SAYER / YMMV - TV Tropes

Ad Dissonance: The endorsements in the credits for Geekly Inc.'s other podcasts. SAYER saying "anime" is extremely cursed and should never, ever have happened.
Alternate Character Interpretation:
- Those who think the A.I.s are entirely at the mercy of their programming versus those who hold them accountable for their decisions.
  - Adam Bash said in the 2018 Geekly Con Q&A that SAYER is an "honest" A.I. created by "very, very bad people" and that Ærolith Dynamics is the true villain of the story.
    Adam: It's not about SAYER—why does it do the things it does?; it does it because it advances the will and the ends of this corporation that has nefarious reasons of its own.
- SPEAKER as SAYER'S Ignored Enamoured Underling.^note
- Dr. Young: self-obsessed ass deserving of his fate, or a well-intentioned victim trying his best in a bad situation?
Approval of God:
- Bre Poisonne, who voices PORTER, has made it extremely clear on social media that she reads all fanworks published for the podcast. Yes, all of them.
- Adam often retweets and comments on Fanart.
Awesome Music: The Background Music is some pretty impressive low-key electronica that does wonders for the sci-fi atmosphere.
Breakout Character: SPEAKER, to a certain extent. It proved far more popular than Bash anticipated, meriting a surprise return and an integral role in Season 4.
Broken Base: Fans who miss the Monster of the Week seasons versus those who prefer the character-driven Story Arcs.
Death of the Author: Bash claims to be a firm believer in the principle.
Draco in Leather Pants: Adam loves mocking the fandom for its tendency to romanticize SAYER & co—Though he's not exactly discouraging that with his "Doki Doki Space Boyfriend" spinoff.
- This tumblr post sums it up pretty well.
Ensemble Dark Horse:
- MINCER.
- The human characters being popular at all seems to have taken Adam by surprise.
Fan Community Nickname: "Residents."
Fanon:
- That SPEAKER's title is Cherubim Agent [something], to go with the Seraphim. (Bash has confirmed that SPEAKER is not a Seraphim due to its location on Earth.)
- It's fairly widely agreed upon that Dr. Young and Dr. Brady are exes, which explains their strained dynamic and Brady calling Young "Howard." A popular corollary to the theory is that Dr. Brady was inspired by Young's voice in creating SPEAKER's which is why the two sound so similar.
- A childcare AI dubbed "SITTER" is a widely popular Fanon Character.
Fan-Preferred Couple: Dr. Brady and Dr. Young over Dr. Brady and Anna Cordero.
Friendly Fandoms:
- There's a lot of base overlap between this show and other Science Fiction Podcasts like Wolf 359 and EOS 10, as well as Kakos Industries.
- Many fans of SAYER are also fans of the similarly themed Portal, from which the show admittedly draws inspiration. There's even some crossover fanart.
Idiosyncratic Ship Naming: SAYER/Hale shippers have taken to calling the pairing Ship of Theseus, in reference to the significance of the Theseus' Ship Paradox in their relationship.
Jerkass Woobie: Dr. Young certainly doesn't deserve ever ythi ng th at co mes to him . . . but man is it satisfying.
LGBT Fanbase: Since it is a podcast, after all. Mostly overspill from thematically/tonally similar shows like EOS 10 and Welcome to Night Vale, which each have several LGBT characters.
Memetic Mutation:
- There are no bees on Typhon.
- "Jack"
- SAYER's tendency to deal with problems by jettisoning them into space.
- Fandom's intense love for MINCER.
- RIP Sergeant Squiddlesquirt.
One of Us: Adam Bash is a self-professed massive geek and even runs a Discord server for fans (which he himself is extremely active on).
Paranoia Fuel: A great deal of the show's creep factor derives from this, normally due to its ominously quiet atmosphere and that one of few voices if offered by an A.I. may or may not have it out for the residents.
Shipping:
- SAYER/Jacob Hale is probably the most popular in the fandom. (especially interesting now that SAYER is housed in another copy of Hale's body . . . )
- SAYER/SPEAKER has been an obvious choice since "Earth, I am SAYER. Acknowledge." (And OCEAN's domineering influence over SPEAKER can be taken as a dark twist on the relationship.)
- Jacob Hale/Howard Young. Usually centering around their interactions on floor 13.
- Anna Cordero/Amanda Jones, oddly.
- FUTURE/Hale and FUTURE/Young aren't unpopular either, though the overall tone of the latter depends heavily on which Young is involved.
Stoic Woobie: Hale
Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: A common complaint about the one-off episodes is "Well, we know something horrible is going to happen to the resident by the end of the episode, so where's the suspense?"
Viewer Gender Confusion: Since all the A.I.s (minus PORTER) are voiced by Adam Bash, there's a tendency to think of them as male, though they are canonically genderless. Adam himself sometimes seems to have forgotten this, with SPEAKER referring to SAYER as "he" in "Welcome Back" and SAYER briefly doing the same for OCEAN in "This Fear."
The Woobie: Sven/Jacob. So much. It Sucks to Be the Chosen One.

YMMV / SAYER

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