The Drabblecast Forums

Feature: Sweetie by Michelle Ann King
Drabble: Benjy by James Rogers
Genres: Horror Strange
Warning: Explicit language



Wednesday, July 3rd, 2013
Audiences have so little respect, these days.

Admittedly, my little traveling show isn’t what it once was. We’ve been on the road for a long, long time. But I like to think that for the discerning customer, we still provide value for money. An experience you can’t get from the computer screen–the modern freakshow–despite all its tricks and special effects…

Episode Art: Raoul Izzard

Twabble: “ "Creativity's a river. It doesn't run dry," Lisa said when she got writer's block. But she didn't factor in the beavers.
-- Varda

I pelt bad:
I typed in a fever
'Twas writer's beaver
My plot was in a jam

I couldn't have that
so I made a new hat
of felt
I don't give a damn
-- Algernon Sydney is Dead ” by Varda & Algernon Sydney is Dead

Nice little story. Cautionary tales are fun in that they serve a double function: first, they try to scare people (often small children) into correct behavior. Secondly, they let other people (often adults) blow off steam by indulging in a bit of schadenfreude at the moron's/victim's expense.

Still, while cautionary tales are often hilarious, they're rarely just. They remind me of the kinds of fantasies I have when out driving in heavy traffic, and you have those one or two people whose bad driving is making everyone else on the road miserable. You wish you had Ben Hur-style spikes you could activate and puncture the jerk's tires, or do something else to ruin the guy's day that's way out of proportion to the misery he's actually caused you. Cautionary tales are framed in a way that smacks of justice, but they're actually way over the top. We just want to see the jerk suffer for breaking the social code.

It's doubly true when we're talking about children. We don't rationally expect kids to know and follow all the social rules, but let's face it: they can be little hellspawn sometimes, and it gets on our nerves. But healthy, sane adults would never want to inflict pointless suffering on even a nasty little child. So we produce stuff like Struwwelpeter, or even "Sweetie", to get out that frustration in a healthy and hilarious way.

That was fun and simple, reminiscent of the Drabblecast stories of yester-yore. I liked how the author hinted at traveling the "old country" and other aspects of Sweetie and the narrator's relationship without going into much detail. We aren't sure what their natures are, but they are seemingly timeless and supernatural.
Also I thought this story was a model example of good pacing and tension building in the short form. Well done.

That was a nice throwback. I didn't really take it as a cautionary tale. I think you should be cautious of it's tail, though. I more viewed it as a nice story about dinner. You know, the audio version of imstagrammed food.

lol tbaker.

This was a good time and sufficiently engaging/spooky. It wasn't as hard hitting as other Drabblecasts but that's totally fine.