LNH: Easily-Discovered Man #57

[Scott Eiler]

On 2020-05-07 19:29, EDMLite wrote:

> Before doing our best to emancipate Lite from mental slavery, 
> however, it seems worth to point out that because this story takes 
> place as part of a long-since concluded cross-over (the one known
> as Beige Countdown, which later became Beige Midnight, which… oh,  go
> ahead and read the Wiki) its events are set in the year 2007.   What
> might our characters be doing if they lived in the current golden age
> of peace and prosperity that is 2020?  Let’s pause for just a moment
> to answer that question...

That makes for an awesome interlude about the current golden age.


>            --EDM--          --EDM--          --EDM--
> 
> “So when someone comes along saying he’s here to save us -- and that
> everything bad is the result of evil, interfering outsiders, whom we
> could get rid of if we would just let him build a wall… he’s just 
> operating according to the rules we laid down,” Cynical Lass said. 
> “It’s amazing that it took the Ame.rec.an people this long to elect
> a dictator.”
> 
> “Now, hang on,” I said.  “I’ll agree with you that the Ame.rec.an
> people have been responsible for some of the worst inventions in
> human history.  Nuclear weapons.  High-fructose corn syrup.  Seasons 
> five through 10 of _Friends_.  But I’m not just going to sit here
> and let you lump super-heroes in with those mistakes... or that 
> bleach-guzzling sociopath,” I said, waving my hand toward the 
> television.  “And you know why?”
> 
> “Because the concept of the Amer.rec.an super-hero is really just a
> distillation of the knight-errant, the wuxia or the samurai?”
> 
> “Because anybody who’s ever read a comic book knows that being a 
> super-hero isn’t about being powerful.  It’s about using that power
> to help other people.  Putting them first,” I said.  “The reason we
> all wear masks is to make the point that anybody who had the powers
> we have could and should and probably would be doing the things we’re
> doing. It’s never about us.  And that makes us the opposite of the
> current President.”

That makes an impressive commentary about the current golden age.


>            --EDM--          --EDM--          --EDM--
 >
> I opened my eyes.  “Professor Wong?”
> 
> “Sssssh,” the Prof said, holding one finger up to his glowing lips.
> “For while ‘tis true in my private identity I may perhaps boast the
> academic title you suggest, once I have donned this cape and cowl I 
> become that which strikes profound discomfort in the bowels of
> evildoers everywhere… he who carries hope to the hopeless like the
> burning taste of brandy in the cask of a Saint Bernard…. that
> phosphorescent paladin of the powerless, the poor, and the put-upon
> known to champions, criminals and citizens alike as…”
> 
> “Easily-Discovered Man!” I said.
> 
> The Prof sighed.  “I really was hoping to be able to finish the
 > line,” he said.
> 
> TO BE CONTINUED...

I've seen memory written this way in comic books before, for Spider-Man. 
  And it makes good sense here.


>       --EDM--          --EDM--          --EDM--
> 
> 
> SPECIAL THANKS: To Arthur and Scott for an amazing RACC-Con-’19
> (note: NOT a virus); to Perry and Graham for giving me the time to do
> this and to Apocalypso for continued inspiration.
I can respect Perry and Graham for their contribution.  My own 
contribution pales next to yours, as regards RACC-Con 2019.  But I 
admire you finally wrote your story that goes forward from there.


-- 
-- (signed) Scott Eiler  8{D> ------ http://www.eilertech.com/ -------

The soldiers presented a pathetic but inspiring spectacle. The
hospitals were crowded with sick and wounded; the walls were
gradually crumbling under incessant shell fire, yet that garrison
of heroes remained undaunted.

It was as Buck said, "just as if they had been Americans."

- from "The Airship Boys in the Great War", De Lysle F. Cass, 1915.
Coming soon to Project Gutenberg.  gutenberg.org