Book Couples: Where Are They Now? | Bella & Edward, Marianne & Connell, Ron & Hermione, and more!

We take famous and not-so-famous book couples and fast-forward their relationships to 2026 to answer the question: Where are they now? 

Divorced, still together but deeply resentful, or madly in love until their dying breath? We know the answer! 

Couples: 

• Bella and Edward from the Twilight Saga 
• Scarlett Vandermeer and Lucas Blomqvist from Deep End by Ali Hazelwood
• Eric and Kyle from Common Goal by Rachel Reid 
• Hayden and Alice from Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
• Marianne and Connell from Normal People by Sally Rooney
• Kit and Theo from The Pairing by Casey McQuiston
• Ron and Hermione from [REDACTED - F*CK JKR DO NOT BUY HER BOOKS] 
• Nick and Andy from We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian
• Joan and Vanessa from Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Misc. Links: 

• Queer Liberation Library
• Sarah Gallagher on TikTok

Recent Reads: 

• Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher
• We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian
• After Hours at Dooryard Books by Cat Sebastian
• Girl Next Door by Rachel Meredith

Follow us on social media @readirectpodcast. Visit our website at readirectpodcast.com. See you next time we love you!!<3

Transcript

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Abigail 0:00

But deep, deep resentment builds between them and they end really more as just like with like a little bit of mutual respect and shared history. And that is Minister of Magic Hermione Granger and her husband. No, no, I reject that. Yes. All right. No, that's mystical. Can I just lay out the facts? Sure, but I I don't care. Okay.

Welcome And How To Support

Abigail 0:35

Welcome to the Redirect Podcast. I'm Abigail Freshly. And I'm Emily Rojas. The Redirect Podcast is a show where we shift the conversation back to books. We discuss themes for some of our favorite books and how those themes show up in our real lived experiences. On today's episode, we're discussing famous book couples, or maybe not so famous. I don't know. We haven't compared lists. And um, we're looking ahead into the future and deciding where are they now? Where are they now indeed? But before we get to that, we would love for you to support the show in a few super simple ways. So if you're listening to the sound of my voice and you haven't done so yet, go on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and click those five stars, leave us a five-star review and let us know how much you love the show. You can also follow us on Instagram and TikTok at redirect podcasts. Visit us online at www.redirectpodcast.com. You can follow Emily on social media on all platforms at Emily Rojas Reads. And you can follow me on Instagram at Fabigal Insta and on TikTok at Fabigal11. But if you really, really, really love the show, please share it with a friend because sharing our show with a friend is by far the best way to help us grow our community of book loving nerds and wonder what a wonderful community it is. Yeah.

Planning The 100th Episode

Abigail 1:50

Yeah. I'm so excited to get into this topic. Yes. Um this has been like on our brainstorm list for a long time, but we haven't actually done it. So yeah, we have not like we have not compared listened advanced. We have not our our outline document is empty. As always. As always. There are like hundreds of like I don't know. We're not we're almost at our hundredth episode, by the way. We are I know. You guys, what should we do for our hundredth episode? Speaking of, if you have any idea, DM us or go to redirect. Send us a message. Do you think um there's like a we should do the thing like kindergartners do on the hundredth day of school where they like come dress up like old people and they bring like a hundred or something, like a hundred Cheerios or when I was a kid and when I was a kindergarten, we did that, and I was like, Oh, like God, I'm gonna bring a hundred Cheerios to school. That's so many Cheerios. Yeah. And then it was like it's like one little batch, Beggie. The hundredth day of school was so lit for no reason. Like that was the best day ever. I don't know. Is it still that there's 180 days in the school year? Because I've most drilled into me. Like we only have 180 days this year. Some schools based on hours, or yeah, it depends on the state, but many states are 180 days. Okay. Well, then you get to the hundredth day, you're like, Yeah, probably we're almost there. So it was awesome. So, yeah, maybe we'll do that for the people watching us probably just know one. If you have any suggestions, we'd love to chat. We all do something special. Give us an idea. Because who would have ever thought for a hundredth episode? Come on. Anyway. I mean, when you release an episode every other week and occasionally skip one due to reasons, yeah, like it takes a while to get to 100. Yeah, it takes it takes like if I just thought off the top of my head how long is that gonna take, I wouldn't have necessarily thought immediately. It would be like almost what four years. So exactly exciting. So, anyways, yeah. Stay tuned. We'll be we'll be I think it'll be like August when we get to our hundredth episode. So we're so excited. Soon. Yeah. All right. Yeah.

The Rules For Predicting Couples

Abigail 4:09

What was your approach? I would love to. Okay, what's to explain the idea too first? Well, I put in okay. The idea is people, it's fun to speculate online about like controversial couples from romance books or even from books that are not romance books, they're just couples. Um, and think about like their pairing, if they had chemistry, how that relates to if you like the book and where they are now. Yeah. I didn't think about this until this moment. Uh-huh. But I think for some of my couples, I want to go back through and think, like on the fly, what are they doing right now in 2026? Like, that's nice. Not just like, not just like if they made it, but like, where are they today? Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Um either. But that's what I'm saying. Like, how old would they be now? Yeah. Okay. But um, so yeah, I mean, I mostly just did this on vibes in the last half an hour. What about you? What was your process? My thought process was I wanted one of every scenario. So I have a couple that I think breaks up shortly after the events of their book. I have a couple that I think got engaged but never got married. I have a couple that I think got married but got divorced, and then I have one that I think are living happily ever after. So I tried to do my best to fit in those categories. We will have a good mix because I have one they I had one that I said in love till they're dying breath. Correct. Do you think it might be the same couple? No, I don't think you'll I think you'll agree with me, but I don't think it's the same couple. But I could be wrong. I can't wait. Um, yeah, I can't wait. So yeah, that was my that was my thought process. And also I want to say I reject the idea of epilogues. I don't like them. And so if there is an epilogue in any of these books, I don't really care what it says. Um I'm telling you the truth, and I know better than the other. But also, this this is like post-epilogue too. Yeah, you know, this is like so how many did you have total? I have five total. One, two, three, four.

unknown 6:02

Yeah.

Abigail 6:03

Okay, maybe I should go first then. Yeah, go first. I'm close so I can start and end it. Yeah. Okay.

Twilight After Forever Love

Abigail 6:09

This is my first one. Um is one that I feel like just had to be addressed, and hopefully it's not on your list, too. But that is one Bella and Edward Cullen. Okay, it's not on my list, but I would love to talk about them. Yes. Okay. Um, you know, the whole idea of being vampires is you're gonna live together for eternity. Correct. Never ending unless adultery burns you. Yeah. I actually know, like, I I think part of the cool thing about love and commitment is that you are pledging like you're committing your one short fleeting life to another person. And that's part of what makes it if time is endless, then it just means nothing. Okay. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yes, I do know. It's kind of like in the good place. Yes. I people in the good place are like, this kind of sucks, actually. Okay, so Bella and Edward. Um, they are still married, but it is extremely toxic. Um basically the whole thing that made their whirlwind romance work was that Edward felt this protectiveness. He had to take care of this frail human person. But then she becomes a vampire and she is going to gain knowledge. When they first meet, he's 109. He has 109 years of wisdom. She has 17, and there's just huge imbalance. But as time goes by, it's like the um the gap in their experience and their wisdom, their autonomy, it shrinks significantly because I can't imagine there's that much difference between like being 200 years old and 300 years old, wisdom-wise. Do you know what I mean? Like you get it to a point, you just learned enough, right? So I think um, but also they are in a very closed system. There's not a lot of places Bella could go. I mean, Bella would be the one leaving the family, he keeps the family, right? Yeah. So because she she marries in. So where's she gonna go if she decides to leave the coven? She can't go anywhere, and also like she has no financial autonomy either. So she's completely tied up with him. Also, like her daughter is in a weird relationship with a werewolf, and that is like place-based and requires them to kind of stay in forks. So it's like she's not going anywhere. It's toxic, resentment builds. Um, but they don't really have any, she doesn't have any other options to get away. But over time, she decides, what if I had my own thoughts and opinions about things? And he doesn't really like that so much. So eventually it becomes sexless and it becomes more of an obligation, or it's just like Michael and Jan, like angry animal sex, and then like back to like hating each other, is my feeling. And um that's where they are now. Also, I and I sent you this earlier this week. I got for the listeners, I got a text from my sister. It's a picture of my 14-year-old niece, and she's holding her first ever copy of Twilight, and she has started her journey towards being a woman by beginning the Twilight saga. That's what I said. Tell her, I said, tell her, I say that the book is really fun, but she should aspire for more in her own romantic life. And that's wise. That's really wise. Do you have it? Do you agreements agree, disagree? Totally agree. Do you um subscribe to uh Sarah Gallagher's theory that they divorce and reunite on a 10-year alternating cycle? Have you seen her talk about this? I'm not I'm a huge Sarah Gallagher fan, but I have not heard her talk about this. Okay, so that is her. Everyone will go follow Sarah Gallagher and read her book, What Why What We Love and Hate About Twilight. Yes. So she's posted about this a few times, but her theory is that every 10 years, I don't know why this tickles me so much, but every 10 years, that's so specific. They divorce and then they come and then 10 years pass and then they come back together after 10 years. So right now, because 2006 is when they got married, so they're on a cycle where they will be, I think. So 2006. Why does she think that they're together where they break up every 10 years? For similar reasons to you, basically, exactly what you outline. But she thinks like every 10 years that Bella like basically leaves and they have this toxic thing, and then the next 10 years she comes back, and yeah, I I I'm down with that. I think that's like because she's bored, she's like, okay, whatever. Uh I need to like get back with really the only person who will accept me, my creator. Correct. She's like, yeah, that's messy, you know, the whole thing is messed up. It's honestly Edward had the right idea to begin with, which is let her die as a human. But that would have been a better situation. So yeah, I think, and so right now they would be on the getting back together part of the cycle in 2026, where she's like getting low, or maybe she ran out of money, like you said. They get back together and no, but she has no friends, she has no family, she has nothing of her own kid that she probably is an absentee parent too. I would guess she's a horrible mom, yeah. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, all of that. Okay, yeah. That's or maybe it's been renewal's wedding. Let us know in the comments. That's what brings them back together. I'm good. That's my new head opinion.

unknown 11:33

Yeah.

Abigail 11:33

I mean, we've probably been long married, but let me let us know what you think if you did with each of these couples, we're gonna go through if you agree or disagree. Yeah, okay.

Modern Romance Couples That Split

Abigail 11:41

Emily, your first one. Go. Okay, mine is I do think this couple breaks up soon after the events of the book, and that is uh Scarlet Vandy, Vandermeer, and Lucas Blomquist from Deep End by Allie Hazelwood. Again, I don't care about any epilogues or any appearances in any other books. I don't think they break up immediately. Okay, what did what were you gonna say? No, no, no. I think I couldn't I couldn't come to it, so I just I didn't want to face it. But okay, just keep it so you go. I don't think they break up immediately. I think that they date through college and then they have separate lives after that. Like they're they have different career paths, or he wants to move back to wherever he's from, and she wants to do something else. And I just think that that is a natural end to the relationship. Sweeten, thank you. I don't think it's like I don't think it's uh a messy breakup. I don't think there's any hard feelings. Maybe they even stay friends, maybe she even goes to visit him in Sweden. Ten years later, she's still single. They hook up, but it doesn't really turn in anything serious. I just do not see them settling down living happily ever after together. I didn't get that vibe. I love the book. I had a great time reading it. Do I think they're meant to be, or are they just maybe a very fun college experience because they fulfill each other's mutual needs both emotionally and physically, and then the second they realize there's a wider world out there, they might realize they don't have as much in common as they thought. Yeah, I think that would be it. So that's my thought for them. That's what I'm gonna say. In 2026, she's visiting Sweden, she's backpacking through Europe to try to find herself, as all good millennials must do. She stays with him, they hook up again, but they're like, you know what, we are better as friends. That's my thought. I'm going to amend this. Okay. I agree with you. I think she has I think that Scarlett has more life to live. Yeah. More experiences to have. They break up after college, they go separate ways, but they never really shake each other off. They try meeting other people, blah, blah, blah. Maybe Scarlett tries girls. Then she goes visits him in Sweden, and it's like a nights and rodean fee moment. Nicholas Sparks call out. Sure. But she they they reconnect in like their 30s. Yeah. And they they decide actually to make it work. I love a second chance around. That's that's in oh, in 2020. Perfect. She is like, I have to get out of the US. He's like, I'll marry you for the visa, a marriage of convenience. She moves to Sweden, they fall back in love, they're together. Okay, I can be with them but they have more life experience, and she I think she's like, No one really did it for me like you. Yeah. In many ways. Yeah. They've both had their like athletic careers, and now they're in the second half of like they're rediscovering their careers and all. All right, yep. I think okay, I agree with you, but I can agree with your own. Okay, yeah, sure. I'm down for that. All right, all right, all right, fair. Because I don't think it's a top, I think if they do break up, it's not any hard feelings. It's like genuinely just uh, I don't think this is working right now. So I'm good with them getting back together. Okay, cool. What's your next couple? Okay. Um, my next couple is Eric and Kyle from Common Goal. Um, it's like the fourth book in the game changer series. Have you read that one? I have not. That's the one I have not read. Okay. It is um an age gap romance. So Eric is uh a nearly retired uh NHL player for the New York Admirals. And everyone on that team is gay, apparently. But he is um he has been married to a woman for a long time. He is bisexual and uh he's recently gotten divorced. He's like a dad, he has kids, whatever. And he um now is on the he doesn't want to announce publicly though that he's divorced because he's just about to retire. He doesn't want to make it a whole thing, he kind of just wants to retire and then like quietly move on. So he's been wearing his wedding ring. Anyways, he meets this young man, and by young man, I do mean young man, it's an age gap love. He's like 40, and Kyle is like 23 or something like that. Thank you, Kyle. And Kyle is a bartender at the uh the place, the gay bar that's got King Fisher. And he is like has had bad experiences with older closeted men in the past, and he's wary of starting anything up with Eric. Obviously, they end up starting something up, whatever. I just think like I thought this book was fine. I think they have too much to overcome personally. Uh and I just think eventually Kyle, like I I get it, Kyle, he's rich, he's experienced, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, but like eventually it's like you want to kind of live your own life and do your own thing. He probably like Eric probably doesn't want to be a dad again, like Kyle did want kids, right? Like, is he gonna want to start over? Much to think about, yeah. And like, and then all that entails, like how that's gonna be, how you were going to become parents, all this stuff. I just think honestly, they date for a year. Like at the conclusion of the book, Eric does whatever he does. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but like he like they get together, obviously, they end up together, and like it's a year. Yeah, and then they're like, you know what? I think we actually need to go a separate ways. And they're they're both the better for it. That's my feeling. I do feel like I could be making this up, but I feel like I did see somewhere where Rachel Reed said she thought that they would break up. Um yeah, that they really would not be together. I could be completely making that up. Right, because let's see, hold on. I haven't read that, but I feel like she said something like she doesn't see them in real life working out in in the long run. Again, I could be completely hallucinating that fact. Uh not immediately clear on the first Google, but I would not like could be wrong. I would not be surprised by that, honestly. But you know what? I just want to say that doesn't mean that it's not a good no, yeah, story. Like, there's plenty of amazing love stories that people have in their life that aren't happily ever afters. Totally. So anyway. Um, back to you. Totally agree. Okay, so this is my couple that I think does get engaged, but they do not make it to the altar, and that is Alice and Hayden from Great Big Beautiful Life. So they have a baby together, obviously. I think he proposes because they have the baby, and they're one of those couples that like stays engaged for a really long time, and everyone's like, How's wedding planning coming? And they're like, Oh, we haven't really started the uh, you know, we're getting on. And then he starts to feel like, Why did I move to this like small town in Georgia? There's so many bugs down here, and he's like, I could have had a career. She's like, We actually don't have that much in common. We were just bonded through this weird experience, and they have the kid, which puts the stress on it because why did they have a kid after only like a few months of knowing each other? Who thought that was a good idea, and then eventually they just honestly I totally block that out. They have a kid, I forgot that in the epilogue, which Emily Henry, I love you, but you will pay for your crimes of putting an epilogue baby in there. There's in the epilogue, they have a baby. That's like the epilogue. So, yes, they have a child. It's like an accidental baby, or I don't think they say that it's supposed to be happily ever after that they had a baby. Look, don't get me started on that. Um, but yeah, so they I just think that they quietly eventually do not go through the engagement, they go their separate ways. He moves back to Chicago or wherever he was living, and they share custody. The kid stays with him during the summers, they realize they just weren't that compatible. Uh, that's my thoughts on Allison Hate It. Okay. Thank you. Honestly, they weren't ever really that compelling to me. Go back and listen to a Great Big Beautiful Life episode if you for further discussion. But like, yeah, sure. I like this is me not caring whether they live or die. Yeah, and I think like like I had to work around the kid thing, which apparently you forgot about. But like canonically, I guess they have a child, but I just don't see that like being a wise choice, uh panning out in the long run. You know, I I think the the book itself suffered a lot from having so many flashbacks because it's like there was so much less time to get to know them as characters as and as a couple, so I think that's part of the problem. Um, because I don't care about them, like you said. But you know, I think they just it's an another like maybe it's not that toxic, but it just doesn't work out. That's my thought. Yeah, yeah. Okay, yeah, it just doesn't work out. They realize the best thing they can do for their child is break up. Yes, I agree. Yeah, good friends, and they like attend each other's weddings when they get married to other people. Of course, they're very supportive, co-parents, they're good co-parents, yes. No, that is a happy ending. Yeah, that is a happy ending. Okay, exactly. That is a happy ending. Ah, okay. All right, next uh where should I go? Should I um okay?

Normal People And The Affair Theory

Abigail 21:01

This was one that was listener submitted. They want to know where Marianne and Connell end up. So we can both discuss this. I have my thoughts, but should hear yours? Yes, obviously, these are two tortured souls with a tortured and cursed story. I think they eventually do reunite, but it's because they are both having an affair with their long-term partners. I think that they reunite by being each other's person they're cheating with. And I that's canon to me. Like, I just think they're so messed up. Like, will they get help? I don't know. And so this is Marianne and Connell Connell for normal normal people. Yeah. I sorry, I should have said that. Most people probably know that. Um, Marianne and Connell, yeah. I mean, I think it took them years to get it right, but I don't know if they really have the capacity to be together in a non messy way. Where it's just like and like fine, like maybe they and I don't even know if they end up getting together. I think I think their affair breaks up their relationships, but they don't actually end up committed to one another because the affair totally the drama of the affair breaks them apart too because of the stress of the loss of their families. Okay, that is my new canon. Sorry. I'm sorry. And it's a beautiful, hot affair. They're like they should have been together. That's the whole that's the whole thing. They should have just been together. Yeah. And they should have gotten help, but they didn't. And so they still find their way back to one another. Correct. But it's it's it's not good. Doust in betrayal and secrecy and infidelity. Yeah, exactly. Okay. It's illicit affairs by Taylor Swift. Oh, yeah, yeah. You okay you agree? Uh I kind of do. I think um I we did actually talk about this, I believe, in our discussion, our episode on normal people, which was a while ago. So you guys should go listen to that if you want to hear I changed my tune since then. I do think you thought they would end up together in that episode. And I thought they didn't. And I still think that, but I'm I'm kind of on board with you. I still think that he moved goes to America for school or whatever, and at the end, and they don't end up together. They don't stay together, they don't work things out. I'm gonna go with the Daisy Jones and the Six approach. I think he marries someone he meets in the US, they have like a long life of fine. It's fine. He's okay, he has kids, maybe. Maybe he goes to therapy, you know? But he he always looping and talks. It's like it's fine. Yeah, it's fine, but it's not the thing you really want, you guys. Um, and then I think he either gets divorced or his wife dies, and then he reconnects with Marianne. I'm also down for there to be an affair. That's fine with me. I maybe like I think they had an affair. Okay, okay. No, this is my new he's living in America with this girl he met at school. They have kids. He's in his 40s. Facebook comes around. He's married to her. This isn't like a historical fiction, so but yeah. I think Facebook had always been around. So he gets on Facebook, he finds Marianne, and he messages her. They start up this like low-key emotional messaging thing. It's like plausible deniability stuff. Yeah, but I but that's how they would do it too. They wouldn't just have a physical affair, they would have. No, no, it would be writing these long letters to each other via Facebook Messenger. Meta is complicit, and um then his wife dies and he goes to try to be with Mary Ann. And maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. But like he's always gonna be haunted by that guilt that he was basically cheating on his wife. He was cheating on her um with Marianne the whole time, and so he has that like complex with him for the rest of his life. And his kids are like, Wow, dad, you moved on like really fast after mom died, and he's like, Oh, it's what she would have wanted, but you know, debatable. Oh my god, you're I can see that too. I'm okay with that option too. Yeah, but yeah, go listen to our episode. I do think you were more pro than being together when we initially recorded. I think well, I think they do I think they're like faded for one another, but they're also faded for like agony and despair. Right, right. Like whether they can actually be together, but will will they be happy? Right. TBD. Yeah, they'll just continue being together and destroying each other and destroying their lives in the process, and other people's around them slights correct. Terrible, terrible. Thank you, listener, for submitting that question. Yeah, thank you, thank you. Okay, this one might be tough. Wait, isn't it your turn? Oh no, that was yours. That was one of yours. Okay. That was mine. Okay, okay.

Messy Marriage For Kit And Theo

Abigail 25:49

Um that's why I had five because I had to. Yes, I thought that was like an interlude. Okay, so this might be controversial. Uh I want to say I love them. I love these characters, but I do think that uh Kit and Theo from the pairing get married, but they do end up getting divorced. Wow. And I'm basing this, I don't, I am not someone, I I don't think that remarks made by authors after publishing a book are canon. However, Casey McWhiston did post a story on Instagram that was like, Where are my book couples now? And they had Kintheo as being like happy, hot together, but engaging in ethical non-monogamy, which does kind of track for them. Um, and so I think they just like they are they to me are on the bet Edward and Bella track, but like less toxic. I think they're just like, why are we even married? Like, what is marriage even? Like what is marriage? Like, let's just get divorced and then we'll just like keep being together, but like we're gonna, you know, like who cares? They would do some, they would that would piss me off. I mean, I know they wouldn't want to be friends with them. That would piss me off. To be so clear, I love them, don't want to be friends with either of them. Don't want to know my life, you know, but I do think they would do that. Have you ever seen the Caleb Huron thing where he's like talking about how everyone wants to be polyamorous? And he's like, and that's fine, that's fine. He's like, but you know what I want? He's like, I'm like also note for the audio, scratching my back with a pen right now. Um, he was like, you know what I want? I want to like fall in love with someone, get married to them, and stay married to them forever and never ever sleep with anyone else. It's like I want to be like old at the pool, looking at the pool boy and be like, oh, he's cute. Yeah, no, nothing new happens. Yeah, no, Kit Theo, they're having a joint divorce party that they're hooking up after, like they're inviting all their friends to celebrate their divorce, and they're like literally going home with each other after. Um, but they they are just messy, and I think they're they might be like, This is dumb that we're married, but we still love each other. They're just like, ah, the fuck the system. Yes, correct. So that's my read on them, and that's happy for them. That is their happy ending. Again, I don't want to know them or be their friends. Do you think that they well, what why would they even get married in the first place? Well, I think they're like, Well, people are taking our rights away, you know. Oh, sure, sure, sure, etc. We should just get married, and then they're like, Wait, why are we married? This is so dumb. Like, this is more fun. Let's get divorced. But they'll stay together, but they stay together, they're basically together, but they go through phases, like the you know, Theo goes on a solo backpacking trip, and you know, Kit moves back to France for a while, you know, and then they come back together again. So it's very valid, I agree. I I cannot stand them. I can't even I I can't stand the version of this that you're saying, but it's good for them, I guess. Yes, it's good for them, it's not for me. I'm I'm with Caleb Huren. Like, I feel like such a Republican, but I'm just like this is my most Republican take. Like, oh my god, just get over it. Yes, yes. Uh yeah. I'm not as break up or don't. Yeah. Like, stop. Anyways, so that's my take on them. Okay. Okay, that is that is breaking news. Should I save my happily ever after for the end? Yes, because mine's gonna be happily ever after at the end. All right.

Ron And Hermione After Hogwarts

Abigail 29:13

This is a couple who stays together because of shared trauma and exposure to uh like in like publicity reasons, but deep, deep resentment builds between them and they end really more as just like with like a little bit of mutual respect and shared history. And that is Minister of Magic Hermione Granger and her husband. No, no, I reject that. Yes, all right, no, that's mystical. Can I just lay out the facts? Sure, but I I don't care. Okay, I'm gonna lay out the facts for you. And the facts are she becomes minister of magic, she is highly competent, he is kind of hanging around. Do you uh if we really had to admit this to yourself, think if he's gonna be the primary parent when the kids I guess aren't at Hogwarts, if he's the primary parent, do you think that he's like running the household well? Like things are like staying clean, meals are free to stocked. But like Grace, where he grew up. Also they have magic. How hard is it to clean? So know what? Yeah, I think he's doing fine. I think he's doing fine. I don't know, because he's also like an aura, but like also, how is he gonna feel? Like, I don't know, he doesn't really impress to me. Like he does not impress upon me that he is a man who's comfortable making less than his wife, to be honest with you. I think that he has like that traditional vibe. And um, I think that over time, I think they have deep shared history and trauma, obviously. Battle of Hogwarts together. They fought, you know, they hunted down the horror cruxes, they went through it. They went through it and they have deep admiration for one another, but eventually the spark dies because Hermione just simply feels a lot of resentment towards him, a la Hillary and Bill. And she and she is the minister of magic, and so she can't get divorced. Not only is she the minister of magic, she can never get divorced, yeah. In this backwards-ass world, they are they are famous, like they are like right, they're like wizard, they're celebrities, like they they ended Voldemort, they killed off the Deaf Eaters, they did all whatever. So I just I think that they do stay together, but deep resentment builds. I think ultimately she ends up being the primary parent, like in the ways that counts. Like, she's the one who ends up staying up and like helping them do sure their projects or you know, like providing emotional support, but she's also running the whole magical world. So Okay. I mean, I don't like it, but I know that you're a run my knee truther, but I really just I think that it works out for a little bit while they're young. Aren't there also like I mean, you and I read um The Mortifying Ordeal, and it's like in that like they dated for a few years. Yeah. And you know, like I think there's a lot of fan interpretations that they they might outgrow one another but stay friends. Sure. I just think that they would have a small window to do that, and if they made it past that window, then they would just stay married. Yeah. I my my like genuine headcanon for them, which I think is what should happen and may or may not exist in some form out there. Uh, I do think that they they should not have gotten together after the Battle of Hawkwards, they should have a messy falling out at that point, and they should reconnect like five, six, seven years later, um, after they have both grown up, they have been had that experience, they've dated other people, they've healed, they've gone to therapy. And then I think it does work out in a very healthy, positive way. I do think if they just stay together and they never do anything else and they like, which is obviously what Jake intended, I don't really care about her, obviously. So uh I I do agree with you on that case. But in my head canon, in my world, they don't ever start dating right after when they're teenagers. I think they they break up, they have like a falling out, they don't stay friends, they grow, and then they come back together, and then I believe that they can blow halfway right after. But I think that's a fair I also think that they give like okay, imagine 40, 50 year olds Ron and Hermione, like she's really hot. Like she's gotten hotter, right? And he's kind of fallen off, right? So there's also that. Like, I think the sex is a many such cases, though. Anyways, um back to you. Um, okay.

A Late Life Wedding For Nick

Abigail 34:04

Let me paint a picture for you. This is a couple you know very well, and this is one Nick and Andy. No. Okay. So I think did some math. They're 25 years old. Nick and Andy from We Could Be So Good by Girlfriend. They came from We Could Be So Good. Not at all. A book I just read. Um, so they're 25 in 1959, which means in 2015 when the Obergerfeld decision happens, they're 81. Putting aside the number of cigarettes they're smoking, the predisposition to probably heart disease, their diets, ignore that. Stressful lifestyle. I call that they live to be 81, okay? So here's what I think happens. I think Andy starts, or no, sorry, Nick starts acting really weird the day the decision comes down. He starts acting weird, and Andy's like, oh my god, he's like dying or something. He's freaking out because they're old. And Nick's just like being freaking, he's just, you know, being his normal nervous gnarly self. He's he's panicking. And Andy's like, what the f what is going on with this guy? He can't figure it out. And then he casually mentions it, like, oh, yeah, so exciting. We could finally get married. And he sees it in Nick's eye, and he's like, Oh, that's what he's being weird about. Like, he knows immediately and is like, Hey, we should get married. And Nick's like, Wait, I was gonna ask you because I had this whole plan coming because you didn't get your wedding, you never got to have kids, you never got all these big milestones that you wanted out of life. So I was gonna give you at least I could do a really nice proposal. So I've been planning it, you know, and Andy's like, Well, I don't need that, and he's like, No, but I don't care. I'm gonna do this for you, so just shut up and we're gonna stop talking about this now. And then a couple weeks later, I think he has like some maybe it's on the rooftop. He tries his best to get down on one knee. He's 81, like he does his best, and they get married at like the courthouse like the same day. Um, but they have this one moment that's like this big milestone that makes up for all the things that he Nick feels Andy had to give up to be with him, and so that's my head canon. I think of course they're still together, it's not even a question, but I love that. My one amendment to that would be when was gay marriage legalized in New York? Oh, that's so true. I forgot about New York. Oh, that could really help with the age thing. That was in 2011. Okay, so they're in their 70s. It was 2015. So they're okay, so they've they've got a little bit more time to be married and like less decrepit. Yes, more likely than maybe when the New York and then like when Obergafell happens, they are like shedding a tear, like supporting all the young gays and stuff. But like they they do get married uh on July 25th, 2011, or whatever. Thank you. You you blue state elites. I forget that you guys have that. Down here, we had to wait for the Supreme Court. So we have extra rights. Anyway, um, that's my thought. I don't think they ever break up. I don't think there's even a whiff of that. I never think they even have a fight where it even comes into question. So no, they might have had like one or two like big fights, but the it like it was never like did I make the wrong choice? No, that that never occurs to them. Perfect. They're literally perfect. I would love to talk more about this and the uh what have I read recently section. I feel like we have to come back to that. Okay.

Joan And Vanessa Forever Love

Abigail 37:34

My last is the the category is they are in love till their dying breath. So not only do they stay married, but literally it's like notebook style they die at the dad again because they couldn't live a moment without each other on this planet. Yeah, and that is um, I think also no surprise, a queer couple, Joan and Vanessa from Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reed. Period. Yes. These ones not cute. Talk about what oh my god, I'm gonna start crying. But like when O'Burga fell, well, they live in California, right? Yeah, or who knows that they live in Texas. Here's my thing. Yeah, I think that they end up living in California because there's like I think they end up taking positions of the just jet propulsion lab in Pasadena, California. Okay, they move out to California, they live there, they're active in their niece's life, whatever. I don't know if they have ended up having a kid, maybe not. I think maybe they just are winks. I think they keep they take custody of the niece. It's yeah, I think they fully okay, yeah. So they're doing that, they're doing that. Um I think so hold on, let me Google. How this is a very educational episode. Old would Joan and Vanessa be now. Hopefully, Google knows what I'm talking about. Perfect. Um okay, now they would be in their late 60s to early 70s. Okay. So they would have been in their 50s to 60s for the Burger Feld decision. Oh my god. I think um, yeah, I think they would have been like one of the first people. You know what? You know, oh my god. No, no, I got it. Okay, do you remember uh that video of Kamala Harris when she's marrying the first like lesbian couple in uh in California and she's like, Do you want to start the marriages immediately? Yes, and that's like hilarious. Okay, she married them. There are those women they got married by Kamala Harris because they're like NASA, you know, like they're like, Oh, we're getting the attorney general to marry to marry us like the minute after a burgapone, correct, or actually, no, it was California, so again it was earlier. Yes, yeah, when was gay marriage legalized in California? Okay, 2013. Okay, June 28th, 2013. Hell yeah. They said, yeah, no, we will be getting married to the attorney general of this state immediately. Yes. Uh we'll start the marriages immediately. Um, if anyone knows, if anyone is as chronically online as me. But anyways, um, they they love each other forever. Like they are in love with each other forever. Yes, they have their fights, they always find their way back to each other. They're they're one of those couples that like at night after they've had a fight, they have this rule. It's like even if they're not ready to start talking about it, they like touch pinky toes in bed. Oh my god, like, I'm here. You know what I mean? It's like I see you, I'm here. Like, I'm not ready to talk about it yet. But like, I love you, I'm not gonna leave you. Because they have literally faced death. They have faced that. They have faced the real true reality of one of them dying not on this planet, yeah, and never having their body back, not even having their body back, and no one would even exactly no one would even know what they are to each other. So so they just they I have chills. I have chills right now. No, you're but they love each other and they live their love out loud every single day. They like are mentors for other younger, queer couples. Um they like play paracetamology. Oh my god, exactly. They they love pickleball, they love like cycling and like going, you know, like kayaking on the beach, like at the like a lake house, they go kayaking. Um, they just do lots of like outdoor activities and just they really love each other, and no fight is too big for them to overcome. Um and yeah, they die at the same time peacefully in their sleep. In their 90s. They won't live a they won't live a minute on this earth without one another. That is no that is Vanessa and Joan. The stars shine extra brightly the night that they and there's like a big the flies, the flags fly at half mast. It's a better world. This is the world that really turns blue. No, uh, Alex. This is in the red, white, and broil blue tongue. They're in the same universe, and like there are like elementary schools named after them. And like you know how there's like an Obama Boulevard in like every city? Yeah, there's like a Joan and Vanessa Boulevard, and like you know, like it there's museums named after them, there's airports, like um in in uh in San Francisco, it's like the Harvey Milk International Airport. They they open up like a new terminal, and it's like the Joan and Vanessa Terminal. You're 100% correct. The Janessa, the Janessa terminal. So take me to that world. But they are that prolific. Yeah, they are icons, and um their love is beautiful. Yeah, I see them sort of becoming like real reluctant queer advocates, like they don't really intend to, but over time, as things like progress, they sort of unintentionally become like very outfront in the fight for like equal rights. And I see Yeah, well, like in the first wave of like queer equality, they were like, eh, I don't like we've already done so much, we've already like lived so much. We just I'm tired. But then, like in the second wave of like rights being rolled back, attack on trans kids, then they're like, you know what, we have to use our influence, yeah. And um, yeah, totally totally agree. I love them so much. That is that is guys. Look, guys, look forward to our pride episode. Oh my god. Obviously, we can't shut up. Obviously, obviously, but god their love is beautiful. Notice how all the all the queer couples make it to marriage in relationships. And uh look, it's just it's just yeah, it's just on an understanding. I think the divorce rate is lower among queer people. Um, people are like Marians get divorced more, and I think that's fake news. So I my understanding is that statistic is because they are counting all divorces and many. People realize they're queer later in life and would have had a divorce and then are in a lesbian relationship. Do you want to know? This was pointed out to me in by someone or some podcast in the last few years, but like the statistic about 50% of marriages fail. Oh, this was on maintenance phase. Oh, yeah, totally. It's counting people who were who have been divorced multiple times. Right, right. So it's not that 50 yeah, 50% of couples get divorced. Right. It's that 50% of marriages ended in divorced. Which could be the same like 12 times. Exactly. So it's not actually like um totally it's not like okay, me or you are getting divorced. Yeah. You know, it's like, yeah, I don't know, my grandma was divorced five times. You know what I'm saying? Like she covered me. She's putting it. We're good. Your grandma's got it. We're good. She put she balanced it out. Yeah. So my actual hot take is that I would rather read about a couple, um, and this applies mostly to fan fiction. I would rather one of them die than read them getting divorced or breaking up. I know that's I know that's unpopular, but I can't stomach it. I'm so I'm like so that's me being sick in the head. But them dying, I'm like, well, they made it. Like they'll tell Daddy was born. Yes. Well, I actually thought about that with like, and again, I think it was actually some of the queer couples in these books. Because I was looking at my story graph and I was like, oh man, they would totally end up together. But then I remembered they died together in the book, and I was like, Oh, right. Okay, so yeah, that done done and dusted. But they do end up together, yeah. Exactly. So all right, I think that concludes our conversation about couples. Where are they at? Let me just check our thing one more time. I was gonna do the same thing. No last minute submissions, nope. Let me check my personal Instagram. Um so yeah, wow. Wow, great discussion. Oh, someone's like Bella and Edward. Oh, we handed a babe, so don't worry about it. Yeah. Because that's okay, this is back to the whole dying thing. Like you said, death is what makes relationships meaningful. And so if if you love someone through them dying, that relationship actually the love never goes anywhere because you still love them and they're gone, but you remember them. But if you break up, the love does go somewhere. Like you don't love them anymore. I mean, not saying that people who break up don't love each other anymore. I know there are a lot of reasons, whatever, but eventually, you know, like you hope that you move on, and so I just think that's so much more tragic to me. Um, but like also leave your shitty husband. Yeah, I I contain multitudes, okay. I love the husband, anyways. Leave your degree. Well,

What We Read Lately And Rec Picks

Abigail 46:54

well, well. Okay, well, first of all, I've been slow walking a couple of things just because I have been. Um, but I'm excited to let you know that I am I have been reading um Starshipped by Cats of Fiction. And um I will reserve my thoughts to later, but I'm about halfway through.

unknown 47:13

Okay.

Abigail 47:14

Um also I finished uh okay, so we talked a little bit about Paladin's Grace, uh, the Saint of Steel series, book one of the Saint of Steel series by T. Kingfisher. Um I was like, oh, maybe this will be something that will like really engross me. And it is, but not in the way I thought. So this book or this series, or I thought it was gonna be like heavy romanticy, classic romanticy tropes really suck me in, all this stuff. It is not classic romantic at all. It is not it is each story, I would say, is equal parts romance and adventure. Okay, the romances are slow burn, they are earned, and there's probably like they're they do eventually get together in the biblical sense, but it is like not the main point of the book. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Um, the concept here is uh there is this land that it's like a polytheistic culture. There's lots of different gods and goddesses and stuff. And there's this group of paladins. Paladins are warriors chosen by gods that are like um they like tap into the power of the god, and the god uses them to do their bidding. And uh the saint of steel is a god who calls these paladins, and he's all about like justice, and he sends his paladins in to like kill evil people, but he keeps their sword from hurting the innocent. And that is all great because they have had this gift, it's like called the battle tide, and it like comes, they become like these crazy killing machines, but they're only ever capable of killing people who are evil. Sure. But then the god dies. Um and many of them go crazy immediately and like kill each other or die, and um there's like seven of them remaining. The seven remaining still have the potential, they still have the battle tide, but they don't they no longer have anyone to control it. So it's like they are controlling it. Oh and like they it's like this wall between them and the world. They're like super great people, but they are just like they have this thing that's like this power that could be used for evil. They and they end up going to um uh live and work at this place called the Temple of the Rat. And the rat is a god who is like really all about like justice, feeding people, taking care of the poor, representing people in court, doing stuff like that, doesn't have like an army or anything. Anyways, the book one the books are like a story of each of the paladins and like their arc and the the through line of the series is this one like big bad evil thing that's happening in the realm that like they're they are working uh with the Temple of the Rat to like fix and to like find so there's like mystery, adventure, quests, okay, also coziness. It's just very cozy, it's hard to explain. It's just like the main the main character in the first book, the paladin, he like knits socks, like he's just like everyone's kind of gentle, right? It's not it's not shadow daddy type stuff at all. Um there are like very casually like trans characters, non-binary characters, it's just like extremely inclusive and effortless without centering like trauma. Yeah, it's more just like centering the identity. Sure. In the second book, Paladin's Grace, the one I'm reading right now, or Paladin's strength, the one I'm reading right now, the female main character is over six feet tall and she's like gigantic. Yes. And I'm just like, I love this. It's just it's just effortlessly inclusive without like shoving it down your throat and like performance. Yeah. No, it's just it's just it's just earnest. Like the characters are well-developed, interesting, complex human beings who have lots of different identities and characteristics. So, anyways, I'm enjoying it. I would say for me, they're not necessarily like bingeable, um, but they are like a good read, I feel like a good book to have going while you're reading something else. Okay. Um, and I look, I I've enjoyed the second one more than the first. Okay. And I look forward to finishing that one. I'm 80% of the way through and then continuing on the series. So how many are there? And is it a complete series? And do you know how and how many are there? I believe I believe it is complete. They are uh the last one was published in 2024. Hold on, let me Google. There's four out right now. Okay. One of there is, um, I know one of them is a queer story because one of the paladins is gay. Uh is the Saint of Steel series finished? No, it's not yet complete. Ooh, exciting. Well, there are four main books available as of 2026: Paladins Grace. The the author has indicated plans for a total of seven books, one for each of the surviving paladins. So we're only just circling over halfway through. Okay. So, anyways. So get in while you still do it. Okay, sure. Get in while you still can. I'll circle back. I did have from the library, but uh you encouraged me to read one of the books that I've got. I think I was right about that. You were correct, but um I was right about that. I'll circle back to getting this back from the library. Yeah, come on back. All right, so let's talk about the thing I want to talk about, which is what you've read recently. Yes, okay, so should we start with I have two, but we'll we can start with Nick and Andy. So I obviously read We Should Be So Good, or we could wait, we could be so good, which you recommended to me, and I loved it. I texted you many times, like many photos, less than I even could have. I could have sent more, but um I was I was absolutely it was like okay, so with you could be should be so this is the first in a series of two. There's hopefully gonna be more. It's the the name of the series is like mid-century new york or something like that by Kat Sebastian. This is the first in the series like a multi-character universe. Yes, go. Yes, we could be so good. I read You Should Be So Lucky First, and that one I couldn't put down. Like I read it all in one day. Really good, so good. This one though, I was like, I was reading a few pages at a time, and I'd be like, wait, I don't want it to be over. So I would put it down and I would come back. That's what I said. I feel the same way. It's like you should be so lucky. I was like, can't stop because I've got to read you gotta find out. Yes, we could be so good, I was like, I'm scared for this video. So it follows Nick and Andy. Um Nick is uh uh like they're both reporters. Andy's dad owns the paper, and he's like gonna have to take it over one day, and he doesn't really want to, and he's a little bit like bumbling and forgetful, but like really sweet and like not bad at his job in earnest, but he's just like he doesn't feel like he's cut out to like take over this whole paper or whatever. And then he's becomes really good friends with Nick, who's this like you know, sort of rougher baker, tougher, like Italian, um self-made. He works, yeah. He worked his way, he works his way. Um and he's also a reporter, and he's like kind of showing Nick the rope or Andy the ropes. Um and they become friends. He wants to hate him at first. He wants to hate him, but he just instantly doesn't. Like he just is immediately endeared to him. And um they become friends, they become roommates, and then they become no because hold on. Them becoming roommates after they're already after at least one of them is already feeling a spark is crazy. It is so serious to me. I didn't know I've I haven't read that many roommates to lovers books, I don't think. Yeah. And uh especially if they're not like I think the ones I have read are more like rivals or like enemies or like forced proximity or something like that. This is like we're good friends to like there's no hetero explanation for this because it's like, oh Andy, you have a big apartment, like a huge furnished and paid for free uptown, yeah, and you're not staying there because you don't want to be alone, yeah. Like you want to be brother with me in my shit apartment, hey, hey and it just I I actually reading this book and then the next book I'll talk about made me realize how much I love and part of why I like Cat Sebastian so much is that I love I love so much like internal conflict versus like external conflict, and the the journey I just wonder well put how Cat Sebastian so in this book Nick again, like I said, he's like this big, strong, tough New Yorker, and his whole internal conflict is that he is like a weo, yes, and he's so scared, like he is just so scared, and it's not what you would expect because he is this like big strong guy, and then Andy's whole thing is just like he just wants a family, he just wants to be loved, he wants to like have a family, and them both like having both have like they're both afraid of this thing that they but how it comes out in different ways and how it comes from different places and the character work that Kat Sebastian gives us to understand why they are the way that they are and the things that they've been through and how hard it is for them to overcome it, and even at the end, they're like, I'm gonna brute force my way into this because I love the other person so much. Like, it's not easy and it's not a natural conclusion, like especially it's mid-century New York, like it's illegal to be gay, but they're gonna like fight the universe and like take this thing by force, even if it's hard and even if it's scary, and even if it's like not their natural inclination, or it would be easier to just walk away. And I loved it so much. I like was crashing out multiple times, obviously through text message to you, and um yeah, I couldn't take it. Um I'm I'm trying to find a quote that I sent you that I could read. I don't want to spoil it. While you're looking for that, while you're looking for that, I'll say like another thing that she does really well in both of these books is highlighting um not just the trauma and the fear of like it's not that is like that is something that is happening of living in mid-century New York. I mean, all of her books up until Starship have been historical romances, so I'm I'm interested to see how she frames this in even older time periods or even more past, but um, she really highlights the joy of their queer community that they have, yeah, and um the support network that they have, and it's not just being like everything is horrible and I'm yeah, like you know, it's like oh, we have this we do have family, they found safety, they found, you know, like they have people over to their house for dinner, like in spaces where they can be themselves and they have opportunity to like let their armor down and yeah, but even like the moments are like riding on the subway together, and it's like I want to reach out and touch him. I just want to touch him, but like I'm so hyper aware of it now because like maybe I wouldn't have even thought of it before I realized I had feelings. Oh my god. No, this is this is not like a spoiler because obviously it's a romance that ends happily ever after. But this he says, and f it, that's what Andy's going to do. He doesn't care if the world wants to give him space to make a life. He's going to push and shove until he and Nick have the space they need, and then he's going to build the kind of life they want. If he wants someone to come home to, and if Nick wants to be that person, then Andy's going to make sure they have it. Dude.

unknown 58:58

Beautiful.

Abigail 58:59

So it really honestly is like I'm sitting up there with atmosphere on like beautiful love stories. It is just a great dude. It's just beautiful. The like yearning, and it's like the same as all of I think her books. Like, just it's a slow rolling. It doesn't follow the traditional, like, three-act structure of a romance, which is fine, it has its place, but it's like the sl like the slow ease into falling in love and like the steps and yeah, the like yearning and the like like realizing and like the longing looks and like them misunderstanding each other because they both think like there's no way he returns my feelings. Like, oh, it's so important to me. It's so serious. So thank you. Up next, I have um from the library after hour at Doryard Books after I finish Starshipped. Um, so more to come on that soon. Yeah. Um, I'm trying to remember. Let me see. I'm all the way in. What year? Yeah, I know. I'm just like, well, let me, I know what I'm doing this summer, reading every book Kat Sebastian's ever uh written. Do do do do do after hours at Doryard Books. Oh, it's also mid-century New York, but I don't think it's part of the series. Yeah, I don't think so. It is uh 1968 New York sit New York City news about the war might be keeping Patrick up at night. News in general might be keeping Patrick up at night. Uh, but he's doing fine. He's sure of it. He gets to spend his days selling books in the gayest neighborhood on the East Coast and his nights merrily sleeping his way through the rare book community. But when he makes an when he takes in a drifter who seems to be hiding something, and his best friend and her newborn move into the apartment upstairs, his life gets turned on its head. A sleepy little bookstore should be the perfect place for Nathaniel to lie low, waiting for his past to catch up with him. But it turns out Doryard Books is full of political radicals and anti-war agitators. If the FBI isn't actively surveilling this place, it will be. Nathaniel should should go anywhere else. The last thing he expects is to like these subversives. There's a grieving folk musician and her baby, a demon of a child who only sleep if Nathaniel of all people holds her. There's a pair of rabble-rousing teenagers who upsettingly seem to be right about everything. And there's Patrick, who can't walk past anyone who needs his help, and who is perplexingly determined to help help Nathaniel. As the world bounces on the precipice of something new and scary and maybe even hopeful, Patrick needs to decide what he's willing to risk for his chaotic new community. He's accidentally created. And Nathaniel needs to figure out whether he has a place in this messy, flawed world and whether he can believe he deserves it. 4.42 stars. Dude, Cat Sebastian, you have a fan for life. I'm gonna read that one too. That's my book, my library only has like two other Cat Sebastian books in their uh catalog, and that's one of them. So I will read that one next um for sure. The good news is, I think, which is something that we should highlight for our listeners too, is that the queer liberation library has more of them. I have already checked. They have many, they have many of them. Okay, good. So I will be turning there as soon as I exhaust my library. Plug for the listeners. Uh, you can get a free online library card. It's an all-digital library from the queer liberation library at queerliberation library.org. Memberships are free with an email address. They support the library's ability to get more books, but they highlight books. They like all their books in their catalog are from queer authors or feature queer stories. Yeah. And you can integrate it with Libby and get it on your e-reader and all that good stuff. Yeah, it was super easy to do, so I recommend it. Okay.

A Romance Plot Built On An Expose

Abigail 1:02:31

The other book I read, not as exciting. I mean, it was really good, but it's no nick andy. Uh, but it was cute. It's called Uh Girl Next Door by Rachel Meredith. It is her debut novel, and it's really a funny uh premise. So it follows our main character, MC. She lives in New York, she has a bunch of roommates, like a small shady apartment, and she works as like a freelance writer. Her life's like fine, and um she's from this like small suburban town outside the city and doesn't really like have a good relationship with her family, doesn't go home very much, like hated high school or whatever. I don't know, something. And um her best friend, who also grew up in this small town, Joe also lives in New York now, he's gay, whatever. They have this close friendship. Um he is works at this, like I don't know, like a people magazine type place, like a celebrity gossip magazine. And his job is in the arts and culture section, which is obviously under threat because it doesn't perform very well. And so he's like really worried about his job. He's kind of been implied that he uh doesn't, you know, have very long there. And he brings her into a meeting and says, Okay, so there's this really, really have you heard of this book? It's really, really popular right now. Like number one bestseller. It's called Girl Next Door. It's about you. And NC's like, he's like, you have to read it, but um we think I read it, and I think that this girl, Nora, who was like shy, quiet, really standoffish. I think she wrote it about you. The character has like your same initials, the the the vi setting seems really familiar. The main character really seems like this Nora girl, and it seems like they were like, you know, kind of enemies in high school, then they reconnect as adults and fall in love. That's the plot of the book. And he's like, I need you to write a story. I need you to go home and try to because she's written this anonymously, and people are like speculating why she would do that. Which again, suspend your disbelief because like a lot of romance writers, especially queer romance writers, write under pen names. But he's like, She wrote this anonymously, people are speculating. We could this could save my job if I write this big ass expose on who this author is. You could go and like figure out why she wrote this book and you know, confirm that it was really her. So she is like a people pleaser, so she agrees, even though she definitely shouldn't, because you can probably see the conflict emerging. So she goes, Home, Nora like lives a quiet life, she still lives in her parents' old house, she works at the library, and she tries to reconnect with her, and you know. That's a crazy premise. It's a crazy premise. There's a lot of conflict in this. There's like her family issues, her she's staying with her brother and his wife, who are like, there's something weird going on between them. Uh, there's stuff with her and her best friend Joe because he's kind of like manipulating her a little bit into doing this for him. Then there's a falling in love. So there's a lot, but um I had a great time reading it. It's really fun, it's not that long. And I thought the relationship was really good, the character's really good, it wasn't boring. Yeah, I had a good time. It's another one that doesn't quite fall like the point where all the conflict kind of hits the fan. You still have like 20 30% of the book left, which I kind of part of me was confused by it, but part of me really liked it because it felt more realistic, like there was significant fallout from the Events and then like reconnecting again took time, and so I thought it was fun. It was fun, it was cute. I would read more from this author, I would be really excited to see what she writes next. And yeah, I gave it four stars. So I thought it was good. Yeah, that's Girl Next Doors. Love that in a crazy premise. Like crazy to write a book that is so like why not change the names more significantly? Yeah, that is crazy. You know, it's like you want to be found out. Yeah, so maybe

Closing And Pride Tease

Abigail 1:06:30

she did. Um, but yeah, we'll see you guys next time. I think is our next is our next one gonna be our pride episode. I was wondering that. I don't know if it will be well, we could do it a little before it. So this will come out then, yeah. No, it won't be. It will be. So our next episode will be our pride episode. Obviously, we have a lot of animation. So we'll see you guys then. Yes, bye. All right, bye.