SW10, HCC10: The Waitress From Beyond

[Scott Eiler]

On Aug 9, 2:53 pm, Andrew Perron <pwer... at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mon, 9 Aug 2010 20:13:55 +0000 (UTC), Scott Eiler wrote:
>
> > ... as we noted, Jimmy comes from something much like the
> > Marvel Universe, which *did* have angry mobs.  That's an important
> > reason why Nell the waitress likes Superhuman World 2010 by
> > comparison.  I don't know a good way to go into that in a short story,
> > but I can at least add a paragraph or two.
>
> Fair enough.  I got that you only had so much space for it, but a
> witch-hunt specifically against fire powers is odd enough that it needs a
> bit of exposition.  Honestly, I would've just gone with one for powers that
> qualify as "deadly force" in general.

That, I could and should have done easily.  Which is to say, I can and
shall when I rewrite.

It wasn't just about fire powers or Jimmy Flamer; it was about
everyone in his universe who was perceived as a "vigilante" and got
persecuted.  That's why I made Jimmy so much like a certain Marvel
Universe character who actually got stoned by a mob during their
stories.  Really.

As you say, a reasonable Earth will develop protocols for superhumans
shortly after they arise.  My world apparently had that in advance of
Marvel's.

My New York City started paying attention to superhumans in 1992,
shortly after the supergenius telepath "Ellipsis", who'd given himself
massive energy powers, moved there and started hiring people to
protect his wife.  My U.S. Gov was much more paranoid than NYC was;
President Bush hounded Ellipsis and all superhumans offshore, got re-
elected, then invaded the Bahamas.  The U.S. lost that war.  By 1997,
President Rodham was ready for reconciliation...

I refer to this history tangentially throughout my narrative, but I
have yet to tell that full story.   Thanks for letting me jot this
stuff down, Andrew.