As self inserts go...or should I say insertion of one's superhero
roleplaying game character goes, this is quite good.
Thank you. However, all is not what it seems. One of the reasons
I began creating this story is to invert one or two of the axioms
of the "insert fic". Doug is an avatar, yes, and yes, he's my
avatar (as he is a character I've played around with for some years),
but within the context of the story, he's *someone else's* avatar,
too. I'll say no more here, as it would spoil part of the story,
but a couple of folks out on the ML who've seen earlier drafts and
some of the unfinished later material know and have thought it an
interesting idea...
Clear prose, good
spelling. It's all exposition/character introduction with no hint of a
plot of course, but since the superhero has technology that Genom
doesn't, it won't be hard at all to develop one.
Definite point of weakness in the chapter, I'll admit. But I do have
thoroughly worked-out plans for the plot. I'm not sure what technology
that you see in his possession, though... there *is* some, but it
hasn't really been mentioned yet. And yes, GENOM will be after him
for that reason (among others), but that's not the main plot -- it's a
subplot. You'll notice that he's dismissed boomers as little more than
automatons with no real intelligence. When he encounters that quaint
Megatokyo custom known as "the boomer rampage", he acts in accordance
with his own sense of duty and seeks to protect the civilians at risk.
This he does by joining in the destruction of the rogue boomers. So,
what happens when he, who is from a world with emancipated AIs,
discovers that they're *not* mindless automatons, that he's actually
been murdering enslaved sentients? What does that do to him, what does
that do to his perception of the Knight Sabers, alongside of whom he
eventually (though not willingly) finds himself fighting? What can he
do to expiate actions on his part which are in violation of his oaths
and commission?
It isn't quite true that only the humanoid form is used for boomers.
Some are quadrupeds, and there has been a hexapod.
True enough, but two points. He'd been there for all of 5 hours when
he made that comment, and all he had access to was mass media materials.
Most non-humanoid boomers as I recall are not commonly seen in public.
I'm inclined to think the preference for humanoid form can be blamed on
the assets and limitations of the biological goo inside the boomers
I dunno. If you accept "Crash" as true continuity, there's no reason
why Adama had to be humanoid...
Suddenly though, Lisa Vanette reminds me incredibly of Mihoshi.
<grin> Remember, this is a girl who at 18 ran through the halls of ADP
HQ with her arms spread and playing "airplane"...
Thanks for the comments!
-- Bob