Hey, it’s PDR! The PDR from now, in 2017, not the PDR from 2016 who scheduled all those posts this month. 2016 PDR left November 30th blank with a note that told me-now-PDR to put a PDR Update here.

Well, the main thing on my plate right now is some seemingly expensive car repairs. It seems my shift motor has corroded. That’s punching my wallet right in the nuts, that’s for sure. Apart from that, things are as they have been all year for me. 2017 has not been a great year for me, but neither has it been for the world at large, so at least I’m not alone in that.

Haiku!

Twenty-Seventeen.
My finances remain poor.
Not been a great year.

It’s not all been a bad year, though. I’ve been listening to the Superman radio show from the 40s as I drive, and during the serial “Is There Another Superman” there was a scene in which Batman and Robin were investigating and Robin got kinda bored, noticed it was snowing out, and sung a few bars of “White Christmas” only for Batman to reply: “I’ll Christmas you unless you pipe down” so now I know the best Batman line that has ever been written.

So anyway, we now go back to not having a new Super Sunday post every day. The site will probably feel pretty empty. I do still miss my Twitter posts manifesting here. That was nice.

Himterons

Himterons are a species that have strong shells, out of which come four goopy limbs that they can shape and stretch at will. Their head is similarly stretchy, though less so because it has to contain their complex ocular system and mouth-filter. The brains and vital organs of a Himteron are behind their shells. The variations in color on their “torso” shells are achieved through artificial dyeing, done to represent an individuals place in the caste-based society.

The Himteron homeworld, called “The First World” in their language, is located in the densely populated galaxy known as the Circle. Some time ages ago, the planet was attacked by an advanced race who raided the world for resources, the left. Though it did cause much damage to the species at the time, it also helped them become aware of and grow into the galactic community. The Himterons are a tight-knit group, they don’t spend a lot of time with other species when they can help it, but they are also not usually at odds with those other races either.

Hermaw is a soldier in the Royal Himteron Fighting Force. Trained in ground combat, Hermaw is a lot more likely to have to fight his own kind during planet-based skirmishes than aliens, but nonetheless, Hermaw has a distaste for other species. There haven’t actually been that many aliens that have shown up in Hermaw’s life, but still. They look different. That makes Hermaw uneasy.

Cahnuuayg is a result of a breeding program that has been running for dozens of generations to create Himterons superhumanly skilled as exorcists. Although extradimensional beings are not a common occurrence in the Circle galaxy, Cahnuuayg and a handful of others are employed by the Himteron government to make sure they remain a rarity by travelling to any planet willing to ask for help with potential demonic entities. Cahnuuayg has personally been on more planets than any other Himteron.

A member of the entertainer caste, Ekedaw has been training to make humorous comments about the appearance of audience members. This can be risky, because if the audience is offended, they can challenge the comment-maker to a duel. Ekedaw has to find the right thing to mock that even the victim will laugh about it. Himteron laughing sounds like hissing, by the way.

A Fact About Himterons: In Himteron culture it is considered very rude to watch someone who is carrying something. It’s fine to glance at them, but to actually watch their progress is just a jerk move.

Universe: Orange

Cagloms

On the planet of the Cagloms, which they call Arvamm, the surface is only 30% of the surface is covered in water. Life does exist on the vast dry surface, but the Cagloms live in the small, though deep, oceans. Caglom society is eusocial, with breeding queens and worker castes and all of that, similar to Earth insects. All the Cagloms in this post are workers, as the other castes are often so mentally different that humans would find them too alien to relate to.

Cagloms are not confined to their homeworld. For generations Arvamm has been part of the greater galactic community. Dr. Lykstam of the League of Space Doctors is a Caglom, though the disease that group primarily fights has never reached the Caglom’s area of space. Cagloms, being aquatic, have also visited the Pllvm, who are new to the space community.

FlebbNar is a tender of the food storage facilities in his region. The Cagloms are a technologically advanced species, but the habits of their food storage have been passed down from their earlier days. They keep the colony’s entire supply of food in a large room near the queens. It is FlebbNar’s job to maintain that room and make sure none of the food spoils. The latter almost never happens anymore, but FlebbNar still has a job perk of being allowed to take the oldest food for personal use. It’s a sweet deal an FlebbNar and her friends enjoy it.

Boffik is a designer of life support packs that Cagloms can wear to exist in the waters of other planets (such as the Pllvm homeworld) or even in air. Most of the most important advantages in these packs were made long ago, but Boffik is especially focused on trying to make them smaller and lighter. Currently, Boffik is currently trying to convince the colony that she should be allowed to travel to alien worlds and examine their technology for ideas.

Gilarsk is a master artist who has created sculptures enjoyed not only by the Cagloms, but even by visitors from other planets who have taken sculptures back to their own worlds. That is pretty impressive, but Gilarsk has a dark secret: she doesn’t really know what she’s doing. She just chisels out sculptures until she thinks they look okay and everyone tells her she’s a genius. She is worried that her luck will run out and she’ll be exposed as a fraud, but there has been no sign of that happening any time soon.

A Fact About Cagloms: The longer tendrils of a Caglom have sharp barbs that can be used to inject acidic fluid into a target. Most animals on the Caglom homeworld are adapted enough that the fluid will only knock them out, like a poison, but injected into species from other worlds, this fluid can do incredible amounts of damage, completely melting some of them within seconds.

Universe: White

And, a bonus comic in honour of the alien-themed month I have going on:

Sometimes species don’t last. And when a species dies, someone has to be the last one to go:

Dzop

Dzop’s species was native to the galaxy called the Circle, where a great variety of life exists. Dzop was off-world when the planet was attacked by a hostile species that killed all life there, and now only Dzop remains. Dzop is understandably upset about this, but the rest of the Circle has taken pity on the sole survivor, now treating Dzop as an endangered celebrity. Newshounds follow every move, while governments assign bodyguards if Dzop enters their territory. Dzop makes the most of this fame, speaking out about anti-war causes, but mostly Dzop is just tired and would welcome the rest of death.
Universe: Orange

Veet

Veet is the last of the Lehss in universe Blue. This version of the planet Tefd has been ravaged by war and disease for a generation, and it has successfully brought the planet to extinction. The world is too large for Veet to be certain that there are no others, but there aren’t and Veet suspects as much. The Lehss are solitary beings by nature, but Veet still feels a great loneliness inside.
Universe: Blue

Dudger Bux

Dudger Bux is from a humanoid species that lived on a planet called Oripida. Dudger was the world’s first astronaut, whose joy at being the first in space was undercut by the planet being hit by a gamma radiation burst while Dudger was watching from orbit. While Dudger has the resources aboard the shuttle to live for some time, what is the point of doing so? If Dudger returned to Oripida, would it be possible to survive? The shuttle is not powerful enough to reach other worlds, but should Dudger try anyway? The situation seems hopeless and Dudger can only pray for some saving grace.
Universe: Grey

Hebbix Da

Hebbix Da was the only Resukian to properly praise the Space Gods. The species was arrogant and self-important, to the point of trying to develop technology that would place them above all others, rewriting reality at their whim. Only Hebbix Da argued against the use of such technology, saying it was not the Resukians’ place to have that much power. When the Space Gods came and wiped the planet of Resukian life, they rewarded the lone loyal survivor by bringing Hebbix Da to their godly realm to live out a natural lifespan in a paradise.
Universe: Silver