Author Topic: PodCastle Miniature 82: Lord Darq, Regis And The Orb Of Power  (Read 4062 times)

Ocicat

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PodCastle Miniature 82: Lord Darq, Regis And The Orb Of Power

by John Nickerson

Read by Graeme Dunlop
A PodCastle Original!


“What’s wrong?”

“I just … wasn’t expecting that. Usually it goes ‘Join me and together we can rule the world’, then you heroes say ‘Never!’, and we fight. Nobody’s ever just said ‘Okay’ like that.”

“So what now?”

“Don’t know. I had a great battle planned for us, through the ice caves, over the lava lake, into the mud plains, it would have been spectacular. Now, I guess … do you want to see the inner lair?”

“Yeah, sounds good.”


Rated PG.

Listen to this week’s PodCastle!
« Last Edit: April 14, 2015, 01:30:57 PM by Talia »



Unblinking

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I'll be lazy and just repost the comments I placed when I read this in the flash contest back when, which still summed up my impression.  :)

Generally I liked this! 

The impression I got is that Lord Darq is a supervillain who by all outward appearances is your standard supervillain cliche.  But inside, he's not really interested in world domination, he just likes the game.  Really he's just an overgrown kid who wants to play make-believe.  He's not used to other people wanting to participate since he became a grown man, so he has to concoct these diabolical schemes to entice the superheroes to play.

And then one of the superheroes says he WANTS to play, and his whole world is turned upside down.  "Oh my God, I have to show you all the cool stuff I put together, and look at this and look at that, and you're going to love this!"  I really related to the guy.  I had a friend when I was in grade school who I'd built an imaginary world with.  I had to move out of town but I visited a few times a year.  One time I came to visit and he wanted to go back to that world, and I told him that I didn't know how to play anymore.  For me it was a simple truth, playing make-believe just didn't work for me the way it used to, but I remember the betrayed look on his face when I said that, and it came to mind with this story.  I kept contact with him for a long time, and he was one of my groomsmen at my wedding, but we've lost touch long before I started writing fiction--I sometimes wonder what he'd think of that.

On another level, i think that Lord Darq's enthusiasm could be drawn directly from the same kind of personality that makes SF fandom thrive.   I happily call myself a geek, and what separates the geeks of the world from most people is that geeks gleefully like whatever they want to like, and it doesn't matter if other people approve of their tastes.

Anyway, long story short, I totally felt like I understood Lord Darq.  I felt for most of the story like the superhero was on the same page too, just a kid's enthusiasm in a man's body.  I suspected otherwise, but the ride was so fun with Lord Darq rediscovering the fun of interaction, and when the orb got dumped off the bridge it felt like a sucker punch to the stomach. 

I recognize the humor in the ending, but mostly it makes me sad, and makes me shake my fist at the "hero".  Maybe I should take up Lord Darq's legacy and hunt him down!



MokalusOfBorg

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Thanks, David! I definitely wanted Lord Darq to be a kind of geek about supervillainy. He loves the game more than the potential results. Regis, on the other hand, I pictured as more of a young, foolish, ends-justify-the-means "hero" prince who will, some day, get his comeuppance.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - No idea yet how or when that will happen.
PPS - "Unblinking", however, does sound like a possible villain who could take down a conniving "hero" prince. :)

Tomato is a fruit, watermelon is a berry, banana is a herb and everything you know is wrong.
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Unblinking

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PPS - "Unblinking", however, does sound like a possible villain who could take down a conniving "hero" prince. :)

Well, I am a mad scientist so that makes sense to me. :)




albionmoonlight

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Stories like this make more sense to me now that I have kids.  When you explore fantasy with children, you have to get somewhat meta and start to deconstruct things.  You confront questions like "What are BAD GUYS?"  And why are they bad?  And can a bad guy change into a good guy?  They are learning what assumptions to take for granted.  And how to extrapolate fiction into their real world.  And it is an amazing process to witness first hand.  And a story like this--that asks some of the same questions--is so much more enjoyable with those thoughts in my head.



Devoted135

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So good to see an old favorite from the flash contest! :D



MokalusOfBorg

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"What are BAD GUYS?"  And why are they bad?  And can a bad guy change into a good guy?

Now that I think of it, my City of Heroes characters almost all had backstories with a sliding morality point. Heroes who turned too egotistical and got knocked down a peg or villains who gradually became heroes. I like redemption stories in particular.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - Funny how a pattern of preference can be hiding in plain sight.
PPS - To me, almost no villain is beyond saving.

Tomato is a fruit, watermelon is a berry, banana is a herb and everything you know is wrong.
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