The Hermetic Garbage of Jenny Everywhere (novel): Difference between revisions

| featuring= [[Laura Drake#In the Collapsed Cosmos|Laura Drake]]<br>[[Michael Moorcock|Moorcock]], [[Alan Moore|Moore]] & [[Grant Morrison|Morrison]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Emily Dickinson]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Virgil]] <small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Librarian (The Hermetic Garbage of Jenny Everywhere)|Unnamed librarian]]<br>[[Glendalf]]<br>[[Mumblecore]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Jegrekk Gnashtooth]]<br>[[Draco Malfoy|“A certain wizarding bad-boy”]]<br><small>(mentioned; implied)</small><br>[[Billionaire (The Hermetic Garbage of Jenny Everywhere)|Unnamed billionaire]]<br>[[Absoldar]]<br>[[J. Barrington Boartusk]]<br>[[Agrzaan Lurgpin]]<br>[[God (The Hermetic Garbage of Jenny Everywhere)|Creator of the Orcs]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Lord Grallyx]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Octobriana#With Glendalf and Jenny|Octobriana]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[The Magician of Mars]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Amelia Midnight]]<br>[[Jenny Anywhere|Penny Anywhere]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Princess Katerina Corwin]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Princess Katerina's mother|Katerina's mother]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Julie Jacobs#In the Collapsed Cosmos|Julie Jacobs]]<br>[[Death#In the Collapsed Cosmos|Death]]<br>[[Jack Kirby]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Balding man (The Hermetic Garbage of Jenny Everywhere)|Balding man]]<br>[[Cashier (The Hermetic Garbage of Jenny Everywhere)|Cashier]]<br>[[The Fallen One]]<br>[[Chaos]]<br>[[Sir Thomas Rhymer]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[The Illumination]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small><br>[[Emperor of Mars|The Emperor of Mars]]<br><small>(mentioned)</small>

| dates= August 29th, 2021 - October 20th, 2021

The wizard is [[Glendalf]], a flamboyantly gay magic-maker and old acquaintance of [[Jenny Everywhere#In the Collapsed Comsos|Jenny]]'s, who had spent the last few years as a recluse. Cheerfully oblivious to Jenny's annoyance at her intimate moment with [[Laura Drake#In the Collapsed Cosmos|Laura]] being nipped in the bud, Glendalf marches a group of twelve leather-clad [[Orc]]s into her living room, promising to explaint he reason for his visit momentarily.

While the Orcs prepare a barbecue dinner, [[Jenny Everywhere#In the Collapsed Comsos|Jenny]] asks [[Glendalf]] what he wants, noting not without annoyance that his intrusion appears to have temporarily caused [[Laura Drake#In the Collapsed Cosmos|Laura]] to drop out of the narrative altogether. Glendalf explains that he intends to go on an adventure with her and the Orcs, though he does not actually have a precise adventure in mind and would like to know if Jenny has any ideas.

With [[Jenny Everywhere#In the Collapsed Comsos|Jenny]] unable to think of an adventure for the time being, she, [[Glendalf]] and the [[Orc]]s settle in for dinner, since the Orcs have finished preparing their feast. After the meal, while the Orcs talk politics, Jenny and Glendalf get to reminiscing about some of their old adventures together.

After laying plans, the newly-formed team tuck in for the night. [[Glendalf]] has a nightmare in which spiders cover his body, and, due to his wizardly nature, such spiders actually materialise, forcing [[Jenny Everywhere#In the Collapsed Cosmos|Jenny]] to nurse him through it. In the morning, Jenny, Glendalf and four of the [[orc]]s ([[Absoldar]], [[Jegrekk Gnashtooth|Jegrekk]], [[J. Barrington Boartusk]] and [[Agrzaan Lurgpin]]) set out for the heist aboard an airship which Glendalf had been carrying around in his purse in miniature, but which he is able to magically restore to full size with a few magic words.

As the airship nears the billionaire's huge, overdesigned gothic mansion, the gang go over their plan once more. It involves [[Jenny Everywhere#In the Collapsed Cosmos|Jenny]] and [[J. Barrington Boartusk]] gaining entry by posing as documentary filmmakers while [[Glendalf]] disables the magical defences; [[Agrzaan Lurgpin|Agrzaan]] will then sneak to the basement, joined by Jenny, to take the [[Legendary Time Crystal|Time Crystal]].

Looking around, [[Jenny Everywhere#In the Collapsed Cosmos|Jenny]] realises that she is on a fairly standard [[Earth]], seemingly devoid of any signs of human life. She realises she was inside a book before, during her adventure with [[Glendalf]], and she wonders if she is now in another or if she is back in the “real world”, such as it is. Looking over what she's carrying in her pack, she finds (among other things) the poems of [[Emily Dickinson]] again.

After reflecting on what could have caused the collapse of the [[Multiverse]], [[Jenny Everywhere#In the Collapsed Cosmos|Jenny]] decides she should start small rather than try to fix everything at once. She decides to try and rejoin [[Glendalf]] and the [[Orc]]s, though she is unsure of how she will get back to the right “frame of reference”.

Having reasoned that if they are anywhere, [[Glendalf]] and company must be wandering in [[Faerie]], [[Jenny Everywhere#In the Collapsed Cosmos|Jenny]] decides to go there. Unable to [[shift]] (especially under the eyes of [[ARCHONET]]), she begins reading, from the ''[[Child Ballads]]'', the ballad of [[Sir Thomas Rhymer]].  

Lured away from the path by a voice calling her name, [[Jenny Everywhere#In the Collapsed Cosmos|Jenny]] finds a clearing, also realising that it is now a moonless night even though it was noonday during her previous exploration. In the centre of the clearing is a gnarled, barren tree into which the anguished face of [[Glendalf]] has been fused, still trying to warn Jenny to leave before it is too late.

With [[Jenny Everywhere#In the Collapsed Cosmos|Jenny]] obviously not leaving her friend, [[Glendalf|the wizard]] explains that he and the [[Orc]]s fell afoul of the [[Queen of Faerie]]; though he managed to get the Orcs to a place of safety through a portal, the Queen managed to get him and is now using him as bait for Jenny. Indeed, when she turns around, Jenny finds the Queen standing behind her in full regalia. Jenny greets her, rather casually, as an old acquaintance, though not a friendly one.

The [[Queen of Faerie]] insists that [[Jenny Everywhere#In the Collapsed Cosmos|Jenny]] leave without [[Glendalf]], whom she considers under her power after he broke the laws of [[Faerie]]. With Jenny refusing defiantly (and inwardly feeling good about how this heroic posturing feels reminiscent of her old self), the Queen calls for the [[Wild Hunt]].

[[Jenny Everywhere#In the Collapsed Cosmos|Jenny]] presses a button on her flashlight, which changes back into her [[Jenny Everywhere's staff|collapsible hard-light weapon]]. She plunges it into the tree and is assaulted by memories of other battles in her previous lives, including “a ray-gun duel with the [[Emperor of Mars]]”, a “mecha-dogfight in the skies above [[Utopia Planitia]]” and “taking on a super-alien blazing with power in the [[Cross-Dimensional Martial Arts Tournament]]”. However, she forces herself to focus on the current situation, not wanting to slip away from Faerie before rescuing Glendalf. Cuting into the bark of the magic tree, she manages to free the wizard.

 

* Various shared adventures between [[Glendalf]] and [[Jenny Everywhere]] in “the good old days” include “battling [[Lord Grallyx]] on the astral plane”, “besieging the [[Tower of Zirma]] with [[Octobriana#With Glendalf and Jenny|Octobriana]]”, and “getting high with [[the Magician of Mars]] in [[Washington]] to levitate the [[Pentagon]]”. He also once helped her deal with recurring memories of “shifting through the [[Overvoid]]”, which is also where, in some universes, infant versions of Jenny were found and adopted by various versions of [[Amelia Midnight]].

* One of the adventures Jenny and [[Glendalf]] reminisce about involved the [[Tower of Zirma]], a potential allusion to [[COMIC]]: ''[[Mrs Zirma (comic story)|Mrs Zirma]]''.

It contains a number of cultural references and allusions. For example, the transphobic British billionaire-writer against whom [[Glendalf]] bears a grudge is transparently a satirical depiction of J.K. Rowling, while Glendalf himself and his twelve Orcs knocking at Jenny's doors are reminiscent of J.R.R. Tolkien's Gandalf and his company of Dwarves at the beginning of ''The Hobbit''.