Lets read Everworld-Show me the way to go home.

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Lets read Everworld-Show me the way to go home.

Zore: Sep 21, 2010; willfully illiterate, aggressively miserable sourpuss whose sole raison d�etre is to put other people down for liking the wrong things

If people are still interested in going through the books, I'd definitely give posting it a shot. I do think Everworld is a really interesting series for where it goes.

# ? Jun 12, 2023 07:35

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# ? Jun 7, 2024 17:55

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

I would still be interested in reading along; I never finished the series the first time around.

# ? Jun 12, 2023 08:01

dungeon cousin: Nov 26, 2012; woop woop
loop loop

I'd like to see the let's read keep going. I planned to continue reading the series and I'd love to do so with the thread.

# ? Jun 12, 2023 10:08

Kazzah: Jul 15, 2011; Formerly known as
Krazyface; Hair Elf

I'd be down for some more Everworld. Hell, I could take a book or two.

# ? Jun 12, 2023 13:08

Malpais Legate: Oct 1, 2014

I was actually gonna offer too, as I think I've got the books lying around on my hard drive. Just figured it was better to let the thread sit on the news for a bit.

Regardless of who continues, I will be around to post about it.

# ? Jun 12, 2023 14:06

Soonmot: Dec 19, 2002; Entrapta fucking loves robots; Grimey Drawer

I have the books if someone wants to continue posting. I was thinking of volunteering but knew I wouldn't be able to add all the insightful stuff and behind the scenes action that Epi did.

# ? Jun 12, 2023 14:14

nine-gear crow: Aug 10, 2013

Kazzah posted:

I'd be down for some more Everworld. Hell, I could take a book or two.

This seems like a good idea. Split the workload up between three or four people. Each person gets like 3 or 4 books and they just pass the baton to whoever's next in the order once their book ends.

# ? Jun 12, 2023 16:48

Soonmot: Dec 19, 2002; Entrapta fucking loves robots; Grimey Drawer

nine-gear crow posted:

This seems like a good idea. Split the workload up between three or four people. Each person gets like 3 or 4 books and they just pass the baton to whoever's next in the order once their book ends.

sounds like a plan. If anyone needs the books, PM me

# ? Jun 12, 2023 18:17

cptn_dr: Sep 7, 2011; Seven for beauty that blossoms and dies

I just got called up on the Animorphs thread and learned the news. RIP Epicurious, you were a real one, and made the world a more enjoyable place to be over some really lovely years.

# ? Jun 14, 2023 05:27

Soonmot: Dec 19, 2002; Entrapta fucking loves robots; Grimey Drawer

Okay, so I guess I'll start this off so this thread doesn't just fade away. I hope Epi had a better copy of the book because the PDF I'm using is formatted like poo poo and has all sorts of punctuation weirdness to correct when pasting over.

quote:

Chapter Twenty-Eight

RrrrRRRRrrrrRRRRRrrrrrRRRRR.
I released the key. My car. I was in my car. Morning. Something had just happened here, here in the real world.

I searched my memory. My mom. That was it. She hadn't done my laundry. No clean shirt. I had to wear some pathetic, raggedy thing from, like, three years ago. What did I care? Oh. Yeah. We'd all had dinner together the night before. Me, my mom, this guy she was seeing. Eddie. That was it, Eddie. She wanted Eddie and me to be friends, to get along.

I knew she was thinking about getting married. I knew it, although she denied it. The final step was getting me and Eddie so we could stand each other. It would be heavy lifting, that would. He didn't like me, and the reverse. He was an assistant professor of Romance languages at the university.

RrrRRRRrrrrrRRRRRrrrr.

A shirt that didn't fit and made it look like I thought I was going golfing, and the memory of a huge fight with my mom the night before, and now the car wouldn't start. I climbed out, raised the hood, and then kicked the front fender till I thought I'd broken my foot. I cursed the car and then moved on to cursing life in general. Then, calmer, I unscrewed the air filter and leaned over to look down inside the old fashioned carburetor.

From the carburetor, cold salt water sprayed.

I opened my eyes. The ship had caught a freak wave on the beam. The spray had slapped me awake, but only partly. I opened my eyes and closed them, wondering whether I'd ever be able to fall back to-

The four of us. Jalil, April, Christopher, me. All sitting cross-legged on the grass. Outside the school. Books open on our laps, sandwiches in wrappers, small bags of chips. Kids all around, lounging, talking, joking, eating.

Lunch. Outside the cafeteria, out on the common. It was a nice day. Not night, day.

Not Starbucks, not my car, school.

"You two must have woken up,� April said, looking at me and Christopher.

Jalil jerked his thumb at me. "No, he just crossed over. You can tell by the confused 'where am I?� look on his face.�

"I'm here,� I managed to say. �Someone stepped on my hand, woke me up. Christopher's looking at the stars.�

Christopher made a face. �I am not looking at the stars, I am right here looking at the three of you. Just because he... me... the other me... isn't here, doesn't mean I'm deaf, dumb, and blind and you have to act like I'm some senile old man. He... Everworld Chris... popped in yesterday evening, so I got a memory update. I know about the Viking ship and us... you, whoever... being on the way to start trouble with freaking Azfreaking?tecs.

�Both versions of him are equally annoying,� Jalil said to April.

A second later, Christopher frowned. His face confused.

�Meeting called to order,� Jalil said sardonically. �Other Chris has joined us.�

�This is beyond nuts,� Christopher said. "Normal me can't tell if he's losing his mind or what.�

"There is no normal you,� I said, an attempt at a joke. I never had gotten my car going that morning. Yes, that morning. I'd ended up taking a city bus because the school bus had come and gone.

"Let's talk fast,� April said. "I'm sleeping back under the tent with the women. Someone will wake me up any second.�

"Hey, try being out in the open,� I said. "What are you complaining about?�

April made an amused face. "I'm with the wives and the girlfriends, and these Vikings aren't exactly discreet. Or even civilized. I'm getting my sex education class here. And I managed to make matters worse by handing out Advil to Harald's wife, who was having cramps, and now he's enjoying himself because she's feeling better, and the two of them want to give me a goat as a thank-you gift. I'm trapped in the middle of Love Secrets of Norsemen. Not to mention that in the dark a couple of these guys have accidentally?onpurpose plopped down on top of me.�

"Except for that last part, I'd trade places with you. So. What do we talk about?�

Christopher asked brightly. "You think the Bears will change quarterbacks?�

"How do we stay here?� April demanded, showing no interest in joking. "How do we hang on to this, to being here? How do we stop getting dragged back to Everworld?�

Jalil nodded in agreement. "That would be Issue Number One.�

"This was fun, in an insane kind of way,� Christopher said, "but I have a life. Okay, not much of one, but better than the life that involves getting killed by Aztecs.�

"There must be a way,� April said. "Not to� look, I don't want to sound like a ditz, but my friends are acting weird around me. Like they don't trust me anymore. It's all this stuff. I mean, of course I'm different than I was. Look at what's happening to me!�

Her voice rose to a near shriek. She took a couple of deep breaths and tried to form her face into its usual lines.

"It's like being that bag lady downtown, the one who talks to voices. I'm living this nice, normal life, but in my head I have memories of being in Everworld, and then when I slip back across, it's like this second personality, like me but not me, takes over. This is the textbook definition of insanity. I feel like me, only not. I'm here, only not.�

" 'There's someone in my head, but it's not me,�� Christopher sang. "Sorry. Suddenly I was channeling Pink Floyd.�

I remembered the fight with my mom. Freaking out and kicking my car. More emotion than I usually show. Less in control than I usually am. April was right. We were living through something that was very close to insanity. Maybe it was insanity. How would you know?

"I want to be home,� April said.

Christopher nodded.

Jalil shot a look at me, questioning. "How about you, David?�

I started. I'd been off in my own thoughts, still assimilating the memories of the last couple of days. This was all taking place in a single night's sleep. But Starbucks had been last evening. An hour ago there, twelve hours here.

"Senna,� I blurted. "There's still Senna. I want to find her.�

"True love,� Christopher sneered. "Here's a thought: Find another girlfriend. Senna's gone. Even if she weren't gone, she's trouble.�

"No. I want to find her. I'm not giving up till I do.�

"Kind of a moot issue,� Jalil said wearily. "Since we don't know how to stay here, how to escape Everworld.�

"Yeah, well, if that's what we want to do, I think the answer is probably over there in Everworld,� I said.

"If?� April echoed, staring hard at me. "If?�

I snapped awake.

No one had stepped on my hand. No splash of cold water. I simply woke up. Jalil and Christopher slept. Presumably April, too, back with the women.

I was relieved.

# ? Jun 16, 2023 22:09

Soonmot: Dec 19, 2002; Entrapta fucking loves robots; Grimey Drawer

So now, I'm actually getting interested in the real world stuff, their normal selves are obviously having problems while they're in Everworld and it's affecting their lives.

# ? Jun 16, 2023 22:33

Malpais Legate: Oct 1, 2014

Real fun to just get random bursts of new traumatic memories every few days. I'm sure it'll only get better with time.

# ? Jun 17, 2023 00:50

Soonmot: Dec 19, 2002; Entrapta fucking loves robots; Grimey Drawer

No kidding, it'd be one thing if their earth selves were just having some missing time when the everworld versions were back, but having these memories just appear? I wonder if the stay at home versions are talking to each other about this?

# ? Jun 17, 2023 04:12

Zore: Sep 21, 2010; willfully illiterate, aggressively miserable sourpuss whose sole raison d�etre is to put other people down for liking the wrong things

They definitely are since we're seeing them sort of already working out when the Everworld version has been 'uploaded'.

Its probably the most existentially horrifying way this could play out. The ones in Everworld get brief tastes of familiarity and home when they sleep which appear to be colored massively by the fact that they're all starting to have serious issues with the massively traumatizing memories being uploaded. The ones in Earth are having to live their normal lives knowing that at any minute they might essentially get a huge flashback of horrible memories.

And that isn't even getting into the fact that they're all already dissociating the Everworld selves and the Earth selves. Feels like the perfect way to get someone to have a mental break.

# ? Jun 17, 2023 04:33

Soonmot: Dec 19, 2002; Entrapta fucking loves robots; Grimey Drawer

New chapter comes with a bit of world building. The folks of Everworld know *of* earth, but don't know what it's like. The Hetwan are throwing things off balance and not native to the world, it seems.

quote:

Chapter Twenty-Nine
Sven Swordeater was there by the rail. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to be around him or not. But mostly the Vikings seemed like a fairly democratic bunch. As long as you didn't screw up. Then this wiry little guy named Jospin would come over and kick the hell out of you.

I got up, moving carefully so as not to wake Christopher and Jalil. They would still be back there. Sitting on the grass, nibbling Doritos and asking themselves how they could stay there. I'd still be there, too. Part of me. That me. But they'd know that I had crossed back over. That I was in Everworld again.

I went and stood, learning on the rail, and looked up at the stars. Different stars, I was pretty sure. No North Star. A moon, but larger and more pale. Sven was doing pretty much the same. Hanging and looking and, I guess, thinking. When he spoke, it was with a heavy speech impediment, like he had a mouth full of sandwich. I was surprised he could talk at all. I could see the scars, even in starlight.

"My father says you escaped from Loki's castle.�

No point denying it. "Yeah. The four of us,� I said.

Long silence.

"My father says you come from the Old World. The world of before.�

I sucked in a deep breath. "Yes, we... um, excuse me for not knowing, but do you have some title I should use when I talk to you?�

Sven smiled his hideous smile. "No. Harald is lord on this ship, and should he fall then Sancho will take his place. I am only Sven. Tell me about the Old World.�

"It's very different,� I said. "More like... I don't know. More complicated, maybe. Lots of machines. Flying machines and cars. It's hard to describe. It's mostly peaceful, at least where I'm from. No swords or armor. We have guns instead. And, you know, TV, movies, books.�

Well, David, I thought ruefully, that should paint a pretty clear picture.
"It's very different,� I added lamely. "Tell me about this place. Everworld.�

"It's very different,� Sven said without missing a beat. We both laughed.

Silence again.

"Things are changing,� Sven said after a while. "Many things. For many centuries we tended our fields at planting and harvest, sheared our sheep, and bred our cows and horses. Twice a year we would go a-Viking. We raided along the coast of Atlantis- until they agreed to pay us a yearly tribute. And then we raided up the great Nilus River to take the gold and silver of the Egyptians, and through the swamps and fens to find the wondrous steel made by the Coo-Hatch. We took slaves and women and all manner of riches. And of course we traded peacefully when that was profitable: our fish and wool for Dwarvish swords, our wood for Greek pottery.�

"Sounds interesting,� I prompted, while my brain was busy going, Atlantis? Coo?Hatch? I glanced over, wishing Jalil or Christopher would wake up so they could hear some of this.

"There was a balance in this world,� Sven said. "And then came the Hetwan.�

"I saw one of them,� I said. It came out without me thinking about it. A sudden blurt.

All at once the friendly chat was over. Sven spun, grabbed my arms, and yanked me close. "You saw a Hetwan? Where? Where?�

"In Loki's castle,� I said.

"By the gods,� Sven whispered, appalled. "By all the gods of Asgard! Father! Father!�

Sven and I were no longer friends. He dragged me, half stumbling, toward the stern, yelling, cursing, calling for his father to wake up. Seconds later I was standing in front of Harald Goldtooth, Sancho, Sven, and half the ship.

"You're sure you saw a Hetwan?� Harald demanded.

"Yes. Yes... my lord.�

"Neither man, nor dwarf, nor nymph, nor elf, nor any other creature of the Old World? But not like the Coo-Hatch or the Ett, either, but standing as a man stands, and with wings, and with-�

"With three little insectlike arms that are always moving, like they're snatching food out of the air,� I finished. "Loki called him a Hetwan. I think he was, like, the representative for some guy named Ka Anor.�

Not a sound from any of the men and women there. I swear that hearts stopped beating. The water gurgled down the side of the ship, the sail sighed as it swelled, but not a word.

"We have been betrayed!� a man said, quickly hushed.

"What did Loki say to this Hetwan filth?� Harald demanded.

"He... well, he was basically apologizing and threatening. The Hetwan was mad because...� I didn't know how to go on. Should I mention Senna?

Jalil made the decision for me. "Loki tried to remove someone from our world and bring her here. He sent Fenrir. He succeeded in grabbing this person, but somehow she got away from him, or he lost her. That's how we ended up here. We were carried along in her wake.�

Harald looked to both his sons, then at each of us. "I tell you now, minstrel, that if you lie to me I will kill you.�

Said quietly. Said without anger. Said with absolute seriousness. I believed him.

"Who is this person that Loki took from your world?�

I pressed my lips together, firm. Not this time. I wasn't giving Senna up. We didn't have to answer. You don't like if you don't answer. Christopher didn't feel the same.

"Who is she? Good question. Loki kept calling her a witch.�

No one laughed. No one rolled their eyes. These men took that word very seriously.

"What did Loki want with this witch?� Harald asked.

"We don't know,� I said.

Harald's sword was out and pressed against my throat before I could twitch. I felt cold steel, a coldness that reached down deep and froze my insides.

"He's telling the truth!� Jalil yelled desperately. "He's telling the truth! He doesn't know. Not really.�

Harld looked hard at me. "Then what does he suspect?�

"We think Loki may want to use her somehow,� April answered for me. "We... we don't know how. You have to understand, we had no idea Everworld even existed. This is all new. All of it. In our world there are no Vikings and no Loki.�

Harald was not offended or surprised. "Of course not. When Everworld was born, the gods left the Old World and came to this new place. And they carried their people with them. Zeus and his children, Huitzilopoctli and his foul brood, Odin and his own. All the gods.�

"A new universe,� Jalil said under his breath. Then, "Why did the gods create Everworld? Why did they come here?�

Someone standing behind Jalil swatted him in the back of the head. It wasn't malicious, but it wasn't gentle, either. "Harald asks the questions here,� a man's gruff voice admonished.

Thorolf. It hadn't occurred to me that he might feel responsible for us. And if we offended, he might suffer. Harald shook his head, considering, suspicious, but not quite ready to call us liars or spies.

"Everyone back to your duties,� he said at last, dismissing us.

Grumbling Vikings went back to sleep. April looked like she wanted to hang out with us, but it wouldn't do for us to look like we were conspiring. I went back and lay down again. But I didn't sleep.

# ? Jun 18, 2023 02:10

Malpais Legate: Oct 1, 2014

Don't the books shift perspective with each volume? I remember getting Jalil's but the version I read as a kid was a consolidation of however many volumes.

# ? Jun 19, 2023 04:57

Kazzah: Jul 15, 2011; Formerly known as
Krazyface; Hair Elf

Yeah, they all get a turn.

Man, I still remember that conversation with Sven Swordeater perfectly.

# ? Jun 19, 2023 05:03

Tree Bucket: Apr 1, 2016; R.I.P.idura leucophrys

I'm currently recovering from very minor surgery that required about an inch of suturing, and it turbo sucks, and this leads me to conclude that a) Mr. Swordeater would be wishing for death more or less constantly and b) the kids, upon being hung by their wrists from the cliff, really should be physically and mentally crippled for the next few hours/days/years.

# ? Jun 19, 2023 07:45

Soonmot: Dec 19, 2002; Entrapta fucking loves robots; Grimey Drawer

We are now on pg 93 of 100, it really doesn't feel like we're coming up on a natural ending, but I guess that goes back to this series being one giant story instead of monster of the week episodes like Animorphs.

quote:

Chapter Thirty

The sun rose on a Viking fleet spread across miles of ocean. We were sailing east into the sun. Assuming that the sun rose in the east here. Assuming it mattered. Christopher was in line to use the head. This amounted to a short platform with a hole in it. The platform hung out over the sea. I'd used it the night before. It was a good idea to hurry: The sea had a tendency to rise up and come shooting like a fire hose up through the hole. Which woke you up in a big hurry. There was no privacy, male or female. Which took a little getting used to, and explained my own preference for going at night.

Breakfast was salted fish that had been steeped in fresh water to leech out some, but not nearly all, of the salt. There was bread, still fresh after only a day out of port. And apples. Small and wormy. I saw Jalil writing in the notebook from April's backpack. I went over to stand by him, not wanting to pry. He saw me and held the pad so I could see. He was using an unlined divider piece to sketch a map. It showed the outlines of the inlet containing Loki's castle and the village. The detail was surprisingly good.

"Might as well get to know the place," Jalil said.

He had also covered at least one page with tiny handwriting, a description of what we'd seen so far. What we'd learned.

"You writing a book?" I asked.

"More or less. A record. We don't know how long we'll be here. How long till we find a way to escape. Maybe we learn something and don't know its significance till later. Maybe there are clues." He shrugged.

I turned toward the bow and caught a shot of fine, cold spray. It made me grin. "You hate all this so much?� I asked him.

"Hate it? No. I think it's the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me. But that's not the point, is it? I have a life. I have family. Friends, although they can get along without me."

"They aren't getting along without you," I pointed out. "You're there. You're there and here."

"Yeah, that's not too strange," he said. "Anyway, that's my life, man. Back there. Back in my own universe. That's my life."

"Yeah. Good life," I said sarcastically. "You work, where? Burger King?"

"Boston Market."

"We'll both go off to college, get degrees in something or other-"

"Business major, minor in journalism," Jalil said.

"Whatever. So you do what with the rest of your life?"

He didn't look like I was getting to him. "Report on business. You know, Wall Street Journal, CNN, CNBC, something like that."

"Get married, have kids. Buy a nice car. Buy a house. Water the lawn. Shop with your wife. Watch TV. You ever think about that? Going to work every day, kissing someone's butt, someone's it doesn't matter whose. Some boss you have to tell, 'Yes, sir, brilliant idea, sir!� "

"Maybe I'm the boss,� he said with a small smile.

"Maybe you are. So it's someone else kissing your butt. Is that better? I mean, high school is four years, and it seems like forever. You work for thirty, forty years. Forty freaking years getting in the car, driving through traffic, dealing with b.s., driving home, and taking the kids to buy sneakers?"

I realized April had come over. How long she'd been listening, I didn't know.

"And you don't want all that?" she asked me.

"Maybe. Someday," I said. "I don't even know if I'll go to college, but my mom's looking at an MBA for me, and I go along, mostly. Why? Because I care about business? No, because everyone's on me about my future. Gotta get the grades so you can get a good college so you can get a good business school so you can get on with some big firm where you shuffle papers and tap on a keyboard and that's it, man, that's your life till you get old and wonder what the hell you did with your life. That's not life. Not for a man, anyway."

April cocked an eyebrow. "The way you describe it, it doesn't sound like life for anyone. That won't be my life. You leave out all the good stuff: friends and family. Kids. The things you love to do."

I waved my hand, dismissing it all. "There used to be adventure. You know? Going west in a wagon train, or going to war, or exploring someplace no human being had ever been before. Now what do we have? Look at Sven. Look at that guy. He's my age. Look at his life. Then look at mine or Jalil's or yours."

April barked out a laugh. "He can barely talk because someone rammed a sword through his mouth."

I nodded. "You know the difference between him and me? We're both about sixteen. But he's a man. And I'm a boy."

April made a face, angry, dismissive, frustrated. "What is it with you guys? Is it the testosterone? You know, David, it's the dawn of the twenty-first century, and you live in the richest, most powerful nation on Earth where there's almost no one starving and no one enslaved and no one invading to murder and pillage and rape. And finally, finally, after thousands of years of men slaughtering men, women, and children over nonsense, we have a few places on Earth where there's a little peace, a little decency. A few places where most people get to be born and live their lives without total horror being rained down on them, and your reaction is, 'This has to stop!� "

Christopher had wandered over, drawn by the sound of harsh words, I guess. He laughed. "Don't blame me, April. I'm a lover, not a fighter. Would you like a demonstration?"

April and I stood glaring, both angry, not angry at each other, not really, but glaring at each other because neither of us could find a real enemy to take out our frustrations on.

"Come on, peace," Jalil said. "As bizarre as it sounds, we're on our way to a war between Vikings and Aztecs. Probably not much point having a little battle of the hormones between you two."

April and I backed away, but it was a phony peace. We were making nice for Jalil and Christopher. And because we looked like idiots in front of the men. The breeze had gone slack, and Harald reluctantly ordered the men to their oars. I went to my bench and rowed and wondered how much I believed what I'd said. I noticed Christopher taking a bench toward the bow. One of the crew had smashed his hand up the day before, and Christopher took his place. He fouled the oars a few times till he got the rhythm.

Harald called for a song and April obliged. She sang "Blue Skies." I think she faked about half the words, but the Vikings thought it was great. Other boats rowed closer, keeping station with ours. The calm didn't last long, a couple of hours. And then we got more wind than the landlubbers wanted. But it was a sailor's breeze, the big square sail bellied out, the bow slicing the waves, sending up explosions of spray.

The wind held through the night. I fought sleep. But sleep came anyway, and I crossed over into p.e. in the middle of a scratch basketball game. I wanted to quit the game but I couldn't because you don't just quit, even though no one cares but the one jerk who wants to prove he's some hardcore jerk. I went through p.e. and my last two periods and made it home, where my mom had made veggie lasagna for dinner and we watched some sitcom and she laughed and told me I should laugh, too, so I did.

None of it mattered. Had it ever mattered? If it ever had, it didn't anymore. I was far away from it. Real seemed unreal. Familiar was strange. I'd gone to sleep in living color and woken to black and white and all the shades of gray. This wasn't it for me, not anymore. My world wasn't about condescending teachers and hypocrite parents and "Why don't you take out the trash?" and "Where's that twothousand?word paper, Mr. Levin?"

I'd lived sixteen years worth of shiny malls and dark school hallways and narrow homes and TV blaring and smiley face e-mail and don't do drugs, don't do sex, don't smoke, don't eat junk food, don't don't don't because your boring, boring life, your robot march from kindergarten to grammar school to junior high to high school to college to work to the condo in Florida to the grave where you'll slowly decay for all eternity, should be nothing but leafy green vegetables and happy thoughts and G-rated lyrics about puppy love.

I knew where I was. I was aboard a Viking ship on my way to battle. I wasn't here, I wasn't in my chair in my living room, watching two-dimensional images of people pretending to be other people. I was asleep, and all this was a memory.

I hooked up with Christopher later that night and we talked about school, and some girl, and some team in some game that neither of us cared about. We went our separate ways, unable to figure out how to relate in the now-strange universe where we'd lived our entire lives.

I went for a walk over to the big Borders store. I decided if I was going to sail the seas of Everworld, I'd see if I couldn't make some improvements. I looked up a book on the history of sailing, trying to figure out what I could do to enhance the sailing characteristics of a Viking longboat.

She was in the coffee shop. Sitting at a table.

I saw her and the world, the brightly lit world, swirled around me.

Senna. Sipping tea from a paper cup.

quote:

I waved my hand, dismissing it all. "There used to be adventure. You know? Going west in a wagon train, or going to war, or exploring someplace no human being had ever been before. Now what do we have? Look at Sven. Look at that guy. He's my age. Look at his life. Then look at mine or Jalil's or yours."

Goddamn do I feel this. At the risk of getting a bit autobiographical, after christmas 2019, I went into the hospital because I had been having chest pains. Turns out, they were heart attacks! I ended up getting a triple bypass on 1-2-2020 and between recovery from surgery and then getting furloughed from covid, I was out of work for about seven months. But thanks to those covid bucks and Illinois taking that unemployment boost, I was making more money than I had been working.

With no enforced schedule, with my bills taken care of, those few months were the most joyous of my adult life. I was healthier, stress free, my typically antisocial demeanor melted away and I longed to be with people. I had a taste of what life could be outside of capitalism and it broke me. Going back to work, and I'm a dog trainer, I love my job, is such a drain on my soul that I long for the same thing David is expressing. Yeah, that kind of life is brutal and short, but it's a life that seems to matter. My current dream is that the revolution comes in my life time, so I can die soaking up bullets meant for someone younger, meaner, and gayer than me.

But I feel both David and I are full of poo poo.

Anyways, therapy hour is over, looks like we found Senna?

# ? Jun 19, 2023 17:53

Zore: Sep 21, 2010; willfully illiterate, aggressively miserable sourpuss whose sole raison d�etre is to put other people down for liking the wrong things

I really like this argument with David and April because it really digs into and starts showing off David's serious issues with toxic masculinity. He's got some serious issues with feeling like he isn't a real man bound up in a whole pile of trauma he's only barely able to allude to in his own thoughts, and its pushing him in some really weird ways now that he's in Everworld and has a chance to be a 'real man'.

The specifics that he goes with though are incredibly 80s/90s and feel increasingly out of place with the world today. You can definitely tell the book was written in a certain cultural milieu that's really foreign to today when David's thoughts are mostly 'Life is too good and easy and only going to get better and have no real struggle, this sucks' as he aimlessly drifts through the real world scenes.

# ? Jun 19, 2023 20:14

Soonmot: Dec 19, 2002; Entrapta fucking loves robots; Grimey Drawer

Oh yeah this is really anchored in that "end of history" time period, not just with David, but with April's counterargument. Imagine trying to use that line of no one in America starving or suffering or enslaved in 2023.

# ? Jun 19, 2023 20:46

Tree Bucket: Apr 1, 2016; R.I.P.idura leucophrys

Soonmot posted:

Goddamn do I feel this. At the risk of getting a bit autobiographical, after christmas 2019, I went into the hospital because I had been having chest pains. Turns out, they were heart attacks! I ended up getting a triple bypass on 1-2-2020 and between recovery from surgery and then getting furloughed from covid, I was out of work for about seven months. But thanks to those covid bucks and Illinois taking that unemployment boost, I was making more money than I had been working.

With no enforced schedule, with my bills taken care of, those few months were the most joyous of my adult life. I was healthier, stress free, my typically antisocial demeanor melted away and I longed to be with people. I had a taste of what life could be outside of capitalism and it broke me. Going back to work, and I'm a dog trainer, I love my job, is such a drain on my soul that I long for the same thing David is expressing. Yeah, that kind of life is brutal and short, but it's a life that seems to matter. My current dream is that the revolution comes in my life time, so I can die soaking up bullets meant for someone younger, meaner, and gayer than me.

But I feel both David and I are full of poo poo.

Anyways, therapy hour is over, looks like we found Senna?

Hah, I remember that first fortnight of lockdown. That feeling of my brain uncurling. The quiet. Just heaven.

Zore posted:

The specifics that he goes with though are incredibly 80s/90s and feel increasingly out of place with the world today. You can definitely tell the book was written in a certain cultural milieu that's really foreign to today when David's thoughts are mostly 'Life is too good and easy and only going to get better and have no real struggle, this sucks' as he aimlessly drifts through the real world scenes.

Yeah. it's fascinating. There was an offhand comment made in the animorphs thread that still sticks in my head- Rachael's family are "middle class 90's rich." Things have changed.
It's been interesting, too, spending years now with these forums as a window into life in the US. It's hard not to get the impression that things are really, actually, incredibly bad over there and having any kind of empathy is like putting a giant KICK ME sign on your back...

# ? Jun 20, 2023 02:32

kiminewt: Feb 1, 2022

Soonmot posted:

Oh yeah this is really anchored in that "end of history" time period, not just with David, but with April's counterargument. Imagine trying to use that line of no one in America starving or suffering or enslaved in 2023.

She did say that there are pockets like that so even though she originally might have meant the entire US it is still decently valid.

# ? Jun 20, 2023 07:34

Soonmot: Dec 19, 2002; Entrapta fucking loves robots; Grimey Drawer

Work schedule flipped on me yesterday, turns out it was a short one anyways.

quote:

Chapter Thirty-One

"Senna?" I whispered. "Senna?"

"Yes, David. It's me."

I couldn't talk. Not for what felt like a long time. I just stood there, staring, swaying back and forth a little, like I might fall over.

"You're not here," I said. "Everyone says you're missing. It"s been days. You're not here."

She smiled a cool, easy smile. "I'm here," she said. "For now."

With numb fingers, I pulled out a chair and sat down hard. "What the hell is going on?"

"Lots of things are going on," she said.

That made me mad. "Don't jerk me around, Senna."

She sipped her tea carefully, like it was too hot. "There's going to be a battle," Senna said.

"Yeah, I know. I'm there, thanks to you."

"Stay out of it," she said. "When the moment comes and you see a chance to run away, run. Run and keep running."

I flushed. "I don't think so."

"This isn't your fight, David. It is a single battle in a war that will spread, inevitably, throughout Everworld. Great forces are at work, I know that now. Greater than I could ever have guessed. But I still need you, David. I still need you to be my champion. Not to die in battle."

She put her hand on mine. It felt real. The way my body reacted felt real.

"Loki does a very good impression of you," I said harshly.

"Does he?" She leaned into me. And kissed me. "Run, David. Run away."

And then she was gone. And the people at the next table were carefully not looking at me. The way you ignore a lunatic in a public place. Only I had seen her. I woke in Everworld to a cry that has dragged many sailors from their sleep down through the ages.

"Land! Land!"

# ? Jun 22, 2023 01:22

Tree Bucket: Apr 1, 2016; R.I.P.idura leucophrys

Having never read this before, my current theory is: Everworld didn't exist until Senna and friends somehow called it into being, which is why it's such a hodge podge of times and spaces, and reflects so much about our protagonists. Hi dad, I'm off to the dream world to hang out with a bunch of sailing dudes with an uncomplicated approach to masculinity.

# ? Jun 22, 2023 01:44

Soonmot: Dec 19, 2002; Entrapta fucking loves robots; Grimey Drawer

quote:

Chapter Thirty-Two

Not just land. Not some bare cliff or tree-covered point of land. The sun was rising, bright and buttery yellow, as if we'd been traveling south for weeks and months rather than east for two days. We were approaching the mouth of a wide river. Numerous small craft plied back and forth, primitive even by Viking standards. I saw no warships, no ships at all that would merit the word. Nothing that would sail out to challenge us as we stood in toward land, menacing, closer and closer, silent and deadly.

On the left bank of the river was what might have been a fishing village. It looked not very different from the Viking village but was more sprawling, a collection of mud and thatch huts without defensive walls or a definable perimeter. It might almost have been picturesque, except that it was totally overshadowed by the city on the right bank. Not a village, a city.

The city looked ancient and modern all at once. The walls of shining white stone were perhaps a hundred feet high. I saw no towers. It wasn't a castle built for defensive war; it was a wall raised against the jungle that pressed in all around the wall, a sea of dark, almost black-green that flowed down from distant mountains. Green, unbroken green, as far as the eye could see.

The city rose beside the river, from the edge of this jungle, a brilliant, blinding Escher print rendered in color. Since the town sloped uphill, I could see some of what was beyond the walls: straight-as-a-ruler streets lined with white stone buildings and tile roofs.

Here and there at intervals, pyramids rose, peeking over the wall. They were stepped, not smooth. Two or three times the height of the walls. And these pyramids would have seemed fabulous and incredible, except that one pyramid made the others look like foothills next to Mount Everest.

It rose so high I think it could literally have touched the clouds. It was so vast, so monumental, I wondered that the ground could support it. The entire rest of the city, every stone in buildings and walls, could not have built a quarter of that mountain of rock.

Down the center of the pyramid was a broad stairway, steps shorter than the stepback construction of the pyramid itself. A rust-red stain ran down the top third of the steps.

"The city of Huitzilopoctli," Thorolf announced with satisfaction.

"We're attacking that?" Christopher asked.

"That is what we must do, yes. There lies the ransom demanded by Loki. There, atop the great pyramid, within the temple itself."

"What is the ransom?" April asked.

"The head of Huitzilopoctli."

"Say what?!"

"Isn't he a god?" April pressed. "You can't just chop off a god's head, can you?"

"Mere mortals? No. A mortal may not kill an immortal, as anyone knows who has heard the sagas and eddas, the great poems and tales, knows. But we have a... " He hesitated and frowned. "Perhaps I will leave that unsaid."

I heard Sven Swordeater's thick, mangled speech coming from behind me. "Tell them, good Thorolf."

Thorolf grinned. "Great Thor is lost to us, we know not where or how, but his hammer, Mjolnir, is not."

We all stared stupidly, having no idea what this might mean.

"King Olaf Ironffot has the hammer of Thor," Sven said. "Mjolnir carries the power of Thor's own mighty arm within it. With Mjolnir we may kill Huitzilopoctli as Thor slew the frost giants."

So that was the weapon Olaf had bragged about. Thor's hammer.

Christopher turned to April. "Nurse Ratched, I'll take my medication now."

A new level of activity broke out aboard the ships as we glided toward landfall. Men sharpened their swords and axes. Officers went over their chain-mail shirts, carefully checking for any small defect. The archers laid out their arrows, trimming the feathers, filing the iron arrowheads.

I asked Thorolf for a sword. He didn't argue, but he didn't have a spare: He wasn't a rich man, he protested. Besides, he preferred an ax. It was Sven who armed me. He sent his man for a sword and had the servant buckle it around my waist.

"I have no mail shirt for you, nor any helmet, nor shield," Sven said.

"Thanks for the sword," I said, trying not to feel too much like an idiot amateur.

"The Aztecs fight with spears and swords of obsidian. Our iron blades will break theirs, and their shields are like cutting through cheese. But be careful of the throwing spears. They are very quick with their throwing spears."

The guys on the shore weren't standing around idly as we approached. They'd have had to be blind not to see us, and they weren't blind. We heard distant horns echoing from the city walls. Tiny human figures could be seen racing along the wall.

But an hour went by, with us almost ashore, before a column of troops, fantastically arrayed in bright turquoise and crimson feathers, came trotting out of the main gate down toward the puny sand beach where we would land.

We were in the river's current now, so we went to the oars, moving with surprising ease upstream.

Closer, closer, closer.

My heart more and more in my throat.

Jalil stood beside me as I rowed. "This is a real war, David," he said. "This is for real. These guys are going to be hacking one another up here."

I nodded, conserving energy.

"This isn't our fight, man. This isn't about you hating your life or whatever. This isn't about some macho pose. This is real, serious, screaming and dying war."

I shot him a quick look. He sounded like Senna. Run away, David.

"Question for you, Jalil," I rasped out between strokes. "You see those guys on shore?"

"You have a point to make?"

"You figure those guys know we're not Vikings?"

He bit his lip. I don't know why, but it made me glad to see Jalil was scared. I'd have been more scared myself, only I was focusing on rowing. And focusing on what had happened when I'd gone up against Loki. Focusing on maybe wiping that out. Maybe putting that behind me.

Or maybe getting killed. Blade biting into me, cutting me, tearing me open, my insides spilled out into the sun.

I had to focus to keep my grip from tightening to a panic cramp on the oar.

"Screw it," Jalil said bitterly. "If I'm getting killed, I'm inflicting some pain first." HE went off in search of a weapon.

I had a sudden, clear image of a spear thrusting right through my body. Right through my stomach. First the point pressing against cloth and ripping through to flesh. The wound widening as the spearhead flared out. The blood seeping out around the black stone blade. The spear pushing through my internal organs, out through my back, between the ribs. Pierced through and through. Impaled.

It was an image from dreams I'd had since I was six. Impaled. Helpless.

I missed my stroke and felt the oar behind mine whap hard, sending an impact up to my hands. For once Jospin didn't come over and scream bloody murder. I guess he was focused on battle, like everyone on that boat. Like everyone on all longboats. The beach was close now. I could see individual faces of the wall of soldiers facing us. I could see sun glinting on black spears.

"Take in the sail!" a voice roared. Crewmen, already expecting the order, shinnied up the mast, while others hauled on ropes.

"Archers!"

"Oars up!" then, a scraping sound that shook the ship.

We were beached. Beside us were other ships, the ship we had raced. Carved prows hit the sand.

It was going to happen!

Right now, it was going to happen.

"Fire!" a dozen bowstrings twanged, a dozen arrows flew from all around me, and doznes more from the other ships. Ships were still coming in, still landing, and arrows flew, flew, flew.

The first Aztecs began to die, howling, screaming, tugging at arrows that stuck in their shoulders, bellies, legs, groins, necks, eyes.

"Arise!" Harald bellowed, appearing at the bow of the ship and waving his sword in the air. The Vikings leaped up, grabbed their shields, gripped their swords, and began a sustained, bloodthirsty roar.

"Attack!" Harald cried, but some of his men hadn't waited.

A huge, blond Viking leaped to the sand, screaming like a madman, screaming in throat-tearing rage, insane, uncontrollable. Berserk. He landed, stumbled, caught himself, and went barreling toward the Aztec line.

Then it was pandemonium. I couldn't have resisted if I'd wanted to. A mass of men all around me, running, climbing onto the gunwale, leaping, falling, staggering, running, pushing.

All of us shouting, all of us pulsing with adrenaline, all mad and scared.

It was electric. I can't find another word. It was electric! My body tingled, my brain was somewhere else, I wasn't David Levin anymore. I wasn't me, an individual; I was lost in the mass madness. Raw screaming fury, I ran. We roared into the Aztec line. Spears thrust at me, dodge! Ah! Stab me? I'll chop your head off! I'll kill you, kill you, kill.

I raised my sword high over my head, shot wild looks left and right, panting, gasping, as my heart refused to let up and let me catch a breath.

Eyes locked on me. Dark, deep-set, ferocious eyes. I saw him. Saw him lunge with the spear, quick as a snake. The black spearhead aimed right at my stomach.

I twisted right, swung my elbow forward, caught the spear point on its flat side, and felt it slice through my shirt and graze flesh. I swung back, left elbow twisting toward the Aztec's face.

He was unbalanced, leaning forward. I caught him on the side of his head. He staggered. He fell facedown in the sand at my feet.

Another spear, this one wide. I swung my sword down and cut into the Aztec's helmet. I didn't see what happened next, didn't know if I'd injured or killed the man.

Too much was happening all around me, yelling, cries, grunts of effort as men swung heavy weapons.

From the center of the line of battle there came a new note, a roar of triumph, laughter! And moans of despair.

And suddenly I saw him: Olaf Ironfoot. He stood alone, tall, wild, bellowing. In his hand was a massive hammer with a short handle, just enough to grip.

He swung the hammer into the head of an Aztec. The warrior didn't just drop, he flew. It was as if he'd been hit by a truck. He tumbled across the sand into his brothers.

"The hammer of Thor!" Thorolf cried.

The Viking army began to chant.

"Mjolnir! Mjolnir!"

The Aztec line broke and ran.

They ran and we were on them, stomping over the wounded, screaming ourselves hoarse yelling. "Mjolnir! Mjolnir!" Me as insane as the rest, as caught up in the frenzy of slaughter.

We chased the Aztecs as they ran for the walls of their city. Across the sand onto paved road.

And then I felt a shadow.

I looked up. A cloud? No, darker than any cloud.

The sun had risen behind the huge pyramid. It almost seemed to be sitting atop the pyramid. And from that sun, at the top of that monstrous pyramid, a shape appeared.

Huitzilopoctli.

He was shaped like a man. Blue, the blue of the sky late on a summer day. His face was striped horizontally with bands of blue and yellow. Around his eyes were glittering white stars, stars that seemed real and hot and explosive.

Iridescent feathers grew from his head, spreading down across his shoulders and back. In his left hand he held a disk, a mirror that smoked and burned. In the right hand was a snake, a twisting, writhing snake that breathed fire and almost seemed an extension of his hand.

His other hand, the one that held the mirror, dripped red. It dripped red and you knew, knew deep down, that it could never, would never be wiped clean.

Huge! How could he be so big? How could his shadow fall on me all that distance away?

And how could his shadow reach inside me, down to my soul?

I had felt dread in Loki's presence. This was different.

This was the heart and soul of evil. This was corruption and filth and torture and madness.

This was Huitzilopoctli, blood-mad god of the Aztecs.

Run away, David, I heard Senna's voice in my head. Run away.

End Book One

ngl, I dislike the Aztecs being evil. I'm hoping that it's just a thing with the gods in general, both Loki and Huitzilopoctli, the only two gods we've met have been evil. But that sure is a place to end it. This is like a Marvel D+ series, just end whereever because the whole this is one big story. Overall, I've enjoyed this, this is my first time going through it and it's interesting enough that I think I would have been reading this alongside my Dragonlance books back in the day had I known about it.

Let's give this a couple days for discussion now that book 1 is finished. If no one takes up book 2 before them, I'll start on Monday. If you're using the same scans I am, Find&Replace is gonna be your good friend when formatting these chapters!

# ? Jun 22, 2023 13:58

Coca Koala: Nov 28, 2005; ongoing nowhere; College Slice

This might be a product of having read through the thread as it was being posted and so i don�t have strong memories of when the aztecs were initially discussed, but I wouldn�t be shocked to discover that it�s less of a �the aztecs are evil� and more of a �societies that live in Everworld aren�t real great at communication and resolving disputes diplomatically� - the vikings are certainly portrayed as sympathetic because they�re sitting around chatting with David and it seems like they�re offering him a model of masculinity that is more in line with his core beliefs, but it�s only through the grace of authorial fiat and the lyrics of Killing Me Softly that the gang didn�t get wrecked by the vikings early on, you know? I�d hesitate to say that either one of these groups is really good or evil right now.

Now, the gods, I can absolutely buy that the gods are evil. I definitely don�t know this is a canon interpretation of Huitzilopoctli, that�s something i�d want to look up when i�m not phone posting.

That�s certainly one hell of a place to end the book, though.

# ? Jun 22, 2023 14:57

Zore: Sep 21, 2010; willfully illiterate, aggressively miserable sourpuss whose sole raison d�etre is to put other people down for liking the wrong things

Yeah, I think its important that we are seeing this through David's perspective at the moment and he's uh got some serious issues he's currently working through.

And I'm not sure this is really any sort of battle between 'good' and 'evil'. The Vikings, by their own admission, have been raiding the Aztecs and others for slaves and loot for centuries and are currently attacking them unprovoked at home to advance Loki's interests. And Loki is working with some kind of alien on top of being a huge poo poo.

The only god anyone has been remotely positive about so far is Thor who's dead or missing.

# ? Jun 22, 2023 15:37

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

Tree Bucket posted:

Having never read this before, my current theory is: Everworld didn't exist until Senna and friends somehow called it into being, which is why it's such a hodge podge of times and spaces, and reflects so much about our protagonists. Hi dad, I'm off to the dream world to hang out with a bunch of sailing dudes with an uncomplicated approach to masculinity.

I don't think it's this; I think there's more going on. That's not a spoiler even though I read this because that was nearly a quarter-century ago and I barely remember any details.

# ? Jun 22, 2023 17:03

Soonmot: Dec 19, 2002; Entrapta fucking loves robots; Grimey Drawer

Coca Koala posted:

This might be a product of having read through the thread as it was being posted and so i don�t have strong memories of when the aztecs were initially discussed, but I wouldn�t be shocked to discover that it�s less of a �the aztecs are evil� and more of a �societies that live in Everworld aren�t real great at communication and resolving disputes diplomatically� - the vikings are certainly portrayed as sympathetic because they�re sitting around chatting with David and it seems like they�re offering him a model of masculinity that is more in line with his core beliefs, but it�s only through the grace of authorial fiat and the lyrics of Killing Me Softly that the gang didn�t get wrecked by the vikings early on, you know? I�d hesitate to say that either one of these groups is really good or evil right now.

Now, the gods, I can absolutely buy that the gods are evil. I definitely don�t know this is a canon interpretation of Huitzilopoctli, that�s something i�d want to look up when i�m not phone posting.

That�s certainly one hell of a place to end the book, though.

Yeah, that's what I'm hoping, that the Aztecs view the vikings as bloodthirsty raiders that come in from the sea to steal and murder, that only Aztec society is civilized, I trust Applegrant enough to give them the benefit of the doubt.

# ? Jun 22, 2023 17:14

Fritzler: Sep 5, 2007

Tree Bucket posted:

Having never read this before, my current theory is: Everworld didn't exist until Senna and friends somehow called it into being, which is why it's such a hodge podge of times and spaces, and reflects so much about our protagonists. Hi dad, I'm off to the dream world to hang out with a bunch of sailing dudes with an uncomplicated approach to masculinity.

I haven't read either. I am thinking it is something closer to American Gods though. These are people who used to have power in our world for whatever reason - and now they don't. They're somewhere else. I feel like at some point there will be some battle for the gods of Everworld to come back to earth? I don't know if Senna is causing that battle or trying to stop it or what, but that is what I assume will happen.

# ? Jun 22, 2023 19:06

Soonmot: Dec 19, 2002; Entrapta fucking loves robots; Grimey Drawer

So do we think Senna is originally from Everworld?

April says her parents are pretty relieved that she's gone. Has she been leading the dual life the kids have been this entire time?

# ? Jun 23, 2023 01:25

Zore: Sep 21, 2010; willfully illiterate, aggressively miserable sourpuss whose sole raison d�etre is to put other people down for liking the wrong things

Soonmot posted:

So do we think Senna is originally from Everworld?

April says her parents are pretty relieved that she's gone. Has she been leading the dual life the kids have been this entire time?

According to David in chapter 1, we know April and Senna are half sisters who are only 3 months apart in age so they're probably relieved because she's unsettling and a reminder of the dad's infidelity. It gives an interesting little window into her home life at least.

# ? Jun 23, 2023 01:45

Soonmot: Dec 19, 2002; Entrapta fucking loves robots; Grimey Drawer

Hey mods can we get a tag change to religion, please?

My question about Senna in the real world is: Was she born or is she a cukoo? Is she some being that escaped from Everworld to hideout and made it seem like she's a part of April's family? I can only assume we learn more about her in the following books, but her relationship to the real world and Everworld is interesting to me.

# ? Jun 24, 2023 00:10

Malpais Legate: Oct 1, 2014

Soonmot posted:

Hey mods can we get a tag change to religion, please?

My question about Senna in the real world is: Was she born or is she a cukoo? Is she some being that escaped from Everworld to hideout and made it seem like she's a part of April's family? I can only assume we learn more about her in the following books, but her relationship to the real world and Everworld is interesting to me.

Oh like she could be some kind of changeling situation, swapped with the real child or just kind of spoken into existence by magic?

There's just absolutely no way she's entirely human. I agree that she was probably already leading the double life before the plot began.

# ? Jun 24, 2023 00:16