Boy, that’s a lot of guns…

So! We have new Fan Art by Buukkin, showing Jeff and Deacon. Together. And, um, naked. It’s a bit steamier than usual. Well, it’s a lot steamier than usual. It’s called “Jeff Takes Charge” and you should really check it out.

Oh, and…

***THIS IS A BONUS PAGE!***

And we’re now at $63 towards the next bonus page!

Special thanks go out to long-time supporters Bernard S. (who has made their 2nd donation to Artifice!), Esperanza V. (who has made their 6th donation to Artifice!) & Brian d. (who just made their 14th donation to Artifice! Wow, Brian!) and a warm welcome and grateful bow go out to new supporters Jessica M. & Mordecai L. for their generous donations over the last few days!

Big hugs go out to new friend of Artifice Emanuel S. for their super generous $25 donation!

Thank you all so, so much! (This has been kind of a low-morale week for me for whatever reason and your generosity has really been a big boost. 😀 )

All right. Your comments and speculation over the last few days have been exceptional. Some of you think Deacon has a plan up his sleeve to save Jeff (with perhaps a little assistance from a certain doctor we all love), some of you aren’t sure what’s going to happen and at least one of you is so certain Deacon has dark motivations, you’ve listed it as a “spoiler” on Artifice’s main TVTropes page along with the audience reaction to his choice! 😀

Well, it is a candy-like red button. And few can resist the power of Maven’s arched eyebrow. I wonder what Deacon will say…

DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! Edit: Thursday 1:20 AM: Thanks to your generous donations, we have yet again hit the donation target, so there will be a bonus page (page 82!) on Wednesday, March 7th! You all ROCK! Hope to see you there! 😀

Oh, snap…

We have new Fan Art by longtime friend of Artifice Aikka! It’s a very sweet moment between Jeff and Deacon called “Hope”. Thanks, Aikka!

And on Friday, we yet again hit the $250 donation target, so we’ll have a bonus page (page 80!) this Wednesday! Woo hoo!

Special thanks go out to long-time supporters Christina H. & Queenie C. and a warm welcome and grateful bow go out to new supporters Frauke P., Anika G. & Sylvia A. for their generous donations over the last few days!

Big hugs go out to long-time super-friends of Artifice Tanya A. and Larisa V. for their super-generous $25 donations!

And finally, a warm, android-strength hug and high-five goes out to Clidiane A. for their amazingly generous $53 donation which put us over the top for page 80!

Thank you all so much! 😀

And… I seem to say this every time, but it’s true every time. I really love reading all your comments and speculation! 😀

So, my super-smart readers, next page Deacon takes action. I wonder what he’ll do…

Man, I wonder what’s going through Deacon’s head right now…

We have new Fan Art by qui-gon-robot, which confirms many of your suspicions that Maven is truly “like a boss”. Thanks, qui-gon-robot!

And…

***THIS IS A BONUS PAGE!***

The twenty-third in a row! And we are now at $132 towards next Wednesday’s bonus page! Woot!:D

Special thanks, a warm welcome and a grateful bow go out to new supporters Kelsey H., Bernard S. and Madeline B. for their generous donations over the last few days!

An extra-grateful, android-strength hug goes out to Artifice superfriend, Bryanna G., whose $75 donation marks their third amazingly generous donation in as many weeks! You totally rock, Bryanna! Thank you!

All right. Very sleepy now. Time for bed. I look forward to reading your thoughtful comments in the morning! 🙂

DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! Edit 2/24/12 8:15 AM: You’ve done it again! The donation bar has hit $250 which means that in addition to this Saturday’s regular update, there will be a bonus page (page 80!) this Wednesday, the 29th! Thank you so much—and hope to see you there!

Oh, Jeff… Dude…

All right… Deep breath. First off, there will be a bonus page on Wednesday. I’d like to send out a special thanks and a warm welcome to new supporter Thomas M. for their generous donation this week!

Also, a big hug goes out to long-time Artifice superfriend Larisa V. for their super-generous $25 donation! Thank you, Larisa!

And… as I’ve mentioned in the comments before, it was my goal to make sure I could tell a complete story arc as a webcomic by writing a shorter sci-fi story with a clear beginning, middle and end. And we’re now finally beginning the last scene of Artifice. Hard to believe it’s been almost a year since I started posting these pages up! And I have to say that you all, with your thoughtful comments and brilliant insights, have made the whole journey a tremendous pleasure. Having the opportunity to tell this kind of story, the kind of story I’ve always wanted to tell, and find that that there are others out there who actually would want to read it… Well, it’s tremendously gratifying. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. 🙂

But it’s not over yet! So… what do you think is going to happen? Will Deacon go through with this devil’s bargain with Maven? Will Jeff be able to talk him out of it? Will they even be allowed to speak to each other? It will all be revealed over the next several pages. Hope to see y’all on Wednesday!