The Second Crimean War



Shortly after the breakup of the Soviet Union, ethnic-based violence led by Bohdan makes the newly-independent Ukraine start sliding into all-out civil war. Trying to survive, a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits, including a Ukrainian farm girl (Yana Korelenko, who calls herself "Yuri" when she's disguising herself as a teenage boy), a hard-bitten veteran of the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan (Iaroslav Kossak), a confused American (John Silver), and five Crimean Tatar brothers (Berkir, Veli, Inalcik, Kayyum, and Ismail Cemilev). But in a country with lost nuclear weapons just waiting to be found by anyone who comes along, things can only get more interesting... Better Than It Sounds.

It can be read here.

The Second Crimean War provides examples of:

 * Anime Hair: Bohdan is an example, as is Yana. The other characters tend to be more realistic.
 * Art Evolution: The style gets more realistic and detailed, and the pages become more tightly filled.
 * Blinding Bangs: Yana
 * Eloquent in My Native Tongue Played for laughs with the English-speaking John:
 * Fish Out of Water: John Silver, from Miami
 * Gargle Blaster: Iaroslav's ice-distilled vodka
 * Genius Bonus: Several.
 * Good Scars, Evil Scars: subverted by Bohdan, the Big Bad, who has a small, pale, x-shaped scar on his cheekbone.
 * Noodle Incident: "Even stupider than that thing with the snowmobile and the ice-distilled vodka..."
 * Knight in Sour Armor: Iaroslav, all the way.
 * Possible War
 * Reality Is Unrealistic: Several Muslim characters drink, which is Truth in Television for some forms of Islam.
 * Scarf of Asskicking: Bohdan and Yana both have these. Bohdan's is nearly always accompanied by a Dramatic Wind.
 * Scenery Porn: Especially as the art improves.
 * Shown Their Work
 * Sliding Scale of Alternate History Plausibility -- Type I
 * Snowball Fight: Yana uses a snowball as weapon in a potentaily leathal fight.
 * Sweet Polly Oliver: Yana, in some situations
 * Sword Lines: Only with a shotgun being used as a club.
 * The Infiltration: Yana does this with the Big Bad 's army to siphon off food.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: Bohdan and his sister Anastasiya
 * What Measure Is a Non Badass: Averted hard. For example, most of the main characters are ordinary civilians who get swept up in various events, and whether or not someone qualifies as a good guy depends on how he treats them.
 * What If: Essentially the whole premise