Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. Welcome to Spellbound, a Romantasy podcast. I'm Deidre. [00:00:10] Speaker B: And I'm Jillian. [00:00:11] Speaker A: Thanks for joining us. [00:00:13] Speaker B: Welcome back. [00:00:14] Speaker A: Welcome back. [00:00:15] Speaker B: Oh, my God. [00:00:16] Speaker A: How have you been? [00:00:17] Speaker B: So. I mean, great. Good. Yeah. Have you been. [00:00:20] Speaker A: The summer's been good for you. [00:00:21] Speaker B: Great. [00:00:22] Speaker A: I don't even know why we're acting like we're strangers. [00:00:25] Speaker B: Definitely. [00:00:26] Speaker A: Well, first of all, yes, we. We speak frequently. Multiple times already today as a matter of. We also had, like, a little mini summer check in with our minisode, like, a couple months ago. So I'm acting like you're returning from war, and I see. [00:00:43] Speaker B: Right. [00:00:45] Speaker A: I've not seen you in God knows how long. So how was the tour? Did you have a. Yeah. Are you all right? [00:00:51] Speaker B: I'm good. No, I'm very, very. I'm enjoying this fall weather. [00:00:58] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:00:58] Speaker B: My skin loves it. You know, my skin was not loving the hot weather. [00:01:03] Speaker A: No. Well, with the sun allergy. [00:01:05] Speaker B: Sun allergy? Yeah, for sure. [00:01:08] Speaker A: A heat allergy, for sure. [00:01:10] Speaker B: Heat. [00:01:10] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [00:01:11] Speaker B: Just anything. [00:01:11] Speaker A: It was such a brutal summer. I am just getting back from three weeks in North Carolina. When I got down there, the weather did not want to cooperate. I had visions for just sunny days, beach days, but it was like storm. [00:01:24] Speaker B: After storm after storm. [00:01:26] Speaker A: Then it cleared up, and it was warm. And then, like, days before, just a couple days before I headed back up here, it cooled down again. And it's so funny because on the way back, you know, I like to do a long, long haul drive up to Chicago. [00:01:42] Speaker B: Right. [00:01:43] Speaker A: I stop multiple times, as you might imagine. But as I got closer to Chicago, I started to feel that crisp chill in the air, and I was like, fuck off. [00:01:52] Speaker B: Really? [00:01:52] Speaker A: A little bit. Because I'm like, this is too soon. [00:01:55] Speaker B: It is a little too soon. Like, I thought this would be. I don't know. Not for another, like, two weeks, at least. [00:02:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:02:02] Speaker B: And who knows? It could swing back. It's a fake fall, you know? Yeah. [00:02:04] Speaker A: As they're calling it. [00:02:05] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [00:02:06] Speaker A: So. [00:02:06] Speaker B: Oh, is there. Are they. [00:02:07] Speaker A: Is that there? Yeah, yeah. It's just like. It's a little bit too soon for. For this. [00:02:11] Speaker B: Exactly. Yes. [00:02:12] Speaker A: But, yeah, you know, I. I enjoy that. It's not miserable walking around. I'll at least give it that. [00:02:18] Speaker B: Yes. Like, you don't. You don't have to stay inside the whole time. [00:02:21] Speaker A: No, yeah. [00:02:22] Speaker B: The whole day. [00:02:22] Speaker A: And also, I think I'm just fearing it getting darker earlier. [00:02:26] Speaker B: That's. That's what gets me. [00:02:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:02:28] Speaker B: Yeah. Is the. I mean, I love the. The aesthetic. Right. The clothes, the. You Know, drinks or whatever. [00:02:36] Speaker A: You like a good pumpkin spice latte? [00:02:37] Speaker B: I. I mean, yeah. Yeah, I do. Well, like, I like pumpkin flavor. You know, you go to Trader Joe's and you're like, I love it. Yeah, this is great. [00:02:45] Speaker A: Or you go to. [00:02:46] Speaker B: You go to Home Goods and you're like, there cannot be this much Halloween. [00:02:49] Speaker A: So there can't be this many scarecrows. [00:02:51] Speaker B: I don't. Or, like, bejeweled skeletons. Yes. [00:02:55] Speaker A: You're like, I could find somewhere to put that. [00:02:56] Speaker B: I know, but I do love that. But what was I gonna say? [00:03:02] Speaker A: Oh, can't get enough Halloween. [00:03:04] Speaker B: Yeah, can't get enough Halloween. But it is the light. Like, that's. That's what really gets me. Yeah. Although I am looking forward to, like, Christmas, I gotta say. Yeah, well, like the holidays. [00:03:14] Speaker A: Yeah, it'll be great. Yeah, it'll be great. We got that to look forward to. [00:03:18] Speaker B: But how was C1? Fishing? [00:03:21] Speaker A: I went fishing. Yes. I caught a smallmouth bass. [00:03:23] Speaker B: That's so. That's so exciting. [00:03:24] Speaker A: I haven't fished in I can't tell you how long. I also assisted my dad in installing some decorative lights in the yard. [00:03:33] Speaker B: Perfect. [00:03:34] Speaker A: A small investment for a larger payoff in the long run. We love to see it. He's feeling very accomplished, so, you know. Yeah, I just had to go down there, spend a few weeks to get my parents together. [00:03:43] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, as always, keep them in tip top shape. [00:03:47] Speaker A: I come there and I'm like, what's going on around here? [00:03:49] Speaker B: Checking on them. Yeah, yeah. [00:03:50] Speaker A: I've got a checklist of things y' all need to do. Yeah. [00:03:53] Speaker B: I saw a video of, like, it was like a helicopter daughter. And I was like, oh, send that to me. That. Yeah. She was like, are you wearing sunscreen? You need to be wearing sun. [00:04:03] Speaker A: That speaks to me. [00:04:03] Speaker B: That is. [00:04:04] Speaker A: I mean, I bought Tim a thing of sunscreen. I'm like, you can't be out there doing this with no sunscreen on. And, like, mineral, mineral, mineral, mineral. [00:04:13] Speaker B: Blocking the sun. Yeah. Chemicals. [00:04:16] Speaker A: Now then he comes through with, like, this white cast on the. This face. I know I don't have time to address this right now, but. All right. [00:04:23] Speaker B: Show you how to apply sunscreen. [00:04:25] Speaker A: That's fine. Whatever. It's doing its job. But, yeah, it was, it was, it was. It's been a good few. Few weeks. So back to get back in the saddle here at the podcast. [00:04:36] Speaker B: Yes, yes. [00:04:37] Speaker A: Where this season we're going to be covering Sarah J. Maas's Throne of Glass series. She's got enough Material for us to be satisfied for an entire season. So we're dedicating this season. [00:04:46] Speaker B: I mean, yes. We could do an entire podcast, I think, on Throne of Glass. [00:04:50] Speaker A: Yeah, Absol. Absolutely. Yeah, I think so. If we were. If we're going to be like our sisters, do the more scholarly dissertation, these books. Absolutely. But we're just, you know, we're just going to do our thing one book at a time. [00:05:02] Speaker B: Yep. One book at a time. [00:05:03] Speaker A: That's great. I think. Earlier today you were telling me that you had a millennial mishap. [00:05:08] Speaker B: Okay. It was more of like a millennial moment. Okay. And. Or like a series of moments. See, I'm, you know, I talk about the millennial mishap and it's actually something else. So I was shopping with my sister. Niece. And, you know, she's, like, very into fashion these days, as every 8 year old is as. I mean, but anyway, we were, like, trying stuff on and. And, you know, like, I don't know if you remember shopping with your mom, like, at that age, but my mom was like, well, that doesn't do anything for your legs or. That doesn't do anything. [00:05:43] Speaker A: You're eight. [00:05:44] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Eight. Absolutely. I don't know that, like, those shoes are way too big. They make you look like a clown. Like, all of this stuff. [00:05:52] Speaker A: Yeah. Really building you up. [00:05:53] Speaker B: Really. Yes. And so I had to catch myself, like, so many times because, like, we have been trained. [00:06:00] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:06:01] Speaker B: You know, to like, that's what I talk about with my sister. [00:06:03] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:06:04] Speaker B: But I can't say that in front of my knees. [00:06:05] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:06:06] Speaker B: I was like. I was looking at something. [00:06:08] Speaker A: You know, you just completely eviscerate your sister. You're like, sister, that's doing nothing for your thighs. [00:06:13] Speaker B: Absolutely. We do it to each other. [00:06:15] Speaker A: Yeah. Over. [00:06:16] Speaker B: Sure. Yes. Yeah. And so. But like, we were somewhere and I was like, you know, the 90s are back in every way. [00:06:23] Speaker A: In a big way. [00:06:23] Speaker B: Yes. So there was like a. There was like these ribbed shirts and I was looking at them and I was like, oh, that's really cute, but, you know, I can't do ribbed. And. [00:06:35] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:06:35] Speaker B: My niece is there and she was like. She's like, why not? And I was like, because it doesn't really, like, smooth. It's not very smoothing. And my sister goes, you know what? We grew up in a time where there were these, like, rules that we had that we had to follow. And I was like, sorry, sorry. So anyway, that was my millennial moment. I don't do Rift. [00:07:01] Speaker A: Nope. Can't do it. Sorry. Maybe that's for somebody else. Not my bad. [00:07:06] Speaker B: Not my bad. Yeah. [00:07:08] Speaker A: I had a millennial. It wasn't a meltdown, but it was a little bit of a. Standing on my soapbox. I was, you know, back home in North Carolina for the last few. Few weeks. School just started back and, you know, it was our tradition in high school that, like, when you were. By the time you drove, you couldn't get through that parking lot because every space was taken. [00:07:29] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. You. [00:07:30] Speaker A: I mean, we'd be. I'd be up at the school at the crack of dawn when I turned 16 and I got a driver's license and I knew I was gonna be driving to school that day. I was up at that school at the crack of dawn to be, like, one of the first in line to get a parking pass. And as the day went on, before they opened up to give out parking passes, all my. My classmates and other, you know. [00:07:48] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:07:48] Speaker A: Students were lining up to get their parking pass. You could not get a parking pass. There were no open spots in the parking lot. [00:07:54] Speaker B: I mean, I still, to this day, have nightmares about this. You're trying to find a spot. Yeah. Yeah. [00:07:59] Speaker A: You're stressed. I still. I mean, you can easily drive by my spot there, you know, And I always, like, look at whatever the. You know? [00:08:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:07] Speaker A: I don't know. You know, Honda Civic is. That's parked right there in the spot that I had 20 years ago. Yeah. But my whole gripe right now is, are the kids not driving? What's going on? Because the parking lot is empty as hell. [00:08:21] Speaker B: No way. [00:08:22] Speaker A: In the middle of the day. And I'm like, these kids can't be. Can't be studying at home. [00:08:26] Speaker B: Are there parents driving? [00:08:28] Speaker A: I don't know. My mom is a little bit like. I think they might be Ubering. It is an American rite of passage, in my opinion, for the youth to get their asses behind the wheel of a car and drive it to school. You don't wanna drive. [00:08:41] Speaker B: Yeah. For your parents to be like, get the hell in the car right now. [00:08:45] Speaker A: I'd be like, you want me to go get your prescription? I can run up here, right? What, there? The parking lot is empty, Jillian. [00:08:51] Speaker B: Okay. That is wild. [00:08:52] Speaker A: Beyond that Labor Day weekend, these kids got out of school early. The, like, they were clearing out at, like, 11:00am oh, no. And I'm like, that old woman driving down the street being like, what? These are not. My tax dollars are at work. [00:09:06] Speaker B: Get your ass. Are they even learning? [00:09:08] Speaker A: No, they're not learning. [00:09:09] Speaker B: No. I Mean, they're not learning. [00:09:11] Speaker A: Absolutely. But to get out early for the holidays, I'm like, this is why. This is why things are bad with. [00:09:17] Speaker B: The youth right now. Honestly. Honestly, they don't. I mean, they don't work. [00:09:20] Speaker A: They don't work. They don't study. [00:09:22] Speaker B: They don't have social skills. [00:09:24] Speaker A: And you're letting them out of school early before the holiday. What gives? [00:09:29] Speaker B: So upsetting that we're talking about this. [00:09:31] Speaker A: Like, I'm, like, pissed. I was looking at my mom. I'm like, not these kids getting out early. What time is it? [00:09:37] Speaker B: I mean, I will tell you. My senior year, I didn't take my last period because I would go home and take a nap. And that was a amazing. I still to this day want to do that. [00:09:47] Speaker A: How did that work? [00:09:48] Speaker B: Oh, well, you can. Like, I don't know how, but, like, I got out of eighth period, and then also because I had social anxiety, so I'd be like, running out with my back. [00:09:59] Speaker A: My junior and senior year, I had yearbook. I put that in quotes last period, and it was just like, me and my friends who were also in yearbook, going up to, like, Chick Fil A and Taco Bell. Right, right, right. Talking about the yearbook. Talking about the yearbook, saying we're selling ads. We're not selling is. [00:10:14] Speaker B: I know. [00:10:14] Speaker A: We're putting it on the overachievers to sell. [00:10:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:17] Speaker A: But anyway, still still got into. [00:10:19] Speaker B: Got. [00:10:19] Speaker A: Still got into college. Don't know anything beyond that. [00:10:22] Speaker B: I mean, that's what's hard, though, is, like, it's hard to get in a college. I feel like it was, like, kind of easy. [00:10:28] Speaker A: It. It. Absolutely. [00:10:29] Speaker B: And it was like, all right, I'll go here. [00:10:31] Speaker A: I was reading an article the other day about these kids do not know what to say in an essay. [00:10:35] Speaker B: I mean, they chat JBT it. [00:10:37] Speaker A: They chat GPT. But they're also a little bit, like, right now, like, can I even mention I'm black? Oh, my God. [00:10:42] Speaker B: I just read that article. Yes. That's crazy. [00:10:45] Speaker A: It's actually. It was a really good article. Just like, you know, if I talk about race, like, am I talking about, like, struggle and trauma? And then, like, does everybody know that people are writing essays based on struggle and trauma? Or what if I've never experienced trauma and struggle? [00:11:00] Speaker B: Right, right. [00:11:00] Speaker A: You know, it's just very interesting because. [00:11:03] Speaker B: You never know, like, what the admissions people are going to never know. [00:11:06] Speaker A: It's so crazy. So they're like, actually, people have shot themselves in the foot by, you know, this ruling of shooting down affirmative action. Just Saying, like, you can't just, like, check boxes anymore. [00:11:16] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:11:17] Speaker A: It's actually. They've made. Conservatives have made things worse. We're getting off on another tangent, but an important one would happen. Yes, an important one. And based on context clues, you should look up the article in New York Times. But, yeah, that's a little bit of my millennial rant. Millennial meltdown. [00:11:37] Speaker B: I like that. Millennial rant. Yeah, maybe we should do that. [00:11:40] Speaker A: Yeah, let's do it. Whatever. We're freestyling over here. Millennial rant. Millennial meltdown. Whatever it is that you want to do. [00:11:46] Speaker B: I saw this video that was like, I'm at that age where it's like, I. Maybe I have a pain and I'm like, did I hurt myself or is this just what I am now? [00:11:56] Speaker A: It's what I am. [00:11:58] Speaker B: Mostly, it's what you are. [00:11:59] Speaker A: It's just what I am. Every day there's a heaviness. [00:12:01] Speaker B: I know. [00:12:02] Speaker A: My spirit. [00:12:02] Speaker B: I know. [00:12:04] Speaker A: And emotionally, spiritually, I told myself, my mom, like 30 minutes ago on the phone, I was like, I just feel so far away from myself. I don't even know what the fuck that means, but I'm like, That's the best way to describe it. [00:12:18] Speaker B: I'm just. [00:12:18] Speaker A: I just feel so far away from myself. [00:12:21] Speaker B: This is. I'm going through this, like, existential crisis. Like, today I was telling my therapist, I was like, did you know that we're going to die? [00:12:30] Speaker A: She's like, I, you know what? I had heard that in passing. [00:12:34] Speaker B: Did you hear about this thing? [00:12:36] Speaker A: Yeah, I'd only heard mention of it. I don't know. I haven't looked too deep into it. Is that right? [00:12:41] Speaker B: She was like, okay, all right. And moving on. [00:12:45] Speaker A: Yeah. She's like, we've been over this. We're not talking about this time and time again. Yeah. [00:12:50] Speaker B: What do you mean by die? [00:12:52] Speaker A: Oh, God, there's just so much. [00:12:54] Speaker B: I love it. I feel so far away from myself. [00:12:56] Speaker A: I do. [00:12:57] Speaker B: I mean, yeah. [00:12:59] Speaker A: Just slowly crawling back to myself, little by little, the best that I can. [00:13:05] Speaker B: Well, I think that's it. So should we get into a little hear ye, hear ye? [00:13:09] Speaker A: Let's get into a little hear ye, hear ye. We've got lots to catch up on. Some of these things are more recent, but, you know, have happened in the last couple weeks. First of all, Jimmy Fallon had a Hot wizard hotline segment on his late night show featuring your beloved Jonas Brothers in a very 90s era. Hot wizard hotline infomercial. [00:13:31] Speaker B: Love it. Okay. [00:13:32] Speaker A: Super cute. I Don't know. Have you taken a gander at the infomercial? [00:13:35] Speaker B: No, no, I need to. Yeah, you told me about it. I need to. [00:13:38] Speaker A: So basically the whole bit is that back in the day, they basically, the Jonas Brothers and Jimmy Fallon tell the audience that they each collectively got their start working in show business on an erotic phone line called the Hot Wizard Hotline, which they say wasn't big back then, but it would be huge today with romantic fans, like very, very, you know, specific to call that out in the segment. They each are playing these Dumbledore like wizards who are saying very erotic yet very romantic themed things to callers. And Jillian, you would have pressed 2. You would have pressed the number 2 on your landline phone for Joe for 3.99aminute to speak to Gavin Gavaniel, the lewd played by Joe Jonas, who says, girl, you're like my leather bound spellbook. Mysterious and thick. And he had been like, run it up. Run my bill up. [00:14:34] Speaker B: Oh my God. Oh my God. Put me down for two hours. [00:14:40] Speaker A: You're like, just completely garnish my wages. Take my house. [00:14:45] Speaker B: At that point he's take my parents money. Exactly. [00:14:49] Speaker A: I may have pressed three. I personally would have pressed three for Nick Jonas. Grimblegoth. The naughty saying. Can you feel it? My wand is vibr for you. [00:14:59] Speaker B: Love it. [00:14:59] Speaker A: Love that. And Kevin's was Gwen Galvin, the firm and his hat. And he said his hat is the only part of him that's limp. So, you know, that's your calling. [00:15:09] Speaker B: Press for, you know. Yeah, I guess. I know. That's maybe why he's has less money than either. [00:15:15] Speaker A: Does he really? Yeah. Oh, hell. I mean, he hasn't had solo pursuits in the way that they have. [00:15:21] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, obviously Nick is killing it. [00:15:23] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:15:24] Speaker B: Right. And then. And then Joe. Yeah. Except that he lives in Miami. I didn't know that. I'm not a big fan of that. [00:15:31] Speaker A: But anyway, it says a lot about a person that live. [00:15:34] Speaker B: I know. I really loved him and I was like, oh, and he just bought a place in Miami. [00:15:39] Speaker A: Yeah, he was gallivating around here. I sent you an article. He was minute shopping over in Wicker Park. [00:15:45] Speaker B: I would have. I mean, I would have died just. [00:15:47] Speaker A: To see him walking around. [00:15:49] Speaker B: Yeah. But Kevin, Kevin, I mean, when I say he's struggling, I mean his net worth is like 25 million. But like. Yeah, he's fine. [00:15:58] Speaker A: Yeah, he's not like the others, but he's doing all right. [00:16:00] Speaker B: He's a. He's a very kind soul. [00:16:03] Speaker A: He is. And he's got the sweetest little girls. Yeah, they're really sweet. [00:16:08] Speaker B: Apparently they all. They have all girls. [00:16:10] Speaker A: I love that. [00:16:11] Speaker B: Yeah, all of them. [00:16:12] Speaker A: I think that's really sweet. [00:16:13] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:15] Speaker A: Well, justice for Kevin. I'm. I'm not. I'm not pressing four. I'm pressing three. [00:16:18] Speaker B: Right. [00:16:19] Speaker A: I've got limited amount of time to be on this hotline. It's 3.99aminute. [00:16:23] Speaker B: Wait, so Joe's first. [00:16:25] Speaker A: Joe was first, then it was Nick, then it was Kevin. [00:16:27] Speaker B: Okay. [00:16:27] Speaker A: In this segment, I know it was Jimmy Fallon first. Oh, he's number one. Press one. [00:16:33] Speaker B: I'm pressing on that. Yeah. [00:16:35] Speaker A: And then it was the boys. And then the tagline was we put the D and D and D for Dungeons and Dragons, which I've never played. [00:16:45] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I haven't either. God bless them, Jimmy Fallon. They could do some better writing there. [00:16:50] Speaker A: I think so too. And it also said to me that nobody is actually seriously reading these Romantasy books. Because I'm like, you're just throwing wizards out there as though these are characters that are in any of these books. [00:17:02] Speaker B: Well, men are reading. [00:17:04] Speaker A: They're not reading, which gets me. Thank you so much, Jillian. I don't know if you planned that good transition. [00:17:08] Speaker B: I didn't. [00:17:09] Speaker A: Great. [00:17:09] Speaker B: I didn't. [00:17:10] Speaker A: But that brings us to the next article. There was an opinion piece in the New York Times by Maureen Dowd called Attention Books are sexy. And essentially here, you know, it's talking about how. Yeah. Men just aren't reading. And it's interesting, there's a stat here that says women make up 80% of fiction sales. 80% Instagram pages like Hot Dudes reading, which. Did you ever follow Hot Dudes Reading. [00:17:36] Speaker B: Love it, love it. [00:17:37] Speaker A: Love Hot dudes reading. [00:17:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:17:39] Speaker A: Has grown. I've been a long follower of age. Yes. Probably since like 2016, 2017, maybe. Okay. But I just love when a hot man pops up on my. On my screen reading a book. [00:17:53] Speaker B: Please. [00:17:53] Speaker A: Has like a nice, like, paperback bit. [00:17:56] Speaker B: Yeah. Bent. Right, right, right. [00:17:57] Speaker A: And I. And I know it's not a non fiction, like how not to be an. [00:18:00] Speaker B: Asshole or like productivity, how to be efficient or whatever. [00:18:03] Speaker A: Chicken soup for the straight male soul. [00:18:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:05] Speaker A: You know, God, that's not doing. That's not doing anything more like, you. [00:18:08] Speaker B: Know, like the Odyssey when it's like, we knew. We know you bought that in high school. [00:18:12] Speaker A: The alchemist. [00:18:13] Speaker B: Right? [00:18:14] Speaker A: The alchemist, yeah. Stay away. Yeah. So basically, Instagram pages like Hot dudes reading have grown popular because of how rare it is to see a Man, that in it, Maureen talks about how fascinating it is to interact with men. She's got several different male friends in her life or even, you know, actors she talks about Ralph finds, who is an avid reader and talks a lot about, you know, just all the fiction that he reads. But you know, she finds it fascinating to interact with these men who specifically read fiction and how complex you know, the characters and stories are and how heavily contrasted that is to this idea that real me, real men read non fiction to strengthen the mind, more power to grow. There's this. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So it mentioned. Susan Sontag is once saying novels can enlarge your sympathies, preventing you from shriveling and becoming narrower and called fiction and acts. That kind of splits you open and gives you a model for caring about things that you might not otherwise or that you might otherwise not care about. All hope's not lost, but we do need the arts and humanities in this day and age when tech is robbing us of our humanity. It mentions how works like Frankenstein and Paradise shed light on the narcissism of the powerful male tech geniuses birth. Or it sheds light on the narcissism of the powerful militech geniuses and the, you know, their birthing of a world shattering new species of A.I. [00:19:48] Speaker B: Oh my God. [00:19:49] Speaker A: Which thinking about Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. [00:19:51] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's scary. [00:19:54] Speaker A: So scary. But yeah, there's a lot in that piece that's basically talking about how we've got like this very warped sense of masculinity right now and where men are finding their ideas of what masculinity looks like in the manosphere. You know, things they're basically being taught, like sitting down, reading fiction, reading Jane Austen, reading Shakespeare, reading any fiction books that, you know, expands your, your mind, your emotional, your emotional intelligence, your lands. Yeah, all of that stuff that's for losers. Reading about how you can make more money, how you can optimize your physical health, how you can produce like all of those things. That's what you need to. Reading fiction's a waste of time. [00:20:37] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. I mean, and I know a lot of men that would say that they would agree with that. And that's kind of sad. [00:20:44] Speaker A: Very sad. [00:20:44] Speaker B: You know, because I do think that there's like. Yeah, they've been socialized to, to feel like that when like it was, you know, I was obsessed with reading. [00:20:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:20:54] Speaker B: And I guess my little, little brother liked reading, but he was more of like the fantasy. And then that was kind of nerdy. You know what I mean? So it was like. Then he was shamed. Still reading. He's got no shame, but, like, God bless him, you know? Yeah. It was like, sort of like, oh, that's weird. You're reading fantasy, you know, But I don't know. I mean, it is really sad. I mean, I always say, like, I'm gonna get my nephew reading Roman. Like, romance right away. [00:21:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:21:20] Speaker B: He's two, but I. [00:21:22] Speaker A: We'll get him. [00:21:23] Speaker B: I want to get him started. [00:21:23] Speaker A: Sarah J. Maas needs to make, like, a first reader kind of. [00:21:28] Speaker B: Yes. Oh, my God, that's great. [00:21:31] Speaker A: And just let the interpersonal relationships be friendships and adventure. [00:21:34] Speaker B: Yes. Yes. Oh, my God. We should. You should do that. [00:21:38] Speaker A: A first reader type of first reader. Yeah. Yeah. Teaching empathy, learning how to read. [00:21:42] Speaker B: Yeah. And magic. Yeah. [00:21:45] Speaker A: Yeah. Let's workshop it. I'll take it. I'll take it to Shark Tank. Okay, great. And then. Oh, I wanted to leave a little bit of time. Bookstore romance day was back on August. [00:21:56] Speaker B: 9Th, 9th and 10th. Yep. Yes. [00:21:58] Speaker A: And you ventured to our local romance bookstore, the last chapter in Roscoe Village. [00:22:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:04] Speaker A: And I'd love to. I'd love to hear about your experience. [00:22:06] Speaker B: Well, I mean, I was. I was there for. I wasn't there for very long, but first thing I'll say is, Roscoe Village. Super cute. [00:22:14] Speaker A: I love it. [00:22:15] Speaker B: I mean, it was like. [00:22:16] Speaker A: Doesn't get enough credit. [00:22:18] Speaker B: Oh, my God. On Roscoe, it was just. It was incredible. Lots of dogs, lots of people. Yeah. But so this the last chapter. The romance bookstore day was like. It was like, there are so many people. It was, like, spilling out of the. Yeah. Which is like, why is this so bad? I was, like, spilling out. [00:22:44] Speaker A: I didn't catch that one. But. [00:22:46] Speaker B: So it was, like, line out the door. And. And I mean. Which just goes to show you that, like, this is really, like, romance Ramance is. I can't talk today. [00:22:56] Speaker A: That's all right. I'm not picking up on it. [00:22:59] Speaker B: Romance is, like, really needed right now, and so. But the world needs. Now. Love that. What is it? [00:23:15] Speaker A: That's all you get for me. I try my best. [00:23:18] Speaker B: Oh, my God. There were so many problematic messages from that movie. [00:23:21] Speaker A: What movie is that? [00:23:23] Speaker B: My Best Friend's Wedding. Right. [00:23:25] Speaker A: Oh, was it? [00:23:26] Speaker B: I think so. [00:23:27] Speaker A: I don't know the many times I've heard that song in my life. [00:23:30] Speaker B: I know, but so anyway, it was very. It was a great day. I got. I actually got the. Cause I've been reading Throne of Glass on my Kindle, but I kind of want the paperback. So I just got the paper rack and then we. There was a little merch bag. Okay. Yeah. And our sticker was in it. She looked really good. Yep, yep. She was. She did make a scene. Yeah. [00:23:53] Speaker A: She had an appearance. [00:23:54] Speaker B: She did, yeah. So we'll see if we get listeners out of that. [00:23:57] Speaker A: But. Well, if you're joining us from the little goodie bag, welcome. Yeah, we're glad you're here. [00:24:02] Speaker B: We are. [00:24:03] Speaker A: Saddle up. We're a good time. Well, that is it for me. You know, I've been. I've been waiting, and I'm ready for a little. Just the tip. [00:24:15] Speaker B: Just the tip. Yeah. Just the tip. So. Okay, so this week we're reading the amazing Throne of Glass by our girl, Sarah J. Maas. So the first book of the Throne of Glass series published in August 2012. [00:24:29] Speaker A: Well, first of all, you know, I have to stop and ask you, what were you doing in August of 2012? [00:24:34] Speaker B: I can tell you I wasn't writing a book. [00:24:35] Speaker A: I was wearing a hideous peplum and some colored skinny jeans. [00:24:40] Speaker B: A body count. Wait, what was 2012? [00:24:43] Speaker A: 2012. I was wearing a striped peplum. Here was my go to outfit. I was wearing a striped peplum top. I had one of those, like, bubble statement necklaces. [00:24:51] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Yep. [00:24:52] Speaker A: And then I was wearing, like, I had a favorite pair of skinny, like, orange jeans from, like, H and M or something with, like, a pair of Tory Burch flats. [00:25:00] Speaker B: Stop. That was. Flats were in there. [00:25:02] Speaker A: And a Longchamp bag. [00:25:03] Speaker B: God. What the. You know what I was wearing? I. Apparently I was wearing, like, Banana Republic, like, a suit jacket, but then, like, colored, like, corduroys and like, like, tall boots. [00:25:15] Speaker A: You were doing it. I know, I know. You are killing them out here. [00:25:21] Speaker B: I was. Yeah. It was really. I was struggling. [00:25:24] Speaker A: It was a time. [00:25:24] Speaker B: But was not writing a book. And this book. We talked about this before. Like, this book she started writing in 2002. [00:25:32] Speaker A: Yeah. She said it was. It took in the afterword. It said it took, like, 10 years for this book to come to fruition. [00:25:39] Speaker B: So that would put her at the age of 16 when she started writing this book. You know, it makes me feel really bad about myself. Yeah. I mean, and I gotta say, like, this is, like, more common probably 200 years ago when it's like you die at 38. Right. And so it's like you have to get shit done. But I'm really not doing well in 2002. [00:26:01] Speaker A: I mean, Jillian, we gotta be kind to ourselves. What else were we gonna do? She is a prodigy. [00:26:06] Speaker B: Uh huh. Uh huh. She's a prodigy. We were just trying. Find a parking spot. [00:26:10] Speaker A: I was trying to see a parking spot. I'm like, I need a permit. I got. I. I gotta gas up this 1996 geo tracker. [00:26:18] Speaker B: Oh, my God, it was. [00:26:19] Speaker A: And get to school. [00:26:20] Speaker B: Yep, yep. [00:26:21] Speaker A: I was doing the best I could. I was, like, making mix CDs, giving my parents computer viruses. [00:26:27] Speaker B: Yes. Oh, my God. On Limewire for sure. [00:26:30] Speaker A: God bless the gateway computers that our family left behind. We tried. [00:26:36] Speaker B: Oh, my God. Well, anyways, so she. She wrote there. She published in 2012. I mean, I love her. She's a queen. Anyway, okay, just a tip. We start off with our main character, the badass assassin Selina Sardothian, who unfortunately is supposed to be 18, but honestly, I can't do it anymore. And in my mind, she's 25. [00:27:02] Speaker A: Every time there was a mention of age, I said, don't do it. [00:27:05] Speaker B: No. [00:27:05] Speaker A: Can't do it. [00:27:06] Speaker B: Can't do it. Notably, she is apparently of average height and not a tiny little girl. Did you notice that? [00:27:11] Speaker A: What is average? What is average height in these books? Five, six. [00:27:17] Speaker B: Five, six, maybe. Yeah, but at least it's not like five. [00:27:20] Speaker A: One for Thumbelina. [00:27:22] Speaker B: I fucking hate it. I climbed up into his lap. [00:27:28] Speaker A: I hate it. Go ahead. [00:27:29] Speaker B: The top of my head didn't even touch his chest. [00:27:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:27:33] Speaker B: Okay. So we find her in some kind of salt mine prison, which I didn't know was a thing, but it sounds like a good Friday night spa night for me. But anyway, she gets taken from her. [00:27:46] Speaker A: Work by a man not taken out of her workplace. I'm calling out sick with her pickaxe pto. [00:28:02] Speaker B: So she is taken from her work by Cale Westfall, who's this broody unknown figure. We don't know who he is yet. [00:28:09] Speaker A: He's described as not the most handsome man. [00:28:13] Speaker B: He really was. [00:28:14] Speaker A: I mean, it was weird. I was like. Not him. Catching strays in chapter two. My God. [00:28:20] Speaker B: In page 16. What? [00:28:22] Speaker A: It was terrible. [00:28:23] Speaker B: I know. So. But meanwhile. So she. He takes her to go see Dorian, the teenage prince, who is described as, like, beautiful looking. Hard to look at. Yeah. But he. There's something that's slippery about him, though. I don't know. Yeah, so anyway, Dorian says that he's taking Selena to this royal. Whatever the Royal City is, so she can compete in a tournament to become the king. I really can't talk to you. [00:28:54] Speaker A: You're doing a great job. [00:28:55] Speaker B: And I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. I even took a propranolol before. [00:29:02] Speaker A: Well, that sucker needs a kick in. You need to tap your veins. Something needs to go on. It's slow moving. [00:29:12] Speaker B: Maybe I need to take something stronger. [00:29:15] Speaker A: So. [00:29:18] Speaker B: She'S gonna compete in a tournament to become the King's champion, which is essentially like the King's contract killer. Right. So after she serves four years as a champion, she'll be free. Right. And so she gets really excited. [00:29:31] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:29:32] Speaker B: So she goes to the glass castle, which I really have a hard time with that. It's a glass castle. I don't understand how that works, but. So to compete in this tournament with, like, 23 others, they're all men, all criminals of some sort. Some are better than others. [00:29:47] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:29:48] Speaker B: There's one. [00:29:48] Speaker A: Did they just go around collecting these people off the street? [00:29:51] Speaker B: I don't know how they got them all. I know. And some were evil. [00:29:55] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. [00:29:56] Speaker B: Like Kane. So there's one champion, Kane, who's bigger and stronger than the rest, but there's definitely, like, something off about him. There's, like, a dark, you know, aura. So Selina meets a princess from another land. Nehemia. Love her. Love Nehemia, who she becomes friends with. Nehemia. Super cool. Very evident that she will dominate a bunch of men in one way or another. [00:30:18] Speaker A: So great giving that energy. [00:30:21] Speaker B: She also gets friendlier with Kael, who is essentially Julius Debord to a fascist royal family. [00:30:29] Speaker A: Yes. [00:30:31] Speaker B: Except I like Julius. [00:30:33] Speaker A: Yes. [00:30:33] Speaker B: So, okay. Yes. Pause. [00:30:38] Speaker A: I. I agree. [00:30:39] Speaker B: Do agree. Okay. So hate to see it that he's, you know, this for a fascist family. So. But she starts a flirtation with Dorian, who is very charming, but a little slippery. Special. Shout out to Knox, who I believe is a jewelry thief. Thief, who's a bright spot in the land of all these. I know. You just looked up Julius. I know. [00:31:05] Speaker A: First of all, I did not know that man even had. [00:31:07] Speaker B: I know. I know. I looked it up. [00:31:10] Speaker A: What is he, Creole? What's going on? [00:31:12] Speaker B: French Also, I was like, Is it Deboer Debois? [00:31:20] Speaker A: I think it's deboer. [00:31:21] Speaker B: Deboer. [00:31:21] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:31:22] Speaker B: Deboer Tavor. Anyway, Julius, for those of you who don't know who we're talking about, we were talking about Beyonce's beloved longtime security. [00:31:33] Speaker A: Guard, who is a mountain of a man. [00:31:36] Speaker B: A mountain of a man. And she should be married to him. But we're gonna get into. We're not gonna get into this. [00:31:41] Speaker A: That's all right. [00:31:42] Speaker B: Okay, so I knew you would die. Special. Shout out to Knox, the jewelry thief. Whatever. So, okay, so what happens is People start dying and it becomes. [00:31:54] Speaker A: People are dying. [00:31:55] Speaker B: People are dying. It's like very, very, like, brutally. Right. Like being ripped in half. [00:32:02] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:32:03] Speaker B: It becomes clear that there's some sort of monster doing it. So Selina finds out that there is a secret passageway underneath the castle where she runs into a ghost queen named Elena who tells her to get rid of. She has to get rid of all the evil in the castle. It's a whole thing anyway. [00:32:21] Speaker A: A tall order for 18. [00:32:23] Speaker B: Yeah. For an. I mean, yeah. But in my mind, she's still 25. So. Anyway, there's. Then there's this girl named Catlin, which I believe it's pronounced something else, but I. I just say Catlin. I have a cousin. Catlin. [00:32:36] Speaker A: Is it Catlin Caltain. [00:32:38] Speaker B: It's Calledane, but I pronounce it as Catlin. That. [00:32:40] Speaker A: Whatever. It's our world in here. You can do whatever you want. Lou. [00:32:44] Speaker B: So she's basically like kind of a heroin addict. Definitely opium addict. Yeah. So she wants Selena out of the way so she can get with Dorian. Turns out Catelyn and Kane are being manipulated by the King and his dirty henchmen Duke Barrington, who I see a little bit is like a J.D. vance, but perfect casting. [00:33:06] Speaker A: That's fine. [00:33:06] Speaker B: Yeah. So Kane has been. Summary. Summary that medicine needs to come on. [00:33:12] Speaker A: And kick on in. [00:33:15] Speaker B: I should have taken two. It's supposed to get rid of the physical symptoms of anxiety, which would include, like, not being able to speak. But doesn't. Apparently didn't do it. [00:33:31] Speaker A: It's like, I don't know. I can't. [00:33:32] Speaker B: Come on. Propranolol. So, okay, so. So Kane's been summarying them. [00:33:41] Speaker A: Not physical violence against Christian's like, good Lord. [00:33:50] Speaker B: I'm just gonna go with summering the monster. [00:33:52] Speaker A: Yeah. Summering the monster. [00:33:53] Speaker B: Summering the monster. And killing the champions. And Catelyn agrees to poison Selina in the final duel. So we get to the final duel. My baby nox escaped. [00:34:06] Speaker A: Escaped. [00:34:07] Speaker B: Escaped. Before the final duel. Thank God. [00:34:09] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:34:10] Speaker B: Just got out of there. [00:34:11] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:34:11] Speaker B: Great. But Catelyn poisons Selena. See, I'm going slowly. But Catelyn poisons Selina before her final competition. [00:34:20] Speaker A: Yeah. And all hell breaks loose. Literally. [00:34:22] Speaker B: Literally. So now all of a sudden, we're in the middle of the 1992 video game Mortal Kombat. Or at least what I imagine it to be never actually played. [00:34:32] Speaker A: I could tell you a little bit about. I haven't played it, but I am a fan of the film films. [00:34:36] Speaker B: Oh, okay. Okay, good. [00:34:37] Speaker A: Are you a fan of the Films, Christian. I don't think I've ever seen any of them. All right. [00:34:41] Speaker B: Was Keanu Reeves in one of them? No. [00:34:43] Speaker A: Okay. [00:34:44] Speaker B: For some reason I thought he was. [00:34:45] Speaker A: But it would be a Keanu Reeves film. [00:34:48] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But they were good, or. [00:34:50] Speaker A: No, you know, if you're just sitting around with a dad like I had in the 90s who likes films like that. [00:34:58] Speaker B: Right. [00:34:59] Speaker A: You enjoy yourself. [00:35:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:35:00] Speaker A: Yeah, you enjoy yourself. Great. Are you expecting it to win an award or to remember any of these actors beyond when the VHS tape wraps up? No. [00:35:10] Speaker B: No VHS tape. Oh, my God. How many films were there? [00:35:14] Speaker A: I think there was a 90s film, and then there's been maybe, like, two other films since then. I know that there was one recently as, like. As recently as, like, 2018. 2019. [00:35:23] Speaker B: The remakes are big right now. Yeah. [00:35:25] Speaker A: But I don't know that the Mortal Kombat remake was that big, honestly. [00:35:29] Speaker B: Okay. [00:35:29] Speaker A: But I do remember I never played the video games, but I do remember kids in the neighborhood playing the video games, and I liked watching it. Them play the video games. [00:35:35] Speaker B: My brother. Yeah. My brother played it. I. Yeah. Kind of spaced out when they were playing video games, but yeah. Okay, so it's like Mortal Kombat. There's a lot of blood, a couple of dislocated joints. Both Selena suffered, and a whole bunch of demons flying about, as you were saying. So, like, hell came out of nowhere, and all of a sudden we're in the middle of hell. [00:35:59] Speaker A: As is my everyday. [00:36:01] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. As is September 2, 2025. But I mean, honestly, it's pretty confusing. But what isn't confusing is that Celaena is saved by both super cool Nehemia and the ghost Queen Elena. [00:36:16] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:36:18] Speaker B: Kael kills Cain, Selina and Dorian break up, and she signs a contract to be the fascist king's assassin. And that's where we are at the end. [00:36:28] Speaker A: I love that. [00:36:29] Speaker B: What do you think? [00:36:30] Speaker A: No notes? [00:36:31] Speaker B: No notes. No notes. [00:36:32] Speaker A: Just to package that up. And that's the tip. Hope you enjoyed. [00:36:36] Speaker B: I hope you enjoyed it. [00:36:37] Speaker A: We don't have to do anything else. More than that. [00:36:38] Speaker B: I hope you left home satisfied. [00:36:40] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. I love that. That's great. Okay. What were your overall thoughts on the book? [00:36:48] Speaker B: Loved it. [00:36:49] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:36:49] Speaker B: Loved it. I mean, and I mean, obviously, it was like. You just know it was Sarah. Like, you were reading it and you were like, this is sjm. [00:36:58] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:36:59] Speaker B: It was clear that it was like the early works. [00:37:01] Speaker A: The early works. [00:37:02] Speaker B: The earliest work. Right. Because, like, we talked about, like, her books are so intricate and complicated and, like, There are just so many, like, Easter eggs and so many things to keep track of, which I love, because, honestly, it's. For me, that's reading like, a. Nonfiction. [00:37:21] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:37:21] Speaker B: You know what I mean? Like, that's. I have to rem. It's good for your memory and your attention. We'll talk about that another time. [00:37:28] Speaker A: Yes. [00:37:29] Speaker B: Okay. But here we go. [00:37:30] Speaker A: So. [00:37:30] Speaker B: Yes. Loved it, though. [00:37:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:37:32] Speaker B: What did you think? [00:37:32] Speaker A: I loved it. I had a really good time with it. Yes. I would agree with you that it felt like Sarah J. Ma because of, like, the fun of the adventure of the book. [00:37:41] Speaker B: Right. [00:37:41] Speaker A: She has such a great knack of writing, like, fun characters. And I just felt like we were moving very quickly. Like, the story moved quickly, which I like the pacing of the book. What I notice is, like, if you read this book, knowing how early on it was published versus, like, things that she published in time as she went on, and maybe it's just a matter of just, like, how this story goes, but, like, there wasn't as intricate of, like, world building. Like, you've got one setting and, like, maybe a couple places within that one setting. It's not all. You know, there's other lands and stuff that are mentioned, but you never really see them. So, like, you as a reader aren't having to keep up with, like, the tax code of Crescent City as you do in those books. Do you know what I mean? But yet, still, it was very. A very enjoyable book. I really like the fact that it was a little bit of, like, a mystery of, like, a whodunit mixed with, like, a horror. Like, kind of gore, kind of, you know, at times, very comedic story. [00:38:40] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [00:38:42] Speaker A: Obviously we set this up as a Romanasy podcast, but there was not any sort of, you know, romance or smut to be found in this book. So if anybody tells you that there is, they're lying. [00:38:54] Speaker B: Yeah. Like, it. Like a little bit of a slow burn, but also not really. [00:38:59] Speaker A: Not really. [00:39:00] Speaker B: It's just not the focal point. [00:39:01] Speaker A: No. Just a little bit like, girl, can we move past this? I really don't want to do this. [00:39:05] Speaker B: I know. You know what I read that was super, super cool? Is that she. So, you know, Acotar, we'll get into that. But, like, was based, like, kind of started as, like, a Beauty and the Beast, a little bit like a modern. So this was like Cinderella. It was supposed to be Cinderella, but, you know, because of the ball, whatever. And so. But apparently she was like, wouldn't it be cool to write a book? And she must have been 16. About like an assassin. Like Cinderella is an assassin and she wants to kill the person. So I was like, okay, I love it. [00:39:38] Speaker A: Love her, love that. [00:39:40] Speaker B: God, I would love to meet a 16 year old. Sarah. [00:39:42] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:39:42] Speaker B: And just be like, teach me how to be. [00:39:44] Speaker A: You know, as I read these books, what I think a lot about is like, it would be. I would be an insufferable friend of hers. [00:39:50] Speaker B: Oh, my God. [00:39:51] Speaker A: I feel like I'd just be sitting there sometimes and then something would cross my mind and I would look at her and be like, you bitch. Because I'd be like, is this what this means? And if she didn't tell me or she just like walked away or something, it would be. It'd be relationship. [00:40:05] Speaker B: No, it'd be like, what are you doing with that? Bonus chapter of Azrael. [00:40:08] Speaker A: What the fuck? What's going on? [00:40:10] Speaker B: I know, I know. [00:40:11] Speaker A: Where are you taking us? [00:40:12] Speaker B: Get away from me. [00:40:13] Speaker A: Yeah, don't talk to me. I don't care about this. Okay, so lots of loves it. Love it and leaves it for me. [00:40:20] Speaker B: Yes, yes, yes. [00:40:22] Speaker A: You hit that nail on the head in just the tip. But a big love it for me was strong women and the power of female friendship. [00:40:30] Speaker B: Yes. [00:40:30] Speaker A: So you talked about Selena. I loved to. I love that she was an unsufferable character. [00:40:37] Speaker B: Yes. [00:40:37] Speaker A: Number one. Like, yes. Through it, through it all, regardless of like men kind of coming after her, talking about how beautiful she was, whatever. [00:40:43] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:40:44] Speaker A: She never didn't care. She didn't care. She was like, at the end of the day, I gotta get a check. So this is gonna work out. Love you. Thank you so much. I hope we can remain friends and like, didn't care anything about it, which I appreciated. I thought it was just so funny though that, like, you get to know her, you know, she's got this mysterious and tragic background and you learn more about that just in like kind of hints throughout the story. Yeah, but you know, she survived that she's become, you know, a world renowned assassin. Like, literally, people far and wide know her name and shiver in their boots and you know, captured and sent to this mining camp to work as a slave, all by the ripe age of 18. [00:41:23] Speaker B: Love it. Love it. I mean, I don't know how that's possible, but I mean, I guess Sarah J. Maas was writing this at 16. [00:41:31] Speaker A: Yeah. So she's like 18, is like an adult old. Yeah. Sorry, it's my purse. Okay. What I think is interesting and I want to know more about is that, you know, she has magical gifts that have been. Seems like laying dormant. So we'll see how those manifest going forward. Nemia, a true friend seems to sense them. But also with Selena, the girl can craft a weapon out of damn near everything. [00:41:55] Speaker B: Love that. [00:41:56] Speaker A: I love a resourceful woman. [00:41:58] Speaker B: Yes. The sewing kit. [00:41:59] Speaker A: The sewing kit. [00:42:00] Speaker B: She's like, the soap. Let me put the. The needles in the soap. And there we go. [00:42:03] Speaker A: She's like, you know what? All I need is this billiar. We could make it. We could make it work. [00:42:07] Speaker B: And she could. She is. [00:42:09] Speaker A: She was MacGyvering the hell out of everything. [00:42:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:42:12] Speaker A: Nehemia, my beautiful black princess. Love her, love her, love her, love her. Obviously, as you said, she is studying abroad. [00:42:22] Speaker B: Yeah. Right. [00:42:23] Speaker A: Against her will. Against her will. And you know, I love the relationship that she and Selena have like fast friends. Love that she dabbles in forbidden magic and spell castings. And I love that she smells great. It's described Lotus blossom. I'm like, y. Here's my girl being moisturized. [00:42:39] Speaker B: Uh huh. Multiple times that. Yeah. Yeah. [00:42:41] Speaker A: In this kingdom. She's probably like, these people don't know what the fuck's going on. [00:42:45] Speaker B: Oh my God. You know what? I will say I also loved that staff. In the end. That was kind of bad. [00:42:50] Speaker A: Absolutely. She's like, let's do it. Smack them around with the staff. And it was effective. It was very effective. I have to say that this relationship between Selena and Nehemiah reminds me of the Disney film the Color of Friendship. Do you know what I'm talking about? [00:43:05] Speaker B: No. [00:43:06] Speaker A: It's a Disney original film released in the year 2000. And it's based on a true story. And here's a little bit of how it goes. In 1977, two girls from opposite sides of the world come together and change each other's lives. Young white Mari Bo lives in apartheid South Africa with her wealthy family. Piper Dellums, the daughter of a black U.S. congressman in Washington D.C. prepares to welcome Mai to the U.S. for a semester abroad. [00:43:32] Speaker B: This is very specific. [00:43:33] Speaker A: Mari is surprised to find her host family's and Piper's son. That Mavray is white. Each will have to question the assumptions she had. It's got 100% on rotten tomatoes. [00:43:42] Speaker B: Really? I gotta watch that. [00:43:43] Speaker A: The Color of Friendship. [00:43:44] Speaker B: When was it? What year? [00:43:45] Speaker A: The year 2000. [00:43:47] Speaker B: Oh my God. Okay. [00:43:48] Speaker A: Lots of lessons to be learned about friendship. Looking beyond color and cross cultural connections. Good. [00:43:55] Speaker B: I love it. [00:43:56] Speaker A: And this book gave me the same vibe, honestly. [00:43:58] Speaker B: She might have read that. That would have been two years earlier when she started. [00:44:01] Speaker A: Yes, I'M inspired. [00:44:03] Speaker B: I love it. Love it. Gotta watch out. [00:44:05] Speaker A: We can create a world like this in my books. Let's see. I. What I did not like about their friendship, though, was that Selena was very quick to think that Nehemia was trying to kill everybody. And I was like, sister. [00:44:19] Speaker B: Yeah, hold up. She did not give her the benefit of the doubt at all. [00:44:22] Speaker A: And I'm like, we should do a little exploring there. [00:44:24] Speaker B: What are you doing? Yeah. Yeah. [00:44:26] Speaker A: What are you doing there? [00:44:27] Speaker B: I know. She. I mean, she really. He was like, yeah, he's gonna. She's gonna kill Dorian and Kayla. Like, immediately went to it, man. [00:44:34] Speaker A: Immediately went to believe women. I know, but believe women? I'm like, not you. Not you accuse it. Not you accuse of this girl being violent. I hated it. Elena being a long dead queen. Love that. Again, very. Can connect with her. Her legacy was overshadowed by her husband's. Like, there at the end, people were talking about, like, all the things that she did, all of her accomplishments. Nobody knows about it because all anybody wants to talk about is her husband's accomplishments. [00:45:03] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, I know. Like, she was. She was there and she was controlling things. Yeah. [00:45:08] Speaker A: You know what I hate? She had to fight in life. And she's still fighting in the afterlife. [00:45:12] Speaker B: Afterlife. [00:45:13] Speaker A: She can't rest in peace. [00:45:14] Speaker B: God. She's like. She shows up and she's like, okay, I have to go. I have to go. What's going on? [00:45:20] Speaker A: What's going on over there in that realm? [00:45:24] Speaker B: Is he bothering you? [00:45:25] Speaker A: Do we ever know paradise? And then finally, Philippa Spindlehead, the personal servant assigned to Sarah support Selena. Very take no shit type of vibe. I want more of her. [00:45:38] Speaker B: You know what? And with the Cinderella thing, I'm like, maybe she's a fair. She's a Fae. I could see that. [00:45:44] Speaker A: I love that. [00:45:45] Speaker B: Yep. [00:45:45] Speaker A: Put a pin in it. [00:45:46] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:45:46] Speaker A: Put a pin in that. [00:45:47] Speaker B: She's watching after her. [00:45:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:45:49] Speaker B: Now are you. Because I'm gonna. I'm gonna include a couple things. More things about Selena. And you know what? I love the girl. Eats a lot. [00:45:56] Speaker A: God bless. [00:45:57] Speaker B: You know, she's like, oh, I'm not even hungry. But then eats a whole. Whole chocolate cake and half a Dorian's. Loved it. [00:46:03] Speaker A: Me on the Tuesday. [00:46:04] Speaker B: Loved it. Dogs love her. [00:46:07] Speaker A: Dogs love her. [00:46:08] Speaker B: Dogs. Yeah. So she. Good vibes. Yeah. She's funny and sarcastic. But I put. Of average height. [00:46:16] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:46:17] Speaker B: And yeah. Love it. What else did I have? Something. But yeah, that was b. And then. Yeah, Elena was great. [00:46:26] Speaker A: Yeah. All the females, with the exception of Caltaine, she Sucked. She will have a redemption arc, though, because she got set up. And I'll talk about this later because she's in my. Leave it. But I do think that she's redeemable. [00:46:40] Speaker B: Okay. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's basically it. Like, I agree. It was like all of the female friendships, all the female characters besides Catelyn. Yeah, yeah. [00:46:51] Speaker A: Very strong. Strong A Leave it. You want to know what my first leave it is? [00:46:55] Speaker B: Let's hear it. [00:46:56] Speaker A: You're. I mean, you're. I'm basically telegraphing my passes at this point. [00:47:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:47:00] Speaker A: Weak men who think they're made strong through the use of brunt force and murderous rage. [00:47:04] Speaker B: Yeah. Don't hate it. [00:47:05] Speaker A: And. And cheating the system, honestly. Because here's the thing. You completely go come in here and you wipe out magic, but it's still okay for you to use. [00:47:14] Speaker B: Oh, I hate that. Yep. [00:47:16] Speaker A: Don't talk to me. [00:47:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:47:17] Speaker A: Okay. We got to talk about the. The king. [00:47:22] Speaker B: Yes. [00:47:22] Speaker A: Hate him. [00:47:23] Speaker B: Hate him. [00:47:24] Speaker A: I have to call out the fact that Sarah J. Moss, the queen, that she is. The mind that she has. The fact that she names his sword not hung. I know. [00:47:33] Speaker B: Okay. Is that how you. Cuz I pronounce it. Nothing. I screamed so, like, nothing. I was thinking like nothing, but that makes sense. [00:47:40] Speaker A: Not hung. [00:47:41] Speaker B: Oh, I love that. [00:47:42] Speaker A: I'm like, thank you for. For giving. Like, we already knew it was giving. A small dick energy. [00:47:47] Speaker B: Yes. [00:47:48] Speaker A: But thank you for confirming through the use of that name. [00:47:51] Speaker B: Love it. [00:47:51] Speaker A: Not hung. [00:47:52] Speaker B: Oh, my God, that's great. [00:47:53] Speaker A: I love it. Band magic, but using it. Typical hypocrisy. You know who in. In our day and age is doing that shit? Duke Parrington. Little bitch. That's my note here. [00:48:02] Speaker B: Yes. Little bitch. That's all. Yeah. [00:48:04] Speaker A: And then the Duke's champion, Kane. We're. [00:48:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:48:09] Speaker A: The worst. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I, you know, I. I really need to understand what all was going on with him and why he kept getting bigger and whose, like, power and strength he was getting, but. [00:48:21] Speaker B: It's very weird. Yeah. I mean, it's like there was a whole thing with like the. The, you know, if you either smoke opium or like, are poisoned or whatever, you can see all the darkness around him. So there was something like that. Yeah. But he was definitely being manipulated. [00:48:38] Speaker A: He was being manipulated. It's very, very sad. But, yeah, the. The men. I'm not. I'm not. [00:48:43] Speaker B: The men. Yeah. [00:48:44] Speaker A: Those men in particular. I love the championship. I love the tournament. [00:48:49] Speaker B: Loved it. Yep. [00:48:51] Speaker A: You know, I love a trial or a multitask situation. [00:48:54] Speaker B: I do too. [00:48:55] Speaker A: Yeah. And this was reminiscent a bit to me of. I think it came out that same year or maybe the. The year after. But the Hunger Games. Oh, especially the archery test when she like killed. Kills the archery test. But it reminded me of when Jennifer Lawrence's character of Katniss Everdeen is preparing for the Games in the Hunger Games and she stands up in front of a group of like, these wealthy donors. And the whole idea is that, like before the Games, they basically have to show their skills so that wealthy donors whose kids don't have to compete in the paper Games give them money and sponsorships to get materials to survive in the actual game. Okay. [00:49:36] Speaker B: Okay. [00:49:36] Speaker A: And so she's just fed up with the whole whole, like, system. And she goes in there and they're not even paying attention to her, actually. And so she takes her arrow and spears it precisely through the. The wealthy donors cocktail hour to get their attention, leaving them stunned and knowing that she's not to be with which. [00:49:53] Speaker B: Love it. [00:49:54] Speaker A: I. It was very reminiscent of that character. So I loved. I love a tournament. This one was weird because it was just like finger painting and. [00:50:02] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was like. Oh, like telling. You know, like detecting poisons. And I did love the fact that like she obviously was gonna like beat everyone, but then. But Kale was like, you gotta hold, you know, hold back so that people don't know who you are. [00:50:19] Speaker A: But I did find it interesting. Like, as she went along, she like, secretly made allies with some of the other contestants. Knox and the other guy who with the poisons, Pelor. [00:50:32] Speaker B: No, was that. [00:50:33] Speaker A: I don't know who. Which one that was. And is he safe? [00:50:35] Speaker B: I don't know. I. I mean, I hope he like. I hope he didn't go back to the salt mine prison. [00:50:41] Speaker A: I hope not either. He deserves better. I know, because he like tipped her off. He was like, sister, don't. Don't put that one first. [00:50:47] Speaker B: I know. I loved that. Yeah. [00:50:50] Speaker A: Let's see here. I'm gonna tell you. I'll leave it for me. Is playing around with black magic. I just. In life, it's not even in this book. But I don't mess with demons. [00:51:02] Speaker B: No, me neither. [00:51:03] Speaker A: I don't play around with shit that I have no business playing around with. And you want to know in this book, when Selina happens upon Kain conjuring that evil monster, basically, who's killing the other champions. It was giving your friend pulling out a Ouija board at a sixth grade sleepover and you being like, I Need to go home. [00:51:27] Speaker B: I was so afraid of those because I. I was. You know, I'm susceptible. [00:51:33] Speaker A: You're like, it's gonna haunt me. [00:51:34] Speaker B: They pick me, and they're like, we're gonna. [00:51:36] Speaker A: Yeah. You know, I'm gonna be attached to you forever. [00:51:38] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:51:39] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:51:39] Speaker B: But I. My niece actually mentioned the other day, Bloody Mary. [00:51:44] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:51:45] Speaker B: And I was like, that hasn't gone anywhere. [00:51:47] Speaker A: No. These kids. No. Even when I was little, I would not play that. [00:51:53] Speaker B: Yeah. Would not look in the mirror. [00:51:54] Speaker A: No. [00:51:55] Speaker B: What was it like? Don't look in the mirror when it's dark or something. [00:51:57] Speaker A: Or it's like going into a bathroom the way we play. Well, I didn't play it, but you do it. Or the rules, as I understood it back in the 90s was like going in a bathroom, turning off all the lights and looking in the mirror and saying. Saying it three times and she would appear. [00:52:12] Speaker B: Okay, question, Christian. Was this just girls, or did you guys also talk about it with boys? [00:52:19] Speaker A: Yeah, we talked about it, for sure. [00:52:20] Speaker B: You did? [00:52:20] Speaker A: Yeah. That was. I don't know if it was like. No, people did it. Yeah, people look in the mirror and do it. I'm sure I did it. I've got two younger sisters, and I'm sure the three of us tried it a hundred times. Yeah, no, it was pretty common. Yeah. [00:52:32] Speaker B: Interesting. I was just wondering if it was, like, just a girl thing. Yeah, I guess. Yeah. [00:52:35] Speaker A: We would also do light as a feather, stiff at the board. It was giving that as well. [00:52:39] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. For sure. [00:52:41] Speaker A: We also did cat scratch. I don't know if you ever did cat scratch. No, but basically it was, like, laying on the floor, and like, there's this, like, there is a prompt basically, that is given over your body as you're laying on the ground, and it's basically talking about, like, these scratches that end up on your back, and then you roll over and they're scratch across your back. Yeah. I experienced that one with my friend Katie and her older sister Kelly back in seventh grade. Oh, my God. [00:53:09] Speaker B: Katie and Kelly. Those are classic 90s. [00:53:11] Speaker A: Loves it. Loves it. And. And their older brother, who was very cute, named Kenny, of course. [00:53:15] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, Kenneth. Yep. That's a problem. Those K's, the three Ks. That's a problem. [00:53:21] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:53:21] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:53:22] Speaker A: Never quite realized that. [00:53:24] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've seen it done, and I don't like it. [00:53:28] Speaker A: I've seen all I need to see here. Thank you so much. But, yeah, essentially it just people messing around with that. They have no business messing around. [00:53:36] Speaker B: Yeah. I Mean, you never know. You never know if we are, like. And right now we are in hell. [00:53:43] Speaker A: So somebody's open a portal somewhere. [00:53:46] Speaker B: I mean, honestly, at this point, it's like, you need to relieve the pressure. Right. Open it. [00:53:51] Speaker A: Let them out. [00:53:53] Speaker B: Release the tension. [00:53:54] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's something I generally hate, but definitely hated in this book. [00:54:00] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, I will say we talked about this before. I did. Leave it for me, is the way periods were handled. [00:54:06] Speaker A: You hated it. [00:54:07] Speaker B: Hated it. So she had her period and she, you know, God bless. Philippa was getting her some tea and just, you know, trying to. Yeah. Taking care of her. Kale comes in. He's like, trying to ask her out on a date, which is very weird. [00:54:22] Speaker A: It didn't, like, get over the finish line. [00:54:24] Speaker B: I mean. Yeah. And it was like, where did that come from? You've said you hated it, but anyway, it was very confusing. And then she tried to be like, kale. Kale. And he just kept talking. [00:54:36] Speaker A: What's going on? [00:54:37] Speaker B: What's going on? So he just kept talking, kept talking. And he's like, I. I don't. You know, I know you're an assassin, but whatever. And then she vomited all over the floor as. As you. She was very, very ill because she had her period. [00:54:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:54:52] Speaker B: And there. I doubt there was such a thing as Midol or ibuprofen at that point. [00:54:56] Speaker A: No. Or my favorite, a leave. [00:54:58] Speaker B: No leave. A leave is good. Y. Yeah. [00:55:00] Speaker A: A leave goes straight to the bloodstream. [00:55:03] Speaker B: You know, my dad one time asked me, he goes, are you still overdosing on ibuprofen? Ibuprofen. Because my mom in. In high school, she will deny this, but she was like, you take four of those things. [00:55:14] Speaker A: Oh, my God. Not. Not Beth with munch houses. [00:55:21] Speaker B: Oh, Beth. She did not want to deal with my pain. So, anyway, so. So then he, like, as awkward and runs out of the room like he's disgusted. Shabamus on the floor. And then runs out of the room. So Dorian comes in, like, what the fuck is happening? Why don't they just leave her alone? [00:55:39] Speaker A: The revolving doors of these two friends. I can't. I. I got a note on that. [00:55:42] Speaker B: I mean, come on. So anyway, he calls. He comes in. He calls it a condition with excellent or not, like, quotation marks around it. She says. She tells him, I'm in agony and I don't want to be bothered. And he says, it can't be that bad. [00:56:00] Speaker A: I cough. [00:56:00] Speaker B: You look fine to me. You should be honored by my company. And she literally, like, over and over again is like, no, Dorian, I'm sick. [00:56:10] Speaker A: Not the emphasis on Dorian. Yeah. [00:56:15] Speaker B: And so. And he's like, let's play a game. And she's like, dude, get the fuck out of here right now. I'm drinking my tea. [00:56:22] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:56:23] Speaker B: So that's. That was one leave it. The other one. And we've talked about this before, the way they talk about and treat dogs. [00:56:30] Speaker A: Big, leave it for me. [00:56:31] Speaker B: Big, leave it. But also, like, on that same. SO one, there was a quote. One of my bitches gave birth to a litter of mongrels. [00:56:38] Speaker A: Yep. Yep. [00:56:40] Speaker B: And they're going to kill the dog. [00:56:42] Speaker A: And. [00:56:42] Speaker B: And also, I didn't like all the talk about breeding. Good breeding. [00:56:45] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, as a follow up to that exact quote, he continues to go on to say, before they were too young to tell, but now. Well, I'd hoped for purebred. [00:56:54] Speaker B: I fucking hate it. [00:56:55] Speaker A: Not eugenics. [00:56:56] Speaker B: Not eugenics. And then they would talk about ladies as. That. That lady isn't purebred. [00:57:02] Speaker A: No. Yeah. He goes. He hoped the pups would be pure, but their mother had a tendency to escape from her pen. She was his fastest, but he never been able to quell the wildness in her. [00:57:13] Speaker B: I hate it. [00:57:14] Speaker A: Oh, it was. I. I was over it. I really wasn't a big Dorian fan anyway, but I was like, no, no, he was. [00:57:22] Speaker B: Yeah, he. I mean, it was like, poor little Dorian, you know? Like, he just gets so bored with his royal duty. Yeah. [00:57:29] Speaker A: I'm like, okay. [00:57:30] Speaker B: Like, off. [00:57:30] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't have time for it. And that is a really good segue into another leave it of mine is that I don't like being given the choice of two main male characters and not wanting either. [00:57:41] Speaker B: Not one in either of them. No, no, that's true. That's true. [00:57:43] Speaker A: Neither. [00:57:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:57:45] Speaker A: I said earlier, early in the book, Captain Kale was described as not. Was. As being not excessively handsome. [00:57:53] Speaker B: What do we do with that? [00:57:54] Speaker A: Where do I go? [00:57:55] Speaker B: I mean, that was like literally all. And then he has brown hair. [00:57:58] Speaker A: I'm like, does he look like a monster? [00:58:01] Speaker B: I know, I know. [00:58:02] Speaker A: Dorian's described as achingly handsome. Now, to their credit, they both look to read. [00:58:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:58:08] Speaker A: And appear to be literate. I mean, I think at one point, Dorian writes a handwritten note, which. The bar is so low, but I'm like, yes. [00:58:14] Speaker B: Yeah, I know. Finally. Seriously? Yeah. [00:58:19] Speaker A: I don't know. They were both a little bit of a dud, and I don't know how this is going to evolve, but I'm not thrilled with either outcome. I actually want to remix it a little bit and have Knox come back into this. [00:58:31] Speaker B: Me too. Yeah. [00:58:32] Speaker A: Because I think that they could be a dream. [00:58:34] Speaker B: I think they could. [00:58:34] Speaker A: A thief and an assassin. [00:58:35] Speaker B: Yeah. Love it. He was very witty. [00:58:38] Speaker A: We need that. [00:58:39] Speaker B: He was like, very supportive. He was like, oh, I didn't know. Wow, you're an assassin. He's like, very cool. Yeah. Admiring her, you know. It was great. [00:58:48] Speaker A: Yeah. He had a little swag to him. In a good way. [00:58:50] Speaker B: He really did. [00:58:50] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:58:51] Speaker B: Yeah. But he was also described as like, not great looking. [00:58:54] Speaker A: Yeah. Which I don't understand what's going on. Give me something. [00:58:59] Speaker B: It was very. And then like, basically Dorian was like, like Prince Eric from Little Mermaid. Like, nothing interesting. [00:59:06] Speaker A: No. So not interesting at all. [00:59:08] Speaker B: Yeah. Didn't love it. [00:59:10] Speaker A: I gotta say, I loved one thing Sarah J. Maas loves. She loves portals. She loves gates. [00:59:15] Speaker B: Yeah, she does. [00:59:16] Speaker A: She loves jumping through time and space. [00:59:18] Speaker B: Yeah. She loves secret languages. Yeah. Like little. Yeah. Yeah. [00:59:21] Speaker A: And that's what was in this book too. So I'm excited to see a little bit more of that. [00:59:25] Speaker B: That, you know, that that's like. There's something. Yeah, yeah. Something going on over there. [00:59:29] Speaker A: Yeah. Because. And we'll get to this a little bit because I want to talk through some Easter eggs that I think were great. Let's see. A few will wrap. To wrap this up for me. A few hated slavery, indentured servitude and essentially genocide of magical creatures. Hate that. No. And then again, Kaltane, our girl, the least girls. Girl of the girls, being the most desperate. Pick me of pick me's. Now if you don't know the definition of a Pick me is a slang term, usually a derogatory label for a person that, you know, basically seeks male attention and approval by acting in a way that is perceived as different from other women, sometimes by denigrating them. [01:00:11] Speaker B: So gonna hate it. Yeah. [01:00:12] Speaker A: That's a big meme. Yeah. So loves to smoke. She loves her opium. Whatever helps to take the edge off when you are trying to ascend to power by any means necessary, I guess. But I thought that her headaches are very interesting. I think that she can see things when she's on opium. Like that was very clear. But again, ultimately betrayed by her fiance. There's a little. You know, I felt vindicated whenever that happened. But I do have a glimmer of hope for her that she's going to turn good because she's been. She's been hurt by me. [01:00:48] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, and it works in her favor that she was like, always high. Because it's like, maybe she is not a bad person. [01:00:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:00:54] Speaker B: You know what I mean? [01:00:54] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:00:55] Speaker B: Like, she was just being manipulated. [01:00:56] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:00:57] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't know. [01:00:58] Speaker A: We'll see. I can't, like, say that for a fact, that that's gonna be everything that happens, but, you know, whatever. [01:01:05] Speaker B: Well, I was thinking, I wonder if this is an Anastasia situation. [01:01:09] Speaker A: And by Anastasia, dancing bears, painted wings. [01:01:15] Speaker B: What was the other song? Life is a. Oh, my God. My brother and I would listen to, like, wear that Discman out meanwhile, while. [01:01:24] Speaker A: That family's, like, dead in the shallow. [01:01:26] Speaker B: I know in real life, but this is like. So Anastasia was, like, the tsar's daughter or something. Right. But then, like, she had to, like, escape. So that's what I think is going on with Selena, is that, like, she was royalty. Like, her parents were royalty of some kind, and the fascist king, I don't know, took over the land and killed them. [01:01:52] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:01:52] Speaker B: So I don't know. [01:01:53] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay. Early in the book, they're walking through this mystical forest called Oakwald. And. Oh, yeah, it was. They mentioned that at one time it was a forest that was full of fairies and Fae, the original inhabitants and settlers of the continent and the oldest beings in that land. And so I'm curious if this is a callback to the lands we know now as Acotar. So it's playing a little bit of, like, time travel. Like, where is this in the Sarah J. Maas verse timeline? Do you know what I'm saying? But I thought that that was really interesting. And knowing now that our girl, like I said, loves a portal. She loves it a time jump. She loves a. You know, what is it? She just loves moving from one place to another. I'm curious if there's anything to that. I also wanted to call this out so early on, when they are bringing Elena back from the salt mine, when they pull her out of work, Dorian. And they go to sleep in the woods on their way back to the glass castle. [01:03:01] Speaker B: Okay. [01:03:02] Speaker A: Dorian mentions that his dream, he sees Elena staring up at the stars. And it just very specifically says that Dorian's dreams that night were haunted by an image that basically, it said, still, the image haunted his dreams throughout the night. A lovely girl gazing at the stars. And the stars who gaze back, which feels very much like. To the stars who listen. And the dreams that are answered in Acotar. So somebody's connected somewhere, and I need to understand how exactly. [01:03:31] Speaker B: And here's the thing. Here's what's crazy is I know we read Acotar first. And we'll get to that. But she wrote this first. You know what I mean? Like, this would be. Acotar would be off of this. But it is really interesting. Like, that's very specific language. Language that I think is. Yeah, it's an Easter egg. [01:03:48] Speaker A: It's like very much stars speaking to. [01:03:50] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah. [01:03:53] Speaker A: The Chrysalis Demon from Crescent City is very much the Riddle Rat Rack film for sure. Or film in this book. I also told you this. In the hidden passages of the Glass castle, Selena mentions how the air seems to smell like roses. [01:04:09] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [01:04:10] Speaker A: And in the chamber where Elena and her husband. The king's sarcophagi lay. [01:04:15] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:04:16] Speaker A: She describes that the floor is covered in stars, raised carvings that mirrored the night sky. [01:04:21] Speaker B: Yeah. It was like an upside down. Right. Yeah. [01:04:24] Speaker A: So I need to understand what's going on because I told you when it smelled like roses, I'm like, is this the old Spring court? Was. [01:04:30] Speaker B: Oh, and they did talk about. There's rumor that there's a second library deep under the castle. [01:04:37] Speaker A: Yes. [01:04:38] Speaker B: So that would make sense that there's some kind of. Wow. [01:04:41] Speaker A: Inversion. [01:04:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:04:44] Speaker A: Interestingly also, again, talking about time travel. On the sarcophagi, it reads ah times Rift. And it appears the figures on them have pointed ears. To which. Selina says that no Fae had married into the Havillar. The Havillard, which is Dorian. You know that Dorian. And his father, the King and the Prince. The current royal family's line. So no Fae had married into the royal line for a thousand years and there had only been one. And she was a half breed at that. So who was the half breed Fae that at one time had married into this royal family? [01:05:18] Speaker B: You know what I want to say. I'm. I'm a little bit worried that this is a clueless situation because apparently Dorian doesn't look like either of his parents because he's got blue eyes and they all both have brown eyes, which is not possible, by the way. [01:05:35] Speaker A: But for this biology lesson where you have to deal. [01:05:38] Speaker B: Yeah. But anyway, I. So I don't know. And Elena has like those same eyes. Elena, the Queen. So I'm like, are they like, somehow related? That would be tough. Tough to swallow because they've already made out. [01:05:56] Speaker A: Oh, God, help me. Not this not cousins kissing situation. Hate that. Okay, we already know this. The demons that showed up in the final trial to torment and eventually kill Selena were a lot like the demons from hell. H E L that tormented our characters in Crescent City in that first book. [01:06:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:06:19] Speaker A: And when they show Up. Selena describes them as. By saying all around her were whispering, laughing, otherworldly voices. They called to her, but called a different name, a dangerous name, which. What was that? [01:06:29] Speaker B: Yeah, we haven't. We haven't found that yet. But I will say I think I know it. [01:06:34] Speaker A: Okay. [01:06:35] Speaker B: Because I read a spoiler. [01:06:36] Speaker A: Oh, damn. Okay. [01:06:37] Speaker B: But it's nothing. I mean, it's not. It's basically like reading that. Then, you know, oh, there is another name. [01:06:44] Speaker A: There is another name. [01:06:45] Speaker B: Right? And, like, the whole thing about names like. Like Nehemia named her Ellen. Tia. [01:06:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:06:51] Speaker B: So there is something. And she's like, you know, we. We have many names or whatever. So there. [01:06:56] Speaker A: I love that. [01:06:57] Speaker B: Something with that. [01:06:58] Speaker A: Great. Yeah. Yeah. Constant mention of everyone's eye color. Dorian's sapphire eyes, Knox's gray eyes. She said doing that for a reason. I need to understand. [01:07:06] Speaker B: Oh, for sure. She does everything for a reason. [01:07:09] Speaker A: And then. Oh, I thought this was interesting. So there is a mention of master scholars smuggling. Smuggling sacred texts away from lands that were pillaged by King Andarlin. So Dorian's dad. And it feels very reminiscent of Jesiba and her ilk saving books from the Asteri. I originally wrote the Atari in Crescent City. [01:07:31] Speaker B: The video game company Atari, you know. [01:07:33] Speaker A: The one the Japanese stealing books from them. But, yeah, that gave it. That reminded me of that storyline City. [01:07:43] Speaker B: Okay. [01:07:43] Speaker A: So I'm interested to know if there's any connection there. [01:07:46] Speaker B: I mean, the. The other things that I found were when Kale was, like, holding out his hand and she made a comment that far inside of her, she found a golden chain that bound them together. [01:07:58] Speaker A: Are they. Are they bonding? [01:07:59] Speaker B: I think maybe. I know. He's boring. I hope he gets better. He manhandles her. [01:08:05] Speaker A: Yeah, he does. He does. [01:08:07] Speaker B: It's not great. It's not great. And even when he was, like, trying to be sweet to be like, come on, Selena, you need to get up. He was like, get up. [01:08:15] Speaker A: You know what that is? That's like how boys act in high school when you're 16. [01:08:18] Speaker B: You know that's true. Because also, the way that she and Dorian flirtat is, like, very high school. You know, it's like, oh, you know, I'll see you in your room. Okay, see you tonight. Like, you know what I mean? Like. [01:08:30] Speaker A: Which is no different from how you flirt, right? Oh. Oh. [01:08:35] Speaker B: Anyway, the other one is Elena said blood ties can't be broken in reference to her, so I think they're going to be somehow related. [01:08:45] Speaker A: Say that again. [01:08:46] Speaker B: Okay. So Selena was like, oh, thank you for Saving my life. Life. And Elena the queen was like, blood ties can't be broken. [01:08:56] Speaker A: Okay, so they are. [01:08:57] Speaker B: So I think there's something there. So that makes me think that they are all related. There's gonna be a cousin situation. [01:09:05] Speaker A: I'm stressed. [01:09:06] Speaker B: I'm stressed out, but that's basically all I had. Yeah. [01:09:11] Speaker A: Okay. [01:09:11] Speaker B: And oh, last thing, she heard the king's voice for the first time in the book and said, oh, it sounds like I've heard that before before. [01:09:20] Speaker A: Okay. [01:09:21] Speaker B: It's a voice I sound like. So I. I don't know. I think it's going to be an Anastasia situation. [01:09:26] Speaker A: Okay, well, there's probably people that are going to listen to this and be like, you dumbasses. That's not any. None of that connects. [01:09:33] Speaker B: No, no, it's like, what? You're delusional. I will say though, I just was thinking about the Anastasia situation, but there's no Demetrius. [01:09:41] Speaker A: And what. What a sad world that is. [01:09:43] Speaker B: Who? [01:09:44] Speaker A: Who? Demetrius didn't have a job. No, he was grifting and my nine year old self was like, he's got potential. [01:09:54] Speaker B: Yeah. He's like, I don't have the money to pay the rent this month. [01:09:58] Speaker A: And she's like, don't worry about it. I'm a princess. [01:10:02] Speaker B: I can't. I really can't. [01:10:04] Speaker A: Okay, well, are we ready to play a little game? [01:10:07] Speaker B: Absolutely. [01:10:08] Speaker A: Well, first of all, Jillian, who's your champion? And this week, Jillian and I are dusting off our butterfly clips and low rise jeans for a late 90s Cosmo style quiz. [01:10:23] Speaker B: Love it. [01:10:24] Speaker A: Do you think you know who would fight for your heart? [01:10:26] Speaker B: I don't know. Honestly, I don't want any of them to do that. [01:10:30] Speaker A: Well, this quiz is about to reveal the type of champion that matches our vibe. The one who'd stand at our side in the arena when our battles and maybe steal a few kisses along the way if we're unlucky. [01:10:42] Speaker B: Oh my God. Yeah. Can you believe? [01:10:44] Speaker A: Okay, so this going to be a fun quiz. [01:10:46] Speaker B: Okay. [01:10:47] Speaker A: Okay. What's your go to drink? Order a mug of black coffee so strong it would wake the dead. No syrups, no sprinkles, just liquid determination in a cup. A glass of velvety red wine, preferably served with candlelight gossip and someone who knows how to flirt properly. Or a flaming shot that makes everyone at the bar go ooh. While you grin like you absolutely came here to cause Trouble. [01:11:16] Speaker B: Oh, no. A. A. Yeah, a. That's got to be kale, right? [01:11:21] Speaker A: Okay, great. I'm doing. I'm gonna Do? I'm gonna do a glass of velvety red wine served with kindling and someone who knows. Okay. [01:11:32] Speaker B: I miss these quizzes. [01:11:33] Speaker A: Yeah, me too. Which song best fits your crush mood? Something with bass that rattles your bones and lyrics that scream we're either falling in love or starting a bar fight. [01:11:43] Speaker B: Love the song. Love it. [01:11:46] Speaker A: A fizzy, fun pop anthem that makes you want to grab their hand and spin in the middle of the dance floor. Or a soulful ballad that could play over slow dance in a rainy courtyard. All trust, yearning, and careful emotion. [01:11:59] Speaker B: You know what? I'm gonna go for it. Guess what I'm gonna go for? [01:12:02] Speaker A: You're gonna do the pop anthem. [01:12:04] Speaker B: I'm gonna do C. I'm gonna do the third. You know, I love a ballad. [01:12:08] Speaker A: You do a. Love a ballad. [01:12:09] Speaker B: I love a ballad. [01:12:11] Speaker A: Yes. I love that. [01:12:13] Speaker B: Let's see. [01:12:14] Speaker A: I'm gonna do a pop anthem. [01:12:16] Speaker B: Good. [01:12:17] Speaker A: Okay, you're at a party. Where do we find you? I know where to find you. [01:12:21] Speaker B: Yeah, in the bathroom with the dog. [01:12:25] Speaker A: In the middle of the dance floor, hair flying, drink in hand, pulling strangers into your personal music video. [01:12:30] Speaker B: Oh, hell no. [01:12:31] Speaker A: Your vibe is pure life. In the party. No, at the bar, back turned to the crowd, radiating don't approach me energy, which of course, only makes people approach you faster. Or leaning against the wall, deep in heart to hearts with one person while ignoring the chaos around you. You didn't come here to mingle. You came here for quality time. Time. [01:12:50] Speaker B: What do you think? You're back to the crowd, except nobody is coming. [01:12:57] Speaker A: They are coming. I'm putting you down. Okay, great. [01:13:00] Speaker B: What are you. [01:13:01] Speaker A: I'm gonna do leaning against the wall, talking to somebody. [01:13:04] Speaker B: Good. [01:13:05] Speaker A: Okay. What kind of compliment melts you? Somebody saying you're the only person I trust with my life. No safety is sexy. Every time you walk in, it feels like the whole room lights up. You know, flattery, drama, and sparkle. Yes, please. You're terrifying, and I love it. If it doesn't come with a little fear, is it even worth it? [01:13:26] Speaker B: You know what? I don't know. But I am going to say I want to be the last one. [01:13:31] Speaker A: You're going to be the last? [01:13:32] Speaker B: Yeah. I want to be the last one. [01:13:33] Speaker A: You're terrifying, and I love it. What am I going to do? You know, I'm going to go. You're the only person I trust with my life. Because I know I'm about to get some good tea. [01:13:45] Speaker B: Do it. Good tea or good d. Not good de. [01:13:50] Speaker A: Somebody says that I'm going to be Like, I'm never going to see this person. [01:13:52] Speaker B: No. No. [01:13:54] Speaker A: You know, then I'm going to go with two. Every time you walk in, it feels like the whole room. [01:13:58] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [01:13:59] Speaker A: Okay, the jealousy test. Someone flirts with your crush right in front of you. What's your reaction? You slip into the conversation, crack the funniest line of the night and steal your crush back. With charisma, you physically insert yourself, stand toe to toe and make it crystal clear who runs the show. End of story. Or you cross your arms, observe silently, and wait for your partner to prove their loyalty. Patience is your power move. [01:14:24] Speaker B: I'm going to go with A. Okay, I'm all over the map here. [01:14:27] Speaker A: I love it. [01:14:29] Speaker B: What are you. Definitely not B. [01:14:32] Speaker A: Slipping into the conversation. [01:14:34] Speaker B: Wait, like, physically B is. Yeah. [01:14:38] Speaker A: Move out the way. You. [01:14:40] Speaker B: No, not me. Yeah. [01:14:43] Speaker A: You know, I'm probably gonna agree with you. I'm gonna probably do one, too. I'd be so pissed. You better figure it out. [01:14:49] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [01:14:50] Speaker A: Okay. What's your ideal weekend vibe? Is it brunch with bottomless mimosas, thrifting, wandering bookstores, and an impulsive road trip before sunset? Is it full on competition, arm wrestling, strangers betting money you don't have been there, Ending the night victorious and slightly bruised? Or is it an early morning run or sparring session followed by collapsing in a chair with a book? Bonus points if nobody bothers you. [01:15:13] Speaker B: Last one. [01:15:14] Speaker A: Okay. [01:15:15] Speaker B: 100% love that. [01:15:19] Speaker A: The morning after test. Okay. [01:15:21] Speaker B: Oh, wait. What are you. For the. Oh, wait. [01:15:22] Speaker A: Sorry. Yeah. What am I? My ideal. I'm doing two. I'm sorry. I'm doing brunch with bottomless women. [01:15:29] Speaker B: I know. I was gonna say. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Arm wrestling. [01:15:34] Speaker A: I've done it. [01:15:35] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:15:36] Speaker A: No longer my life. [01:15:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:15:37] Speaker A: Okay. The morning after test. Okay. So you wake up after a wild night. What's the first thing you want? Another round of whatever just happened. Who needs sleep when the adrenaline's still pumping? Breakfast in bed, Someone feeding you strawberries while you recount last night's best stories? Or coffee silence and a moment to gather yourself before the chaos resumes. [01:15:58] Speaker B: I mean, I guess, too, a breakfast in bed silence freaks me out. Yeah. [01:16:03] Speaker A: Okay. I'm gonna do coffee silence in a moment. [01:16:07] Speaker B: Together. [01:16:10] Speaker A: Okay. Which color draws you in most Forest greens and earthy browns. Grounded shades that feel like coming home. Shimmering royal blues and decades golds. Glamorous tones that scream main character. Or jet black and blood red. High drama shades that basically come with their own warning label. [01:16:29] Speaker B: I'm gonna go with a.4 screens. Yeah. [01:16:32] Speaker A: Yeah. That gives. That gives you. I'm gonna agree. Okay. How do you react when someone flirts with you? Is it you meet their eyes, toss back something witty, and leave them wondering if they're the only, only one you've charmed like that. Spoiler, they're not. You smirk, lean in way too close, and dare them to keep going. It's not flirting. It's a challenge. Or you laugh nervously, turn pink, and replay it in your head later like it was the Olympics of flirting. [01:17:05] Speaker B: Oh, come on. What do you think it is? [01:17:07] Speaker A: It's going to be. It's going to be the last one. [01:17:09] Speaker B: For both of us. I can, like, smell. Do you remember in, like, the Cosmo, they would have this, like, perfume? [01:17:16] Speaker A: Oh, God. Yeah, yeah, yeah. [01:17:18] Speaker B: It was the best. [01:17:19] Speaker A: And I just Clinique happy. [01:17:22] Speaker B: Yes. [01:17:22] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay. How do you want your romance novel to end? Is it going to be a chaotic, jaw dropping finale that leaves everyone gasping? Wait, that's how it ends? You love a little carnage and you're happily ever after with fireworks, grand gestures, dramatic kisses in the rain, and a final line so romantic it belongs in the movie theater. Or a hard earned bittersweet happily ever after where loyalty and sacrifice win the day. You like your love stories earned. [01:17:51] Speaker B: I mean, I guess the third one. [01:17:54] Speaker A: Okay, I love that. I'm gonna do. I'm gonna do three. Oh, well, no, I'm sorry. I'm gonna do number one. A chaotic, jaw dropping, gasping finale that leaves everyone gasping. Oh, it's gonna be. She chooses to be alone after all that. Okay. Hullabaloo. Yeah, all that hullabaloo. Okay, so we are going to tally the the scores now. Hope that's the right word that I used. So. Okay, I'm like. [01:18:26] Speaker B: I, like, don't know which one is which. I mean, I do know that they're. It's. The second one is Dorian. [01:18:32] Speaker A: I, I, I was switching it around for you. [01:18:34] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [01:18:36] Speaker A: Because I didn't want, like, to do it in the order every time. Do you know what I mean? So I had to keep you on your toes. Okay. [01:18:44] Speaker B: Dorian, really? [01:18:46] Speaker A: The golden charmer. Playful, clever, and oh, so romantic. Dorian is the one who turns every moment into a fairy tale. He'll make you laugh, laugh until your cheeks hurt, kiss you until the world fades away and all, and still find ways to surprise you. With him, love feels like magic. Because it is. Okay? Your love life vibe. You're a hopeless romantic with a playful streak. You adore witty banter, spontaneous adventures, and kisses that feel like magic. You want a Partner who can make you laugh and make your knees weak. Basically, you don't want just sparks. You want fireworks. This is the same blue that you would find in a coffee. [01:19:24] Speaker B: For sure. [01:19:24] Speaker A: For sure. [01:19:25] Speaker B: Who would. Who would the. The guys be? [01:19:28] Speaker A: Okay, hold on. Let me. Let me calculate. [01:19:30] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [01:19:31] Speaker A: Okay, so I'll be really quick with this. Okay, so you already know it was Dorian Y. The golden G. The. Let's see the bachelors we didn't choose. Yeah, let's see the champions we didn't choose. [01:19:44] Speaker B: What are they? [01:19:45] Speaker A: Kale, the steady flame. He made a sweep you off your feet with flashy gestures. [01:19:50] Speaker B: Hell, no, he doesn't. [01:19:51] Speaker A: But Kale is your fortress. Strong, protective, and boring to the bone. Sorry. It didn't say boring. It says loyal. With him, love is steady, safe, and built to last. He's the man who guards your heart as fiercely as he guards the crown. Your love life vibe. You crave devotion over drama. You want someone who shows up for you no matter what, the one you can lean on when the world gets messy. You fall for loyalty, not flash. Some might call you cautious, but in truth, you know a lasting fire burns slow and steady. [01:20:20] Speaker B: You know, I don't like these messages because it me. It's like, yeah, he's a strong man, but he can also pinch you and drag you from the floor. On the floor. Hate it. [01:20:29] Speaker A: And then finally, let's bring on our other contestant. [01:20:32] Speaker B: Who? [01:20:33] Speaker A: Our other champion. [01:20:34] Speaker B: Who? [01:20:34] Speaker A: Kane. The forbidden obsession. Really dark, dangerous, utterly magnetic. You know he's bad news, but that's half the thrill. Kane doesn't do halfway. He consumes. He challenges, and he tempts. Your story together might be chaotic, messy even reckless, but it'll be unforgettable. Your love life vibe if you were to get Kane. You live for intensity. Safe and predictable. Please. You crave passion that keeps you guessing, temptation that makes your pulse race, and chemistry that could burn the whole place down. [01:21:04] Speaker B: Honestly, no. He gives the pte. [01:21:06] Speaker A: Really was giving that. Some might say you're playing with fire, but you're not afraid to get scorched. I'd like to say we like our boys with a little blend. [01:21:14] Speaker B: A little blend? Yeah. [01:21:16] Speaker A: Safe, charismatic, and a little dangerous. [01:21:19] Speaker B: Not aggressive. [01:21:20] Speaker A: No. [01:21:21] Speaker B: Yeah. Not pinching. [01:21:22] Speaker A: You know, when I was young and I would take these quizzes, and it would be like, you know, high level, like, what does your crush say think about you? Kind of quizzes, right? I would take it, and if I didn't get the results I wanted, I would go back and I would change my. I Would change myself to fit the. The results that were gonna make me desirable. [01:21:40] Speaker B: Yeah. Always. To Heath Ledger. That was always my. Yeah, yeah, that's great. I didn't want. I don't want Adrian Grenier from the Melissa Joan Hart movie. [01:21:50] Speaker A: That was a bad option. [01:21:51] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, I mean, compared to Heath Ledger. [01:21:53] Speaker A: I know. You know, I have. I have found an adoration for Heath Ledger more in the years since he's been gone. I'm like, yeah, we lost. Lost a good one with that one. God bless. [01:22:04] Speaker B: Somehow Mary Kate Olsen was tangled up in that. [01:22:07] Speaker A: Yeah. Where is she all right. I hope she's all right. [01:22:11] Speaker B: Wait, one thing. I was thinking. Should we do book boyfriends or. No. This week. [01:22:16] Speaker A: Do you have a book boyfriend? [01:22:18] Speaker B: I'll say. Morgan Spector. [01:22:20] Speaker A: Okay. [01:22:20] Speaker B: From the gilded age. Love him. [01:22:22] Speaker A: Okay. [01:22:23] Speaker B: Yeah. What about you? [01:22:24] Speaker A: What's he doing that's like, you know, got your. [01:22:26] Speaker B: He's just. He loves his wife. I mean, he just is like. He's like a railroad tycoon. [01:22:33] Speaker A: Are we talking about the actor? Are we talking about the character? Both. He loves his wife and my pantaloon. [01:22:41] Speaker B: Scott. [01:22:42] Speaker A: Loving it. [01:22:43] Speaker B: Oh, my God, the bar is low. [01:22:46] Speaker A: I love it. [01:22:47] Speaker B: Who else? I was thinking of somebody else. [01:22:50] Speaker A: I'm gonna say Wes Moore, the governor of Maryland. [01:22:52] Speaker B: Love it. [01:22:53] Speaker A: Who's like, you're not coming up in here. [01:22:56] Speaker B: No. [01:22:56] Speaker A: If you don't know my streets, if you don't know my cities, Keep my name out of your mouth. [01:23:01] Speaker B: JB Pritzker. Not Brandon Johnson, though. Sorry, Brandon. Yeah. You know, I will say is not a book boyfriend. Andrew Garfield without a beard. Have you seen it? [01:23:11] Speaker A: I don't know that I've gone. I've looked into it. [01:23:14] Speaker B: You know, I'll say book boyfriend. Christian McCann. Christian McCann for serving us our fridge cigarettes. Yeah. Diet Cokes. Yeah. [01:23:22] Speaker A: Yeah. I'm flattered. Yeah. You're. You're. Forever. You're an evergreen forever. [01:23:27] Speaker B: Yes. Evergreen Boyfriend Pine. Yes. [01:23:31] Speaker A: Sturdy and strong. Dependable. You know, he's there. I love it. I love it. All right, well, I think that does it for today's show. [01:23:40] Speaker B: I guess so. [01:23:41] Speaker A: Is that it? [01:23:41] Speaker B: I think so. Let's go eat. [01:23:42] Speaker A: Oh, my God. [01:23:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:23:43] Speaker A: You know. All right, well, thank you, you all, for tuning in. And remember, if you're feeling the vibe, rate and subscribe, please. [01:23:51] Speaker B: As always, thank you to our evergreen Christian McAn. McAn Christian for keeping. I really needed another. [01:24:02] Speaker A: A shout out to that. [01:24:03] Speaker B: Yes. Shout out to that. Yeah. For keeping our sound in check. And to the illustrious Lincoln Lodge in Chicago, Illinois, for letting us do our thing. Until next time. Bye. Bye.