(For those who want to see the comic broken up into smaller pieces, you can get them from Ficus directly over here, here, and here.)

The single most important component of Balinology is consistent tracking. Subjects have a tendency to acquire more mooflike traits, often unexpectedly and to drastic effect. Take your eyes off of a Balina for a few months, and you'll hardly recognize them when you try to zero in on them again. Unbelievably, it appears to have happened again.

In the time since she was infected by a queen parasite, Balina Rodovoy has laid hundreds of eggs, and dozens of individuals have joined her hive, becoming part of a small but growing support network to feed her ever-increasing hunger. One of those earlier converts managed to find a BootyChest package that had been in Ms Rodovoy's possession shortly before she herself became possessed. It was presumably dropped and knocked somewhere out of the way during her intial feeding frenzy, forgotten until someone moved the couch.

BootyChest is a subscription service that sells overflow merchandise from popular media franchises. A blind assortment is sent out to customers every month; senior research staff have commented that the service is similar to the one that delivers the various tchotchkes covering Ms Burton's desk. Obviously, they are not known for trafficing in magical or divine artifacts, though it must be noted that this is also not the first time the service was co-opted to do so. Researchers interested in tracing more of these implements would be wise to keep an eye on BootyChest subscribers.

Regardless of how they fell into her paws, the gloves put Ms Rodovoy in contact with the twin goddesses of the Zorja, and led to her joining the Galactic Maids. At this time, BTI has no actual idea where this is going, save that there is, to marketing's despair, not likely to be enough footage to make anything nearly as consistent as Boom Moof. It may be possible to make a couple of OVAs, but only if better footage of the transformation can be recorded for later use, and if more Maids show up.

I'd been wanting to get a Galactic Maid comic since the idea first came up nearly two years ago, and after seeing how well the succubats had been getting illustrated, I pitched the idea to see if they could be combined. Turns out the answer was yes! And even better than I'd originally expected, given we hadn't actually seen what a queen looks like before.

Both the TF picture and this comic were Ficus running wild. I provided initial refs, picked out some colors, named a sign and a patron, and let her work. All of the actual work, every subtle joke, every extra detail, even the cameo were her ideas. Balina Rodovoy was supposed to be the generic moof, someone I referenced when I didn't have anyone else to assign to something. Her name literally means generic, for crying out loud. I hadn't really intended to make this something that happened to her until I saw how well she looked in the TF sketches. She's become something intensely personal, and I am thrilled to have a chance to explore where she goes from here. I cannot stress just how much of a blast it was to see these come together, and to get to share them with everyone now.

Art: Ficus (originals: 1, 2, 3) (Patreon)
Guest-star: Crystala