Author Topic: PC378: Flash Fiction Extravaganza! Strange Destinies  (Read 3630 times)

Talia

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on: August 25, 2015, 06:40:49 PM
PodCastle 378: Flash Fiction Extravaganza! Strange Destinies

“Yaga Dreams of Growing Up,” by Eileen Wiedbrauk
Read by Elizabeth Tennant
Originally published in Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet. No. 29

When Yaga grows up, she wants to have a house on chicken legs so it can walk away from solicitors, would-be-thieves, nosy strangers, village raiders, tax collectors, Anya the cartwright’s daughter, and all of Anya’s friends.

“Mrs. Stiltskin,” by Bonnie Joe Stufflebeam
Read by Alasdair Stuart and Marguerite Kenner!
Originally published in Lakeside Circus, March 2014.

Q: You say you knew nothing of the stolen babies?
A: I knew nothing.
Q: And you didn’t suspect anything?
A: Not one little thing. Officer, my husband’s always been an eccentric little man. He’s always been peculiar. I knew nothing, you see.


“Marking Time,” by Stephanie Burgis
Read by Kim Mintz[/b]
Originally published in Daily Science Fiction in February 2015.

The next bead marks graduation. Your parents were there, in the background, at least, smiling tightly and watching you with big, worried eyes, while you held yourself rigid: waiting, just waiting to leap to Tom’s defense the moment that they made a single wrong move. They never understood how special he was, and he was right, he really was–they always tried to ruin everything.

Rated PG

Listen to this week’s PodCastle!
« Last Edit: September 17, 2015, 02:50:27 PM by Talia »



Unblinking

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Reply #1 on: September 03, 2015, 02:53:19 PM
Yaga Dreams of Growing Up
I love Baba Yaga.  I hadn't thought of her being a rarely named witch in folklore, that makes sense.  But I love that she is an elderly woman in folklore that kicks ass, and has complete agency--much rarer for women in folklore than it oughta be.

I didn't really get into this one though.  I picked up it was referring to Baba Yaga's youth, with the clear references to the chicken-footed house and etc.  But I find her much more interesting in her usual incarnation as a tough-as-nails old woman.

Mrs. Stiltskin
I enjoyed this one.  Rumpelstiltskin as police procedural.  Especially the mention of the wriggling bag--no, I didn't say the bag was moving. 

Marking Time
I liked this one.  The obvious solution seemed to be to smash the beads of her memories, but in the end it's our memories that have made us who we are today and if we destroy them, then we will not be who we are.   So even if you made mistakes, to try to destroy those mistakes is to become someone different entirely.




Devoted135

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Reply #2 on: September 28, 2015, 02:06:36 AM
Where is everyone??

I always enjoy flash episodes, and this one didn't disappoint. Mrs. Stiltskin was particularly good, and a few weeks after listening is the one that stands out in my memory.



bounceswoosh

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Reply #3 on: September 28, 2015, 02:33:56 PM
Mrs Stiltskin was definitely my favorite of the bunch - wry, disturbing, and tragic.



Ariadnes-thread

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Reply #4 on: October 14, 2015, 09:50:15 PM
All three of these were really lovely. I didn't get into the first one quite as much as the other two, although I did like it. But both "Mrs. Stiltskin" and "Marking Time" were fantastic illustrations of what one can do with flash fiction. "Mrs. Stiltskin" was great, both very funny and heartbreaking, and made good use of the interview/interrogation conceit-- and Alasdair and Marguerite's reading made it even better. And "Marking Time" was beautiful and tragic, and its central question was an interesting one-- whether it's worth erasing bad experiences (like the abusive relationship) if it means also erasing the good things you get out of it (like the children). The fantastic element of the bead magic was really intriguing and worked very well. (And interestingly, "Mrs. Stiltskin" raised similar questions about parenthood and a mother's love for children that came to her out of difficult circumstances-- although of course they're a very different kind of difficult circumstances-- so I thought the two fit together very well).