Author Topic: PodCastle Miniature 83: Double Feature! Two by Nathaniel Lee  (Read 3748 times)

Talia

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PodCastle Miniature 83: Double Feature! Two by Nathaniel Lee

The Machine That Made Clothes
By Nathaniel Lee
Read by Wilson Fowlie (of the Maple Leaf Singers)
A PodCastle Original!

He stood in front of the machine that made clothes and fretted.  He already had a fur suit, a carpet suit, and a brick suit.  Everyone had a water suit; it was practically cliche.

Last week he’d had a Pop-Tart suit for a lark.  That had been popular, but he couldn’t go back to that well so soon.  Anyway, it smacked too much of the bacon suit fad from last year.  He’d had to shower for an hour to get un-sticky afterward.

He’d even done a suit suit, which had helped keep his reputation for the sartorial avant-garde.

Harriet, their aging basset hound, shuffled into the bedroom and plopped down beside him.  He looked at Harriet and pursed his lips.


Tired Eyes and Clever Hands
by Nathaniel Lee
Read by LaShawn Wanak
A PodCastle Original!

The Brindletom woke after Erdi had already finished her eggs and was on her second cup of coffee.  He swung down from his nest in the rafters and slid along the ropes to the table.  Erdi pushed the plate of bacon toward him.

“I had a dream last night,” he piped, plucking a bacon strip up with his clever forepaws and gnawing on it.

“Do tell,” Erdi said, somewhat blearily.  She was considering a third cup of coffee.

“I dreamed that I was a man accursed, trapped in a hideous mannikin body, and bound to a cruel sorceress who had promised to help me, to return me to my place and my true form, but upon whose pleasure I must wait and serve in the interim.  I dreamed that my servitude would have no end, for I was sworn to her unto death and she would live forever.”


Rated R. Contains Unethical Clothing Options.

Listen to this week’s PodCastle!
« Last Edit: March 25, 2015, 02:03:11 PM by Talia »



albionmoonlight

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Reply #1 on: April 03, 2015, 01:12:39 PM
I liked both of these.  As someone who does not enjoy the pressure to dress for success, I totally liked the sendup of satrorial culture.  If we ever end up in a dystopian future, I will not like being enslaved by the aliens and having to work in the sulfur mines of Io.  But I am going to love the fact that we all just get to dress in grey unitards.  So much less pressure in the morning than trying to find a matching coat and tie.

I also liked the Brindletom story in terms of images.  But I think that I missed a little something plotwise.  Perhaps there's a whole subgenre of brindletom stories that I am not tapping into.  But I was not 100% sure what their relationship was.  Why did she keep him imprisoned and give him good dreams?  Why not just set him free?



NumberFive

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Reply #2 on: April 03, 2015, 05:20:18 PM
The first one was creepy!



Devoted135

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Reply #3 on: April 10, 2015, 04:29:03 PM
Yay, more flash! I'm still amused that the first story is lighthearted in tone but deeply disturbing, and the second feels more ominous in style but ends up being almost heartwarming. :)



Unblinking

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Reply #4 on: April 13, 2015, 10:11:44 PM
Being lazy and pasting my comments from the flash contest, though some of the qualms were less qualmy this time around, probably due to already knowing where the stories were going.

The Machine that Made Clothes

Ew, cool idea, that I've never!  Not a bad execution.

Quote from: WinBear on September 17, 2013, 11:30:48 AM
For me, the disconnect is that we don't know how he feels about sacrificing his dog, wife and daughter until he jumps. The bit about the wife was almost enough. The coworkers' reaction to the little girl as necktie seemed at odds to his personal feelings. We needed a little more insight into him.

Yeah, I agree with this.  Maybe with a longer wordcount?  I thought the events themselves were fine, but were a bit distant considering he was literally turning his kinfolk into business attire. 

He is such a  slave to fashion he literally gives up his life to set a trend.  Makes me happy that I'm not fashionable.  And I will keep my distance from fashionable folk if this ever gets invented.

Tired Eyes and Clever Hands

Hmmm...  I liked parts of this.  But at the beginning I was searching for meaning of "Brindleton" for too long for my tastes.  And the explanation of the dream bordered on "as you know bob" dialog in its extent of elaboration. 

Mostly I liked the end and how it showed the softer side of the relationship.