Spark of the Everflame Fan Cast + Spoiler Discussion | Diem, Luther & More

Welcome back to FanCastic: The Fan Casting Podcast with Emyli and Loretta!

This week, we’re heading into the world of Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole, Book 1 of the Kindred’s Curse Saga, for a spoiler-filled fan casting episode. Before the main event, we kick things off with our Rant & Rave segment and chat about our current reads and watches before diving into one of our latest romantasy obsessions.

Then it’s time to build our dream cast. We’re sharing our picks for Diem, Luther, Teller, and more as we imagine who could bring these beloved characters to life on screen. From favorite character moments to casting debates and reactions, we’re diving deep into the world of Spark of the Everflame.

This episode contains major spoilers for Spark of the Everflame and light spoiler discussion for Book 2 of the Kindred’s Curse Saga.

In this episode:
• Rant & Rave
• Current reads and watches
• Dream casting for Diem, Luther, Teller, and more
• Kindred’s Curse Saga discussion
• Character reactions and theories
• Major Book 1 spoilers + light Book 2 discussion

If you love romantasy, fantasy romance, fan casts, book discussions, and imagining your favorite stories on screen, follow FanCastic for weekly episodes covering your latest book obsessions.

🎙 Subscribe to FanCastic for weekly episodes about fantasy books, fandom culture, and dream book-to-screen adaptations. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:12

Is it like a fucking marionette? Okay. Uh take two. Welcome back, everybody, to Fancaster, the fancasting podcast, where we fancast all your favorite fantasy, romantic, and fiction. I'm Loretta.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

And I'm Emily.

SPEAKER_03 0:29

And that was less of a pause, so thank God.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Fantastic. We're creeping it. We will not be defeated by bad internet service. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 0:38

The little tech issues here, guys, but we're working through it with our crappy platform, Shout Out Riverside. We are here today to fan cast Spark of the Everflame, book one of the Kindred's Curse Saga by Penn Cole. Uh, I'm really excited to do this, and I'm also stressed beyond belief.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Yeah, this was really hard. I've known who my Luther was gonna be for a long time, but and I think it's perfect, but it's also like not right. Like he doesn't look like any of the fan art, but he just he's giving, giving Luther. Um, I am more nervous for book two when we get more into the Corbois family. Okay. Um, but this one was this took some took some real noodling on who these people were gonna be.

SPEAKER_03 1:28

Okay, yeah. No, I feel the same. I feel the same, and but I feel the opposite that I think book two, I'm we're way more confident in those characters than our main two. Luther and Diem, I was like, God, this feels like too big of an ask because I love the book.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

Yeah. I have literally no one for book two ready to go. I got nothing written down in my I keep a little note of like it's half characters I know we're gonna cast and half actors that I see in something. I'm like, I should cast that person in something. I like them. Like Jeffrey D. Morgan is on that list because he's great and I should put him in something. Um I got nothing under book two. Okay, okay. But but we'll we'll one I feel pretty good about. I feel good. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 2:14

I think that's good because then we like, then we compliment each other, right? Like we can, we can fill in all the gaps. Uh guys, if you're new here, welcome to Fantastic for the first time. I'm so glad you're joining us with this new series of The Kindred's Curse Saga. If you go back, uh, please listen to our other series. The one we've just completed is the Plated Prisoner series by Raven Kennedy. We've also done Akatar, we've done some Empyrean series. We're gonna recast some of those. So make sure you are liking, subscribing, following, commenting, and sharing us with all of your friends so that Fantastic can grow and we can get the word out and we can see you at more things. Not see you, you can see us at more things. We'll also see you.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

We just maybe won't know that we're seeing you in the moment, but like we do have we uh we might see you. We might see you.

SPEAKER_03 3:06

And we're gonna continue this series, obviously, with book two. We'll do a recap, we'll do a fan cast, and book three, we'll do a recap and we'll do a fan cast. And then we're definitely coming for book four, whatever that is.

SPEAKER_00 3:20

Whatever that's coming out sometime in the fall.

SPEAKER_03 3:22

Whatever that may be. Pen Cole's probably gonna ruin our life, so it's totally fine. Um, okay. No.

SPEAKER_00 3:33

Oh my god. Okay, how far are you? Loretta.

SPEAKER_03 3:36

I still haven't started part three. I'm so sorry. I've had a week from last week. I know. I've had a rough week. Loretta! I've had a really rough week. I'm I've had a really rough. Can I do a rant?

SPEAKER_00 3:52

Yes, please do a rant.

SPEAKER_03 3:54

Okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna do a rant because I've had a rough week, but then I'm gonna do a rave because I do have good things and I have a fun thing that you'll be really happy about.

SPEAKER_00 4:02

Okay, great.

SPEAKER_03 4:03

Okay, I have not started part three, but I swear to God, tonight I'm not going to bed until I read three chapters from part three. I swear.

SPEAKER_00 4:13

Okay. I'm gonna text you like two hours after we end and be like, did you do it? I won't be sound asleep. But I'll schedule you something for like midnight.

SPEAKER_03 4:20

Yeah. Calendar invite. Bitch, did you read?

SPEAKER_00 4:23

Did you read?

SPEAKER_03 4:25

I'm so sorry. Okay, my rant. It's gonna, I'm gonna keep it short. Um, I have been the victim of a very horrible Hollywood casting scam. It just happened a few hours ago. Jesus. More on that later, because I I am gathering the pieces and I I am going to put this out to the world because everyone needs to know what a fucked up situation this is.

SPEAKER_00 4:52

Basically, the takeaway is like Google the show like a bunch. And also Google put up on the Better Business Bureau and Reddit and like Better Business Bureau, Reddit.

SPEAKER_03 5:01

Talk to your casting director friends, do everything if you work in the industry because apparently you can't trust the most of legit things. It's fine. I'm fine. I'm just a little upset. I was gonna say miffed. It's not really a word I use, but I'm like it feels a picture at this moment. But I'm I'm also I'm I'm gonna we're gonna steer away from that. And my rave is that I did my own nails for Spark of the Everflame, guys. I did them. There's some sparkles. There's some I didn't even realize they were sparkly when you showed me before. They're like little sparkles of the Ever Flame. They're they're sparkles of the Ever Phalanges. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

Dancing phalanges.

SPEAKER_03 5:51

Bones.

SPEAKER_00 5:52

Oh bones interact with the baby. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 5:55

Yeah. Excellent show. But that's my rave, so we're gonna leave out on a positive note. And here's the fun thing for you. Ready? I am on season two of Running Point. Yes, it's so good, isn't it? So you might be mad at me that I haven't read my book, but you should be really happy that.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

And that is fine.

SPEAKER_03 6:13

I binged that entire first season. It was so it's good.

SPEAKER_00 6:19

A delight. It's a gosh darn delight. It's like I don't know how this show isn't more popular. I don't understand. I like it's so lovely and like charming, but also um, I don't know, it's not all like lovely.

SPEAKER_03 6:33

Like she has to deal with real shit and like um she's constantly dealing with a problem.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

And she's a boss bitch about it, and she looks fucking awesome. And I want her clothes um it's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 6:46

I I yeah, it's wonderful. I forgot how good of an actress she is.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

She's so good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:54

Like, she's incredible. The the guy who plays Sandy, her brother, he's from the other two. If you've never seen that show, hilarious show. We've got the the kid who's playing Jackie is really good. Coach Jay is really good. Fucking Schmidt.

SPEAKER_00 7:09

Schmidt's awesome in this. He's so great. I also like did not think that Ness would become one of my favorite characters, but by the end of season two, he's so good. Because he's only kind of gross and like big brothery, but he also like so deeply cares about his family in a way that is just so endearing.

SPEAKER_03 7:29

Uh and I mean he's like obsessed with his wife and their karaoke nights.

SPEAKER_00 7:33

It's so funny. Did you oh you're probably not there yet? They talk about your favorite book. Um wait, really? Yeah, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. It's their book club book.

SPEAKER_03 7:45

I'm gonna shit.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

In passing, but they also totally spoil the ending of the book. Oh my god, I haven't read it, so I think it's true. Um probably. We at the end? Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. They spoil that, um, which is kind of funny. Um, but it's their um Ness and Sandy have a book club now, and they like that's the book that they read.

SPEAKER_03 8:10

Oh my god, I love that. Like, it's just it's god, what a fucking great show. I texted you to be like, thank you for this recommendation. It's all I did this weekend. Yeah, just I was like cleaning and just had it on and would like stop and watch. And then just like it's just excellent show. Excellent, excellent, excellent. So I hope I've redeemed myself.

SPEAKER_00 8:35

Yes, you have. I will forgive you if I'm not reading. I will still be texting you. Probably not at midnight, but in the morning. For sure.

SPEAKER_03 8:42

You should yell at me. I I gotta, I gotta get caught up. I've had uh a problem. Speaking of caught up, um, are you on book two yet?

SPEAKER_00 8:51

Of I'm not gonna read book two. Book one and I'm not gonna read it right now. So book one, I finished book one uh over the weekend. Uh this is of lights out, I'm assuming you're asking me about. Um yeah. It's great. It's just a wild ride. It's so good. Um, I don't want to say it's too spicy. It is like very, very spicy. There, there's a lot a final I guess it's not the final scene because the epilogue is great. Uh, but there's a scene at the end that's a spicy scene that is from her point of view that is a little much for me, not necessarily by content, but because she's very both the the character is pretty uh logical and like medical. So the way she talks about like what's happening happening to her is not as like poetic and emotional. And then the voice actor is very sort of by rote, like she's very, she's just sort of I don't want to say she's not acting, because she definitely acts, but it's not as like emotive as I would like, as opposed to the male voice actor who is phenomenal, and his script is much more um talking about like how he feels emotionally, and then he's a very emotive actor. So this last one was like a very long, spicy scene, all from her point of view. And I was like, Yes, I get it. This is the best work last time you've ever had. I'm with you. I understand. Can we wrap it up? Uh hopefully they did. They did they do nothing is wrapped up in this book. Um, don't worry, they check in about it. It's fine. The consent is king. Okay. But I do think it's you're she's a nurse. She they don't worry. It's handled. It's don't worry about it. Um but uh if you were avoiding this book because you thought it was like too dark, it's really it's just so weird to say about a book with like guns and knives and stocking, and also very real murder happens in this book. Um, but give it a whirl. It's not as dark as you might think, and it is also pretty funny and very loving. Okay. And the person they murder deserves it. So Okay.

unknown 11:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:05

I'm behind it. I love I love that for them. I'm into it, but no, I'm not gonna read the second one right now. I don't actually know where I'm going next. I'm not reading anything right at this present moment. Um, but I'll find something. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 11:18

Okay. Well, do you have any rant or rave? Do you wanna speaking of rave, what about Rave and Kennedy's new character art? I am obsessed.

SPEAKER_00 11:31

I also love that she's leaning. I knew you would. So I love it. I was just talking about this with somebody about how we read these books and we're like, uh, well, there's a a villain character who's terrible and awful, and then oh, he's really hot. And then like you as the reader know that that they're gonna be fucking by the end of part two. And you just know that that's the journey that they're going, even on even if, and also usually because of them being described as the villain or the bad the bad guy. And so we know that this is a Pied Piper duology. We know that in the actual fairy tale, the Pied Piper is not the good, is not the good person. Um I don't really know that fairy tale. He just like Pied Pipers them out of Hamlin, like the kids, like he plays his flute. It's called Hamlin, that's the town. He plays the flute and then like the kids follow him. I'm pretty sure is the fairy tale. Anyway, he's evil, but we all know that he's using Pied Piper as a Pied Piper.

SPEAKER_03 12:26

He just like Pied Pipers them.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

Yeah, it's what the Pied Piper does is he Pied Pipers. He totally dudes, he totally dutes, as you say. That's it. Um I love that she's leaning into it with the um meme that she posted that was like, Are you okay? And then it's like, no, I have to wait until September to figure out how hot the Pied Piper is gonna be. And I just like that we're not even not even gonna beat her on the bush about it. We're just nope, he's not evil, he's hot.

SPEAKER_03 12:53

No, or perhaps he's both Yeah, yeah. He's both. He could be both. He could have uh I double identities. She loves doing shit like that. Like you never know, you never know. The artwork.

SPEAKER_02 13:06

I love art.

SPEAKER_03 13:08

That the the female main character looks so cute. She's got like little little horns and like a little pixie. Yeah. She's a cute to be. I was like, okay, Alice from Twilight, love. Yeah, she's so cute. I'm really excited for it. Like, the more stuff's coming out about it, I keep seeing it. And I I go to send it to you and I see that you've already liked it, and I'm like, oh never mind. Sorry, I got it. I am covered on the ribbon. That was like she's she's on it. We haven't done a check-in. How's your baby buck doing? I saw that there was a series finale. I can't season finale.

SPEAKER_00 13:45

This is not, this was not on my rant and rape. Okay. Whoo, Nelly. Um, baby boy buck is fine. However, it was the season finale last week. And the pen penultimate episode was kind of crazy. I mean, character is shot by in a like a betrayal situation. It's a lot. And then in the finale, they're all in the hospital with the person, and then somebody comes in and like holds up the hospital hostage, and they're all in there, and so they're like all trying to get out. And Buck and Eddie are separated. Oh no. Should never happen. And Eddie's like stabbed in the stomach. He's in an elevator, and in order to get swat in the building, they have to cut the power to the elevator. So Eddie is like bleeding out in an elevator. Oh my god. And important, in order to like do first aid on himself, because obviously he can do first aid, he has to remove his t-shirt aggressively. Um, he literally like rips it with his teeth. It is um, it's a choice. Uh yeah, Buck is great. And then, huge spoilers if anybody's listening who hasn't seen it, um, a couple seasons ago, Buck was a sperm donor for his friends, and they had a beautiful baby, and they came back a couple episodes ago with the baby, who is like now a toddler and the fucking spitting image of Oliver Stark. And uh this is this is very dramatic show. Both of the parents die horribly. Car accident. Sorry. And so then the baby is like has to go into foster care. And so the last couple episodes, Buck is like having a crisis because he's like, I'm not his parent. Like, I was a sperm donor. What do I do? And then the end of the finale is he's fostering his biological baby. I know. Oh my god. Yeah, it's it was a very emotional episode. Also, Eddie is fine. Um, the character who got shot is fine. It was a very like drama for the sake of drama episode, a lot of it. Like, I was like, why was why did Eddie need to be bleeding out in the electricity?

SPEAKER_03 15:49

Buck and Eddie are raising this baby.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

Uh, that's not been said, but that is the assumption because Eddie does have a son who they already co-parent because Christopher loves Buck. And like, obviously, Buck is gonna need help. He doesn't know how to be a parent, and who is he gonna go to? His best friend, and then they're gonna co-parent. But they're not in love. They are in my heart.

SPEAKER_03 16:14

Can they really?

SPEAKER_00 16:15

No, it's not there. Everybody wants them to be in love. Buck is obviously canonically bisexual, Eddie is canonically straight up until this point, but they are like best friends. They there's a whole couch theory, which I'll go into at a later date. We don't have time to unpack all of that right now. I'll explain couch theory to you later. Um, it is very it is like the most um shipped thing I've ever been a part, like I've ever seen on a um like any fandom that I've ever been a part of. This is like the biggest, most agreed upon ship is that they need to end up together. And I was even sort of against it when it first started because I was like, just let men have friendships with other men that aren't fucking exhausting. Like let them just be soft and gentle with each other. But now, like, they're holy shit, they need to be in they're in love with each other.

SPEAKER_03 17:04

Like it's a little Ryan Murphy, so it's like, hello. The show needs to be gayer. Make the show gay, make every make the world gayer, make everything player, more gay.

SPEAKER_00 17:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:15

Please. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 17:17

I can't believe I forgot about that. It was a very emotional roller coaster.

SPEAKER_03 17:21

I was flipping through channels and and saw the season finale of it right there. And I was like, oh, there's baby boy book. That's like an actual baby. Yeah. I was like, Damn it. And then I was like, oh, wait, I gotta ask her about it. I'm I'm certain she saw it. I did. And if I watched it live as it was happening.

SPEAKER_00 17:44

Love that show.

unknown 17:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:46

And then you have to wait like several months for it to come back.

SPEAKER_03 17:49

I'm so sorry. Listen, I know that you are uh good with TV show recommendations, so maybe it's time I pick it up. I don't know. You got nine seasons of stuff to keep you busy. Okay, guys. Well, that's our updates with what's going on. Rant, raves, wrecks, uh, all of it. Uh reading. Rant, rave, rec, reads. Yes, I love it. Rrrr. Rated R. What did that sound?

SPEAKER_00 18:21

Before we get a little too spoiling.

SPEAKER_03 18:23

Let's fucking um let's screen cast this bitch. Yeah. We sort of already touched on the fact that this was really hard for us because we love the characters so much. Um I I told you just today that last night I switched my DM again for the fourth time. Mm-hmm. And I've went back and forth with Luther six times. Oh my god. Um so and everyone else I feel really good about. I was moving the mom around a whole bunch. I was switching between her. And so I have a lot of uh uh explanations, I feel I need to somehow get off, but I'm gonna try to keep them short and sweet and prop up the people that I did choose. And if you have chosen someone I previously had, I can't promise you that I'm not gonna start crying.

SPEAKER_00 19:20

I'm I legitimately might start sobbing to be like we could have had them both, but I hope that doesn't happen. I have confirmation from Football Husband that we have no duplicates. Let's fucking do it. Look how nicely this all matches. Doesn't it look beautiful? I yeah, yeah. I this is like a little forest picture, and then I put this little flame graphic over it, and I think it looks really cute. It looks so good. Yeah, everybody compliment my graphic design skills. Okay, amazing. Okay, here we go. I this is new for us, but I added in a little thing, the dedication from the book, because I just think it's really nice and it makes me happy. It says, for anyone who has ever been told their spark shouldn't burn so bright, and for all of the people who loved them precisely because it did. And I just think that that's really lovely. And I wanted to. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:12

I love that. Oh god. Oh, fucking character art so good.

SPEAKER_00 20:16

Character art is so good. I've included the who they're by um down at the bottom. We have a plethora of character art for most of the characters from this book. Some of them not so much, but the main characters there's a lot. Okay, this is our girl Diem Bellator. She is a highly skilled young healer, trained in both medicine and combat by her parents. Uh, for her looks, she has a lean athletic build, tawny skin, and sharp features. Her hair and eyes turn from auburn and brown to white and stormy gray in adolescence, giving her an intense and otherworldly look. She is fiercely independent, stubborn, and morally driven. She is compassionate but tough with a rebellious streak and a tendency to challenge authority. And we said this last time that I fucking love DM Bellator. I, everybody on hates her, you're wrong. You are wrong, and you're entitled to your wrong opinions. DM Bellator is amazing. And she's exceptionally real fucking cool. Yes. Okay, do you want to say anything before your choice is revealed? Okay.

SPEAKER_03 21:27

I don't know if I I think I'm gonna have to say it afterwards because I'm gonna have to walk it walk it through. But I personally struggled not because of any looks. It's I I almost had too many choices of these wonderful, beautiful women of color that I wanted to choose. I felt a really big importance was the comedy aspect. Yes, and coupled with the strength. And that was uh really hard for me to choose because like one person. I really wanted is a comedy queen. And she's also stunning. But she's also 5'4. And DMs like can't be that short. So I'm like, that just isn't gonna work. And so like there was little things like that that I was like racking my brain, keeping myself up at night. Um, not really, but uh, that I I just ultimately had to kind of go with someone who checked the most boxes.

SPEAKER_00 22:24

Yeah. Mine, I was um, she was the the last character that I came up with, and I have been had been re-watching this show, and all of a sudden was struck by one of the characters in the show, and I was just like, oh my god, I think that that is Diem. Um nothing about her in the show has anything to do with D a little bit, a little bit is similar to Diem, but just looks-wise and what I think she can give and bring to the character uh based on the one thing that I've seen her in. So, okay, are you ready?

SPEAKER_03 22:54

I'm ready. Oh yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

unknown 23:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:02

Okay, yours is really good.

SPEAKER_03 23:04

Okay. This is yours is really good too. This is what's so Yeah. Uh, okay. You go first.

SPEAKER_00 23:13

Okay. So mine is Luna Blaze, which I think is nicely appropriate that her last name is Blaze. Uh her name, uh, she plays Olive on the show Manifest. Uh, my favorite thing about have you seen Manifest? I can't remember.

SPEAKER_03 23:26

I start, I watched uh the first season and part of the second season, and then I literally had to take a flight somewhere, and I stopped watching it, and I never watched it ever again. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:41

Yeah. So she's the daughter of Prince Charming from Once Upon a Time in the show. And she was one of the ones not on the plane. So, like, she's a very young kid in the first episode, and then is five years older as Luna Blaze for the rest of it. And the arc that Olive goes on over this series is incredible. Um, from sort of like very depressed child, obviously, her twin brother and her father and her aunt died horribly. So, like, to their knowledge. So, she's the sort of like uh lost teenager to somebody who ultimately like ends up saving the day and figuring out doing all of this research and becoming an incredibly strong integral part of this and dealing with all of these feelings of not being good enough and not having the magic powers that people have in the show, and how does she trust that what she brings to the table is enough? And then just add a little rant uh from the show manifest at the uh spoilers for the finale of this now many years old TV show. Many. They go back in time at the end of the show, everything is undone. Like they pass the test and then it's undone. And everybody who was not on the plane doesn't remember. So at the in the finale, Olive goes back to being a little kid, and which I guess is I understand is sweet and lovely because she gets her childhood back that she didn't get to have, but it undoes all of her growth and all of her incredible knowledge and power that she's developed and it pisses me off. I'm so happy that she gets to relive her childhood, but I just think this actress is really great, and she also looks like how I picture Diem.

unknown 25:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:14

And how Diem is described with like full lips and like a strong brow line. And you know what else? You haven't read the Zodiac Academy. I have not, right? Yeah. She would also be really good as Tori or Darcy Vega, um, one of the main twins of the Zodiac Academy. She would also be really excellent for those.

SPEAKER_00 25:35

Amazing.

SPEAKER_03 25:35

Wow, that's a great choice, dude. Yeah. I have Simone Ashley from Bridgerton. Uh, the season season two of Bridgerton. She's also most recently in The Devil Wears Prada 2. Um, okay. So I love my first Yeah. I I I love that I love her. So the three, here's the three I was tossing around. Zendaya. Mm-hmm. Because I've never cast Zendaya in anything.

SPEAKER_00 26:06

And also Pen Cole has said numerous times that Zendaya would make a great DM.

SPEAKER_03 26:11

For sure. Yeah. But then I was like, it feels too close to Dune. Yeah. It all kind of just with the blue eyes and the the it just feels all too close. And so I said, I gotta stay, I gotta steer away from it. And I know she could do the powerhouse part, and I know she can do the funny part, but there was something about it that just it felt too predictable. And so I said, I can't do this.

SPEAKER_00 26:36

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 26:37

So then I moved on to and I love this bitch with all my heart, Kiki Palmer.

SPEAKER_00 26:45

Not right for me personally. I'm glad you switched that. Too funny. Too funny. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:51

But it could also be really like she's also really, really strong, but too funny. And in those soft moments that Diem has with her brother, like I could see it happening, but I just it wasn't it wasn't it.

SPEAKER_00 27:07

There are also moments where Diem has to be straight up scary. And I like I would worry that I wouldn't take Kiki Palmer seriously, which is a horrible thing to say.

SPEAKER_03 27:16

Yeah. And so I'm like, I gotta find somebody who is uh like strong with by just standing there, beautiful by smiling, can speak with their eyes, is tall enough. I just and for me, Simone Ashley checked all of the boxes. The other person I thought of was Chase Infinity, who is brand new from one battle after the other. I also thought about her maybe too, but she just I don't know how good she is. I've seen her do these intense things, but I haven't seen the comedy parts. So Simone Ashley's done the beautiful book adaptation. She's snappy, she's strong. And then in Devil Wears Prada 2, she's fucking funny.

SPEAKER_02 28:07

Like, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:09

So I was like, I gotta go with, I gotta go with her. Yeah, I gotta go with her.

SPEAKER_00 28:14

Wonderful. I actually um thanks. I said I don't have anybody for book two, but I already have a couple people for book three, and she is one of my top contenders for um the Umbros Queen. But I thought she would be great at that.

SPEAKER_03 28:29

Okay, okay. That she would be really good at that too. Yeah. Uh okay.

SPEAKER_00 28:37

Next.

SPEAKER_03 28:39

It was a tough one, man. And of course I was like right out the bat. Okay. We have Teller Mellator. Teller is a sharp-minded student raised in Lumnos, alongside his sister Diem, trained in both academics and combat from a young age. Thank you, Dad. He has a lighter build than Diem, with an observant gaze and composed, thoughtful presence that often masks his capability in a fight. Teller is intelligent, analytical, and measured. Though he prefers strategy over violence, he is disciplined, loyal, and more dangerous than he first appears. I am so thrown by this fan art.

SPEAKER_00 29:19

Really? Okay, because it's also so different. Like this and this are not the same person. Yeah. This how I'm a picture teller. This is not.

SPEAKER_03 29:30

Yeah. Yeah, that that looks like a Carrion Swift uh thing. Yeah. The most after is the top one. Yeah, okay. Which is and so I it's so hard because okay, this is what this is where the where the mind fuck is, right? Like so, so uh Diem has the the typically tawny skin that no offense, pen cole, just say she's brown. She brown. Like, let's do it. And then you got teller, who's her brother, and then it find out is her half-brother. So so then what's mom look like? We know mom's supposed to have red hair because there's the Auburn streaks, but then what does dad look like? But then what does real dad look like? And then you have to walk it back and go, we're in a fantasy land. Who fucking cares?

SPEAKER_00 30:29

Yeah. I there's a part of me that we could probably unpack in a like white guilt sort of class um that pictures all of the Fey as white and all of the mortals as not white, which is maybe terrible. I like I think that's also kind of her intention of this like class representation that she's doing. You're not alone.

SPEAKER_03 30:51

I felt I no, mine was the same way.

SPEAKER_00 30:55

I don't want that to be the case. And I also I I just didn't want it's fantasy. I didn't want to do that. Um and I didn't want to be quite so literal, but when I was first reading, that was definitely something that was like in my head. But then you're right, like teller is described as having red hair, the mom has or like reddish, auburn ish, ish, ish, ish hair.

SPEAKER_03 31:14

Um yeah, everything is very vague like that, and so but I I found myself doing the same thing though. I'm like, I was like, everyone's like darker, that's mortal with brown they're say brown hair, brown eyes, brown eyes, yeah, tawny skin, tan skin, leathered skin. Like the descriptions is like, oh.

SPEAKER_00 31:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:36

And then you get to the descended and they're like blue eyes and golden locks, and you're like, oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:45

All right, dude. My uh, my choice is cuckoo, my choice is cuckoo crazy.

SPEAKER_00 31:51

Mine is pretty random, and I went based off of looks, um, based off of my Diem.

SPEAKER_03 31:56

Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 31:58

Oh, related to Jason Momoa.

SPEAKER_03 32:02

He is Jason Momoa's son.

SPEAKER_00 32:05

Oh wow. Okay, first of all, Momoa.

SPEAKER_03 32:11

Yes. Nakoa Wolf Momoa. You have David Lakano. How do you say that? Ayakano. Oh, Iakano. I can't read. I believe it's. Um, I have to just before we dive in here, I gotta say, um, our they look exactly they look so similar.

SPEAKER_00 32:32

They look bigger than we both went like curly mop top little boy, like full mop top boy.

SPEAKER_03 32:39

Like, that's where we went. Okay. Wild. Good for us. I love when that fucking happens because like we have we have we can see it in the picture.

SPEAKER_00 32:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:48

The Vijon. Okay, I have Nicoa Wolf Momoa, who is Jason Momoa's son, who has never done anything and has just been cast in the next Dune. Wow. Okay. And I don't know who he's gonna be, but this is his break into acting. And I saw a deadline article and saw him, and I went, that's Teller.

SPEAKER_00 33:14

Wow. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 33:16

That's Teller in my brain. And so I was like, okay, so he's he's half Polynesian, and I just, I just there was, he just kind of has a little bit of auburn to his hair, so it's not all red, but we can just auburn it up. I just think he was around the same age-ish. He seems 14-15-ish. He was new. I went with him and I said, Justin Mumbo is Osric's baby.

SPEAKER_00 33:46

Osrix Bebe.

SPEAKER_03 33:48

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 33:50

Okay. I fully went off of looks. Um, young David here has has many acting credits. You watched The Summer I Turn Pretty, right? Did you watch that? Yes. He's in it. He's in like eight episodes of it. I don't know who he plays. Is he? Hold on.

SPEAKER_03 34:09

He feels like young. He feels like young Jeremiah. It says Cam.

SPEAKER_00 34:18

Cam? For eight episodes? I don't know what to tell you. He's also in Jurassic World. Uh Rebirth.

SPEAKER_03 34:28

Oh, yep.

SPEAKER_00 34:30

I just I liked his.

SPEAKER_03 34:31

I don't know who Cam is. Yeah. Who's Cam? Oh wow, no, he's like looks really I don't know who the fuck Cam is because I stopped watching this show. Maybe before he appeared. He was we were in the same movie, Emily. You and David. We were both in the j we were both in Joker. Oh my god. Do you know him? No. With what Keen Phoenix. But it doesn't say what he did. He probably was an extra like I was, or you know, maybe actually had a real role, not me. Um in the same film as this man child.

SPEAKER_00 35:14

Yeah, but I thought he looked like sort of soft and nerdy, but also could probably win in a fight, like a little bit scrappy, and I liked his hair. Yeah. That's what I want.

SPEAKER_03 35:24

Really good one.

SPEAKER_00 35:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:25

That's a really good one.

SPEAKER_00 35:27

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 35:27

And he's got like credits. Yeah. And it feels like Teller's gonna have to um act his face off.

SPEAKER_00 35:36

I wouldn't know. I have no idea what happens in these books. I'll never let this.

SPEAKER_03 35:42

Okay. Well, right now he's happy Diem's home. So that's where we're at. You know, moving along.

SPEAKER_00 35:50

Andre Bellator.

SPEAKER_03 35:52

God damn it.

SPEAKER_00 35:53

Andre is a seasoned commander in the descended army. So this is Diem's stepdad, which we don't know until the end of book one, spoilers. Uh Teller's real dad. Uh he is a seasoned commander in the descended army. This is very interesting because he is a mortal man, and that is kind of rare. Uh, but they also seem to like to use mortals as like cannon fodder. So maybe not that rare. I don't know. He seems to have a lot of authority-ish for a mortal. He's very well respected. You're not wrong. Like it's all correct. They're gonna die anyway. Who cares? Is the vibe. Who cares? Um, he would he would probably describe his work in the descended army as help helping the mortals and making sure that they are treated with respect and not just cannon fodder, where most mortals or a lot of mortals see him as a traitor uh for fighting the descendants' war, usually against other mortals. So that's an interesting choice. Um, he has a hardened, battle-worn presence with a strong build and a demeanor that commands respect. He is steady, principled, and fiercely protective. He is not DM's biological father. He raised her as his own and instilled in her both skills and an unshakable confidence. I only found one piece of artwork for Andre, but I feel like it's pretty good. Yeah, he doesn't look anything like who I picked. Fantastic. Let's see who it is. Ready, set, go. Are you fucking kidding me? I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Retta. I I'm so sorry.

SPEAKER_03 37:29

Retta, so I I just I was really, I was it was a genuine choice. It's genuine. I don't feel good about it. Okay. I don't feel great about it. I just all right, guys. Uh, we're just gonna get this over with. I have Dwayne the Rock Johnson.

SPEAKER_00 37:49

She said that was my full chest.

SPEAKER_03 37:52

My full chest. Just I have the rock, okay? I have Maui. I I just I don't fucking know, man. I I he's literally who I pictured reading, and I had to just go with it. That is, I just feel like he can but I want him to have like a beard, like no hair on his head, but I do want facial hair to be a really big part of this character. Like yours is definitely the correct vibe, but this was my head, and I was like, who's gonna like be like like so shocked that someone took down the rock?

SPEAKER_00 38:37

Yeah, what?

SPEAKER_03 38:38

Like, and of course the rock taught her how to fight. Of course, the rock was helping the descended and they trust him as a mortal. That's the only way it all made sense to me. And so I've made that choice. I know it's cuckoo. Please, please take over.

SPEAKER_00 38:57

When I was reading, I actually did not picture Daniel Sinjata. I pictured Jimmy Smith the whole time. The whole time it was Jimmy Smith's. That's a fun one. You might ask yourself, why is this not a picture of Jimmy Smith's? Well, I'll tell you. I cast something already in the very quick fan cast we did of that book fan service that I loved. And I was like, well, that feels like a cop out, even though I probably could. And I was watching High Potential, starring Daniel Sunjada, and I was like, I like him a lot. And fun little bonus fact, he plays Olive's sort of quasi-stepdad in Manifest. So the mom hat starts a new relationship a couple years after the husband is presumed dead, which is a perfectly reasonable thing for her to do, and then she has to figure out what to do when her husband comes back to life and it's Daniel Sunchad, and it's really sad, it's actually really emotional. Oh, but he plays her sort of stepdad and they have a really sweet relationship. So like the chemistry read is already there. Uh yeah. But I will also like how we threw in Ian Summerholder for Slade and he won. I feel like we can throw in Jimmy Smith.

SPEAKER_03 39:56

That is truly I would like to throw in Jimmy Smith.

SPEAKER_00 39:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:00

Yes. I think we should throw him in too for a three, because like mine's like, you know, like really like a 0.5.

SPEAKER_00 40:06

You're gonna every time you say this is you win.

SPEAKER_03 40:10

Like that but it's not, but listen, here. Let me say this here. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 40:16

That is insane choices. You should be ashamed of yourself.

SPEAKER_03 40:20

Picking Jamie Lee Curtis was wrong. That was wrong objectively, everybody was wrong. I admitted that straight up here on the bat podcast. I said, no. It is, it is Mrs. Weasley, was Nanette.

SPEAKER_00 40:37

100%.

SPEAKER_03 40:39

100%. There was no question about it. And people still voted for Jamie Lee Curtis. And those people were wrong. You guys were wrong. We love our we love our fam cast. We really do. However, I love to win. Guys, let's think this through. Let's think it through. Let's think it through. And I think we should include Jimmy Schmitz, too. Because I can absolutely picture him. Yeah. With either of our DMs, too. I guess.

SPEAKER_00 41:10

Yeah. As like stepdad taking. This like quiet, calm confidence is fantastic.

unknown 41:16

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:17

Hell yeah. And also a little bit of his Western. Like he has to be political.

SPEAKER_03 41:22

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 41:24

I watched The West Wing. I love The West Wing.

SPEAKER_03 41:27

Same.

unknown 41:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:28

Me too.

SPEAKER_00 41:29

Ugh, good. Okay. And they'll have a whole new crop of people. Oh my god, we haven't cast Bradley Whitford in anything.

SPEAKER_03 41:37

Okay, that's going on the list. Oh, you know who we Okay, I got an idea. I got an idea. Okay. I got one. Okay. Aureli Bellator, mother of the year.

SPEAKER_00 41:48

And then see, like, this artwork of her looks like she could be my mom. Like, she's clearly not a drawn as a person of color in this artwork. And this is just one. Like, who knows? But and uh yes, and I thought she was a person of color. I 100% thought she was too. This yeah, this looks like Deborah Messing. Like This is the only art I could find of Arlie. I think people don't like Arlie, so they're not drawing her, but like I do blame them. The art is beautiful, the artist is extremely talented. This is not Arlie that I picture in any way, shape, or form. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:21

Okay. Who is Arlie? Arlie is a gifted healer and quietly powerful figure with deep ties to rebellion and resistance. Not in the fun Star Wars way. No. She carries herself with a calm authority, her presence composed and deliberate, often revealing little of her true intentions. Aurely is intelligent, secretive, and fiercely devoted. Beneath her composed exterior lies a strategic mind and a willingness to make difficult, far-reaching choices.

SPEAKER_00 42:53

Which is also girl is a snake, and I don't like her. And she's like her bad mom.

SPEAKER_03 43:02

Bad mom. Doing some weird fuck shit during the army time. We don't know. I'm not her. Yeah. You just and like, and you didn't even know. I just, yeah. I have a lot of issues. I have a lot of issues.

SPEAKER_00 43:14

Our lee it does not get better as book three goes on.

SPEAKER_03 43:17

God damn it.

SPEAKER_00 43:18

Or maybe it does, even though I haven't read it. No spoilers.

SPEAKER_03 43:22

Yeah. That being said, I chose someone I love as an actress. So same. Yeah. How the hell to hell with it. Okay. Ready to go. Here we go.

SPEAKER_00 43:31

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 43:33

I love Speraj P. Henson. Um, Natalie Cordova Buckley would be fucking sick as Luna's one.

SPEAKER_00 43:40

Wait, what do you know her from? Because I know her from SHIELD. She's from SHIELD! From Marble Diggs in Shield! Yeah, she from Yo Yo. Yes. Like I the yeah. Just checking that that was what you also knew her from and that there wasn't some other secret thing.

SPEAKER_03 43:55

Yeah. She quite honest to God, yeah. She kind of embodies. Her already.

SPEAKER_00 44:01

Yes, because she's also kind of scary. And like I don't trust her. Like, I don't, yeah. I she's so good in Shield where she's loving and obviously like in Shield, she's on the right side, but she's definitely more like flawed and scarred and a little bit more hardened and difficult, but also is just a really delightful actor. Um Oh my god, she's a voice of Codicolo in Coco.

SPEAKER_03 44:28

Oh my gosh, she's in Bates Motel. Agents of Shield slingshot. I didn't watch that one.

SPEAKER_00 44:34

I did not either, but I know it was a spinoff, but maybe. I didn't watch that spin-off. Also great.

SPEAKER_03 44:40

Maybe both. That's a good one. That's a really good one. Shield is really good. Um, I have Taraji P. Henson. Yeah, you do. She looks great in that photo. Yep. She's I look with her auburn hair. I just, I don't know. I feel like when I was casting it, the scene I was thinking the most of, because she's not in book one, so who fucking cares? Um, in book two, spoilers guys, where she's on the island, and just like I was picturing like her running at the temple, and like, who can I see that's like got their hair all over the place that's just like ripping things down and cutting people's Achilles tendons to be like, stay away from my daughter? Hirachi Piansen, who I've also cast as Professor Deborah in uh the Empyrean series in Fourth Wink. I think she would be perfect as the professor, but that's who I see as mom. Even though that fan art looks like Deborah Messing.

SPEAKER_00 45:37

I mean, when you were describing her running through the is through the island, I immediately went to that scene that's clipped all the time from that space movie. What's the space movie that she was in? Where she's like, There's no bathroom in this building, and I have to walk a mile to go to the bathroom. Oh my god. Yeah. What's this? Hidden figures. Thank you so much. Also based on a book.

SPEAKER_03 46:01

Yeah, there it is.

SPEAKER_00 46:02

I was like, it's I was like, But when she's screaming about like the coffee pot that you won't even touch, like I that because I think of her as funny most of the time. Um, but then I just r was like really viscerally thrown back into that scene from hidden figures as you were describing that. So I I'm into it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:21

Ah, I love her. She needs to do more work. Where the hell? She gotta do everything. Cookie from Empire.

SPEAKER_00 46:27

Yes. Okay. This bitch.

SPEAKER_02 46:31

This bitch.

SPEAKER_00 46:33

This is Henry. It's not Henri as the audio book. It's Henry. I was appalled when I learned that it was spelled with an I. It's just Henry. It's they literally just say Henry. It pisses me off.

SPEAKER_03 46:46

Why is it spelled like Henri? Henri Evanon.

SPEAKER_00 46:51

Henry Albanon, as they say.

SPEAKER_03 46:55

Fucking Lumière ass.

SPEAKER_00 46:56

Yeah. Um he is. He is DM's closest companion, a loyal, should have been in quotation marks, ally who has stood by her side since childhood. Vomit. He has shaggy hair, warm brown eyes, and an easy, familiar presence that contrasts with the tension of their world. So we do not need to rehash. But the fact that this is Pen Cole's favorite character really just keeps me up at night because he poisoned a child to not even really expect to get any information out of it, just as really sort of a test. And that is when it all just went downhill from me. For oh, I hate this guy. I hate this motherfucker.

SPEAKER_03 47:54

Fucking hate this guy. Hate him. Hate him. My choice is not a secret. I've already told everybody who it is.

SPEAKER_00 48:01

Who did I cast? I don't know. We're about to find out later. Surprise. Okay, ready, set, go.

unknown 48:10

Go.

SPEAKER_00 48:10

Oh yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 48:12

Okay. Okay. You can go first because you left yours.

SPEAKER_00 48:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 48:16

All right. I have coasted D'Angelo. I'm obsessed with him. I've tagged Penn Cole in anything about him. Look at his face. Look at that punchable but hot face.

SPEAKER_00 48:26

Punchable but hot is a great way to describe him.

SPEAKER_03 48:28

Punchable but hot and deep brown eyes. And he could just, you could, you just want to grab him and be like, what the fuck is your problem? Yeah. At the same time. You know what I mean? Absolutely. And that's really it. That's it. He just got cast as like another morally gray character in um uh so he was just in tell me lies, right? He's now going to be in the second season of We Were Liars. Apparently, he's just in a thing about lies, which tells me he'd make a perfect, yeah, he'd make a great Henry because he's a fucking liar.

SPEAKER_00 49:02

Yeah. That's um similar vibes. This is Michael Simeno. I don't believe he plays a liar. He's Victor from Love Victor. Um, I just think he's also hot and punchable. And that's all I got.

SPEAKER_03 49:17

Yeah, he'd be a great choice because what the fuck has he been in since that? Yeah. Anything?

SPEAKER_00 49:24

I don't know. Not a lot. No.

SPEAKER_03 49:27

I'm sure he's done like a couple of guest star feature things, but I don't think he's a main character in any show. Like, let's get him to be a series regular or featured.

SPEAKER_00 49:39

You want to know what year he was born? Do you want to get really old? No.

unknown 49:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 49:44

I'm gonna go.

SPEAKER_03 49:45

Guess 2013.

SPEAKER_00 49:47

Oh my god, no. 1999.

SPEAKER_03 49:49

Oh, thank god.

SPEAKER_00 49:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 49:51

Well shoot higher, and then I'm so mad. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:56

Um 2013.

SPEAKER_03 49:59

He's not 12. Oh, yeah, that's right. I'm not very good at math. I'm not a math girl. Valid. My right. There's our Henry's. We don't care. We're gonna move on from him. We don't really like him. That guy. Oh boy. All right. We had a bit of a Mora.

SPEAKER_00 50:17

Okay, you go for it.

SPEAKER_03 50:18

Okay. Mora, Mora, Mora. Um, I actually really like this photo. I really like this photo.

SPEAKER_00 50:24

This fantasy artworks account um is really lovely. I like how everybody's drawn with flowers. I really hope it's real in our AI. I thought it was real. I hope it's real.

SPEAKER_03 50:33

I can't tell anything. Nobody, nothing's real to me today. Um, okay, Mara is an experienced healer who serves as a guiding presence within the village. She has a practical, no-nonsense demeanor shaped by years of work and responsibility. Mara is cautious, pragmatic, and firm. She prioritizes duty and safety, often pushing others to think carefully before acting. And she has a wife.

SPEAKER_00 51:00

She is a lesbian and she is a surrogate mother to Diem. And when Diem's all worried about how she's gonna probably die, which is a very valid concern, Mora's always like, We will take teller, do not worry. You're pretty little like she's a very motherly lesbian figure. Yes. Um does not like sarai, which is delightful.

SPEAKER_03 51:22

So I kind of I wrote on I wrote on the grivern. I wrote on the back of it. And like when she has to go back after she has to go back, like climbs off horse, and she's like, Oh my god. Do you want me to get you a horse? And she's like, No, no, no, it's fine. It's fine. I'll just take it again. It's all good.

SPEAKER_00 51:39

It's fine. It's so funny. I love her.

SPEAKER_03 51:43

Uh okay.

SPEAKER_00 51:46

Ready to go. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 51:48

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 51:49

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 51:50

Yep. Yours is real good. Blair. Yeah. Yeah. I I'll get mine out of the way because I I I don't think she's fully the right choice, but in my heart she felt right. Yeah. Selma Blair is very famously known for um having MS and having it really affect her career. She's got a beautiful documentary out, like she's done a lot of work with foundations. She just um encompasses encompasses uh Mara's uh uh essence. Yeah. I think she's in her fifties. Okay, so maybe not old enough. I think I think she could I think we could get there. Now she um she now has a service dog. Um I think that's lovely. She previously had a cane as she was working through, and that's something that you know m is part of Mara's character. However, anybody can do that in the thing. I just thought it was very uh an authentic choice, and I I just hadn't seen her in anything recently. And I I think it would just be such a wonderful comeback moment for her. So bless you, Selma Blair. You are truly the uh will always be my Vivian Kensington. Always. Always so good.

SPEAKER_00 53:21

That makes me very um delighted. I love that casting, and I also think while you say anybody can pick up a cane, that is true, but it's also important to cast people with actual abil like their true abilities and their lived experiences with disabilities, and I think that that is really important representation and that is valid.

SPEAKER_03 53:40

We just love her. Okay, tell us who you have.

SPEAKER_00 53:43

I picked uh veteran character actress Tracy Allman, um, who I just think is fantastic, and I think she would do like the comedy, but also the motherly stuff, and I just I really like her and I want to see her in more things. Um, if you don't know her, you should watch more movies because she's in literally all the movies. Um, I just recently was reminded that she's in Robin Hood Med and Tights as Latrine. I forgot about that, which has made me laugh really hard.

SPEAKER_03 54:12

Wait, I haven't watched Robin Hood Med and Tights in forever. They're like, yeah, she's latrine. It worked in blazing saddles. Like, it's so funny. I'm on the West Bank, I'm on the East Bank. So funny. We gotta do like a we gotta I almost said Mel Gibson. That's not it. Um Mel Brooks. Yeah. Mel Brooks. Ew.

SPEAKER_00 54:35

No, very different.

SPEAKER_03 54:36

We should do like a Mel Brooks night. Yes. Young Frankenstein. Uh I gotta look through some of those movies to pull people like that. Tracy Ellman's a great one. Who should also, she's Princess Bride? She's not who did Humpa Dink, Humpa Dink, Humpa Dink. That's not her, right?

SPEAKER_00 54:54

I don't think so. I don't think so either.

SPEAKER_03 54:56

But I just got a memory of I don't think that's Tracy Ellman. No, not her. No, it's not her. Can we just talk about her fucking hair? Like Hello. Garnier fructise. You could be a bull model.

SPEAKER_00 55:09

Jesus.

SPEAKER_03 55:10

That looks beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 55:11

Her that's the gray I want. I was gonna say this is how I want to age. Yeah. Like I I would love to look like that. Okay. This there's no fan art of him, which is fine because he sucks.

SPEAKER_03 55:31

Um just empty. Vance black hole, absolutely nothing.

SPEAKER_00 55:37

I was gonna leave the like empty canva frame. Like the cutout clouds, yeah. Um okay, Vance is a leader, a strategic, that's generous, leader within the resistance, known for coordinating efforts and guiding its direction. He is referred to as Father Vance, and he is in charge, while the mysterious female leader, definitely not Diem's mom, is away on a quest. He carries a controlled and calculating presence with a sharp gaze that reflects constant evaluation and intent. Vance is driven and unyielding, deeply committed to his cause. He is willing to make ruthless decisions, even when they come at a personal cost. So this man is not above poisoning children, bombing weaponries, armories, armories, armories, uh, killing all sorts of people. He a bad dude. We do not like him. No, we fuck it. We it was said we fuck him. We do not talk about it. We don't fuck him. You're fucking a fance of any kind. Vance sucks. Um, which is unfortunate because I cast somebody who's really attractive, but it's all right. We'll get over it. I also like what we both went white guy for the like evil douchebag.

SPEAKER_03 56:49

White guy with like questionable facial hair and an odd nose. Like what we went with. I'm obsessed. This is great. This is you go. Please go first. Please go first.

SPEAKER_00 57:02

This is I mean Nicolai? Nicolaj Nicola Castrowaldo. This is Jamie Lannister. I just think he looks like he could play a real good douchebag. Like, I think he he is a douchebag in Game of Thrones. He I think Vance has to be at least marginally attractive to like be as uh far in the cause as he is. Like he is a leader, he's gotta be at least reasonably charismatic and well-liked and trusted within that group, uh, but also just an absolute evil twat. I'm gonna put it this horrible way. Ready?

SPEAKER_03 57:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 57:40

Uh I might cut this out. We'll see. He's like Charlie Kirk, right? Had a bunch of followers and people followed him because he was young and hip and cool, and it didn't matter what he was really doing, you know what I mean? That's the vibe I got. Yeah. Which doesn't make any sense why I went with Christian Bale. But I went with Christian Bale. Christian Bale can also play a baddie. He can play a bad he just he's he's got this when he smiles, he's got kind of like a happy smile, but when he doesn't smile, he doesn't. And I think that that's what I fixated on when she first meets Vance. She describes him as like having like a Cheshire cat. She doesn't say Cheshire cat, but like a I forget the word, but it's like a smile, like a calculating smile. And I I just I don't know. Christian Bale.

SPEAKER_00 58:32

Maybe I implied this or she explicitly said it, but I feel like it's one of those smiles that authors always describe as not meeting the person's eyes.

SPEAKER_03 58:40

I think that's exactly what she says.

SPEAKER_00 58:42

And I think Christian Bale could do that. Like think of your psycho like level Christian Bale, I think is perfect. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:48

A smile that doesn't quite meet his eyes. I'm pretty sure that's exactly what it is.

SPEAKER_00 58:52

Yeah.

unknown 58:52

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 58:53

They just look like a psychopath.

SPEAKER_03 58:55

Okay. Again, same font. I love it.

SPEAKER_00 58:58

I we don't have any duplicates, but we're definitely in the right vibe. Yes. Yep. Okay, we're almost done. We have two more left. I flipped them because I really felt like Luther had to be the last one.

SPEAKER_03 59:07

He's gotta be the last one. We gotta build up the anti patient. Patient.

SPEAKER_00 59:13

Rockefeller.

SPEAKER_03 59:15

Tinkery. Who's apparently Luke Bryan right now?

SPEAKER_00 59:21

Yeah, uh Luke Evans.

SPEAKER_03 59:23

Luke Evans. Not Luke Bryan. I don't know who's who Luke Evans.

SPEAKER_00 59:27

No, Luke Evans. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 59:28

Yeah, okay. Great. Okay. Lillian Corbois.

SPEAKER_00 59:33

Um we do say the French way, but we're not saying Henri the French way.

SPEAKER_03 59:39

And that's why I got so confused because then I was like, maybe it I I say Henry when I'm reading it in my head, but it is spelled as Henri. It's a few. And then you then we're getting Luther and Lillian and Corbois and Terran and Amon and all these names. I don't know, whatever. Okay. Lillian Courbois. Lily is Luther's younger sister, raised within the same powerful lineage, but shaped by her own perspective. She has brunette hair and striking midnight blue eyes with a composed and observant presence. Lily is perceptive, self-possessed, and quietly strong. She often reveals more than she says, watching carefully and choosing her moments. Okay. Yeah. Huh? I really like I really like her as her character. I think she's just she's not naive in any way. She's not childish in any way.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:35

She's pure. I love the reveals of how much more she knows than Luther thinks she knows slowly throughout the books. I think those are really delightful.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:45

Yeah. Yep. Yep. I like her a lot.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:48

Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:50

Mm-hmm. Oh my god. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:53

I do not know who Godfrey.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:58

I don't know. Who is your personal? Tell me who this is.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:01

This is Kate Godfrey. She's from the show I was obsessed with. Paradise. She plays the um there's a character named Sinatra. She goes by Sinatra. She is the one who has created this whole thing that is paradise. Um she is the daughter, and she's treated very naively, and she's basically someone who saves the day towards the end of the second season. She's got these beautiful blue eyes. Like she just I she gave all things Lily. So I was like, perfect. And she's like, I think she's 14-ish. Wow. So she's of the right age. Um. So I went with her. But uh you fucking nailed it.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:48

I have Mackenzie Foy, who is obviously most notably the baby from Twilight. Renesse May. Renesse May. Um, she's apparently like a fully formed human now, which is nice for her. I have no idea how old she is, um, but I just think she's really uh striking looking and looks a lot. I don't ha cannot speak to her acting ability at all, but looks-wise, I think she's perfect.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:11

She's in her early 20s because people want her as violet soaring games. Oh, okay, sure. I can see that. Yeah. Sure. I like her. I really like her because she can play she definitely can play younger.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:24

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:25

And and would be a really good pair with your teller, too. Teller. I think that'd be really cute. Yeah, and I think age-wise they seem to be slightly similar. He might be a little bit younger than her, but that would work because descending.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:38

So yeah, or she's descended.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:39

So yeah. I like it. They also look very similar. It's like we do.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:43

We're very much in the same font here.

unknown 1:02:45

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:46

It's like we've done this a million times.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:49

Okay, girl.

unknown 1:02:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:51

It's all you, boo. Luther Corbois. Oh my god. This is Luther Corbois. God damn it. I'm gonna go into psychosis over this character.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:02

Luther Courbois is what?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:04

No, he's the best. He's the best. How are we? Anyways, go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:10

Um, I feel like I nailed it. Okay. Luther Courbois is a prince of Luminos and a commanding military leader, raised to rule and trained to lead from an early age. He is striking with raven black hair, blue-gray eyes, olive-toned skin, and a jagged scar that runs from his collarbone up to his throat, up across his throat, and up his face, I think, actually. He's controlled, authoritative, and intensely driven. Beneath his disciplined exterior lies a sharp strategic mind and a complex, guarded sense of loyalty. He's the best. He's fucking hot. He's an incredible book boyfriend. I have to preface my pick. Okay. May I have the floor? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:49

Please have the floor.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:50

Okay. I love my actor. He is not, he does not have black hair. He is, in fact, blonde. I don't even know what color his eyes are offhand. But I I picked him because there's a scene in book dose where they're trying to teach DM how to use her magic, like in the dungeon, and she like explodes in magic, and he like bursts out laughing. And she talks about finally seeing the joy from beyond this like super rigid exterior. And reading that, I was immediately like, I know exactly who that is, of somebody who can be intimidating, intense, rigid, scary. And we've proven this because we all know who this person is when you see him, but is also like gleeful and joyful. And I feel like I could.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:34

I quite literally could not even I'm so excited. Oh my god. Okay, okay, okay. I have to explain mine later. So after I show you, I'm gonna explain my journey again. Ready?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:45

Ready, said go.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:46

Go.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:50

He's perfect. If you don't like it, I don't want to hear it. I think he's perfect.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:59

I don't know how to I don't know. He's my Taryn.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:06

What? No, no, no, no, no, no. No, he's Luther. Terran is too silly all the time. We need like Ilya Ilya to Connor is the like Luther as Prince and then Luther as Diem's boyfriend.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:23

What am I gonna do? I almost first of all I almost did Hudson as Luther. No shit. Would have been my first Hudson with him.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:34

Fucking thing we've ever done.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:37

Oh what if I I s I can Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:46

Yeah, but no. My brain has broken because he has been Darren in my head this whole time. No, he's perfect as Luther and I will die on. Well, he's perfect. He would be a good Luther. Let me hold on. Can we give him Hudson's hair? Can we can we put Hudson's hair over him?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:13

And just waists.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:15

Oh my god. Okay. Guys, we have Connor. We have Connor's story if we haven't said it. I have Charles Melton, and we're gonna just get to him in a second. But Emily, you gotta walk me through this. I I don't not get it. I fully get it, but my brain broke because he is a totally different character that I was planning on casting.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:39

I cannot see him as Taryn, because also I don't think he's big enough physically to be Taryn. I think Taryn's like a giant. Yes, I can guess. Terran's always goofy, which would be a nice change of pace from Ilya. And obviously, Connor's story, as we know as a person from his press stuff, is goofy silly. Yes. But I just can you imagine Ilya, like stone-faced Russian military prince with a jeweled sword, like, and then cracking into the like video clip we all watch of him dancing to um that what whatever that song is, um, when you call my name, like a prayer. And just like going from Ilya to Connor in like one scene, and I just I am obsessed. I'm obsessed with it. I've never been more sure about anything I've ever said on this show. I uh what do I do? You have to get a different Terran.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:38

I can't. I'm doing it anyways. I God, I really should have stuck with Hudson.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:48

If you had done Hudson, this would have been the funniest thing that's ever.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:52

Yes, but I was like, he's not Hudson's not him, but could be like because I feel like Hudson as a real human is more him where he's just fierce, and I was like, get the fuck out of my way, like whatever.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:04

Because in in real life, their personalities are so swapped.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:08

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:09

Like, and I was thinking of real life Connor's story from like SNL doing all these characters, but you're not wrong. Like, he's got the face. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:24

We'll have to see what the fans decide. I look the fans decide. I can see him as I guess I can see him as Taryn. I just picture Taryn as like much broader and bulkier and like clunkier, even though I get like she talks about how he moves gracefully. Um, but I see him as a much bigger per like just physically bigger person.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:45

I and see him, I was seeing Taryn as Connor's story walking the Met Gala stairs in his polka spotted outfit.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:53

I mean, that was pretty hot.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:55

Yeah. So he's like hot and like bisexual, gay, uh, we question who cares.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:04

We don't out people. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:05

Yeah. And who cares? Like that's ambiguously uh but also to come around to the idea. I I I'm I'm f I've that not never that's but that didn't never cross. Not n not not once. Because I was stuck in Hudson Land. And I went from Hudson, I went from Hudson to some random dude from the show Love Story I've been watching, the Ryan Murphy show.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:43

And then I was like, I don't know who I don't he that doesn't feel right. He doesn't feel tall enough. Apparently, in real life, he's like 26. I was just kind of thinking of some big, big dude who's like got a mean mug and face and can also be so cute. And Charles Melton has this dimple that's pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:05

It's a pretty good cast, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:07

I could see him as Luther. I could. But Luther's also described as like white with black hair and blue eyes. And I was like, not in my world. Sorry. Like who cares?

SPEAKER_00 1:10:20

It's a fantasy book, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:22

Respectfully, like, white men aren't that hot, even though we're like both married to them.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:26

But like my husband, of course, in the same category hotness. 100.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:32

100. Yes. But so I yeah, I ended up going with Charles Melton after many, many switch back and forth. I am gonna show you the other dude. I'm gonna pull it up here right now. I just need you to see this man. Okay. Um this guy, his name is Nicholas Fernley. Sure. Okay, right here. Oh. He's kind of ripped, but I could see him as uh Hunt Athlar, too. I love Hunt Athlar. With a backwards hat situation, but I I don't know him. I've only seen him in the one thing, and he just was kind of like a minor character in it, and I was like, not strong enough for me. Like, gotta be someone cooler. Uh fuck man. What a way to end this.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:22

What a way to go out. With two out.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:26

We gotta let we're gonna have to let the fans decide, but like bold choice. Bold.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:33

You were correct. This, I will lose my shit. I will burst into tears. Don't maybe don't tell me. Maybe lie to me.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:43

We what are we gonna do? I don't know, I'm gonna lose it if I don't win. It's just a podcast. We're a fun, we're a fun podcast.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:00

This is not where this is competition.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:03

But uh, but then I can't choose him for mine either because then what if they what if he's not picked for yours and then he's picked for mine? You're gonna kill me. I'm gonna give it. Not the giggle, not the giggle after I said you're gonna kill me.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:28

I would never.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:29

Okay, guys. Um because my life depends on it, please vote for Connor's story as Luther Courbois. Or this is the last you'll ever hear of me.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:43

This is like you leave for the police. It's like, if I go missing, Emily murdered me.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:48

Emily did it, and it's Connor's story's fault. It is. You know what's so funny? I literally almost wore, I wore this today, but I almost changed into my Ilya heated rivalry jersey. That would have been amazing. God damn it. All the signs were there. I should have done it. I should have kept Hudson. I should have worn that shirt. It's like you were speaking to me in the ether.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:12

I was because we're connected.

unknown 1:13:14

We're connected.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:15

Okay, guys, we're gonna wrap this up. We're gonna be done. We're getting a little wild. Yeah. We're getting a little crazy because that was cuckoo nanas. Um, thank you guys for listening to another episode of Fantastic. We'll see you guys uh next week for Glow of the Everflame, which is a little bit of a chonker of a book, but we'll um we'll have a fun little book club recap style of it, and we get to meet a bunch of fun new characters, including someone I won't be guesting Connor Story as.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:46

So Loretta's best for the next two weeks figuring out her who her new Taryn Kor wa is. Now I gotta find someone else. I did actually think about an aemon. So I think I have one. No spoilers, but I do actually think I have one down for next week. Two weeks from now.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:02

I can't do a Hemsworth. He could play both, but I can't put him in here, or we're we're gonna have a crime on our hands. We can't have that.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:14

Don't take this funny and choke you. And not in a fun way. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:21

Just kidding. Um, that was called acting, everybody. Something I won't be doing in the foreseeable future. Oh, but don't do that. All right, guys. Uh we'll see you all later to all the new she's the he's, the days, the gays, the shadow daddies, and the fays. Goodbye.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:40

Bye, but I'm gonna go.