Author Topic: EP305/EP630: Midnight Blue  (Read 30148 times)

Lionman

  • Peltast
  • ***
  • Posts: 148
  • Next time, I'll just let sleeping dogs lie.
    • The Practice of IT.
Reply #50 on: August 31, 2011, 01:49:43 PM
This story left me wondering, "So, how does this resolve? Everyone goes and gets multiple charms and super-hero-like powers, or what? But more specifically, what about or main character? And did the powers that others previously had fade, or did they continue to have them?

I suppose many would say that this story did what it was supposed to do, left you wanting more of it.  I think I just would have liked to have seen more of a conclusion, instead of an open ended ending.

Failure is an event, not a person.


NomadicScribe

  • Palmer
  • **
  • Posts: 53
Reply #51 on: August 31, 2011, 02:04:08 PM
I think I just would have liked to have seen more of a conclusion, instead of an open ended ending.

I think the story concluded just fine... Because it was the story of just one character. Not the story of "everyone."



Ben JB

  • Guest
Reply #52 on: August 31, 2011, 06:55:38 PM
I enjoyed this story for many of the reasons already mentioned--interesting kid POV, but also interesting kid-mom dynamic, and interesting playground class dynamics (rich vs. poor).

But like many listeners, I feel like there's some really interesting politics going on here, both economic (what happens next time the supply runs low, how long before this new crop of charms gets snapped up by existing or new hierarchies?) and environmental (the charms are a finite resource on one hand, but, without any particular husbanding or care, they are also an infinitely (as far as we know) replenishing resource).

I also wonder if there are any anti-charm people out there in this world--people who think absorbing charms is devilish or simply an unacceptable change of the self. (Like, wasn't there a "laughs easier" charm? I can totally imagine someone who was told by their therapist to get one of those charms to cure their depression; but how many "I don't want to take pills, this is my sadness" people are there (in fiction, at least)? And that's just one example.)



LaShawn

  • Lochage
  • *****
  • Posts: 550
  • Writer Mommies Rule!
    • The Cafe in the Woods
Reply #53 on: September 07, 2011, 04:32:03 PM
Add my voice to the list of "Oh, what a *fun* story!"

And yes, I too saw the ending coming until it veered into a completely different direction than I expected. When Jeff agreed to sell, I actually said out loud, "Wait, no! That's not supposed to happen! YOU FOOL!" And the ending reminded me, just like our dear friend Dave Thompson, of the Biblical parable of the talents, and I was like "Dang! I've been taken down a peg. A WHOLE PEG!"

Really enjoyed the setting of this and the funness factor. Definitely something I can play for my son. And as for it being scifi vs fantasy, I don't know. I think it hovers between the two. I also figured that aliens were the ones who planted it. Maybe it's just one massive experiment they're doing just to learn about economics or something. Though I can very easily see it on Podcastle as well, but...I don't think it focused on the superpowers as the economics of said superpowers, which...can be...scifi?  ???

--
Visit LaShawn at The Cafe in the Woods:
http://tbonecafe.wordpress.com
Another writer's antiblog: In Touch With Yours Truly


stePH

  • Actually has enough cowbell.
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 3906
  • Cool story, bro!
    • Thetatr0n on SoundCloud
Reply #54 on: September 07, 2011, 09:53:23 PM
Damn. Now I'm sorry I brought it up.  :-\
I was perfectly content to have it in EP...

Seems it's my place to be "that guy".  :P

"Nerdcore is like playing Halo while getting a blow-job from Hello Kitty."
-- some guy interviewed in Nerdcore Rising


CJGuy

  • Extern
  • *
  • Posts: 2
Reply #55 on: October 08, 2011, 02:21:58 AM
Just a quick note to say that this was one of my favorites on Escape Pod.  I was intrigued by the concept of the orbs and I love where the story took us.   Great fun.

CJ Guy

"Eschew Obfuscation" - Bumper sticker brilliance.


HexD

  • Extern
  • *
  • Posts: 9
Reply #56 on: October 17, 2011, 05:41:03 AM
Loved the retro vibe and the supply-demand undertone.



birdless

  • Lochage
  • *****
  • Posts: 581
  • Five is right out.
Reply #57 on: October 17, 2011, 04:57:14 PM
I thoroughly enjoyed this one, which is not something I find myself saying about EP stories. Not to criticize the editing/production/whatever, it's just that I've found them to not be quite as much my cup of tea as the sister podcasts.

Anyway, all I really wanted to say was how much I enjoyed this one. I forgot to comment on it with I listened to it sometime ago, so…



TrapperDan

  • Extern
  • *
  • Posts: 8
Reply #58 on: November 09, 2011, 07:54:44 PM
I love the story, however I have a large problem with the idea of a Mother who is raising her son in near poverty yet has it in her to be quite hands off with the whole selling of the orb.

Charlie And the Chocolate Factory indeed.

Were I the parent, there is no way in hell I would be "in the kitchen" while my child (CHILD!!!!!!!!!!) brokered a life changing possibly million dollar deal with a dude who could fly.
There would be lawyers, and negotiations, and contracts, oh my.   I admire the kid's plucky nature, but still. 



Max e^{i pi}

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 1038
  • Have towel, will travel.
Reply #59 on: November 10, 2011, 07:18:59 AM
Were I the parent, there is no way in hell I would be "in the kitchen" while my child (CHILD!!!!!!!!!!) brokered a life changing possibly million dollar deal with a dude who could fly.
There would be lawyers, and negotiations, and contracts, oh my.   I admire the kid's plucky nature, but still. 
I think that was exactly the point.
The story was told from the kid's point of view. And in kids of a certain age grownups are just background noise. Remember how all the grownups talk in the Charlie Brown cartoons? We can't understand what they're saying, because as kids, nothing they have to say is of any interest to us.
Same thing here. Yes, if it were up to the mother there would be more lawyers than she could comfortably afford, but it's not up to the mother. This is a kid's story, and in kids stories the mother belongs out of sight.

Cogito ergo surf - I think therefore I network

Registered Linux user #481826 Get Counted!



Listener

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 3187
  • I place things in locations which later elude me.
    • Various and Sundry Items of Interest
Reply #60 on: January 30, 2012, 07:12:54 PM

"Farts are a hug you can smell." -Wil Wheaton

Blog || Quote Blog ||  Written and Audio Work || Twitter: @listener42


Max e^{i pi}

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 1038
  • Have towel, will travel.
Reply #61 on: January 30, 2012, 08:36:51 PM
At least it wasn't blue ice:D

Cogito ergo surf - I think therefore I network

Registered Linux user #481826 Get Counted!



CryptoMe

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 1146
Reply #62 on: June 19, 2018, 07:44:31 PM
Well, I enjoyed this one yet again! Thanks for the repeat.
It was also fun to go back and re-read what I wrote about this the first time.  :)



Ichneumon

  • Matross
  • ****
  • Posts: 219
Reply #63 on: July 09, 2018, 06:16:16 PM
I remember listening to this one back before I joined the forums and it was great the second time around too. The intense childhood emotions were so well portrayed.