E6: Mysterious Galaxy Summer Bingo Showdown – Part Two – Infinite TBR
As we mentioned in the show notes for episodes four and five, we made the rookie mistake of recording in front of an open because it was a beautiful day and who closes their windows on a beautiful day?
A: people recording podcasts, because that “gentle breeze” causes some weird vibrations.
(Sorry, everyone. Our bad.)
Spoiler Alerts
- Spoilers for Trouble the Saints appear from 13:05 to 18:50.
- Spoilers for Soul of the Sword appear from 34:20 to 38:15.
- Spoilers for A Song of Wraiths and Ruin appear from 54:50 to 56:10.
Book Tournament/Competition
To review our summer bingo reads, Gabi and Smack wrote down all the titles they read on little pieces of paper and put them in two separate piles. They swapped piles (so they’re pulling titles that the other person read) and then had to convince each other that the title they read was better than the title the other person read.
By the end of this episode Gabi has won six rounds and Smack has won five–the winner will be declared in episode six!
Books Discussed:
A few notes on Harriet Porber and the Bad Boy Parasaurolophus
Strap in, okay? Chuck Tingle is a satirist who self-publishes extremely topical books that poke fun at whoever’s most recently shown their ass in public (usually within the writing world, but many times in the real world as well).
Trans Wizard Harriet Porber etc. was released after J.K. Rowling came out as a TERF. (It stands for “trans-exclusionary radical feminist,” they’re the assholes who want to send transgender people back into the closet. [This is an oversimplification, but not by much.]) Chuck Tingle might be anti-TERF, but it’s important to support actual trans authors! There are SO many out there, so we’re going to link a few lists encompassing a few different criteria rather than listing specific authors. We strong urge you to take a look and pick a few titles!
Here are some lists you can trust:
- Trans SFF by Trans Authors – #ownvoices
- Enby/Trans – Spec Authors
- Novels By Trans Authors With Trans Protagonists
- Booklist for Trans TeensTrans Books by Trans Authors
- Transgender Memoirs and Biographies
Finally, there’s been lots of speculation on who Chuck Tingle is and whether they’re neurodivergent, because the way they interact with fans and followers certainly makes them sound like it. It’s worth mentioning that, as of the first few months of 2023, they “came out” as neurodivergent. They can communicate in what we consider a “normal” fashion, the same way I’m typing this note, but their offbeat pronouncements (“buds should ignore crab devils and keep trotting to prove love,” etc.) is closer to what it sounds like inside their head.
A few notes on I Really Am A Slag Shou! (我真的是渣受)
“Slag shou” is pronounced “slag show,” which Smack took to mean something completely different. (Porn, she thought it was porn.)
(To which Gabi replied “it’s not exactly…….NOT porn”)
Slag shou is a trope where the main character has a relationship at the beginning of the story with a guy who is just, for whatever reason, Bad News before ending up with their one true luv.
I Really Am A Slag Shou! is a foreign translated novel (FTN) of a male/male romance. There are lots of issues around women writers fetishizing gay romances. But the genre is also heavily denigrated because most readers and writers are women. This results in a twisty problem that isn’t restricted to FTN–as Smack pointed out, a lot of Western fanfiction also runs afoul of the same issues.
Novel updates for I Really Am A Slag Shou! (我真的是渣受) by 你的荣光 can be found here: https://www.novelupdates.com/series/i-really-am-a-slag-shou/ Additionally, you can find some further discourse on slash fics here: https://fanofacertainage.blog/2019/07/17/the-problem-with-bl/.
Other Books Mentioned:
FINAL SCORE
Gabi: 9 rounds
Smack: 13 rounds (As she said, “what? How did that happen?”)
Infinite TBR 