EP154: Union Dues - Freedom With a Small f

[stePH]

Does anyone else who subscribes via iTunes miss this episode?

I know I didn't.

[Windup]

Does anyone else who subscribes via iTunes miss this episode?

I know I didn't.

I subscribe via iTunes, and I got it, too, same as usual.

[Russell Nash]

Does anyone else who subscribes via iTunes miss this episode?

I know I didn't.

I subscribe via iTunes, and I got it, too, same as usual.

Same

[stePH]

Does anyone else who subscribes via iTunes miss this episode?

I know I didn't.

I subscribe via iTunes, and I got it, too, same as usual.

Same

So smithmikeg, I guess it's just you, dude. 

[Russell Nash]

Does anyone else who subscribes via iTunes miss this episode?

I know I didn't.

I subscribe via iTunes, and I got it, too, same as usual.

Same

So smithmikeg, I guess it's just you, dude. 

RSS is still a touchy technology.  My different feeds all do silly stuff from time to time.

[smithmikeg]

Does anyone else who subscribes via iTunes miss this episode?

I know I didn't.

I subscribe via iTunes, and I got it, too, same as usual.

Same

So smithmikeg, I guess it's just you, dude. 

Fair enough.  Thanks for the info, all.  I just downloaded it, should be listened to tonight.

[Unblinking]

This was my second favorite Union Dues story so far, behind Off-White Lies.  Though I've generally liked them, I like a little action to go with my angst, and having some clear villains, even if they're not super, works much better for me.

I liked this one for its darkness, and how it took a look at an aspect of the Unionverse that we hadn't seen before, a super operating outside of the Union (mostly, at least).  The one thing that bothered me was her improbably correct guess about the single cop she sees actually being involved--that would've been much smoother if there had been an actual clue she had seen instead of just randomly following one guy, and he turns out to be the exact lead she needs.

[jrderego]

This was my second favorite Union Dues story so far, behind Off-White Lies.  Though I've generally liked them, I like a little action to go with my angst, and having some clear villains, even if they're not super, works much better for me.

I liked this one for its darkness, and how it took a look at an aspect of the Unionverse that we hadn't seen before, a super operating outside of the Union (mostly, at least).  The one thing that bothered me was her improbably correct guess about the single cop she sees actually being involved--that would've been much smoother if there had been an actual clue she had seen instead of just randomly following one guy, and he turns out to be the exact lead she needs.

There will never, ever, be villains in Union Dues. Part of the premise of the series is that the supers have no clear purpose, the way the powers are structured and the way the charter works, it's nearly impossible for someone to become a "supervillain" as soon as someones powers are confirmed, they become property of The Union. Freelancers might be successful for a few months on the outside, but once The Union sees their exploits in the paper, that person is recruited in. The only way to avoid being captured and taken over by The Union is to never, ever show your powers once they manifest. The stories aren't meant to be comic books, there are thousands of comic titles printed every week that are chock full of whiz-bang action and super heroics, these are meant to be short stories that examine unusual people in somewhat unusual situations pressured by extraordinary and uncontrollable circumstances.

[Unblinking]

There will never, ever, be villains in Union Dues.

There were villains in this one with the kidnappers, and in Off White Lies with the super brawl on the streets.  As opposed to Glass Jaw, where the action that occurs between beginning and end of the story consists of two people talking, neither of them at all villainous--I liked that story, but action packed it was not.

[Unblinking]

The "villain" in Off White Lies actually chilled me quite a bit (that is, the leader of the Union team who it soon became clear was not so heroic).  If that guy wasn't villainous, I don't know what is.

[jrderego]

The "villain" in Off White Lies actually chilled me quite a bit (that is, the leader of the Union team who it soon became clear was not so heroic).  If that guy wasn't villainous, I don't know what is.

If the other side of that story had been published you'd see him not as a villain. I wrote it, it's called "A Gold Watch, a Handshake, a Candle" but Steve passed on back when Off-White Lies was being produced because the storyline overlapped. The actual scenes in downtown Miami were the crux point between both stories. But Ultra Magnus isn't a villain, take it from me, he's crazy in that story, and goes crazy leading up to his appearance in Off-White Lies, but he's not a villain.

If things work out Ultra Magnus' story is a huge part of the season 1 story arc.

I say all of this and realize that I've sort of written a villain into the story "The Sum of its Parts" and he's more like a villain in the classical sense, but like the others, he is viewed through the prism of the main characters POVs.

[jrderego]

There will never, ever, be villains in Union Dues.

There were villains in this one with the kidnappers, and in Off White Lies with the super brawl on the streets.  As opposed to Glass Jaw, where the action that occurs between beginning and end of the story consists of two people talking, neither of them at all villainous--I liked that story, but action packed it was not.

The kidnappers were an abstract, and wholly the problem of the Normals. They have no motive that bisects with the main character other than circumstance and luck. It's almost as if they are unaware of her existence. I also tried to make it clear that both sides of the contract dispute had questionable motives so there was no clear antagonist.

[Unblinking]

The kidnappers were an abstract, and wholly the problem of the Normals. They have no motive that bisects with the main character other than circumstance and luck. It's almost as if they are unaware of her existence. I also tried to make it clear that both sides of the contract dispute had questionable motives so there was no clear antagonist.

Okay, call them whatever you want, but the kidnappers are concrete human beings who oppose the will of the protagonist whether or not they are aware of her existence.  And sure, Ultra Magnus may not be a villain from another perspective, but that story is from a perspective in which he is clearly a villain--you said yourself that he was crazy at that point, and crazy people make some of the best villains because they can be so unpredictable.  I can't make judgments based on the occurrences in an unpublished story, and in any case authorial intent (while interesting) is much less important to my perception of a story than the content of the story itself.

You can call them whatever you please, but I will call them villains.  You do realize that IF you were able to convince stubborn old me of your point, that I would like these 2 stories less as a result?  That seems like a "lose" for both of us.   

[Fenrix]

I've enjoyed the discussion here about villains. I think maybe I'm coming around to seeing that in the Unionverse there are heroes and there are villains, but none of them are "Super". I think I'm in the same camp as Ocicat.

I think the author did a great job of getting into this character's head, especially her misery.  I might have appreciated a short paragraph about how she decided to start using coke.  Drinking is an easy one to fall into, but coke?  Coke takes effort.  And it's illegal.

Coke and other party drugs are a lot easier to fall into and a lot more accessible if you're a stripper. This detail rang true for me.