She Who Wrenches: A Mercy Thompson Re-Read-Along Podcast

E10 Blood Bound 2: Self-Care for the Preternatural

Message us (questions, comments, topics? Let us know!) [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2566095/fan_mail/new] In this episode, Uncle Mike’s Book Club discusses chapters 4–5 of Blood Bound from the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. They discuss supernatural coping mechanisms; whether the Fae can listen to heavy metal like Iron Maiden (https://www.ironmaiden.com), Mötley Crüe (https://motley.com), and Led Zeppelin (https://www.ledzeppelin.com); comparing the vampire seethe court to various TV judges and discussing how vampire courts work; how strange Wulfe is and his similarities to Coach Beard from Ted Lasso (https://tv.apple.com/us/show/ted-lasso/umc.cmc.vtoh0mn0xn7t3c643xqonfzy); speculating about a DoorDash or Uber Eats service for vampires; a What We Do in the Shadows reference (“It’s not hygienic!”) (https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/what-we-do-in-the-shadows); the vampires’ “tell the truth chair,” how to speak “chair,” and Stefan and Mercy testifying while seated in it; “must acquit” references from the O.J. trial; Mercy’s amazing ability to think before she speaks; wrapping up vampire night court; Warren and Ben joining Stefan to hunt vampires; Mercy complaining about her bodyguards, which are apparently as hard to cancel as AOL in the early 2000s; and how much Mercy loves sparring at full speed with Adam. We are a fan-based Mercy Thompson Universe (aka the Mercyverse) reread-along podcast. Just some friends who love Mercy Thompson (and a lot of other stuff) sharing fan theories, joking around, teasing each other, and making weird references to other fandoms and pop culture. As always, there are potentially spoilers for every single book published in the Mercyverse: the short stories, the Mercy Thompson series, and the Alpha and Omega series (everything through Blind Date with a Werewolf, anyway). So if you aren’t caught up, fair warning. Links: * Subscribe to the Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2566095/episodes/18525659 * Podcast RSS feed: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2566095.rss * Check out our for-now website: https://shewhowrenches.carrd.co * Patricia Briggs’ official website with complete book list: https://www.patriciabriggs.com/books/ * Stories in timeline order (how they happen for Mercy): https://www.patriciabriggs.com/books/printabletimeline.html * Follow us on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/shewhowrenches.bsky.social  Recording Date: 2026-02-06 Chapters: 00:00:00 Intro 00:00:51 Recap Guy 00:06:13 Supernatural Coping Mechanisms 00:07:16 Night Court at the Vampire Seethe 00:12:33 We Meet Wulfe, the Creepy Teen-Looking Vampire 00:16:23 Vampire DoorDash 00:17:39 Back to the Vampire Court 00:25:42 Mercy Complains to Adam About Honey as a Bodyguard YouTube version of this episode: https://youtu.be/C7O7ZYYMGhY

E09 Blood Bound 01: Meanwhile, at the Airport Ramada

Message us (questions, comments, topics? Let us know!) [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2566095/fan_mail/new] In this episode, Uncle Mike's Book Club discusses chapters 1-3 of Blood Bound.  This is the episode where you find out what terrible people we actually are. It also begins a new running joke: we start the ongoing way to bring us back from tangents, “Meanwhile, at the Airport Ramada…”   We discuss vampire lore across fandoms, vampires not letting go of the fashions from their human days, revisit what a single wide trailer doesn’t have room for, updates on Briggs’s vampire lore (and what would it REALLY take to destroy Wulfe?), if Blood Bound is the creepiest Mercy Thompson book, vampires can grow claws??, what level of naked is Mercy for her retelling of the events of the night with the sorcerer, how Mercy’s single wide trailer can apparently have a third bedroom AND the closets aren’t full and can fit a 6ft tall vampire, why Stefan can sometimes teleport and sometimes not—what are the limits??, if vampires in the Mercy-verse have mirror reflections, enriching your power-word word-power through unfiltered Ben swearing, which Chinese place do they get takeout from??, and speculation about Warren and Ben’s relationship. Random things mentioned: Days of Our Lives, how the different Mercy-verse readers pronounce names differently, Skeleton Crew (and Disney Star Wars), the creepy Doctor Who episode “Blink,” Kelly’s Band and baby bats, Weekly World News, Coast To Coast AM (you can actually find it in podcast form, though it’s no longer hosted by Art Bell), Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell, the Chili’s theme song (by way of Austin Powers), parts of the USA where everyone has blankets draped over their couches, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Demon sweat live, Sorcerer’s code, Repo Man and repossessing demon and devolving into a Night at the Roxbury reference, The Room’s “Anyway, how’s your sex life?” which has theatrical showings where people throw plastic spoons and they play football in tuxedos… As always, there are potentially spoilers for every single book published in the Mercy-verse: shorts, the Mercy Thompson book series, AND the Alpha and Omega book series (everything through Blind Date with a Werewolf, anyway). It’s okay if you aren’t caught up, as long as you’re okay with spoilers for books you haven’t read yet.  Links: * Message us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/shewhowrenches.bsky.social  * Check out our for-now website: https://shewhowrenches.carrd.co  * Subscribe to the Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2566095/episodes/18525659 * Podcast RSS feed: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2566095.rss Chapters: 00:00:00 Intro 00:02:04 Recap Guy 00:05:06 Start talking about Blood Bound 00:09:40 More Vampire lore explored 00:11:50 Meeting the new vampire at the hotel 00:17:53 Goth Baby Bats, The Weekly World News, and Coast to Coast AM 00:21:04 Back at the Airport Ramada (Stefan is drooling and Cory is killing) 00:23:54 Mercy comes to with a vampire and a werewolf stare down 00:28:49 Daniel the baby vampire already met the sorcerer backstory 00:30:55 Stefan asks Mercy to testify in the Vampire Seethe Court 00:31:37 Stefan the vampire asks to "sleep" for the day in Mercy's Closet 00:33:39 Do vampires have reflections in the Mercy Thompson universe? 00:35:00 Mercy can't sleep with a dead vampire in her closet 00:36:53 Mercy's VW Rabbit has scars from the night with the vampires 00:38:48 Meet Mrs. Hanna's Ghost 00:39:55 Mercy goes to work fixing cars 00:42:15 Mercy asks Zee about Sorcerers 00:44:39 Mercy is approached by the reporter after hours 00:47:02 Ben and Warren come to watch Mercy/ take her for a nap 00:48:37 Mercy/Warren/Ben relationship hashing out 00:52:29 Wulfe ponderings and episode close 00:53:43 Outtake Recording Date:

Moon Called Cliff Notes: A Wildly Inaccurate Retelling of Mercy Thompson

Message us (questions, comments, topics? Let us know!) [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2566095/fan_mail/new] Moon Called Cliff Notes is our wildly inaccurate recap of Moon Called, the first book in the Mercy Thompson series, by Patricia Briggs. It’s stitched together from all the Recap Guys in our coverage of Moon Called over multiple episodes. Indulge the least responsible way to get caught up on Moon Called. (But you’ll probably enjoy it more if you’ve already read the books.) If you’ve ever wanted the plot of Moon Called filtered through werewolf roofies, Vanagon slander, dated tech observations, mercenaries, vampire politics, and at least one truly unnecessary TPS report joke, congratulations: somehow this episode is just for you. This bonus episode is a fast, chaotic sample of the vibe at Uncle Mike’s Book Club — a condensed retelling of the first Mercy Thompson book with jokes, tangents, and a level of accuracy best described as “spiritually adjacent.” No spoilers here for later Mercy Thompson books — just Moon Called, badly summarized with enthusiasm. In under eleven minutes, we speedrun Mercy meeting Mac, Adam getting kidnapped, Jesse getting rescued, vampire chaos, mercenary nonsense, Gabriel showing up to work eventually, and an absolutely unreasonable amount of commentary about Vanagons. If this nonsense delights you, you can find our full Moon Called discussions and the rest of our Mercy Thompson coverage wherever you listen. Links: * Check out our “linktree”/for-now website: shewhowrenches.carrd.co  * Follow and message us on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/shewhowrenches.bsky.social  * Subscribe to the Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2566095/episodes/18525659 * Podcast RSS feed: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2566095.rss * Patricia Briggs' official website with complete book list: https://www.patriciabriggs.com/books/  * Stories in timeline order (how they happen for Mercy): https://www.patriciabriggs.com/books/printabletimeline.html We are a fan-based Mercy Thompson Universe (AKA Mercy-verse) reread-along podcast. Just some friends who love Mercy Thompson (and a lot of other stuff). We share personal fan theories, joke and tease and make weird references to other fandoms and pop culture.  Chapters: 00:00:00 Moon Called Chapters 1-4 00:00:46 Moon Called Chapters 5-7 00:01:27 Moon Called Chapters 7-10 00:03:46 Moon Called Chapters 11-13 00:06:22 Moon Called Chapters 14-15 00:08:44 Moon Called Chapter 16 YouTube version of this episode: https://youtu.be/7pnMdL20VFA

E08 Moon Called 6: Six Degrees of Mercy Thompson

Message us (questions, comments, topics? Let us know!) [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2566095/fan_mail/new] Uncle Mike’s Book Club Discusses Chapter 16 of Moon Called, where we finally meet Gabriel; discuss Tad being away at school and Zee’s concern (which later morphs into worry about Gabriel in Winter Lost); Jesse’s hair, Warren’s questionable gay cowboy hair-cutting ability, and how awful Jesse’s mom is; why “nudge” is not really a secret word, does not pass the op sec test, and absolutely should not be their password; why Ben isn’t guilty but is still pretty unpleasant (and whether Kelly can get the uncensored version of Ben); and how Mercy is sick and tired of adulting, changes into sweats, and leaves Sam and Adam to one-up each other while she goes to work on cars with Stefan. Then we wrap up with our overall impressions of Moon Called, which veers into a little pet peeve about the depiction of single-wide trailers in Blood Bound. Even though we do not officially start covering Blood Bound until the next episode, it does become a powerful running gag. Random things mentioned: pagers and Apple products; hating the Dursleys from Harry Potter (trigger warning!); Astro vans getting up hills; a reference to Lando’s flirtatious line from The Empire Strikes Back; the Star Wars prequels and how unrealistic and unbelievable the characters become over time (I’m looking at you, Padme Amidala); Urkel from Family Matters; the Star Wars show Skeleton Crew; The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and their confusing names; Game of Thrones; and six degrees of Kevin Bacon, but for Mercy Thompson characters. As always, there are potentially spoilers for every single book published in the Mercy-verse: the short stories, the Mercy Thompson series, and the Alpha and Omega series (everything through Blind Date with a Werewolf, anyway). It’s okay if you aren’t caught up, as long as you’re okay with spoilers for books you haven’t read yet. And we have social links now, and we’d love to hear from you! Please be patient with us getting back to you or reading/playing messages on air, since we pre-record episodes. As of the release of episode 8, we’ve actually recorded 15 episodes. Links: * Follow us on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/shewhowrenches.bsky.social  * Check out our for-now website: shewhowrenches.carrd.co  * YouTube Channel: SheWhoWrenches * Podcast subscribe link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2566095/episodes/18525659 * Other Mercy Thompson book resources:     * Patricia Briggs' official website with complete book list: https://www.patriciabriggs.com/books/     * Stories in the timeline order (how they happen for Mercy): https://www.patriciabriggs.com/books/printabletimeline.html Recording Date: 2026-01-23 YouTube version of this episode: https://youtu.be/c8TvdYLcDPI

E07 Moon Called 05: A Family Circus Cartoon of a Plan

Message us (questions, comments, topics? Let us know!) [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2566095/fan_mail/new] Uncle Mike's Book Club Discusses chapters 14-15 of Moon Called. We go to the warehouse to rescue Adam and Jesse and witness a plan so convoluted, Sheev Palpatine could have thought it up. We discuss Jesse’s relationship to the werewolves, ALL the gun information and video game guns, using a wire coat hanger to get into your car with the keys locked inside, Tad’s offscreen appearances, the Rube Goldberg plan of Gerry’s, a tangent about women choosing to be werewolves and comparing becoming a werewolf to choosing a golf course, sexism in time travel, and why Kelly didn’t love Doc Carter Wallace’s closing scene.  Random things mentioned: Lots of songs I can’t keep track of. Acme Products from the old Warner Bros. cartoons, Star Trek where people in Red Shirts die on away missions, “Bad Wolf” from Doctor Who, “It’s super effective!” from Pokémon, Star Wars Prequels, The Goonies, OK Go videos, Pokémon, using wire coat hangers to get locked keys out of the car (ask your parents), The original Star Wars movie (“That’s a presence I haven’t felt since…”), Girl from Ipanema. Recording note: We’re all pretty sick with colds in this episode. And Brittany was so busy trying to get Eric lined up to the mic that she kept missing it herself. Whoops. We do (slowly) make quality progress over the various episodes, I promise! As always, there are potentially spoilers for every single book published in the Mercyverse: shorts, the Mercy Thompson book series, AND the Alpha and Omega book series (everything through Blind Date with a Werewolf, anyway). It’s okay if you aren’t caught up, as long as you’re okay with spoilers for books you haven’t read yet.  Links: * Our Bluesky account: SheWhoWrenches.bsky.social * Patricia Briggs' official website with complete book list: https://www.patriciabriggs.com/books/ * Stories in timeline order (how they happen for Mercy): https://www.patriciabriggs.com/books/printabletimeline.html Recording Date: 1/16/2026 Chapters: 00:00:00 Intro   00:00:28 Recap Guy for Moon Called 00:03:44 Start covering the climax at the warehouse  00:13:19 Guard wants to keep dosing Adam & Knee Cap Guy   00:13:39 Adam getting coherent   00:14:02 David Christiansen’s Mole Comes In   00:14:21 Adam Sweating Silver   00:14:39 Tour of Weaponry & Video Game Guns   00:17:10 David's guy shoots the other Mercenary   00:17:42 Pirate Game and Tad Adelbertsmiter’s introduction tangent   00:18:26 Getting out of the warehouse full of werewolf mercenaries   00:19:49 Mercy Thompson sensing witchcraft magic   00:22:44 Calling Gerry with wolves 00:24:19 Gerry's Plan   00:25:30 The take on Gerry’s plan from Bone Crossed   00:27:54 Bran "takes care" of Doc Carter Wallace and the fallout in Aspen Creek   00:30:45 Women and The Change to Werewolf   00:33:51 Are super old werewolves actually less sexist/homophobic than medium-ones?   00:34:34 Healing / germ immunity advantages of being a werewolf   00:34:55 Wrap up the episode