These are stories from the world that I'd like to live in, with the daughter I'd like to have had: A world of laughter, yet concern and strength; a world where people routinely welcome each other with great respect and great love; a world where your ISP is never down, decaffinated coffee is but a distant dream, where every weekend is a three day weekend, and where all ice cream has only the freshest, most natural ingredients.

This, then, is a world worthy to be adorned with the presence of SKULD.  Please visit with us awhile!

Just Who IS Skuld, Anyway?

If you're not familiar with her, here's some background.  She and her sisters Urd and Beldandy currently star in the romantic comedy manga "Ah! My Goddess," with accompanying videos.  These three are the Norns, or stewards of time, in Norse legend.  Skoo-chan is steward of the future.   Urd handles the past, while Beldandy has her hands quite full, thank you, with the present.

In the current series, Skuld is an intelligent, outspoken twelve year old with long black hair - a skilled systems debugger, connoisseur of ice cream, and expert engineer of internal combustion racing vehicles.  She constantly improvises other inventions, as well.  Joe Petrow's Skuld page, whose URL is included in TBD, contains many pictures and more information.  Required reading.  (Editor's Note:  This page is evidently under revision; we couldn't raise it as of May 22, 1999.  BAWWWW!)

The Value of Being in the Presence of Skuld

If anyone were to ask me which is the one indispensible anime series, I would answer, "Oh! My Goddess!"  This is so supremely inspired that it makes the ignorant learned, the utterly poor wealthy, the depressed chuckle and smile, and the bureaucrat actually fling off his/ her tie, fall over, and thrash about on the floor shrieking in mirth.  "Ah! My Goddess!" is a supreme song of the Divine, of salvation.  It is a true ocean of knowledge and bliss in all three worlds.

And this show's main gift to humankind is, of course, SKOO-CHAN, blessed be she!

Skoo-chan has inspired what amounts to a cult following worldwide, possibly because she awakens the inner child that lies dormant within each heart.  This experience includes waves of love and joy - along with feelings of innocence, sweetness, playful good humor with an occasional leavening of impulsiveness, insecurity, and "brattitude."  She is a perfectly realized embodiment of the cosmic principle of the playful, innocent young girl; that is, the happily creative activity of the universe itself, and her job is to awaken this same dancing activity within each of us.  This she does with a look, a touch, a word or a thought.  Such is the report of her fans and devotees - when they can speak of it at all.

As this experience blossoms and deepens over time, her disciples write unauthorized fiction (such as this), draw their own comics, and gather to discuss the latest comics and videos.  Some - in order to deepen their identification with the goddess - go so far as to do "cos-play" (costumes, usually hand- made) of Skuld at conventions attended by thousands.  Not content to merely love Skuld, it is their endeavor to become Skuld.  This latter is a powerful practice, and not limited to her female admirers.  Right, George???

If our experience of Skuld is to have any real value, we have to move outside of ourselves and SHARE IT - it transforms our experience of everyone else, heart to heart, in daily life!  And it works: Beyond the sweetness and (sometimes bratty) charm of Skuld is the effect that merely being in her presence can have.  In this hard and cynical world, she reminds us that innocence, trust, joy and love - purely for their own sake - are still possible.  We become more loving, more compassionate, more creative in our dealings with each other; it's easier to bring new joy and enwholement into a world sorely in need.  Lives change; we are transformed by joy.  And isn't this where the rubber really kisses the road?

This, then, is the true value of knowing Skuld, who shines like a pure lamp of universal love and joy, and she can kindle our lamps from her own.  It reaches beyond the devotee, to bring light to all.

Carved in Stone, and Written in the Hearts of All You know, there's no limit to what you can do with a MacArthur Foundation grant.

On the night of the first full moon in May 1997, a radiant apparition of Skuld appeared to this author in a dream, and instructed him to examine the underside of a boulder on the bank of a lost tributary of the Shennandoah, in the remote unexplored mountains of Virginia.  I sprang to obey my lady's command.

For weeks I struggled over rugged mountains and ridges, through underbrush and rain forest, across nameless ravines, ever watchful for the legendary snow tiger, the bold mountain ape.  One by one my porters deserted me, or vanished shrieking into bubbling vents of lava, or into eagerly snapping dinosaur jaws.  But finally, there, in the shadows of an ancient Tibetan Buddhist monastary, and accompanied only by the Discovery Channel camera team - I finally staggered from the jungle into the light of day to behold the huge, mossy boulder - undisturbed for centuries - just as I had seen it in my dream.

As the abbot approached me, I was glad I had studied my Tibetan so carefully back at Cardinal Sheehan HS.  Unnecessary, as suggested by the Skynard t-shirt under his robes.  A brief conversation confirmed my suspicions.  "Actually, my son, we have indeed tried upturning this rock many times - logs, levers, rope, elephants, even several John Deere land movers and two dozen burly workers on lunch break from the "Pedro's East of the Border" construction site just over that ridge gave it their best shot - but it hasn't budged worth jack."  He paused for a pinch of Levi Garrett.  "But is it not written by the ancient prophets that one will come from the east who. . ."  To his rear a crowd of monks was gathering.  They were whispering to each other and gesturing furtively at me.  I knew I had to give it a try, at least.

I approached the rock, and remembered the look in Skoo-chan's eyes when she spoke to me in my dream; how beautiful she always looks.  "Girl, if it makes you happy, I'm even willing to fail - but I ask you to bless me with success, success for your own sake."  I placed my hands on the boulder and before I could even draw breath, it moved.  Slowly at first, but then, like a great ball of styrofoam, it MOVED!  It rolled over to reveal the following tales (in 108 shlokas, or stanzas, of impeccable Sanskrit) chiseled into its underside.  A cheer went up from the gathered monks.  A champagne cork popped; a bluegrass fiddle squealed into life.

By flickering torchlight under the watchful eye of a colossal bronze statue of Maurice Chevalier in nataraj pose, I settled down into the task of translation.  The days, the weeks flickered by almost unnoticed, like distant summer fields.  Waves of joy and devotion swept over me as the script gradually yielded its secrets; my work was frequently interrupted by periods of blissful meditation.  Months of effort, with occasional assistance on the finer points of Sanskrit poetics from the monks and their vast Macintosh computer center (Thanks, guys!), finally yielded these gems: "The Tales of Skuld," mostly involving actual recipes and FOOD, with Skoo-chan in a masterful role.  (The recipes include enough information for making the dishes yourselves.)  And included "for extra credit" are a tale of Amelia w. t. Seyruun as an adult, and brief bios of Lum Oni and Arale Norimake, other popular stars who adorn the heavens of anime as no mere diamonds ever could, and illumine the hearts of the faithful everywhere.

SAY!   Is this a great time to be alive, or what?

"Leonardo Dojinshi"
Overlea, Maryland
July 1998
guest@geotrees.com

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Special to the Otaku!
The Original "Psycho Analysis of a Skuld Fan"

So click here for the great "Psycho Analysis of a Skuld Fan!"  Ta - DAAAAAA!  Enjoy!

Love ya,

SKOO!

skoo

And Now...The Tales of Skuld

• Skoo-chan and the Magical Ice Cream Dessert Recipie
  (Bullwinkle's Chocolate Mousse)
  Preoccupied with squabbles among the fans, Skuld goes over to Mendo's house for a little advice and lots of ice cream.  Is he going to let her down? AS IF. . .

• Skoo-chan and the Magical Irish Stew Recipie

(Mendo's Traditional Family Recipe)
Skuld, Aaron, and Mendo borrow Norimake Hakase's time machine and surf a time warp into an Irish summer at the ancestral homestead.  Why has this recipie been a carefully kept secret for so many generations?  Skuld herself tells all.
• Skoo-chan and the Magical Onion Soup Recipie

(Vegetarian Onion Soup to Break Anyone's Diet)
It's a rainy day in Harm City, and Mendo sloshes home expecting a quiet evening at AniMaison.  He receives a surprise.  (This story is Mendo's personal favorite, both as a piece of writing, and for the recipie involved.)
• Skoo-chan and the Magical Balancing Egg Trick

Skuld demonstrates her trickster talents at Della Rose's Bel Air Inn, "The Official Sports Bar of Mutation Nation."  (Della's, by the way, is a real place, a mile inside the Baltimore beltway.  Let me know if you're in the area, and we'll go on over!)
• "Morisato-kun, Eat Your Heart Out!"

She's beautiful, well-educated, cheerful, uncomplicated, a tireless champion of justice, can drive an XK-E five-speed, and bears a remarkable resemblance to Amelia wil tesla Seyruun of "The Slayers."  Mendo's cousin Marty met her at a red light in Baltimore, and the encounter changed his life.  Here is their story.  Don't you wish it could be yours?
• Let's Meet Lum-chan

She's lively!  She's cute!  She has blue hair, these exquisite little horns, and a global devotional following!  Who is she?  Why, Rumiko Takahashi's Lum, of course!
• Who is Aralie Norimake?

The young professor's goal was to fabricate a little girl android, indistinguishable from a normal child, whatever that is.  So he lovingly crafted the festive and unspeakably cute Arale, purple hair and all.  Just in time for Fathers' Day...  "So DIG IT! - if you CAN!"

The host series is Akira Toriyama Sensei's "Dr. Slump", which picks up where "Bloom County" left off.  Does anyone know of an English language version anywhere?

• For Additional Skuldworthy Leads, check these URLs.  We will add more as we learn of them / UNDER RE-CONSTRUCTION

OTHER ICE CREAM RECIPES FROM SKULD'S TABLE WOULD BE GREAT!   SEND YOURS IN TODAY!

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Let's Meet Lum-chan

Wherever she goes there is excitement, there is joy, there is light.  For these and many other reasons Lum, once merely a fabulously popular Japanese cartoon star, now enjoys a fandom approaching a global devotional cult.

Here we see Lum relaxing in her tigerskin bikini with a dozen of the inner circle of her admirers.  She has won the Betty Rubble Seal of Approval three years running.  The Pope is her confessor; she holds the coveted Lubavich "Single Woman of Valor" award for 1997 and 1998.  It was she who gave Beavis his first cappuccino.  She has declined repeated invitations to affairs at the Clinton White House.  She has a universal donor blood type, and has Desmond Crisis' personal 888 number.  She can bestow bliss and knowledge by a word, a look, or a touch.  She never uses foul language.

Lum goes to the opera and to Nascar alike with intelligent, cheerful men in their early fifties.  She frequently appears as solo pianist with the New York, Moscow, Los Angeles, London and Berlin philharmonics.  She helped Frank Sinatra select his hats.  She lectures regularly at Notre Dame, MIT, Todai, Yale, and the United Nations; is a third degree black belt Macintosh user, substitutes for Marc Steiner, pitches for the Yomiuri Giants, composes scholarly publications in seven languages, dines frequently with the Grand Mikado of Japan, scuba dives off Sri Lanka with Mick and Arthur Clarke, ghostwrites for Joel Hodgeson, orchestrates for Justin Hayward, races for Aston Martin, advises Jimmy Carter, collaborates with Stephen Hawking, cruises with the Hollywood Knights, parties with Wayne and Garth, sits in on keyboards with Bill and Ted, and is a current candidate for the Nobel Prize in interstellar physiques.  See a couple of reels of "Urusei Yatsura" (especially "Remember My Love") if you want to know why.

In 2008, at age 37, she will succeed Dr. Alan Keyes as President.

Back to The Tales of Skuld / Back to The Top

aralie

Who is Arale Norimake?

Another legend in whose time we are privileged to live is Arale Norimake of Penguin Mura.  This irrepressible elf (whose merry soul occupies an android body) and her delightful mischief adorn the Dr. Slump series.

A-chan moves from birthday to birthday without visibly aging.  She has been nominated for five Oscars.  She test-flies high performance aircraft for the Lockheed Skunk Works, and uses Macintoshes exclusively.  She got Bob Dole to laugh out loud, advises Dr. Laura Schlessinger on child development, coaches Mary Lou Retton, and beats IBM's 'Blue Hawaii' at Chutes 'n Ladders regularly.  In the space of a single rainy afternoon, in time for supper, she created the comprehensive worldwide enterprise solution for the Y2K problem, earning her the Time Magazine cover spot for January 1, 2000.  (The article itself was in manga form, done by Akira Toriyama, a triumphant "first" for that proud magazine.)

In a previous life she ghost-wrote "A Midsummer Night's Dream."  She understands relativity, and discovered the cure for the common cold.  She declined a tearful, nationally televised personal appeal from Bill Gates to plan and manage institutional corporate daycare for MicroSoft, but countered with a successful offer to set up that corporation's pioneering "Home Works!" program, enabling many of Microsoft's employee dads and moms to work at home with their kids.  Her telethons, anchored from Baltimore's St. Joseph Hospital, facilitate over 15,000 adoptions annually.  She advises the research facilities of Toys R Us.

She took less than a year to make her discoverer Akira Toriyama Sensei a multi- millionaire.  Then singlehandedly she went on to redefine the theory and practice of "cute" and "super-deformed" in Japanese animation.

Don't laugh.  She's stronger than Superman.  So is her boyfriend.

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Back to The Tales of Skuld / Back to The Top

Feedback!   Comments?   Correspondence?   Some dojinshi of your own?   Drop us some mail at guest@geotrees.com.

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Narratives © Copyright 1996-1999 by Mendo Goodhue.   All rights reserved.   Distribute freely, with attribution.   "Lum" and "Arale Norimake" are copyright by their respective copyright holders.   Urd, Belldandy, and Skuld, as object of legend, are in the public domain, as well as in loving hearts everywhere.