Drabblecast 183 - Angel of the Ordinary

[HPHovercraft]

However, I do think that the drabblecast forums will remain untouched when the rapture comes... in their heart not one person here is truly normal.

But doesn't that by definition make us all normal?

Loved this story... heart-warming & hilarious.

Oh yeah, you BET your seven holes are gonna be sealed, baby!

[Talia]

Hmm, ITunes seemingly decided not to download this episode. How dare it deny me my Drabblecast, particularly a T. Pratt story?

*shakes a fist*

[Mikes]

Maybe it's getting you back for ignoring all those 'Would you like to update iTunes?' boxes.

[dreamrock]

Probably not quite as helpful as y'all would like for iTunes purposes, but here's the mp3 link:
http://web.me.com/normsherman/Site/Medi ... dinary.mp3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Livingstone]

Wheee! That was fun and the outro was perfect. Now it looks like I need to listen to the Miracle Nutrition Hour too.

[normsherman]

Wait, what's this itunes access issue I'm hearin'? I've got a few system checks in place and the episode made it through OK in each on my end-- are people still having problems? Eat some fiber and get back to me, wanna make sure this gets through the pipes.

[HPHovercraft]

Wait, what's this itunes access issue I'm hearin'? I've got a few system checks in place and the episode made it through OK in each on my end-- are people still having problems? Eat some fiber and get back to me, wanna make sure this gets through the pipes.

Chill dude, it's only South Dakota...

[flyawaybefree]

i usually like Tim Pratt's stuff, but for some reason, this one didn't send me. I loved the drabble and twitfic though!

[Phenopath]

I don't know much about iTunes, but there were occasions when I used to use it that it unilaterally decided that I no longer wanted to download specific podcasts. Look for a little tick or similar icon on the image for that podcast.

[themorg]

i usually like Tim Pratt's stuff, but for some reason, this one didn't send me. I loved the drabble and twitfic though!

i am glad you felt ok to say that about a Tim Pratt story. I swear, i got stoned by fans, when i said i did not like something he did. Myself i thought this was really great but i am happy you did not.

[tbaker2500]

i usually like Tim Pratt's stuff, but for some reason, this one didn't send me. I loved the drabble and twitfic though!

i am glad you felt ok to say that about a Tim Pratt story. I swear, i got stoned by fans, when i said i did not like something he did. Myself i thought this was really great but i am happy you did not.

Several of his stories I do not like; this one was very good.

[Mikes]

reading Tim's blog he says this was only the second story he sold back before the turn of the century (man i love saying that), so perhaps he was still finding his voice.

Yeah, but I still liked it.

[dreamrock]

i am glad you felt ok to say that about a Tim Pratt story. I swear, i got stoned by fans, when i said i did not like something he did. Myself i thought this was really great but i am happy you did not.

I think we're usually pretty accepting of people not liking stories around here, unless the not-liking is abusive (which I guarantee yours wasn't ). You've been a DC forumite longer than I have, so hopefully it didn't happen here.

Even my absolute favorite writers miss the mark for me sometimes. I'm not going to make a list of who they were and which stories I hated because that would be mean. However, if we aren't all open to hearing someone disliked one of our favorite authors' stories, I think we should be.

I loved this story for its deep poignancy, but I agree with Phenopath about the weakness of the story. I would have preferred that our protagonist end up just a little more weird than he did. Though if some of the weirdness didn't back off, the ending would have had the impact that it did. Maybe one last flourish of the cowboy's hat?

[Talia]

Finally had a chance to listen. Loved the main story! The guy's nuttiness was endearing (sweet tart and bacon popcorn? BLEH!). Sweet and charming tale.

Though his girlfriend is clearly not trustworthy, and I worry about his future with this manipulative woman.

Excellent narration, I agree. The outro struck fear into my heart of the coming Somethingsomethingsomethinglypse. At least I think it was fear. Maybe I just hiccuped.

Dreamrock - I'm teasing, you silly sausage.

I was disappointed by the transformative effect of the wifes return, if you are mad (and this guy is madder than a box of frogs) that does not simply switch off, or go away. His wife may be therapeutic, but he was in need of some serious mediation to handle those hallucinations.

Oh, and Hearty's narration may have been the best of the year.

His crazyness didn't switch off though, he clearly still thought the angels were gonna come, and he saw his "god" there at the end. He just let his GF push him into tidying up a bit, but the beliefs and hallucinations were still there.

[themorg]

I think we're usually pretty accepting of people not liking stories around here, unless the not-liking is abusive (which I guarantee yours wasn't ). You've been a DC forumite longer than I have, so hopefully it didn't happen here.

I was talking in real life and other forums that i will not name. Some places are just less nice on the web about decent of their golden cow. Personally Tim Pratt could almost no wrong.

Also i joined in December 4 of 2009 and you October 30 of 2009 so you are more senior.

[themorg]

His crazyness didn't switch off though, he clearly still thought the angels were gonna come, and he saw his "god" there at the end. He just let his GF push him into tidying up a bit, but the beliefs and hallucinations were still there.

And his god accepted him for what he was doing. I think it makes it more of an uplifting story.

wife comes home
husband crazy
wife cleans stuff up
husband is admitted to mental ward

VS

wife comes home
husband crazy
wife cleans stuff up
God tells him personally that things are ok
wife accepts him

[dreamrock]

Also i joined in December 4 of 2009 and you October 30 of 2009 so you are more senior.

Clearly I didn't check the join dates.

It feels really odd that I somehow predated you on the forums. Drabblecast forums without Morg feels somehow ... lacking.

[themorg]

Also i joined in December 4 of 2009 and you October 30 of 2009 so you are more senior.

Clearly I didn't check the join dates.

It feels really odd that I somehow predated you on the forums. Drabblecast forums without Morg feels somehow ... lacking.

thanks for that. i feel the same back but i really miss that old picture of you.

[Unblinking]

Hello all!
Yeah, I found the back entrance out of the Escape Artists dungeons and wandered over here. I'd better write some comments before the men in white coats come for me!

Is commenting on lots of old story threads acceptable here? I've listened to the Drabblecast backlog and I want to retroactively join in on all the discussion fun! I ran out of old Escape Artists episodes to comment on now, and I'm hoping to fill the newfound void in my heart with a hearty helping of the Drabblecast forums.

Regarding this story:
As with most Pratt stories, I thought this was generally good--I've only actively disliked one Pratt story than I remember, the rest range from "pretty good" to "awesome" with a strong bias towards the latter.

I liked the idea of salvation through weirdness, a new form of the lamb's blood marking, and I liked the personification of God, and the fact that he allowed slight occasional weirdnesses to be enough at the end to save him. I thought his food choices could've been weirded up a bit more, though, to make the point clearer. Does anyone have this guy's phone number? I'd like to swap recipes with him.

[Unblinking]

On the subject of weird recipes, one of my entries for the 2010 Podcastle Flash Contest centered around weird foods and their effect on the afterlife, though it went in a very different direction than this one:
http://forum.escapeartists.net/index.ph ... 8#msg63598" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's in a members-only section of their forum so you have to register if you want to read it. I just thought it was a weird tie-in to this one!