Vranel art

Recently I watched the finale of The Amazing Digital Circus and got so inspired to do a crossover art piece of the characters from my story as the cast of the show.

I have been writing my story since 2018 and even from back then I have written Shlyapin to be VERY Kinger coded. That was way before Kinger even existed on our screens! Shlyapin is spaced out, easily startled and tends to be in his own head almost all the time. He also...may or may not...be grieving the loss of someone significant...and that is a big plot point in the story.... 👀 When I first saw Kinger's character in the show, I was so shocked at the similarities!

As for the others, there aren't as similar as Shlyapin and Kinger, however there are some traits that they share, like Pomni and Zimov being big problem solvers, Ragatha and Papirosna being the kind-hearted "moms" of the group, Zooble and Petrov being sassy and argumentative.

Now...for Caine and Tumanich...well, I would say that Tumanich does have the outward theatricality and the charisma of our favorite ringmaster, but deep down, Tumanich may be more similar to Caine's inspiration - AM. 👀👀👀 Take that information as you will...😏

You can also watch this short on my YouTube channel - DrasCOOL, in which I share some of my thoughts on the finale along side a SpeedPaint of this exact drawing. 👀

I might make a full review video in the future, so if you are interested, stay tuned for that.

Okay WOW. It’s been a couple days after the finale now and I have a LOT of thoughts to share on it. Spoilers below of course so please watch the episode first if you care about not getting spoiled! 👀👀👀

As promised after uploading all of the chapters of the pilot, here are all of Zimov's doodles from each one.

Chapter 1

Zimov and Papirosna question Dolgiy about how he found the body and the shed near the camp, as well as his alibi.

Zimov and Papirosna questioned Dolgiy's work partner about the body and the keys to the camp.

Chapter 2

The babushkas from the village describe Luzhlyov, Zaetskaya and Alice Mayer, saying about Alice had a "devilish vibe".

The babushkas talking about the demons.

Chapter 3

Shishichkov saying he was from Bulgaria.

Shishichkov describing Alice Mayer.

Chapter 5

Luzhlyov's wife talking about his rivalry with the other impresario - Mrazkov.

Papirosna scolding Luzhlyova for letting Luzhlyov smoke and Shlyapin being tired.

Chapter 6

The first discussion of Zaetskaya's "crazy admirer" - Volkin.

Chapter 7

Zimov talking to Dolgiy's cousin - Elena, revealing that he got a letter from someone around the time of the murder.

Elena reveals that Dolgiy has a sister, with whom they are very close. But she ran away from home.

Chapter 9

Zimov talking to Dolgiy's parents about his sister. Her father explains how he wanted to teach her everything he knows about engineering to insure her career in that sphere, but Anna was more interested in music.

The parents reveal that Anna was engaged to Volkin.

The parents reveal that even tho Anna ran away from home, Dolgiy kept supporting her and was hopeful for her future.

Chapter 10

Zimov's research into where Volkin worked, since he constantly changed jobs. And his theory that he wrote the songs for Zaetskaya.

Chapter 13

Zimov explaining his theory about Luzhlyov and Mayer's plan.

Chapter 14

The radio staff explaining for how long they've worked in the radio.

The staff describing Alice... Meyer? Mayer?... Ok, I just realized that I have been spelling her name a tousand different ways and I apologize! Looking it up, it seems that the two spellings are equally right (correct me if I am wrong) and honestly, it kinda fits for a supposed "american agent" to change the spelling of her name all the time. Anyway!

The staff describing how good hearted and creative Volkin was.

Zimov's theory that Volkin overheard Luzhlyov and Mayer.

The staff talking about how the knife, the red paint and the detergent disappeared.

Disclaimer: My story isn’t meant to fully reflect real history or real people. It is a piece of alternative history, otherwise being fiction.

World’s biggest hater (Serhiy) vs. world’s biggest glazer (Zinovy), and Alexei would rather deal with the former…!

The fact that some people hold him in high regard just because of his title really irritates Alexei. The fact that some of those people went so far as to join a cult worshipping him as the incarnation of Jesus Christ is especially disturbing to Alexei, as well as his sisters.

Also—looks too closely at the first panel—HIS ELBOW ISN’T RESTING ON THE TABLEEEE NOOOOOO!!!

Ahem otherwise, I am VERY PROUD of this drawing, obviously it’s a redraw of that one comic turned meme. My favourite aspect of it is Anastasia’s face in the first panel 🤣

Closeups of the panels are down below! 👀

First part / Prevous part

The end! 🥳 Thank you all so much for reading this blast from the past! 💖 It was honestly a great study of how I used to structure stories and where I struggled. While I was personally reading it there was a lot of cringe, a lot of genuine suprise at how well some scene flew and of course, a lot of notes on what I want to change or work on for the future of these characters and this story. 👀

We are almost at the end of this journey. All that is left is the epilogue. 👀

Warning for cursing in this chapter

So, we have almost reached the end, comrades! 👀👀👀 Next week will be the last chapter and the week after that we have the epilogue! Now is the time to place your bets on who you think the killer is!

I am going to summarize the questionings in this chapter again, because of reasons, you already know.

So, in this questioning we have Elena Pyotrovna Lelkova (the blonde woman), Olga Yevgenievna Prahova (the brunette woman) and Dimitrii Vasilievich Drundyov.

The three of them really hate Luzhlyov, because of his arrogant behavior. They also confirm what we already know about her visit to Luzhlyov the week before May 1st.

Zimov asks them about Volkin and they say the things we already know. Volkin was an eccentric, but very kind hearted young man. Many took him for a hooligan, because of his disheveled appearance. Turns out that him and Zaetskaya knew each other. The members of the staff had overheard them talking in the hallways. Not only do they know each other, they were childhood friends and actually participated in that competition for young talents as a duet. But Luzhlyov liked and hired only Zaetskaya. The two continued seeing each other, but kept their relationship a secret.

Zimov asks what Volkin's duties in the radio were. He took over the cleaning of the 2nd floor. Luzhlyov's office was also located there. Luzhlyov wanted his office cleaned while he was drinking his afternoon coffee at 5 PM. But after Volkin disappeared, the staff started taking turns taking over his tasks.

The last time the staff saw Volkin was on May 19th - the day of Zaetskaya's ill-fated concert. He was mumbling something and was quite nervous the whole day. He didn't talk to anyone. And the next day he was gone. The strangest thing is that no one gave any attention. Not the director, not Zaetskaya, not anyone! The staff reported him missing to the militia, the next day they were told that he had moved to live in another city. They asked the militia to give them his address, but the militia stated that they were not allowed to without his permission. The staff told the militia to ask him for permission, to tell him that it was for his colleagues from the radio, he would know. They never got an answer.

A lot of strange things happened on May 21st. The staff confirms Luzhlyov's weird behavior the days around that. On May 21st itself, sometime after 4 PM, the cook complained that one of the knives was missing. The decorator complained that after 4:30 PM his red paint disappeared. Before the lunch break, Prahova had left some detergent on the stairs next to Luzhlyov's office so that she could wash the hallway on the 2nd floor after lunch. But when she returned, it was gone. She looked for it everywhere, but it was missing.

Prahova says that she last saw Luzhlyov leaving with Zaetskaya for the nurses' office. She hadn't seen him since. And she and Mrazkov stayed for a long time to clean the office. They left at around 6:15 PM.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert on money. All the information here is from my own research. But if anyone with more knowledge notices something wrong, please feel free to correct me.

Disclaimer: I am NOT a musician and I DON'T understand how music and musical notes work. The way this puzzle is structured was based on my limited understanding at the time and now as well. So if there are any musicians, who have constructive critisism and want to provide a better version of it, I would be extremely grateful!

Warning for cursing in this chapter

I am going to summarize the questionings in this chapter again, because of reasons, you already know.

Antonina Pyotrovna Valentinovna is a singer in the radio, who worked there longer than Zaetskaya, however, she never had a break through. She claims it's because on the first day of her audition, a black cat crossed her path. She has big sympathy for Luzhlyov describing him in a flattering manner. She expresses jealousy that he gave his attention all to Zaetskaya. According to her Luzhlyov and Zaetskaya were lovers. Papirosna is shocked and asks if Zaetskaya didn't object to this and if she willingly agreed to be his mistress. Valentinovna once again talks in a jealousy manner, stating that, of course Zaetskaya was willingly Luzhlyov's mistress. That Zaetskaya clung to him because of his status and influence, but not because of him himself. Papirosana asks Valentinovna what she thinks of her own impresario - Yevgeny Mrazkov. According to Valentinovna, he is a nice young man, but in some aspects he was a little boy. He acted very childish at times. Valentinovna also confirms what we already know regarding the days before Luzhlyov disappeared. She states that on the 21st she didn't feel well and went home.

Papirosna asks if Valentinovna knows about Alice Meyer from the GDR. She doesn't. Papirosna asks if Valentinovna knows Andrei Vasilievich Dolgiy. Turns out that she does. Valentinovna's younger son goes to his camp. Papirosna asks if Valentinovna knows if Dolgiy is close to Zaetskaya. Valentinovna doesn't know of such thing and begins to get nosy. But Papirosna doesn't say anything else.

Papirosna's theory: Okay, things are getting clearer! Yevgeny Mrazkov received a note from an unknown sender, who warned him that Luzhlyov would go to the party to have him fired. Angry, Mrazkov decided to take revenge and did the mischieves on May 21st in Luzhlyov's office. He also threatened to kill Luzhlyov, but did he go that far? Hmm… No. I don't think it was Mrazkov! That wouldn't explain the white Lada that Luzhlyov took. Mrazkov was in the radio, and why would he go out and get a white Lada to drive Luzhlyov to the outskirts of Moscow. If he wanted to kill him, why didn't he just poison him in the radio? Or follow him to his house and kill him there? No! It doesn't add up! It was definitely that Alice Meyer! I solved the case!

I am going to summarize the questionings in this chapter again, because of reasons, you already know. Mrazkov says that on May 21st he was very busy preparing for the concert of his singer Antonina Valentinovna which was the next day. Initially this concert was supposed to take place on the 19th, but Luzhlyov took the date from Mrazkov, which Mrazkov is still bitter about. On the 21st Antonina behaved very strangely. She was very distracted, constantly thinking about something. At about 4 PM she apologized that her head hurt and asked to leave early. Mrazkov agreed, but something in the whole situation made him suspicious and he decided to follow her. Instead of going to the nurse, she went into the canteen to the cooks. There she began to persuade one of them to put "three pieces of sugar" in Luzhlyov's coffee, which he drank at 5 PM. When the cook didn't agree, Antonina outright threatened to get her fired. Mrazkov was shocked, but at that time he was called by the decorator for something and he left Antonina at that. Mrazkov tries to reasure that he doesn't think that Antonina is a bad person or that she put any poison in Luzhlyov's coffee, but that moment made him suspicious. Papirosna notes that down and asks about Mrazkov and Luzhlyov's relationship, since she heard it wasn't very friendly. Mrazkov admits that he didn't like Luzhlyov and that acording to Mrazkov, Luzhlyov was a hypocritical egotist who thought he was better than everyone else. Mrazkov states that Luzhlyov was particularly mean to him. Despite that, Mrazkov says that they never had a major conflict. Mrazkov also confirms things we already know, like the fact that Luzhlyov would have fled to America, that he was very interested in the country and used "research" on its music industry as an excuse to look into it, that Luzhlyov was a party favorite, that the concert on the 19th mysteriously failed (which Mrazkov notes as karma for Luzhlyov). Papirosna asks about Alice Meyer from the GDR. Mrazkov confirms seeing a woman with her description in the halls of the radio, but he doesn't know if she met with Luzhlyov. Papirosna asks if Luzhlyov threatened Mrazkov that he would talk to the party to get Mrazkov fired. Mrazkov denies that Luzhlyov said it to him directly, but he says that he had his suspicions. To that Papirosna reveals the story about the the mess in Luzhlyov's office on May 21st and asks if Mrazkov is behind it. Mrazkov, of course, denies it.

Papirosna's theory: Mrazkov is very suspicious! I'm sure he lied to me that Luzhlyov didn't threaten him directly. Valentinovna is also suspicious with her actions, but there's no way she killed him, since Luzhlyov drank his coffee at 5 PM and was alive until 5:20 PM. Cyanide acts quickly, so whatever Valentinovna put in his coffee was unlikely poison. Hmm… Let me ask her personally then.

I am going to summarize the questionings in this chapter again, because of reasons, you already know.

Ekaterina Vasilievna Zaetskaya is one of the most famous singer in the USSR. She has been working in the radio for 10 years and for all those years Luzhlyov was her impresario. Luzhlyov liked her and invited her to work at the radio after she performed in a competition for young talents. She performed alone. Zaetskaya claims that her relationship with Luzhlyov was purely professional. He was always polite and kind to her. He was very creative and they often worked on projects together. He was quite interested in the USA, its culture, its way of life. Zaetskaya didn't understand him. It was one of his oddities, along with drinking coffee at 5 in the afternoon and even though he was a heavy smoker, he didn't smoke at all when he was stressed. He wasn't a bad person, but he had some unpleasant character traits, like thinking of himself as more than people he considered to be below his level. The fact that he was a favorite of the party didn't help much. Speaking of, being the party's favorite came with benefits for him. After a concert that the party really liked, Luzhlyov would receive a gift from them - a more luxurious watch or a box of elite cigarettes. Things like that. Papirosna asks if he would take an opportunity to go abroad. Zaetskaya confirms that she thinks he will. She reveals that she knows about the documents they found in his villa, because after he disappeared, the investigators brought them to her attention and asked her about them. Zaetskaya told them about a peculiar incident. She tells it to Papirosna as well. A week before May 1st, when Zaetskaya was going to give a concert, she was looking for Luzhlyov. It was around 5 PM and he usually had coffee in the cafeteria. However, he was not there. Zaetskaya went to his office, but before she opened the door, she heard Luzhlyov talking to someone. This someone was speaking suspiciously quiet. The voice belonged to a woman who had a foreign accent. Zaetskaya was interested, but she didn't want to look nosy, so she moved on. She never heard that woman again, and she didn't want to ask Luzhlyov, because he would know she eavesdropped. But from the fact that the woman spoke with a foreign accent and from the fact that the investigation had found documents that Luzhlyov was working with the Americans, after Luzhlyov's disappearance, Zaetskaya thought that he must have made some kind of deal with this foreign woman and fled abroad…

Papirosna asks what the car that took Luzhlyov was. Zaetskaya thinks it was a white Lada, but she doesn't remember anything specific. Papirosna asks if Zaetskaya has siblings. She denies, saying she is an only child. Papirosna asks if Zaetskaya knows Andrei Vasilievich Dolgiy, but surprisingly Zaetskaya denies knowing him. Papirosna describes his appearance, but Zaetskaya still doesn't know. Papirosna reveals that he is the one that found Luzhlyov's body. She also reveals that Dolgiy claimed to have met Zaetskaya in the village where Luzhlyov has a villa and that Dolgiy claimed that they not only know each other, but also were in love. To that Zaetskaya gets nervous and says that he is probably one of her more crazy admirers. She says she has a few of those. They tell all sorts of made-up stories about how they were her lovers, brothers, sisters, relatives, and so on. Some even pretend to be more than one of these things. She says it gets pretty annoying sometimes, but the risks of the profession. Papirosna confirms that she knows about such situations, asking about the "Admirer with the Watermelon Cap".

Meanwhile Zimov is questioning Dolgiy's parents.

In their words Anna started as a smart and capable girl. She had inherited her father's engineering mind, and they both did everything they could to help her develop it. In the evenings, her father would make her sit with him after school to explain various formulas and technical equations to her. Zimov asks if she enjoyed it. Instead of answering that, the father focused on her performance, which he claimed was great even if there were hiccups. Zimov asks the question again. The father can't answer that. Zimov asks if Anna was into music. The parents confirm that she was. She kept singing and trying to compose some melodies, but in their opinion, she couldn't. No matter how much she strained and protested that she would become a singer, according to her parents, she didn't have a creative mind, but an analytical one like her father's. So they kept pushing her towards that. So after a lot of protests and tears she was assigned to a technical school. During school she started performing in projects, won tons of awards from competitions. They were the proudest parents. But after she finished school, to the parents surprise, she ran away from home. On August 10, 1964, they were expecting her to come back to after a walk with friends. She never came home. They looked for her everywhere. After they couldn't find her, they waited 24 hours and reported her missing. But after a day of searching, the militia had found her alive and well, living with, in Anna's parents' words, the hooligan and wastrel - Grigory Volkin. Apparently, Anna and Grigory had secretly gotten engaged and she didn't want to come back home. And since Anna was of legal age, that was her right. The parents were devastated, saying that she didn't know what she was doing, because she was so young and she could have gotten involved with the wrong people. Zimov simply nods.

To the parents, that is exactly what happened. To them the engagement to Volkin was a mistake. And they blame him for dragging her down a bad path. They confirm that he was that childhood boy from the album and they knew each other since kids. They blame Volkin's parents for being incompetent, letting him become a guitarist and just waste his life. The last thing they had from Anna was a letter in which she explains that she is leaving for another town. According to the parents, things have gone wrong with Volkin, because he stayed in Moscow and started chasing after Zaetskaya, the rising singer.

Zimov asks about their son Andrei. The parents say that they had left him to be independent like a real man should. They do admit, tho, that they may have paid more attention to his sister, because she was the more "problematic". Otherwise, the two of them were inseparable. They often played together. They shared everything and were best friends. Zimov asks how Andrei accept his sister's disappearance. Acording to the parents, he was just getting ready to go to university. He took it better than they expected. He remained optimistic about her future.

I am going to summarize the questionings in this chapter again, because of reasons, you already know.

Grigory Andreevich Dimitriev is the director of the radio station where Luzhlyov worked. Luzhlyov was one of the first workers in the radio since its opening. He became Zaetskaya's impresario 10 years ago. At that time, he was doing research on the field of musical art in the country and concluded that the USSR needs more young talents. He didn't want to fall behind the Americans. Acording to Dimitriev, Luzhlyov was very interested in America and its culture. That's why he decided to organize a competition to recruit young talents from all over the USSR. He was the head and main jury of this competition. He managed to organize everything himself. Some of the most famous singers, including Zaetskaya, got off to a great start at this competition.

In this competition, people could perform in groups. Maximum of 5 people. Dimitriev wasn't present during the competition and doesn't know much detail. Regarding the opinions of the other workers in the radio on Luzhlyov. The older staff and the men in the team didn't like him as a person at all. They were big rivals with the new impresario - Yevgeniy Mrazkov. Not a day went by without them arguing. The singers, especially the young ones, really liked Luzhlyov. They were dying to get a chance to work with him and get his attention. And he really paid them attention. Sometimes too much attention, but he always went back to Zaetskaya. She was his favorite. To the question of would have Luzhlyov moved abroad, even illegally, Dimitriev answers maybe. Dimitriev doesn't know of Alice Meyer from the GDR and there is no dissapearing money from the budget.

Papirosna's theory: I solved the case! Alice Meyer was an American spy posing as a citizen of the GDR. She came to the radio with false documents under the pretext that she had been invited to work with it and went to Luzhlyov. Somehow she found out that he wanted to flee abroad because he was a lowly traitor! Meyer offered to make him false documents to leave for the USA, but she asked for a very high price. Luzhlyov, not having that much money, decided to give Zaetskaya a concert and steal all the money from the tickets for his own purposes. He told Mayer this and she agreed. She made up the fake documents, but Luzhlyov was unable to fulfill his part of the deal, since for some reason his concert failed. Knowing that he would have no way to pay Mayer, and she had already worked things out for him, he began to worry and perhaps even decided to secretly flee abroad. However, Mayer found out and was terribly angry. On May 21st, she came in a white Lada to the radio station and picked up Luzhlyov. She took him to the Moscow outskirts, where she poisoned him and hid his body in a nearby lake. That's it! Now all I have to do is find enough evidence against her and let's hope that Alice Mayer, or whoever she is, is still on our territory so we can arrest her!