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Book Club: Queens of Geek · Stuff Mom Never Told You

0:05
Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and welcome to Stephane.
0:07
Speaker 1: Never told your production of I Heart Radio. So for
0:19
Speaker 1: Disability Pride Month, we wanted to do a book about
0:21
Speaker 1: someone with a disability, and we also want to do
0:24
Speaker 1: something a bit lighter than we normally cover because the
0:26
Speaker 1: news has been so heavy lately. So we're covering a
0:30
Speaker 1: gin wild book, Queens of geek Um, which is the
0:34
Speaker 1: super heartwarming coming of age young adult love story set
0:38
Speaker 1: at a NERD convention. I couldn't really I don't know
0:41
Speaker 1: exactly how to describe it NERD conventions when I came
0:44
Speaker 1: up with this. It's essentially comic con. But like I
0:46
Speaker 1: was gonna say't comic talked about fully today? Okay, and
0:50
Speaker 1: I have seen it her at Dragon Con well, because
0:53
Speaker 1: I've been to comic con. Um, this seems like a
0:58
Speaker 1: maybe I'm wrong, This seems like a comic con on steroids.
1:02
Speaker 1: It seems like comic con selative meets south by Southwest.
1:07
Speaker 1: That's what Comic Con was, dragon Con on steroids and
1:11
Speaker 1: Dragon Con is. Okay, here's my opinion, and I'm gonna
1:15
Speaker 1: already caveat this. You're gonna get a lot of personal
1:17
Speaker 1: stories from me. Throughout this one because it was like
1:20
Speaker 1: speaking to me and I have a lot of it.
1:22
Speaker 1: This was Annie encompassed as a young adult novel. Um. Yeah,
1:30
Speaker 1: So in my opinion, and I know not everyone will
1:33
Speaker 1: necessarily agree, Dragon Coron is more about like fans and cosplay.
1:38
Speaker 1: Comic Con is much more um commercial, so it's got
1:42
Speaker 1: like bigger usually has bigger names, like bigger announcements. Companies
1:47
Speaker 1: do big announcement like there's the a zombie maze in
1:52
Speaker 1: this one. Um, there was something like that when I went.
1:56
Speaker 1: But the weight is like four hour, like everything to
1:58
Speaker 1: do is like four a five hour await. It's just
2:02
Speaker 1: they do talk about that in the book. They do.
2:04
Speaker 1: They do indeed, and they got their special passes so
2:07
Speaker 1: they got to go up to the couple of things. Yes, yes,
2:12
Speaker 1: and you get it right okay, oh yeah, I've got
2:14
Speaker 1: to get it right. I gotta get it right. Yeah.
2:16
Speaker 1: I mean, because it's closest to Comic Con. But maybe
2:19
Speaker 1: it's just because my experience at Comic Con, I didn't
2:20
Speaker 1: get to do most of this stuff. Maybe that's why
2:22
Speaker 1: I was kind of like, so your experience would have
2:24
Speaker 1: been if you had a love interest, you could have
2:28
Speaker 1: been Taylor, because Taylor just pretty much waited the entire
2:32
Speaker 1: time and then had an experience with the contest, which
2:35
Speaker 1: would be your experience. I feel like maybe I'm wrong.
2:39
Speaker 1: So and they just stood in line and or flirted
2:43
Speaker 1: with their best friends. Oh yes, oh yes, yeah, I definitely.
2:48
Speaker 1: As I said, there were so many things where I
2:51
Speaker 1: was like, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah. But also
2:53
Speaker 1: this is a very it's a nice read because it's like,
2:56
Speaker 1: it's very very sweet, and that's very lovely, like things
3:00
Speaker 1: turn out well. But there are, you know, obviously, certain
3:03
Speaker 1: things where I was like, no, it does a word.
3:07
Speaker 1: I was so traumatized that I did not expect this
3:11
Speaker 1: to have a heavy ending. It was nice heavy ending. Everybody,
3:17
Speaker 1: Um yeah, and it's it's very it's a very quick
3:20
Speaker 1: and easy read. And it features characters with disabilities, people
3:24
Speaker 1: who are queer, when of color, and diverse body types.
3:28
Speaker 1: And originally the author, Jim Wilde, started posting fan fiction
3:32
Speaker 1: on what Pad in twelve and you can still find
3:35
Speaker 1: this story, I think, And here's a quote from the
3:38
Speaker 1: author to all the what patterns out there, thank you,
3:40
Speaker 1: thank you, thank you. When I posted my first story
3:43
Speaker 1: to wa Pad in twelve, I had no idea it
3:45
Speaker 1: would lead to this, but it's safe to say I
3:47
Speaker 1: wouldn't be here without you. Your excitement over the imaginary
3:50
Speaker 1: worlds I write about gave me the courage to pursue
3:52
Speaker 1: writing as a career. I wish I could hook each
3:54
Speaker 1: and every one of you. And I sent this to
3:57
Speaker 1: Samantha beforehand in the best way, pass full, because I've
4:00
Speaker 1: read amazing fan fiction. When I was treating this, I
4:02
Speaker 1: was like, I wonder if this is a fan fiction
4:07
Speaker 1: obviously like that she would definitely know what that is.
4:09
Speaker 1: And then her love for a famous character, fictional famous character,
4:14
Speaker 1: and here I feel like she knows this love, this love.
4:19
Speaker 1: So while this bisexual, autistic and has anxiety as well
4:23
Speaker 1: as a nerd, and a lot of that informed her writing,
4:27
Speaker 1: and especially the character of Taylor and so obvious, I'm
4:30
Speaker 1: guessing as she's gotten more famous, she understands the character
4:33
Speaker 1: of Charlie a little more, especially how she feels like
4:36
Speaker 1: connected to the fans, which you don't always hear. So
4:39
Speaker 1: that's interesting to me. So in a Q and A
4:41
Speaker 1: about writing this book, Wild says, quote, I was angry
4:44
Speaker 1: with the constant sexism, racism, able is um, homophobia, and
4:48
Speaker 1: general bigotry I had witnessed both in my life and
4:50
Speaker 1: online as an autistic, bisexual girl with anxiety. I was
4:54
Speaker 1: angry that people like me were either represented in media
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Speaker 1: as burdens or the butt of a joke, and that
5:00
Speaker 1: if we're represented at all, I was angry that society
5:03
Speaker 1: wants to put me in a box or stereotyping and
5:05
Speaker 1: my friends. And I'm still angry about all that. Just
5:08
Speaker 1: like Taylor, I have trouble verbally expressing my emotions, so
5:11
Speaker 1: I deal with it the best way I know how writing.
5:14
Speaker 1: And yeah, it's that very like she put that feeling
5:17
Speaker 1: on the book for these characters, for sure, Yes, yes, indeed,
5:21
Speaker 1: And I really really enjoyed it, and it reignited my
5:25
Speaker 1: my desire to read fan Girl and the resulting fan
5:29
Speaker 1: fiction novels. She wrote about the fan fiction in fan Girl,
5:34
Speaker 1: which we talked about in her fan Fiction episode. Okay, yeah, yeah, okay,
5:38
Speaker 1: so that might be a summer read for me. But okay,
5:42
Speaker 1: let's talk about the plot. This book follows a group
5:44
Speaker 1: of three friends during one weekend at Supercon, which they
5:48
Speaker 1: call their Holy Grail of Conventions, which she essentially Comic Con,
5:53
Speaker 1: but more The friends in question are Taylor, Charlie, and Jamie,
5:56
Speaker 1: who are about to graduate high school in Australia, and
5:59
Speaker 1: it has an alternating p O V structure between Taylor
6:02
Speaker 1: and Charlie. Taylor is autistic, anxious, and quote curvy and
6:07
Speaker 1: a huge fan of the Queen Firestone series, while Charlie
6:11
Speaker 1: is a Chinese Australian content creator and actor who recently
6:14
Speaker 1: had a big break in a movie UM and also
6:16
Speaker 1: a very public breakup with her co star Reese Ryan
6:19
Speaker 1: after he cheated on her and humulated her UM. She
6:22
Speaker 1: is signed on to be in the sequel of her
6:25
Speaker 1: breakout film, Although Rising, which is a zombie film, and
6:28
Speaker 1: through that she got all of them passes to Supercon
6:33
Speaker 1: which Supercon is in l A, by the way, and
6:35
Speaker 1: the friends, all of whom are planning on moving to
6:38
Speaker 1: l A after graduating, traveled to the US for the convention.
6:41
Speaker 1: While the atmosphere overwhelms her, Taylor is determined to meet
6:45
Speaker 1: her hero, Skyler Atkins, who wrote the Queens of Firestone
6:49
Speaker 1: books that transformed Taylor's life and helped her deal with
6:52
Speaker 1: her anxiety and undiagnosed autism. She was recently diagnosed when
6:56
Speaker 1: the book was written. UM. She proudly her self made
7:00
Speaker 1: cosplay and waits a line to meet Skyler, believing that
7:03
Speaker 1: if she can do this, if she can meet her,
7:05
Speaker 1: she can do anything. But Skyler has to leave abruptly devastated.
7:09
Speaker 1: Her best friend and very obvious crush, Jamie tries to
7:12
Speaker 1: convince her to enter a sort of Biggest Fan contest
7:16
Speaker 1: where the prize is hanging out with Skyler and going
7:18
Speaker 1: to the after party with her, and also the premier
7:21
Speaker 1: um of the next movie, but Taylor has a panic
7:23
Speaker 1: attack at just the thought of it. Meanwhile, Charlie is
7:26
Speaker 1: doing a lot of publicity and learns from our publicist
7:29
Speaker 1: Mandy that her ex is coming to Supergne when he
7:31
Speaker 1: wasn't originally supposed to, and the studio wants her to
7:34
Speaker 1: pretend they are back together. Charlie refuses, but agrees to
7:37
Speaker 1: pretend they're on good terms. She meets the creator and
7:40
Speaker 1: actors she's long idealized, named Alyssa, and there's an immediate
7:44
Speaker 1: spot between them. They have lunch problems to do a
7:47
Speaker 1: YouTube collapse together yes Um. Taylor and Jamie explore the
7:51
Speaker 1: convention and Jamie runs into a girl she'd met waiting
7:54
Speaker 1: in line to see skyler named Josie, and Josie shows
7:57
Speaker 1: her the comic that she made about an autistic Superhue
8:00
Speaker 1: Euro and they have a very vulnerable moment together and
8:02
Speaker 1: Jessie really inspires Taylor UM and Taylor, by the way,
8:05
Speaker 1: is posting about her experience on Tumblr this whole time. UM.
8:09
Speaker 1: Taylor joins a group of Queen Firestone Cause players and
8:12
Speaker 1: meets Britanna, who convinces her to participate in the Ultimate
8:15
Speaker 1: Fan Competition. Charlie and Alyssa do their collab together and
8:20
Speaker 1: end up kissing at the end. UM. Charlie says she's
8:24
Speaker 1: going to edit that bit out, and Alyssa asked Charlie
8:26
Speaker 1: out to dinner. Charlie agrees, but because she's scarred by
8:29
Speaker 1: the very public nature of her relationship and break up
8:32
Speaker 1: with Reese UM, the fans shipped them as Chase and
8:35
Speaker 1: pretty much everyone keeps asking Charlie if they're going to
8:37
Speaker 1: get back together. Charlie wants to have their date privately.
8:41
Speaker 1: Alyssa is hurt by this, not wanting to be a secret,
8:44
Speaker 1: but ultimately agrees after Charlie explains, and she takes Charlie
8:47
Speaker 1: to the closed con Arcade where they play games have
8:51
Speaker 1: a picnic make out, and then go back to the
8:53
Speaker 1: hotel to have sex. Um later we find out that
8:56
Speaker 1: Alissa's ex girlfriend wouldn't go public with her even after
8:59
Speaker 1: almost two years, pretended like she didn't know Alyssa when
9:02
Speaker 1: they saw each other for the first time at a
9:04
Speaker 1: friend's funeral after they broke up, UM and she was
9:07
Speaker 1: with another woman. Um also listens super into stand in Astronauts. Yeah,
9:12
Speaker 1: you know, I am very confused. And maybe it's because
9:16
Speaker 1: at that point I didn't understand. I don't know why.
9:18
Speaker 1: I don't think they have a descriptor of Alyssa. I'm
9:21
Speaker 1: guessing she's a black character. Was that the reason why
9:26
Speaker 1: the ex girlfriend was trying to hide her because obviously
9:30
Speaker 1: she wasn't afraid to come out as gay because she
9:33
Speaker 1: had a girlfriend and still didn't acknowledge her at that point.
9:36
Speaker 1: Who was famous at this point? Right, Yes, I believe.
9:39
Speaker 1: So I was very confused. Yeah, I'm not sure. I'm
9:43
Speaker 1: not sure it could be anyway. This is one of
9:45
Speaker 1: the small whole great book. I just was confused by that.
9:49
Speaker 1: Uh So, Taylor almost backs out of the first part
9:51
Speaker 1: of the Supervan Contest, which is the cosplay contest, but Brianna,
9:56
Speaker 1: the woman she met earlier, promises her they'll stick together. Um.
10:00
Speaker 1: Taylor misses her mark of what makes the final cut
10:02
Speaker 1: to the second part of the competition, the trivia contest,
10:05
Speaker 1: as does Brianna. Charlie invites Taylor and Jamie to sort
10:09
Speaker 1: of oppress event at a zombie maze, and Charlie's movie
10:12
Speaker 1: was a zombie movie, which I didn't realize until later
10:15
Speaker 1: on either. I was like, oh, okay, um with Reese
10:19
Speaker 1: and Charlie and Reese have a fight while Taylor and
10:21
Speaker 1: Jabie kiss and make out. However, Taylor panics and spirals
10:25
Speaker 1: thinking about what this means, was it a one time
10:28
Speaker 1: thing or she doesn't know how to be a girlfriend?
10:30
Speaker 1: And Charlie and her habit talk that laid to Taylor
10:33
Speaker 1: and Jabie reconciling and conversating and realizing, oh, this is
10:37
Speaker 1: what's happening, communicating and then kissing some more. And then
10:42
Speaker 1: Taylor goes to the trivia contest and overhears another contestant
10:45
Speaker 1: calling her Queen fat Stone, so she retreats to the bathroom,
10:49
Speaker 1: writes a tumbler post about it, and overhears Brianna having
10:52
Speaker 1: a panic attack and helps Brienna get through this panic attack,
10:56
Speaker 1: and Brianna reveals she had a stutter and is thinking
10:59
Speaker 1: of dropping out of the contest, and Taylor shares that
11:02
Speaker 1: she herself was terrified at the cosplay contest and would
11:05
Speaker 1: have left if not for Brianna. Both realized that perhaps
11:08
Speaker 1: confidence isn't what they think it is or doesn't look
11:11
Speaker 1: like they think it does, and go out to compete.
11:14
Speaker 1: It comes down to Brianna and Taylor, but Taylor gets
11:17
Speaker 1: tongue tied and Brianna wins um though both are very
11:19
Speaker 1: supportive each other supportive from I love that throughout the
11:24
Speaker 1: book because I really was on at the very beginning.
11:27
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, no, here we go. This girl's
11:29
Speaker 1: gonna be famous, and then she's gonna shun her friends,
11:33
Speaker 1: and then ever happens. But you know, within that scene,
11:35
Speaker 1: what I really loved is, yes, this girl, these two
11:38
Speaker 1: girls are talking about her, and one of the girls
11:40
Speaker 1: call her fat Stone. The other girl is mad and
11:43
Speaker 1: late and says, how dare you that is so mate
11:45
Speaker 1: and walks off. That is rare of a scene, and
11:48
Speaker 1: I like that she did it that way. They were
11:50
Speaker 1: so because we're so used to seeing Like I was
11:55
Speaker 1: ready for it, and it was like a relief, it
11:59
Speaker 1: really was. But yeah, it was genuinely quick scene and
12:02
Speaker 1: I know the focus was that she was called bad,
12:04
Speaker 1: but I love that part of the girl who's like
12:06
Speaker 1: not having it. She's like, you're me, why would you
12:09
Speaker 1: say that? And walk off and I'm like, wow, that's
12:12
Speaker 1: not how I saw that playing out. So nice wild um.
12:17
Speaker 1: While Charlie was watching the contest being supportive, and she
12:20
Speaker 1: found out Mandy Row had accidentally posted the unedited video
12:24
Speaker 1: of her and Alista kissing, and now the world knows
12:27
Speaker 1: and they're trending. Charlie has to go to a damage
12:30
Speaker 1: control meeting with Reese, who, by the way, has already
12:32
Speaker 1: insulted Taylor, insulted Charlie and then pushed Jamie sucker punched
12:37
Speaker 1: Jamie at a party earlier, and it's so over it.
12:42
Speaker 1: She tells Mandy that after this, she refuses to do
12:45
Speaker 1: any press with Reese anymore, and Mandy Mandy backs her
12:48
Speaker 1: up and gives her extra passes to the Supercon after
12:52
Speaker 1: party as a way of saying I'm sorry, And then
12:54
Speaker 1: Charlie goes to tell Alyssa what happened and they have
12:57
Speaker 1: a serious dtr do you know what. I love that
13:03
Speaker 1: DTR defining the relationship that leads Charlie confused and in tears. Yes,
13:09
Speaker 1: and then yeah, I know because I was writing this
13:11
Speaker 1: out and I was like, oh, I think I could
13:13
Speaker 1: use that term. Samantha taught me. Thank you. I'm learning,
13:17
Speaker 1: I'm learning. UM. Taylor and Jamie have a DTR of
13:21
Speaker 1: their own when they get second and elevator together, and
13:23
Speaker 1: they're both honest with their worries and hopes for the
13:25
Speaker 1: future and their relationship and their history. UM. They open
13:30
Speaker 1: up about what they love about each other, and Taylor
13:32
Speaker 1: describes her experience with autism and anxiety. They make out
13:35
Speaker 1: until the elevator starts working again. They reunite with Charlie,
13:39
Speaker 1: who reveals she's dealing with fear over her relationship with Alyssa,
13:43
Speaker 1: and Taylor gives her a pep talk. Charlie decides on
13:45
Speaker 1: a grand romantic gesture and at the after party plays
13:48
Speaker 1: the video, proving to Alyssa that she's serious and doesn't
13:51
Speaker 1: care what anyone else thinks. Alyssa runs to find her
13:54
Speaker 1: in the arcade and they make out some more, and
13:57
Speaker 1: then Brianna andwered uses Taylor to Skyler uh they're hero um.
14:04
Speaker 1: It was very kind and down to earth and blushes
14:07
Speaker 1: that Taylor's praise and Taylor is over the mir room.
14:10
Speaker 1: Taylor then introduced the Skyler to Jamie and Josie and
14:13
Speaker 1: later with Charlie an Alissa. They party till the sun
14:16
Speaker 1: rises and yeah, I do love that they and Wild
14:22
Speaker 1: ends it on Taylor doing a tumbler post and then
14:26
Speaker 1: it cuts it. This was a whole and I don't know,
14:41
Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about it, but it wasn't overall sweet.
14:44
Speaker 1: Take at something that I have had these moments and
14:48
Speaker 1: I don't know about you. I know, actually I do
14:50
Speaker 1: know about you, uh that like there are events that
14:53
Speaker 1: stick in your memory as being some of the best
14:56
Speaker 1: moments of your life and wishing that you could just
14:58
Speaker 1: hold onto it and rasp it forever. And then then
15:02
Speaker 1: ending in the photo booth taking all of these memorable
15:05
Speaker 1: pictures and memorable moments, but also having like Charlie and
15:09
Speaker 1: Taylor really honing on each other, because it also made
15:12
Speaker 1: me sad. I like, oh, would you'll leave? Hot school
15:17
Speaker 1: is everything? Especially if she goes on the startom, especially
15:20
Speaker 1: if Charlie goes onto her stardom, Like yeah, it's gonna
15:24
Speaker 1: change it is gonna change it. Yeah, And that was
15:27
Speaker 1: a big thing throughout the book. Um, and we are
15:30
Speaker 1: going to talk about that. But um, there were so
15:34
Speaker 1: many relatable things throughout this and one of them was, yeah,
15:38
Speaker 1: like when Taylor gets the convention, she's like, it's gonna
15:42
Speaker 1: be so fun. We're not gonna worry about anything. It's
15:44
Speaker 1: only going to be fun and trying so hard to
15:47
Speaker 1: make it fun. And then all of these things are
15:49
Speaker 1: like upsetting or don't go the way you think they
15:52
Speaker 1: do or yeah and all that, and it was I
15:55
Speaker 1: felt that very much, but it was lovely that in
15:58
Speaker 1: the end it worked out. It was right. It was
16:04
Speaker 1: nice to see that perfect little ending. But I feel like, again,
16:09
Speaker 1: there are those moments that will just like you have
16:12
Speaker 1: that emotion. You might not even remember everything that happened,
16:15
Speaker 1: you just know you have that heartwarming feeling about that time.
16:20
Speaker 1: And that's what this moment felt like, especially because it
16:22
Speaker 1: was like a week maybe span that they did all
16:25
Speaker 1: of these giant, lovely things that really cultivated the character.
16:30
Speaker 1: Love that Jamie's character was so kind and understanding. Also
16:34
Speaker 1: in my head, I'm like, huh, that's not always gonna happen.
16:36
Speaker 1: Either like I'm just such a negative person sometimes with this,
16:41
Speaker 1: but I think it was really sweet and it was
16:44
Speaker 1: it was nice, like, oh, this is a good y
16:46
Speaker 1: are like, there's definitely a lot of like hy A
16:49
Speaker 1: novels are dystopian and sad and tramatic that I'm like,
16:53
Speaker 1: this is good. This is good. It was good because,
16:57
Speaker 1: like I said, I had the same thing where I
16:59
Speaker 1: kept waiting for the like shoot to fall, the bad
17:02
Speaker 1: thing to happen, and there was plenty of like drama
17:05
Speaker 1: and things went wrong, but nothing ever went seriously wrong,
17:08
Speaker 1: and the friends like start together and we're supportive of
17:11
Speaker 1: each other, and it was very very nice. It was
17:17
Speaker 1: a good change from what we did. But I also
17:20
Speaker 1: like everything about it is her way of describing the
17:24
Speaker 1: anxiety and the autism, the mind, how her mind plays
17:29
Speaker 1: out during these times. I felt so relatable, too relatable.
17:32
Speaker 1: I feel like I've had these conversations when I talked
17:34
Speaker 1: to people about a d h D and all of
17:35
Speaker 1: these things, and I'm like, I need you to stop
17:38
Speaker 1: reading my mail, thank you very much, um, But yeah,
17:41
Speaker 1: like it was really an amazing perspective. I think she
17:43
Speaker 1: did it very realistically, felt right on. I did have
17:46
Speaker 1: a moment of panic at one of those chapters. I
17:49
Speaker 1: listened to this on audible. So, by the way, if
17:52
Speaker 1: you have a chance, I know reading the book is
17:54
Speaker 1: classic and I love it. But hearing them in like
17:59
Speaker 1: the with the all Australian accident and understanding where they're
18:01
Speaker 1: coming from, and then like the voices that they do,
18:04
Speaker 1: they found perfect characters. I felt like to really bring
18:07
Speaker 1: this to life in a different way than if I
18:09
Speaker 1: had just been reading it and hearing him the voices
18:10
Speaker 1: in my head. But like at one point where she
18:13
Speaker 1: was describing one of the things that she was going
18:16
Speaker 1: through in the packet forth, I almost had a panic
18:18
Speaker 1: attack myself because it was too real and to one
18:21
Speaker 1: point that I was like, okay, so I need you
18:25
Speaker 1: to stop doing that because I like my I was like,
18:28
Speaker 1: I'm starting to put me at the point that i
18:30
Speaker 1: can't breathe. I'm I'm gonna get to that point. Um.
18:32
Speaker 1: So it was a little too real, I will give
18:34
Speaker 1: you that. But that made it even better as as
18:39
Speaker 1: because when she calmed down, I calmed out with her,
18:42
Speaker 1: like like but oh that was a minute. Almost triggered
18:46
Speaker 1: me into having a little bit of an anxiety moment
18:48
Speaker 1: as too, but but like it was that on point
18:52
Speaker 1: in what she was saying and how she was describing
18:54
Speaker 1: it as well as like just being able to play
18:57
Speaker 1: it out, but also normalizing the relationship ships and normalizing
19:01
Speaker 1: um this having conversations with each other and try to
19:04
Speaker 1: walk through things instead of just in your head. Also, yeah,
19:09
Speaker 1: she does a great job and normalizing the cute romances
19:13
Speaker 1: that are happening without it feeling like it's you know, yeah, yeah, yeah,
19:22
Speaker 1: there's definitely As I said, they are the tumbler posts throughout,
19:26
Speaker 1: so there's a couple of different writing styles throughout. But
19:29
Speaker 1: when she does sort of her panic or anxiety moments,
19:33
Speaker 1: they are written sort of differently and they do take
19:35
Speaker 1: you out and they they make you feel it like, yeah,
19:40
Speaker 1: I had moments to you where I was like, wow,
19:42
Speaker 1: I'm really this sounds like something I've experienced. Um. Yes, yes,
19:47
Speaker 1: So we did want to read a quote from the
19:50
Speaker 1: book about that most people think of anxiety as panic attacks.
19:54
Speaker 1: That's not entirely accurate. I haven't had a panic attack
19:57
Speaker 1: in years. I started to recognize the signs and learned
19:59
Speaker 1: what I needed to do to stop it from spiraling.
20:02
Speaker 1: I learned how to internalize it to avoid public embarrassment.
20:05
Speaker 1: Anxiety is an attack that explodes out of me. It's
20:07
Speaker 1: not a volcano that lies dormant until it's triggered by
20:09
Speaker 1: an earth shattering event. It's a constant companion, like a
20:13
Speaker 1: blow fire that gets into the house in the middle
20:15
Speaker 1: of summer, flying around and around you. Hear it buzzing,
20:18
Speaker 1: but you can't see it, can't capture it, can't let
20:20
Speaker 1: it out. My anxiety is invisible to others, but often
20:23
Speaker 1: it's the focal point of my mind. Everything that happens
20:26
Speaker 1: on a day to day basis is filtered through a
20:28
Speaker 1: lens colored by anxiety. That nervousness that makes your palm
20:31
Speaker 1: sweat and your heart race before you get up and
20:33
Speaker 1: make a speech in front of an audience. That's what
20:35
Speaker 1: I feel in normal conversation at a dinner table. Are
20:38
Speaker 1: just thinking about having a conversation at a dinner table.
20:41
Speaker 1: Um and yeah, going on, And she says, everything feels
20:44
Speaker 1: like I'm on stage, a spotlight on me, all lies
20:46
Speaker 1: on me, watching judging like I'm one second away from
20:49
Speaker 1: total disaster. It's invisible, it's irrational, it's never ending. I
20:54
Speaker 1: could be standing there smiling and chatting like everything is
20:57
Speaker 1: totally fine, while secretly wanting to scream and probably and
21:00
Speaker 1: run away. No one would ever know, and in my mind,
21:03
Speaker 1: no one can hear me scream. I hide it because
21:06
Speaker 1: I know it's not understood or acceptable, because I'm not
21:09
Speaker 1: understood or acceptable. So here I am hiding it, standing
21:13
Speaker 1: in a toilet stall, trying to remember how to breathe. Yes, yes,
21:18
Speaker 1: And this this is one that I feel like I
21:20
Speaker 1: really connected to. And we've been talking about this through
21:23
Speaker 1: the pandemic. We were just talking about it, like for me,
21:26
Speaker 1: it's gotten worse where it does when I'm talking to somebody.
21:30
Speaker 1: In my head there's like panic, like, oh God, what
21:32
Speaker 1: are you gonna stay next? What are you gonna do?
21:34
Speaker 1: What are you gonna do? And I think I even
21:36
Speaker 1: talked about it recently about how I went out to
21:38
Speaker 1: a restaurant and I just felt like everyone was looking
21:40
Speaker 1: at me. And I know they weren't, but I just
21:43
Speaker 1: was like so uncomfortable with my body. It's like, oh
21:46
Speaker 1: everyone can see me. Am I being awkward or I'm
21:48
Speaker 1: being so awkward. It's just it does kind of consume
21:54
Speaker 1: a lot of your energy and attention. Yeah, yeah, And I,
21:58
Speaker 1: as I said at the tap, I do you have
22:00
Speaker 1: a lot of specific convention stories to a lot of this,
22:05
Speaker 1: And one was I remember very clearly there's a time
22:09
Speaker 1: I was waiting in line for something just as Catwoman,
22:12
Speaker 1: and I told my ex that I felt like I
22:15
Speaker 1: was one second way from having a major breakdown most
22:17
Speaker 1: of the time, and that I hated having people look
22:20
Speaker 1: at me. And he was so shocked, UM, and he
22:23
Speaker 1: was like, well, why the hell do you do this? Then? Like,
22:25
Speaker 1: what is this? I would never have said that about you.
22:28
Speaker 1: It's like, well, it's smack that I put on. What
22:33
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, The outward doesn't necessarily much once ago
22:37
Speaker 1: going on inside. UM. In a weird way though, like
22:43
Speaker 1: for me, wearing a costume sometimes makes it better because
22:48
Speaker 1: I feel like someone else and it can go reverse
22:55
Speaker 1: is As I've talked about at length, people can be
22:56
Speaker 1: creepy at conventions, but in general, if people are leaving
22:59
Speaker 1: me all un sometimes I can actually feel better in costume.
23:04
Speaker 1: Something else that was mentioned, what were things like PTSD
23:09
Speaker 1: and autism? As we said, UM, and there's like a
23:13
Speaker 1: pretty great scene where Josie meets Taylor and they have
23:16
Speaker 1: that talk UM, and Josie says, medication and therapy are great.
23:21
Speaker 1: I tried natural therapies to yoga, acupunture, medication, aroma therapy,
23:25
Speaker 1: and a lot of it helped me relax. But it
23:27
Speaker 1: wasn't until I joined a few fandoms online and started
23:29
Speaker 1: taking illustrations seriously that my anxiety really started to become
23:32
Speaker 1: easier to manage. It sounds so cliched, but once I
23:35
Speaker 1: started doing more things that made me happy, it made
23:38
Speaker 1: everything else a little easier to deal with. I hold
23:41
Speaker 1: my palms up. Wait are you saying that geeking out
23:43
Speaker 1: helps you cope? She nods, Like nothing else. And this
23:48
Speaker 1: is something we've talked about too. This is this is
23:50
Speaker 1: true for me UM, like using fan fiction and media.
23:55
Speaker 1: I love to get through trauma. UM. And we've talked
23:59
Speaker 1: about that. Uh, how for some people that have that
24:02
Speaker 1: is really beneficial and for some people like finding your
24:07
Speaker 1: online community of other fans has been really really helpful
24:12
Speaker 1: and and fan fiction is a place where you can
24:14
Speaker 1: do that. There are other places too, but yeah, just
24:17
Speaker 1: like art or writing or whatever, it is kind of
24:20
Speaker 1: helping work work through things. And that's something in my therapy,
24:23
Speaker 1: and my therapist is always like, well, clearly writing is
24:26
Speaker 1: your thing, So like just as much as you can write,
24:30
Speaker 1: um do it? Uh. And yeah, as I've said, my
24:35
Speaker 1: fan fiction, my Quarantine Baby, I mean it's like five hundred,
24:38
Speaker 1: six hundred pages. Now that's just therapy for me. And
24:45
Speaker 1: then I started playing D and D as I said,
24:47
Speaker 1: to to deal with PTSD. So yeah, that just really
24:51
Speaker 1: hit home to me. I know that's not for everyone,
24:53
Speaker 1: and it doesn't work for everyone, but it is something
24:55
Speaker 1: that for me, I was like, yes, yes, keeping busy.
25:01
Speaker 1: You know a lot of people like that. Um. And
25:04
Speaker 1: then there's also the queer representation in this book, and
25:07
Speaker 1: perhaps specifically bisexual representation, which we talk about. It doesn't
25:11
Speaker 1: you don't see a lot of that, um, but the
25:14
Speaker 1: character Charlie identifies as bisexual. Uh, And you do see
25:18
Speaker 1: a lot of what I'm assuming because Wild the author,
25:21
Speaker 1: also identifies as bisexual. You see a lot of the
25:23
Speaker 1: like really comments about bisexuality people often get when they
25:29
Speaker 1: say they're bisexual. For example, when Reese says he doesn't
25:34
Speaker 1: believe it's real when Charlie tells him she's bisexual, and
25:39
Speaker 1: then he asked her, have you ever been with a girl?
25:42
Speaker 1: And Charlie has that kind of insecurity of she's never
25:46
Speaker 1: been with a girl. And this is a quote from
25:49
Speaker 1: Charlie about her sexuality. The moment I first realized I'm
25:54
Speaker 1: into more than one gender was a quiet one. It
25:56
Speaker 1: was sudden and almost anticlimactic. So it's not a particularly
25:59
Speaker 1: exciting story. I was fourteen, and by that time I'd
26:02
Speaker 1: had more than one crush on a girl, mostly movie stars.
26:06
Speaker 1: But I never interpreted my feelings as a crush. I
26:08
Speaker 1: just thought I admired them a whole lot. It didn't
26:10
Speaker 1: occur to me that those feelings were similar to the
26:12
Speaker 1: way I feel about guys I liked. I saw a
26:14
Speaker 1: post on tumbler or with the title you won't believe
26:16
Speaker 1: these actresses are bisexual or something stupid like that. I
26:19
Speaker 1: didn't really know what it meant at the time, so
26:21
Speaker 1: I googled it. It didn't take long to recognize myself
26:24
Speaker 1: in many of the articles I found, and that was it.
26:27
Speaker 1: But I've never actually been with a girl before. I've
26:30
Speaker 1: never even flirted with a girl before. This is also new,
26:33
Speaker 1: and I'm not sure if I'm reading too much into this.
26:35
Speaker 1: Are we having lunch's friends or could this be something more? Yeah,
26:39
Speaker 1: and I related to that too, because I that's essentially
26:42
Speaker 1: what happened to me. I didn't know I bi sexuality
26:44
Speaker 1: was that thing, and then I learned what it was,
26:46
Speaker 1: and I was like, oh, yeah, I did have a
26:48
Speaker 1: crush on both Scully and Molder. Yeah, so out of curiosity,
26:54
Speaker 1: kind of out of left field. But the tumbler still exist. Yes, yes,
27:01
Speaker 1: it is really really big in the fan fiction world.
27:04
Speaker 1: But in fan fiction a lot of times the author
27:07
Speaker 1: will put at the bottom, like here's my tumbler, and
27:09
Speaker 1: that's where you can find like artwork that they've done,
27:12
Speaker 1: our gifts that they've made, our challenges that they do,
27:15
Speaker 1: where they're like, it's what was one recently, it's a
27:19
Speaker 1: Darth Vader Luke exchange. But anyway, then everybody's writing all that.
27:23
Speaker 1: That's the day I texted you and I was like,
27:25
Speaker 1: so much fan fiction is updating books happening because somebody
27:28
Speaker 1: posted on tumbler a challenge and everyone was like, oh, okay,
27:31
Speaker 1: so yeah, I kind of forgot because one of the
27:33
Speaker 1: things I kept thinking was this was based five years ago,
27:39
Speaker 1: and like, I don't even they mentioned TikTok, do they?
27:43
Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't think so. And I'm like, wow,
27:46
Speaker 1: like it's already kind of changed, the like mediums have
27:49
Speaker 1: changed since then. I don't like how wondering what it's
27:51
Speaker 1: gonna look like this book is gonna look like it
27:53
Speaker 1: even ten years. But I did wonder that because I
27:56
Speaker 1: was like, it is Tumbler still around? Because I can't
27:58
Speaker 1: remember still around? That's how I old I am. You're
28:03
Speaker 1: welcome vines, aren't. I know they're not. I got I
28:06
Speaker 1: got that part, you know, thank you? I now know?
28:10
Speaker 1: Uh you know again, Yeah, we talked about this earlier.
28:13
Speaker 1: I was excited to see the true friendships that happened,
28:16
Speaker 1: and then women supporting women and no one taking anybody
28:19
Speaker 1: down except that one nasty girl, which you know, I'm like,
28:21
Speaker 1: she definitely had to put that in. But outside of that, really,
28:24
Speaker 1: even again, that one girl who talked to the other
28:27
Speaker 1: girl and the other girls defending Taylor was like, what
28:31
Speaker 1: that was lovely to see and it was nice to
28:33
Speaker 1: see throughout because they really cared and loved for each other. Uh.
28:36
Speaker 1: The fact that Charlie was thinking about not want to
28:40
Speaker 1: leave out her friends, um thinking about how much she
28:42
Speaker 1: loved her fans, how many they were like, it was
28:45
Speaker 1: really nice to see. There's another part about that. I
28:48
Speaker 1: rub a hand over the back of my head, trying
28:49
Speaker 1: to figure out how to explain it, Like sometimes I
28:52
Speaker 1: don't think I'm being a girl right to have an undercut,
28:55
Speaker 1: and we're clothes I've bought from the boys section, and
28:57
Speaker 1: I don't wear makeup or do my nails, watch horror
29:00
Speaker 1: movies and play video games, burp and swear, and don't
29:03
Speaker 1: talk about my feelings or any of that crap. I'm
29:05
Speaker 1: like Sandra Bullock and Miss Congeniality only before the makeover.
29:10
Speaker 1: So Charlie shrugs, Gracy heart rocks. Besides, there's no way
29:14
Speaker 1: to be a girl, Tay. You don't need to fit
29:15
Speaker 1: yourself into what society tells us a girl should be.
29:19
Speaker 1: Girls can be whoever they want, whether that's an ass kicking,
29:21
Speaker 1: sarcastic crimes offing FBI agent or a funny, gorgeous, witty
29:26
Speaker 1: beauty queen or both at the same time. And she
29:29
Speaker 1: swings and arm around me and pulls me in. Are
29:32
Speaker 1: you happy the way you are? Are you comfortable? Do
29:35
Speaker 1: you feel like yourself? The corner of my mouth lifts
29:38
Speaker 1: into a half smile. Yes, yes, and yes, then that's
29:42
Speaker 1: all that matters. Get anything else? Yeah, yeah, um, and
29:47
Speaker 1: I really liked that too, because m Taylor and Charlie
29:49
Speaker 1: are kind of opposites in a lot of ways um
29:53
Speaker 1: and how they look and what they like, but they're
29:56
Speaker 1: just like still so close and they know, he said,
30:00
Speaker 1: each other so well, so they know how to like
30:02
Speaker 1: pump each other up. Yeah, they know how to uplift
30:05
Speaker 1: each other. Um. And I like there's a scene where
30:09
Speaker 1: Charlie is talking about like her sex life and Taylor
30:14
Speaker 1: is like, oh, you know, I've never done it, and
30:16
Speaker 1: it's like very sex positive both ways, like neither one
30:21
Speaker 1: of them shames each other are is ashamed of it um,
30:24
Speaker 1: which I thought was really refreshing too. Yeah. Um. And
30:27
Speaker 1: then again like we've talked about this a lot, but
30:29
Speaker 1: it was really nice that they met so many supportive
30:32
Speaker 1: people at this convention. You had Josie helping Taylor, Brianna
30:37
Speaker 1: helping Taylor, then Taylor helping Brianna UM, and then Brianna
30:40
Speaker 1: helping Taylor get like it's just yeah, and then Mandy like,
30:44
Speaker 1: even though she made that mistake, she wasn't demonized at all.
30:48
Speaker 1: And then Charlie UM being so supportive of Taylor and
30:53
Speaker 1: Taylor being so supportive Charlie UM almost all the women
30:56
Speaker 1: are incredibly beautifully supportive of each other, um, and are
30:59
Speaker 1: they for each other and are being truly happy for
31:02
Speaker 1: each other. Because I thought there was gonna be some
31:03
Speaker 1: because Charlie kept getting pulled away, so I thought there
31:06
Speaker 1: was gonna be some like resentment, and there never was.
31:11
Speaker 1: It was all like, no, go get it, you go
31:12
Speaker 1: to do what you have to do, we'll be here,
31:14
Speaker 1: we'll hang out after or whatever. That was nice. Yeah, yeah,
31:21
Speaker 1: And uh, I know this is, you know, quite a
31:25
Speaker 1: nice portrait. But I do have people who have met
31:27
Speaker 1: people at conventions and they're like some of their best friends,
31:30
Speaker 1: and they were very supportive of each other. And I
31:33
Speaker 1: do have like a set of convention friends and it's nice,
31:36
Speaker 1: like every yeah, every time, I like, oh I gotta
31:38
Speaker 1: meet up with this person and this person this person.
31:40
Speaker 1: To be fair, you have a little drama every now
31:42
Speaker 1: and I but still overall pretty good. It's still fun.
31:51
Speaker 1: You have the best. But I'm just saying, do yeah,
31:55
Speaker 1: I love the story. I mean, I've got I've got
31:57
Speaker 1: my like core group of friends that are like all
32:00
Speaker 1: year round friends, and they'll they kind of interpret things
32:02
Speaker 1: from me. They're like this guy, no, he's just trying
32:06
Speaker 1: to get a date with you or something not not
32:08
Speaker 1: that one. So that's I got. I got my backup
32:10
Speaker 1: crew there and I'm there for them and we always
32:13
Speaker 1: have a good time. Yeah. Yeah, and it's exhausting now
32:30
Speaker 1: that Yeah, that was one of my favorite parts of
32:32
Speaker 1: the book. Is that so much nerddom and so much phantom.
32:36
Speaker 1: There's so many references. There's cosplay, there's fan fiction, there's
32:40
Speaker 1: Star Wars, the Last of Us, Supernatural, um, and it
32:43
Speaker 1: is really accurate depiction I think of of cosplay like
32:48
Speaker 1: I was like when they would be like, you know,
32:49
Speaker 1: you see this character next to this character, and this
32:51
Speaker 1: character next to this character. That's one of my favorite things.
32:54
Speaker 1: So you can tell that Wild was very familiar with
32:56
Speaker 1: convention scene. There was some elements of toxic fandom. It
33:02
Speaker 1: wasn't too much, but there was. And then yeah, the
33:05
Speaker 1: whole meeting or heroes thing. I was so on edge
33:07
Speaker 1: about that. When she finally met Skyler Atkins, I was like, oh,
33:10
Speaker 1: what if she's terrible and you know, might not be
33:14
Speaker 1: the most realistic thing, but she was lovely and that
33:17
Speaker 1: was nice. Um at the beginning when the ill advised
33:24
Speaker 1: plan where Jamie's like, well, let's just chase her down
33:26
Speaker 1: the hall. Um. I accidentally had a moment like that
33:29
Speaker 1: once with Summer Cloud, who I wasn't trying to meet
33:31
Speaker 1: or anything, but I was. There's a Walk of Fame
33:35
Speaker 1: at Dragon Con where you can get people's autographs, and
33:38
Speaker 1: I just walked and I didn't realize it was closed. Um,
33:40
Speaker 1: and she was in. There was like security guards, and
33:43
Speaker 1: I almost got some serious trouble. But I was just like, oh, no,
33:46
Speaker 1: no, no no, no, I didn't know. I didn't know. Back up,
33:49
Speaker 1: I swear I'm not a creep. There's a lot of
33:51
Speaker 1: stuff about the power of entertainment and the impact it
33:55
Speaker 1: can have on people's lives. Um. You know, Taylor is saying,
33:58
Speaker 1: like this transform my life, something me get through anxiety.
34:02
Speaker 1: I did really love when Charlie's signing the autographs and
34:06
Speaker 1: she sees all the people online and it's like wants
34:09
Speaker 1: to be there and sign things for them and meet them,
34:12
Speaker 1: like really loving the fans. I love that. In Charlie's story,
34:16
Speaker 1: there is a lot of stuff about the double standard
34:18
Speaker 1: for women in entertainment, Like in interviews, she's constantly getting
34:23
Speaker 1: asked about how she stays in shape, about her ex
34:27
Speaker 1: running in skinny jeans was something she had to do.
34:29
Speaker 1: Running in heels was something she had to do for
34:31
Speaker 1: the movie. She was told by the director to run
34:33
Speaker 1: sex year and meanwhile Reese is getting like serious questions
34:37
Speaker 1: about how he acts. And then Reese himself accuses Taylor. Essentially,
34:43
Speaker 1: he says like, you'll have to sleep your way to
34:45
Speaker 1: the top and be less of a bitch both. So
34:48
Speaker 1: there was that. Then there was the fat phobia element,
34:52
Speaker 1: Taylor feeling uncomfortable in her own body. The Queen fat
34:55
Speaker 1: Stone comments um so after she heard that, she posted
35:00
Speaker 1: this on Tumbler. In the book, maybe you are someone
35:05
Speaker 1: out there will see this and think twice before you
35:07
Speaker 1: make an offhand comment about a body that belongs to
35:09
Speaker 1: someone else. Fat, chubby, curvy, overweight, plus size, whatever you
35:13
Speaker 1: want to call it. Those words don't have to be insults.
35:16
Speaker 1: I'm not offended by the word fat, even though you
35:18
Speaker 1: said it like it was the worst thing. Ever. I
35:20
Speaker 1: don't care what some random person thinks about my body.
35:23
Speaker 1: I like my body, but it's not the most interesting
35:26
Speaker 1: part of me. If you judge me based on the
35:27
Speaker 1: way I'm shaped, then you miss out on how awesome
35:30
Speaker 1: I am, and I am awesome. I love wearing my
35:32
Speaker 1: Queen Fire Snow cosplay. I feel strong in it, I
35:35
Speaker 1: feel powerful, I feel beautiful. You're fleeting superficial judgment won't
35:38
Speaker 1: change that. I love that. I love that. It could
35:43
Speaker 1: be hard, it could be hard to hold onto those
35:47
Speaker 1: feelings when you hear something like that, and when I mean,
35:51
Speaker 1: a convention is a space where you, especially if you're
35:55
Speaker 1: a woman, you're going to feel like a lot of judgment.
35:59
Speaker 1: And it kind of comes from both ways, because it
36:01
Speaker 1: comes from people who are there who are awesome cosplay,
36:04
Speaker 1: but like my aunt used to just really make fun
36:06
Speaker 1: of me for cosplay, So it can be hired to
36:10
Speaker 1: kind of be positive about yourself and your experience and
36:13
Speaker 1: how you feel in your cosplay and how you feel
36:16
Speaker 1: in your body. But I loved that. I thought it
36:17
Speaker 1: was great. Yeah, it was um. And to go back
36:20
Speaker 1: to the double standard part, Charlie says in the book,
36:23
Speaker 1: this is the third interviewer in a row who's asked
36:25
Speaker 1: Geese an end depth question about his job as an
36:28
Speaker 1: actor and then asked me about my workout and diet regimen.
36:33
Speaker 1: I want to tell this guy to ask me something else,
36:36
Speaker 1: but I don't want to look like a bit or
36:38
Speaker 1: get in trouble with the studio. So I grinned and
36:40
Speaker 1: beartt yet again. Yeah, there's that like looking like a
36:43
Speaker 1: bit worried. And they were also kind of holding over
36:46
Speaker 1: her that they would cut her out of the sequel. Yeah,
36:49
Speaker 1: she didn't, she didn't comply. Yeah, so that was throughout
36:52
Speaker 1: and I liked at the end where Bandy was like, no,
36:54
Speaker 1: I'm gonna put us to this. They can't do this
36:56
Speaker 1: without you. Yeah, you're you're at the star, because that
36:59
Speaker 1: was another thing. Was was the star the first one,
37:02
Speaker 1: and she was kind of like always behind him, and
37:04
Speaker 1: in the sequel she's supposed to be the star. Um,
37:08
Speaker 1: So her kind of coming into her power and realize like, no,
37:13
Speaker 1: I am the start and you can't just cut me
37:14
Speaker 1: out right. So that was good to see. And then
37:16
Speaker 1: as you mentioned, Samantha, this is a lot of ways
37:21
Speaker 1: a coming of age story, um and I think it
37:23
Speaker 1: cashed it really well that like kind of we're all
37:25
Speaker 1: about to go to university. We don't know if we're
37:29
Speaker 1: all going to go to the same university, what we're
37:31
Speaker 1: gonna end up doing, we we're gonna end up being,
37:33
Speaker 1: and that being a very scary and emotional time, Like
37:36
Speaker 1: I really connected with that. Um. And here's a quote
37:41
Speaker 1: in movies at college changes everything. Couples break up, people change,
37:45
Speaker 1: friends stop hanging out, friends stop hanging out. That's what
37:49
Speaker 1: really scares me. And that's I felt that too. And
37:52
Speaker 1: it's one of those things where it's natural and it
37:58
Speaker 1: makes sense, but it's still scare lurry. And I'm somebody
38:01
Speaker 1: who like, I want to hold on. If I like you,
38:04
Speaker 1: I do not want to let you go, but I
38:06
Speaker 1: know it will happen, and I'll try to fight it
38:08
Speaker 1: as long as I can. But it's just, yeah, some
38:12
Speaker 1: thing feels an inevitable, like it's gonna change. Yeah. It's
38:18
Speaker 1: definitely one of those big moments of knowing life has
38:22
Speaker 1: changed and life is changing. It will never be back
38:24
Speaker 1: this way again. Uh. I have some five memories. I
38:28
Speaker 1: honestly don't have any childhood friends but one or two, uh,
38:32
Speaker 1: any of my high school friends because small towns, conservative towns,
38:37
Speaker 1: and then you come out and you do your different thing. Um.
38:40
Speaker 1: But yeah, it's it's a landmark time for an individual
38:44
Speaker 1: for sure, especially if you've been in this route of
38:47
Speaker 1: loving high school, finding your group and then growing up
38:51
Speaker 1: and what does that mean right, Yeah, And like you said,
38:54
Speaker 1: kind of having this big book and event and feeling
38:57
Speaker 1: at this convention um and all these conversations about what
39:02
Speaker 1: the future is going to look like and sort of
39:04
Speaker 1: embracing that. Yeah. I just I felt like, yeah, that
39:07
Speaker 1: captured that feeling very very well. Things are changing um.
39:13
Speaker 1: And then there was also yes, a lot of romance throughout,
39:15
Speaker 1: and I was like, whoa quick. Yeah. I was like, wow,
39:21
Speaker 1: we're just jumping in because I immediately like, oh, Taylor
39:24
Speaker 1: has a crush on Jamie. Jamie as a rush Okay.
39:26
Speaker 1: My first chapter I was like, Okay, got it and
39:28
Speaker 1: immediate and then Charlie I think two chapters and I
39:31
Speaker 1: was like, oh, you're going for a list Okay, I
39:33
Speaker 1: got it. Moves quick, like the whole books, very very quickly.
39:38
Speaker 1: It's a build up to it. And then there was, yes,
39:42
Speaker 1: the whole element of Charlie being asked to be in
39:44
Speaker 1: a showmance with Reese, which she did turn down, but
39:48
Speaker 1: everyone was asking, Everyone was asking if they're going to
39:51
Speaker 1: get back together, if Chase is going to get back together.
39:54
Speaker 1: He was pushing for them to get back together for
39:56
Speaker 1: the fame pretty much for the ship. But that was
40:00
Speaker 1: interesting because we just talked about this um when we
40:04
Speaker 1: did our kind of Hollywood and Women episode, and this
40:08
Speaker 1: was sort of an example of how it can be
40:12
Speaker 1: a negative experience for somebody when your relationship is so
40:15
Speaker 1: public and you've got fans shipping your relationship, and how
40:20
Speaker 1: tricky that would be in there. They're eighteen in this book,
40:22
Speaker 1: so that's pretty young to have to deal with that.
40:26
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna lie as a forty something at all.
40:28
Speaker 1: I was like, it feels like I'm not supposed to
40:30
Speaker 1: read this part because they're so young. Yeah. Interestingly, I
40:37
Speaker 1: did read a lot of reviews that said, like Reese
40:40
Speaker 1: was really one dimensional that I thought were interesting. It
40:43
Speaker 1: was like, oh, he has no reason for being a douche,
40:45
Speaker 1: But I feel like that was the point was he
40:47
Speaker 1: was like that guy exists. I promise you that guy.
40:50
Speaker 1: And I feel like there's plenty of times where women
40:52
Speaker 1: are like that and no one questions it. Um. It's
40:56
Speaker 1: like people who are coming to Reese's defense, and I
40:58
Speaker 1: was like, why why Because he had one moment of
41:02
Speaker 1: being like I miss you, then he was immediately a
41:05
Speaker 1: jerk after that. Before that, immediately before the literally stuck
41:11
Speaker 1: to punch somebody after calling Harror Slot but say like
41:14
Speaker 1: I miss you. Yeah, yeah, I just thought that was interesting. Yeah,
41:19
Speaker 1: And I also just want to put it in here
41:21
Speaker 1: as we wrap up. I love the Taylor and Jamie
41:26
Speaker 1: went on what Taylor thought was a date and Taylor
41:28
Speaker 1: didn't know as a date when they were younger, and
41:31
Speaker 1: I was like, yep, I connect to the business a
41:35
Speaker 1: lot of people this way. I have a lot of
41:36
Speaker 1: young ladies. It's true, it's true, but I'm glad. Yeah.
41:40
Speaker 1: They seemed like a healthy couple and very support of
41:42
Speaker 1: each other, So I've got it worked out for them eventually.
41:45
Speaker 1: And I did want to throw it in this final thing.
41:47
Speaker 1: I saw a marriage proposal at Dragon Con once and
41:49
Speaker 1: it was incredibly sweet as Pokemon themed and it was
41:53
Speaker 1: very very very cute. Uh So, Yeah, it was a
41:56
Speaker 1: very enjoyable read. Um. I had a great time reading it,
42:01
Speaker 1: and I recommend it. Yes, if you need to have
42:04
Speaker 1: a moment away from all of the said this in
42:08
Speaker 1: the world. This was very sweet and uplifting. Was it
42:11
Speaker 1: was very nerdy, which very nerds. They talked about supernatural
42:15
Speaker 1: I'm very hapy y. Yes, Yes, it was really really fun.
42:21
Speaker 1: It was a really fun read. So check it out.
42:24
Speaker 1: Um and It's always. If you have any suggestions for
42:27
Speaker 1: what we should read next, please let us know. You
42:29
Speaker 1: can emails that stuff and your mom Stuff at ihart
42:31
Speaker 1: me dot com. You can find us on Twitter at
42:32
Speaker 1: mom Stuff podcast or Instagram and Stuff I Never told
42:35
Speaker 1: to you. Thanks, It's Always too. Are super producer, Christina,
42:37
Speaker 1: you are also a hero. I think you would. You
42:40
Speaker 1: would fit into the nerd realm with us, right Christina,
42:43
Speaker 1: let us know. Thanks to you for listening stuff under
42:48
Speaker 1: until the respection of I Heart Radio more podcast from
42:50
Speaker 1: my Heart Radio. If you can visit the I Heart
42:52
Speaker 1: Radio ap Apple podcast or if you listen to your
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Speaker 1: favorite shows