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Fictional Women Around the World: Patricia Moyer · Stuff Mom Never Told You

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Sammy. And Samantha. And welcome to Stuff
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: I Never Told You, a production of iHeartRadio. And welcome
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: back to another sub, sub, sub, sub, sub segment of
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: fictional women around the world. Today, we are doing Patricia
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: from Widow's Bay.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: Ooh, what?
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Yes. So, spoilers for Widow's Bay today. I tried to
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: minimize them, but specifically for her plot lines, I would
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: say if you don't want to be spoiled at all,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: come back later.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: You shouldn't be spoiled.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Come back later. Yeah, it's fun. It's a fun ride.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: And I went on this fun ride after Samantha and
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Rima specifically said, you will enjoy this. You need it.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: And then you sent me a reel of this character
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: at Dragon Con, there was a photo shoot of all
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: these people dressed as Patricia. And it got the attention
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: of the costume designer for that character. And then the
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: actor who plays that character. And I thought that was
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: really cool that they mentioned Dragon Con. They were so excited.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: This is a... testament to how much this character is
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: resonating and is popular.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the actress who portrays Patricia was so excited about it.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: Kept talking about it on like red carpets at awards shows.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: She's like, okay, huge, huge. Yeah, which is so fun.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: That's like a really nice interaction with the fandom. And
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: she was really excited. And if you want to, we're
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: not going to go too much into it here, but
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: you can kind of read about her audition process. and
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: how she wasn't anticipating this at all. This level of
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: fans connecting with that character, she was not anticipating at all.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: But yes, I binged the whole show, I think in
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: one day. It's very Halloween vibes, so I think it's appropriate. Yeah,
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: it feels very... anthology because every episode sort of has
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: a different vibe um like there's a sea witch there's
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: a slasher there are occult things witches uh there's plague
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: like it's fun because it's interconnected and but also every
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: episode feels separate, if that makes sense.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: There's a shining moment.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: Yes. And Shelley Duvall was an inspiration for this character.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: So good.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: So, Widows Bay is an award-winning 2026 horror comedy mystery
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: series that is streaming on Apple TV. It centers around
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: a cast of characters on the fictional island of Widows Bay,
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: which is haunted by supernatural events, and a dark past.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: The bleakered mayor is doing his best to ignore the
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: weird and dangerous things on the island. Very Jaws, I
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: have to say. Along with some of the islanders flat
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: out warning him, like, this is bad. People are going
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: to die. And the mayor is doing all of this
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: to paint this picture of the picturesque tourist island of
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: Because there is a visiting travel journalist who's going to
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: write an article about the whole thing. The mayor does succeed,
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: leading to an influx of tourists. But it soon becomes
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: clear that he cannot wish away the mounting dangers and threats.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: And he works with a ragtag team to figure out
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  Speaker 1: the mystery of the island, why this is happening. why
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  Speaker 1: this is happening and how to stop it. And part
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: of that team is his assistant, Patricia Moyer, played by
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: Kate O'Flynn. And I wanted to include this. I thought
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: this was interesting. O'Flynn's character is loosely based on the
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: creator Kate Diplod's mom.
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: And... Yeah.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah. And that's who... she thought about the most when
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: she was bringing this show to life. That's in a
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: decider.com article.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: That's really funny. That's her mom. Yeah. So let's get
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: into the character. Patricia is the mayor's hardworking assistant and
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: a social outcast amongst her peer group that believe that
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: when they were in high school, She lied about being
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: targeted by a serial killer known as the Boogeyman. And
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: this whole thing really influences her actions and how she
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: interacts with people in hopes of being liked and accepted.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: We see her repeatedly minimize herself and absorb the cruelties
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: of this group of women and continually try to befriend
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: them and convince them her story was true. So she
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: has two character-specific episodes. The first one is the fourth
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: episode called Beach Reads. So in this episode, she turns
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: to a book she found about hosting the perfect party,
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  Speaker 1: and she really takes it to heart. She goes to
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: great lengths to make it a great time, and she
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: even threatens to another person who's having a party at
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  Speaker 1: the same time with government action if they don't reschedule.
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  Speaker 1: She constantly refreshes the Evite she sent out to everyone
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: in her address book only to see two of the
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: people she worked with that she threatened to accept are
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: the only ones who did accept. She grows increasingly erratic,
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  Speaker 1: lying about the predicted size of the party, which, by
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: the way, she was put in charge of at the
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: mayor's behest as part of an annual celebration. But she's
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: definitely made it her own. Like, it started as kind
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: of a government function, and she was like, no, I'm
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: going to do my own thing. So when the party comes,
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: at first it is poorly attended and very awkward. Patricia
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: is snappy. She's on edge. She demands that her co-worker, quote,
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: be supportive as she frantically makes punch for the party,
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: which the book assures her is the key to making
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: it great. She needs to do that. She leaves an
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: angry message on the mayor's answering machine about him not
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: attending after he made her do this whole thing. The
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  Speaker 1: group she's trying to impress does show up. but they
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  Speaker 1: denounce how pathetic the party is. But then a group
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: of bridesmaids arrives, and Patricia immediately gets them shots, and
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  Speaker 1: the party really gets going. Still, the women, the bullies
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: in Patricia's life, do not relent, assuring someone who had
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: been pretty much flirting with Patricia, I'd say, that he
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: shouldn't believe her. Patricia snaps and confronts them, asking them
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: why are they so mean to her, and their leader
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: taunts her about her escape from the boogeyman and how
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: her lie, as she believes it, insults the deaths of
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: her two friends who were killed by the serial killer.
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: Patricia is a little shaken but stands by her story.
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  Speaker 1: As the night goes on, it seems like the party
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  Speaker 1: is really cranking. It's going well. The music is going.
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: The punch is flowing. Patricia is glowing from all the
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: positive attention. She's dancing as people cheer her on. But
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: we as viewers know something goes down here because in
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: the previous episode, It had ended with a frantic call
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: from the police to respond to Patricia's party, whatever was
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: going on there. And visual cues hint that things are
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: not quite what they seem. Once again, Patricia consults her
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: book on hosting, and it calls for a toast. She
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: gives one, and finally feels accepted. The crowd excitedly says...
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  Speaker 1: They should go out to the bonfire on the beach.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: They file out of the restaurant. Patricia promises to be
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: right behind them. But she is confronted by the chief
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: of police and kind of snaps out of what seems
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: to be a hallucination. Yeah. The book she'd been desperately
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: relying on turned out to be a grimoire.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
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  Speaker 1: Her headpiece was not the crown she thought it was,
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  Speaker 1: but a pair of antlers. And the punch was full
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: of blood and animal parts and who knows what else.
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  Speaker 1: And she's basically... accidentally entranced everyone into sacrificing themselves she
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: races to the beach throws the grimoire in the fire
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: even though it burned her and breaks everyone out of
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: their trances Her bully cries out, she's drugged everybody and dejected.
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: Patricia walks on the road until she is picked up
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: by the mayor and Wick, who is the local believer
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: in the supernatural, who has been trying to convince the
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: mayor the danger that they are in. And she joins
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: their crew in trying to solve the mystery of the island.
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  Speaker 1: So in this role, we see her as a more
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: confident and more accepted person. She isn't afraid to snark
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: back at her boss and voice her opinions. At one point,
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: she is literally leading him around on a leash. You
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: can watch the show. I'm not going to explain it more,
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  Speaker 1: but yeah. And she's useful in interacting with others. She's
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: a valuable member of the team, basically. This team, they
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: think that they got to the bottom of what's causing
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: all the chaos on the island and that they ended
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: it once and for all. But the boogeyman, the serial killer,
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: shows up to kill Patricia. She grabs a taser that's
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: on low charge and runs. She's calling for help. Eventually,
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  Speaker 1: she reaches the house where her bullies are having a
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: book club, and the leader ignores her warning about the boogeyman,
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: claiming she is delusional, don't feed into her delusions. Patricia
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: admits that she lied about the calling part of the
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: boogeyman that he was calling her, but that the rest
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: of the story is true. When the Ringlingator continues to
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  Speaker 1: taunt her, Patricia tases her with some of the little
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  Speaker 1: charge she has left and basically is like, she's the worst.
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  Speaker 1: She runs outside and is pursued again by the boogeyman
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: until they reach a gas station where Patricia lights him
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  Speaker 1: on fire. with gas and her taser and shoots him
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: with a gun that she found. She then stays with
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: the body until it is cremated and her gun is
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: locked on him the entire time. Now, the team knows
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: that their plan didn't work to free the island of
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: supernatural happenings, but they learn that to truly end the
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: cycle of the supernatural forever, They will have to kill
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  Speaker 1: someone they all know, which Patricia objects to, though her
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: objections go unheeded. The season ends with Patricia and crew
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: knowing the truth of the island, mostly, and the island
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: calling for more sacrifice. So this character really, really did resonate.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: And I found a lot of articles about why she did.
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  Speaker 1: I think that one of the biggest reasons is that
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: we can relate to a character who is trying to
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: find acceptance, is trying too hard to find acceptance. The
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: actress describes her as a weirdo. She's an interesting case
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: because she's trying to find acceptance but also unwilling to
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: kind of change herself. The actress also said that she's
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: brave and vulnerable and opens herself up for wounding because
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: she was not invited to the book party, let's say,
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: the hangout. But she showed up anyway and tried to
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: connect with people anyway. And that was an example of
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: her putting herself out there and then getting hurt because
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: of it. And I think people can relate to that.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: She's got loneliness, which I think a lot of people
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: can relate to. She's anxious. I love the scene where
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: she's by herself and she's listening to Ineos. And, like,
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: eating coconut pie. Like, yeah. We can relate. We can relate.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: And, you know, on a kind of darker tone, being
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: told that she's wrong or lying all of this time
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: and having this group of women, because she gets to
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: meet someone new who didn't know this lore, this story.
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: And she was excited to tell her story and have
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: it not be judged like that. But she got shut
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: down completely before she could tell it. So I think
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: when it comes to women, a lot of us can
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: relate to that. I also think she's just a really,
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: costuming-wise and acting choices-wise, She's a distinct character. Yeah, for sure.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: And a lot of thought went into those things. And
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: I read a quote that essentially said, you know, the
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: performance was both unique and relatable because it is very
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: distinct and she has these mannerisms. But you're also like,
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: I don't know. feel that way sometimes yeah yeah and
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: she's she's funny she's i think she's a great balance
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  Speaker 1: of like the horror and comedy part of it uh
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: her reaction to the serial killer where she's got her
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: gun pointed at him even when he's going to be
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: cremated cinema and we're all like yes this is what
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  Speaker 1: we've been saying this is what you're supposed to be
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: doing yeah make sure he's dead She's the final girl
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  Speaker 1: in a way that felt really unique. She has two
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: men who try to save her when this, I mean,
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: he looks like Michael Myers, like a mask and knife situation.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: She has two men try to save her and they
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: fail and she's the one who kills him and she's
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: the one who's like, I will go and see him cremated.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: No way. Until I see him dead, don't start with me.
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: And then there's been talk about how she runs in
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: that scene when she's running from the serial killer. And
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: it's really funny that it kind of took off. But
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: essentially the reason she is kind of they described as
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: clop clop like running is because they wanted her to
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: be she's alone. In the scene before, so you would
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: be in like your pajamas and maybe your slippers. And
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: then the serial killer shows up. But the reason she
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: ran like that in a very distinctive way was that
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: she didn't want to slip. So she was trying to
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: plant her feet really firmly.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: I feel like also it could be the type of
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: shoes she's wearing.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: You can't run in Uggs. Those Uggs are going to
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: fall and slip right off the way.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: You have to manipulate your feet to stay in those shoes.
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Yes. Also, she has great zingers. She has great
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: zingers about when the mayor is talking to her. She's like,
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: you know, I was attacked by this serial killer when
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: I was young. He's like, oh, no, I think I
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: heard this story before. And she's like, oh, it was
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: only the worst day of my life, but okay. Sure,
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: let me not tell you about this story.
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: Whatever.
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah. She makes multiple comments about age and what's age appropriate.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: But yeah, I love this quote from the actress. Everyone
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: has an inner Patricia they're trying to keep hidden because
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: they're worried it's embarrassing. And a lot of people wrote
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: about that, that they said she leaned into the embarrassing.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: She did not shy away. from the fact that this
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: character desperately wanted approval, but also had like this quiet bravery.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: Here's a quote from Decider written by Nicole Gallucci. As
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: viewers passionately praised the Widows Bay star, calling her a
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: modern day Shelley Duvall and pledging their allegiance to Patricia
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: on social media, It's hard not to feel like we're
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: witnessing the inception of one of TV's greatest characters. She's
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: tightly wound and strange, sure. But she's also warm, well-meaning, fiery,
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: and funny. She's a badass. She's the people's princess. The MVP.
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: The star of two of the year's best TV episodes
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: and one of few TV characters I'd die for. Patricia
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: is the mood. Patricia is the moment. It's the moment.
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: Yes. i hope she the actress takes that clip and
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: like post it somewhere i need her to print it
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: out yeah i.
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: Would suggest looking up interviews with her because you can
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: hear it that she's not she was not expecting this
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: And is so delighted by it. Which is nice. Such
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: a good show.
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: I think that we just love the originality. Like everybody's
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: starved for something original. And this show provided that. As
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: well as like things like K-Pop Demon Hunter. Even though
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: the concepts have been made before. But instead of having
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: a remake or the same characters repeatedly. Like, oh, this
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: is a new way of telling something genuinely funny. And
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: I love also like that the place that Widows Bay
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: is based out of. Embracing it. and doing tours.
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: I love everything about that.
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was really fun, and it is an homage
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: to horror movies. You can see, oh, this is Halloween.
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: I see Jaws. I see these things. But it was
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: very unique and original still, even if the inspiration was clear.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: And the scene where Patricia is dancing, I tell you,
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: It was fantastic. Iconic.
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: The song, it bringing back that song. Like everybody's like,
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: oh my God, this is the moment. Yes.
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: Yes. So thank you, Samantha and Rima, for the recommendation.
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: Thanks to the people at DragonCon that showed out in
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: these cosplays. Great. Great. And yeah, listeners, we would love
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: to hear from you. Any thoughts, any suggestions, you can
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: email us at hello at stuffmonevertoldyou.com. We're also on Blue
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: Sky at Mom's Stuff Podcast, on Instagram and TikTok at
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: Stuff Mom Never Told You. We're also on YouTube. We
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: have some merchandise at Cotton Hero. And we have a
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: book you can get wherever you get your books. Thanks
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: as always to our super producer, Rima, and our executive producer, Maya.
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: And thanks to you for listening. Stuff I've Never Told
• 21:59
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