Previously… There once was a boy who could change at will his shape, his form.  He was popular with all the boys and even his principal.  He was gone from sight for oh, so long, but he never left.  Not really.  Just out of sight long enough to be forgotten.

Currently… Odineye and his crew escaped the clutches of the evil (semi-evil? unintentionally hurtful?) Norse gods while making off with a collection from his time spent under their noses as the incredible backup dad.  Now, he’s finally home and we find out he had a plan for being there all along.

Previously… Odineye sought vengeance. That’s all he wanted. Just a little revenge. With a splash of payback. It wasn’t too much to ask. And it wasn’t too much for him to dream. But there were other dreams. Other distractions. Emotions left over from a life no longer his.

Currently… Ultimate weapons don’t always work as planned. Especially when they’re not yours.

Previously… Odin and his eyes went up the hill to fetch a pail of water (from the Well of Wisdom).  One eye fell in and got himself brained.  And he wanted Odin to go tumbling down.

Currently… And in this corner weighing not much at all, we have our challenger and glorious backup dad, Odineye!  And in the other corner we have Frigg… no… it’s the kids… I know… Valkyries… wait, how about Hel?  Well, that was quick.  Good thing Hod is taking the initiative to keep us entertained.

Read the Brat-halla team interview with Xcentrikz here.

Previously… Jeff was not on vacation.  And Odineye. Revenge. Infiltration. Backup dad. Clever. Frigg. Loving. Boys. Tolerating.  Hel and Valkyries. Hunt. Die. Kinda.

Currently… Jeff is on vacation, so if you happen to see a geeky, dark-haired, bearded, sunburned (but happy) guy wearing a Brat-halla around any of the Walt Disney World parks, that’s probably me (feel free to say "hi").  As for the story, Thor gets an earful from Hod as the young thunder god gets set up by the not–quite-as-dead-as-we-thought Hel.

And there’s our "winner" of the Norse Trivia: Corpse of Hel Edition discussion.  Thanks to all the Brat-halla readers who participated… there were lots of great entries.  Some funny, some thoughtful, and some nicely researched.  Since it was really close for choosing the winner, I decided to post some honorable mentions (in no particular order):

The "I’m Not Afraid of Paradoxes" Award goes to: Annie.

The "Most Use of Scholarly Names" Award goes to: Rafngard.

The "This is a Trick Question but I’m Gonna Try to Answer Anyway" Award goes to: CandleJack.

The "Hollywood Really True Story, Honest… This Time" Award goes to: Rayna.

The "RPG Rulemeister" Award goes to: Sul’Zala and PhantomLurker.

The "Frigg Fandom Shines Through in a Hel Thread" Award goes to: Grimmy.

The "Knights of the Dinner Table Reference" Award goes to: Wynni.

The "Gothy Ending" Award goes to: Thomaz.

The "Wordier Than Jeff but A Good Read Despite That" Award goes to: Stephen M (Ethesis) … and here and here.

The "Economy of Words" Award goes to: Laota French.

The "Fun Hod-Based Scenario" Award goes to: Theala Sildorian.

The "Had to Go There, DIdn’t You?" Award goes to: Qanouni and J C Rouille.

And special thanks again to everyone who participated.  You made it a lot of fun!

Previously… There was this eye.  Odin’s eye.  The one he sacrificed to gain access to the Well of Wisdom. Turns out the eye didn’t like being sacrificed, so he crawled up out of the Well and spent his days burning with revenge. Defeated in the past by Hod, Thor and Loki, Odineye added them to his list of vengeancey doom.

Currently… Odineye positioned himself within striking range of his secondary targets by posing as their backup dad. As awesome as he was as a backup dad, he nearly got too close to his targets… too attached. But the paranoia generated when being hunted by Hel and the Valkyries peels away his facade and the villain trapped within him steps forward (well… it makes a valiant effort, which is a bit odd for a villainous side).

Previously… I’m not the eye Odin sacrificed to the Well of Wisdom seeking revenge on your entire family and I’m your new backup dad while Odin is away. Yay! I’m gonna keep Frigg from permanently scarring you for life while she’s having crazy flashes. Yay! And I’ll do the shopping. Yay! Kinda. Yay? And keep your mom distracted for hours. Yay! Unfortunately, not the way your dad does. Yay! Sigh. Yay?

Currently… On a camping trip in a backyard fortress built by Odineye and the kids, the fortress is infiltrated by Hel and the Valkyries. Hel is after Odineye for back wages from her teaching stint at a school for monsters Odineye used to run. This (of course) led to a duel to the death won by our villainous eyeball. Now, he squares off against the wrath of Hod…

Previously… After crawling up out of the Well of Wisdom seeking revenge on Odin, the disembodied eye known as Odineye (yes, he has a James Bond villain name) has successfully failed at every attempt to quench his thirst for vengeance. It’s not so much his failure as it is the triumphs of Thor, Hod, and Loki.

Currently… While Odin is out playing the road warrior dad, the villainous Odineye has infiltrated his hall under the guise of a professional "backup dad". Though the kids and even Frigg have grown fond of him during all the quality time together, the sinister eyeball still plans on being the architect of their destruction (but he’d settle for corrupting the kids a bit). But will he lose his cool backup dad status now that he’s killed the babysitter?

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Just a quick announcement: in the blog, there is a simple trivia contest going on that’s spawned from the current storyline. No major prize… just bragging rights and probably a virtual certificate of your accomplishment. You can read the details here. 

How does Hel really die?

The winning answer will get bragging rights–I’ll probably even design a virtual certificate of merit. But note, this will go to the "winning" answer, which is subject to my insane judging skills.  It could be the correct answer or the funniest or the most entertaining or the most well-researched or even the craziest (think: Marvel "no-prize" worthy). It could go to the shortest answer or the longest answer.  Whatever answer I like the best will take the prize, so feel free to submit as many answers as you like to get my attention.

For obvious reasons of bias, Seth, Anthony and my wife Rayna can submit answers but aren’t eligible to receive bragging rights (it could upset the team dynamic), but they’ll be eligible for various honorable mention categories that I’ll announce with the winner.