#really annoying that not even the events of the novel and the podcast really match up well

[stregoniconiconii]

Robin worked at the movie theatre according to Rebel Robin and in the podcast she says on her first day she saw Steve washing the graffiti off...Imagining an AU where, in order to make up for the vandalism, Steve works at the theatre for a spell and that’s how they become friends...

[friendlycybird]

Season 2 Reactions - Part 1

Alright, my last couple TMA posts were basically one-line reactions to each episode of season 1, I figure I’ll kick off this celebrating-listening-to-100-episodes thing by doing the same for season 2?  A lot of these responses are a little...uh...more...than the one-liners of season one though, as my thoughts about this podcast have only gotten more complex. 

41. I can’t remember if this is the episode where Jon says “I am not a brave man but I am on occasion a stubborn one.” or if that’s a later episode, but that quote is definitely the vibe I get from this episode now that I know it exists. 

42. I was trying to figure out how to word my thoughts on the irony of the fact that the violence inspired by Grifter’s Bone is attributed to the music being bad, but when heard from enough distance to be recalled without madness or memory loss, it’s described as beautiful. While I was looking for the words my brain supplied a one-word question.  Sirens? 

43. There are no words for how glad I am Basira Hussain became a reoccurring character. She’s wonderful. 

44. I’m looking at the titles as I go to jog my memory and when I saw the word “Tightrope” my excitement at a Gertrude episode at long last was almost entirely over run by the image of that little boy up on the tightrope and... *shudder*

45. Fucking Mosquitoes. 

46. Another look at Mike. I only remembered him from Bone Turner’s Tale, and forgot that he’d been the kid mentioned at the end of Pageturner so I didn’t get the significance of this episode until uh... The Coming Storm. 

47. Our first look at Michael as a true otherwordly force in his own right rather then a possibly benevolent monster. His voice was so unsettling! I was a little annoyed in later episodes that “Michael showed up and stabbed me” was more information than Jon was willing to share for some reason? Oh right, his paranoia was approaching full swing at this point. Drove me nuts. 

48. Gerard Keay is my... was...my second favorite character after Martin. (Into Season 3 now and I think Georgie has knocked Gerard down to third) and this episode is the definitive example of why. I’d long suspected he was the sort of man who would grudgingly take time out of his vacation to give life-saving information to a woman he doesn’t even know while complaining about it the entire time, and this confirmation of exactly that was delightful.

49. ...More Meat. Less Meat then usual, but still. 

50. Took me a minute to remember what this one was. The workhouse architecture. As far as I can put together where I am halfway through season 3 the arcitecture stuff is still largely unexplained, isn’t it? Like we don’t know what...being? Robert Smirk was affiliated with, do we? Is it safe to assume it’s The Stranger since that seems to be the series Big Bad, as such things go in terms of this kind of horror. I’ll be keeping an eye on that question, and if I’ve missed something at this point, let me know. 

51. This is where the name Simon Fairchild goes from being an unimportant detail in Freefall to front and center top of the “They’re up to something and it’s FUCKED” list. Okay, maybe not quite *top* but still. 

52. I’m really struggling with matching titles to events...once I remembered the events of this episode though I basically gasped. You may remember my post on season 1, my reaction to A Father’s Love was that it was significantly more sad than it was scary, so an update on the last days of Robert Mentork’s life was certainly welcome, and no less sad.  This episode also stands out to me as the first time I can remember when I developed a rapid and intense *dis*like for the statement giver. 

53. Ah, the Alexandria episode. Our first hint that Gertrude did a bit more than just sit behind a desk while people gave their statements. I sort-of wonder if we’re going to get to see Jon doing any actual travel before the end of the series? 

54. Okay but I adore the phrase “aggressively open mind.” I expect to use it myself at some point in my life now.  That said, I didn’t realize until after the trapdoor was open that this had any connection to Angler Fish. I didn’t recognize the name, I’m bad with names, something that has me at a bit of a disadvantage for tracking the mystery of this show. 

55. It...says something that I have a clearer memory of the...for lack of a better term, philosophy Jordan Kennedy espoused about his work then I did the events of the actual episode? I also cannot put words to what a relief it was to have it confirmed that Jane Prentis is dead, or the horror at realizing that she’s...not entirely unique. 

56. You have no idea how excited I was to hear that Trevor Herbert had continued his statement! The Vampire Lore back in episode 10 had been one of the earliest real peaks of excitement I’d had about this show. Also, the whole “Martin is lying about something” plot was stressing me out because Martin is my favorite and him being anything other than what he seems was...yeah, distressing. Then it was the best thing it could possibly be and I love him even more now. 

57. Fairchild again, and this time coupled with some of the other big names in Weird for this ‘verse. Of course it’d take a lot of them, Space is...ambitious. I have no idea what they’re planning though. 

48. Cannibalism on the Oregon Trail that *isn’t* the Donner Party? I’m impressed. That said, I was actually reminded of another Piers Anthony novel. You wouldn’t think the creator of Xanth would have gone this dark but honestly the later half of the statement reminded me acutely of a scene from Bio of a Space Tyrant. 

56.  When I saw the title of this episode I told my friend it was either about someone who never left his home or about a spider. Imagine my surprise when it was, in fact, about both. This episode did a lot of that, pulling together threads from all sorts of Season One episodes in a way that just intensifies the mystery rather then actually answers any questions. 

60. This one is unnerving just to *think* about.  Like I had a second of not being sure which episode it was so I played the start and as soon as I remembered I was glancing over to make sure my blinds were closed and fighting off a chill down my back.