assad still in power.

_____

Best of 2017 Yahoo News Features

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[aion-rsa]

INTERVIEW: Jessi Zabarsky Conjures Magic with Adventure-Fantasy Witchlight

“Witchlight” is Jessi Zabarsky’s debut graphic novel, though she first serialized the story in multiple chapters. She describes the book as a “shojo-adventure” comic — referencing the manga genre that focuses on personal relationships — because it’s a variation on high fantasy, with, as she puts it, “a lot of tender feelings and soft moments.”

There’s a witch and a fighter, there’s a quest, but the ultimate object of the quest is not exactly what is presented at the outset. What makes “Witchlight” not only work but shine is how Zabarsky manages to use those elements and craft a very personal story of two characters, whose lives and experiences and reactions are ultimately more important than the quest.

The collected “Witchlight” is out now from Czap Books, and Zabarsky was kind enough to talk with CBR about the book, its character-driven fight scenes and the book’s place in the small-but-mighty witch comics sub-community.

CBR: Jessi, for the uninitiated, what is “Witchlight?”

Jessi Zabarsky: “Witchlight” is what I’ve been calling a “shojo-adventure” comic, by which I mean it’s a fantasy story with magic and swords, but also a lot of tender feelings and soft moments. It follows Lelek, a witch, and Sanja, as they travel, learn to take care of themselves and each other, and figure out what they want, what they’re missing, and what kind of life they want to build.

Where did the idea for this story begin?

Lelek started as a character design I used for an art test for a job, and I liked her so much I wanted to get to know her better. The story was originally supposed to be an 18 page mini for TCAF [Toronto Comic Arts Festival] a few years ago, but it kept growing and I love slow pacing too much to have condensed it.

At that time, I was also becoming familiar with the work of people like Victoria Elliott and Britt Sabo, and was discovering this tiny sub-community of witch comics, which felt very singular and special to me.

The story is also very much about being in your early 20s and not knowing what the heck you’re doing, but also feeling very sure of what you’re doing (but you’re probably wrong). I had just experienced that phase of my life, and that crept in whether I realized it at the time or not.

Wait, there’s a sub-community of witch comics? Tell me more about this!

I might be the only one who thinks of it as a community, but there are several comic creators I’m aware of making various kinds of witch comics. Some (like mine) are mainly print, some are webcomics, some go both routes! To me, though they often differ greatly in tone and setting, they all give me a feeling of support, inclusion, and taking familiar tropes and freshening them up a bit. Some examples are “Balderdash!” by Victoria Elliott, “All Night” by Britt Sabo, “Witch Trade” by Isaac Robin, some of Carey Pietsch’s short comics — and probably a lot of others which I’m forgetting!

I think witches and worlds that include witches are attractive to a lot of people because they allow investigation into some darker ideas with an equal balance of very comforting themes. It’s a place where you can acknowledge and embrace messiness without being overwhelmed.

You were serializing chapters of the story. Did that serialization and the feedback you got affect the shape of the book or the choices you made as you worked?

Honestly, not much. I don’t think I got a lot of specific feedback, but also I tend to be very inwardly focused when I make things. I heard somewhere that if you want to make something good, make it for one person only, don’t try to please a bunch of people — so I made “Witchlight” pretty much for myself. I’ve never felt guilty about that approach, because the things that tend to resonate with me most are ones that are very self-indulgent, where you can feel how important it is to the creator or how much fun they had making it.

The story did get longer as I serialized it, though! The longer I worked with the characters, the more I wanted them to meander instead of going straight for the goals of the plot. The initial version of the story was much more plot and action driven, but Lelek and Sanja didn’t get to really be seen as people.

You mentioned that the story was initially going to be an 18-page comic. Has the plot changed much since that initial idea? Or is the difference between 18 pages and the book you discovering how the story needed to be told?

Both! Like I mentioned, it was initially much more action driven, it was basically just a string of important events with nothing much holding them together. The plot stayed essentially the same, I just fleshed it out a lot more and made the people/situations/world more specific and interesting. Before “Witchlight,” the longest comic I’d done was maybe 40 pages, so it made sense that I was trying to write something short, since it was what I was accustomed to. Luckily, I realized that the story I had in mind would just be bad if I tried to make it that brief.

I kept gradually increasing how many chapters I thought it would end up being as I went (one, three, five, then finally the correct number, six). At the beginning of “Witchlight,” I was very intimidated by any project that would take me longer than a month, so I think this was the only way I could get myself to actually do it. The change was probably equally me learning to be a better writer and also just getting too excited about new bits I wanted to include.

You have a line in your bio that your comics “are generally about very small spaces and moments in very big worlds,” and I’m curious whether you think that applies to “Witchlight” and how.

“Witchlight” is actually what made me realize this about my comics! I grew up reading a lot of fantasy and adventure stories, watching a lot of shonen anime. I still love those genres, but they do have a disconnect between the “one person saving the world” vibe and the average person’s life. These days, I tend to love stories about everyday life and the details of specific relationships, but those stories have limitations too, they don’t usually tend to acknowledge a larger world. With “Witchlight,” I wanted to make a story where there’s tension and drama and high stakes, but only for a very few people. Not to minimize those struggles, but to show how important and precious they are instead. Also, I tried to include hints of the world that these people inhabit, that there are social issues and prejudices going on, that there’s an economy and history, and changing ideas, and that the main characters might not confront those things directly, but they’re still affected by them.

Can you talk a little about the fight scenes? Especially the magic battles, because there are some beautiful designs and layouts in those scenes, and each fight is depicted differently.

I’m glad the fight scenes came out well! Honestly, I realized around issue 2 that I didn’t really know how to plot fights at all. [Laughs] Luckily, the way Lelek’s magic works and the kind of person she is put an automatic framework in place for me. She’s extremely limited in what she can do, so she has to be very creative in her ideas. She can’t just throw force or power at someone, she has to shape it very deliberately and respond to her opponent and surroundings. Basically, what I mean is, I figured out I was better at character writing than action, so I wrote all the action as character choices. So, for example, instead of asking myself, “What would look cool here?” I’d ask, “What would Lelek think would look cool here?” All the fights look different because Lelek doesn’t like to repeat herself, she doesn’t want to be boring. She’s a person who very much could have been the “one person saving the world” type from above, but she’s heavily restricted and frustrated, so she expresses that side of herself however she can.

Having said all that about the fight scenes, the story really is about the dynamic between Lelek and Sanja. Was their characters and their relationship something you knew from the beginning?

I knew the basic arc from the very beginning, but the specifics of the entire middle were basically a mush. When it was supposed to be much shorter, all their travels and bonding were going to be a couple pages of montage, but I realized it had zero emotional punch that way. All those quiet moments came out of me thinking of little vignettes that I loved but didn’t know quite where they fit, and then kind of jigsawing them together as I went. The bulk of their lives is made up of walking, sleeping, eating, and talking, so it felt dishonest to ignore those parts in favor of the “interesting” bits. In my own life, I find a lot of meaning and value in simple restful times, and I think those are the kind of experiences that have built the best relationships for me. Plus, I just wanted to draw a lot of plants.

Did you make any changes for the collection? Will your devoted readers see anything new or different?

Yes! Most significantly, the final chapter is not being released outside of the collection. I also redrew some of the art in the first couple issues, and standardized how the grey tones were used. There are a few instances where pacing was changed, I think universally to make it slower and gentler. There are also a few places where my publisher, Kevin Czapiewski, helped me to make the panel flow read a bit clearer.

I do not want to spoil anything — I loathe spoilers — but you leave the penultimate chapter on something of a nail-biting cliffhanger. I’m curious if that was always the plan?

Pretty much, yes! When it was supposed to be much shorter I didn’t know it’d be a cliffhanger, but I did always want it to be as much of a gut-punch as I could manage, and having it be the end to a chapter was, I felt, the most effective way to do that. I think it also gives the reader time and space for whatever emotions they have about what happened, instead of immediately giving them more to process.

Was this the ending you had in mind from the beginning?

For the most part. I was a little iffy on the details, and originally it was written much cheesier, but I was always generally sure that it had to end that way. There are, however, a couple panels on the third-to-last page which I’m incredibly proud of and I didn’t figure them out until nearly the last second. [Laughs] I had to erase some work I’d already done, but I was just too pleased with myself not to.

Jessi Zabarsky’s collected “Witchlight” is on sale now from Czap Books.

The post INTERVIEW: Jessi Zabarsky Conjures Magic with Adventure-Fantasy Witchlight appeared first on CBR.

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Lonely Receiver #1

Lonely Receiver #1 Aftershock Comics 2020 Written by Zac Thompson Illustrated by Jen Hickman Lettered by Simon Bowland    Catrin Vander, a lonely video producer, buys an Artificial Intelligence partner that’s meant to bond for life. After ten years together, her holographic wife suddenly discon-nects without a warning. The breakup drives Catrin to the point of near insanity. She's alone for the first time in years and reeling from a loss she can’t comprehend.    Now while I am not 100% sure what it is I just read I do know that I wish it had a gender reversal.  This kind of story we’ve seen time and again but never with men and that’s a little depressing considering what year it is, all the fighting for equality regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation.  So why is it that the comics industry is so afraid of gay men?  Small rant over for the moment.      I will say this interested me on so many different levels.  I mean not only does this engage the readers’ mind but it does so in such a way that makes science fiction feel full on creepy again.  It is a feeling I have missed too and the subtle difference between creepy and outright horror may be a thin line, like the one between love and hate, but I have to say that what I have seen out of this issue certainly balances that line perfectly.  Somehow some way we are able to identify with Catrin, after all who hasn’t had a relationship that has gone south and sour, and it’s this empathy we feel for her is what makes this feel grounded to me.    I really like the way that this is being told.  The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented beautifully as it moves the story ever forward.  Now the character development is interesting and while at first I may have been a tad lost I did eventually find my way and the more we see of what is happening the more interesting things become.  The pacing here is phenomenal and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story and the world she lives in we can see just how well everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow.  There is also the way that we see how well this book is structured and this is just incredibly impressive all the way around.    Jen’s work on the interiors here are freakin’ amazing!  The linework is stunning and the varying that are being utilised to show off the attention to detail really makes a huge impact on how we see this book.  Jen’s style is beautiful for this story and while I normally want to see a myriad of things going on the streamlined look and the attention to the characters continues to impress me and blow me away.  The way backgrounds are utilised extremely well and the sex well that’s tasteful, see what I did there.  The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkable eye for storytelling.  The colour work is gorgeous as well.  I love how we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work.  Plus those green backgrounds yeah that kind of painting technique and the range we see is over the top beautiful to see. ​    This is why Aftershock continues to be on the forefront in comics.  They keep setting new standards, new heights and new takes on some genres that you never even thought about.  This is uncompromisingly one of the most intriguing new series to hit stands.

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Belle is Targeted Prey

Belle is Targeted Prey Zenescope Entertainment 2020 Written by Dave Franchini Illustrated by Julius Abrera Coloured by Juan Manuel Rodriguez Lettered by Kurt Hathaway    Belle’s life is far from normal, and she knows that, with life hunting and fighting mythical beasts, protecting the world from the darkest secrets they can’t handle. But what happens when the hunter becomes the hunted? Belle is going to find out, as she has made it to the top of the list of one of the deadliest beings to ever exist, and they won’t be coming alone. Don’t miss this adrenaline soaked story like you have never seen before!    Belle is one of my absolute favourite characters and she’s really become someone that we want to see more of and she is flawed like the rest of us and knows it.  Yet somehow with that she is able to overcome her fears and actually put up a good fight.  She is totally underestimated and she still has a lot to learn and honestly I feel that one day she’s going to be feared for her prowess.  This is almost what I feel is a more effective Huntress than over at her company and that my friends is saying something.      I adore the way that this is being told.  The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold and how the reader learns information is extremely well presented.  I think when we start off in the middle of something and have to play catch-up it inherently adds this whole desire to know what is going on.  This means we’re not going anywhere and instead we have to see this through to the last page.  Dave does this extremely well.  The character development is sensational, granted I want to see Belle grow more faster it’s a process.  I mean she’s on her own now and life lessons should very well hit hard and fast.  The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the full story as well as the twists and turns along the way it takes us on that wooden roller coaster ride.    I like seeing how this is being structured and how the layers within the story that have been here throughout all these one shots remains strong it’s impressive.  Equally impressive is seeing how everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow.  I am a huge fan of Dave’s writing and I cannot wait till we start getting more than one shots.    I love the interiors here.  The linework is strong, confident and seeing the varying weights being utilised to showcase the detail work is utterly spectacular.  The utilisation of backgrounds is sometimes great and sometimes meh I know that fighting on a rooftop is hard but I really don’t enjoy blank backgrounds.  The creativity and imagination that is on display is phenomenal and these opponents she fights are insane in membrane!  The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkable eye for storytelling.  The colour work is beautifully rendered.  How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is really extremely well done.   ​    This is one of those books where you don’t want it to end.  Of all the women in the Zenescope Universe I think Belle is the one that has taken me by the surprise the most.  She has a near familiar background and it so incredibly easy to relate to her in so many levels.  Plus she has trust issues and with what she’s been thought, that we’ve seen, she every reason for that.  I am waiting, impatiently I might add, for her to grow to a point where she learns more about fighting, more about looking for clues and doing detective work.  She can’t rely upon Mel all the time so I want to see more from her.  That I am so invested in this character that I want this for her should tell you everything you need to know about how well she is being fleshed out as a woman.

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Once & Future #3

Once & Future #3 Boom! Studios 2019 Written by Kieron Gillen Illustrated by Dan Mora Coloured by Tamra Bonvillain Lettered by Ed Dukeshire     Gran and Duncan are in a race against time to get back to the Otherworld. The sword in the stone awaits, and he who pulls the sword from the stone becomes King.     I want Gran to be my Gran is all I am saying. She is one of the biggest hoots ever and her take no prisoners attitude with her what's filter mouth and yeah she'd be a come true. Gun toting, Otherworld fighting and all that Jazz I would probably pee my pants and have the best time of my life as we fought to put King Arthur back in the ground. Just the fact that this a more true to telling of the rising of Arthur in this day and age and not the romanticised version is one that excites me beyond belief.     The way that this is being told through the story & plot development and the introduction of characters as well the situations that arise and which they are going to have to face is amazingly well done. The character development we see started off as pretty much blank slates for everyone and the more the we see them the more they become fleshed out and feels like this natural progression. Sure we are only at the third issue but seeing Gran take Duncan to see his date, Rose, and that we get to see her reactions keep giving me life. When we add the pacing to the mix and all these twists, turns and revelations come to light this creates one hell of a great ebb & flow. There really isn't a moment throughout this book where the reader isn't introduced to something new to have joy experiencing.     I am sorry but I cannot get over Gran because this woman loves holding a gun and pointing it at people. From Duncan to Rose and even the bad guys here she puts Clint Eastwood to shame. The fact that this story isn't sugar coating the fact that Arthur's return means that he's going to purge Briton of all outsiders is very much akin to an ethnic cleansing and that angle that has been introduced is something that I don't think anyone, outside Kieron and the higher ups at Boom!, would have been able to see coming.     Dan's work is just so effin bloody brilliant! The linework is stupendous and how he manages to utilise the varying weights to create this attention to detail just sets our eyes alight. The man has a way with faces and facial expressions and along with the way he shows body language he manages to show us more characterisation that words alone couldn't. The composition inside the panels and how backgrounds are utilised as well the foregrounds to bring us this depth perception and scale is phenomenal work. Plus the creativity and imagination from when we go to Bath, with the city, the outside and most assuredly the inside of the church will leave you mesmerised. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masters eye for storytelling. The colour work is equally as impressive and seeing how the light sources are shown and the base colour with it's hues and tones within it for shading and shadows just make the linework seem that much more, more complete, better and create that overall mood, tone and feel. ​     Gran, Duncan and Rose against the forces of evil who would bring Briton back to an age of glory where only Britons were welcome. Yeah sounds like a made for SyFy film right but how this is being told and how these creators manage to come together as team makes this one of the most exciting and thought provoking new books. Also I have to give props to Ed because the different styles and fonts for the different characters is delightful.  

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folklords #2

Folklords #2 Boom! Studios 2019 Written by Matt Kindt Illustrated by Matt Smith Coloured by Chris O'Halloran Lettered by Jim Campbell     Against the order of his village, Ansel strikes out to find the Folklords, the only beings that can explain his visions of another world. But the forest is even more dark and terrible than he was told, and Ansel meets two very different women who will change his life—one way or another—forever.     This story is such a cute idea. That Ansel dreams of our world and through those dreams he makes himself clothing such as suits and a backpack is pretty impressive to me. That his quest was hijacked by someone else before he could declare it as his the town went into lock-down. Why would those in charge of the town want to keep the legend of the Folklords from anyone wishing to learn from them? What secrets do they hold that would destroy life in the town as they know it? Or if it is just a fairy tale why react so harshly? Matt brought us a number of questions to be asked and hopefully as the story moves forward. This is how Matt gets you hooked though, he creates one hell of a premise and sprinkles just enough information to make you wonder and before you know it it's a book you cannot do without.     I love the way that this is being told. The story & plot development we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is expertly laid down. This issue in particular shows us the way a story can unfold in such an intriguing yet natural way. The character development we are seeing is perfectly done as well. The more that Ansel and Archer talk to each other we learn and more about them and this opens up a world of possibilities for where it can go and that's fantastic. The pacing is strong and carries us seamlessly through it's pages as the twists and turns pop up before us creating a sensational ebb & flow. The way that this is book is structured is perfectly on point and it makes this such a joy to be reading.     I like Matt's work on the interiors here the more I see them. He definitely has a great style to his work and how he envisions the way things should unfold is extremely nice to see. The linework is gorgeous and how the varying weights and techniques are utilised to bring the attention to detail front and centre is beautiful. The forest as we see it is another character and quietly alive and essential to this book and that's amazing. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show such a talented eye for storytelling. The colour work here is also so nicely done. The trees, grass, leaves and all the hues and tones of greens and yellows are mesmerising to the eye. Plus I have to say that tree with the newborn elves sigh that I cannot get out of my mind. ​     This is something that I would never have thought of and that Matt did and he has this passion and love for this story shines through on every page. This has all the awe and wonder of a world full of Grimm Fairy Tales, the way they were meant to be not the disney-fied version we see today. It's unique, different, without like, equal or parallel.

[oosteven-universe]

Shades of Magic The Steel Prince: The Rebel Army #2

Shades of Magic the Steel Prince: The Rebel Army #2 Titan Comics 2019 Written by V.E. Schwab Illustrated by Andrea Olimpieri Coloured by Enrica Eren Angiolini Flatted by Cassandra Peirano Lettered by Rob Steen     With each new conquest, Rowan conscripted magicians. The willing joined his cause and his army grew, until its might began to rival that of the Maxim Empire. Learning of the Rebel Army’s unchecked advance, Prince Maxim Maresh tried to send help to the neighboring coastal town of Milos. Before it could arrive, Milos was destroyed in a single terror-filled night of violence and death, leaving the fate of Verose and the defense of the entire Maresh Empire solely in the hands of Maxim and his Garrison...     One of the things that I love about Titan Comics is that they aren't afraid of taking on an already existing franchise. I never would have known much about Assassin's Creed without them and they've managed to equally impress me with The Steel Prince. Though I am now intrigued and wouldn't mind reading Schawb's novels now, if I am not mistaken my father and would enjoy these immensely. I like the idea behind the story and seeing Maxim sent away and in essence being forced to grow up. Being sent to a place this far away where few respect the crown let alone him by any stretch of the imagination yeah I am fully behind that.     Thus far I have enjoyed watching him grow into manhood and while he may not have entirely won everyone over I do believe he's well on his way to becoming someone worthy of respect. I like the way that this issue opens as we see what the standard modus operandi is being utilised to swell the ranks of the Rebel Army ensures their victory in each port. The story & plot development we're seeing through the sequence of events unfolding is extremely well done. The character development here is phenomenal to see and how the dialogue and the way characters interact with each is beautifully handled. The pacing is superb it's strong and as it reveals the twists and turns it all creates this really nice ebb & flow to the book.     There are various pieces of the puzzles that we see in play here and as a few fall into place we start to see how the future is going to unfold. I like the realistic way that Maxim is approaching what is happening and what he plans on doing about it. It also what is almost a slow burn to it, in this I mean that the action isn't immediate but it doesn't have to be because it manages to build a really delicious kind of tension and anticipation. So we still get all these emotions and this tightness in the shoulders for what's going to happen before it does.     The interiors here are really really good. I like the strength we see in the linework as well as the varying weights being utilised to bring about the attention to detail. I am very impressed with the way the composition inside the panels is brought to us. With the backgrounds and different vantage points we get this great depth perception, scale and a size and scope to the book. Plus the creativity and imagination in how we see the architecture is fantastic! The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a good, solid eye for storytelling. I like the colour work we see here as well. There are moments like the figurehead or the clouds that really have those qualities that stand out. Plus seeing the fire and just the overall way the maps come alive beautifully and it captures the mind, imagination and this creativity. ​     This is one those books that combines so much to create something unique. There's mystery, drama, action/adventure/thriller and personal growth that we see throughout the story. The characters are incredibly well thought out and their evolution and growth is interesting to watch occur. This is a beautifully written and illustrated book that continues to demonstrate why I hold Titan Comics I n high regard.

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Manifest Destiny #43

Manifest Destiny #43 Skybound Entertainment/Image Comics 2013 Written by Chris Dingess Illustrated by Matthew Roberts Coloured by Owen Gieni Lettered by Pat Brosseau    In 1803, Lewis and Clark were commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson to explore the uncharted United States westward. Not to mention kill every damn creature in their path.     Now, the Pacific Coast is within sight, and their long and terrifying journey is almost over. There is just the matter of resolving their bargain with a demon…     In 2013, CHRIS DINGESS and MATTHEW ROBERTS began their acclaimed historical adventure series…now, they begin their final adventure, and may God save our souls.    From the moment I picked up my first issue all the way through this one it has remained one of the absolute best series to be on stands.  Sure they’ve had a few breaks in when the books came out but this is one of those series where that doesn’t matter because this is so well crafted and has such a wonderfully unique premise in something so utterly familiar.  Alternate history at its finest as this is truly an undiscovered country full of fantastical creatures that I think only these guys could have dreamed up.    I love, love, love the way that this is being told.  How we see the story & plot development through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exquisitely well.  That we see this moving backward from the opening and what leads up to it is extremely well done.  The character development is fantastic and how we see it through the dialogue, the character interaction and how they act and react to the situations and circumstances that they encounter is where most of this characterisation comes from.  The pacing is incredible and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story, this world and the twists & turns along the way the reader is continually mesmerised by what we see.    I am impressed with how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to grow, evolve and strengthen.  These layers are where we see a lot of the drama, depth and complexity in the storytelling and it is so amazingly rendered.  How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is perfectly achieved.    The interiors here are utterly fabulous!  The linework we see is strong, clean and crisp and how the varying weights and techniques are being utilised to create this level of quality in the detail work is astonishing.  The creativity and imagination is so far beyond expectations and how we see backgrounds in this just boggles the mind and imagination.  How we see this in the composition within the panels bringing us the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is stupendous.  The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show such a masterful eye for storytelling.  The colour work we see is fabulous!  How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work showcases the eye of a master colourist.  Seriously how the depth and dimension we see thought just the colour work alone is absolutely stunning. ​    At this rate i’m beginning to wonder if any of these character will actually make it to the coast and even if they do how are they going to get back east?  After all the middle of the continent is full of creatures of all shapes & sizes and all equally as deadly as the next.  While this series is one that is coming to a close you can still read and reread this time and again and it never looses its appeal or its timelessness.  Plus this is one of the best sweeping epic stories you are ever going to have the pleasure to read.