Author Topic: PC418: James And Peter, Fishing  (Read 6638 times)

Ocicat

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on: May 31, 2016, 05:44:45 PM
PodCastle 418: James And Peter, Fishing

by Anaea Lay

read by Thomas Busby


A PodCastle original!

“Last week was fun,” Peter said mid-morning.
“I’m sure,” James said.
“You’ve mended the sails already?”
Earlier that week, James had kidnapped the mermaid princess and trapped her in a tank suspended from the rigging of his ship. He’d felt oppressed by the weight of another day fishing with Peter, another piece of this alleged paradise conspiring against him. It was a futile gesture. Of course Peter would fly through the rigging, buzzing the crew like a rabid bat before shredding his sails and sending the lovingly crafted tank shattering against the deck. James could have killed the mermaid princess right then as she writhed amidst the mess of broken glass and metal, suffocating in the humid afternoon air, but what was the point? She was meant to be immortal. She belonged here. She was a victim of Peter’s thrall every bit as much as James.


Anaea Lay lives in Seattle, Washington where she sells Real Estate under a different name, writes, cooks, plays board games, takes gratuitous walks, runs the Strange Horizons fiction podcast, and plots to take over the world. Her work has appeared in a variety of venues including Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Unidentified Funny Objects 4, and Escape Pod. She tweets as @anaealay and lives online at www.anaealay.com.

Thomas Busby is an up and coming Actor from South Wales, United Kingdom. He is just starting his acting career and eventually hopes to do voice work as well. Currently he is on a podcast called The Larp Book Podcast where he and three friends discuss LARPing and generally just have a good time. In addition, he streams online games at www.twitch.tv/redundantuk.

Listen to this week’s PodCastle!



Cristianna

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Reply #1 on: June 02, 2016, 05:59:52 PM
I enjoyed this story.  I sympathized with James and Peter; it sounds to me like Neverland itself is the villain here, trapping its inhabitants in an endless wheel of monotony.  Heck, I sometimes feel that way after a long work week!  Excellent narration, Thomas.



Dwango

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Reply #2 on: June 03, 2016, 02:27:48 PM
The constant phrase from the original book is that children are heartless.  The story focuses on the change in Captain Hook, yet Peter changes a lot to, starting as a heartless child who only cares about adventure, becoming a more thoughtful boy who is willing to listen and teach lessons.  What is interesting is the contrast of the changes, the Captains outright rebellion to Peter's small steps forward, asking a question here, providing a lesson there.  They are both so different in temperament and yet so similar.  Peter is becoming less a child and more an adult.  James is hopefully finding his childhood, something no adult should completely lose.



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Reply #3 on: June 03, 2016, 07:39:03 PM
Catching up on my back log here.

This one suprised me. I almsot wrote it off as a simple role-reversal of a classic story, which would have been very...well...boring. But then the ending came and made me change my opinion. Very well done character study. Bravo.



cwthree

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Reply #4 on: June 04, 2016, 09:07:08 PM
This one was fun. I liked the back story, and I appreciate that it wasn't a simple role reversal.



bounceswoosh

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Reply #5 on: June 05, 2016, 06:19:48 PM
I loved the shift of perspective. But I interpreted the ending as bleak, indeed. Nothing's going to change, and James is still trapped.



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Reply #6 on: June 06, 2016, 02:33:35 PM
Hmm, I quite enjoyed the premise here, the nasty nature that Peter Pan seems to show for at least part of the story.  I wonder if James's guess about Tinkerbell being the malevolent one pulling the strings around Neverland has any basis or if it's something completely different.

I thought it interesting that Hook here is an intellectual who would be much happier spending his time as a natural philosopher exploring the rules of this unnatural place.  Hook is not portrayed as an intellectual in other adaptations but that's the role he's been cast in so the show must go on.

Odd that I don't think I'd seen an adaptation of Peter Pan for a long long time, and then I read two within 6 months--the other one "Pan" in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, wherein Peter Pan is a villain and the Lost Boys aren't actually ageless--it's just that when one of the boys gets too old then Peter sets the rest of the boys to hunting and killing him before Peter abducts a new boy to replace the one killed.

I didn't like the ending, though I can see where there was some change inherent in Peter actually being willing to act as teacher, it felt like it wasn't the resolution I was hoping for.




bounceswoosh

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Reply #7 on: June 08, 2016, 05:29:12 PM
Hmm, I quite enjoyed the premise here, the nasty nature that Peter Pan seems to show for at least part of the story.  I wonder if James's guess about Tinkerbell being the malevolent one pulling the strings around Neverland has any basis or if it's something completely different.

I thought it interesting that Hook here is an intellectual who would be much happier spending his time as a natural philosopher exploring the rules of this unnatural place.  Hook is not portrayed as an intellectual in other adaptations but that's the role he's been cast in so the show must go on.

Odd that I don't think I'd seen an adaptation of Peter Pan for a long long time, and then I read two within 6 months--the other one "Pan" in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, wherein Peter Pan is a villain and the Lost Boys aren't actually ageless--it's just that when one of the boys gets too old then Peter sets the rest of the boys to hunting and killing him before Peter abducts a new boy to replace the one killed.

I didn't like the ending, though I can see where there was some change inherent in Peter actually being willing to act as teacher, it felt like it wasn't the resolution I was hoping for.



I've been binge-watching Once Upon A Time as I wait for my ACL surgery, and it was interesting to hear this story and then "meet" the UOAT version of Peter Pan. Between the two, I'll never see Peter Pan the same way again.



Anoton115

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Reply #8 on: June 08, 2016, 08:52:14 PM
I enjoyed this variation on the classic tale. The notion of Captain Hook recast as a frustrated intellectual forced into a role he has long since tired of playing would already have been enough to make me smile, as I am not a fan of two-dimensional villains. But his reluctant realization that both he and Peter were equally victims of Neverland, though for opposite reasons, was oddly satisfying. The suggestion (as I perceived it) is that by the end they have both acknowledged and accepted their own role in having trapped themselves, and by so doing, perhaps found common ground that may end up remaking their relationship.

Of course, it's possible the cursed Neverland may no more permit such a friendship to grow than it would allow either of them to leave. But still, if you are of a more hopeful nature perhaps you can allow yourself to believe they might make it work somehow. And if they do, then as friends, they might begin to rub off on one another, balance out each other's flaws, and make one another better from their association. In that case maybe -- just maybe -- James is somewhat wrong in that Neverland is not so much Hell as a form of Purgatory.



Devoted135

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Reply #9 on: June 09, 2016, 02:12:17 AM
Did anyone else start the story thinking it was about Peter and James, the disciples of Jesus? Only me? Bueller?


Once I got that straightened out.... I really liked this! I like Hook as a bookish naturalist who was perhaps too serious for his own good. And the reveal at the end that he was only 13?? Harsh. The theory that Tinkerbell is behind all of it seems to have the ring of truth to it. Definitely hoping that she/Neverland will allow their new friendship and understanding to grow. Maybe they will be released when they have finally learned all they have to teach each other.



cwthree

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Reply #10 on: June 09, 2016, 07:12:59 PM


Did anyone else start the story thinking it was about Peter and James, the disciples of Jesus?

That was my first thought, too.



Jethro's belt

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Reply #11 on: June 09, 2016, 07:31:40 PM
I almost dropped out early but am glad I stayed with the story while it grew better each minute until the superb ending. Team Hook!  





Obleo21

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Reply #12 on: June 09, 2016, 09:24:16 PM


Did anyone else start the story thinking it was about Peter and James, the disciples of Jesus?

That was my first thought, too.

Me too! I had formed an image on my expectation of what the story was going to be about that it took about 5 minutes for me to fully transition to the Peter Pan story. I did enjoy the story. I did keep thinking though - the jerk cut of your hand! Why are you being nice to him?!?!



Fenrix

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Reply #13 on: June 21, 2016, 06:40:08 PM
I absolutely loved this concept. Not nearly as much a fan of the execution.



Did anyone else start the story thinking it was about Peter and James, the disciples of Jesus?

That was my first thought, too.

Me too! I had formed an image on my expectation of what the story was going to be about that it took about 5 minutes for me to fully transition to the Peter Pan story. I did enjoy the story. I did keep thinking though - the jerk cut of your hand! Why are you being nice to him?!?!

Same here. This took me a while to reorient. A couple minutes in and I figured out who Peter was and well after that (maybe 10 minutes in) to be confident who James was. This was a tad too clever, and seemed to rely on familiarity with the source material to have the desired heft. I think I've seen the Disney movie once and Hook a handful more.

I also had a really tough time pivoting between the flashbacks and the main narrative.

Favorite exchange from Hook:
I think I just had an apostrophe.
I think you mean an epiphany.
Like lightning struck my brain.
Sounds painful.

All cat stories start with this statement: “My mother, who was the first cat, told me this...”


Aliquid Novi

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Reply #14 on: July 17, 2016, 06:18:43 PM
Nice one. I liked that it wasn't a simple role-reversal, but actually took the characters somewhere new, despite Neverland's worst intentions.

I've never got the attraction of fishing either, and can well see why being trapped in a kind of fishing Groundhog Day might be a kind of Hell.