#something something how history likes to rhyme and for every hero whose story gets told at least one is not told in full

[summertimemusician]

No one:

Literally No One:

Me, running on three hours of sleep and only spite and coffee keeping my mortal vessel functioning, also trying to get all of the figurines in Minish Cap to scratch the completionist itch: We, as both the Zelda Fandom and Lu Fandom, don't really talk enough about First, The Hero of Men and The Original Attempted Calamity Hero huh?

And by that, I mean these gentlemen:

[imitranslates]

Honjitsu no Kami Oroshi Ch. 4

Sorry for the delay, this one took me quite a bit! Hopefully the next chapters should be done, uh, not quite as belatedly! Reminder that this chapter is viewable until August 12th on the official website!

You can read this chapter at www.ganganonline.com/contents/honzitsu/ by clicking “ [4話] アーサー王 公開! “  in the chapter listing!

Today's Divine Revelation Chapter 4 - The Legend of King Arthur

Page 1

Ryuunosuke: ?

Ryuu: ?

Rin&Ryuu: ........

Page 3

Ryuu: So,

Ryuu: Pull out the knife that was thrust into the pumpkin. (This sure is something.)

Rin: Sorry for bothering you in the middle of work.

My hands are tired, so I can't seem to do it with my strength...

Ryuu: No worries, it's fine! This'll be easy!

Ryuu: Being relied on by my little brother makes me happy...

Rin: I'm really...

Rin: Reeeally reluctant to ask you, but please.

Ryuu: ...Is it really that bad to let me enjoy it? (Every now and then.)

Page 4

Ryuu: Well, anyway. Take a good look at this, little brother.

This is your older brother's true power.

Ryuu: Huuh!

Ryuu: Nnnngh...

Ryuu: Gyah!

!!?

(crack)

Ryuu: My... My wrist...!

Ryuu: (It's tendinitis!!) My wriiiiist!!

Rin: ...

Alright already.

Page 5

Ryuu: Wait, one more time...

Let me try again!! (I'll be able to do it next time!)

Rin: It's distasteful to say things without basis ...Besides,

I don't want to think even less of you than this.

Ryuu: Don't look at me like that!!!

Ryuu: Isn't it bad if you can't pull it out?

Are you using it for dinner?

Rin: No,

I thought I'd make some pumpkin custard.

Ryuu: Flan?

Rin: I bought a pumpkin, but cutting it's more difficult than I thought.

I had some left over vanilla beans.

Ryuu: Ah! (From when I made ice cream!)

Ryuu: (Fushishi) Ehehe, custard!

Even though I didn't ask for it. Custard~~!!

Rin: You're so annoying. Is there a problem?

Ryuu: No, not at all.

Page 6

Ryuu: (Hmm.) Rintarou.

Ryuu: Can we try making King Arthur's pudding?

Rin: Huh? What's that?

Ryuu: Do you know King Arthur?

Rin: Just... the name.

Ryuu: I only read about him when I was a kid, but

Arthur was the king of Britain.

Ryuu: Near the end of the 5th century, the story of a legendary hero who fought with the Saxons spread through the continent.

Ryuu: The story of the Knights of the Round Table, the wizard Merlin, a sacred sword and the Holy Grail...

You could even say that Legend of King Arthur is the first real English fantasy tale.

Rin: Oh... Fantasy, huh... (Not my favorite.)

Page 7

Ryuu: When I told my editor about our divine revelations,

they said I should consider serializing it in a women's magazine.

Ryuu: The Legend of King Arthur is kinda romantic, don't you think?

Rin: Ah...

So it's like that.

(Rin: A king's pudding...)

Rin: Custard's pudding, right? Might as well.

Ryuu: Nice!

Now that it's decided, you should look up how to make pudding!

Rin: Huh? I already know how to make custard...

Ryuu: No, pudding's different!

Rin: Huh?

Page 8

Ryuu: When good King Arthur ruled this land~

Ryuu: If you look it up, you'll understand!

Mother Goose!

Rin: ......

What the heck's that?

[Library search for "Mother Goose"]

Page 9

Rin: (Lately...)

Rin: (I feel like I've become a regular here...)

(Rin: Here it is. It's huge...)

[Mother Goose is...

A general term used for nursery rhymes popular in Britain and America.]

Rin: (These lullabies began as ways to teach English pronunciation, songs to pass down history, songs meant to amuse, etc...

Children of all classes sang these songs during their education.)

Rin: So this stuff

Is what tons of people throughout history used to sing.

Rin: King Arthur appears in here, too, huh.

Page 10

[When good King Arthur ruled this land, 　　

He was a goodly king; 　　

He stole three pecks of barley-meal 　　

To make a bag-pudding. 　　

A bag-pudding the king did make, 　　

And stuffed it well with plums; 　　

And in it put great lumps of fat, 　　

As big as my two thumbs.]

Rin: ?

Rin: (Barley-meal...? Fat!?

Isn't this supposed to be custard pudding? What's the deal...?)

Book: Pudding: Best Collection

Book: There are all types of pudding!

The History of Pudding.

Sausage and dessert are both "pudding!?"

Rin: ...

Ah.

(What a pain... This is so over the top...)

Page 11

[But...]

Rin: ?

Rin: ?

Book: King Arthur and the two swords.

Announcement: The library will be closing shorty.

Page 12

Rin: (Crap!

I was just supposed to be doing a little research, but I got really into it...)

(Rin: It's already this late...)

Rin: (I wasn't able to finish the book about King Arthur, so I ended up checking it out.)

Rin: (The book about pudding, too.

I'll make sure to read it thoroughly la...)

Man: ?

Rin: (What, no way...

What am I getting so excited over?! Come on, me!)

Rin: (This is just some annoying thing I have to do! What's wrong with me?!!)

Page 13

[Those divine revelation menus are my job.]

[Intently doing research and spending long hours in the kitchen]

[Are just part of work.]

Rin: (Right...?)

Page 14

Rin: Why are you here.

Ryuu: I'm taking notes!

Ryuu: I can't cook, but I won't be able to write about it if I stay oblivious!

I'm counting on you to explain!

Rin: (Tch.) Coming in here and demanding something like that...

If you get in the way, you're banned from the kitchen from now on.

(Ryuu: Banned?!)

Ryuu: How cold-hearted...!!!

[Explanation]

Rin: So first, the ingredients.

Wheat flour, bread flour, brown sugar,

Spices, raisins, eggs, milk, and suet.

Ryuu: Suet?

(Also known as sukiyaki fat.)

Rin: It's beef fat.

A particular kind that comes from the area around the kidney's.

Page 15

Rin: Recently using butter has been commonplace, but

Since we're making "King Arthur's pudding," I think we should make it the old way.

Ryuu: When you say old, how old is it?

Rin: 17-18th century, I guess.

Rin: Pudding originally referred to a kind of sausage.

Back then, when the fields in fall started to thin out, cattle farmers would slaughter their cattle.

It was common to use organ casing to preserve food for later.

[There are various theories.]

Rin: Only after that, hundreds of years later, did the sweet pudding we have today get developed.

Ryuu: Ah!!

In the old stories of Mother Goose, there was something about sausage pudding!!

Ryuu: I see, so that's why! (I thought that was weird.)

Page 16

Rin: Since it's an old pastry, it's simple to make.

Rin: First, grate up the suet.

(Use a cheese grater or something like it.)

Rin: Mix it together with both flours and the sugar until it looks incorporated, then

Add the raisins, spices, beaten eggs, and milk, and stir it together.

The spices are cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and coriander, stuff like that.

Rin: With that, the dough's done.

Rin: Now,

Rin: Next is the interesting part!

First I'll boil this cloth in water.

Ryuu: Huh? The cloth?

Rin: Yeah.

In the 17th century, something called a "pudding cloth" came about.

Rin: This cloth became a substitute for cattle organ lining.

With it, they could easily make pudding all year round.

Page 17

[Dust with flour]

Rin: What we call "basins" now were like private steam-cookers. (I've never seen one myself though.)

Rin: Now, I'll wring out the cloth, spread it out, and sprinkle it with the wheat flour from before.

Then I'll place the dough on top.

Rin: Tie it together into a pouch.

Rin: And submerge it in boiling water!

Ryuu: !!!?

Ryuu: You put it in there?!

Won't it get all soggy?!

Rin: I thought so, too, but

The flour I sprinkled on hardens and becomes like a skin. So it shouldn't get very wet...

[Doubtful.]

Ryuu: Re...

Ryuu: Really...

Page 18

[As the water evaporates, add more hot water.]

Rin: Well, anything's an experience.

To keep the water covering the bag halfway, I'll have to periodically add water over the 2-3 hours it boils.

Ryuu: That's so long!!

So, where's the one you boiled for 2-3 hours?

Rin: There isn't one.

I've been making dinner preparations until now.

Ryuu: ...Hm?

Ryuu: Wait, Rintarou.

What are you doing with that pumpkin?

Rin: What am I doing...?

I thought I'd steam it like this so I could pull the knife out. (Since I can't take it out.)

Ryuu: Stop! Stop!! Just wait a sec!!

Rin: !?

What's the deal?

(Ryuu: No way!!)

(Ryuu: You absolutely cant!!)

Page 19

Ryuu: That kitchen knife...

Please trust in me to pull that knife out later.

Rin: ......

(Rin: Trust in you..?)

Rin: ....

What?!

Page 20

Ryuu: Y'know, Rin...

Seeing you in the kitchen has become really common, huh...

Rin: !

Whose fault is that?

Rin: Lately, I feel like I'm always in the kitchen or the library.

Ryuu: Ahh, for your research.

Was the pudding lots of trouble?

Rin: (No.) Just looking up the recipe was easy, but...

Rin: I ended up getting curious about all sorts of things on the way...

Rin: If I remember correctly, the "English people" in King Arthur's time and the Saxons that had come from the continent were different.

Pudding was a traditional dish from those Saxons, but...

Ryuu: Hmm.

Rin: That pudding was also made by King Arthur.

...Isn't that a bit weird?

Ryuu: Haha! I see.

...Yeah, it's a bit weird, but it's not that weird.

Page 21

Ryuu: Because at that time,

Weren't a lot of things changing?

Ryuu: Former enemies became citizens. The shape of the country was changing.

Organ casings became cloth. Models changed.

Ryuu: And those things changed from history to written word.

Ryuu: A simple high school student

Ryuu: Becomes a chef before you know it.

Page 22

Rin: Just when did I become a chef...? (I'm just doing what my job entails.)

Ryuu: Before you know it, I said!

Hey, is your pot okay? (It's almost time, right?)

[But...

For just a moment]

[While researching and making all sorts of things]

[Before I knew it, I was enjoying it.]

Page 23

(Finish it off by baking in the oven to dry the outside.)

[Just a little...]

(Prepare a custard sauce drizzle onto the pudding.)

[But that's a secret.]

Ryuu: It's doooone!

[Today's Divine Revelation Menu:

King Arthur's Pudding (with custard sauce)]

Page 24

Ryuu: Thanks for the meal! My very first pudding!

Ryuu: ...

....

Ryuu: ...Ah...

It's rich... (Really rich.)

Rin: It's really dense!

I wonder if the thick texture is because of the beef fat.

Ryuu: I can smell the spices!

When I smelled the dough earlier, it reminded me of Christmas!

Rin: Yeah, me, too!

Next, I'll try it with the custard on top.

Ryuu: Ah, me too!

Page 25

Ryuu: ...Yeah.

Ryuu: This is really good.

Ryuu: Fancy meals are good, too, but

A traditional dish with a few ingredients, cooked simply,

Ryuu: I feel like I can touch history just by eating it.

Ryuu: Living alongside nature's cycle with their cattle,

Devising new ways to use their wheat and fruits as they ate.

[Ryuunosuke is]

Ryuu: A strong wind blows over the scarce soil...

[Summoning an unseen, far-off legend.]

[Turning back time.]

Ryuu: I can see the capital,

Where a king used to live long ago, in a land far away.

Page 26

Ryuu: And in that place,

Ryuu: Is a sword that only the rightful king can pull out.

Page 28

Ryuu: ...Please

Lend me your power...

Ryuu: I am also a king,

Ordained by literary circles in the future.

Ryuu: Come out!

Page 29

Ryuu: Ex-

Ryuu: cali-

bur!

Rin: Huh?

Rin: I thought that was a different sword from Excalibur?

Page 30

Ryuu: ...Eh...?

Rin: Oh, it came out.

Ryuu: Ehh?!

Book: King Arthur is given Excalibur by the Lady of the Lake.

Ryuu: EEEEH?

Ryuu: It really was a different sword. (I didn't know...)

Rin: (The blade's undamaged.)

Rin: I wonder if that was a real revelation...?

[There's multiple patterns.]

Page 31

Girl: Hey!

You!

Girl: Wait...

Schoolgirl: Kya!

What are you doing?!

Girl: I, I'm sorry...

This is grandma's...

The pumpkin I got from my grandmother...

Schoolgirl: That was close! Geez, what are you doing?

Schoolgirl2: Just drop it. Let's go.

Page 32

(Schoolgirl: What a joke... That stuff about her pumpkin...)

Mom: Urara, are you okay!?

Urara: Ah, yeah, I'm fine!

Mom: You scared me...

That's why I said it'd be better to send it by mail!

Now, can you stand? Let's get going.

Urara: Yeah.

Mom: Don't stray off, okay!

Urara: Okay.

Urara: (This is Tokyo...)

Page 33

[This is the city I'll be living in from now on!]

[aion-rsa]

The Last Watch is the Night’s Watch on the Edge of Space

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In George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, the men of the Night’s Watch are known for “taking the black,” describing the night-dark garb they don when they pledge the remainder of their lifetimes to being posted on the Wall at the northern border of the Seven Kingdoms. Night gathers, and now my watch begins, is the start of their vow upon taking the black. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post.

Like the Night’s Watch, the Sentinels in J.S. Dewes’ The Last Watch take to the black—that is, they venture out to the very edges of space on essentially a one-way trip for what is a lifetime mission. Described as “The Expanse meets Game of Thrones,” Dewes’ debut shares a kindred spirit with ASOIAF, despite being set among the stars, in its focus on the former war heroes and criminals alike stationed at the Divide, the edge of the known universe, searching for any sign of their long-gone alien enemies. Despite their vast physical distance from the Core of the System Collective Legion, their duty is so integral to the Legion’s continued existence that even children know, through nursery rhymes, what are the stakes: Sentinel, Sentinel at the black, do not blink or turn your back / You must stand ready to stem the tide, lest Viators come to cross the Divide.

For all its thematic comparisons to a particular fantasy faction, The Last Watch occupies a science fiction subgenre that has long compelled readers: stories of everyday survival and occasional heroism set at the fringes of the known universe. Despite these series establishing in their worldbuilding the core of humanity’s (often prosperous) settlement in space, the heart of their stories take place on the outer edges, in which ordinary people, lacking the amenities and securities of their civilization’s core, must scrabble for survival. Consider The Expanse, in which Earth and Mars are warring superpowers but the dramatic thrust of the story occurs in Belter space, on a distant station, and aboard an unassuming ship called the Canterbury.

Hundreds of lightyears from the Legion’s Core, retired battleship Argus sits at the Divide, its loyal and unceasing position. For five years, former war hero Adequin Rake has overseen a crew with rather spotty service records, from soldiers who washed out of Legion command to petty criminals whose unusual skills are utilized in this unorthodox setting. Despite the ersatz military rankings keeping them in line, they resemble less The Expanse’s Martian Marines and have more in common with the scrappy Belters: self-sufficient and resourceful because more often than not they don’t get their requested upgrades from the Core; so far from the powers that be as to be nearly forgotten; and—most vitally—changed by their proximity to the time dilation that ripples along the Divide.

So, what makes these fringe space stories so compelling?

For one, it’s the allure of the frontier tale: adventures set at the known limits of the world, with protagonists who seek to engage the unknown for the potential of incredible discovery. The quintessential frontier in Western literature is the American West: romanticized as a wide-open land of opportunity for the settlers self-sufficient enough to explore it, and justified by the notion of manifest destiny. However, these themes have become so pervasive that the metaphorical frontier can easily be applied to science fiction and fantasy.

To wit: the Argus has its own chain of command that allows each new recruit, regardless of their background before stepping aboard, to work their way up through the system from entry-level oculus to highly-trusted optio. That system also makes room for Savants, hyper-intelligent human/Viator hybrids that embody the best of the enigmatic other species and provide much-needed insight into an alien culture. That said, the crew’s onboarding process is less of an idealistic oath and more a bunch of Legion legalese, plus a set of Viator-inspired Imprint tattoos to keep them humble: If anyone gets out of line, all Rake has to do is press a button, and they’re swiftly disciplined on a skin-deep level. However, the system does not explain why Rake, a hero of the last human/Viator war years prior, traded in her status as a Titan to command such a ragtag crew—nor why royal misfit and general shit-stirrer Cavalon Mercer shows up as her most unorthodox recruit yet.

Yet for all that the frontier setting presents a blank slate, it also challenges its protagonists to match the environment in its spareness. “In the emptiness of the frontier, we find characters reduced to their most basic selves,” Only Killers and Thieves author Paul Howarth writes for The Guardian, “the comforts and trappings of the modern world stripped away to leave them with startlingly elemental choices: death or survival; morality or corruption; love or hate.”

The military structure aboard the Argus actively supports such black-and-white thinking: loyalty or mutiny; honor or treason; survival or death. It also traps Rake and her crew in a toxic environment, as Dewes explains in a recent interview with The Mary Sue: “Though the Sentinels’ mistreatment is something that’s been simmering in the back of Adequin’s mind for years, her stagnancy at this far-flung post has stifled any potential progress in realizing it. She can’t see past the walls of her ship and across the 100 million light-year expanse back to reality and civilization, so she has no perspective through which to see how bad it is.”

Cavalon’s arrival explodes those binaries, as he provides some vital context for just how corrupt the Core has become—not to mention embodying another potential aspect of this subgenre’s appeal: the desire to engage with the problematic truths of manifest destiny, especially as it has translated to space exploration stories. The romanticism of the frontier myth often occludes the ugly truths of such expansionist storytelling, namely the theft and resettlement of lands already occupied by Native Americans, and the brutal genocide of these First Nations peoples. While it isn’t the central conflict, The Last Watch does contrast humanity’s antagonistic relationship with the Viators with the cultural exchange—technology, hybrids, and clones—that nevertheless occurs between these supposedly disparate civilizations. At the edge of space, there is no room for entitlement or ego.

And perhaps that’s the purest appeal of edge-of-space stories: the notion of one person facing down the infinite.

Martin was inspired to create ASOIAF’s Wall, and the Night’s Watch upon it, by visiting Hadrian’s Wall in the 1980s. Standing atop the historical site, he told John Hodgman in a 2011 interview, he tried to put himself in the mindset of a first-century Roman soldier staring out beyond the wall: “at the end of the known world staring at these distant hills and wondering what lived there and what might come out of it.�� It’s easy to see how that inspired the core of the Night’s Watch oath, the sacrifice of individuality that each man makes on Westeros’ Wall: I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men.

It’s a role that every watcher shares, yet there is a vast divide between the quotidian duty of serving yet another uneventful shift and the portentous moment of being the first set of eyes to behold something or someone otherworldly. In a blink, a man goes from cog in the machine to a vital piece of history.

The Last Watch subverts this thinking in two key ways. Instead of encroaching White Walkers, the Sentinels are meant to hold the Divide against the inhuman Viators, despite the fact that their advanced enemies haven’t posed a threat for centuries, excepting the recent decade-long Resurgence War that (as the war epics go) wiped out their remaining numbers. In the absence of returning Viators, the Sentinels stationed aboard the Argus instead grapple with the unique conundrum of confronting themselves. That is, ripples in time dilation from riding along the Divide that project their döppelgangers from a few moments in the future. These glimpses are usually inconsequential glitches that create self-fulfilling prophecies, but as the ripples become more frequent, they hint at branching paths, and signal one indisputable change in the universe as they know it: the Divide is collapsing.

What these edge-of-civilization stories share with frontier adventures is the escapist feeling that there is still world left to be discovered, that humanity has not mapped out its limits. Dewes clearly marks that limit, and then turns it on its watchers, with the otherworldly chasing them back to civilization. Only when the universe begins collapsing can Titans and princes be truly stripped down to their base selves: survivors… or simply ceasing to exist.

The Last Watch is available April 20 from Tor Books, and is available for pre-order now. Check out the full synopsis below…

The Expanse meets Game of Thrones in J. S. Dewes’s fast-paced, sci-fi adventure The Last Watch, where a handful of soldiers stand between humanity and annihilation.

The Divide.

It’s the edge of the universe.

Now it’s collapsing—and taking everyone and everything with it.

The only ones who can stop it are the Sentinels—the recruits, exiles, and court-martialed dregs of the military.

At the Divide, Adequin Rake commands the Argus. She has no resources, no comms—nothing, except for the soldiers that no one wanted. Her ace in the hole could be Cavalon Mercer—genius, asshole, and exiled prince who nuked his grandfather’s genetic facility for ��reasons.”

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

She knows they’re humanity’s last chance.

The post The Last Watch is the Night’s Watch on the Edge of Space appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[sebeth]

Legion of Super-Heroes #5

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

“Legion of Super-Heroes #5” by Keith Giffen, Tom & Mary Bierbaum, and Al Gordon.

The previous issue ended with a death match between Mon-El and the Time Trapper.  The Trapper warned there would be serious ramification after his death.

The current issue begins with a Proclamation:

“In celebration of the seventeenth anniversary of the liberation of the Planet Earth by His Excellency, Mordru the Great, and of the triumph of magic over the demon-spawned science:

The 29th day of November, in the year 2994, has been declared a Free Day throughout the Planet Earth.  By the grace of the Lord Emperor, all scheduled executions are that day suspended, laborers are to work a half-day only, and the global curfew is to be extended to eight o’clock in the evening, local time.

All are encouraged to rejoice and give thanks at our great fortune, to be so wisely and benevolently ruled.  Tribute must be delivered to the District Sovereign by twelve noon, local time.

All restrictions on the working of magic by other than First Citizens will remain strictly enforced. Violators will be put to death.”

The Proclamation verifies that the Time Trapper wasn’t bluffing when he told Mon-El that his death would cause the rise of Mordru.

“Seventeen years.  It’s really been seventeen years.  Someday I’ve got to give this up.  I’ve had no business surviving this long.  Who’s to say the next contact might not be the last one? Especially the next contact.  My God, one of Mordru’s own harlots.  Vidar better know what he’s doing.  Or I’ll end up like the rest…Gavril, Celeste, Ives, Jacques…Douglas…all of them gone.  And now they’ve got Foxmoor.  After the Free Day, he’ll be gone now.”

Andrew Nolan, a.k.a. Ferro Lad, narrates the tale.  Ferro Lad had a very short-lived career as a Legionnaire in the Silver Age.  It lasted around eight issues.  Andrew was born severely disfigured but with the ability to turn into solid iron.  Ferro Lad pre-dates the creation of Colossus by nine years.  Ferro Lad joined the Legion at the same time as Karate Kid, Princess Projectra, and Nemesis Kid.  Ferro Lad later sacrificed his life stopping the Sun-Eater.  

Vidar is Rond Vidar – brilliant scientist, Green Lantern, and Brainiac 5’s close friend.  Celeste is a private investigator who become more prominent later in the series.  Jacques is the second Invisible Kid.  Douglas is Andrew’s twin brother who also had the ability to turn into solid iron and the power to view other realities.

Andrew meets with Mordru’s “harlot” – Mysa Nal, a pre-transformation White Witch.  Mysa reveals Mordru has been telling stories of another world, in another time that only Mordru can see: “How the puppet master delivered to them the mercantile power of the Durlan knight.  His crucial role in creating the team that brought the mighty Mordru down.”

The puppet master is the Time Trapper and the Durlan knight is R.J. Brande.

Mysa recalls another of Mordru’s stories:

“In a time that never was, of freedoms that didn’t die.  Where castles of gleaming steel still rose to touch the sky.  A demon attacked in earth’s darkest hour.  His mission most monstrous our sun to devour.  The knights of the 30, under the sign of the jewel, united they stood ‘gainst the death-cloud so cruel.  Our knight, whose face was kept hidden from all, with courage of iron did enter death’s maw.  To destroy the demon, they’d forged a device that would deliver a great fire at the cost of a life.  The sacrifice was his, the knight with no face.  The fire’s awful glow filled the great silent place.  His fiery remains in the heavens did stay.  Above the sweet world who survived the dark day.”

Andrew doesn’t realize it but Mysa is recounting his sacrifice to defeat the Sun-Eater.

Andrew informs Vidar of Mysa’s stories.  Vidar sees a pattern: “Yes, my God, it’s actually starting to fit into place!  The myths, the rhymes…there’s definitely an internal consistency building here…”

Andrew worries about Rond recording the stories as it’s a death sentence if he’s discovered: “Do me a favor, Vidar.  I got a wife and kids.  You want to kill yourself, try not to take me with you.”

I’m glad Andrew found happiness in this reality.  In the mainstream reality, he grew up hidden and isolated, and then sacrificed himself at a very young age.  Not much of a life.

Glorith, the First-Wife of Mordru, enjoys a stroll in the winter air.  A servant informs her that Mano has returned from Lallor.

Glorith only appeared in one Legion comic before the current series.  Glorith was a minion of the Time Trapper who de-aged the Legionnaires into toddlers.  The Time Trapper rewarded Glorith’s failure by turning her into a blob of slime

Mano tells Glorith the rebels of Lallor have been dispatched: “We met great resistance. The natives had aligned with the Winathian clan that hurls lightning.”

Glorith: “You didn’t damage that cute one with the red hair, did you?”

Mano tells Glorith that there is “No sign any of the paranormals survived the blast.”

Rest in peace, Mekt, Garth, Ayla, and the Heroes of Lallor.

Glorith orders Mano to have Mysa put under surveillance.

Rond ponders his theory: “One time line.  History the way we know it.  Mordru rules all.  Then a second timeline.  History re-shaped by the puppet master.  An improbable balance is struck…neither Mordru nor the puppet master ever achieves total power.  Then something happens and the puppet master and his handiwork are destroyed.  Mordru once again reigns supreme.  And maybe now he’s the only one powerful enough to remember the other time line.  To know it existed.  But…if the puppet master’s manipulations could be restored…listen to me!  How can I believe in this fantasy?!  Because if I don’t, I’ve got nothing.”

Am I the only one who expects the Fantastic Four villain to appear every time the “puppet master” is mentioned?  The Time Trapper’s secret identity changes throughout the Legion’s history…it’s possible the Puppet Master was the Time Trapper at one point!

Can we take a minute to appreciate Rond’s genius?  He lives in a universe where science is banned and the planets are kept at a medieval era of technology and he has still correctly summarized the events that led to the current reality.

Andrew and Mysa meet at the church.  Both are unaware they are under surveillance.  Msya will attempt to mind-link with Mordru while he’s sleeping and relay any information to Vidar.

Glorith views Vidar and Andrew’s meeting through an electronic screen.  I’m assuming the “no science” rule only applies to the common people and not royalty.

Glorith ponders Vidar: “But that Vidar boy…mmmmm, that Vidar boy…here I thought he was such a little dunce…but him I can use.  Yessss. Him I can definitely use.”

Mano’s attempting to discover Glorith’s schemes: “First Wife?!  That little tramp is up to something!  Something big…something she’s willing to kill for to keep secret…so, who else might be connected in some way?  Mysa!  Glorith must have been watching her for a reason.”

Vidar prepares himself to receive the mind-link with Mordru: “Mordru’s mind…so cold……My God! So much hatred! The driving fear!  The void…the eons…back to his youth…Gemworld…wicked villainy…struggle to conquer Amethyst…defeat…no, no!  Buried alive!...entombed for centuries…but arose…awesome powers returned!  Nobody could challenge…except the great manipulator…the puppet master…he’s the one…brought them…warped time to thwart me…he’s the one…brought them…mercantile power of the Durlan knight…the cursed moment…the critical exchange!...through the time-stream…the puppet master brought him, the Durlan, into the 30th century to play a pivotal role.  The Durlan knight becomes…the key domino had fallen.  All else followed to block my rise!”

The mind-link breaks up.

Amethyst is a young sorceress and the protector of Gemworld.  Amethyst defeated Mordru in the 20th century and buried him alive.  Mordru stayed entombed until the 30th century.  He caused Mysa to be exiled from the Sorcerer’s World and frequently opposed the Legion.

We see flashes of Phase, Garryn Bek, and the Durlan from the L.E.G.I.O.N. series during the mind-link. The L.E.G.I.O.N. series is set in the 20th century.

Andrew scrounges for food to feed his family: “Gotta scrounge up something, or the family doesn’t eat.  They sure pay the price for my ideals.  Hell, with that crazy Vidar, I’m going to pay the price.  The ultimate price.  How did I get mixed up with him?  Sure, he can afford to believe.  All he stands to lose his life.  A husband, a father, doesn’t have that luxury.  Oh God, for their sakes, please let Vidar come to his senses.”

Mano receives a demonstration of a device that shows a complete record of a person’s thoughts and memories.  The downside? The individual’s body must be completely dissolved in an R.N.A. bath.

Glorith revives an unconscious Vidar: “After all, when Mordru awakens at dawn, he will know his mind has been violated and by whom.  That cute little butt of yours really will be roasted this time.  Unless I choose to save it again.  You see, I have the feeling we can be of mutual service, you and I.  Yes, Rond Vidar, I think it’s time we had a nice long chat.”

Mano searches for Mysa. She’s on the menu for the R.N.A. bath.

Andrew spots Mano heading for the church: “Uh-oh.  Headed for Holy Cross.  They’re on to us all right.  Damn it! Stupid Mysa – must be back at the cathedral!  If she is, she’s finished!  But I can’t worry about that!  I have to think about my family.  There’s got to be a safe place to run.  I…Dammit, dammit, dammit!  Jacques…Douglas…Foxmoor…and now…I just can’t run off and let another one die!”

Andrew’s moment of hesitation is a struggle many people have undergone.  Do you protect your family or do you do the right thing?  

Glorith informs Vidar that another dark force is needed to replace the puppet master and restore the balance: “But I can do it, Rond.  It’s my destiny to do it. I will have that power.  I will become that force.  No matter what it costs.”

Rond muses over Glorith’s sacrifice: “The spell is brutal.  Primitive.  I almost feel sorry for her.  Glorith knew she couldn’t back out.  She’s in just as deep as we are.  So now all our fates are in her hands.  Everything is in her hands.  Please let her do it right.  Every symbol, every piece, must be put back in exactly the proper place.  If the new order is to be created, the fit must be precise.  The legendary source of inspiration must be replaced.  The Daxamite strength must be restored.  And finally, the financier must be delivered.  Many of the original pieces – gone with the puppet-master, lost when he was destroyed.  So we make our own.  And pray they serve the purpose.”

The ”source of inspiration” is Superboy, the “Daxamite strength” is Mon-El, and the “financier” is R.J. Brande.

Andrew interrupts Mano’s capture of Mysa.

Glorith continues the spell: “She’ll expect the power to come to her immediately.  Until she realizes her life is slowly flowing away, and that it’s part of the spell.  She expected the power to spare her the agony.  But the only way to get the power is to endure the final, ultimate agony. The spell is fatal.”

Mordru awakens at dawn as the universe fades to white.

I’m always amazed in the difference between current comics and comics from the pre-decompression era. The fifth issue of the Legion comics would have been a six issue arc if it had been published in the 2000’s.

I loved Andrew and Vidar as the narrators of the issue.  Both are minor characters in the Legion and haven’t had much time in the spotlight.

I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of this alternate reality.  How and why did the Ranzz siblings arrive on Lallor to aid in the rebellion?  Where are the rest of the Fatal Five?  Does Validus even exist in this reality?  Was Daxam destroyed?  Daxam gets trashed in every Legion continuity – Darkseid, the Time Trapper, Glorith – did Mordru destroy it this time?  Glorith was definitely power-hungry but was she as evil as she will be post-spell?

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New Post has been published on http://drubbler.com/2017/02/22/be-realistic-or-pernicious-illusions-of-modernity/

"Be realistic!" or pernicious illusions of modernity

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Dmitry Buyanov, February 23, 2017, 1:33- REGNUM

“be realistic!” — urges us to modern society through many votes: characters serials, tv presenters, “psihotrenerov”, employers, husbands and wives. The time has come to say goodbye to “over-specified, chivalry, moralizatorstvom, any good illusions. There are objective requirements of the market — that the search box work that friendships or romantic relationships, it is necessary to ensure the start of family life, to achieve success, get a taste of those maximum entertainment that offers modernity. It is necessary to acquire famous cynicism, less believing others, learn to feel, when the “impudent” and when is humility and obedience. To become effective, communicative, discard the complexes and tightness. Learn how to do those things with pleasure, that you seemed unpleasant or even repugnant. Of course, master “tolerance”: each has its own truth, only the truth is measured by the volume of money supply and the number of people that you can make bad with impunity.

“be realistic!” — urges us to Anselm of Canterbury, Thomas Aquinas or Georg Hegel. It is time to say goodbye with all accidents, particulars, petty desires of everyday life, addictive us into his abyss, enslaving us, and closing on us the light of truth. There are great and pure ideas, whose imperfect reflection is the real world. Need to know the perfect take from God mind. And, knowing him, is break free from the apparent oppression of domestic circumstances, see the real Life, hidden from sight sinful beauty and harmony of God’s creation.

How understanding “a realistic view of the world” is different in different eras and in different Nations! Today, we believe it is obvious that the lightning shines due to the fact that Zeus kills the concept not the sacrificial libation. Tomorrow is that you cannot chase the personal enrichment, as the immortal soul sponsored to eternal torment. The day after tomorrow-that there is no God, nothing is true and everything is permitted, and should be the last fool or loser to not start be enriched at the expense of orphans, amputees and other “not which became colorings in the market.”

eventually, not about strict science is said when called upon “to discard the illusion” and see “truth of life”. In fact, the “obvious truth” issue some combination of imposed society stereotypes and creatures of their own fears. “Realistically” that say “on tv. Or that I’m afraid to go against the unfair and (deep down) hated me the order of things: because I do not want to sacrifice peace and minimal well-being; because I consider myself an empty spot and do not believe in themselves.

If talking about “realism” people got acquainted with real scientific volumes, psychologists, political scientists, and economists — maybe he would become the most ardent “dreamer”, “Idealist,” Jeffrey s. young and revolutionary. That is the irony of our lives that domestic understanding “reality” narrow-minded calculation and the pursuit of success is the point opposite of true life. In order to require a person to part with dreams of a better world, you become very blind and deaf to everything that comes around: wars, theft, destruction, napolzajushhej trouble.

therefore need to sincerely wonder, seeing that in today’s society, commonly referred to as “objective reality” and who generally accused it of “ignoring”. Think, for example, that should be shown in the movie before it is considered to be “realistic”? Dirt, lies, betrayal, corruption, filth, trampling all kind and fair. We believe in “selling MENTA” than in “noble policeman”. That gives the “realistic” love stories? Quarrels, infidelity, indifference. History of nerazdeljonnoj or failed love seems to us to be more relevant to reality than a description of a happy marriage. On this occasion people even go mocking and rude rhymes, like: “you just told me the truth and I want to” terrible …

a realistic character is not the one who overcomes all obstacles, overcomes the enemy, rescues all the friends, with spreading “reasonable, kind, eternal. We believe in the lone goal of the world and people of character, becoming a victim of the huge Systems and accidental circumstances, any undertaking which is doomed to failure. Maximum that can claim to be the hero is the economic success achieved through not too fair “mashing” all competitors. And then — if it will not be dependent on any authorities or criminals, this image is more likely to become a capitalist “grandstanding”.

the popularity of Existentialism, declaring the person lonely and impotent before the forces of the surrounding world. All these “defeatist” notes in popular songs, books, movies. The aesthetics of death, evil, darkness. The problem of insecurity, apathy and despair, leading even to suicide. All this does not mean that the world cannot be different. But such trends could occur if in life we built society relevant issues.

What laughed I am now in my dream?

no znamen’em Heaven nor hell speech

None answered me not quiet.

then I asked the heart chelovech’e:

are you beating my question answer —

What I laughed at? In response — no sound.

Darkness, darkness. And infinite flour.

are silent and God and hell. And you remain silent.

What I laughed at? Knew whether the night

his short life of grace?

But I’ve been willing to give.

let the bright flag izorvan will be in tatters.

Strong love and glory days of death,

and beauty is strong. But death is stronger.

a similar sentiment is not free. Of course, people always want to cry, too lazy, to justify themselves. To say that I’m not so bad, because nobody in the entire universe was unable to do more than I have — at least not without the assistance of powerful external forces or without resorting to any special infamy. But when the minute shameful weakness similar complaints turn into “mainstream”, “law of life”, “reality” is to face terrible consequences as all of society and individuals. When life departs heroism, morality, the Supreme ideal is flourishing in their place of death. The poet writes: death is overpowering love, beauty and fame (“success”, in modern). And not the fact that this is the fault of the power of death, rather than a weakness in our society of love, beauty and fame. The assertion that the world objectively bad and need to “be realistic”, rather its correct is not a scientific fact, and refusal to fight, losing streak prior to the battle.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to prove a person overcome that “life is beautiful and amazing. Society, pogruzhjonnoe the wicked haze weakness and disbelief, does not believe the movie “the shining path” in which peasant girl finds happiness in learning and Stakhanovite work. So much so that everyone knows that honest work and study “the five little gives us created in the world.

require something more subtle. Recognizing on the one hand, all the disastrous thing about an existing world. Feeling the pain and sorrow of every human they pressed down against. But, on the other hand, proclaims the possibility of salvation even from this abyss. Believes in people and seeing dormant forces in it. Those forces that are not visible to man, tverdjashhemu of “realism”.

this subtlety is at John Keats English poet-romanticist, which belong to the above line. His life reveals to us the most awful and undeniable objectivity: he died in 25 years of mentored slip for a long time. Before this, in 15 years, Keats became an orphan: an accident took away his father, tuberculosis is the mother. The poet knew him of diverting the short term — and in trying to find salvation from gloomy rock. Kitts can rightly be called one of the most pessimistic English poets. But he would not have been romantic if not managed to adopt the life even in the face of predestined him to death.

when I’m scary that one miguet

Burn all life-and ashes leave

and books will not, as Riga

a rich harvest, collected fulfill;

when I star the wilds of universe

Attempt writing spaces other

and feel that will bounce breath

and I do not regard and shadows;

when I see Darling minute

that maybe I won’t be able to death

get enough reckless love

then one stand on the shore

big world, from all otrinut,

and the fame and love will vanish.

negation and affirmation

than the “realism” of today differs from “realism” times of Scholasticism? The issue is not that “science has proven, that there is no God, as does not exist in literally any ideas from which the” decommissioned “real objects and events. And without any scientists, with the position of pure faith, there were people in the middle ages, argued with the then “realists”. As there were opponents and the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, whose description of the “world of ideas” relied on by subsequent thinkers.

Platonic opponents — the so-called “sophists” — in the days before the ad promoted a popular theory right now. Like, everything in the world is relative, there is no objective truth, so everyone is free to think whatever he wants, and do what feels right. In practice, the Sophists earned that taught people to “verbal juggling” — the ability to nicely say, pick pointless, but seemingly “logical” and “scientific” proof of their position. As a result, their students could prove that the father must obey the son, elderly people need to eat and everything else. In General, freedom of speech and triumphed limit tolerance.

Plato, arguing with them, argued that truth exists. In fact, harsh sense — as a subject, lying somewhere and somehow functioning. Which, roughly speaking, you can “feel”. No hands, of course — and the mind. Accordingly, as we cannot do with different length meter ruler, because somewhere in the Museum’s “Etalon” meter, also we cannot say what we want, because somewhere is stored “objective truth”.

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[summertimemusician]

Bonus/Technically a Shiny Variant of that Same Category: Sir Raven from the Oracle Series Manga

No one:

Literally No One:

Me, running on three hours of sleep and only spite and coffee keeping my mortal vessel functioning, also trying to get all of the figurines in Minish Cap to scratch the completionist itch: We, as both the Zelda Fandom and Lu Fandom, don't really talk enough about First, The Hero of Men and The Original Attempted Calamity Hero huh?

And by that, I mean these gentlemen: