To mark the end of the year, I offer a mixture of drama and humor…and a bit of kawaii on the side.

As is traditional by now, Biff accidentally sets off some fireworks on this day. I have the feeling that that’s established enough to allow me to completely skip the specifics. Where was that stack of explosives, why was it there, and how did Biff cause the accident? I don’t know, but it’s still entirely unsurprising that it was there and that Biff did that. He’s reliable, at least in that respect. As an aside, this incident also proves that his proneness to accidentally set off fireworks has nothing to do with her gender at any given point in time.

As a side effect, the incident does demonstrate that K’ip and Si’ri are quite close to Biff and his comrades, at this point in the story. Well, at least that they have considerably less than a full continent between them.

For the dramatic part, our nameless sea-dog receives a worthy – nay, classic! – send-off. Blinded by rage and resentment, he struggles with great determination, but little chance of success, against the inhuman menace from the deep. The outcome is inevitable…and then, just like the soothsayer on the pier prophesied on the eve of the voyage, he bids the others to follow him beyond the veil. And all but two do so. Which isn’t a lot of people, since K’ip and Si’ri are the only ones around to begin with. (And K’ip, specifically, wouldn’t go on another nautical expedition for any amount of kibble in the world.)

The kawaii part is handled by Tako Luka, of course, since she couldn’t help it, anyway. She isn’t white, she isn’t a whale, she doesn’t have beady, evil eyes or a deformed maw. She’s just gotta work with what she’s got.

More next year.