"...or whatever future Walter would devise for me.”" shouldn't have the trailing quotation mark.
Interesting story thus far. I'm not a fan of THE BOYS or most other cynical takedowns of the superhero genre (in large part because I love the genre), so I didn't have high hopes that this deconstruction would actually be much good. But what strikes me about the story is that every viewpoint character is capable of seeing the humanity in others.
One of the defining features of a dystopia, whether real or fictional, is the dis-incentivization of love and compassion. Cardinal Joseph Zen often makes this point, as he's one of the few left with first-hand memories of what China was like as an adult well before the Cultural Revolution (and the 1955 crackdown that precipitated it). The material conditions of China for the poor aren't actually the worst part of life for them; it's that betrayal of their fellow man is the rational choice. Things as basic as manners don't exist now the way they used to, and neither does charity, because after a certain amount of control people will do your enforcement work for you.
Even the state of the Church now is worse than it was decades ago, when the Church was fully illegal and priests and bishops were either hiding underground or in prison. When it was totally underground, there was at the very least some amount of trust between the believers; now that it's partially above-ground, the CCP can appoint their own bishops and use the same incentive structures they use everywhere else. You don't need to put a gun to everyone's head if you put a prisoner's dilemma table to everyone's head in its place, and the latter is much easier.
And that's what makes GIGAHEROES stand out. Every single person in the story (except, temporarily, Adam Mason) is under hideous pressure to be a bad person, and many characters we don't see the viewpoints of probably are. But seeing that Blue Justice really does want to be a hero, that Atomic Girl and Yellow Bolt wanted to stop Adam Mason not because it was their jobs but because he was a genuine threat and it's the right thing to do, *that* is interesting. From what I've seen of THE BOYS, and more than a few other superhero deconstructions, society is way less bad on the whole than this, and yet the people with powers are far worse people.
I'm interested to see how our heroes kept their humanity, and to find out if they can still keep it.
"...or whatever future Walter would devise for me.”" shouldn't have the trailing quotation mark.
Interesting story thus far. I'm not a fan of THE BOYS or most other cynical takedowns of the superhero genre (in large part because I love the genre), so I didn't have high hopes that this deconstruction would actually be much good. But what strikes me about the story is that every viewpoint character is capable of seeing the humanity in others.
One of the defining features of a dystopia, whether real or fictional, is the dis-incentivization of love and compassion. Cardinal Joseph Zen often makes this point, as he's one of the few left with first-hand memories of what China was like as an adult well before the Cultural Revolution (and the 1955 crackdown that precipitated it). The material conditions of China for the poor aren't actually the worst part of life for them; it's that betrayal of their fellow man is the rational choice. Things as basic as manners don't exist now the way they used to, and neither does charity, because after a certain amount of control people will do your enforcement work for you.
Even the state of the Church now is worse than it was decades ago, when the Church was fully illegal and priests and bishops were either hiding underground or in prison. When it was totally underground, there was at the very least some amount of trust between the believers; now that it's partially above-ground, the CCP can appoint their own bishops and use the same incentive structures they use everywhere else. You don't need to put a gun to everyone's head if you put a prisoner's dilemma table to everyone's head in its place, and the latter is much easier.
And that's what makes GIGAHEROES stand out. Every single person in the story (except, temporarily, Adam Mason) is under hideous pressure to be a bad person, and many characters we don't see the viewpoints of probably are. But seeing that Blue Justice really does want to be a hero, that Atomic Girl and Yellow Bolt wanted to stop Adam Mason not because it was their jobs but because he was a genuine threat and it's the right thing to do, *that* is interesting. From what I've seen of THE BOYS, and more than a few other superhero deconstructions, society is way less bad on the whole than this, and yet the people with powers are far worse people.
I'm interested to see how our heroes kept their humanity, and to find out if they can still keep it.