Escape Artists
Escape Pod => Episode Comments => Topic started by: Russell Nash on October 19, 2007, 07:21:45 AM
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EP128: Union Dues - Send in the Clowns (http://escapepod.org/index.php/2007/10/18/ep128-union-dues-send-in-the-clowns/)
By Jeffrey R. DeRego (http://jeffderego.blogspot.com/).
Read by Dani Cutler (of Truth Seekrs (http://audioaddict.libsyn.com/) and The Audio Addicts (http://societyfans.blogspot.com/)).
Tina tugs on Kindred’s bullet-tattered red cape. “What kinda tricks do you do?”
Kindred shakes her head as if bewildered by the question. “Tricks?” She glances back at Megaton, who now juggles three Jersey barriers about a hundred meters out in the devastation.
“Let it go Kindred. We’ve been through a lot.”
“Well that’s good. So now you’re free to put on a carnival. Get everyone together and onto the jet now. And I mean now!” Her voice is so loud it draws everyone’s attention away from the show.
Megaton drops the Jersey barriers and the ground shakes.
Kindred lowers herself to one knee beside the little girl. “My trick is special,” she says, “I can make the whole circus disappear. Abracadabra—”
Ratied PG. Contains superhero violence and organizational politics.
(http://escapepod.org/wp-images/podcast-mini4.gif)
Listen to this week’s Escape Pod! (http://escapepod.org/podpress_trac/web/248/0/EP128_SendInTheClowns.mp3)
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haven't even listened to it but Jay, another Union Dues!!!
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Oh! Union Dues! I was riding a packed train when I saw that the current escape pod story was a new Union Dues story. I let out a squeel that made my fellow travellers turn and look at me, puzzled. And I smiled all the while I was listening to the story, and the other travellers kept looking at me funny :D Union Dues stories are always so dead pan dark and yet engaging. They make me feel that "yes, this IS what it would be like!". Love it!
Thank you Jeffrey for writing them, and Steve for running them! I'm looking forward to more.
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Man, Jeffery, keep this up. Wow. I hope these get all compiled together in print some day.
One tiny problem with the delivery. The reader didn't try to force voices, reading all characters in pretty close to her own voice. I don't mind that; I prefer it to a female reader doing a false male voice, or vise versa. But I didn't think this went well at all the use of the "radio transmission" voice effects. It's harder to imagine a line coming in a different voice when you have that "REALISM" cue....
Still, a big A+, after two weeks that I frankly found a bit disappointing.
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Wah HOo!!
I haven't listened yet (still downloading), but I'm really looking forward to it.
Also, I'd like to just get this out of the way: This this story isn't enough "SF" to belong here. The author has no idea what he's talking about. I take personal offense at everything in the story, and you should all apologize!
Thanks Steve! Thanks JR!
(Ok, I'm going to go listen to it now.) :)
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Wah HOo!!
I haven't listened yet (still downloading), but I'm really looking forward to it.
Also, I'd like to just get this out of the way: This this story isn't enough "SF" to belong here. The author has no idea what he's talking about. I take personal offense at everything in the story, and you should all apologize!
Thanks Steve! Thanks JR!
(Ok, I'm going to go listen to it now.) :)
Yeah, you guys ought to run this bum author out on a rail! Tar and feather him!!!
:)
Hope you all dig the story! It's sci-fi, it has robots (well the remains of them anyway)! That reminds me, when I submitted it I said I'd post the original 8 opening pages of robot fighting action in here... I have to go search my HD now to make good on that promise.
Also-
I'd like to e-mail Dani Cutler and thank her for the great read, but I couldn't find her address on any of the linked pages where she's hosting. Can someone PM it to me?
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Its like a ray of sunshine on a cloud day, excpet with a dark shine to it... :-\ Not sure what that means but the Union Dues are great stories, singulary or collectively. Steve, you guys should do a Union Due collective speacial at that pod disc thing you always talk about.
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I wonder what my neighbors must have thought, as I am sure they heard me squee!! when I saw the new ep episode was another Union Dues. I seriously enjoy this story line and hope to see more of it in the future, and all of it collected into novel form someday. Great job on the story as usual.
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So good I pooped on myself. And that had nothing to do with massive quantity of Milk of Magnesia that I ingested and forgot about.
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I was really looking forward to seeing the posts when I started this thread, but I find it absolutely amazing how many people post just to say they're glad there's a new Union Dues. They haven't even listened to it yet.
It will be a little while before I listen to it. My kids got me sick and I want to be able to devote my full attention to it, so I'll wait until I'm healthy. I'm really looking forward to it.
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This feels a bit awkward with all the positive response, but this didn't quite work for me. Part of the problem might be that I downloaded a couple of the old Union Dues stories ("Baby and the Bathwater" and "Cleanup in Aisle Five") listened back to back to bring myself up to speed, so it might be getting a touch repetetive for me.
One small issue I have with the stories is that they feel overly talky to me. If I were to imagine this as a comic book, it would contain panel after panel of characters talking to eachother or just thinking to themselves. It's not that dialoge itself is bad, but much of the chatter - especially between Chrome and Kindred - felt unnatural to me. It seemed to only be there to make the points that the writer didn't trust himself to have made through characters' actions. Perhaps if Kindred had told an actual illustrative story about a time when she was dragged off to be kids entertainment we could have had her narrative within the main narrative. That might have made the story a bit more structurally interesting.
For me, the best part of the story was the bit with the unintended consequences of the post-hypnotic suggestion taking over at inopportune times and sending Union heroes into robot-monotone mode. It was nicely introduced in Chrome's conversation with Megaton and made for a satisfying even if a little too convenient conclusion.
I know that these Union Dues stories are entertaining bits of fluff, but they're starting to feel a bit heavy handed to me. The Union feels more "just plain bad" as things go on, has become unpopular, doesn't have the support of at least local government, and is negatively portrayed in the press. I can suspend my disbelief as to the existence of the super-strong, super-agile, telepaths, and super-strategists, but can't figure out why such a highly visible and highly unpopular organization retains a stranglehold in its area of concentration. If the series continues I think we need to see some cracks in the Union edifice for it to remain believable.
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The previous Union Dues story came out shortly after I started following Escape Pod, so I just skipped it, figuring I'd go back and listen to the older ones in sequence. Then I forgot about it, and never did.
Since I have just moved from New York City to a much quieter part of the world (York, England), I find I have more free time in the evenings. So I'm pretty thankful I never listened to the previous Union Dues stories as now I have a neat little project to carry me through the next few days...
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I know that these Union Dues stories are entertaining bits of fluff, but they're starting to feel a bit heavy handed to me. The Union feels more "just plain bad" as things go on, has become unpopular, doesn't have the support of at least local government, and is negatively portrayed in the press. I can suspend my disbelief as to the existence of the super-strong, super-agile, telepaths, and super-strategists, but can't figure out why such a highly visible and highly unpopular organization retains a stranglehold in its area of concentration. If the series continues I think we need to see some cracks in the Union edifice for it to remain believable.
I think it retains a stranglehold and has some negative views for the same reason other big unions in RL do. Unions after awhile become big business themselves, and it becomes more about what money the leadership can make, than about helping the members. Alot of people I have talked with here in the US view UAW as part of the problem with jobs going over seas. They don't look at the fact they are/have priced their members out of a job, they just steadfastly refuse to make concessions. Teamsters has long been viewed as corrupt and full of ties to organized crime whether it's still true or not, and I think it goes back to the days of Jimmy Hoffa and the like running teamsters. The Union in Union Dues seems more like they are out to protect the royalties they get from marketing the supers than actually helping people. This story especially makes it seem that way. There is big money to be made with Comic Books, action figures, Saturday morning Cartoons. I still feel like we are early in the story for cracks to appear, were are kinda in the prologue before changes can start.
I am still enjoying the Union Dues stories and look forward to seeing more of them.
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This feels a bit awkward with all the positive response, but this didn't quite work for me.
I'm sure Jeffery appreciates hearing from a critical perspective as well as getting the praise, or possibly more.
One small issue I have with the stories is that they feel overly talky to me. If I were to imagine this as a comic book, it would contain panel after panel of characters talking to eachother or just thinking to themselves.
I find this to be a strength of the series. This is not a comic book that relies on visual stimulus to drive the story. (Don't get me wrong--I love comics.) This is prose, and in the case of EP, audio prose. This lends itself to more inner reflection and more exploratory character interaction. If I'm not wrong, I think this is one of the author's point in writing the Union Dues stories. We all know the common super hero action and schtik. This is something different.
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I really like these stories a lot because the heroes, who are living lives of exceptional isolation brought on by their powers, can be seen clearly chafing at the social restraints they're under, the younger ones as well as the older ones.
The distrust of the public and the government toward the supers leads to the Union members having a buddy-cop "us-versus-them" attitude toward "the normals," and all these stories together point to things starting to really come apart at the seams.
I look forward to the stories building up to the point where the Union itself utterly fails in its diplomatic mission, and every Union pyramid comes under attack by normals. Certainly that could happen if the events of "Off White Lies" were to be leaked to the public.
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Uuuuuuuunion Duuuuuuuues!
:) i loved it! I squeeled when i saw it downloading.
The only thing that really bothered me was the incredible stupidity of Chrome not being able to explain herself. Comeon, the Union doesn't believe in a fair trial? As corrupt and inefficient as it might be, the Union cannot be that evil.
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Uuuuuuuunion Duuuuuuuues!
:) i loved it! I squeeled when i saw it downloading.
The only thing that really bothered me was the incredible stupidity of Chrome not being able to explain herself. Comeon, the Union doesn't believe in a fair trial? As corrupt and inefficient as it might be, the Union cannot be that evil.
Not to mention the fact that they discipline Chrome for quietly comforting a child on her lap while Megaton is apparently given a pass for creating the spectacle in the first place.
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Uuuuuuuunion Duuuuuuuues!
:) i loved it! I squeeled when i saw it downloading.
The only thing that really bothered me was the incredible stupidity of Chrome not being able to explain herself. Comeon, the Union doesn't believe in a fair trial? As corrupt and inefficient as it might be, the Union cannot be that evil.
Not to mention the fact that they discipline Chrome for quietly comforting a child on her lap while Megaton is apparently given a pass for creating the spectacle in the first place.
Megaton explains later that since his stuff sells well, he gets extra leeway.
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I think it retains a stranglehold and has some negative views for the same reason other big unions in RL do. Unions after awhile become big business themselves, and it becomes more about what money the leadership can make, than about helping the members. Alot of people I have talked with here in the US view UAW as part of the problem with jobs going over seas. They don't look at the fact they are/have priced their members out of a job, they just steadfastly refuse to make concessions. Teamsters has long been viewed as corrupt and full of ties to organized crime whether it's still true or not, and I think it goes back to the days of Jimmy Hoffa and the like running teamsters. The Union in Union Dues seems more like they are out to protect the royalties they get from marketing the supers than actually helping people.
This to me feels like a characature of what a labor union is and does. The "Union" in the Union Dues stories doesn't seem to be a union at all in the sense of the UAW, AFL-CIO, or any other examples of the labor movement. It behaves more like a corporation, most likely a government-regulated monopoly such as the pre-1980s phone company or electrical utilities in many markets. Real unions keep in power through negotiation of contracts involving closed shops, cooperation with other unions (a union carpenter at a construction site not accepting lumber deliveries from non-union shipping services, for example), and - at least to some extent - the support of their members.
Problems with the American automobile industry - only some of which can be laid on the doorstep of organized labor - are an entirely different topic. One way of looking at a union environment is as one with two parallell tracks of leadership. On one side is management - various levels of supervisors, area or group operations managers, up through executives and a board of directors. Their goal and loyalty is to the corporation and its shareholders. On the other side is union leadership - shop stewards, business agents, up through the union's board of directors and executives. Their constituents are the workers rather than the corporation. In such a case not only would the union fight for higher wages, but also against arbitrary discipline like that received by Chrome here in this story. In short, she'd have someone to fight for her.
Can unions be short-sighted and greedy? Absolutely. There's a tendency to push wages past the point at which they're sustainable, artificial tightening of labour supplies in some construction trades, and a willingness to fight for the least deserving workers on principle. Then again, without unions workers - especially those without the high level of skills and education to be able to negotiate on their own - would even more quickly be losing access to health care and have a harder time earning a living wage. They'd be treated by corporations as a fungible resource to be discarded when it's inconvenient and replaced as cheaply as possible. It's not a perfect system and it is a largely adversarial system, but it's one that provides advocacy for both workers and shareholders. That's at least something.
Sorry for wandering off topic and hopping onto a bit of a soapbox here. It's just frustrating to organized labor portrayed as the source of the problem with industry today, especially when discussing a story that has very little to do with the actual labour movement.
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I wonder how the Union operates outside of U.S. borders, if at all.
What is the Union response if a super is discovered in, say, South Africa?
Could a renegade super escape to, say, North Korea, offering his or her services to Kim Jong Il in exchange from protection from being sent to The Village?
Should there be a Union Dues wiki to start keeping track of all this craziness?
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I liked the story. Union Dues are some of my fav ones, and this one just reinforced that for me.
Solid story, likable believable characters, and a plot that could happen.
About the idea of a union being exagerated; its true, however for the universe it has been put into it fits very well. Without a union to represent them (as was mentioned) they would be open to lawsuits, government red tape and generally not save people. Its been done a few times in various fiction, I have no idea if it originated in these stories; they are liable for damage they do. They did it, even if it was to save someone else; its evident in society that we live in now that people will take anything they can get.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/seminole/orl-mdrown1007oct10,0,7318452.story?coll=orl_tab01_layout
(FYI, she's now droped the case... but still she tried)
This would be an issue for super powered people.
To help them they get together and make a group who follow an agreed set of rules... but as it is coordinated with the government... the red tape piles up over time; until noone cares about making them comprehansable anymore, and can take down anyone it wants if it sees fit. If you have ever read an insurance policy, a contract, a loan application or a thousand other things, you can see its believable; and that is the imporant thing.
Any a lot of the time a union does keep it's own interests secure... but it is within its best interest to.
But yeah most Unions would have fought against Chroms punnishment, as it seemed harsh and over the top... It jusr ends up a lot of the time the human factor is overlooked; and people just doing their job the way they are supposed to are sometimes punnished if the media puts the wrong spin on it...
(see AOL cancelation saga phone call. He didn't break any AOL rules until half way through, and if that wasn't in the internet and got media coverage; even if AOL knew about it; nothing would have happened. The guy was reportedly fired.)
The ideas of hypnosis being used are good; in a universe where super powers exist, more extreme control would be needed; so I can see that happening. Just as they would have greater physical/mental tests, and would be examined for if they should be allowed to protect the public... the official line would be important to be natural, before they could think about it.
Its like the army being trained to react to a situation without thinking and to aim shoot and be on guard without their brain ever kicking in, just reacting naturally; to keep them alive better. They don't train for what happens next; guilt etc etc... In this story it was the same thing; no thought was given to how it would effect everyday life, no thought about what to do after the emergancy is over, or how to cope wiht the aftermath. Brainwashing was a quick and easy fix. Almost a reset button...
//Side note//
Though if you have read the first issue of Civil War, you do see supers helping with the recovery and helping effort after the emergancy is over. Which I thought was a really nice touch.
As for whether supers are sci fi; I say yes. Easily. All super heroes just feel sci fi to me. And IIRC the union dues universe has giant robots in it..(see the previous story about the guy with no powers).
That went on longer that I intended.
sorry.
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Kia ora (Hello from New Zealand)
This is my first comment on a story, It has taken me about 7 weeks to catch up on all the stories since I discovered Escape Pod.
I have always enjoyed Super Human stories since reading "Green Lantern" while waiting to get my hair cut in the 60's.
For a Super Human story to be effective, it has to be short, have a degree of humour and have a point. This story is and has all of those points, it could so easily transfer into a 32 page comic (sorry Graphic Novel).
Its great to think that even super humans have the same phobias and insecurities that we have.
Loved the story, loved the reading of it, its just a pity that I could find a way to download the other union dues stories.
Dave A
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I agree with you contra. The Union isn't a "union" in the traditional since, I ken. Looking out for its members' interests isn't its top priority. It is an organization created to actively control its member's actions in a way that is socially acceptable - saving people from catastrophes - so they wouldn't be wiped out as soon as their god-like powers became apparent. If they didn't have these guidelines to keep them on a short leash, they could pretty much take over the world as a super-spieces. So, the "management" keeps these randomly selected souls under its thumb to prevent WWIII from braking out.
I like the social unrest undertone with the normals. They clearly have no fear of these super-beings that could destroy armies on a whim. It's like kids throwing stones at a chained up guard dog; if it ever breaks free all hell will break loose. And the supers are grinding their teeth and mumbling under their breath about being used as target practice by military contractors, as marketing pawns by the Union, and as entertaining clowns to the public.
This is a classic story of order and control vs. anarchy and freedom. The Union has clearly defined roles for its members and the public. But nobody likes their entire lives dictated for them. If I may quote Star Wars, "The more you tighten your grip, the more will slip through your fingers." I'm just eager to see some more slippage and how the author chooses to resolve it.
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Kia ora (Hello from New Zealand)
This is my first comment on a story, It has taken me about 7 weeks to catch up on all the stories since I discovered Escape Pod.
I have always enjoyed Super Human stories since reading "Green Lantern" while waiting to get my hair cut in the 60's.
For a Super Human story to be effective, it has to be short, have a degree of humour and have a point. This story is and has all of those points, it could so easily transfer into a 32 page comic (sorry Graphic Novel).
Its great to think that even super humans have the same phobias and insecurities that we have.
Loved the story, loved the reading of it, its just a pity that I could find a way to download the other union dues stories.
Dave A
You can listen to them at my MySpace page... www.myspace.com/jrderegowriter
Hope that helps.
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Kia ora (Hello from New Zealand)
This is my first comment on a story, It has taken me about 7 weeks to catch up on all the stories since I discovered Escape Pod.
I have always enjoyed Super Human stories since reading "Green Lantern" while waiting to get my hair cut in the 60's.
For a Super Human story to be effective, it has to be short, have a degree of humour and have a point. This story is and has all of those points, it could so easily transfer into a 32 page comic (sorry Graphic Novel).
Its great to think that even super humans have the same phobias and insecurities that we have.
Loved the story, loved the reading of it, its just a pity that I could find a way to download the other union dues stories.
Dave A
You can listen to them at my MySpace page... www.myspace.com/jrderegowriter
Hope that helps.
You can also get the feed from escapearchive.com (http://www.escapearchive.com/). This is a fan run feed that has all of the old EP eps..
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I think I prefer this one to the others in the series (not that I remember them that well). In those ones the heroes seemed to have such a grim time of things that in their place I'd probably go crazy. This story suggested that while life is unfair and people can be unprincipled bitches there is also the chance to look on the bright side of life.
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I almost didn't listen to this one given I haven't heard any of the others, but I took Steve Eley's word for it that it stood well on its own and was accepted as such and listened to it anyway. I enjoyed it a lot. It would probably make more sense had I heard some of the others, but it did well not having had any backstory.
The end was creepy though, all evidence of Chrome's presence digitally removed--with implications that all memory of her presence could also be supplanted. *shiver*
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Kia ora (Hello from New Zealand)
Yay, another kiwi *wave* Hi Dave.
As for the story - Another universal acceptance of "loving it" here. I'm simply enamoured with the concept behind all the stories - Superheroes with real problems (not just emo angst, revenge or love sickness), personalities, and having to deal with being a modern corporation.
Not only is it an entertaining twist on the Super Hero genre, it also throws up a mirror to all the silliness that is our corporate/legal world.
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The end was creepy though, all evidence of Chrome's presence digitally removed--with implications that all memory of her presence could also be supplanted. *shiver*
No, they were just replacing the guns with walkie-talkies, because that was what was 'meant' to be there all along, right?
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The end was creepy though, all evidence of Chrome's presence digitally removed--with implications that all memory of her presence could also be supplanted. *shiver*
No, they were just replacing the guns with walkie-talkies, because that was what was 'meant' to be there all along, right?
And showing that our hero wasactually shot at first, because no real hero would shoot first.
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I do like the Union Dues universe, and really loved the only other story I've heard there ("Iron Bars and the Glass Jaw" - the only one played so far on EP Classic). This story was okay, but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much. A lot of that was because what the main character was being punished (the "circus") she wasn't really involved in. And nothing much was made of that fact, she seemed to take personal responsiblity for the others actions. And I never really got a good sense of who she was, or what her role on the team was... she's the newbie, but seems to be giving orders and taking responsiblity. Heck, I don't even know what her powers are. We're told she was born different, but wears a powered armor suit, and everything she does is based on the suit.
Anyway, I think stuff like that kept me from getting into the story. If it was my first exposure to Union Dues, I would have loved it just for all the concepts of the universe. And maybe if I'd heard the others leading up to this I'd know enough to answer my questions. As it was, the story left me a little cool.
Don't get me wrong though, for all my complaints I still enjoyed it, just not as much as I was hoping to.
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well there aren't any supers ANYWHERE else because America is amazing and perfect and no one can challenge its amazingness. *redneck voice* AMERICA!
hasnt it been mentioned that there are pyramids in other countries? or am i just imagining that?
i thought the Union was worldwide (or at least assumed so)
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well there aren't any supers ANYWHERE else because America is amazing and perfect and no one can challenge its amazingness. *redneck voice* AMERICA!
hasnt it been mentioned that there are pyramids in other countries? or am i just imagining that?
i thought the Union was worldwide (or at least assumed so)
There aren't Supers in any other countries in the UD Universe. The reason will be revealed in a future "exciting, action packed episode". However, the Union can work by special request, with the United Nations.
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I do like the Union Dues universe, and really loved the only other story I've heard there ("Iron Bars and the Glass Jaw" - the only one played so far on EP Classic). This story was okay, but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much. A lot of that was because what the main character was being punished (the "circus") she wasn't really involved in. And nothing much was made of that fact, she seemed to take personal responsiblity for the others actions. And I never really got a good sense of who she was, or what her role on the team was... she's the newbie, but seems to be giving orders and taking responsiblity. Heck, I don't even know what her powers are. We're told she was born different, but wears a powered armor suit, and everything she does is based on the suit.
Anyway, I think stuff like that kept me from getting into the story. If it was my first exposure to Union Dues, I would have loved it just for all the concepts of the universe. And maybe if I'd heard the others leading up to this I'd know enough to answer my questions. As it was, the story left me a little cool.
Don't get me wrong though, for all my complaints I still enjoyed it, just not as much as I was hoping to.
It's been a while since last listening to a Union Dues story, but if I remember, there were "super intelligents" who were tacticians for their teams. It seems that Chrome performed this role, which would be why she was portrayed in a leadership position, and also why she had need for a powered suit, since her powers were mental in nature.
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well there aren't any supers ANYWHERE else because America is amazing and perfect and no one can challenge its amazingness. *redneck voice* AMERICA!
hasnt it been mentioned that there are pyramids in other countries? or am i just imagining that?
i thought the Union was worldwide (or at least assumed so)
There aren't Supers in any other countries in the UD Universe. The reason will be revealed in a future "exciting, action packed episode". However, the Union can work by special request, with the United Nations.
That's just teasing.
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That's just teasing.
Gotta keep the interest up in case we go another 11 months between stories!
:)
Don't forget, "All That We Leave Behind" is coming soon! And I've just subbed another into the slush pile.
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Uuuuuuuunion Duuuuuuuues!
:) i loved it! I squeeled when i saw it downloading.
The only thing that really bothered me was the incredible stupidity of Chrome not being able to explain herself. Comeon, the Union doesn't believe in a fair trial? As corrupt and inefficient as it might be, the Union cannot be that evil.
Have you ever belonged to a teacher's union? From my mom's and my friends' experiences, they exist solely to browbeat you into giving them your money, making you attend useless workshops, and acting as a really expensive insurance policy that sometimes helps you out if you get in trouble and spend a year being treated unfairly by your principal. Maybe.
But yeah, I agree with you.
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I do like the Union Dues universe, and really loved the only other story I've heard there ("Iron Bars and the Glass Jaw" - the only one played so far on EP Classic). This story was okay, but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much. A lot of that was because what the main character was being punished (the "circus") she wasn't really involved in. And nothing much was made of that fact, she seemed to take personal responsiblity for the others actions. And I never really got a good sense of who she was, or what her role on the team was... she's the newbie, but seems to be giving orders and taking responsiblity. Heck, I don't even know what her powers are. We're told she was born different, but wears a powered armor suit, and everything she does is based on the suit.
Anyway, I think stuff like that kept me from getting into the story. If it was my first exposure to Union Dues, I would have loved it just for all the concepts of the universe. And maybe if I'd heard the others leading up to this I'd know enough to answer my questions. As it was, the story left me a little cool.
Don't get me wrong though, for all my complaints I still enjoyed it, just not as much as I was hoping to.
It's been a while since last listening to a Union Dues story, but if I remember, there were "super intelligents" who were tacticians for their teams. It seems that Chrome performed this role, which would be why she was portrayed in a leadership position, and also why she had need for a powered suit, since her powers were mental in nature.
I was wondering about her power until I read this. Not having read any previous UD stories, this was my first experience in the universe. Now I know, and don't have to ask that question.
But, unless I missed mention of it while changing lanes on the way to work today and avoiding a runaway liquid propane tanker, to make this a fully stand-alone story a line dropped in to explain that would not have come amiss.
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I love a good superhero story (and am still miffed that The Incredibles wasn't nominated for Best Picture, instead of just Best Animated Film). I liked this story for what it was and for what it represented, and for the whole "union charter" thing, which was both amusing and -- given that I work in a corporate environment -- distressingly familiar.
I wasn't terribly thrilled with the reading -- she nailed Chrome's voice, but didn't really do much for anyone else's except Kindred's.
As has been noted before, the way Megaton was dealt with vs the way Jenny was dealt with was a nice little truth about the corporate world.
Did anyone else notice that most of the supers had somewhat-daunting names? The pilot has a skull mask and is supposed to be dark. Kindred is, IMO, generally associated with vampires. Megaton with bombs. That sort of thing. Maybe it's me. I wonder if this is intentional, or if the author just thought they were cool names. I'm fine with either.
Two things I wonder that may have been/may be explored:
* If Chrome and others are super-intelligents, why would they willingly allow themselves to have posthypnotic suggestion/compulsory phrases incorporated into their brains?
* How long until we have a story where scabs break the picket line because the Union has said "we won't save you people until you do X" and other supers say "I can't go along with that" -- what will happen? (Jeff, feel free to take that idea for a future UD story.) Or, along those lines, supers who are vigilantes that the Union has to round up?
(If those have been done, I'll listen to them when I listen to previous UD episodes.)
Anyway, overall, very enjoyable. This is the first EP I actually finished at my desk after the drive to work, rather than waiting until I got in the car to go home later.
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Did anyone else notice that most of the supers had somewhat-daunting names? The pilot has a skull mask and is supposed to be dark. Kindred is, IMO, generally associated with vampires. Megaton with bombs. That sort of thing. Maybe it's me. I wonder if this is intentional, or if the author just thought they were cool names. I'm fine with either.
Intentional. If I ever get Tabula Rasa done so that I like it, you'll get to see how the marketing department works.
Two things I wonder that may have been/may be explored:
* If Chrome and others are super-intelligents, why would they willingly allow themselves to have posthypnotic suggestion/compulsory phrases incorporated into their brains?
They don't have a choice.
* How long until we have a story where scabs break the picket line because the Union has said "we won't save you people until you do X" and other supers say "I can't go along with that" -- what will happen? (Jeff, feel free to take that idea for a future UD story.) Or, along those lines, supers who are vigilantes that the Union has to round up?
(If those have been done, I'll listen to them when I listen to previous UD episodes.)
The Union is really a union in name only. It operates much more like a conglomerated corporation. All dictates come from the top down hierarchy, the Luminaries, then The Tribunal (Each pyramid has a representative). Special Services, of which we have only met one character, Darksider, are like the internal police who work for the Luminaries and outside the bounds of the Tribunal.
The regular heroes, Team One and Team 2 in each Pyramid, as well as the third stringers or trainees, have virtually no say in how the organization is run or structured. I did at one time have a story that dealt with The Union chasing down a "freelancer" but that was destroyed, and rewritten into a better story called "Freedom with a Small F".
I do have an idea that will be explored, probably after the Team Shikaragaki stories (the second series of UD tales focusing on one traveling team, i.e. one story for each member), that will work out a storyline where some Union members walk off the job. I'll probably pull a bunch of stuff from the unpublished (and probably unpublishable) Union Dues novel that I wrote some years back to make this third set of stories.
We'll see :)
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Two things I wonder that may have been/may be explored:
* If Chrome and others are super-intelligents, why would they willingly allow themselves to have posthypnotic suggestion/compulsory phrases incorporated into their brains?
They don't have a choice.
In EP062 The Baby and the Bathwater we find out that the union shows up as soon as powers are discovered. Chrome and other super-intelligents were probably in the union long before they would have been able to fight the brainwashing.
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Two things I wonder that may have been/may be explored:
* If Chrome and others are super-intelligents, why would they willingly allow themselves to have posthypnotic suggestion/compulsory phrases incorporated into their brains?
They don't have a choice.
In EP062 The Baby and the Bathwater we find out that the union shows up as soon as powers are discovered. Chrome and other super-intelligents were probably in the union long before they would have been able to fight the brainwashing.
Actually, the baby in The Baby and the Bathwater is an abberation. All of the other Supers (except for the Luminaries) developed in their early to late teens. They don't fight the imprinting because they can't fight the imprinting, it's part of their training process. If they don't train they get to live in Antartica until they die of old age or commit suicide.
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Two things I wonder that may have been/may be explored:
* If Chrome and others are super-intelligents, why would they willingly allow themselves to have posthypnotic suggestion/compulsory phrases incorporated into their brains?
They don't have a choice.
In EP062 The Baby and the Bathwater we find out that the union shows up as soon as powers are discovered. Chrome and other super-intelligents were probably in the union long before they would have been able to fight the brainwashing.
Actually, the baby in The Baby and the Bathwater is an abberation. All of the other Supers (except for the Luminaries) developed in their early to late teens. They don't fight the imprinting because they can't fight the imprinting, it's part of their training process. If they don't train they get to live in Antartica until they die of old age or commit suicide.
That's pretty evil. Is there any way to hide the development of your powers, or does the Union have a Molly Parker who can suss them out?
I think what I love about what I've read about the UD stories and what I heard in "Clowns" is that, though the Union are superheroes, they're really not all that nice as a group, even though Jenny, Megaton, and Plasmon (I think) seem worth having a beer with. (Maybe not Jenny. She reminds me of my crazy ex a little bit, who was also named Jennifer.)
(I kind of feel bad for making you go back over the backstory when I could just read or listen. It's like when I'm watching Stargate or B5 with my dad; he's seen all of them, but I've seen like 10-20 eps total, and am coming in out of nowhere. But, as a writer who loves to be asked about my characters and stories, I don't mind feeding that love in other people.)
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That's pretty evil. Is there any way to hide the development of your powers, or does the Union have a Molly Parker who can suss them out?
You can, but then you can't really do anything heroic. If you hide your powers well enough that your parents, or school officials, or emergency room doctors, etc... don't drop a dime on you, then you are effectively neutralized. There are another couple of facets to this too, but I can't say anything because it's the central crux of a story I hope to sell to Escape Pod, and part of "All That We Leave Behind" coming soon on Escape Pod.
:)
And as for a Molly Parker character, no. The only types of supers are those we've been introduced to - super strong, agile, strategic thinker, mindreader, energy manipulator.
I think what I love about what I've read about the UD stories and what I heard in "Clowns" is that, though the Union are superheroes, they're really not all that nice as a group, even though Jenny, Megaton, and Plasmon (I think) seem worth having a beer with. (Maybe not Jenny. She reminds me of my crazy ex a little bit, who was also named Jennifer.)
They have the same sort of personal dynamics we all have. That's part of what I've tried to show in the stories. The Union characters have the same sort of problems, personal conflicts, and stuff as the Normals do. But it's in contrast to the way they are presented to Normal society, which in and of itself amplifies their problems.
Jenny Chrome, if you remember, didn't get fired. She was punished and reassigned. And as Darksider says, The Union doesn't close a door without opening a window. ;)
(I kind of feel bad for making you go back over the backstory when I could just read or listen. It's like when I'm watching Stargate or B5 with my dad; he's seen all of them, but I've seen like 10-20 eps total, and am coming in out of nowhere. But, as a writer who loves to be asked about my characters and stories, I don't mind feeding that love in other people.)
It's totally cool.
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Disclaimer: This was my first UD story.
Nice action. I found myself listening to all the Union rules and regulations wishing that I could hear more about the fight I missed at the beginning. But then you threw in the tanker trunk. Thanks.
Except for Megaton, I didn't have a sense of what their powers were.
Based on the story and this thread, the Union sounds pretty awful. It sounds like the kind of organization superheros would try to destroy. If I was born with a power and my choices were A: get arrested by the authorities, B: spend my life isolated from society, involuntarily "reeducated," and operate under byzantine and capricious laws that I have no control over, C: hide my power. I think I would go with C, then A. I like the idea of uncovering the flaws in the Union, but is it being run by Lex Luthor or Kim Jong Il?
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the story and I look forward to more. The writing was great. I like the idea of consistent universe that the Escape Pod sometimes takes us to. But I would like sense of the incentive that keeps the supers in the Union, because I'm starting to feel like the real heroes are in Antarctica.
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Uuuuuuuunion Duuuuuuuues!
:) i loved it! I squeeled when i saw it downloading.
The only thing that really bothered me was the incredible stupidity of Chrome not being able to explain herself. Comeon, the Union doesn't believe in a fair trial? As corrupt and inefficient as it might be, the Union cannot be that evil.
Not to mention the fact that they discipline Chrome for quietly comforting a child on her lap while Megaton is apparently given a pass for creating the spectacle in the first place.
Megaton explains later that since his stuff sells well, he gets extra leeway.
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I've all but resigned from this forum, but I had to stick my head around the door to comment for this one! Another Union Dues! Brilliant! I've followed Union Dues since the beginning and loved every one. I've always had a soft spot for linked short story series (Foundation, Sherlock Holmes), which can be quite rare, so it's great to have another one to follow.
In all honesty my only critisism is that it took so long for this one to appear!
Simon Painter
Shropshire, UK
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The Union reminds me a lot of the sham unions that used to exist in former soviet-bloc countries such as East Germany, which had the trappings of actual labor unions, but which were actually established by the government as a means for controlling and keeping tab on workers, writers, etc.
Actually, I think that there are some interesting parallels between the attitudes of normal East Germans to their government in the '70's and '80's (in a very general sense supportive of their government, while feeling that certain particular policies were wrong-headed) and the relationship between some union members and the union itself.
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A right fine slacker I am. I drool all over the episode before I even listen to it, then never bother to check back in!
Ok. First off, AMAZING series! I wish I were in more of a position to get this in ink somehow.
Secondly; this wasn't my favorite story to date. There have been stronger and stronger hints in each episode about the manipulative nature of The Union, but each has had some good ol'e super heroics. This one was more plot than action, but it seemed to be necessary for showing the extent the Union goes to and how important the image is.
I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes. I suspect we'll get to see some drastic changes in the Union Dues universe as The Union looses too much power and the mental programming gets circumvented. But that's just idle speculation.
Thanks JR. Can't wait for the next one!
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A right fine slacker I am. I drool all over the episode before I even listen to it, then never bother to check back in!
Ok. First off, AMAZING series! I wish I were in more of a position to get this in ink somehow.
Secondly; this wasn't my favorite story to date. There have been stronger and stronger hints in each episode about the manipulative nature of The Union, but each has had some good ol'e super heroics. This one was more plot than action, but it seemed to be necessary for showing the extent the Union goes to and how important the image is.
I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes. I suspect we'll get to see some drastic changes in the Union Dues universe as The Union looses too much power and the mental programming gets circumvented. But that's just idle speculation.
Thanks JR. Can't wait for the next one!
The next one, "All That We Leave Behind" is my favorite of all the Union stories so far. I agonized over the ending for months, wrote it and rewrote it and rewrote it, but nothing I came up with in edits was as good as the ending it had in the first complete draft. I hope Steve reads it too, I had his voice in mind when I was writing it.
I can't wait until All That We Leave Behind airs and it should have different interpretations depending on where in the series you listen to it. If it's the first UD story someone listens too they'll come away with a completely different take on the story.
Just wait until I start submitting the second series - "The Saga of Tam Suji" (of that series) is the best story I've ever written.
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I think this was the second UD story I listened to, and it held up pretty well. In retrospect it's not one of my favorites, but it kept me entertained and gave more details of the universe than I'd had, so it worked for me.
I still like the ones with villains the best.