EP367: Lion Dance

[Fenrix]

I really disliked how the characters were acting. The straight brother was generally pretty dumb. Then the gay brother felt the need to lie to the straight brother about what we wanted to accomplish while out there. The same brother who took him in and helped him clean up and is caring for him would react badly because he wanted to do something benevolent? Stupid. And it felt like deliberate authorial obfuscation to manufacture tension.

I liked the reader for this one just fine. The imagery was also pretty, but I liked the PodCastle lion dancing story better.

The item that drove me to post on here though is the fact that they seem to imply that Montanans are a bunch of gun-toting rednecks.  While I won't deny that the majority of people here do own firearms (myself amongst them) and that there is no shortage of rednecks here, most of us are functional members of modern society.  Besides, when you can trade with your neighbors for moonshine you don't have to drive all the way into town to break into a liquor store.

Keep in mind these are Chinese folks from San Francisco talking in this story. They probably don't know any better.

While listening, I took the dig at Montana more as flawed character perspective than authorial intent. That reasoning fit and was consistent with the character. However, after the bad authorial presence insertion to deflect the true purpose of the mission, I am less certain.

[childoftyranny]

I think what I wish was that this story ended with the younger brother running down the street, the whole self-realization thing felt very forced to me.

I didn't mind the reading, it was stilted but I don't think the pauses were long enough to cause any aggravation and the imagery I quite liked. I also felt that in many ways this was much better at having a gay character without that having to be the focus, though nearer to the end it felt like it was being more forced into it.

Before I make the horrible comment, I am very glad this story was bought and produced but I find myself curious about what sort of sci-fi this classifies as? I don't see any reason this can't be set this year, or several years in the past. I know why this question occurs to me, that I just finish Existence, by David Brin, which was very much near-future sci-fi and pretty much plays on all the current-tech to the extreme tropes, which I found sort of annoying, but while it wasn't very futuristic that was part of the world. Generally these sorts of questions end as "its whatever people want it to be," but I'm curious as if there is some sort of survivalist sci-fi or apocalyptic sci-fi idea where that is the focus that puts it in the future?

[Fenrix]

Before I make the horrible comment, I am very glad this story was bought and produced but I find myself curious about what sort of sci-fi this classifies as? I don't see any reason this can't be set this year, or several years in the past. I know why this question occurs to me, that I just finish Existence, by David Brin, which was very much near-future sci-fi and pretty much plays on all the current-tech to the extreme tropes, which I found sort of annoying, but while it wasn't very futuristic that was part of the world. Generally these sorts of questions end as "its whatever people want it to be," but I'm curious as if there is some sort of survivalist sci-fi or apocalyptic sci-fi idea where that is the focus that puts it in the future?

Apocalypse stories tend to get put in the science fiction basket. And the impacts of the pandemic requiring people to remain isolated and indoors causes the group to go on the Lion Dance and helps drive some of the reaction to it. This story would be tougher to tell without the pandemic.

[VTDorchester]

This story might prove more interesting now, as while I listened to it this week there were parts that seemed eerily prescient!