It’s a new year and we’re already full of surprises here at Queerly Recommended. Kris reveals that she’s never seen the sitcom Arrested Development. Tara drops more personal lore that connects her with an infamous Canadian serial killer. We have updates on Daryl Dixon the cat and the newest QR pet, Henry Rollins, Tara’s little black schnoodle who hadn’t yet arrived by the time of recording but is home now and thriving.
This episode, instead of looking forward, Kris and Tara look back at their favourite recommendations of 2025. They are, in no particular order.
Top Recommendations of 2025
Kris’s top three
- Incendiant by Virginia Black
- Younger (Netflix)
- The Hunting Wives (Netflix)
Tara’s top three
- Number Six by Lee Winter
- The Woman from the Waves by Roslyn Sinclair
- Discovering Nicola by Clare Ashton
Works/People Discussed
- Stranger Things (Netflix)
- Robin Hood (MGM+)
- The Christmas Baby (2025)
- Canada’s Drag Race (Crave)
- Kickboxer (1989)
- Group Therapy (2024)
- Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025)
- The Science of Sex by charlottepriestly (note: you have to be signed in to an Ao3 account to read it)
Enjoyed this episode? You might also like episode 99, where Kris and Tara share their top recommendations of 2024
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Transcript
>> Kris Bryant: Welcome to Queerly Recommended, the podcast where we recommend queer books, films, TV shows, and more. I’m Kris Bryant, a contemporary romance writer for Bold Strokes Books. And this week we’re looking back at our top recommendations of the year. Plus, I also threw in a recommendation because I didn’t follow directions.
>> Tara Scott: And I’m Tara Scott, and I review sapphic fiction at the Lesbian Review and Smart Bitches. Trashy books. Kris Bryant.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes.
>> Tara Scott: What’s new with you.
>> Kris Bryant: So I found out yesterday that I had to kill some vacation time. so we don’t have cool things like you do where our, you know, where our company’s like, hey, you go have vacation and do fun things and we’re not going to, like, count how many hours you take? Like. No, here in the US Every hour you take, you take must be, you know, recorded, must be taken out against your paycheck. Like, it’s ridiculous. So I ended up having 12 extra hours that I was going to lose. So I left a couple early. A couple of hours early yesterday, and today I took four hours. So ultimately I’m losing some time, but I’d much other. Well, I’m carrying over. You can only carry over a week, so I’m carrying over a week. But also I’m. I’m also like, I worked for free for the company for like six hours extra. I mean, it’s more than that.
>> Tara Scott: But really, how much vacation time do you get a year?
>> Kris Bryant: So I get, I’ve been there long enough to where I get four weeks of vacation and I get two weeks of pto. Plus I always carry over a week. So I really have five weeks of vacation and two weeks of pto.
>> Tara Scott: Ooh, nice. That’s what it was like at my last company. To be fair, the company I’m at right now is very generous. But not every company, right?
>> Kris Bryant: I’ve never heard that. Like, except for maybe if I watch some movie on TV where, like, young zers get, like, incredible benefits at, like, Google or something. You know, we see all these, like, places where people have, like, a full kitchen and they have a playroom where they can play foosball and ping pong and stuff like that. Like, no, my boss would be like, are you kidding me? Get to work.
>> Tara Scott: Like, to be fair, a lot of the, A lot of the companies like that, they might say they have unlimited time off and they have all those fun perks because they want you to live at, work. That’s also true. Yes.
>> Kris Bryant: But I mean, if you’re gonna make me live there, then good News is I have an office.
>> Kris Bryant: So I do have an office so I can close the door and sleep if I want to.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, that’s nice. I’ve never had one of those. And honestly like as a person with adhd, that’s why I like working from. That’s one of the reasons I like working from home so much is like I can actually get done. My last company, it was not only was it open plan office, but they put again me.
>> Kris Bryant: It’s terrible idea.
>> Tara Scott: Full ass ADHD before I even knew I had it. And right behind me were the, and like lovely people, but they were the like business development reps. So they were the ones who would like cold call other companies, like get on calls trying to get people to agree to book a demo. And I was like, that’s terrible. Yeah, it was not the best setup.
>> Kris Bryant: First of all, if anybody is like outside of my office, I’m at kind of like a corner. So I kind of sort. I don’t really have the corner office, but I have an office right next to the corner. And it. People like to like gather. It’s like a gathering spot. I’m like go, leave right now. Like you need a moat. So what I do is especially if it’s my engineer Kris, I’ll just like, just look at him and I’ll just shut the door. I’ll just look at him and we make eye contact until the door is shut. Oh my God.
>> Tara Scott: Like Lucille Bluth on Arrested Development.
>> Kris Bryant: I haven’t seen that, but yeah.
>> Tara Scott: What?
>> Kris Bryant: I have not seen that.
>> Tara Scott: You’ve never seen Arrested Development?
>> Kris Bryant: No, no, I know now I was busy writing. I didn’t have.
>> Tara Scott: Just watch the original. Don’t bother with any of the newer ones. It’s one of the funniest shows that was ever on television.
>> Kris Bryant: I love Bateman. I mean he’s in it, right? Yeah, he’s in it.
>> Tara Scott: Oh yeah, he’s great.
>> Kris Bryant: Isn’t it?
>> Tara Scott: Will Arnett, other people whose names I can’t remember.
>> Kris Bryant: I mean, I’m sure it’s. I mean, you know me, I’ll watch anything, I’ll watch it. It’s just everything is overwhelming right now.
>> Tara Scott: Well, if you want to laugh and you don’t mind that it’s not queer. Highly, highly recommend one of.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard a lot of good things and I, I don’t know why I haven’t tried it. I just don’t know. Maybe. I don’t know. I really don’t know.
>> Tara Scott: But I will.
>> Kris Bryant: Coming from you heart. I will do it. I will watch it.
>> Tara Scott: Oh, that’s so nice. You’re a better person than me. I don’t watch most of what anybody recommends to me.
>> Kris Bryant: Like, no, no, no, no.
>> Tara Scott: I still have to watch Heated Rivalry. And like, not only have you recommended.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh my goodness, yes.
>> Tara Scott: But one of my co workers, he’s like, have you seen it yet? Have you seen it yet? When have you seen it? When are you watching it?
>> Kris Bryant: It’s all over TikTok and you just have to watch it. Or maybe it’s just, on my TikTok because I have watched it.
>> Tara Scott: I mean, to be fair, it’s a tough one to watch when you have kids around.
>> Kris Bryant: That’s true. That you’re not wrong. You are not wrong.
>> Tara Scott: It does not seem from everything I’ve seen that that’s a good one to watch while you kids around.
>> Kris Bryant: No, it is. It is not. It’s not. It’s very, very, aggressively horny. Yes. Aggressively horny. Yes. There we go.
>> Tara Scott: Yep.
>> Kris Bryant: Yep.
>> Tara Scott: Which I heard is like one of the, you know, it’s, it’s a, it’s a plus side. And that’s great. I will watch it.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes.
>> Tara Scott: Shannon ever listens.
>> Kris Bryant: Shannon.
>> Tara Scott: I am going to watch it.
>> Kris Bryant: I want to make sure she does.
>> Tara Scott: what else is new? What else is going on?
>> Kris Bryant: Oh my gosh.
>> Tara Scott: How were your holidays? What’s going on in the neighborhood?
>> Kris Bryant: So everybody’s sick and we’ve had to postpone, push Christmas back and back and back and back. And so I’m just like, can we just forget it at this point? Like, we did have a Christmas. I did have Christmas with my family. nobody was sick. We were. There’s three of us. I mean, we’re not that big. That was fine. It was so funny because my sister and I, my dad needed a new couch and he decided he wanted a love seat, because the couch took up too much space in the, in the house. So I decided to take him out. Did I tell you this story? Do you know this story? No. Okay, so my sister, she is in Hungary. She is wherever she is, she is not in this country. She is somewhere else. And so I’m texting her like, hey, I’m taking dad. right now we’re going to the furniture, furniture place. We’re going to look at love seats. And so in the middle of it, she’s like, hey, for Christmas, why don’t we, you and I, pay for the love seat and dad can buy himself a new chair? I’m like, yeah, okay, that works. So my dad’s like, you know, I. I’m sad because I really want to open things something at Christmas, so. Because if we were going to give him the love seat for Christmas and he wouldn’t have anything to open. And I’m like, dad, you are so spoiled. Like, I’m sure you’re going to have a ton of stuff to open. And sure enough, he did. He had a ton of stuff to open. And yeah, so it was great. We had dinner, we had food. the next morning I went back over to my sister’s. My dad had stayed the night there and we had Christmas breakfast. so it was really nice. And everybody on Deb’s side was sick, so we postponed it once. we got together for just the Secret Santa exchange.
>> Kris Bryant: And everybody’s sick from that.
>> Tara Scott: Oh no.
>> Kris Bryant: So Debbie and I are looking at you like, well, looks like we’re gonna get sick.
>> Tara Scott: Because like.
>> Kris Bryant: Some of the family’s like, we can’t taste food. We can’t. Yeah. And I’m just like, son of a.
>> Tara Scott: That’s a bad side.
>> Kris Bryant: So I mean, but we were hoping it was like, flu. That sounds terrible. I don’t mean that.
>> Tara Scott: No, I get it though.
>> Kris Bryant: Debbie and I had our flu shots. We’ve already had it. We’re like the only ones that had our flu shots.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: And so it’s like, well, hey, maybe if it’s just the flu, it’s not going to affect us, you know, because we’re older and we don’t want like to get it from the kids. Like, I don’t want to get sick.
>> Tara Scott: Nope.
>> Kris Bryant: So I’m waiting. I’m just sitting here waiting. So anyway, so everybody’s sick. So we’re supposed to have. On Sunday we’re supposed to have a Christmas dinner. And I just don’t think it’s going to work. I think everybody’s just sick and it’s just. I think we should just move on.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah. Because it’s. So we’re recording this on the 30th, so that would still even be after New Year’s.
>> Tara Scott: Maybe it can be a nice New Year’s meal.
>> Kris Bryant: It could be. It could be a new. That’s a good idea too. Since we’ve already kind of had our exchange. More or less. That might be a good idea. So. Yeah.
What about yours? How are your holidays?
>> Tara Scott: It’s been really, really nice. Like I said, we’re recording this on the 30th. I still have this Week off. I don’t think I understood how much I needed to just, be still for a while. Typically when I take vacation in a year, there’s some kind of like staycationing involved and didn’t really get to relax this year. I mean, 2025 has been intense for a lot of reasons, for everybody.
>> Kris Bryant: 2025. Yeah, bucket.
>> Tara Scott: But it’s just, it’s been a good, you know, we’ve been watching some movies, which I’ll, I’ll talk about some of those, a little bit later. Playing some video, games. There’s, you know, the kids have been wandering in and out wanting to spend time with us, which has been really nice.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, that is nice.
>> Tara Scott: And it’s just been, it’s just, it’s been like really nice and restful. And then I’m like a world, champion ruminator. I’m really good at it. I can, you know, focus and ruminate on a thing like nobody else. And so I was a little afraid that I would spend most of my vacation thinking about work. And like, I love the people I work with. But you know, it’s like I said, it’s been a challenging year in a lot of ways and I want, I wanted to fully unplug from work and like just be a human and spend less time. And I have, I spent less time on social media, less time on everything.
>> Kris Bryant: Nice. Same.
>> Tara Scott: We did a great job distracting ourselves because we decided to get a puppy who is arriving tomorrow. our little New Year’s Eve puppy who was obviously born, you know, way earlier than that. I am unbelievably excited.
>> Kris Bryant: So do the kids know?
>> Tara Scott: Yes.
>> Kris Bryant: Okay. So they know.
>> Tara Scott: The kids do know. Our youngest thought I was messing with them at first, like basically for a day was like, are you serious? Is this for real? Like for real. Are we actually doing this? Are we really doing this? It’s like, yes, we’re doing this. So I’m very excited because he’s very cute. He’s a little boy dog who’s going to be a little brother to Ember. So Ember is a schnoodle who’s quite light colored. She’s not really white. And as her fur comes in, like as it grows in, it kind of goes to like a light rust or sometimes there’s like more black strands that come in, or sometimes it is almost more white. Like it’s this kind of ever changing shade of something light. But this is a little black schnoodle and he’s gonna be about or A little over half the size of her full grown.
>> Kris Bryant: I have the picture right in front of me.
>> Tara Scott: Isn’t he a cutie?
>> Kris Bryant: Sweetheart, I’m so jealous. I’m angry jealous.
>> Tara Scott: See you gotta come to Calgary. Meet the baby. Come meet the baby.
>> Kris Bryant: Just here for the baby.
>> Tara Scott: We don’t know the name for sure yet.
>> Kris Bryant: Well, you have to meet him.
>> Tara Scott: Picked out next time. Exactly. We have to meet him. And so there is we’re having some fun, that’s been honestly like playing the what about this name game has been so fun because we’ve locked in on the idea of like celebrity and that’s been like a really fun, distracting like almost like a game. Like what about this one and what about this one and what about this one?
>> Kris Bryant: So do we have some sort of ideas? Like can you drop some hints or like possible names?
>> Tara Scott: Current contenders include Stanley Tucci. You’re gonna know there’s a theme until there’s not a theme. So there’s Stanley Tucci, there’s Joe Pesci because again, I think this is hilarious. Henry Rollins I think is also a hilarious choice. He. Do you know who Henry Rollins is?
>> Kris Bryant: Yes. Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: So for people that don’t know he’s one of the people from Black Flag, he’s just. I just love the idea of this like little tiny blast floofy dog named after little Black Dog, the guy from Black Flag who’s like fucking ripped and has been for decades. But I’m all. I’m also not opposed to the idea of just naming him Meatball because I think that’s cute and funny.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah. yeah. I think what’s going to happen is whatever you end up calling him, he’ll have a nickname off of that.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah. We’re gonna look at and obviously like if we name him Stanley Tucci, he’s probably gonna be called Stanley. Like not, not probably not. I also think he looks like he could be a Robin. So maybe like Robin Williams.
>> Kris Bryant: Interesting. Oh, he is adorable and I love his little face. I just want to. I know I want to do that.
>> Tara Scott: yeah, Neil’s driving out tomorrow because we have to. It’s a couple of hours away. Is driving up and I’m going to stay home and tire Ember out so that you know she has the right energy hopefully. So we’re just like crossing our fingers that
>> Kris Bryant: Is she around other dogs at all?
>> Tara Scott: Not recently because it’s been so freaking cold. it’s been like minus 20 something for insane. Yeah. But she used to go To a daycare. Just, honestly, just for fun. Because she loved it.
>> Kris Bryant: Good.
>> Tara Scott: And she loves other dogs when she’s out on.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, that’s perfect. Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: Then that’s like she never goes after anybody.
>> Kris Bryant: My. I m remember Molly, she could have cared less. She, I took her to dog parks while she can. You know, when she could still walk and she didn’t care about anything. She’s scared of puppies. She was always really scared of small puppies or small dogs.
>> Kris Bryant: She absolutely adored my sister’s dog. Like, loved him forever. Like she would hug him.
>> Tara Scott: What kind of dog was he?
>> Kris Bryant: He was a raccoon dog. Like, looked like a raccoon. Some sort of terrier mix. Raccoon dog. Okay.
He had a mask. It was just. He was very unique looking. Yeah, yeah. So, she just adored him. She, he was exactly her size, height, length, everything. So I think she just found her. Her dog, you know, her soulmate. Yeah. So it was adorable. Like she just absolutely like kissed him, loved him. Any other dog, she’s like off now.
>> Tara Scott: Did he love her?
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, I think so. I mean, he was older, so he tolerated her, I think, you know, hard to do sometimes. That’s enough, right? Yeah, exactly.
>> Tara Scott: That’s pretty good.
So what else has been happening?
>> Kris Bryant: So speaking of babies, huh? Not really babies, but. Okay, for everybody who knows my cat drama and cat stories, Daryl Dixon is back.
>> Tara Scott: Still back.
>> Kris Bryant: Okay, so here we go. So a few weeks ago, this fluffy, sweet cat shows up on my back door right before I had to leave for work. I mean fluffy, big, fluffy like healthy looking cat. And I’m like, deb, do we know this cat? I had the door open. I mean the cat is like, smack face up against the back door. And I’m like. And I’m like, okay, we have our cats. So like, what cat is this? And I’m looking down from, you know, and Debbie’s back away. She’s like, oh my gosh, I think that’s Daryl. And I’m like, no way. So I opened the door and he’s like, And sure enough, it’s Daryl Dixon. He’s fluffier, he’s fatter, he’s healthy, he’s not limping, his ears and all crumpled up. I mean he was. Somebody has been taking care of him.
>> Kris Bryant: So I’m like, oh my gosh. So he came back, he ate some food, he, you know, he took a nap and then he went on his merry way. And so I remember I texted you and I’m Like, I think he just came by to say thank you because we kept him kind of alive for, you know, several months. We were feeding him, treating him with, you know, every sort of medicine, air mites, flea medicine, m and everything. So I just, I seriously almost cried. I was like, this is. He seriously came by to thank us? Like that is what I thought. But then he came back, like weeks later he came back and I’m like, oh my God. So what I did was I posted a picture of him on ring and I’m like, hey, did somebody lose this cat? He has been here before, months ago. And now he’s back and you know, I can tell he’s been taken care of. He’s healthier. Like, I m really want him to find his home again because I don’t want him to go through what he went before and oh my goodness, the people who wanted this cat. He is so beautiful.
>> Kris Bryant: I told you. Like, he’s like a Bengal. He has the Bengal markings.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: And so I had one person like, say, hey, that’s. That’s my girl pie. And I’m like, guess what? No, it’s not your. It’s not your girl pie because it’s a boy. And they’re like, are you sure it’s boy? Yeah, I’m sure it’s a boy. Like, okay, here. Hm. You know, although I know it’s Daryl, but he has so much fluff, you know, I wasn’t gonna like spread his legs. I wasn’t gonna look before it was real obvious because he was real thin and his fur wasn’t well maintained and so you could tell he had little. Two little kitty balls. Yep. And so I couldn’t tell, but I know it’s him. Like. And so people were saying, don’t just give them to anybody. Make sure they know how to identify him. I’m m. Like, how the hell are people going to know how to identify him? Like, How are they going to know? And everybody’s like, take him in to see if he’s been chipped. I’m like, have you ever tried picking up a feral cat or a wild cat if they don’t want to get picked up?
>> Tara Scott: No.
>> Kris Bryant: Like, I don’t want to get scratched. So I just said, oh, well. And then somebody was like, real insistent. They’re like, that is my cat. I’m like, great. I need to know where you live. Well, what can you tell me about this cat? Well, he left. Basically they fed me exactly what I said and I probably gave away Too much information. When I posted it, like, oh, he left or he, he got out and then he got out again and I’m like, but both times you didn’t post anything in ring. Like that bothers me. Like there were no flyers in the neighborhood. There was nothing. Like people. I just don’t even know what that. I don’t know if it was like.
>> Tara Scott: A, hey, I need a cat for.
>> Kris Bryant: Christmas and he’s beautiful so maybe I’m just going to pick him up. Like, no you’re not. So. Yeah, anyway, so. And it’s the weather. I’m not even kidding you. The weather on Christmas was like 70 degrees Fahrenheit on Christmas Day.
>> Tara Scott: That’s wild.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes. The weather last night was like. Or Sunday was maybe 6 degrees wind chill. It was terrible. And so, so I have.
Okay, so on the back deck I have, I have this bench that my mom got. And so I have it there and I have a cushion on that and a blanket on top of that. So that’s a place sometimes cats go and cuddle up. Then I have a chair with a blanket and a pillow. And that seems to be the preferred bed for Daryl. And also black kitty, when black kitty’s out.
>> Kris Bryant: And then I just have like a cushion and a beach towel on 1:1. So when Darrell, when we first saw Darrell, there’s this teeny tiny little cat house that we had. It was just kind of like, nobody’s ever going to use this. And sure enough, he used it and we’re like, oh my gosh, he used it. That’s amazing. All right, so this time when I. So now he’s been coming back. So I went and got a heated outdoor cat house. That’s where I’m at now. That is my life now. So we got it, put together and it’s out there today. Tonight will be the first night. He usually comes by at like 2 in the morning and he leaves at like daybreak, you know, 7, 7:30. Weird. Know why? So, so now we’re gonna plug it in. It’s almost like a two room cat house. So one side you can put food and water in and the other side is where he sleeps or the cat, she or possum, whatever, I don’t care, whatever animal needs to be in there. So I’m very excited about that. So. So Daryl is back.
>> Tara Scott: It’s very exciting.
>> Kris Bryant: He’s going somewhere like during the day, morning and day. Because he, you know, before he would stick around the whole day or close to the whole Day, but now he’s going somewhere and he’s coming back, like at 2 in the morning. So I’m hoping that, you know, he is still being cared for and all that good stuff. So fingers crossed. Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: Way to go, Daryl Dixon.
>> Kris Bryant: Yay. I know. So I’m very excited about it. There’s a little concern because Debbie’s, it’s an outdoor. We have an outdoor outlet. This is all rated for all the right things. I paid a fortune for this cat house so that it’s safe. And so, of course, now since, remember the neighbors who had the fire? So we’re real hesitant about leaving anything plugged in. Like, I don’t even leave the tree plugged in when we leave. I, like, unplug the tree.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: So I unplugged the tree. I told Debbie, I said, whenever we’re not at home, we can unplug the cat house just so she feels better. Even though everything is rated, it’s like, you see pictures of this house out in the snow, snow covered, but it’s all rated for anyway. So we’re just going to try it out, see if it works, see if he likes it. And, yeah. Oh, and guess who’s rebuilding the house. They are. I know.
>> Tara Scott: With the insurance money, I’m so.
>> Kris Bryant: I guess they got some insurance money. And there have been people over there. Several dumpsters have taken things out. I haven’t seen any changes to the, the roof or, you know, the windows or anything like that. But they are, like, trashing the ins. I mean, they are, like, taking out all this stuff and throwing it in dumpsters. And so the dumpster has been replaced several times now.
>> Tara Scott: I guess that’s one way to get a remodel.
>> Kris Bryant: I mean, I guess if you’re gonna, like, do that. I’m hoping that they remodel and then move. Like, leave. Sell the house, take the money and run. Yeah, like, I am good. Like, there could not be a worse neighbor. There could not be a worse person living there. Sorry.
>> Tara Scott: There’s.
>> Kris Bryant: Well, I mean, I guess maybe there’s like a serial killer. But I mean,
>> Tara Scott: That doesn’t mean they’re not a bad neighbor.
>> Kris Bryant: That’s true. We’re talking about being good neighbor. Not like a killer or a, stalker or anything like that. Good point. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> Tara Scott: I mean, a serial killer might be a good neighbor. Isn’t that what they all say? Oh, we thought he was.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, he was so nice. He was such a sweet man.
>> Tara Scott: Did I ever tell you about. My parents were friends with this couple.
>> Kris Bryant: Stop it.
>> Tara Scott: In the 90s they came home from work one night and there were all these like cop cars around. They were like, what is happening? Their back like so their backyard. The neighbors on the other side was Paul Bernardo and Carla Homolka, which I don’t know if you know about them. Canadians know about them because they were known for like they kidnapped a couple of teenage girls.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh my gosh.
>> Tara Scott: And you know, sexually assaulted and murdered and dismembered. It was like fucked up stuff. And her sister I believe was also one of their victims. And yeah, they were like, they were just this like really nice, quiet young couple. We thought they were.
>> Kris Bryant: Wow.
>> Tara Scott: Super nice. And it was like. Yeah, it was, it was when I was in high school and like my. And it was in a whole other city. But my dad made me switch up how I’d walk to school because it like so freaked out parents. At that time these teenage girls were disappearing. So yeah, I can tell you from those serial killers that their neighbors were definitely surprised.
>> Kris Bryant: Wow.
>> Kris Bryant: That’s a lot.
>> Kris Bryant: No, so I’m hoping that. I mean the neighbors before Robbie, he was so nice. He taught at the high school. He had a little basketball goal out there. He was very sweet. It’s a very nice neighbor. And then these people moved in and I’m like, what?
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, he should come back.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes, Robbie, come back. I mean he’s probably doing so much better in life and I wish him well, but I mean, yeah, we need somebody else like Robbie there.
>> Kris Bryant: Because this is in that. Yeah. Okay.
So anyway, what else is going on? Any other news worthy things?
>> Tara Scott: No, honestly, it’s just been like all puppy all the time.
>> Kris Bryant: I love that.
>> Tara Scott: Lots of relaxing. Our Christmas was very quiet because again it was just the four of us. We did go and visit meals dad and his wife, a couple days prior. But I love Christmas when it’s just the four of us.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, that’s nice. Yeah, it’s overwhelming for me. Like when I go to Debbie’s family, it’s. There’s 18 people there and I’m like. And that’s, that’s a lot. And that’s not even all of them.
>> Tara Scott: So I haven’t been back to visit my family for Christmas in gosh. Anyway, it’s a lot of years since well before I had kids. But they, they still do family reunions on Boxing Day. And on my mom’s side there’s about 80 people that get together which is too.
>> Kris Bryant: Wow, that’s. That’s 75 too many.
>> Tara Scott: Yep. Yep. It’s a lot of people. And even then, like, not everybody goes. So, I mean, good for them, but. Wow.
>> Kris Bryant: that’s a lot.
>> Tara Scott: And I would go if I were local, but it is definitely, like, at the end of it, you get home and it’s exhausting.
>> Kris Bryant: So I still haven’t fully unpacked from Christmas. I just have no energy.
>> Tara Scott: You can’t wait.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking. I did get the coolest, cutest thing. What is it? I got a. I, wish I could show you. It’s in the other room. But it’s a box cutter. But it’s a cat paw. And then you put it up and this giant hook comes out, like to cut. And then you hit the button and it slides down. It’s like almost a switchblade. It’s absolutely adorable. I love it. Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: Because I do a lot switchblade and tap.
>> Kris Bryant: Right. And it’s a cute little black paw with like, pink little toe beans. It’s just so cute. And I love it.
>> Tara Scott: That’s adorable.
>> Kris Bryant: It really is.
>> Tara Scott: All right, Kris, as you’ve been hanging out and relaxing, what have you been watching or reading or doing?
>> Kris Bryant: Okay, so like you, I have been watching a lot of television movies, shows, and last time I spoke about Stranger Things and I didn’t want to out Will because it wasn’t really official and it was just everything that was heard on, you know, spoilers and stuff like that. Well, he came out. Yep, he came out.
>> Tara Scott: My oldest has also been watching it.
>> Kris Bryant: Ah. Ah.
>> Tara Scott: They’re 14. They are pissed though. Why now? I barely understand because I didn’t watch past the first season. So I will sum it up with a phrase that I’ve heard around my house recently, which is justice for Byler.
>> Kris Bryant: Justice for Byler. Okay.
>> Tara Scott: Byler.
>> Kris Bryant: Byler.
>> Tara Scott: I’m guessing it’s Will and somebody else as a potential couple.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, okay. Because I’m like, okay. It’s like buyer and yeah. Okay. So interesting. Oh, yes. Okay. All right, I got it. Because remember, he kind of has a crush on his best friend Mike. We were talking about that.
>> Kris Bryant: So here’s what I think. I think it’s interesting. Like, the world’s going to die. Like, everybody’s gonna die. Like, this is. This is. So they’re all sitting around. He decides to come out to his. To his family and friends. And like, the moment was very, very sweet and loving and very supportive. Everybody was very, you know, they’re like, yeah, we love you. You will always Be our friend. You will always be, you know, my son, I love you, blah, blah, blah. I mean, it’s the coming out story you want. If you’re a teenager or any age, you know, and you’re coming out to your family, that’s what you want.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: But oh my goodness, the straights out there are so mad that Will is queer or gay. Like they are so mad, like on social media. Yeah, I know, it’s terrible. Like they are trying to tank the ratings of the show. They’re doing the one star thing, you know, that we always, every time we come up with any sort of movie with queer people. Like all the straights get together losers. Not all the Straits. I mean, I’m just saying the, the maggots, the people who don’t tolerate anything other than heterosexual behavior. They’re the ones who are just going in and. One star, One star. One star. One star. One star. One star. So then everybody else. So we all have to get involved and we have to put it on five stars. Five stars. Five stars. So yeah, because every. It’s like. Because that’s the biggest thing out right now, Stranger Things. Because the finale happens this week. It’s going to be done by the time this airs. So we’ll all know what happens. But it’s just, it’s amazing to me how this is the hill so many people will die on. Why do we have to make everything gay? Why do they, why do they have to push their agenda on us? It irritates the shit out of me.
>> Kris Bryant: So I have a real hard. That’s why I haven’t been on social media. Because I can’t deal with just how like maga it is everywhere. Like even threads. Threads was a safe place to be and all of a sudden like, no. No, it’s not. Go back to Twitter.
>> Tara Scott: I had to. So I put, I put Threads on my phone so that I could have a personal account for sharing, you know, these episodes of, what we do. And I had to take it off of my phone because I could feel it stressing me out when I would go and do even the slightest bit of scrolling because it’s like, oh, oh, Alberta. Oh, you’re from Alberta.
Would you like to know the opinion that everybody has about every hateful thing that the Alberta government does? And I’m like, I don’t fucking need that. Oh my God. I live here. I’m living it. I don’t. And I think it’s just like. I mean, Meta is an evil company. Like this is known Right. And they set their algorithms up and they own. They own Facebook, WhatsApp, threads, Instagram.
>> Kris Bryant: Uh-huh.
>> Tara Scott: So like WhatsApp, when it tries to suggest anything other than messaging somebody, I’m like, fuck off, I’m not doing it. But like, thread, like they know it’s all about boosting engagement and if you’re bad, you’re.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, you’re going to gain.
>> Tara Scott: Nope. And I removed it. I removed it from my phone. The only reason. So I only have one social media app that I actually regularly use on my phone. I have a couple of others on there. TikTok, I don’t actually use. I have it there so that if somebody sends me a link by text, which sometimes happens, it opens properly and I can hear the audio. But Instagram is the only one that I have that I actually use because there’s a setting in there. And I don’t know if most people know this, and even if I’ve said this in a previous episode, it’s worth saying in case you’re looking for episode, there’s a setting. You have to do it every 30 days, but you can go in and you can tell it to snooze all suggested content. So that way on your main feed, yes, you’ll still get ads, that’s unavoidable, but you’re only going to see. Other than ads, you’re only going to see from accounts that you actually follow. Rather than it trying to suggest a whole bunch of content to you.
>> Kris Bryant: Right. So one thing I’ve noticed about Facebook, okay, so like, I too have not been on the socials as much. But, I’ve noticed Facebook, it’s all sponsored. Everything is sponsored. Like, there’s so many sponsored things. It’s just. I’m like, what am I reading?
>> Tara Scott: It’s ads. It’s suggested.
>> Kris Bryant: It’s terrible. Yeah. So I didn’t. I just didn’t get to wish all my, you know, everybody, happy Holidays, Happy New Year, happy. Because I’m irritated with social media right now. It’s just too much. Like, it is just a lot of people who are on there. It’s terrible. I love everybody, but. And Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. But also, I can’t do it on social. I just. It’s hard. Like, I have to get back in the rhythm of writing and I have to get back, you know, into loving things again. And I’m not there yet, so. Still working on that. Still working on me.
>> Tara Scott: Oh, that. So I’m still. Remember how I told you my Coach was like, you need to journal. And I was like, I know, right? Fine. Fine. Honestly, I’m still doing it. And specifically that method of I do it right when I wake up. I’m not intentionally following any particular format or prompts. It’s literally just write whatever comes into your mind for 15 to 20 minutes. And I hate to tell you this, but it fucking works. I’ve been doing it for two months now. Yeah, it actually makes a really big difference.
>> Kris Bryant: Wow.
>> Tara Scott: It’s so annoying, but so annoying. I got a bunch of cute. I got a bunch of cute journals because you know that at least I’m almost done filling the first one.
>> Kris Bryant: It has.
>> Tara Scott: It’s black. It has little mushrooms all over it. And I think the next one is going to be one with cats all over it.
>> Kris Bryant: Love it. Love it.
>> Tara Scott: So, yeah, it works.
>> Kris Bryant: Nice.
>> Tara Scott: All right, what else? Okay, so you’ve been watching Stranger Things. The haters are hating.
>> Kris Bryant: They are.
>> Tara Scott: But it’s really good.
>> Kris Bryant: It is good. Oh, and I started Robin Hood on Amazon Prime. It’s actually through MGM plus, but you can see it through Amazon prime. And it’s really good. Like, I, Really? Yes, it’s a dark Robin Hood. Oh, yeah. You know the story, kind of, but it’s. It’s been glossed over so many times through so many different movies and shows and cartoons that, like, this goes back down to the roots of Robin Hood, like, how it all started. And I’m just like, oh, my gosh, I forgot about all this. Like, this is true or. It’s true. It’s back to the basics. And it’s like, oh, that’s right. I forgot about that. Oh, yeah, that’s right. And I’m also watching. Okay, so here’s the deal. M. This is kind of another side hustle, because you know, me can’t help myself. So we’re getting down to, you know, my. We all know American football and, that, like, my team’s out. My team is out. We know this. It’s sad. My. My guy broke his or tore his ACL and LCL and everything in his leg, and he’s out. He’s going to be out for like nine, 10 months, something like that. So, yeah, terrible, terrible news. But we were losing anyway, and so, you know, if you’re going to do it, do it now. And he did. So, okay, now we can move on. But In Missouri on December 1, they allowed for sports betting on your phone.
>> Tara Scott: Okay.
>> Kris Bryant: So you can place bets. And so. So, like. And they get you. They have this little hook where it’s like, bet $5, get $300 in free bets. So you’re like, sure, right? Anyway, so I went ahead and I started an account, and sure enough, like, this past weekend, like, I made a lot of money.
>> Tara Scott: Oh.
>> Kris Bryant: And I was just like, I can’t believe this is happening. Like, what is going on? I was. I was looking at Deb, hey, I just won $450. I just won 190. I just won 61. Like, the whole time, I’m, like, looking at her, she’s like, what are you doing? I’m like, well, it’s just because of all the games that are going on. So, like, I have been watching all the games I possibly can just because of the sports betting, which is. Okay. So here. This is all. This is all. Here we go. Full circle. Started with the football cards. Learned everything I know about the players from the last three years because of, my obsession with football cards. And so then I’m able to make calculated bets that work so far. Knock on wood.
>> Tara Scott: Nice.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah. So I was super excited. So then I was like, yay. Because my sister’s birthday is tomorrow. It’s December 31st. And I always take her out, and we always gamble. I take her out. We pick. I pick her up early in the morning. We go to the casinos when nobody’s there, and we have just. We just have sister fun. We have lunch. We just do everything every year. I love this. This is what we do. And so I’m like, oh, my gosh, we’re gonna have this money. We’re gonna go gamble. It’s gonna be a lot of fun. And then I get to work, and this one lady is talking about paying her personal property taxes, and I’m like, holy, I forgot to pay my personal property taxes. So that wiped out most of it because I forgot all about paying it.
>> Tara Scott: It’s good that you had the money to do it.
>> Kris Bryant: I know. so I got that, you know, with a new car that’s going to be a fortune, you know? So anyway, so I was like. But then I paid it, so it’s okay. I feel good. I’m all right.
>> Tara Scott: Wait, don’t you just pay tax on the car when you buy it?
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, my sweet friend, let me tell you how it works in the land of taxes.
So every year, you have to pay whatever you own in your property. Your personal property, house, car, boat, anything you own that’s some sort of transportation or housing. You pay a tax on it. Yes.
>> Tara Scott: So we pay for our house for property tax, but not for the rest. Wait, so you get to pay for the privilege of owning a car?
>> Kris Bryant: Yes. Yes, you do. You do. And what, every year you get back nothing. You get. You get a tag that says you’re illegal to drive on the road. You know what?
>> Tara Scott: Let’s not follow this path. Okay?
What else have you been watching?
>> Kris Bryant: okay, so here’s what I thought. I forgot that in passing, you and I, like, on our last episode when we closed out and we. We’re just talking. Yeah, we had mentioned. Yeah, maybe we should do like an end of the year, you know, recap, like our top.
>> Tara Scott: Because we do it every year.
>> Kris Bryant: I know, I know. So I’m like, yeah, let’s just do that. Or, whatever. And so like, I closed the computer and I forgot about everything we said. So I went ahead and I watched a movie for a recommendation and I texted Tara. I’m like, hey, when are we going to do this? I’ve got my recommendation. She’s like, what are you talking about? I’m like, what do you mean? And she’s like, I thought we were. Yes, you listened to me.
>> Tara Scott: I did not read any published fiction. I’ve been reading nothing but Devil Wears Prada fanfic. So I had nothing to recommend. I was like, what do you mean you have a recommendation? I do not have a recommendation.
>> Kris Bryant: So, and here’s. And I’m like, well, I still have to recommend it because it’s.
>> Tara Scott: It’s a Christmas movie.
>> Kris Bryant: And like, there’s a problem with movies, LGBTQ movies around the holidays. They put them too close to Christmas. Too close to the holidays.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: And the way our podcast lands, it’s like it’s either way before or always after Christmas.
>> Kris Bryant: And I don’t get to see all the movies that are coming out, the ones that I’m really excited about. So I said, fuck it, I’m going to watch a movie. So I watched. Here, let me find it. I watched the Hallmark movie called the Christmas Baby.
>> Tara Scott: Was the baby gay?
>> Kris Bryant: The baby was not gay, but his mom’s were.
>> Tara Scott: We don’t actually know about the baby yet.
>> Kris Bryant: We don’t know baby. He’s just a baby.
>> Tara Scott: Too soon to tell maybe.
>> Kris Bryant: So I want us to read the synopsis. We’re going to go with that. So Aaron, Aaron and Kelly agree to temporarily care for a baby who mysteriously shows up on their doorstep days before Christmas. However, as the couple spend more and more time with the boy, they start to realize they want to adopt him for themselves. Okay. Stars Ali Liebert and Cat Burrell.
>> Tara Scott: Oh, I know two names.
>> Kris Bryant: We recognize. We recognize them, we love them. This is amazing. At the end of this, remind me to talk about Joyce. This comes back.
>> Tara Scott: I try, but I promise nothing.
>> Kris Bryant: Okay, so what I enjoyed about this movie is that the couple’s already established, like they have been together for eight years, they have been married for five. They don’t have problems. Their problems are like Kelly is a stage production designer. So like it gets loud in the house because she’s sanding or she’s like sawing and she knows that’s it, you know. And then Aaron is like, oh, you’re making a lot of noise. And then they have a, like a nosy neighbor who’s always like, you’re so loud. You know, we already agreed that you have to have quiet time between this and this. And so, you know, it’s just like that. It’s cute, it’s cute, it’s sweet. So they have their lives figured out. So every morning they go to a coffee shop and they have coffee and they smell split a croissant and they share the paper and they just have quiet time together. But out at m, this cute little quaint coffee shop. So like they do, they have this seemingly perfect lesbian life. You know, they both have good jobs. They, they had decided that they didn’t want children. So everything’s great. They’re not going to have. You know, it’s funny because when I was watching it and they were sharing the newspaper, I’m like, who gets a newspaper anymore? Like people are on their phones. I mean Hallmark and you know, I’m sure Hallmark is own by 80 year old people who still probably do read the paper. I should say that because Hallmark is a Kansas City based company so I can say that.
>> Tara Scott: Oh, there you go. Hey.
>> Kris Bryant: So, okay, so one night Kelly is getting an award from the committee, the town or something and she’s a bit concerned because Aaron isn’t there. Like she’s getting ready to receive the award and she’s like, where’s my wife? My wife’s not here.
>> Kris Bryant: And all of a sudden, like at the last minute she comes in, Aaron comes in with the baby stroller and she’s holding this baby and like they’re making eye contact across the room, like, what the hell is going on? And she’s like holding this baby. And what happened was Aaron owns a business and it’s actually kind of cute. It’s called that’s a wrap and it’s like a gift wrapping store. And they also do like shipments, ups, whatever, whatever. And she goes in the back and she hears the door ring, she hears the bell and she goes, I’ll be right there. And she comes out and there’s a stroller and a baby and there’s a note and it says, I think you and your wife would be a perfect family. With my son.
>> Tara Scott: Please, how that works.
>> Kris Bryant: I know, I know that’s not. But this is Hallmark and of course that’s how it works. Of course.
>> Tara Scott: Yes. Sorry.
>> Kris Bryant: Sorry.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, that’s right.
>> Kris Bryant: So they reach out to foster care, because if not, they just kidnapped a baby. I mean, let’s be real. Yeah, right.
>> Tara Scott: Yep.
>> Kris Bryant: So they have this whole thing. They’re, you know, they have two. The moms come over and they help as much as they can. And Kelly’s like, you know, we didn’t want kids. You said you didn’t want kids. And Aaron’s like, well, maybe, maybe I do want kids. And so that’s this whole thing. And the thing I like about this is not only is their relationship already established, but they actually talk about real things. You know, the last two Christmas movies I’ve watched have been. Have actually had like a. A, meaningful foundation of what the story’s about.
>> Kris Bryant: You know, it’s like we’ve been living our life. It’s great. We don’t want kids, but maybe we do. M. You know, so this baby’s kind of like bringing things out in them. But after five days, they both kind of realize that maybe this is too much. They’re not ready for this right now.
>> Kris Bryant: They had been working with this foster company. I don’t even know how this thing works. And so she takes the baby away and she promises to put him in a good home.
>> Tara Scott: Okay.
>> Kris Bryant: After this happens, they absolutely break down. They’re like, we love him, we need him, we want him in our lives. We can’t do this. His name is Nicholas.
>> Tara Scott: Of course it is.
>> Kris Bryant: I know. I didn’t think about that until just now. That’s pretty.
>> Tara Scott: What else could a baby Christmas.
>> Kris Bryant: Right? Yeah. So anyway, so they, they reach out, they’re like, hey, we really want to, we really want to go through with the adoption. You know, we want to become official. Not adoption, but we want to come official foster parents for. For Nicholas. And so the foster person who’s helping them says, I had a feeling you’d say that. So I told the family that Nicholas is staying with this, that it would only be for a couple days. So she goes and she brings back Nicholas. And like the whole family’s around and they’re like, oh, he’s so sweet. It’s gonna be great. We’re gonna make it work. You know, I can take, you know, when you’re working, I can take him. And then our moms can split up the time and you know, it takes a village. So then all of a sudden they get a call from the foster person. I wish I could remember the character’s name. But anyway, so she goes, so the mom has reached out to us and the mom wants to, to have a sit down with you all. And so they’re freaking out, you know, they’re like, we can’t lose this baby. We just, we love him to death already. We just love him. And their parents, their moms are like, now you’re not going to meet with her, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah. And so they finally decide to, to meet with the mom. And it’s actually, that whole scene is very touching. It’s a very touching scene. It’s a very mature and responsible scene. I loved it. Bottom line, good ending. Like I said, I loved how Hallmark actually addressed the harder subjects in this movie.
>> Kris Bryant: And it does go a little bit deeper. You know, of course there’s also the right people. You have the quirky best friends and the nosy, mean neighbor who really ends up not being that mean. And he has his own demons. He’s fighting and of course everything like is buttoned up at the end and it’s just, it’s really cute. So yeah, I think it’s an adorable movie.
But so here’s what I wanted to talk about. So do you remember a couple months ago I was just talking about what are we watching? And I watched the Fantastic Four and the very first person I crushed on was this actress called Rebecca Staub.
>> Kris Bryant: She’s one of the mothers in this movie.
>> Tara Scott: No way.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes. Yes. So I turn it on, I’m watching it and they have everybody’s name. Ali Liebert, Cat Burrell. And then all of a sudden, and then Rebecca Staub. I’m like, shut up. She’s in this movie. Like shut up. Yeah, it was made for you. It was, it was. So it’s like full circle moment. So.
>> Kris Bryant: So of course I had to recommend it, even though it’s not really an. I mean it is an official recommendation, but I shouldn’t have done this. But still, you know, that is what I’ve been reading and watching, so I don’t think I’VE actually been reading, but I did get a really good book for Christmas and I’m excited to read it. But anyway, enough about me. I have just been going on and on.
What about you? What have you been reading, Watching in this whole time off?
>> Tara Scott: Watching. Watching a lot. So Canada’s Drag Race Season 6 continues. I think it’s the best season of this franchise. The episode this past week, though, the lip sync at the end, when the host said that they were going to lip sync to the song Sweet surrender by Sarah McLaughlin.
>> Kris Bryant: I love that song.
>> Tara Scott: I was like, what? She’s Canadian.
>> Kris Bryant: Of course they are.
>> Tara Scott: No, no, no, I know she’s Canadian. I know. This song. Fumbling Towards Ecstasy was one of my absolute high school albums. Like, my top, if I had to pick probably my top four albums in high school and I can’t even order them, would be Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, Nevermind by Nirvana, Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette, and then Live through this by Hole. They all spoke to me in very different ways, but I. When they said the name, I was like, wait, m. That song, for a lip sync.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah. I could see that working. What?
>> Tara Scott: Well, I couldn’t figure out how it was going to work.
>> Kris Bryant: Okay.
>> Tara Scott: And then the person who won the lip sync did so with an incredibly minimal performance. And it was so powerful. If anybody hasn’t heard the song, go listen to it. But then, like, maybe see if the, like, the lip sync is probably on YouTube. But it, like, this person chose stillness over movement, and it was so powerful, I ended up getting, like, chills. I was like, holy shit, this is amazing.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: So I loved, loved being proven wrong and being not just proven wrong, but, like, proven so wrong, by something so special. Yeah, it was really great.
Okay. Last time I talked about watching the Jean Claude Van Damme movie, Bloodsport, and then we watched another one called Kickboxer, Said, do you want to watch another one? In this one, there’s a training montage. And the person training him attaches meat to his pants to make him run faster when chased by a tire. And I said, you know, yes. You know, the answer is yes.
>> Kris Bryant: I love that. I have seen every single one of his movies.
>> Tara Scott: Like, truly, honestly, I really liked it. Except for that one weird little storyline about his girlfriend getting sexually assaulted by the bad guy. Completely unnecessary. There was enough else going on with that movie. You can definitely skip that part because Neil said, do you want to fast forward? And I said, yes, I do.
>> Kris Bryant: Absolutely, yes.
>> Tara Scott: So I think we’re gonna Watch a couple more of his films.
>> Kris Bryant: Is this, is this the one, Is this the one where he does the splits on the chairs? With the chairs?
>> Tara Scott: No. So that was Bloodsport.
>> Kris Bryant: that was Bloodsport. Okay.
>> Tara Scott: Which we. Yeah, which we had already watched. This is the one where he’s in Thailand. He’s supposed to be like the kid brother.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, I do remember that one.
>> Tara Scott: Yes. Absolutely ridiculous.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, for sure.
>> Tara Scott: Had so much fun with it. I think we have a couple of others lined up that we might watch. Like we watched the trailer for Lionheart and I was like, so he keeps making the same movies. Essentially. Lionheart and Bloodsport and Kickboxer are all the same.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes.
>> Tara Scott: And there’s nothing wrong with that. They’re all fun to watch that. There was also a documentary that we watched called Group Therapy that was pretty interesting. So it’s six stand up comedians. I can’t remember all of them, but there’s like Nicole Byer, Tig Notaro, M. Atsuko Okatsuka, Mike Birbiglia. And this is where I forget who else was in it.
>> Tara Scott: And it’s just comedians talking about. Oh, and Neil Patrick Harris is the moderator. It’s like a moderated discussion, but it’s all of them talking about mental health, grief, neurodiversity, that kind of thing. So if you like any of those stand up comedians, it was a really interesting watch that I enjoyed. And then we watched the latest Knives out movie, Wake Up Dead. Have you seen it?
>> Kris Bryant: I have. I did watch it. Did I finish it? I can’t tell you, but I watched it. I don’t remember the ending.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, I’m gonna say it was very good. Neil said. Neil asked me, did you enjoy it? And I said, no, but it was excellent. M. And I think in Mike, maybe that’s. It’s a, it’s a very, very good movie. But I think, you know, if religious trauma is a part of your background, there are some aspects of it that can be kind of tough because, you know, like all the Knives out movies, there’s like one profoundly good person, right. That he works with. He always ends up working closely with like the one good person in the middle of all these up people. And the one good person happens to be a priest who like really, really means it. but there’s also another priest who is horrible. And then the people in the, in the local parish who. Some of them are horrible. And so, yeah, some of them, not so much.
>> Kris Bryant: I think I did finish it.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah. So I Think it’s kind of one of those, like, your mileage may vary if you don’t have any religious weirdness in your background. And it’s probably fine if you do maybe take a little care going into it if you haven’t seen it yet.
>> Kris Bryant: And then.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, I read a ton of Devil Wears Prada. Like, I’ve, like a bunch of them, either novel or novella length. I probably read four or five. But the best one for sure was one called the Science of Sex by Charlotte Priestley. Completely different universe setup. The setup sounds ridiculous, but it ends up actually being a really lovely story. The idea being that Miranda is still m married to Steven, who’s a dickhead. And she thinks if she goes to see a sex therapist, maybe she’ll get better at sex so he stops cheating on her.
And Andy happens to be the sex therapist.
>> Kris Bryant: She’s not her employee. Oh, yes.
>> Tara Scott: Doesn’t stay her therapist for long.
>> Kris Bryant: No.
>> Tara Scott: and also Miranda doesn’t stay married for long either, so. But I really enjoyed that one. Like, it was a. It’s a. It was, it was an excellent one. It was written really well, so I’m into it. Okay.
>> Kris Bryant: Nice.
>> Tara Scott: Okay.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes.
>> Tara Scott: This is gonna be a long ass episode because we are an hour in and we still haven’t talked about our top three.
>> Kris Bryant: Mine will be quick.
>> Tara Scott: All right. So, Kris, because this is our first episode of 2026. Instead of each coming with a fresh recommendation. Although you brought one anyway because you are that keen and you are that good and I am not.
>> Kris Bryant: I am terrible at following directions. My own directions.
>> Tara Scott: We are going to each look back on our top three recommendations of 2025. What our favorites were from last year. So what was your first one?
>> Kris Bryant: in no particular order, My first one that I absolutely loved. I loved it. And it’s probably because it’s one of the few books I recommended. Like I said, I don’t get to read a lot, but when I do, I’m all in. And it’s by Virginia Black and it’s incendient. And I loved it because it’s a continuation, a sequel. And there’s witches and vampires and it’s like everything. And it played like a movie in my head. And when a writer can do that, can. Can write so well that I am seeing the actual scenes. Like kudos like Chef Kiss. That is the best. I love it. Virginia did a great job on that book. it’s one of my, my favorite recommendations.
>> Tara Scott: Love it.
>> Kris Bryant: Y. Yeah. Because you read it too.
>> Tara Scott: I did read it. That it was really excellent. You’re right. Her world building is so good. And the, and the writing is cinematic.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: There’s just something about it that’s so different and excellent. Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: Great choice. Yeah, thank you.
What about you? What’s your, in no particular order, your first one?
>> Tara Scott: Oh, yeah, no, honestly, completely no particular order. I don’t think I could rank these if I even wanted to. so my first one is Number six by Lee Winter. So this book is a part of her villain series and it’s really an offshoot of what started in Chaos Agent and the Fixer. Or maybe those are in the opposite order, I can’t remember. But it’s one of the side characters from that Audley Zimmerman and how she finds love with a side character from Hotel Queens. Monique Carson. She’s like CEO of a company, I think, but also happens to be like a very high profile, high class sex worker. And it just. This one was so interesting because both of these women were over 50. Ottilie is in her 60s even. And like you don’t see women in their 60s in romance very often. including even in Sapphic fiction. We just don’t see it very often. And it was a story that had. The chemistry was excellent. The romance was so good, it was so believable. And I think kind of similar to the other villains books, it does sort of ask this question of who gets to have a, happily ever after and what does that look like for somebody who has worked for a truly, truly evil organization and in fact was not just an employee there was in leadership at, the truly evil organization. Like what does a happily ever after look like for that person? And so, yeah, I loved it. Definitely one of my top books.
All right, what’s your next recommendation?
>> Kris Bryant: So I had a hard time really narrowing it down because going back through all the episodes from 2025, I was like, oh yeah, I really like that. Oh, I really like that movie. And it was really hard for me to, to narrow it down because some of them were just like so powerful. Like a lot of the documentaries I recommended. But that also meant that it was also painful. There’s a lot of pain and a lot of the documentaries. So I opted to pick Younger the series Younger, which I had seen twice, just because it is such a feel good, fun series. You know, here’s a woman who’s pretending that she is 20 years younger than what she is. Maybe not 20. I think it’s more like 16 years. And it’s just. And her best friend is queer and just her storyline is just so much. Everything about it is. With 2025 being such a shit show. I needed to escape and I escaped in that show. There wasn’t anything ever too heavy.
>> Kris Bryant: There was enough queerness to make me happy, even though the leads weren’t queer. But her best friend played a major part in this series and I loved it. Like, if you just need something to not think about life and get away for several seasons, I recommend Younger again.
>> Kris Bryant: A lot of fun.
>> Tara Scott: Very good.
>> Kris Bryant: And what about your second?
>> Tara Scott: So my second is the Woman from the Waves by Roslyn Sinclair. And this one takes place on this like tiny remote Scottish island with a former nun falling in love with like a very, very old ocean horse spirit who wants to murder her so she can become. So she become a storm horse. Except unfortunately Hyra, you know, falls in love with Madeline instead. This book, I don’t think we have that much sapphic romantasy. We don’t exploding as a category and has been for the last couple years. But in terms of sapphic and especially from like our corner or our sector of it. This is a book that Roslyn Sinclair self published, which I think is great because it meant the whole book. It’s a very long book. It’s the longest of the three that I’m recommending and it’s available on Kindle Unlimited. So if you have low budget, but you do use Kindle Unlimited, it is available there. Nice. Yes. Like one of the things I’ve always appreciated about, you know, this author and especially, you know, you look at Truth and Measure.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh yeah.
>> Tara Scott: Like is here the way she writes, obsession or. Well, in this case it is obsession. I think in the case of Truth and Measure, it might be more fair to call it yearning. You know, so like a very kind of specific type of obsession. But it just, it, it’s so good in, in this story you can like really feel the Scottish vibes. And it’s funny for all that I said about, you know, wake up dead man and religious trauma and whatever. Madeline has religious trauma in this book.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: And I really appreciated the way that was handled.
>> Tara Scott: And I also appreciated the. So there’s a horse goddess. There’s like an ocean horse goddess that shows up in this book and the way she shows up and who talks to her and what that conversation looks like. There’s like, there’s this whole angle to it around the idea of faith and religion and all that that I think was handled really really well, well. And I think just made this book into something special that it wouldn’t have been able to be without it.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: The Woman from the Waves by Roslyn Sinclair. That’s my second one.
All right, what’s your last one?
>> Kris Bryant: okay, so my last one. This is a tough one to narrow it down to the final one, but I feel like this was such a hit. A lot of people were talking about it, a lot of people made skits about it. The Hunting Wives.
>> Tara Scott: Oh yes, the Hunting Wives.
>> Kris Bryant: So I like I. It was, it was so juicy and entertaining and it was so bad and so good and it was just like. It was just what I needed. Like I said, I 2025 has sucked and I needed to get my mind off of everything. And having that show hit right when it did, it was just, I just. What a gift. Yeah, it was a gift, you know, and it was kind of. There was enough angst to where it didn’t make me uncomfortable.
>> Kris Bryant: Maybe it was because I was familiar with the cast. Because sometimes I’ll watch movies that are the high angst and I can’t do it if I don’t know the actors very well. They don’t make me feel safe. So I can’t.
>> Tara Scott: Hm.
>> Kris Bryant: Be on that journey. It’s too much for me. So angst to me unless I know them. And I feel like the cast of the Hunting Wives has been around several of the actors I’m familiar with. So I felt safe going into that anxiety like that whole bundle of just like, oh my God. I felt safe and so then I was able to enjoy it. And so that one was. It took up a lot of time and it was a lot of fun. And it was one that I recommended and I don’t regret it. Yeah, I could have recommended like some of the, like I was talking earlier about the documentaries if they’re so much pain and sadness, I just couldn’t do it. So let’s just do murder and mayhem instead. So the Hunting Wives, that’s. That was my third and final. What about you, Tara? What is your third and final favorite recommendation of 2025?
>> Tara Scott: Okay.
My third and final one is Discovering Nicola by Claire Ashton, which is the third book in her Oxford romance series. And like I mentioned last time, there is a follow up novella. Yes, that is just lovely called Asking Kate. But in this particular one we see Nicola Albright who is the mother of Millie. No, Charlotte from Meeting Millie. and Geeta Sachdeva who is the mother of Olivia from Tempting Olivia. And this is an enemies to lovers story because they have not been able to stand each other. And the whole time they’ve known each other, which I think is around 15 years. But you know, Geeta has left her husband. and she has a little, you know, she’s having a little cry on a little park bench.
>> Tara Scott: And Nicola finds her and they strike up a friendship and then they realize that maybe there’s something more. M. This book is so beautiful. I loved this one so much. You notice there’s a theme across all the books that I read. Nobody was under the age of 40 in any of my recommendations. Which doesn’t mean that there weren’t books I read this year that I didn’t enjoy that had younger characters. But there was just something special with each of these I loved in this one, you know, the get real. Talking about menopause and perimenopause, the attraction between them, building, like going from this place of animosity to a real friendship to realizing, oh, okay, maybe there can be something more there. And there’s this one scene in particular.
>> Kris Bryant: Where.
>> Tara Scott: I can’t say it because of spoilers, but it made me cry. Like it’s so, Oh, it’s so good. It’s so perfect. And it’s just, it’s one that I haven’t reread it yet but like I know I’m going to. I’m like waiting for that special, you know, break glass in an emergency. And that is when I will go back to it. But yeah, Discovering Nicola by Claire Ashton. I cannot recommend it enough. You don’t have to have read the other books. You can like I read Tempting Olivia but I hadn’t read Meeting Millie. And so all I did was I went back to. Because I was lazy and I was like, what, what did I miss? And I looked for every instance of Nicola and Geeta.
>> Kris Bryant: I love that. Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: But it’s just absolutely worth it. I completely loved it. So. But it was a good like, honestly, I feel like it was a good year where some really good interesting things came out this year. And I know, like, I’m not gonna lie and say it hasn’t been rough for queer people in a lot of ways and that it hasn’t been rough for queer media in a lot of ways. I mean, you know, you’re talking about Stranger Things getting review bombed as one example.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: But there were also some really wonderful things that came out this year. And so I’m staying excited to see what’s out, next year because for example, Lee Winter has a new book coming out soon that’s really excited about it.
>> Kris Bryant: That’s very good.
>> Tara Scott: That is all for this episode. Thank you so much for joining us. If you’ve enjoyed it, make sure that you subscribed, if you haven’t already, but you probably have. And if you have any friends that you think need some queer media and you can just say, look, look at this episode. There’s so much in there. There’s so much for you to check out. And if you want to support us, we do have a link in our show notes to our Ko Fi.
>> Kris Bryant: And even now that we just dogged all the social media sites, you can always reach us there, find us there. Because we do post still.
>> Kris Bryant: We have links for all of that in the show notes. Or you can just email us Happy New Year everyone.
>> Tara Scott: Happy New Year.
>> Kris Bryant: Bye bye. That’s good.
>> Tara Scott: Excited about it.
>> Kris Bryant: That’s very good.
>> Tara Scott: I’m gonna take a little drink before this is edited. It’s fine.
>> Kris Bryant: Yay. I should probably take a drink.
>> Tara Scott: Even if that ends up being an outtake. Hopefully he’ll at least take the cough out.
>> Kris Bryant: No, keep it in.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, keep in that lovely love.
>> Kris Bryant: We’re old. We cough more.
>> Tara Scott: M Truly.