Episodes 121 - 122 - "The Repairer of Reputations"

[Genus Unknown]

It's up! Blast... wish I weren't at work right now so I could go listen.

[old book]

A day early? I guess that's the premium at work... Well done.

[Ruth - CthulhuChick]

I got to listen!

T'was good stuff. Regarding pacing, C&C, I think you should go at whatever fits the story. Don't push us through the stories. I think as long as you do your normal thing, none of us are going to feel like you're stretching it out too much. We'd rather pay you longer to get it all covered than rush through a story a week (IMO). One thing I realized doing CAS podcasts is that almost nobody writes stories that are as short as Lovecraft's stuff. Machen, Chambers, Bierce, Smith, etc, tend toward slightly longer stories. So if you're not making longer eps, then do plenty of doubles.

And concerning the story, I do not know what to make of Mr. Wilde and his...business. There seems to be something going on, but I can't figure out what it is. In a later bit, he'll have dragged in that man... I just don't know. Theories?

[Genus Unknown]

Hard to say. Wilde also seems to have some genuine information about that suit of armor, but... all of our knowledge about what's going on is entirely filtered through the batshit-insane Hildred Castaigne. I think the implication is supposed to be that maybe Wilde and Castaigne aren't as crazy as they appear, and maybe there really is something big and weird going on that these guys are tuned into, but there's really no telling.

It could be that Wilde's "employees" are simply other crazy people who have read The King in Yellow. I like the idea that the conspiracy itself is actually real, but its foundations (the reign of the King in Yellow, the Imperial Dynasty of America, etc.) are pure madness inspired by the play.

[DustyTome]

I got to listen!

T'was good stuff. Regarding pacing, C&C, I think you should go at whatever fits the story. Don't push us through the stories. I think as long as you do your normal thing, none of us are going to feel like you're stretching it out too much. We'd rather pay you longer to get it all covered than rush through a story a week (IMO). One thing I realized doing CAS podcasts is that almost nobody writes stories that are as short as Lovecraft's stuff. Machen, Chambers, Bierce, Smith, etc, tend toward slightly longer stories. So if you're not making longer eps, then do plenty of doubles.

And concerning the story, I do not know what to make of Mr. Wilde and his...business. There seems to be something going on, but I can't figure out what it is. In a later bit, he'll have dragged in that man... I just don't know. Theories?

I have to agree with Ruth and say I'm not terribly concerned with the pacing. I can think of several of HPL's stories where the podcast went over the boys projected length. Now, if they were gabbing about Quantum Leap, I might be a little miffed but as long as its about the story, go for it.

I basically look at the podcast as getting together with the some geeky friends to chat once a week. A decent coffee costs $5 NZ, which I spend regularly during chats with my mates, so the cost for the podcast is more than manageable. It's just that for these chats, Chris and Chad do all the talking.

[mcglothlin.13]

Love the new show!  I was wondering if you could change the podcast picture to make it different from the previous (free) iteration of the show.  The two podcast feeds would show up differently in the iTunes browser.  Just a suggestion, thanks.

[Svaragog]

I read this story sometime ago and loved it a lot. I was very excited when I saw that the first premium story was going to RoR. That alone would have been enough for me to sign up if I wasn't already planning on doing so. Loved the episode and looking forward to the second half. Always guys, excellent show.

[Ruth - CthulhuChick]

It could be that Wilde's "employees" are simply other crazy people who have read The King in Yellow. I like the idea that the conspiracy itself is actually real, but its foundations (the reign of the King in Yellow, the Imperial Dynasty of America, etc.) are pure madness inspired by the play.

I really like that idea. A whole network of people living in this alternate mental world because they've read the play.

[DustyTome]

I don't know if anyone else had any problems, but it sounded like the audio levels were a bit off on this episode. I can normally listen to the podcast in my car, a Toyota with pretty loud road noise. I could hear Chad fine and I only heard Chris when he laughed. Did anyone else notice this?

[RedRetroRobot]

Love the new show!  I was wondering if you could change the podcast picture to make it different from the previous (free) iteration of the show.  The two podcast feeds would show up differently in the iTunes browser.  Just a suggestion, thanks.

Second vote for a picture change. Not a big deal really. Just would be nice for organization.

Premium content proving to be damn delicious. I always hoped this story would be covered, so with full encouragement, take as much time as needed.

Keep up the superb work, and looking forward to further developments.
.

[old book]

Slow, fast, it doesn't matter that much. It's about depth and density. Those artificial ears on wires creeped me out, I forgot about that. I better reread the story, it's been a few years...

[Genus Unknown]

Try as I might, I can't stop imagining Mr. Wilde as a Ferengi.



Just color those ears pink and put them on some wires, and that's what Mr. Wilde looks like.

[Ruth - CthulhuChick]

And he knows how to run a business!

[old book]

I don't know, Genus, that Ferengi is almost attractive compared to how I picture the fellow. His ears are way too sturdy-looking, too.

When Mr. Waite "cracks the whip," does that mean he simply opens his ledger and reads the blackmail out to his wayward servant, or are there deeper mind-control techniques and drugs involved? "You are now under my command. Go hide in that dark corner until I summon you and give you instructions and a weapon to kill the target." It almost sounds like the present-day with sleeper-assassins and so on.

When the man in the yellow mask came up earlier (is that the same as the Pallid Masque?) in Lovecraft, I flashed back to Ossendowski and Guenon and the Lord of the World who controls the destiny of the world from his subterrene kingdom of Agartha utilizing subtle influences. I guess the modern pop-culture version of that is the Illuminati/NWO. It cannot be coincidental that Leng, Agartha and Blavatsky's Great White Brotherhood all lie somewhere near China, nor can it be coincidental that the man in the yellow mask represents a Yellow Peril, cf. Chamber's Maker of Moons, to wit, Leng, counterfeit gold, etc.

On another level, this story, RoR, is about a failed viral marketing campaign using a poweful logo and a genealogy deriving from off-planet. Carcossa, Aldones, Lake of Hali, Hastur, the Mystery of the Hyades--the author says the stars and star clusters in this list are connected by a lake, which must mean the Lake of Hali, above which black stars are visible. The black sun/black hole reference is interesting and hints again at alchemy, while prefiguring the astronomical theory of black hole singularities. Carcossa is from Bierce's short about the man discovering his own gravestone and adds mystery to Bierce's own real-life disappearance, plus it sounds (or at least looks) a bit like the name of the village in France where the local priest discovered something of great worth under or near his church, after which he became wealthy, a story recounted in Holy Blood, Holy Grail and elsewhere. Was the vilalge called Carconne? I forget. The lore surrounding the priest includes alchemy, the discovery of the lost blood-line of Jesus among the Cathars and Merovignians, the Nazis digging pits all over the hillside where he supposedly made his discovery in typical Indiana Jones fashion and the idea he discovered a document about which the Vatican then paid him to keep silent supposedly proving the fallacy of Church dogma in some way (probably another story about Jesus and Mary Magdalene settling in Languedoc). I guess the irony must somehow be that the cat thwarted the best-laid plans for world-domination by ripping out Waite's throat.

I think the reader is probably supposed to be left wondering whether Hildred was really crazy or not. Maybe mainstream society was crazy with its public Lethal Chamber, maybe his brother Louis was crazy in unquestionally serving in the military and pursuing his future wife. Waite might have been crazy but then he was also right about the location of precious antiques, and probably about the armorer's past and status as a felon fleeing justice. Was Waite's cat a familiar, who then assumed the form of the embezzler lurking in the shadows, unwilling but unable to resist carrying out the murder of the armorer and his daughter? Maybe he did succeed in resisting the command and turned on Waite in the end, ripping out his throat?

It seems to me Lovecraft had a sort of Waite in his own life, "crazy old Castro," aka Adolphe De Castro, who did have some sort of powerful political influence but who probably seemed like a nut at first glance. I wonder if Lovecraft ever connected Waite and De Castro in his mind.

[RedRetroRobot]

It seems to me Lovecraft had a sort of Waite in his own life, "crazy old Castro," aka Adolphe De Castro, who did have some sort of powerful political influence but who probably seemed like a nut at first glance. I wonder if Lovecraft ever connected Waite and De Castro in his mind.

I'm trying to recall a quote where Lovecraft mentioned De Castro as someone who saw himself "behind the American throne" or the like. Considering Lovecraft's sense of humor I wouldn't be surprised if he compared the two in his mind.