Call Us Interested Bystanders

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. Hi, and welcome to Spellbound, a Romantasy podcast. I'm Deidre. [00:00:14] Speaker B: And I'm Jillian. [00:00:15] Speaker A: Welcome. Thanks for joining us. [00:00:18] Speaker B: Hi. Yeah. How are you doing? [00:00:19] Speaker A: I'm doing well this week. How are you doing? [00:00:21] Speaker B: Good. So I did want to tell you this. So I was telling you. Let's get right to it. Yeah, let's get right to it. So we. I was like, I was taking Luna for a walk. Beautiful day outside today. And we usually walk by this house where she doesn't like the other dogs, but she loves this other dog, so we walk by. [00:00:40] Speaker A: She's got a man there, right? [00:00:41] Speaker B: She's got a man there, and she just wants to be friends, so I don't think he understands. But anyway, so we're walking by, and she gets, like, really excited, you know, as we're walking up. And so there's, like, a chain link fence. So he's, like, on his porch, and then he comes down. She gets really excited, and she's like, you know, they're touching noses. All of a sudden, he lifts up his leg and tries to pee on her. And I was like, not Bailey. The Bernadoodle being in a golden shower. What? [00:01:10] Speaker A: It's everybody's first time once I get backed up. [00:01:14] Speaker B: Was like, no, we're not doing this. [00:01:15] Speaker A: She's like, that's not my kink. No. [00:01:17] Speaker B: I was like, we're not going past this house again. [00:01:20] Speaker A: She learned a tough lesson today. [00:01:22] Speaker B: None got on her. Thank God. [00:01:24] Speaker A: Thank God. [00:01:24] Speaker B: I would have been. Oof, a mess. [00:01:27] Speaker A: I've seen boy dogs do that a couple times with Birdie taking her own, and I find it to be so disrespectful. I'm like, you see what's going on here? Nobody wants this, like, in her face. [00:01:35] Speaker B: Like, like, literally. He was, like, trying to pee on her face. [00:01:39] Speaker A: Traumatized. [00:01:40] Speaker B: I know. [00:01:41] Speaker A: I hope Luna's okay. You need to get back to her asap. [00:01:43] Speaker B: I know, I know. Anyway, that's my update for today. [00:01:46] Speaker A: That's your update for today. Well, that's great. How have other things been in life? Work time to yourself? Social? [00:01:53] Speaker B: Yeah, work's been good. I did not smell vomit on Saturday, which is a win for St Patrick's Day in Chicago. [00:02:00] Speaker A: You did, however, see more male genitalia than you'd asked for. Yes, I did. Correct. [00:02:05] Speaker B: I did. [00:02:06] Speaker A: I told somebody that today. And they're like, excuse, what are you talking about? I'm like, they were just whipping them out, peeing any which way, maybe. [00:02:12] Speaker B: Bailey was like, well, this is what we do now. [00:02:15] Speaker A: Bailey has it wrong. [00:02:16] Speaker B: Yeah. Bailey has it wrong. [00:02:18] Speaker A: Bailey has been misinformed. [00:02:19] Speaker B: And the men of Chicago ever wrong. [00:02:21] Speaker A: I was like, that is not the pot of gold at the end of anybody's rainbow. [00:02:25] Speaker B: Wait, so you. I. I think I. I don't think I saw that at all. I mean, I've seen that in. [00:02:28] Speaker A: Plus, now that I'm thinking about it, Jillian and I went to a friend's house party this weekend here in Chicago for St. Patrick's Day. [00:02:36] Speaker B: None of those boys were doing it. [00:02:37] Speaker A: No, none of them. [00:02:37] Speaker B: None of them. [00:02:38] Speaker A: Just classy all around. When we left you, that's when the class took a downturn. [00:02:43] Speaker B: Okay. [00:02:44] Speaker A: Because then we headed into Wrigleyville. [00:02:46] Speaker B: Oh. [00:02:46] Speaker A: Where all good things go to die. Everybody know, up. And then we crossed a few streets over and we picked up a jacket, just a light jacket for Nathan. And then we headed over to Sidetrack, which if you're going to, you know, if. Compare comparison wise. [00:03:02] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:03:03] Speaker A: The depths of hell in Wrigleyville. To be ascended into the top of the mountains of heaven in Boys Town. That's what my journey was. [00:03:11] Speaker B: You're truly evolved. [00:03:13] Speaker A: Exactly. But on the way, we were approached by various demons whipping their dicks out. [00:03:20] Speaker B: Oh, no. [00:03:20] Speaker A: Peeing every which way. Stumbling all over the place. Landmines all over. It's a dangerous time to be in Chicago. St. Patrick's Day, sure. I feel an element of not being safe. [00:03:33] Speaker B: No. Yeah. But then when you get to Boystown, you're like, okay, all right. [00:03:36] Speaker A: I'm all right here. [00:03:37] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm okay. [00:03:37] Speaker A: I'm all right. But a good time overall. But, yeah, like you. I was telling somebody, there's like a. Just a general smell of vomit in the city on St. Patrick's Day. And I got home relatively early because for me, I'm like, I can't be out here. Once the sun goes down, it's giving purge vibes. You know what I mean? Like, I'm not safe. [00:03:56] Speaker B: It's chaos. [00:03:56] Speaker A: So I got home, I quickly took Birdie out, but when we came back, there was somebody violently throwing up at one of the. I couldn't see. I don't know if they were in, like, a garden apartment across the street or what, but I was like, I do not wish any of that on my worst enemy. It was violent. [00:04:13] Speaker B: Oh, no. [00:04:14] Speaker A: It was terrible. [00:04:15] Speaker B: Oh, those are poor choices. [00:04:17] Speaker A: So bad. But we made it through. It was a good time. We had a good time. [00:04:21] Speaker B: Yeah, we did. [00:04:21] Speaker A: We had a great time. We got some feedback on the podcast. Perfect. [00:04:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:24] Speaker A: Which was always Wonderful. [00:04:25] Speaker B: It's going well. [00:04:26] Speaker A: Just a lot of submissions in the suggestion box, which we love. So I'm gonna try and, you know, turn spin that into something. [00:04:33] Speaker B: Take that feedback. [00:04:34] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. But yeah, same here. Work has been good. Like the weather. It's getting. It's getting good, it's getting better. I feel like things are lighten up as the weather is getting better. So that definitely aligns with my personal goals of not being, you know, weighed down with crazy work. When the weather gets nice here in. [00:04:50] Speaker B: Chicago and it's just been rough, like since January 20th, that's just. It's just been rough. It's a lot of reading that I shouldn't be doing. [00:04:58] Speaker A: Why do you have to bring up really traumatizing. [00:05:00] Speaker B: I know. You know who I haven't heard from at all? My baby voloderm ear. I haven't heard anything from him. [00:05:08] Speaker A: You know what? We don't deserve him. [00:05:09] Speaker B: No, we don't. We don't. [00:05:11] Speaker A: Just a sweet lamb of Jesus. [00:05:13] Speaker B: Oh, God, a prince. He's a book boyfriend for sure. [00:05:17] Speaker A: He is a book boyfriend. Yeah, absolutely. I know he's been likened a little bit to our baby daddy, Zaden. [00:05:22] Speaker B: Has he? [00:05:23] Speaker A: Yeah. I see one girl has. I definitely saw a tick tock where one girl was talking about like, you know how he wears like his black sort of henley, like long sleeve. Whatever. It's giving that. [00:05:34] Speaker B: It's giving Zaden for sure. [00:05:36] Speaker A: Love that. [00:05:36] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Except Zaden, it's not Zayden. Book three, though, like, he was all about. Whereas like Volodymyr, I've heard is like ever since the war started, he holes up at his. At his office and like his family is somewhere that can't even like there's like the location. Yeah, good. He's just been working, working, working, trying to save his focus. [00:05:57] Speaker A: I love that. [00:05:58] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:06:00] Speaker A: I have to say, in the realm of Romanasy. Or not Romanasy, but like romance and just pop culture in general. I kind of ment this to you briefly. This weekend. I finished the. What is it, the third or fourth Bridget Jones film? Mad about the Boy with Leo Woodall. I think the fourth. [00:06:18] Speaker B: I didn't see the middle two. Or maybe the third. [00:06:21] Speaker A: You're all right. [00:06:22] Speaker B: Yeah, I know. [00:06:23] Speaker A: You're fine. Yeah, you know, it's. You can just skip right on over. I'd say maybe you don't even need to watch this film. [00:06:28] Speaker B: Oh, did you? I read a synopsis of it and it wasn't impressed. [00:06:31] Speaker A: I'm a fan of the early Bridget Jones films. [00:06:33] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:06:34] Speaker A: By this film, I've just found myself just being more irritated that this woman is well into her 50s and still looking a mess. [00:06:40] Speaker B: Oh, man. [00:06:41] Speaker A: And men are like, I'm into it. It's quirky, it's cute, it's. It's not. There's one part where she gets up after a night of rambunctious sex with a 20something and she goes to work with her hair looking like crazy. [00:06:52] Speaker B: Oh, her hair has always looked bad. [00:06:54] Speaker A: But this is bad. I mean, it looks like a rat's nest. People are like, did you have sex last night? Did you have sex? I'm like, this. [00:06:59] Speaker B: That's a regular day for her. [00:07:00] Speaker A: This whole thing though, it shouldn't be happening. What's going on? [00:07:05] Speaker B: About what? What whole thing? [00:07:07] Speaker A: Just in terms of just being a mess and getting played by a 29 year old. Leo. [00:07:11] Speaker B: I know, I know, I'm ready to revolt. I love Leo, but like, as we talked about, I don't think he's very smart. [00:07:19] Speaker A: The shelf life on him, I think is short. Like once we got through one day last year, I really think that was my sweet spot for him. But now that I've kind of seen him and other things, I'm like, it just doesn't hit the same, you know, lightning doesn't strike twice. [00:07:32] Speaker B: He doesn't have the range. [00:07:33] Speaker A: He doesn't have the range. I mean, I wish the best for him, but not that. And then also I told you that I'm going to start putting back my contemporary romance into rotation. And I've started a new Ali Hazelwood book which I'll report back to you on once I finish it. But she's got me addicted again. [00:07:52] Speaker B: She's like the science one, she is. [00:07:54] Speaker A: All of her characters, all of her stories revolve around the sciences. Women in stem, women in stem, smart women, strong women, and equally loving, strong, smart men. And it's good. I told you. I'm like, given where we are in society, these books are also, I think could count as fantasy. [00:08:14] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, for sure. Yeah. [00:08:16] Speaker A: A six, four, beautiful man of the sciences who's got all this funding, number one, if it's not being cut by the US government at this point, who owns a lab and is madly in love with this equally smart woman who is a lead research scientist on his project. Like, you're not. [00:08:38] Speaker B: Not happening. No, no, no, it's not happening. Yeah. [00:08:42] Speaker A: So, you know, I'm, I'm loving it so far. [00:08:44] Speaker B: Good. [00:08:45] Speaker A: I'm getting through it. [00:08:45] Speaker B: Good. [00:08:46] Speaker A: I can't wait to get back to It. So it's like, I. I want Romanasy. I want my contemporary romance. [00:08:51] Speaker B: Right. Just the rotation. [00:08:54] Speaker A: So we're getting back to it. So, yeah, all in all, I'm a happy girl. [00:08:57] Speaker B: Good, good. [00:08:58] Speaker A: We're thrilled. [00:08:59] Speaker B: What do you think about what's going on with Romanasy world? [00:09:02] Speaker A: What's going on in the Romantasy world right now? Yeah, you know, I think things are going well. I saw a couple of opinion pieces this week that I thought were really interesting to highlight. One was featured in the Telegraph, and it is an opinion piece by Jemima Lewis where she says, I may have found a cure for teen screen addiction. Romanasy novels. [00:09:26] Speaker B: Believe it. I believe it. [00:09:28] Speaker A: Now, this opinion piece, she really leans into how she's got a young daughter, a young preteen daughter, and she is a reader through and through. She's an avid reader, and she's really happy about that. But, you know, she's talking a little bit about, you know, the teen daughter getting into Romantasy, and she starts to kind of veer toward. I wish, like, maybe her tastes were a little bit more elevated. But she quickly steps back from that opinion and recognizes that it's great that her daughter is fine, like, is reading instead of spending so much time in front of a screen. And she also kind of reveres these books because she's like, you know, this should be an act. Reading should be pleasurable. It should be something that you enjoy doing. It becomes addictive, and she'd rather her kid be addicted to reading versus screens. I would actually like us to expand, you know, this sort of idea that only girls should read these books. I'm like, you need to get your damn sons in front of these. [00:10:28] Speaker B: Oh, I've always thought that absolutely I. [00:10:30] Speaker A: Should be required reading. [00:10:32] Speaker B: I know. I've always thought that it, like, books, like, generate empathy and compassion and, I mean, I'm gonna start my nephews on Romanasy as soon as I can. [00:10:42] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:10:43] Speaker B: I mean, Maeve, I started her. I'm going to have her read Ella Enchanted. Yeah. She's into graphic novels right now, and I need her to read, like, actual novels. Yeah. So, yeah, I love that. [00:10:56] Speaker A: Just as long as she's not addicted to a screen. I know. It's so dystopian to see kids just, like, plugged into a screen all the time. [00:11:05] Speaker B: She's a. She's a reader. She loves to read. [00:11:07] Speaker A: I love it. [00:11:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:07] Speaker A: A queen. This book had some interesting facts. First of all, we missed it, but it was World Book Day last week. Oh, yeah. And a survey published last week to celebrate World World Book Day found that almost 50% of men had not read a single book over the past year. [00:11:24] Speaker B: No. [00:11:26] Speaker A: By Contrast, slightly better, 63% of women still read, in part perhaps because they have found a genre that gives them pleasure. What men need now is a Romanasy of their own. Okay, Jemima, I love it. Okay, I don't hate it. [00:11:40] Speaker B: What will that be? [00:11:42] Speaker A: Who knows? I mean, it's such a far fetched idea. Who knows? I mean, they need to come up with that. The labor can't be put on women to create a romancy for them. Figure it out. [00:11:51] Speaker B: Figure it out. [00:11:53] Speaker A: The next opinion piece that I found, what was what do women really want from men? I delved into Romanasy and found a good few clothes clues by Max Fletcher. And this article or this opinion piece was from a. A journalist who basically has started his foray into Romanasy novels because he recognizes how it is dominating. [00:12:14] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:12:15] Speaker A: The literary space. And it's all he can hear about if he goes into a bookstore on Tick tock on social media. So he's starting to look into it a little bit of himself. He starts out by talking about our beloved Feyre from the Aquariums and Roses series. And he mentions her being illiterate. [00:12:32] Speaker B: Oh my God. [00:12:33] Speaker A: You know how, you know, you know. [00:12:34] Speaker B: That started off well for you. [00:12:35] Speaker A: Yeah, I was like somebody. But he was just talking a little bit about how people's love of these books can oftentimes get just reduced to women's desire just to read these like really trashy, smutty lines. [00:12:49] Speaker B: Right. [00:12:49] Speaker A: And he was like, but it's so much more. There's so much more in these books and it's about connection and it's about community that women are building. But also he talked to a couple women and they were like, God, no, I would not want to meet the men in these books. They'd be dumb as hell, you know what I mean? So they're like, I'm not even trying to like, you know, get that in real life. It's like I just really love just the adventure and the connection and just like these bits and books that like, I can reach out to a friend maybe I haven't talked to in years, and we can very much connect and laugh about the things that we, you know, once loved. So, yeah, that was a really interesting piece. I also, if you will bear with me here. Yeah. [00:13:29] Speaker B: I just wanted to say. So one thing with that is like, I often think about reading brings like such a Like almost like an innocent childlike joy. [00:13:40] Speaker A: Yes. [00:13:41] Speaker B: And I did love reading when I was little and I did love, like fairy tales and stories. [00:13:46] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:46] Speaker B: And so, yeah, I think that's what it's giving for a lot of people. [00:13:50] Speaker A: I love that. I would absolutely agree with you. Yeah. This also. There was another. I think there was. I thought so. I'm not seeing it though. But this also just talked a little bit about how men sometimes find romancy threatening. One taking to Reddit, for example, saying after he found his girlfriend's secret stash of books. The fact that these are her fantasies doesn't sit right with me at all. But he's. But this. Max says, but these books are more about community than the desire to actually date men of such cringeworthy perfection. [00:14:20] Speaker B: It's a lesson too. These are. These are lessons. [00:14:22] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. [00:14:23] Speaker B: Chapter one, chapter two. They really are. [00:14:26] Speaker A: Absolutely. So, yeah, it was great. That's a great piece. So, yes, the Guardian, Max Fletcher, really interesting article there. Just cementing what we already know. [00:14:38] Speaker B: Thank you, Max. [00:14:39] Speaker A: Love that. And so let's talk a little bit about what we're getting into this week. This week, Jillian and I read Trial of the Sun Queen, the first in the Artifacts of Uranus series. It's a four book series written by Nisha J. Tooley, our Canadian sister. For. [00:15:00] Speaker B: She's Canadian. [00:15:01] Speaker A: Canadian. God bless. I hope that she still likes us. I hope she. [00:15:05] Speaker B: I know she'll continue to publish in. [00:15:07] Speaker A: The US could you blame her if she didn't? [00:15:09] Speaker B: I know. [00:15:10] Speaker A: Canadian sister and an Amazon top 50 and international best selling author of Romany and Contemporary Romance. This book was actually published back in December, 2022. [00:15:21] Speaker B: Well, good. [00:15:22] Speaker A: Yeah. Wow. She's been doing it. She has been doing it. [00:15:25] Speaker B: There are already four or five out. [00:15:27] Speaker A: There's already four or five out. [00:15:29] Speaker B: Wow. [00:15:29] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:15:30] Speaker B: She's been booked and busy. [00:15:32] Speaker A: She's been, as I say, booked and busy. [00:15:34] Speaker B: Wow. [00:15:34] Speaker A: I have not completed a fraction of that in the last, what, three years? [00:15:39] Speaker B: Like productivity wise. [00:15:41] Speaker A: Productivity wise. The return on investment, the ROIs, the KPIs. [00:15:45] Speaker B: None. [00:15:45] Speaker A: Terrible. I have nothing to show for myself. I was thinking about the other day. I'm like, it's been like almost three years since we took Femcom. [00:15:56] Speaker B: Oh my. No, no. [00:15:58] Speaker A: 2022. [00:15:59] Speaker B: Really? Oh, wow. [00:16:01] Speaker A: I know. Because I was like, oh, it's only been like a year since I've. [00:16:04] Speaker B: Oh my. That was an introduction. [00:16:06] Speaker A: I humbled myself. [00:16:07] Speaker B: Yeah. I remember the day we met. I was like, now that's my girl. [00:16:11] Speaker A: Yep, Yep. [00:16:12] Speaker B: You told that story. What Was that story you told about the doll that your mom gave you a doll? [00:16:17] Speaker A: Yeah, and she like made a big it on Christmas morning. She still talks about that. And it was a doll that I wanted my entire life. Well, not my entire life, but that entire year. And it was like Dreamland Babies, I think was the name of it. And basically what you could do is like, you get it, you can send off a birth certificate or you can send off its information and it sends back a birth certificate. It sends back a name like, like an embroidered onesie for the baby. [00:16:44] Speaker B: You're kidding. [00:16:45] Speaker A: And they came in all types of different colors, eye colors, hair colors, whatever. I wanted a blonde hair, blue eyed baby. And I was gonna name her Tiffany. Now we can absolutely delve into that what was going on with six year old me. But that's what I was looking forward. And Deanne Paris, she absolutely provided. [00:17:07] Speaker B: Yeah. At least it wasn't Ashley with an. [00:17:09] Speaker A: L, E, I G, H. No, that. [00:17:11] Speaker B: Would have been rough. [00:17:13] Speaker A: It was Tiffany. [00:17:16] Speaker B: Oh, I. Do you still have her? Like you could like go look up her zodiac. [00:17:20] Speaker A: I know, I wish I could. But no, that was a short lived thing. She. She existed very briefly in the menagerie of my. [00:17:27] Speaker B: Right. [00:17:27] Speaker A: My baby dolls. The. Now I did have like a rainbow of baby dolls, but this baby doll in particular had to be. Exactly. [00:17:34] Speaker B: Had to be. [00:17:34] Speaker A: Had to be. [00:17:35] Speaker B: Did she do anything like. No. Okay. [00:17:38] Speaker A: No. [00:17:38] Speaker B: Okay. [00:17:39] Speaker A: Nothing. Nothing exciting. And honestly, after I got everything done, the thrill wore off. [00:17:44] Speaker B: Okay. [00:17:45] Speaker A: And she was just, you know, found her rightful place in the bottom back of my closet. [00:17:49] Speaker B: So I was a baby doll girl. I loved him. And my. My nieces have passed this one of my baby dolls down. We call them, we call her Big Baby. [00:18:01] Speaker A: Then my mom, I love that name, a common name. [00:18:05] Speaker B: And my mom, she must have. Okay, so one year I got this big baby and this baby is like the size of like a six month old baby. Like it's huge. [00:18:13] Speaker A: Who's the manufacturer? What's going on? [00:18:15] Speaker B: It was somewhere in France anyway, because we tried to find another one because the girls were like fighting over this baby. [00:18:21] Speaker A: Okay? So. [00:18:22] Speaker B: But then the next, the next year my mom got a boy baby, okay. And he was thrown to the side. So then. Did I tell you this? [00:18:35] Speaker A: No. [00:18:36] Speaker B: So then like we were. My mom felt like very torn because like one. One of the nieces like wanted the baby back, but then her cousin like also wanted the baby. And so we were like, okay, how can we make. So I named the boy baby Gerard. I don't ask me why? [00:18:52] Speaker A: What was the inspiration? [00:18:53] Speaker B: I don't know. [00:18:54] Speaker A: Not at all. [00:18:55] Speaker B: Gerard Depardieu. Of course. Cyrano, The Bergerac. [00:19:03] Speaker A: Your connection to Les Mis is. [00:19:06] Speaker B: That's not Les Mis. [00:19:07] Speaker A: Is it not? [00:19:08] Speaker B: No, no, no, no. It's just like, it. Yeah. I don't know what it is, but. Okay, so this. This. But this doll, like, the Girard was so creepy. [00:19:17] Speaker A: There is a Gerard. There is a. Is it or. No, no. [00:19:21] Speaker B: Jean Valjean and Javert. No Gerard, though. So anyway, so I named him Gerard, but my mom then was like, okay, how can we, like, put a bow on him and, like, make it, you know, make progressive. Yes. Like, make him a little cuter. And the girls were not. Because he had hair. And we couldn't cut the hair because then it would have looked like plugs. It was a. It was a whole thing. So I don't know where Gerard is. [00:19:49] Speaker A: I hope he's well. [00:19:50] Speaker B: I hope he's well. I know big baby is probably with one of them right now. [00:19:54] Speaker A: I hope he's happy wherever he is. [00:19:57] Speaker B: So that's my baby story. [00:19:59] Speaker A: God, you hate to see it. I have no idea where any of my baby dolls are. I don't. None. [00:20:05] Speaker B: Yeah, my mom kept all my American Girl dolls. [00:20:08] Speaker A: Well, a few months ago, I got a very panicked phone call from my parents. My dad was cleaning out. Like, we don't have a finished basement, and not a lot of people do in the Carolinas. And my. But we do have sort of, you know, it's like enough space down there where he can store things. It's like bigger. Much bigger than a crawl space. It's just finished. And he got in this. He got a bee in his bonnet to clean things out of the garage out of, like, this basement. [00:20:35] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:20:35] Speaker A: And he came upon this, like, trash bag. Honestly, like, the way it was described to me, it felt very ominous that he came upon it. My mom was like. And he opened it up and there were all of these broken dolls. No porcelain dolls. Dolls. And I was like, what? It's the only way I facetime them. Like, you know, later that week. And my dad went out in the garage and he started pulling these dolls. No, they were my dolls. They were dolls that I haven't seen in, like, 20 years. I think when we moved into the house, I was already, like, I was about to be out of the house. I was about to go to college, and I didn't have any need for these dolls, and I didn't know what to do with them, and I found them creepy, and I didn't want to keep them around. [00:21:10] Speaker B: Totally. Yeah. [00:21:11] Speaker A: You know, I left them there just to absolutely unnerve and terrify my parents that there had been a curse placed on them. I was like, well, I don't think that's completely wrong. [00:21:23] Speaker B: Am I making this up, or. I think I am making this up, or did there. Was there a story that came out about Richard Gere that he liked? Like, doll heads in this closet? [00:21:33] Speaker A: You're on your own here. [00:21:36] Speaker B: Somebody you. [00:21:37] Speaker A: Somebody you are just out there on your own. I don't know. I'm trying to throw you a life raft. I don't have one to give. [00:21:44] Speaker B: Okay. [00:21:44] Speaker A: So you really took a leap. [00:21:48] Speaker B: I think it was. I. I mean, I'll look it up and then update all the Richard Gere lore. [00:21:55] Speaker A: Doll heads. Okay, I'll go. [00:21:58] Speaker B: I. Honestly, I think so. [00:21:59] Speaker A: Oh, wait. [00:22:01] Speaker B: Okay. There was a story about a mouse, wasn't there? Or a guinea pig. [00:22:07] Speaker A: Okay. [00:22:07] Speaker B: Yes. Okay. All right, never mind. [00:22:09] Speaker A: Oh, yes. [00:22:10] Speaker B: Yes. You know what I mean? [00:22:12] Speaker A: There is some lore with that. Yeah. [00:22:16] Speaker B: I hope he's okay. [00:22:18] Speaker A: The things he's seen. Yeah. Was there any truth to that? Was it ever debunked full out or. [00:22:26] Speaker B: I don't know. This was pre AI, so maybe it was. [00:22:29] Speaker A: I feel like there was, like, a South park episode. [00:22:33] Speaker B: Oh, probably. Yeah. It was like, a whole thing. [00:22:36] Speaker A: I never really watched South Park. [00:22:37] Speaker B: No, me neither. [00:22:38] Speaker A: Kind of feel like, I don't know, it might be a fever dream from the late 90s, early 2000s. [00:22:42] Speaker B: Was that at the time, do you think? [00:22:44] Speaker A: What? [00:22:45] Speaker B: Was that the time that came out, probably. [00:22:46] Speaker A: What? South Park? [00:22:47] Speaker B: No, no, no. The Richard Gears. [00:22:49] Speaker A: I don't know. Maybe before, but maybe it just lived in infamy. So south park was just kind of. [00:22:54] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:55] Speaker A: Talking about it in an episode. I don't know. Way to jump the track. [00:23:02] Speaker B: Should we go back? Should we go back to our. Our agenda? [00:23:05] Speaker A: Come back to from where we came? Yes. Do a U turn. [00:23:09] Speaker B: Okay, we're gonna do our literally unhinged now, right? [00:23:12] Speaker A: Let's do our literary unhinged. Jillian and I, obviously, this is episode three. We're trying our hand at different formats for how we can talk about these books as people that read these books. There's so much to talk about and so much to uncover. And if you've already read the books, you don't want us reading them back to you. If you haven't read the books, you don't want to be sitting here going, what the fuck is going on? I'm not enjoying myself. [00:23:32] Speaker B: Right, right. [00:23:32] Speaker A: We want to create something for everyone. [00:23:34] Speaker B: Something accessible. Yeah. For everyone. [00:23:36] Speaker A: We're trying our hand at this, hoping that maybe there's something here. [00:23:39] Speaker B: It takes all kinds, right? [00:23:40] Speaker A: It sure does. Yes. [00:23:43] Speaker B: So I. Should I start this off now? [00:23:45] Speaker A: You can totally start this. [00:23:45] Speaker B: Okay, so in the book, our main character starts off imprisoned, Right. And so then they keep referring to her as Prisoner 3452. Right. So every time I read this, Prisoner 3452, this is. I'm gonna play a little clip. [00:24:02] Speaker A: Okay. [00:24:03] Speaker B: This is what went through my head now. [00:24:08] Speaker A: Prisoner 24601, your time is up and your paroles begun. You know what that means? You know what that means? Follow to the left of your artillery. Okay. [00:24:23] Speaker B: That's it. That's what I think of. And that is a clip by Mr. Hugh Jackman and not Mr. Russell Crowe. And they are portraying John Valjean and Javert and Les Miss. [00:24:37] Speaker A: Yeah, I wasn't lying. I may have mentioned Les Mis eight minutes ago. [00:24:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:41] Speaker A: But I was really, you know, I was foreshadowing the introduction of your love for the Les Mis musical. [00:24:48] Speaker B: We went to that, you know, right before Christmas. And that was an experience. [00:24:51] Speaker A: And I appreciate, you know, so many people have seen Les Mis over the years, either the film or they've seen it in theater, you know, live theater, one or multiple times. It was my first time being introduced to Les Mis. Yeah. I mean, I had some sense of it. I had some cultural reference for it, but I had never really sat there and I'd never, you know, seen it full through. [00:25:14] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I watched because I was. I think I told you, I was in the costumes crew in high school when they did Les Mis. That was a good experience. [00:25:21] Speaker A: It's giving costumes crew energy a little bit. Like a couple weeks ago, when I fully was in conversation with a girl and she was like, yeah, I ride horses. I'm an equestrian. I'm like a horse girl. And I wasn't. I wasn't even trying to be offensive, but looking back on it, I definitely. I know, because she stumbled in terms of, like, where the conversation went, and I wasn't thinking anything of it. You should see my face. I was just, like, ready to just keep going with the conversation, but she was fully offended, so. [00:25:53] Speaker B: Oh, God, I glad. I'm glad you didn't say, like, horsey girl. Like, that would have been a horse girl. [00:25:58] Speaker A: And she was like, oh, well, yeah, I guess. [00:26:02] Speaker B: She's an equestrian. [00:26:03] Speaker A: She's an equestrian. Get it right. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. You got it full on Our main character is in prison. She's serving. She's 12 years into a life sentence in what feels like Guantanamo Bay. Absolutely. Yeah. [00:26:19] Speaker B: The conditions are rough. [00:26:21] Speaker A: Absolutely. You know, I asked this question. I was like. I was like, I wonder, would Gillian survive prison? [00:26:27] Speaker B: Oh, God, no. Hell, no. What makes you think that I wouldn't? [00:26:31] Speaker A: I don't think that you would. I know that you wouldn't, and I don't think I would either. Not gin, Pop. But you. [00:26:39] Speaker B: Like, if we were together, like, you would protect me. [00:26:43] Speaker A: Jillian, it's every woman for herself in there. I don't know. [00:26:47] Speaker B: I'm so offended right now. [00:26:51] Speaker A: I don't know. I honestly, I'd be terrified. [00:26:54] Speaker B: Terrified. [00:26:54] Speaker A: I think that. Did you ever see the show growing a. Well, and it's still on? From time to time. I catch it just sporadically, and I don't even know what channel it comes on, but. Scared Straight. Have you ever heard of that? [00:27:05] Speaker B: Okay. When I was, like, younger. Yeah. I saw that sometimes. [00:27:08] Speaker A: And, like, I think I was even influenced a little bit by the DARE program to not commit any crimes. [00:27:13] Speaker B: Oh, God, I was so afraid. [00:27:14] Speaker A: I was so afraid. No. And so being the DARE graduate that I am and also being terrified through programming. [00:27:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:27:25] Speaker A: Scared Straight. I just don't think I can do it. [00:27:26] Speaker B: Well, the thing is, I'm also a little bit of a rule breaker, so I could see myself, like, breaking some rules. [00:27:33] Speaker A: Okay. [00:27:34] Speaker B: And you're not. You would be. You would be, like, a real follower. So I don't know if. How would you get along in there? [00:27:40] Speaker A: I don't know. I don't. Yeah, I think so. There are things that I would like. I. I don't break small rules, but I'd probably break big rules for. Big rules for it. Depending on the. Depending on the ask and the rules. [00:27:56] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. What would your job be? [00:27:59] Speaker A: What would my job be? [00:28:00] Speaker B: Yeah. Don't they have prisons? [00:28:02] Speaker A: Job. [00:28:02] Speaker B: Prison jobs? Yeah. [00:28:03] Speaker A: Oh, I. I don't know. I think I'd probably. I'd do something with, like, Craft Hour or something. What is this? [00:28:10] Speaker B: Martha Stewart? That's the other thing is, like, I. [00:28:12] Speaker A: Wouldn'T be in the kitchen, is it? [00:28:14] Speaker B: No, that's. [00:28:15] Speaker A: I wouldn't be wanting to clean anything. [00:28:17] Speaker B: Is this Cook County Jail, or is it Martha Stewart Prison? [00:28:20] Speaker A: Like, we're talking Martha Stewart Prison down in, like, Butler, North Carolina, where they have, like, an agricultural program. [00:28:25] Speaker B: Oh, that I would be fine at. I would be fine. You still don't think so? [00:28:29] Speaker A: I, like, I'm not. I don't know. Jillian, tell me. [00:28:34] Speaker B: Seriously. Tell me, like, what is it about me that you'd be like, wow, I'm concerned. [00:28:40] Speaker A: You would just be. I don't know. [00:28:41] Speaker B: Be like, good luck in there. [00:28:43] Speaker A: What are they doing over there? This woman came with me with a shank. [00:28:48] Speaker B: You'd be surprised. Like, I might actually. Who knows? I might actually be like, when you have to survive. Yeah, totally. [00:28:55] Speaker A: Like, I think watching Orange is the New Black. [00:28:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:28:57] Speaker A: Several years ago, I was like, I don't know. [00:29:00] Speaker B: I know. I know. [00:29:01] Speaker A: There are things that I just couldn't do. [00:29:03] Speaker B: No, no, no, no. Yeah, it's a funny show, but, yeah. No, I don't think I would be. [00:29:07] Speaker A: I think I would just mind my business all the time. [00:29:09] Speaker B: Yeah, me too. I know, but don't you need, like, protection from somebody? [00:29:13] Speaker A: I see. [00:29:15] Speaker B: And you would protect me? I can't believe it. So offended. [00:29:19] Speaker A: I'd protect you, Jillian, as best of my ability. I'd be trying to survive. [00:29:24] Speaker B: He'd be like, I cannot help you. [00:29:26] Speaker A: Be like, jillian, get it together. [00:29:30] Speaker B: I mean, I guess, like, my skills would not be, like, used there, right? Like, my skills of, like, talking to you. [00:29:37] Speaker A: No, I think that people would probably seek you out for, you know. You know, just connection and counseling. [00:29:43] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [00:29:44] Speaker A: That's a skill. [00:29:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:29:47] Speaker A: I could do some career prep. [00:29:48] Speaker B: You could, yeah. Yeah, totally. [00:29:51] Speaker A: I'd figure a way out of no way. [00:29:52] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [00:29:53] Speaker A: And then we do our prisons podcast. [00:29:56] Speaker B: I know it would be rough. [00:29:57] Speaker A: We'd find a way out of it. [00:29:58] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:29:59] Speaker A: Anyway, so our main character is stolen away in the middle of the night to a magical kingdom to compete in the most unhinged season of the bachelor in history. 10 contestants, and she's the final contestant and really just seen as a girl play plucked from obscurity to win at all. [00:30:18] Speaker B: Yeah, I felt a little bit like, because I haven't seen a lot of the Bachelor. I mean, I've seen, like, you know, when did it come out? [00:30:26] Speaker A: Like, oh, God, we were, like, 10 years old. Came out. Yeah. It's like on season 85 at this point. Yeah. That's ridiculous. And I've not really been an avid watcher of it either. There have been seasons that I've watched because I was rooting for either the Bachelorette, or I was like, I don't know. The Bachelor was kind of cute. But more often than not, I'm like, I'm not into this whatsoever. [00:30:51] Speaker B: What do we get? [00:30:52] Speaker A: What are we gaining? [00:30:53] Speaker B: What are we gaining? [00:30:53] Speaker A: And who wins? [00:30:54] Speaker B: Yeah, it's like, it's a very problematic show, and it was A very problematic plot in line in this book. [00:31:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:31:02] Speaker B: I mean, I sort of. You know, I got, like, Miss Congeniality vibes because they were like. They were so mean to each other. These. How many women were there? 10. They were, like, very mean to each other. And they were like, oh, you can't make out with him. [00:31:15] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:31:17] Speaker B: I mean, and then we'll get to him. He is just a piece of work. [00:31:20] Speaker A: A piece of work. [00:31:21] Speaker B: He's so bad. [00:31:25] Speaker A: She and the other contestants are competing to win the heart. So we talked about this being like, the Bachelor. [00:31:30] Speaker B: Right. [00:31:30] Speaker A: But they're competing to win the heart of the Sun Prince, a man described as having the most. This is the. The way they described him, fully out of the gate, was having the most perfect white teeth. And I was like, everybody knows you can't trust a man with perfect white teeth. [00:31:43] Speaker B: No. No. And at that. Those aren't veneers. [00:31:47] Speaker A: It's giving my grandma what big teeth you have. The better to eat you with, my dear. It's very much giving that. I'm like, you can't trust that. [00:31:57] Speaker B: Yeah. No. Definitely not. [00:31:59] Speaker A: It's so interesting that you said that it reminded you of Miss Congeniality, because it was giving me. Well, I'll talk a little bit about the Games, mainly. Let's talk a little bit about the Sun King. [00:32:13] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:32:13] Speaker A: I cast him as Sam Claflin. He's a British actor. He's been in various projects. He's super cute. He's about our age. Speaking of veneers, he. He's for sure. He's British. He's definitely gotten veneers done, but his aren't. His aren't terrible. I would say that I probably thought that he had, like, a little bit more adorable charm pre getting his teeth mixed, but he's a cute boy. But he was recently in Daisy Jo in the Six. But most notably, he was in the Hunger Games. He was the first one. The second one. [00:32:43] Speaker B: Oh, the second one. I don't know if I saw the second one. [00:32:45] Speaker A: Yeah, he's the second one. Where all the Tributes that have won over the years from each district basically have to compete again against each other. Oh, okay. [00:32:53] Speaker B: Sam Claflin. Okay. Oh, I can see that. I saw. Wait, who did I see? I saw. Okay. Tom Hanks. Tom Hanks. Tom Cruise from Vanilla Sky. [00:33:09] Speaker A: I see it. [00:33:10] Speaker B: And I actually was like, what? Like, what happened? I remember being, like, very dazed and confused after seeing this movie. So then I looked it up, and I was like, this man, he is crazy, and he's Crazy looking, but I remember loving that movie. Did you see that? [00:33:29] Speaker A: No, I have never seen it, but I heard. I've kind of heard about its plot line and ending and how it's kind of disturbed. Is it kind of disturbing? [00:33:37] Speaker B: It's disturbing. He wears, like, a mask. Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:33:40] Speaker A: That was during his. Penelope Cruz dating. [00:33:42] Speaker B: That was Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz. [00:33:45] Speaker A: Did he date Cameron Diaz? [00:33:46] Speaker B: No, no, no. She was in the movie. [00:33:48] Speaker A: Really? [00:33:48] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:33:49] Speaker A: Interesting. [00:33:49] Speaker B: I love her. [00:33:50] Speaker A: Love her, too. Love her. Wish the best for her, but for sure, yeah. [00:33:54] Speaker B: I mean, yeah, but. Okay, so then it was him or Christian Bale in any movie who he was just like, he's a little scary looking, don't you think? [00:34:03] Speaker A: Scary? He' committed to the bit. If there's a role that requires him to be a skeleton, he's gonna do it. He did that for one of his roles for the machinist. Is that it? Yeah. Come on, Christian, from across the way, he knows what's going on. [00:34:25] Speaker B: Wait, he did? But he. What was the one with the Patrick Bateman. [00:34:28] Speaker A: He did American Psycho. [00:34:29] Speaker B: American Psycho, Yeah. [00:34:30] Speaker A: He was very committed to that one, too. [00:34:32] Speaker B: He's a creepy guy. [00:34:34] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, if he's gonna do a role, he's gonna do it. He was great in Batman. We came in here tonight talking about Batman. Christian, Right? Yeah. So he's. The IMDb page is long. [00:34:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:34:46] Speaker A: Check the credentials. [00:34:47] Speaker B: That's true. He. [00:34:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:34:48] Speaker B: I wonder how old. Okay, so I see Sam Claflin. [00:34:51] Speaker A: That's a little bit. [00:34:52] Speaker B: I can see it. [00:34:52] Speaker A: I also want to just note, just to kind of pull in a little bit more context about the Sun King. Terrible interior design. [00:35:01] Speaker B: Oh, God, yeah. [00:35:02] Speaker A: Is giving Liberace. [00:35:04] Speaker B: Yeah. You mean the. Like the palace? [00:35:06] Speaker A: The palace. [00:35:06] Speaker B: Oh, God. [00:35:07] Speaker A: All gold silk brocade. [00:35:09] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:35:10] Speaker A: Just tacky. [00:35:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:35:12] Speaker A: And I was like, this is a red flag, sister. I mean, it's not a mattress on the floor, but it's not much better. It's in the opposite direction. [00:35:18] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:35:20] Speaker A: Ooh. [00:35:20] Speaker B: Something's covered up in there. Doll head. Something. [00:35:26] Speaker A: Way to bring it back. [00:35:27] Speaker B: No, but seriously, I'm a good circler. [00:35:29] Speaker A: Back. [00:35:31] Speaker B: No, but seriously. And I just don't get how she didn't see it. So our girl Lore, which I don't know what that's short for, is dazzled by this guy. And there's something amiss, right? [00:35:45] Speaker A: Very much amiss. [00:35:46] Speaker B: There's something afoot, but she doesn't get it. [00:35:50] Speaker A: She doesn't get it. But she kind of. I mean, she's putting the pieces together, but not quite you just work, like, girl, put. Put the. Like, connect the dots, bring it full circle, bring it all the way around. And she just wouldn't allow herself to fully do that. Yeah, yeah. But at least it wasn't like I was. I was at least glad that she wasn't all blinded by him. She, like, kept a little bit of a foot in logic. [00:36:14] Speaker B: She did, yeah. Yeah. More than, like, some of the other. [00:36:16] Speaker A: More than the others. Definitely more than the others. I'm not gonna say she's perfect, but definitely was reading the. What, the writing on the wall. [00:36:24] Speaker B: Yeah. And she found out in a big way. [00:36:27] Speaker A: She definitely did. [00:36:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:30] Speaker A: Let's see. There is a bit of a warped relationship that she has with her bodyguard, Gabriel. She's. Yes. That she's been assigned. And it reminded me very much of the 1992 cinematic classic the Bodyguard, starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. [00:36:45] Speaker B: One of my favorite movies. [00:36:48] Speaker A: God bless her, May she rest in peace. I was a little hesitant to bring up Kevin Costner because I'm like, I don't know if he's been busy making America great again, what's he been up to? [00:36:55] Speaker B: You think so? [00:36:55] Speaker A: Well, he was in Yellowstone, which you very much know is like, Trump land MAGA adjacent. [00:37:01] Speaker B: I don't like it. [00:37:02] Speaker A: And he has some sort of show on, like, the Fox News. Like, you know, they've got a streaming platform. He's got some show on there. [00:37:09] Speaker B: They love him. They love those baseball movies. They're like, he's a great American. [00:37:13] Speaker A: We've lost one. Yeah, we've lost him. He's down. So I was hesitant here, but this. That is what it gave me. But it's, again, very warped sense of that film because they didn't start out on a good relationship. In the Bodyguard, they kind of had a tense. They kind of had a tense relationship. It eventually evolved into what it did. But in this particular situation, I started out not necessarily liking Gabriel, and he never actually, like, let us get to liking him, really. But I think in future books, we'll get to that. [00:37:44] Speaker B: Yeah. And as compared with Atlas, I mean, he's a lot better. Atlas is a monster completely. But Gabriel, I think he's just trying to survive. Like, he keeps saying in the end. He kept saying in the end, like, I. I don't have a choice. I'm here. [00:37:57] Speaker A: Exactly. It's like he is a little bit of, like, a servitude bond. I think that's the term that he brought up. [00:38:01] Speaker B: Yes. Like a stack, but like a Stockholm syndrome, too. Yeah. [00:38:04] Speaker A: I think he's like he puts on a very hard, terrible veneer when that's, like, not who he is at heart. [00:38:11] Speaker B: No. [00:38:11] Speaker A: And a little bit of a biking. We love to see it. [00:38:14] Speaker B: A little bit of a biking. Yeah. He was caught in the act at the end of the. The end of the story. [00:38:18] Speaker A: You know, you got to get in where you fit in. [00:38:20] Speaker B: As I say. [00:38:21] Speaker A: So good for him. You know who I cast him as? I cast him as an actor named Sam Reed, who many might know from the TV adaptation of Interview with the Vampire. [00:38:34] Speaker B: Oh, did you see that? I should have seen that. [00:38:36] Speaker A: I watched maybe the first couple of episodes, and it's good. [00:38:40] Speaker B: Wait, he's not the American accountant and politician who served as the president? [00:38:44] Speaker A: Certainly not. Certainly not. I don't know. I don't know what those results are giving you. [00:38:49] Speaker B: Okay, read R E I D. Okay. [00:38:51] Speaker A: He's Australian, but he's giving the long hair. He pulls it back a lot of the time. That's exactly who I was thinking about. You know, I have very limited choices to pull from for blonde male characters. I've got, like, a rotating cast of maybe three men. [00:39:08] Speaker B: Yeah. One of which is. What's his name? [00:39:11] Speaker A: Glen Powell. [00:39:12] Speaker B: Glen Powell. [00:39:13] Speaker A: I've got Paul Walker, may he rest in peace. [00:39:16] Speaker B: Oh, God. [00:39:18] Speaker A: Who else do I have? He was in Sons of Anarchy. I can never really remember what his name is. He was cute. I think about him sometimes, too. [00:39:29] Speaker B: Sons of. I thought that was what's his face. [00:39:34] Speaker A: Whoever you're about to say it is not. [00:39:38] Speaker B: I thought our boy Jeffrey Dean Morgan was in that. No. [00:39:42] Speaker A: Yeah. He was in Walking Dead. I don't know if he was in Jeffrey D. Or. I don't. Oh, Matthew Hunnam. Matthew Hunnam. [00:39:49] Speaker B: Oh. Are we sure about this? Who? [00:39:51] Speaker A: This boy. [00:39:53] Speaker B: No. [00:39:54] Speaker A: Yeah. There are better pictures of him. I just don't think that you like. [00:39:58] Speaker B: Okay. [00:39:59] Speaker A: I don't. I mean, it's giving white supremacist adjacent. [00:40:02] Speaker B: Yes. [00:40:02] Speaker A: Which I don't love. There are better things. There are better looks of his. He's like. [00:40:07] Speaker B: He, like, has no neck. It's so. [00:40:10] Speaker A: All right, all right, all right. [00:40:15] Speaker B: Okay, Moving on. I don't have a Gabriel. Yeah, that's okay. Yeah, he gives, like, kind of a Tom Hardy. [00:40:21] Speaker A: Yeah. Tom Hardy vibe. [00:40:23] Speaker B: I like a Tom Hardy vibe. Yeah. Okay. I don't have a Gabriel. [00:40:29] Speaker A: That's fair. [00:40:30] Speaker B: But who's next? Okay. Apprecia. Who's, like, the mean girl. [00:40:37] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:40:37] Speaker B: Giving, like, Regina George vibes. For sure. [00:40:40] Speaker A: Definitely Regina George. Did you have a casting for her? [00:40:42] Speaker B: No, I just put Giving for Gina. George Vibes. [00:40:45] Speaker A: Love that. And on that note, I would say that this book does have. Even though it's like a bloodthirsty contest, there was moments of girl power in here. [00:40:53] Speaker B: Oh, for sure. [00:40:54] Speaker A: Which I appreciated. [00:40:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:40:56] Speaker A: Like, despite them being in this, like, cutthroat. What are you gonna say, Delia? [00:40:59] Speaker B: And you know, you know that Lore, our main girl, was very protective of Halo and a couple of the other girls. [00:41:09] Speaker A: She was. [00:41:09] Speaker B: So, I don't know. [00:41:11] Speaker A: We would do. [00:41:12] Speaker B: But it's not protecting Jillian. [00:41:14] Speaker A: I would absolutely protect you. There would be no instance where something would be coming at you that I would not protect you, Deidre. [00:41:20] Speaker B: I don't even need your protection. [00:41:23] Speaker A: I would come. I would come at someone. Yeah, she was. But I really liked Halo. And Marichi. Is that her name? [00:41:32] Speaker B: Yeah. Mauricio Marichi. [00:41:33] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. Who we find. They. The two of them are actually in a relationship. [00:41:38] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:41:38] Speaker A: Which. Good for them. They're in this contest. Like, how the Did I get here? Yeah, good question, girl. [00:41:43] Speaker B: Wasn't there another girl that she was friends with? I don't remember. I don't remember. [00:41:48] Speaker A: I don't know if there was another one that they were friends with. It was like, everybody was better than Apprecia. Is that her name? Right? Am I saying that? Yeah, everybody was better. Everybody was less bad than her, Right? [00:42:02] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:42:02] Speaker A: But I think the girl who, like, fell in one of the competitions, like, into a pit. She was, like, friends with a Prisha. It didn't seem like a Prisha was shedding any tears. [00:42:11] Speaker B: No. [00:42:11] Speaker A: For the other, she had a. She had a goal. She had a. An in journey. [00:42:16] Speaker B: She's gonna. [00:42:17] Speaker A: She's gonna get to it. [00:42:18] Speaker B: I mean, she was a little Melania. She. Because in the end, he turns out to be a monster. Like, everyone knows he's a monster. And she's like, let me get in front of this mirror and I'm gonna marry this man. [00:42:32] Speaker A: Exactly. Exactly. Also, it's worth noting that as all of this is going on, there's a massive realm wide manhunt underway. You know this newly missing prisoner, Lore. And who should be leading the search then? The local king. Yeah, I mean, it's similar. She's in there living her life. Who should be leading the search in the local king's son, Nadir. So, okay, let me note this. This for the king. His name is Rion Rhian. [00:43:04] Speaker B: Ryan. [00:43:04] Speaker A: Ryan R, I, O, N. I have casted him as Naveen Williams. Sidney Andrews, who is an actor who's been in multiple things, but he was probably best known for his. His role in Lost. [00:43:16] Speaker B: Oh. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's got longer chair. [00:43:19] Speaker A: Yes. [00:43:20] Speaker B: Okay. I thought you said Benjamin Bratt. [00:43:22] Speaker A: Okay. [00:43:22] Speaker B: I wasn't mad at. [00:43:23] Speaker A: I wasn't. I didn't. I hadn't wrapped up my cast. [00:43:26] Speaker B: Oh, sorry. Okay, go ahead, wrap it up, wrap it up. [00:43:29] Speaker A: Benjamin Bratt for sure. I thought Benjamin Bratt was like kind of an afterthought. Yeah, this actor was like my main one, but Benjamin Brat, I'm throwing him in there too. [00:43:40] Speaker B: We should be so lucky. I. The only one I saw was Oscar Isaacs, which I think would have worked too. [00:43:47] Speaker A: His betrayal of a zaddy in Dune Part one, I think would be very fitting for. [00:43:53] Speaker B: Oh, wow. [00:43:53] Speaker A: Yeah, you probably see him in. In this one. [00:43:55] Speaker B: I never saw Doom Part two, did you? [00:43:57] Speaker A: No, I. It's on my list. Well, yeah, I mean, it won't have Oscar Isaac that. I mean, you know, that was this one in the first one. Spoiler alert. [00:44:05] Speaker B: Okay. [00:44:06] Speaker A: But he was a great 50 minutes while we had him. [00:44:10] Speaker B: I'd like to see a More like a behind the scenes because I love Zendaya and what's his name, Tom Holland. So that I'd be more interested in. [00:44:19] Speaker A: Well, Tom Holland's not in. [00:44:21] Speaker B: No, I know. I'm just saying, like, you know, he's always with her. [00:44:24] Speaker A: He is, yeah, he's always with her. He loves that girl. Good for him. Yeah. Nadir. Yeah, I have fan cat. Nadir is the son of the king who has been assigned to go on this manhunt for our. For Lore, our prisoner. I fan casted him as an actor named Ivan Jogia. He is actually engaged to Halsey the singer right now. And he used to star in a show called Twisted which aired right after Pretty Little Liars on what used to be ABC Family, but now it's Freeform. And I only know that because it used to come on after Pretty Little Liars, which I was obsessed with for a time. [00:45:00] Speaker B: Oh, okay. I can see it. I'm not a huge fan of it. [00:45:06] Speaker A: But there's not great pictures that come up in Google. [00:45:08] Speaker B: No. Yeah, but I can see it with the long hair. Yeah, yeah, I had tailored. Is it Taylor Perez? So he was in that movie Red, White and Blue. [00:45:23] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:45:24] Speaker B: You know, where like the President's son starts a relationship with the prince. [00:45:29] Speaker A: Totally like him. I've seen him be suggested for our other notable book boyfriends, Zaden and Rhysand. [00:45:38] Speaker B: Yeah, he's. [00:45:38] Speaker A: Yeah, I like him. I don't necessarily know that I can see him with long Hair, but. Well, this one. This is cute. [00:45:44] Speaker B: Yeah, Right? [00:45:44] Speaker A: We're getting there. [00:45:45] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [00:45:46] Speaker A: He's a cutie. He's a cutie. I like him for anything, really. [00:45:51] Speaker B: I know. I think he's like. Like Henry Cavill or whatever as being, you know, touted as, like, a. A book boyfriend. He is, I think, as well. [00:45:59] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. [00:46:00] Speaker B: He's got some Mikey vibes, I got to say. God bless him, Mikey. [00:46:05] Speaker A: Even with allergies as he need to have this weekend. [00:46:08] Speaker B: I missed him on Saturday. I know. [00:46:09] Speaker A: I did, too. Mikey, I know you're listening. [00:46:12] Speaker B: Yeah, we do miss you. [00:46:14] Speaker A: Okay. I want to talk a little bit about the challenges these contestants go through, because I thought all of them really matched well to game shows that we're all used to. [00:46:22] Speaker B: Oh, okay. [00:46:23] Speaker A: Challenge one has the contestants answering a number of trivia questions that have to do with their realm in particular. But the king, which. I'm like, that is just so gross. It's very gross that they have to answer, like, questions like, what's the king's favorite color? Yeah. That's like, what was his childhood pet? Nobody gives a fuck. [00:46:41] Speaker B: No. [00:46:42] Speaker A: Anyway, it was basically Jeopardy. I thought it was, like, the worst game of Jeopardy known to man. Random facts. Random facts. And you look around, you're like, who the fuck knows that? [00:46:51] Speaker B: Who knows that? Or who wants to be a Millionaire? [00:46:53] Speaker A: It was. [00:46:54] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:46:54] Speaker A: No lifelines. [00:46:55] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, that was a pretty dangerous game. [00:46:58] Speaker A: It was. You get one question wrong, you're swimming in the murky depths. [00:47:02] Speaker B: A shark is about to get you. [00:47:04] Speaker A: If it even was a shark. [00:47:05] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, God. [00:47:07] Speaker A: I don't know. The creatures in this were not well described in terms of what they were. You just kind of had to guess. Guess what terrible things lurked under the surface, Literally. Yeah. [00:47:15] Speaker B: I would have liked a little bit more of a description, because then I just think of sharks. [00:47:19] Speaker A: You just. Yeah. And then you got. I think they kind of described the water. Whatever the water monster was kind. Or two. There were two of them. It sounded like mermaids or, like, really kind of evil, like mer people. [00:47:30] Speaker B: Oh, right. Okay. I do remember that. [00:47:33] Speaker A: Yeah. But what was underneath the. The Coliseum. The arena. [00:47:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:47:37] Speaker A: We never got sort of an answer. We just know that they were, like, bone shredding terrible. [00:47:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:47:42] Speaker A: Challenge two, the Gauntlet really reminded me of Wipeout and American Ninja Warrior, two shows that I know you have not. [00:47:49] Speaker B: Not worn. Yes. [00:47:52] Speaker A: No, they have not come on in that household. [00:47:56] Speaker B: They never came on. [00:47:57] Speaker A: No. [00:47:58] Speaker B: You know, we weren't allowed to watch. [00:48:00] Speaker A: Tv, so these are shows that probably. I Mean, we never watched them as a family either. And honestly, they can't. They. They premiered long after you and I left the house. But they're just like. It's like middle. It's giving middle America programming. You know what I mean? It's like it's either this or wwe, right? Challenge three, I gave this. It was giving me Eyes Wide Shut vibes. [00:48:22] Speaker B: Yeah, you said that. So I've never seen that. So tell me again. [00:48:25] Speaker A: So basically, it's about this couple. It's an interesting movie if you want to watch a. Then married Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, but basically, they're a married couple, and it's been many years since I've seen it. But anyway, get invited to this basically, like, this swingers club, swingers sort of situation. But in the midst of them going to this, I mean, everybody's masked. It's very much like the elite who are participating in this, and there's, like, a sacrificial element to it. So they see a woman, like, basically, I think, get. Get killed. And they try and, like, flag down, like, the murder mystery and, like, figure out, like, who. Who's done it. Like, they kind of try and, like, un. Unmask what's going on. There's. [00:49:10] Speaker B: But they, like, kill her as part. [00:49:11] Speaker A: Of the game, not Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise. But I think the woman is sacrificed as part of whatever this. Like. [00:49:19] Speaker B: Oh, that's fucking. [00:49:19] Speaker A: Whatever this. It looks like a swinger's party, but there's something very much darker going on. Okay, yeah, but, yeah, it features, you know, like, a nude Nicole Kidman and whatever, but it's very much giving. The masquerade match. Masks. [00:49:31] Speaker B: Okay. [00:49:32] Speaker A: It's giving. You don't know who you're talking to, who you're sleeping with. It's like that kind of thing. Okay, so it's a Stanley Kubrick film, I think. [00:49:39] Speaker B: Oh, I don't know. [00:49:40] Speaker A: It doesn't seem to be a favorite on Christian. [00:49:44] Speaker B: Not in the rotation. No, I have not. Yeah, I haven't seen that. But you know what? Nicole Kidman was a little bit of a prisoner then. [00:49:51] Speaker A: Yeah, she was. Have you ever seen those pictures of her when she, like, signs her her divorce is fine? [00:49:55] Speaker B: No, but I would love to. [00:49:57] Speaker A: Screaming in the street. I'm gonna pull them up while we. [00:50:00] Speaker B: Oh, that's great. [00:50:01] Speaker A: Yeah, it's great. They're like. [00:50:03] Speaker B: She was like, I'm free. [00:50:05] Speaker A: Oh. I mean, seriously. I mean, she's, like, yelling into the sky. [00:50:09] Speaker B: And you know what? Why didn't she help out our Girl, Katie Holmes, and warn her, who knows? [00:50:17] Speaker A: You know, you wonder a little bit. Was like, Katie under the spell for a while, you know, Was she in the church? [00:50:23] Speaker B: Oh. Oh, my God. I love that. [00:50:25] Speaker A: Sorry. I'm showing Gillian the pictures of Nicole Kidman celebrating her divorce. [00:50:28] Speaker B: I think I have seen that, but, yeah. That is incredible. [00:50:31] Speaker A: She's thrilled. [00:50:32] Speaker B: Oh, man. [00:50:33] Speaker A: What does that mean for. What does that mean for what? It's like being married to Tom Cruise. What were you saying? You were saying something else. I can't remember, but I also thought it reminded me of the masked singer. [00:50:43] Speaker B: I never saw that. [00:50:44] Speaker A: Yeah, it's interesting. It's like people who are either singers. Were singers at one time, maybe they're not necessarily known for singing. And they get up there and they basically. It's like American Idol, but everybody's kind of in a costume. [00:50:56] Speaker B: Okay. [00:50:57] Speaker A: And they have to make it to year or not year to year. Have to make it week to week without being eliminated. [00:51:04] Speaker B: What are they doing, though? [00:51:06] Speaker A: They're singing. They're singing different songs, and there is a judge of people. Okay. Who basically try and guess what celebrity is behind the mask. So it's like sometimes, like, you know, probably a minus celebs to, like, D. [00:51:20] Speaker B: D. Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:51:22] Speaker A: Sometimes they'll get a big fish on there. Other Times it's like 98 degrees. [00:51:26] Speaker B: Give me an A minus celeb and a D slab. I'm trying to think. [00:51:31] Speaker A: 98 degrees is a D celeb. [00:51:32] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [00:51:34] Speaker A: I would say, like, a. Lil Wayne was like, a minus. [00:51:37] Speaker B: A minus. I could see that. Yeah. [00:51:38] Speaker A: I was surprised that they would get. I mean, I don't think Lil Wayne's completely fallen off the face of the earth. So. Surprised that he would do something like this. But he's prominent enough still in my mind. Right. I wouldn't think that he would do something like that. [00:51:50] Speaker B: Yeah. And they could probably. I mean, I'm surprised they couldn't, like, tell from his voice right away. [00:51:54] Speaker A: They. Okay. So when they. When people sing, you can't really, like, tell, so to speak. Sometimes people who are known for their singing, it's a little bit easier to tell. But if they're, like, somebody who's not known, you've never heard them sing, it's a little bit hard to tell. [00:52:07] Speaker B: Okay. [00:52:07] Speaker A: And when they speak, they change their voice. Like, the production, like, changes their voice and the microphone, so you can't. You can't tell who they are in real life. [00:52:18] Speaker B: Okay. Okay. [00:52:19] Speaker A: But they give clues along the way. I don't know. I'm Speaking about this, like, I know I've not really watched but maybe two episodes. Episodes in my life. Okay. And then challenge four reminded me of Survivor. [00:52:30] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:52:30] Speaker A: Or Legends of the Hidden Temple. Did you ever watch Legends of the Hidden Temple? [00:52:34] Speaker B: Was that a video game? [00:52:35] Speaker A: It was a Nickelodeon game show. [00:52:36] Speaker B: Yes, I did. Yes, I did. [00:52:39] Speaker A: And these kids were, like, loved it. Colors and animals of the jungle. And it would stress me out when they would get to that final stage because they would have to go through the temple. It was like a relay race. [00:52:50] Speaker B: Yes. [00:52:51] Speaker A: And they would have to grab pieces of junk. This, like, monkey shrine that they would have to go back to the shrine room and assemble. So basically, they're running all around this, like, this gauntlet, so to speak. You know, game show thing. It looks like a. It looks like a temple. And they have to go in certain rooms to find pieces of a shrine. There's three pieces of the shrine that basically they have to find. [00:53:17] Speaker B: Okay. [00:53:17] Speaker A: And run back to the shrine room where they assemble it. Along the way, though, they run the risk of being being kidnapped by shrine guards, basically, that jump out of everywhere and, like, grab you and pull you out. And so you basically have to let. It was. It was the best game show on Nickelodeon the 90s. Christian, do you remember this? [00:53:36] Speaker B: So the thing is, that was, like, right after that was, like, at the cusp of me, like, kind of exiting. [00:53:41] Speaker A: That sort of thing. So I got two younger sisters, and they would watch it, and I'd be like, this is okay. It was a highlight of my life. [00:53:48] Speaker B: I loved it. You know, I mean, during that time, I'm sure that, like, anytime I watch tv, I'd be, like, looking over my shoulder in case my mom came in. Yeah. You know, because I wasn't allowed to. [00:54:00] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:54:00] Speaker B: But I was like. I wanted to be one of those kids. [00:54:03] Speaker A: I know. I was like, how do we get our asses down to Florida at Universal Studios and do the thing. You wanted to get slimed. First of all, that's very problematic how people used to slime kids on that show. It's very weird. [00:54:16] Speaker B: Oh, my God. It is very weird. [00:54:19] Speaker A: I mean, they would just, like, blast them in the face, knowing what we know now about very nefarious characters and so showbiz. [00:54:25] Speaker B: I mean, I'm even thinking about those guards that kidnapped the kids. [00:54:28] Speaker A: They come out and they'd snatch them and they pull them back. [00:54:30] Speaker B: What were the messages we were getting? [00:54:32] Speaker A: I don't know. I was. I was at 1994. I was like, oh, this is it. Yeah. But I Was stressed because I'm like, they're gonna come after you any minute. What's going on? They had really great programming on Nickelodeon. [00:54:44] Speaker B: They really did. [00:54:45] Speaker A: There was Global Guts, which I like. It was like, kids from all over the world coming together to, like, compete against each other in certain, like. Oh, I don't think they would, like, climb the. The Crag or so to speak. And the first person that got to the top would get, like, this big, like, trophy that was shaped like kind of a mountain and it glowed. So that was cool. There was Double Dare. You remember Double Dare? [00:55:06] Speaker B: Yep. [00:55:07] Speaker A: Yeah, that was great. There was a Nick Arcade where the kids could, like, get in the arcade game and play, like, the arcade game. [00:55:14] Speaker B: Oh, my God. You. I don't remember any of this. [00:55:17] Speaker A: This is. This is. This was version of Gentle Parent. [00:55:21] Speaker B: I was tgif. [00:55:22] Speaker A: I was tgif. Yes. [00:55:24] Speaker B: Tgif. I was Boy Meets World. What was the one with Suzanne Summers? [00:55:28] Speaker A: Oh, Step by step by step. [00:55:30] Speaker B: Step by step, Step by step. Wait, what else was that? The one. [00:55:38] Speaker A: There was Sabrina, the Teenage Witch on Sabrina. [00:55:40] Speaker B: I was a big Sabrina fan. [00:55:41] Speaker A: There was Family Matters. [00:55:43] Speaker B: Family Matters. What else was on that? Was that Sister, Sister, Sister? [00:55:46] Speaker A: No, I think it came on another channel. At least where I lived it did. [00:55:50] Speaker B: And then I don't think it was abc. I feel like there was another one that I loved. I mean, step by Step. We'll have to look this up. [00:55:59] Speaker A: Yeah. The TGIF programming, was it Home Improvement? [00:56:02] Speaker B: I don't know. I'm telling you, I loved, okay? Because we were only allowed to watch TV on weekends. So a Friday night with tgif and a Saturday night was Saturday Night Live. [00:56:11] Speaker A: You were living. I was living. Did you do SNCC on Nickelodeon? Like the big orange. Oh, like the orange couch. Snick. It was like Friday nights, and it was like more like cool television. It was like, are you afraid of the dark? It was like, all that. [00:56:26] Speaker B: No. I mean, I also got a little scared, so. You know what I didn't like at all? [00:56:30] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:56:31] Speaker B: Nick at night. [00:56:32] Speaker A: Oh. I mean, I hated Nick at night. It was like I Love Lucy. It was mash. [00:56:35] Speaker B: I felt like. I felt a little sad and scared. [00:56:39] Speaker A: It was like the Munsters. It was I Dream of Jeannie. [00:56:41] Speaker B: I couldn't. [00:56:42] Speaker A: You know what they have on there now? It's like Everybody Loves Ray. That's what they consider a classic television gnome. [00:56:48] Speaker B: No. [00:56:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:56:49] Speaker B: I hated that show. [00:56:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:56:52] Speaker B: Not bad. Okay, tgif. Wait, no. Full House wasn't tgif. No. [00:56:59] Speaker A: I think it may have Been really. I think it may have been. [00:57:03] Speaker B: I thought it was, like, on, you know, like, After School. [00:57:06] Speaker A: I think it, like, you know, during its. When it was actually airing. I think it was primetime television. [00:57:11] Speaker B: Oh, it was. Okay. Okay. All right. What are we. Life With Bonnie. You know, I did love those, like, big girl shows, though, too. Like Caroline and the City. [00:57:24] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:57:24] Speaker B: And then what was the Brook Shields one? [00:57:27] Speaker A: What was that one? News Radio was funny. [00:57:31] Speaker B: News Radio was good. [00:57:33] Speaker A: We did an icebreaker at work a few years ago, and people were like, friends or Frasier. And I ostracized myself as saying, frasier. [00:57:42] Speaker B: That's, like, a big thing, though. Like, I. Yeah, I like Frasier. [00:57:46] Speaker A: I rock with Frasier Crane. [00:57:48] Speaker B: Step by Step was so good. Okay. Clueless was a show. [00:57:53] Speaker A: Clueless was. Yeah, Clueless was. For a time. I had Clueless Barbies, two guys, a. [00:57:57] Speaker B: Girl in a pizza place. [00:57:59] Speaker A: Yeah, that had your beloved Brian Reynolds in it. [00:58:01] Speaker B: Ryan Reynolds. Okay. Full House, the Huglies. [00:58:05] Speaker A: Was Dharma and Greg part of that? [00:58:07] Speaker B: I love Dharma and Greg. I don't know if it was part of that, but I also loved man about yout. Did you watch that? No. I went to my mom mad about you. My mom and I watched that. Okay. We're almost giving Thanksgiving. [00:58:17] Speaker A: Beth. [00:58:18] Speaker B: I'm sorry. Do you remember Dinosaurs? [00:58:21] Speaker A: I do remember Dinosaurs, and it has a very disturbing ending that I don't remember. But if you ever have, like, five minutes, just look it up. [00:58:28] Speaker B: I'll look it up. Yeah. [00:58:30] Speaker A: I don't know. [00:58:31] Speaker B: I mean, they're disturbing to look at now, but it's scary to look at. [00:58:34] Speaker A: But, like, the. The ending of the series was very sad. [00:58:37] Speaker B: Okay, I need to watch. You're about to cry. [00:58:40] Speaker A: No, I'm not about to cry. I'm like, how did this pass? How did this pass? The workshop? [00:58:43] Speaker B: Oh, no, we gotta do. Do that. Okay. Hang in with Mr. Cooper. That's what I was looking for. [00:58:47] Speaker A: You like that show? [00:58:48] Speaker B: I did love that show. Sister. Sister, was it? Yeah. Yeah. That was one of my favorites. Sister. God, they were great. Okay. Getting by. I don't remember that teen angel. [00:59:02] Speaker A: I remember that he died from eating, like, a piece of spoiled pizza in real life. No. That's kind of how he became a teen angel. Christian. Thank you. Thank you, Christian. [00:59:14] Speaker B: Wait. Okay, so did you also watch. What was the one with the angels on the weekends? [00:59:23] Speaker A: Touched by an Angel. You're on your own. You're on your own. You had Roma Downey. [00:59:28] Speaker B: I was going through it. [00:59:32] Speaker A: Did you watch that? And then there was something else. There was like, A pioneer woman show. What was it? Oh, Xena. There was Xena in that same block of programming. [00:59:43] Speaker B: Doctor. [00:59:44] Speaker A: Dr. Quinn mentioned. [00:59:46] Speaker B: Dr. Quinn. That is him. Moment. I did love that show. I know. Wait, there was another one that made me. That inspired me to have my job. Amy something. She was a judge. Like a dcfs. Like a children families judge. [01:00:01] Speaker A: I don't know. [01:00:02] Speaker B: All right, I'll look that up. Anyway, that's it. Those are all the. Those are all the. [01:00:06] Speaker A: I love that. [01:00:06] Speaker B: Okay. [01:00:07] Speaker A: And then this book. I'll just wrap it up by saying this. They push these girls to the limit. And those who. It's like we are talking about a book. They push these girls to the limit. And those who successfully complete the last and final round must stand in front of the sun mirror for the final truth of who will be crowned as the Sun Queen. [01:00:29] Speaker B: Yeah, and then we find out. So should we go into. Should we go into theories and then the. Or do we do that? Theories and then the lines. [01:00:37] Speaker A: The Dirty Dozen. Yeah, we can do that. If you want to change up the. [01:00:40] Speaker B: I mean, so I don't really have many. Like, I guess the questions are. [01:00:44] Speaker A: Well, first of all, before we do that, I'm curious, just overall, what were your thoughts? [01:00:49] Speaker B: Okay, so I was telling you about this that I thought of it as like 24. The show. 24. I know you weren't watching. We had very different tastes. So I'm actually surprised that you didn't see it though, because it's like very action packed. [01:01:05] Speaker A: So I look for that in films maybe not like television that, you know, sitting down at 7pm okay. [01:01:12] Speaker B: Okay. To watch my dad, I think I watch him at my parents at some point. And we love the show. [01:01:17] Speaker A: My parents have to have it on in order for me to watch. My dad's latest obsession is old episodes of Swap. [01:01:23] Speaker B: Oh, really? [01:01:24] Speaker A: And CSI Miami. [01:01:26] Speaker B: My dad loves a good British detective show that's great. Like that. He loves it. [01:01:30] Speaker A: You know what I love? I love the show. We're gonna get back to it. In the heat of the night. [01:01:35] Speaker B: Oh, I don't think I've seen that. [01:01:36] Speaker A: My dad. Okay. My dad is like, I cannot believe you like that show. And I think it's because my grandparents used to love it. And I remember being little and like in the middle of the night being like in the heat of the night. And it's like this small town in like Mississippi and they have more white collar crime going on down there than midtown Manhattan. I mean, it's like big time. [01:02:02] Speaker B: In the heat of the night in. [01:02:03] Speaker A: The Heat of the Night. It's, like, based off of. There was a movie and then they created the show. It aired from, like, the 80s through, like, the early 90s. But it's a show that sometimes I just put on because it, like, it fills me with nostalgia. I think it makes me feel comfortable and, like, you know, kind of sleepy and quiet. It's highly problematic in ways. [01:02:20] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:02:21] Speaker A: Set in, you know, as they all were. [01:02:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:02:24] Speaker A: Sparta, Mississippi. You can imagine the things that are going on. [01:02:28] Speaker B: But good show. [01:02:29] Speaker A: Yeah. It's got its merits. [01:02:31] Speaker B: Yeah. I'll have to check that out. I probably won't, but don't. [01:02:36] Speaker A: You won't? [01:02:37] Speaker B: I won't, but, yeah. Okay, so 24. So it was. It was a good ride while you were watching it. Like, it was very, very exciting. And, like, when you. When you finish an episode, it was like, I need to see the next one. But then after, like, you've stopped watching for, like, 10 minutes, you don't think about it. Right. So, like, this book was that for me. It was, like, it was fun to read, but I did not have any emotional connection with any of the characters. And so after I finished, it was like, well, I could take it or leave it 100%. [01:03:13] Speaker A: I couldn't agree with you more. I started to read it and I was like, I really am enjoying this. I thought the writing was good. I thought it was. I liked the pacing of it. I liked that there was an adventure attached to it. I liked the main female character. Yeah, she was good. Yeah, she was good. She was written in a way that wasn't annoying to me. Like. Like I said, I. You know, she didn't get everything right. But I think more than what we've seen in the past, she didn't absolutely lose herself in delusions when it came to a man. And, yeah, I didn't have any emotional connection to any of the main. Any of the male. Main male characters who may have. Maybe they're supposed to be a love interest. I don't know. I'm not necessarily rooting for anyone at this point. I'm kind of like, whatever. Ye. And at the end of the book, it's like there's a big sort of identity reveal for who our main female character is. And I'm like, sister, stand in your power. Right. We don't need to be dealing with this. [01:04:06] Speaker B: You've been a queen the whole time. [01:04:07] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. Let's do it. You know who? I lied, though. I do have an emotional connection to one person. [01:04:14] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, no, you. I Know what you're talking about. [01:04:16] Speaker A: Callias, the hairdresser. [01:04:19] Speaker B: Love him. [01:04:20] Speaker A: Truly carrying this book on his back. [01:04:22] Speaker B: Yeah. Totally snarky. Love it. [01:04:23] Speaker A: Love him doing God's work as a hairstylist. He knows the tea in the kingdom. He knows what's going on. He's here to do his job, and he's here to clock out. That's that. [01:04:35] Speaker B: He's running around trimming some hair. Yeah. [01:04:38] Speaker A: Love him. Yeah, I liked him, but, yeah, overall, a really good book. But, like, I didn't have book hangover of it. It was also, as in terms of spice level, mild at best. [01:04:49] Speaker B: Very mild. [01:04:50] Speaker A: No spice to mild at best, I would say is like, if I was ordering this at a restaurant, it's. No, no spice to mild. [01:04:58] Speaker B: It's like, my dad can handle it. Like, he's. He cannot handle any spice. [01:05:02] Speaker A: Larry's fine. [01:05:02] Speaker B: Yeah, he's good. [01:05:05] Speaker A: He's great. He can make it through. [01:05:08] Speaker B: I mean. Yeah. So I definitely needed more spice. Yeah. So, you know, as compared with last podcast, our dirty dozen is going to be a little bit mild. [01:05:19] Speaker A: Yeah, it's gonna be very much more mild. But sometimes they need that, you know. [01:05:24] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. Yeah. [01:05:25] Speaker A: You can't be on fire all the time. [01:05:27] Speaker B: All the time. Like Cassian. Yeah. [01:05:29] Speaker A: Oh, God. We'll get there. Okay. Questions or theories. Conspiracy theories with this book. [01:05:36] Speaker B: So I guess questions were if I could find them. So why does Atlas. So that's the Sun King. Why does he want to bond with her so badly? He obviously knows that she's a queen, but, like, what is it that that bonding with her is gonna do? [01:05:52] Speaker A: Yeah, I think the sun mirror knows, too, that it's like, this would be too much. [01:05:56] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:05:57] Speaker A: And you don't need to do this. [01:05:58] Speaker B: Yeah, that was a little. I mean, they, like the way they involve mirrors in these books is kind of what kind of freaks me out. [01:06:06] Speaker A: It's a phobia. It's a phobia for you. [01:06:10] Speaker B: Well, did you ever. What was that game we used to play, Bloody Mary? [01:06:15] Speaker A: I thought about that this morning. It's so weird that you say that. I was doing affirmations in the mir. This morning with Birdie. [01:06:21] Speaker B: Stop. And you thought about her. [01:06:23] Speaker A: Yeah, because I was like. I was like, oh, God. Like. Well, the affirmations that we were saying to each other to ourselves this morning, me and my dog, as I was holding her like a baby and we were looking in the mirror saying our affirmations. I was just kind of like, you know, because it was the chant. It was the saying Affirmations. And that's. It just triggered that thought of kids playing Bloody Mary and I was like, let me get out of here. [01:06:44] Speaker B: I was so freaked out. [01:06:46] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:06:47] Speaker B: Those kind of games were like, I. [01:06:48] Speaker A: Also, I don't like mirrors. Mirrors when I sleep, I don't like them. Or I don't like, I don't know, the movement. Yeah. And I don't like it. So I'm, I am. I'm a little weirded out by mirrors at times. [01:06:59] Speaker B: Yeah, me too. [01:07:00] Speaker A: Yeah. This one, though, sentient and knows what's going on. [01:07:04] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:07:04] Speaker A: I also want to know a little bit more about her siblings. There's a little bit of a story there because the queen, the mirror is calling her queen. And I'm like, how is she a queen when she's got two older siblings? Are they dead? What's going on? [01:07:15] Speaker B: We don't know. Yeah. Or is it like a situation where they're not actually siblings or something like that? [01:07:20] Speaker A: It could be. [01:07:21] Speaker B: For sure. That's basically it. And then it's like, okay, so Nadir, in the end, like, she's captured by. [01:07:31] Speaker A: Maybe Nadir's sister. And I definitely think that Nadir and Lore are bonded. [01:07:36] Speaker B: For sure. For sure. [01:07:37] Speaker A: It's getting that. So. And I think Gabriel's going to turn into a good guy. Maybe he starts dating male. [01:07:42] Speaker B: I hope he does. [01:07:43] Speaker A: And it's two guardians in a relationship together. That would be great. [01:07:47] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:07:48] Speaker A: And I actually think that there's going to be like a sisterhood of the Queens. I actually think that, like, maybe Apprecia and Lore might eventually be friends. [01:07:57] Speaker B: That may make sense because the Sun. [01:07:58] Speaker A: King treated her terribly when she converted to, you know, being the Sun Pria. [01:08:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:08:04] Speaker A: He treated her terrible. [01:08:05] Speaker B: God, what a monster. [01:08:07] Speaker A: He did. And she was kind of pitiful. She was standing there excited about what she thought she won fair and square, and he was not thrilled about it. So justice for her. [01:08:16] Speaker B: Hope she's okay. [01:08:18] Speaker A: She's not. But we can only hope for the best. [01:08:23] Speaker B: Are we going to get into our game? [01:08:24] Speaker A: Yeah, let's get into it. [01:08:25] Speaker B: Okay. [01:08:25] Speaker A: Let me log into my. So, okay. Last week or last podcast, we played a game of Dirty Dozen. Like Jillian said, this is going to be very mild compared to that. And to help in helping us to keep. Keep this going, we are. I bought a set of D from the game Dungeons and Dragons, a game that I've never played and don't anticipate ever playing, but they do have a 12 sided die, so we're going to use that to roll and See what our fate is now, the rule of this too will be. We will not. If you roll on one, you won't read number one. We're going to wait till the very end to read number one. [01:09:06] Speaker B: Okay. [01:09:06] Speaker A: Because we decided who. We decided. Our number one quote was, like, probably the spiciest of the entire book. So two through the end. If you roll on that, that's fine. [01:09:15] Speaker B: Okay, you want to go? [01:09:17] Speaker A: I'll go first. Okay. I don't know if the microphone will pick up the sound of the die, but probably. Here we go. [01:09:25] Speaker B: What is it? [01:09:26] Speaker A: Seven. Okay. [01:09:28] Speaker B: Oh, good luck. [01:09:30] Speaker A: Ew. God. Okay, here we go. Wasting no time. Time. He hooks his fingers into my waistband and slides off my bottom, tossing them to the side. His hands spread me wide. And this isn't something I'm used to. A part of me nearly collapses into self consciousness. But another part, a part that never wants this to stop, revels in the way he's staring at me like a hungry golden tiger prepared to swallow me whole. [01:09:57] Speaker B: I hate it. I hate it. [01:09:59] Speaker A: Can't say it's at the top of my list. [01:10:00] Speaker B: No, I. I don't know. [01:10:05] Speaker A: No, no. This is. If I think about any of the previous situations I've had and I told you I've been single since Jesus wept. I wouldn't describe it like this. [01:10:17] Speaker B: Since Jesus. [01:10:18] Speaker A: Not this colorful. [01:10:19] Speaker B: Okay, your turn. Okay, here we go. And what if I. Okay. No. [01:10:24] Speaker A: Okay. [01:10:24] Speaker B: We'll get there, too. Oh, this one's mild. I want to bury my nose in his throat and inhale every drop. Like this food. First of all, the food looked amazing. I want to eat the food, but I don't know, it was very mild. [01:10:43] Speaker A: And it was also kind of like cringy. You know, it's kind of like. It's kind of. It. Yeah. I don't know, it's just kind of corny. The lines. Okay, here we go. Okay. I'm getting all the heavy hitters. [01:10:58] Speaker B: Yeah. Well. [01:10:59] Speaker A: Oh, well. This is a mem. He's a flower and I'm a be searching for nectar. [01:11:05] Speaker B: Oh, God. [01:11:06] Speaker A: That's poetic. [01:11:07] Speaker B: You think so? [01:11:08] Speaker A: No, I think that's like high school poetry. Not poetic at all. [01:11:13] Speaker B: Okay. I don't know what it says. [01:11:17] Speaker A: Oh, we don't have 12. [01:11:19] Speaker B: Okay. [01:11:19] Speaker A: Yeah, we don't notice today. [01:11:20] Speaker B: Okay. [01:11:20] Speaker A: Told you we were light. We were light on the smut. Oh, nope, you can't do that one. [01:11:24] Speaker B: Oh, okay. [01:11:27] Speaker A: Okay. [01:11:27] Speaker B: Can we do that one? Okay. Oh, God, I hate this. He's just a male and can't be held responsible. For his actions. It's up to you to ensure your relationship remains appropriate. That. Who was that? That woman. [01:11:40] Speaker A: That was woman. Ms. Oconnell Odell. I'm just assigning names where I see fit. [01:11:48] Speaker B: It. [01:11:49] Speaker A: Who knows? Who knows who said it this episode. Connell, what's not on St. Patrick's Day? [01:11:57] Speaker B: You misnaming her. [01:12:02] Speaker A: That is such a slap in the face to my. My Irish side. I'm not doing well by the ancestors. Okay, here we go. You ready? Yeah, I think I've already read that one. Right? Yeah, it's gone right. Another roll. Okay. What is this? I think it is. Okay, Six. Touch me. I want you to touch me. His grin turns feral, a wicked gleam sparkling in his eyes. I knew you wouldn't be shy. And then he does as I ask, his thumb slipping under the fabric to find my hot. That aching core. [01:12:42] Speaker B: Okay, I'm glad you said that, because I was not saying that. [01:12:45] Speaker A: The fates knew. [01:12:47] Speaker B: Oh, my God, they did know. I told you last night. I was like, I don't know, Deidre. These are too much. [01:12:52] Speaker A: This is me protecting you, Jillian. [01:12:54] Speaker B: I know. Oh, you're right. [01:12:56] Speaker A: This is me. This is my protection. [01:12:58] Speaker B: Yes. This is protection I need. Okay, here we go. [01:13:02] Speaker A: Oh, that's nine. That's good. [01:13:04] Speaker B: Oh, is that nine? Okay. Oh, God. I kind of love this one. [01:13:08] Speaker A: Oh, this is the best. [01:13:09] Speaker B: Yeah. Who was that in there with you? I demand. Oh, my computer. You're supposed to be helping me, not sucking random. Is this what you get paid for? [01:13:18] Speaker A: And he goes, yes. [01:13:19] Speaker B: Yes. He goes. [01:13:20] Speaker A: Yes. As a matter of fact, he goes back. We love it. That is the ever lovely Gabriel. Gabriel. Yeah, I realized that we didn't put, like, who's this from? But I don't think it matters. Yeah. [01:13:31] Speaker B: Again. [01:13:33] Speaker A: All right, we only have a few left. Okay. Number. [01:13:38] Speaker B: No, you did that one. [01:13:39] Speaker A: I already did that one. Okay, let's see. [01:13:42] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. This is a problem. [01:13:43] Speaker A: I know. Well, we need to have what we call it. This is all consumption. [01:13:48] Speaker B: You really got the long ones. [01:13:50] Speaker A: This is like drowning in fire. I could perish in those eyes, lose myself in his scent, Wrap myself in those strong, muscled limbs and never resurrect surface content to die. And never draw another breath. All with a smile on my face. That's what I said when I met you. Christian. [01:14:09] Speaker B: He's dying. [01:14:12] Speaker A: There you go. This is all. This is all consuming. It's like drowning in fire. Okay. All right, we got two left. Nope. [01:14:23] Speaker B: No. [01:14:24] Speaker A: Okay, five. Yep, that's it. [01:14:26] Speaker B: Okay. Okay. Oh, God. [01:14:28] Speaker A: Yes. [01:14:30] Speaker B: With a low grow. Can I Say this in an accent with a low growl. He's. His hands grip my hips and he lifts me up, maneuvering me so I'm straddling his lap. Sorry, I'm saying this in, like. [01:14:44] Speaker A: It's so clinical. It's so clinical. [01:14:48] Speaker B: The unmistakable and generous length of his cock pressing into my aching center. That's the best I could do. [01:14:54] Speaker A: And that's lesson one, part one. [01:14:58] Speaker B: That's sex ed. [01:14:59] Speaker A: That's sex ed in America. We love that. Okay, awesome. We're almost complete with this. All right, I'm just gonna read number eight because the last one left is number one. I want you again. Lore. I can't stop thinking about you or our dinner on the beach. My skin wrenches tight and heat drips from my stomach to the place between my thighs. Oh, God, not a man talking about your dinner at the KW and you getting all hot and bothered. Not that. No, girl, get it together. [01:15:31] Speaker B: Get it together. Okay, so how are we gonna. Are we gonna do Rock, Paper Scissors again? For the. [01:15:39] Speaker A: Okay, let's roll the die, and whoever has the higher number. Die. [01:15:43] Speaker B: Wow. You got that right. [01:15:44] Speaker A: Yeah, I've been saying it, right? Roll the tape. Okay. [01:15:48] Speaker B: And then whoever gets the higher number loses. Or wins. [01:15:50] Speaker A: Wins. [01:15:50] Speaker B: Wins. [01:15:51] Speaker A: All right, here we go. Okay, I landed on four. It's gonna be hard to beat. [01:15:57] Speaker B: Stop it. Six. [01:16:01] Speaker A: So the higher number. [01:16:04] Speaker B: Oh, so you say it. [01:16:05] Speaker A: No, you say it. [01:16:06] Speaker B: Oh, Jesus. Are you sure? [01:16:07] Speaker A: Okay, I can protect you. [01:16:09] Speaker B: I'll say it. I'll say it. [01:16:10] Speaker A: I'll say it. [01:16:11] Speaker B: I was just gonna say it very clinically. Okay. All right, here we go. I look down and take in. I hate this word. I look down and take in his cock. [01:16:22] Speaker A: We're not big to the swollen. [01:16:30] Speaker B: Start over. Redo. Redo. I. I look down and take. [01:16:39] Speaker A: Take it. [01:16:40] Speaker B: I feel like I'm in, like, Mr. Heath's health class. I look down and taking his swollen. And pressing against the stretching fabric of his swim costume. [01:16:48] Speaker A: Mr. Heath is like my. My health class. Not that. That. Oh, God, I hope you got through it. [01:16:54] Speaker B: Yeah, I did get through it. Swim costume. [01:16:56] Speaker A: Not swim. Swim costume is easily the cringiest part of that sentence. [01:17:00] Speaker B: Yes, for sure. For sure. [01:17:02] Speaker A: Well, we got through it, Julia. [01:17:04] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:17:06] Speaker A: Okay. We done our conspiracy corner, I think. Are we at the end? [01:17:10] Speaker B: I think so. [01:17:11] Speaker A: This has been great. [01:17:12] Speaker B: Thanks for. Yeah. Hanging in there with us. [01:17:15] Speaker A: Yeah. Thanks for joining us. We will be back in a couple of weeks with our next read, and we can't wait. I think Jalen and I are taking considerations to figure out what our next book will be, if we're going to continue with this series or if we'll move on to something else. Just given, you know, kind of our need for a little bit of. A little bit more heat, we're going. [01:17:35] Speaker B: To have a think on it. [01:17:37] Speaker A: So. Yeah. So thank you, as always, to Christian McCann for listening to us and putting up with our shenanigans and as always, keeping our sound in check. [01:17:46] Speaker B: Thank you to the illustrious Lincoln Lodge in Chicago, Illinois. [01:17:50] Speaker A: You had a great show last weekend. [01:17:52] Speaker B: I did have. Great show. Yeah. Our next show is April. That's the next month, right? [01:17:59] Speaker A: Yeah, next month. Let's just plug it when we can. [01:18:02] Speaker B: Yeah, we should plug it. April 11th. [01:18:06] Speaker A: Yes, April 11th. [01:18:08] Speaker B: In the brown room at the Lincoln Lodge in Logan Square, Illinois. [01:18:11] Speaker A: Great time. I'm gonna get up there again soon. [01:18:14] Speaker B: Are you? [01:18:15] Speaker A: I am not. This disbelief. Where's the sisterhood? Good. [01:18:22] Speaker B: No, that's great. You should. Yeah, yeah. [01:18:25] Speaker A: I'll get back on the list, sir, as always. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And we will see you guys soon. [01:18:30] Speaker B: Bye.