I hope jefbot has his hiking shoes on, cuz now that Musashi has unveiled his plan for making Yuki bigger, better and smarter, I have a feeling bot’s gonna need ’em.
—
*YAWNNN* Tired and gonna hit the sack after I award the Shades of Firsting. Happy my full-time webcomic-ing schedule permits these late night drawing sessions! G’nite. ZZZ.
Woohooo insomnia and irregular hours! hahaha
you are a machine, flame_fingers! wow, i had my doubts you could pull it off but here you are with the first comment again which means you just achieved the coveted 4X Shades of Firsting! wear them well: these will make you bigger, better and smarter when you have ’em on:
😎 😎 😎 😎
Glad my insomnia/work hours synch up with yours haha
I was honestly just about to give up when you posted! Now we both surrender to sleep 😀
ahhh… sweet sleep. i surrender… ZZZ.
(congrats again, f_f! 4X is quite a feat!)
There needs to be a point when you lose eligibility for the shades. Seriously, can you imagine someone wandering down the street with five different pairs of sunglasses?
I’ll let you know on Friday lol
😀
Awwwww pet love :3
pet love always gets an “awwwww.” 🙂
Amen to that!
if the process was so terrible, why would he want to put Miyuki through it as well? :/
it doesn’t sound like something positive, more like “I suffered so now you must suffer too!”, except he didn’t seem like that kind of person
good question, Alicia! Mu must think the pain he endured was worth what he gained, has ulterior motives or perhaps has figured out a way to spare Miyuki from the pain and terror of the enhancement process? time will tell.
Good grief…I was gunning for first too, but I had homework I needed to catch up on.
Anyway, I think right about now would be a good time for “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” to kick in in Jefbot’s soundtrack…
homework is usually much more important than the Shades, Shift, so you probably made the right decision. this time. 😉
and, yes: i totally had that song stuck in my head while i was writing that panel! must try and get it out of my head before i go to sleep…
Don’t feel bad, Shift. I wanted to get first, too. I got online at 2:00 (my time) but the old strip was still up. I read the comments and posted a reply to one that touched my heart due to a parallel in my life. Then I checked back maybe an hour later but couldn’t get on the site (probably because the strip was in the process of downloading). Finally, I lost my battle with my heavy eyelids.
sometimes the best thing to do is to lose that “heavy eyelids” battle, Rainey. i can’t tell you how many times i tried to lose that battle – forfeited, even! – but just couldn’t. may you have better luck on your next attempt at the Shades. flame_fingers is definitely a strong contender!
Aaaawh, thats sweet, Hamster romance.
As much as I dig Musashi’s idea without knowing what procedures he went through trying to enhance Miyuki is… nuts.
yay for hamster romance, Maryz!
and, yeah – Mu’s plan is a little nuts. love (even hamster love, apparently) makes you do crazy things.
Hamster love :3 <3
Lets hope that the rest of the cyberanimals are less violent than the ratferret thing. Somehow the first animal I hope jef finds in the base ship is a flamingo. They seem so calm and cute. Plus, I would love to see a Termingo. Or Flamingonator. ..
Oh yea, now that you put the idea in my head, I totally hope there is a Flamingonator too!!! That would be so cool!
if the “space invaders” made a stop at the zoo, a “flamingonator” is a possibility, DAS and Shanna. 🙂
Have you ever wondered what type of animals spiders, bees and dragonflies would be if they got closer to our size?
yes! i used to watch those “giant” insect movies like “Them” with a terrified fascination when i was a kid all the time, Rainey.
yay for :3 <3, DAS! heheheh.
as for the rest of the animals being less violent? we'll see! something tells me they ain't all gonna be as cute and cuddly as Mu. 🙂
All for love… but I hate to break it to you Mu, I sense a loophole. Sure, you want to give her consciousness and all, but you did say all you really remembered was pain. Would you do that to your love to be with your love?
Yes, I sound different from my usual. But I just watched a sad movie on tv by accident and I HAD to finish it.
that’s the conundrum, ROM! – does Mu think being with Yuki is worth all the pain? we’ll find out.
and i love sad movies. haven’t seen a good one in a long time, though. 🙂
Wow. Great job with the story development here. This is the first full on Jefbot story I’ve happened to catch and I’m impressed.
Loving the look and layout as well.
thanks for the kudos, Saeed! this storyline’s a great entry point to the BOTiverse as it’s finally bringing together a lot of threads that have been woven over the past 5 years. so, enjoy!
(btw, kudos to The Frumps, as well!)
so… he’s going to put Miyuki in the same machine of pain? sounds like “not” a good plan.
it’s a sacrifice that it sounds like Mu’s willing to make, Saowy! we’ll see.
BTW… 5th panel… so cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute
I’d buy a printed shirt of those two hamsters cuddling!
awwwww… thanks, Saowy! good to know. i’m doing a convention next month so i’ve been working on new merch. if that 5th panel makes it onto a print or shirt, i’ll be sure to let y’all know. 🙂
Wait, what? You love Miyuki, so you want to put her through all that horrible stuff they put you through? I don’t know about this plan, Mu.
The second to last panel is entirely too cute. It NEEDS to be a wallpaper, because I need to have it on my computer. 😀 Actually, the third panel is pretty darn cute too. You did an extra good job on the cuteness this strip!
it’s the only way they can be together, Shanna! well, unless Mu just keeps Yuki around like a pet. heheh. no doubt his plan is flawed but hopefully he has something more up his… uh, fur, and can make the transformation happen without so much pain and terror. hopefully.
i was thinking that might make a good wallpaper, too, Shanna! if i have time in the next couple’a days i’ll make it happen. (working on a new system for this, so we’ll see how it turns out.) had to up the cuteness factor with all the drama happening in today’s strip! 🙂
Yes I love you, therefore I think I owe you the horrible pain of this transformation… I think Miyuki is going to end up if not a bad guy at least a rogue factor for a while until she and mu made peace. And abraxas is going to end up there, I know it.
love hurts, Orzahn! heheh. yeah, Mu seems a bit blinded by his desire to make Miyuki like himself. …might not be the best idea. we’ll see.
as for Abraxas – i should have a peek into what he’s doing every once in a while, just so you know he’s still chillin’ at bot’s apartment. 😉
So, jefbot and his two cybernetic hamster-cyborgs have intergalatic adventures?
sounds exciting! i’d have to retitle the strip SPACE JEFBOT or JEFBOT of EARTH if that happens, GG! 😉
One Word: Spinoff!
woo! 😉
Now we know where the bright scars on Musashi’s arms came from.
yup, yup. if i could get tattoos that glowed like Mu’s, i’d do it tomorrow, Rainey. 🙂
It could be worse, people could have to do it like tattoos are done in the ‘Kung Fu’ and ‘Kung Fu: The Legend Continues’ series. OW+!
true that, KB, but if the tatts glowed, it might still be worth it.
Blacklight tattoos are a thing, propably the closest you’ll get for now… although they have been making progress with LED implants.
hmm… i’ll have to think about that Orzahn, but i’ll probably just have to wait for some sort of bioluminescent ink before i take the plunge.
So he owe miyuki the same experience of endless pain and terror he had? Thats twisted mu! Then again, the ability to reason to truly understand is a great gift. AND a great curse. Reminds me of the experiments in the rats of nimh…
yes, Mu’s plan is a bit… dark, Graypatch. but, like you said, reason and understanding is a great gift, and really, the only way he can be with Miyuki. decisions, decisions.
Dawwww pet love :] so cute. I want a hamster.
i want a hamster (again) too, Dj! but then i’d want it mutated and enhanced and intelligent and big like Mu. 🙂
He may think he owes her that much, but does he really? And does Yuki even want that? Could he not try and find a way to turn back?(as unlikely as that probably is at this point) We’ll find out soon enough.
all great questions, Fijiman, and all of which Mu must consider before he goes through with his plan. and i wonder if he could turn back, would he? hmmm… as you said – we’ll find out soon enough!
and, hey – new avatar! i’m diggin’ it.
Thanks. I took it one of the last times I was playing New Vegas. Something I find interesting is how close it is to how I actually look like in real life.
nice! (i still gotta play that game someday.)
Indeed you should.
I thought the same thing about the pain, but figured either he thought it would be worth it to her – it doesn’t sound like his decision is coming from a selfish place – or, even better (for Miyuki, anyway), he just suffered because his captors didn’t know or care how painful their experiments were to their subjects, and thus, didn’t bother using their equivalent of anesthesia to ease the process. Hopefully, Mu’s enhanced intelligence and sheer determination has allowed him to learn more about what was done to him and how to do it without causing so much pain.
In any case, that second to last panel is seriously sweet, but that followed by the poignancy of the last panel – particularly in lieu of Mu’s heartfelt narrative – is what really got me all misted up. :}
(Yes, you have officially moved someone to tears with your art – Shades of Misting for you, m’laddo!) 8)
(Well, I gave it a shot, but that formatting went all wonky at the end there – epic shades fail, *d’oh*!) :)~
you bring up some excellent points, Ann – would the “aliens” have used anesthesia on the animals they captured to spare them endless pain and terror? and would Musashi (with his new and improved brain) know of ways to “fix” that? hmm… sounds logical. 🙂
and awww… thanks for the huge compliment and gift of misty eyes! (and the Shades of Misting), heheh.) happy you were touched. truly, deeply appreciated.
I think you somehow lost the ‘close italics ‘ tag and the closing paren ‘)’ at the end of your last comment, Jefbot. (If I’m right, KenderBryant’s comments won’t be in italics any more.) 😀
thanks, Stonefoot! Mombot just texted me that there was a prob, and you were right – there was a missing closing “>”.)
Hmmm….I hope that Abraxas doesn’t sneak in and accidentally get the same treatment. Although, I think that he and the hamsters were getting along after a while, before Mu’s abduction, but if not, then their rivalry could take on a whole new level. I’m thinking like Yuki and Kyo in Fruits Basket. That could be dangerous, especially concerning JB’s security deposit, which is already in jeopardy.
Hey, why’s my comment all in italics?
user error. and by “user” i mean me. 🙂
hmmm… i’m starting to think maybe jefbot should’ve caged Abraxas or at least leashed him in the apartment, KB. and, yeah – there’s probably no way at this point that Corn & bot are gonna get that deposit back.
Well, that didn’t work. Let’s try this , and see if it fixes it.
fixed! thanks for the notification and fix attempt, Stonefoot!
OK, italics be damned, on with the substantive comment:
First, kudos to Ann, the first to bring up a point I think is quite significant. Musashi suffered a great deal of pain, but is that because the aliens simply didn’t care? Is it, perhaps, because they knew nothing of hamsters and had to make several (or a dozen, or a hundred) failed attempts before they succeeded in transforming Musashi? It’s quite possible that transforming Miyuki could be completely or mostly painless.
Second, Musashi mentions terror. That would be mostly because he had no way of knowing the aliens’ intentions: What they wanted to do, whether it would ever end, whether he would even survive. With Musashi there, Miyuki should feel little if any of that terror.
And finally, a different way of looking at this: As the parent of a three year old child, if you were given the choice, would you choose to have your child remain a three year old innocent for the rest of their lives, or let them live through the horrors of elementary school and their teenage years and become, at the end, an adult? I think it really is a very similar question.
1) you may be on to something there, Stonefoot. eventually, it’ll be explained, but i’ll say that you and Ann are on the right track.
2) Mu being there during the process might just help. we’ll see.
3) i like your perspective on things! me, if i had kids i probably wouldn’t let them out of the house between the ages of 8 and 24. 😉
Let me first congratulate flame_fingers for getting the Shades of Firsting four times in a row. That’s impressive.
Now, the plan is to make it so Jefbot will have two mutated pets? This’ll be weird for the meantime, but a great story to tell others later.
Um, is the nonexistant italic button stuck on or something? Glitch? What gives? Italics are everywhere for some reason!
problem fixed. i missed a closing bracket on a comment and everything went screwy.
agreed: achieving the Shades four times in a row is most impressive, GB. we’ll see if f_f can 5peat.
well, that’s Mu’s plan at the moment. whether he can achieve that goal remains to be seen. 🙂
That is the sweetest thing I have ever heard (sniff). Why aren’t men more like mutant hamsters?
ha! next time i find a mutant hamster, i’ll send him your way, Sarah W.
(“Six-Million-Dollar-Man” drum cadence plays in background)
Musashi: “Miyuki. A hamster. An animal, barely sentient. We can re-build her. We must make her bigger than she is. Bigger, faster, stronger…”
BOT: Cuter?
Musashi: Probably not.
BOT: Awwwwww…
(“Six-Million-Dollar-Man” theme plays to fade-out…)
heheheh. i just hope Miyuki’s body makes that cool ch-ch-ch-ch-ch sound when jumping or running, r61.
You owe your love interest endless pain? Interesting . . . Why aren’t aren’t I married again?
Read that with only one “aren’t”; that’s wasn’t intended as a double negative.
you too can achieve endless pain and terror, B_S! just have a soak in the alien mutation vat! or yeah, get married. i kid! i kid!
Are those Bot’s legs in the back of the last panel? For a skinny guy, he’s got some beefy looking legs.
Dude. Your avatar is bitchin’. Brutal Legend was AWESOME.
i concur: nice avatar, Md555!
yeah, those are bot’s legs, Metaldude555. and yep, they’re kinda beefy! must’ve been all that soccer playing when he was a botling. 🙂
I’m sure such legs will come in handy with the long time he will soon spend fleeing for his life.