[Title mercilessly stabbed to death just because I damn well could]
If I've not mentioned it before, I loathe autumn. LOATHE it. Winter takes a second-place photo finish. And lucky, lucky me is stuck in a state that can't seem to decide between the two. This is quite literally THE coldest October on record in 122 years. We have had measurable snowfall. Some places barely an hour or two away are in winter-weather warnings as I type this. Blame the S.A.D. if you want, but I've long hated this time of year, a sentiment that seems to grow more pronounced every time I have to go through it. This Saturday marks the last bright spot for what's sure to be a long time. And, I'm a bit in panic mode. I'm praying to Adrian's last shoecover done on time. It's all I have left on his costume. I will not be Nabooru this year. My sewing machine apparently decided to cease proper functioning last month, and Adrian managed to somehow convince my mother's to never sew again. So I've been doing everything by hand and haven't even cut out pattern pieces for Nabooru. So, I'll be reprising Elizabeth Bathory, the Blood Countess herself, this year. Just as well. I'm in a bloodthirsty mood as it is; the dress will just complete the image. I debate upon accessorizing the makeup with genuine human blood. Probably not--don't want to deal with possibly getting it on the dress.
November then arrives. My least favorite month of all. If ever I were to successfully carry out a suicide, there's a very high probability it would take place in a November. Thanksgiving does not salvage this one bit, because it is a holiday centered around food and family. With few exceptions under those categories, I'm not a fan of either. This is my cue to essentially drop off the planet. Not that I can't be reached if need be, but you won't be hearing much from me. As a fair warning, I will not initiate any conversations for the entirety of the month (and this may well extend through winter, depending on how things go) unless I have something that needs to be said. It's not like people have anything to say to me during this time of the year anyway, and talking to myself gets very tiresome very quickly. So. Redi 2 die plz nao, kthxpermabai.
I will do some updating here, though, from time to time. After all, I still have Lucian to translate, and, bless his soul, even if the actual translation process is kind of a pain in the neck, he can at least amuse me.
And, yes, we've got Lucian for you. Actually, I've got quite a bit of unposted translation, but I'm kind of in the middle of a section and it's not the easiest to break up. So, today for Part 9 I'll take you through the Epic Space Battle and the political niceties that follow. It's Day 57. Let the bloodshed begin:
In the joined forces, the standard was raised and the asses braying on each side (for they served as trumpeters); they fought. Even the left side of the Sun, on one hand, forthwith fled not, awaiting the onset of the Vulture Cavalry into the fray, and we ourselves followed, killing; the right, on the other hand, of the others had the better of us; and the Gnat Riders were advancing in pursuit until they were before the footsoldiers. With the infantry coming to aid, they fled with pricked ears, and perceived that for the most part those on the left of them had been conquered. But when there was a decisive turn, many, on one hand, were taken alive, and many others, on the other hand, were slain, even so much blood flowed slowly over the clouds, appearing dyed red there, just as the setting sun appears. Much of it dripped onto the earth, so that it seemed to me whether that sort of thing happened long ago on high such that Homer might not have related about Zeus having sent a rain of blood over the death of Sarpedon*. Turning back from the pursuit, we stood up two trophies, for the first land battle on the spiderwebs, the second for the air battle on the clouds. Just then, these things happening, it was announced by the scouts that the cloud-centaurs were advancing, who should have come before the battle to Phaethon. And they appeared coming near, a sight most unexpected, compounded out of horses, wings and men; the size of the man half above was as great as half of, in height, the Colossus of Rhodes; with respect to the horses, they were the size of a large merchant ship. Certainly the number of them I have not described, lest it be unbelievable to one's opinion, being so great. Leading the others was the archer from the Zodiac**. When it was perceived that the allies were being conquered, a message was sent back to Phaethon to attack again; they themselves were placed in formation for battle in disarray falling upon the Moon forces, in the disorder because of having scattered after the pursuit, even routing all of them, pursuing closely, the king himself came to the city and killed most of his birds; grabbing the trophies, they even overran the entire plain woven by the spiders; I and two of my companions were taken alive. Phaethon was already present and other trophies were erected by them anew.
Therefore, we were led to the Sun that very day, with our hands bound behind with bits of spiderweb. They decided not to besiege the city, on one hand; they built a wall so the space between the air, on the other hand, was blockaded, so that the light of the sun no longer went through before the moon. The wall was doubled, made of clouds; so that a definite eclipse of the moon happened and it shrouded everything in unbroken night. Being pressured by them, Endymion sent a beseechment to lower the building and not allow them to be living in darkness; promising to pay tribute, be an ally and no longer wage war; and purposed to give hostages to them. Those around Phaethon, convening twice in assembly, on the first one, on one hand, they lost not their ire, on the second one, on the other hand, they changed their minds. And peace took place on these terms: "According to these terms, they made the treaty thus for the allies, on that the Sun folk tear down the partition wall and no longer attack the Moon, and give back prisoners of war, each for a fixed price; to allow the Moon folk to be independent, on one hand, allow those other stars to be independent, not attack the Sun folk with weapons, to be allied with one another if someone should go against them; to pay tribute every year from the king of the Moon folk to the king of the Sun folk of 10,000 jars of dew; and to give 10,000 hostages of his own, that the colony on the Morning-star to be made common and others wishing to have a share do so. Also to inscribe this treaty upon a post of electrum* and set it up in the middle of the air on the borders. This was sworn on one hand by the Sun folk Firebrace and Summerheat and Flamington; on the other hand by the Moonfolk Nightlove and Moonson and All-A-Blaze****."
*Sarpedon being Zeus's son who died in the Battle of Troy. Originally Zeus had wanted to save him from a certain fate of death, but agreed not to after the other gods objected. However, since he couldn't rescue him, Zeus sent an ominous rain of blood upon Sarpedon's demise.
**This being Sagittarius, often depicted as a centaur in most personifications.
***Electrum is a mythical alloy of gold and silver. In some translations, this can also be interpreted as being amber.
****Another translation offered by the booknotes was "Flashlight," but I just couldn't do that with a straight face. XD
So! Battle time! Actually, the Moon does pretty well at first, taking out the whole left flank of the Sun. They even set up trophies to commemorate their successes--sure, it's in the middle of battle, but we're winning, damn it! Lots of prisoners are taken on both sides. Lots more die (no telling how many of Lucian's original crew get slaughtered). Blood makes the grass grow; kill, kill, kill. And then, even though they're late, the cloud-centaurs show up. The whole damned population, apparently, of these giant winged centaurs. Even after their world was destroyed because they weren't on time, they show up to fight for the Sun. And chaos ensues, and the Moon is subsequently creamed, because someone sent a message back to the Sun King that they need to regroup and attack again. Phaethon kills most of Endymion's birds (presumably our giant vultures and lettuce-birds) right outside the city wall. They totally overrun the battlefield, scattering everyone, routing all the Moon forces around in total disarray, stealing the Moon trophies, and then putting up new ones of their own. Meanwhile, Lucian and two of his buddies get taken prisoner behind a wall that creates total darkness on the Sun prison. Well, now that he's been beaten AGAIN, Endymion just becomes a total wimp and begs to please, oh please, let the Moon prisoners go! We'll be bestest best friends and never attack again, and you back all the guys we took prisoner too! Anyway, the treaty gets drawn up, saying that the wall has to come down, everyone gives back each others POWs, the Moon and the Sun have to stop fighting and be allies from here on out, so no attacking each other, and no trying to take over for a colony, because that's now going to be public space, and the Moon has to give 10,000 jars of dew to the Sun every year in tribute (don't ask me what the heck they do with all that dew). The whole treaty is written down and posted right in the middle so everyone on both sides can see it, and from the Sun three representatives sign off on it, as do three representatives from the Moon. And all is good. Or is it? You'll just have to come back next time to find out!
November then arrives. My least favorite month of all. If ever I were to successfully carry out a suicide, there's a very high probability it would take place in a November. Thanksgiving does not salvage this one bit, because it is a holiday centered around food and family. With few exceptions under those categories, I'm not a fan of either. This is my cue to essentially drop off the planet. Not that I can't be reached if need be, but you won't be hearing much from me. As a fair warning, I will not initiate any conversations for the entirety of the month (and this may well extend through winter, depending on how things go) unless I have something that needs to be said. It's not like people have anything to say to me during this time of the year anyway, and talking to myself gets very tiresome very quickly. So. Redi 2 die plz nao, kthxpermabai.
I will do some updating here, though, from time to time. After all, I still have Lucian to translate, and, bless his soul, even if the actual translation process is kind of a pain in the neck, he can at least amuse me.
And, yes, we've got Lucian for you. Actually, I've got quite a bit of unposted translation, but I'm kind of in the middle of a section and it's not the easiest to break up. So, today for Part 9 I'll take you through the Epic Space Battle and the political niceties that follow. It's Day 57. Let the bloodshed begin:
In the joined forces, the standard was raised and the asses braying on each side (for they served as trumpeters); they fought. Even the left side of the Sun, on one hand, forthwith fled not, awaiting the onset of the Vulture Cavalry into the fray, and we ourselves followed, killing; the right, on the other hand, of the others had the better of us; and the Gnat Riders were advancing in pursuit until they were before the footsoldiers. With the infantry coming to aid, they fled with pricked ears, and perceived that for the most part those on the left of them had been conquered. But when there was a decisive turn, many, on one hand, were taken alive, and many others, on the other hand, were slain, even so much blood flowed slowly over the clouds, appearing dyed red there, just as the setting sun appears. Much of it dripped onto the earth, so that it seemed to me whether that sort of thing happened long ago on high such that Homer might not have related about Zeus having sent a rain of blood over the death of Sarpedon*. Turning back from the pursuit, we stood up two trophies, for the first land battle on the spiderwebs, the second for the air battle on the clouds. Just then, these things happening, it was announced by the scouts that the cloud-centaurs were advancing, who should have come before the battle to Phaethon. And they appeared coming near, a sight most unexpected, compounded out of horses, wings and men; the size of the man half above was as great as half of, in height, the Colossus of Rhodes; with respect to the horses, they were the size of a large merchant ship. Certainly the number of them I have not described, lest it be unbelievable to one's opinion, being so great. Leading the others was the archer from the Zodiac**. When it was perceived that the allies were being conquered, a message was sent back to Phaethon to attack again; they themselves were placed in formation for battle in disarray falling upon the Moon forces, in the disorder because of having scattered after the pursuit, even routing all of them, pursuing closely, the king himself came to the city and killed most of his birds; grabbing the trophies, they even overran the entire plain woven by the spiders; I and two of my companions were taken alive. Phaethon was already present and other trophies were erected by them anew.
Therefore, we were led to the Sun that very day, with our hands bound behind with bits of spiderweb. They decided not to besiege the city, on one hand; they built a wall so the space between the air, on the other hand, was blockaded, so that the light of the sun no longer went through before the moon. The wall was doubled, made of clouds; so that a definite eclipse of the moon happened and it shrouded everything in unbroken night. Being pressured by them, Endymion sent a beseechment to lower the building and not allow them to be living in darkness; promising to pay tribute, be an ally and no longer wage war; and purposed to give hostages to them. Those around Phaethon, convening twice in assembly, on the first one, on one hand, they lost not their ire, on the second one, on the other hand, they changed their minds. And peace took place on these terms: "According to these terms, they made the treaty thus for the allies, on that the Sun folk tear down the partition wall and no longer attack the Moon, and give back prisoners of war, each for a fixed price; to allow the Moon folk to be independent, on one hand, allow those other stars to be independent, not attack the Sun folk with weapons, to be allied with one another if someone should go against them; to pay tribute every year from the king of the Moon folk to the king of the Sun folk of 10,000 jars of dew; and to give 10,000 hostages of his own, that the colony on the Morning-star to be made common and others wishing to have a share do so. Also to inscribe this treaty upon a post of electrum* and set it up in the middle of the air on the borders. This was sworn on one hand by the Sun folk Firebrace and Summerheat and Flamington; on the other hand by the Moonfolk Nightlove and Moonson and All-A-Blaze****."
*Sarpedon being Zeus's son who died in the Battle of Troy. Originally Zeus had wanted to save him from a certain fate of death, but agreed not to after the other gods objected. However, since he couldn't rescue him, Zeus sent an ominous rain of blood upon Sarpedon's demise.
**This being Sagittarius, often depicted as a centaur in most personifications.
***Electrum is a mythical alloy of gold and silver. In some translations, this can also be interpreted as being amber.
****Another translation offered by the booknotes was "Flashlight," but I just couldn't do that with a straight face. XD
So! Battle time! Actually, the Moon does pretty well at first, taking out the whole left flank of the Sun. They even set up trophies to commemorate their successes--sure, it's in the middle of battle, but we're winning, damn it! Lots of prisoners are taken on both sides. Lots more die (no telling how many of Lucian's original crew get slaughtered). Blood makes the grass grow; kill, kill, kill. And then, even though they're late, the cloud-centaurs show up. The whole damned population, apparently, of these giant winged centaurs. Even after their world was destroyed because they weren't on time, they show up to fight for the Sun. And chaos ensues, and the Moon is subsequently creamed, because someone sent a message back to the Sun King that they need to regroup and attack again. Phaethon kills most of Endymion's birds (presumably our giant vultures and lettuce-birds) right outside the city wall. They totally overrun the battlefield, scattering everyone, routing all the Moon forces around in total disarray, stealing the Moon trophies, and then putting up new ones of their own. Meanwhile, Lucian and two of his buddies get taken prisoner behind a wall that creates total darkness on the Sun prison. Well, now that he's been beaten AGAIN, Endymion just becomes a total wimp and begs to please, oh please, let the Moon prisoners go! We'll be bestest best friends and never attack again, and you back all the guys we took prisoner too! Anyway, the treaty gets drawn up, saying that the wall has to come down, everyone gives back each others POWs, the Moon and the Sun have to stop fighting and be allies from here on out, so no attacking each other, and no trying to take over for a colony, because that's now going to be public space, and the Moon has to give 10,000 jars of dew to the Sun every year in tribute (don't ask me what the heck they do with all that dew). The whole treaty is written down and posted right in the middle so everyone on both sides can see it, and from the Sun three representatives sign off on it, as do three representatives from the Moon. And all is good. Or is it? You'll just have to come back next time to find out!