EP149: Union Dues: All That We Leave Behind

[birdless]

The one thing that kept distracting me, though, was the idea of comic books in a world that actually has super heroes in it. It just seems... I dunno... like that whole genre of fiction would be completely different (if not non-existent).

That's an interesting point, and one I've personally thought about.  You see, I read a lot of comics, and the main superhero universes both have superhero comics in them.  Whereas, in Watchmen, people read comics about pirates.  In general, that seems more realistic.

But in the UD world, the comics do seem to make sense.  They're straight up propaganda.  And presumably the *idea* of superheros and Superhero comics existed before people started actually getting powers.

The fact is, the Union members *aren't superheroes*.  They are superpowered people.  And they want you to be okay with that, so they invoke the idea of Superman - a nice comfortable idea that everyone has been used to since childhood.  Thus the union publishes comics about it's members.  Comics with supervillans and everything else we expect from superhero comics.  When the reality is quite different...

Ah, okay, that works for me. I like that delineation quite a lot, in fact. So they are basically just PR products!

I used to read a lot of comics, but I don't really recall any comics in the comics that I read, other than The Watchmen. And, right, I agree with you about the Watchmen and the pirate comics (what an incredible series that was).

[CammoBlammo]

I liked this story a lot, but I had a suspicion things were going to go another way. The point was made that there are no super villains. I wondered, why not? Couldn't a supe go evil? (I've only heard a couple of th UD stories, so please forgive me --- and correct me --- if this has been dealt with elsewhere.)

When I heard that, I thought, 'Aha! This story's about the birth of the first supervillain!' Instead, there was a big fight in a chemist's shop and everything turns out as well as it can for the family.

I imagined the young lad was going to be forced into the Union and, not being present for his mother's last days, he would end up blaming himself for her demise. The grief and sense of helplessness would gnaw away at his soul, until an evil mentor convinces him to come over to the dark side where his pain could be turned to power.

Sounds like a great story! I might have to go and write it.

[wintermute]

So far, I've only listened to this episode and clowns. I plan to go back and listen to the others post haste, but my impression so far is less Watchmen (which, after all, only had one super-powered person) and more Abberant (Official site | Wikipedia), with the Union as Project Utopia.

OK, now I'm not going to be able to rest, until I've used that as the basis for a Union Dues RPG...

[Listener]

I tend to call all the non-555 numbers I see in fiction.  I called Jack Bauer's cellphone last year on 24.  I called Mirage when Mr. Incredible got her card.  And so on.

What did Bauer's cell number give you?
I think there was a CTU number given too.

anyways...
As with all of the other Union Dues, I straight up LOVED it!  It's nice to see familiar characters, and the perspective of the story this time was interesting.  I love these stories, keep em coming Lord DeRego!

A recorded message by Jack Bauer talking about... I don't remember what, exactly.  It was a while ago.

[Dwango]

It was nice hearing another Union Dues story again.  It's become a comfortable mainstay on Escape Pod, something I look forward to.  This story was rather straight forward with no major surprises.  Somehow, I liked that this time.  It was easy to root for the kid and the plot points were laid out simply.  A comfortable listen on the ride to work.

[Corydon]

I'm new to Escape Pod, and this was the first Union Dues story I'd heard.  I enjoyed it so much that I went back and listened to the other five stories in the series.  It was an odd experience.  To my mind, "All That We Leave Behind" is the least bleak of the bunch.  It's certainly the one that hews most closely to the themes that are so common to superheroes: the teenager who discovers he's different, the conflict between desire and responsibility, etc.  The darker themes of the Union Dues world are hinted at, but they aren't made explicit, a listener who's new to that world (like me) won't necessarily catch them.

That's why it was such a shock to listen to the other stories in the series, and find out what a horrible life the Union's supers live: isolation, quasi-slavery, not enough hot water, for crying out loud!  So in a way, this was the perfect story with which to be introduced to the Union Dues series: as I listened to each successive story, the grimness of the world became more apparent.  It's easy to imagine the narrator of this story going through much the same process that I did, as he's indoctrinated into the ways of the Union...

Anyway, that's all very roundabout.  Looking forward to more Union Dues!

[darth_schmoo]

Good story.  I can't for the life of me figure out how superpowers are invariably bestowed upon the nerdy, the geeky, the chubby, and the socially inept, or how the superheroes' tormentors survive the aftermath.   But it's part of the formula.  Traditional, you might say.

I've never seen them granted to the fat kid before.  That had me rooting for him.

I think that's why I liked this story more than Send in the Clowns.  It was a more traditional "superhero comes of age" story.  SITC seemed to be trying to turn the traditional superhero story on its ear, but did so by making them fight an evil that was more banal and bureaucratic, and by turning superheroing into a pretty typical day job, with all the petty infighting and bureaucratic wrangling that goes with it.

Both were very well written and engaging, but I thought this was the better story.

[Thaurismunths]

I'm new to Escape Pod, and this was the first Union Dues story I'd heard.  I enjoyed it so much that I went back and listened to the other five stories in the series.  It was an odd experience.  To my mind, "All That We Leave Behind" is the least bleak of the bunch.  It's certainly the one that hews most closely to the themes that are so common to superheroes: the teenager who discovers he's different, the conflict between desire and responsibility, etc.  The darker themes of the Union Dues world are hinted at, but they aren't made explicit, a listener who's new to that world (like me) won't necessarily catch them.

That's why it was such a shock to listen to the other stories in the series, and find out what a horrible life the Union's supers live: isolation, quasi-slavery, not enough hot water, for crying out loud!  So in a way, this was the perfect story with which to be introduced to the Union Dues series: as I listened to each successive story, the grimness of the world became more apparent.  It's easy to imagine the narrator of this story going through much the same process that I did, as he's indoctrinated into the ways of the Union...

Anyway, that's all very roundabout.  Looking forward to more Union Dues!

Welcome to the forums Corydon.
I get what you're saying about this being one of the least-gloomy stories, if you heard it first. It seems like a pretty typical 'outcast gets new lease on life' story, unless you know the kind of life he's getting himself in to.
What did you think of Iron Bars and the Glass Jaw?

[ScottC]

This was the first UD story that didn't leave me depressed.  That isn't a criticism of the stories' quality but damn they can be grim.  You have an organizition that routinely brianwashes their members, removes them from any 'normal' life they have, and says 'Do what we say, or you go bye-bye'.  Then you got the governement willing to test the Union regardless of the consequences.  And the public who doesn't see how dangerous poking a superpowered tiger witha  stick is.

But Tim's attitude and how the Union handled his situation gives one hope that they are not completely soulless.

[Deaf Leper]

This was far and away my favorite of the Union Dues stories. I thought Tim was such a interesting character. Kind and truly decent and heartbreakingly sad. The last line ( and I'm a big fan of great last lines ) was really powerful. "I lay my head on her chest, and pretend she tells me how proud I've made her." Wow.
I can honestly say that I've never been emotionally moved by a short sci-fi story about superheroes.
Well, I suppose I can't honestly say that anymore.
 

[DDog]

I liked this one okay. I'd only heard one Union Dues story before it, so I didn't have a whole lot to compare it to. One of the cool things about the Union Dues stories is that they have enough detail about the superhero union conceit to keep a new reader/listener, without too much exposition that would lose a more experienced one. I liked that the kid didn't get totally slammed by the Union for dealing with the robbery, which I was worried about after Megaton warned him not to try anything funny.

[Unblinking]

This one lands pretty much in the middle of the spectrum between like and dislike for the Union Dues stories (I won't call them UD because for some reason every time I see that I think UI).

One the one hand it didn't offer up anything surprising, and is very similar to many superhero origin stories.  On the other hand, it was an emotional story well told.  I could easily root for Tim.  I didn't totally understand his reluctance to fight against the bully, but it seemed like a realistic reaction given his history.  If it'd been me, I think they would be picking up pieces of bully off the jungle gym for weeks.  I expect I would've regretted it after the fact, and it would be my iconic life lesson to be careful with my superpowers.  Though I certainly wasn't popular as a kid, I was lucky enough to avoid the bad bullies.  I think I was just big enough that they figured it wasn't worth the trouble.  A couple kids did challenge me to a fight, (one of which at a church gathering) both of which I certainly would have lost, but instead managed to twist it around into an exchange of insults and left it at that.

[jrderego]

This was my take on an origin story, purposely not allowing the main character's fate to be revealed, so whatever Tim becomes is an unknown, also, the audience knowing how The Union operates by now, would hopefully see his optimism as a sort of trap, even coming from a tragic background, where he's going has the potential to be much, much worse.