ABOUT THE JC-VERSE: THE GLIMMORRIAN STARSYSTEM

     First off, I'm deeply sorry if any of you jumped a foot when my spoopy scurry skele-songs™ started spontaneously blasting through your speakers. Cardiac arrest is, dare I say, too dark for the darkest month of the year. Mea culpa. Second, and mainly, today's post will be a little bit different than usual. May I proudly present the first post in the "About the JC-Verse" series! I realize that apart from the posse of consistent followers I have here (Sarah and Alistu, you know who you are), I get a LOT of new readers, and the continuity I've been weaving for the past 3 years isn't always so easy to follow. So, from now on I'll be dedicating these little one-shots to explaining the ins-and-outs of the ol' Jacob's Characterz! universe, so I don't have to re-explain things every gosh-dang post. Now, without further ado, let's start things off with a pretty pivotal JC-Verse location that I tend to name-drop a lot . . .

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The Glimmorrian Starsystem is one of the most populated and advance intergalactic spots in the whole JC-Verse. The place is honestly like someone took our solar system, doubled our sun, doubled our number of planets, and then through in an extra planet 50% off for good measure. It's practically the Chuck Norris of planetary systems. But enough gushing, let's get to know the heavenly bodies that make up this joint (which have ever-so-helpfully been numbered above):

• #1 & #2. The titular stars of the system, Ortar and Artox.
• #3. Crusa Kurala, literally translating to "dark planet." Instead of family-friendly H2O oceans like our own, this planet is covered in a peculiar pitch-black goo known as "Crutic." Some have hopped on the trend of harvesting Crutic for its medicinal properties.
• #4. Glimmorrius, the capital planet of the Glimmorrian Starsystem. This swirly little spot is one of the only four planets in the whole system to naturally bare life. The native Glimmorrians like to go about boasting that it was the first of those four to do so, but scientific research hasn't exactly backed that claim lately. Nevertheless, the planet-triotic buggers are still convinced.
• #5. Pugu, a dry lifeless planet with a moon called Toriton. It's recently found new life as a scientific outpost for a gaggle of advanced races across the starsystem.
• #6. Atarita, another lucky planet in that aforementioned lifebaring quartet. It has one central ocean that Ataritans make pilgrimages to annually. (Homeworld of the infamous bomb-diggity bandits Ashy Katorez and "Gameboy" Xones.)
• #7. Tribullus, not a planet made of delicious swiss cheese. In case you were wondering.
• #8. Briblee, #3 in the OG lifebaring quartet. Not exactly the most interesting local in the system given that it is essentially all marsh, nothing but marsh, twenty-marsh/seven. But all-and-all, it does have its charms. (It being the homeworld of megalomaniac Earth-invader and overall intergalactic dirtbag the Man is . . . not one of them.)
• #9. Tarula, another harvesting hotspot of the system due to the massive amount of valuable minerals in its crust.
• #10. Klex, AKA the high-tech posterplanet of the Glimmorrian Starsystem. It may not be quite so visible (what with the massive not-a-Death-Star lining its atmosphere and such), but this place was originally a barren, crimson-colored no-man's land. But then the rogue Pixelite Party split from Glimmorrius' resident republic and . . . you know, I'll just go ahead and save the rest of that for a character post I may or may not be working on. Just take my word for it, Klex is one crazy cool hangout.
• #11. Ekris, a crater-ridden colonial planet officially owned by The Republic of Glimmorrius.
• #12. Sarkitan, former home of Prolotus-Polis, a bustling empire founded by settlers from #15 that almost outgrew and out-stinking-rich'd every other government in the system. Nowadays it's the Glimmorrian's #1 supplier of just about every knick-knack, thingimajig, etc. an alien could fathom. (Original home of jolly ol' Xanta Klozz.)
• #13. Torril, oddly enough the only gas planet in the whole starsystem, and thus one of the only ones left uncolonized.
• #14. Drox, also not a delectable cheese planet. 
• #15. Papural, the frosty 4th member of the lifebaring quartet and the . . . most controversial. Recent probing done by the esteemed scientists of Klex have pointed to Papuralian life, as far and few as it is, being the true first life to spawn in the system . Naturally, that hasn't made the good people of Glimmorrius too thrilled. Long story short, welcome to the starsystem's most fuming debate. Read all about it in the next juicy tabloid you pick up at Pavilions, folks.
• #16. Tramillee, essentially an anomoly planet for hosting massive forests of flora despite being hecka freezing. Still too cold for any life, though.
• #17. North Berrr, another hecka freezing planet. Lies smack dab on what is known as the "Korikai Xhatel," AKA the "Dead Orbit," and is (mostly) way too harsh for settlement.
• Lastly, #18 and #19. Qibla and Xirr, also known as "te Vata" (the Twins). These two teeny tiny planets are almost indistiguishable in every way. They are theorized to have once been a single planet that got pulled apart in the formation of the system.

     Wooh. Alrighty, take a breather if you need it, because that was a lot of continuity even for myself. But while you do/don't do that, allow me to get into the semantics of how exactly all this crazy crud coexists together.

1. No, the planets aren't actually on one massive, swirling orbit on a firey collision course with their suns. It's an artistic interpretation, folks.
2. The Glimmorrian System has a good couple million years on our Solar System--which helps explain how its inhabitants pretty much had space travel down pat when we still thought the Sun was being hauled across the sky by a chariot.
3. While they may not be all on a gaint swirling death orbit, fun fact: every planet in the system shares their orbit with at least one other planet. Nice to see the powers-that-be were keeping with the buddy system in some of their earlier designs.

Now, before I bring this to a close, there's one last little snag I feel I need to cover (because if I don't, some Buster Brown with a master's degree in noticing plotholes will catch it): how can there be North, South, East and West quadrants of planets if those planets are constantly on the move? Well, as trivial as that question may seem in the long run, I've got an explanation. Friends, it's time for . . .

                                  CANON STORYTIME

     Many years ago, back when collective Glimmorrian society was a bit less knowledgeable, resident astronomers first mapped their cosmos kinda assuming the planets would all just stay where they were. And with spot-on logic in mind, they formed the "Pal, Pol, Pil and Pell" (North, South, East and West for us Earthlings) of the Glimmorrian Starsystem. Needless to say those astronomers eventually looked to the stars again and realized things had . . . swivelled around a tad. But after word got around and everyone agreed they had dun goof'd, out of their former ignorance was born a brand new prophecy: the Teshatoula, AKA "the Day of Alignment." On this occasion the planets of the system will align to reform their previously assigned niches, and the North, South, East and West will be "as the Great Being(s) intended them" once again. Beliefs of what will happen on the Teshatoula vary from planet to planet and religion to religion, but one thing is for sure: when it happens, everyone will go bananas. Cue the overused gif!

     Well, I think that little tale is a good spot to end this puppy on. Fingers-crossed you fine folks enjoyed this, and if you want to check back on this little series again in the future times, click the "About the JC-Verse" page towards the top of the screen. (Link isn't quite set up for that yet, but all in due time.) Until next time, when I may or may not be explaining who the Pixelites are and what exactly that not-a-Death-Star is. I'm Jacob, and I approve my own message. Hasta la pasta.