As an adolecent, I was futurist. or - How I invented Drones in 1992

So on my 10th birthday, june of 1990, I got a copy of Jeff Rovin's The Encyclopedia of Superheroes as a parting gift of sorts from my mom's newly ex-boyfriend.  He was a scumfuck - but that book changed my life.  In it Rovin listed every comicbook hero from every publisher prior to 1985 in Alphabetical Order, described their costume described, their powers, spent  a paragraph or three describing their biography/origin.  That's  the book.  Its awesome.


I memorized it.

Every Avenger, Xman,  Justice Leaguer, even every member of the Legion of Superheroes.   From Reep Daggle to Jo Nah of Rimbor - I memorized it.   I was inspired by it.  And on a looseleaf notebook, I wrote my own.  I created character upon character, describing their costumes, powers, and wrote origin stories and biographies.  These werent quickies that I came up with on the spot - I agonized over every detail, every name and I asked myself - is this interesting?    If ot the page was ripped out and crumpled.  It took me about 4 years to come up with maybe 3  dozen solid characters.  But each was in my opinion - Batman/Wolverine quality in terms of promoting solid development and inspiring solid storytelling.

One of my first characters started out as simply a mental image adapted from Michael Keaton's Batman, Robocop's ED209, a show my grandfather watched, Darth Vader at the end of Jedi and somebody's crazy televised rant on Nightcourt about "Big Brother" long before 1984 or Brazil(the film) entered  my vocabulary.  His name, was Hunter and he built remote control helicopters with .  Hunter basically wore Michael Keatons Batsuit.  Head to toe black shiny plastic, bulletproof and scary.   Instead of a cape he wore a duster and a black fedora/homburg with a full face mask which now that I recall it - was reminiscent of Alan Moore's V.   But all black with red glowing eyes.  Those eyes were his version of the Batsymbol. Hunter was a robotics expert and invented flying robotic helicopters he loaded with cameras and neat l nonlethal weaponry. Hunter tried to market his robots as the ultimate security system but the idea of flying cameras hovering around spying on people brought about loads of...  let's call it negativity.  So to sell his concept he took to the street vigilante style with a few of his "Hunters" to prove the concept.  Initially he tried just sitting behind a command station viewing cameras recording data and issuing commands like "apprehend" when he spotted a mugger or robbery.   But he found viewing everything from behind a screen too constraining and the reality of the terrain and situation difficult to gauge  he built a stealth-suit with a VR mask that allowed him to view imagery from his bots via a head's up display and went out into the night  to control his creations more directly.


The bots in my mind's eye looked like ED 209 with out any legs surrounded by a half dozen turbines which allowed them to fly and hover almost silently.  They were armed with nets, bolos, foam, darts, lights that can strobe, and speakers..  And of course - most controversially  - cameras. Hunter himself had no superpowers or abilities.  He was tall  - very tall and very smart.  He  hid in the shadows commanded his robots and carried firearms to protect himself (but  refused to arm the robots with lethal ammunition) but was mostly defenseless and unable to fight.   I had an idea that with successful tests  and positive media exposure he would found a successful private security company and  hire mercenaries to wear the suits as well as teenagers to operate bots which could and would lead to dozens of possible storylines.  Trigger-happy employee in his gear, pretending to be him, killing innocents or executing captives.  Obsessive geeks using the bots to spy on highschool crushes.  Hostile takeover's ala Barbarians at the Gate(1993)  using his technology for ill and pushing him out of the captains eat.   Even cities replacing their police  forces with private contracts with Hunter Securities robots and putting cameras on every lightpole.


Hunter was one my my most well realized concepts.   Written in pencil on a mead notebook.  Mostly imagined late at night, sneaking late night HBO with the sound so low nobody could tell my TV was on. 



But he was nothing compared to what I came up with in the pool. 

Kvothe's First Folly

  I'm a huge Patrick Rothfuss fan.The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear are to my mind - the finest fantasy books ever written and the Slow Regard of Silent Things just might be the only "poem" I've ever cared for - never mind loved.  I've read his books twice each and I very often go to sleep or drive around with the Audiobooks playing in the background.  That said there are dozen - if not hundreds of decisions his protagonist makes that drive me crazy.  But the first and foremost - the one I want to ask him about - the most glaring to me comes fairly early in the first  book.  Kvothe is admitted to the University - they ask him for his surname for the paperwork "Son of?"   Arliden.  "Arliden the Bard" Master Lorren asks.  Kvothe confirms and NEVER EVER asks how Lorren knew his father.  Its just a wash.  A solid year passes and they have private conversations and numerous meetings - but it never comes up again.  Now I understand an a con or in an interview Rothfuss was asked about it and responded that Lorren knows about Arliden because of the many songs he's written which require validation or attribution.  But that doesn't help me understand why or how Kvothe never even thinks about asking "How did you know my father?"  Sleeping-mind, Post Traumatic Stress, Doors of Stone.   There are a dozen explanations, but none of them trump what is supposed to be insatiable curiosity, and damn it I want to know the reason.  There has to be one beyond "third book revelation"