The Second Crimean War

And a good time was had by all.

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.

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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: [1]
• 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