Show Notes:

I am a freak and I am proud.

Why are so many fans hiding their AO3 bookmarks, running private accounts, and apologizing for what they love? In this episode of Pages & Prejudice, Stitch and Adrie Rose dig into the culture of shame, guilt, and fear that has taken over fandom spaces — and why it's making everyone miserable. Drawing on cultural anthropology, Ruth Benedict's guilt/shame/fear society framework, and years of firsthand fandom experience, they break down how anti-fandom, call-out culture, and the concept of "guilty pleasures" are pushing fans to hide, self-censor, and turn on each other.

Topics: fanfiction, AO3, guilty pleasures, anti-fandom, dark ships, slash fiction, fandom culture, kink shaming, fandom shame, fan works, pro-ship, fandom discourse, kirk/spock

Recommendations:

Fanfic:

• Alien Brothers by Helena Seabright

Podcasts:

• Searching for Soshern: The Forbidden Star Trek Fanfiction (Very Special Episodes)

Follow & Support:

Follow us on Instagram.

Send inquiries to [email protected].

Buy merch on Threadless or become a Patron to support the show!

Hosted by:

Adrie Rose (@adrierising on bsky, twitter, instagram, & tiktok)

Stitch (@stitch on bsky, @stitchmediamix on instagram)

Music: ⁠⁠HOLY MOLY⁠⁠ by Shane Ivers

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Show Notes:

Go forth and live your best trope!

Adrie and Stitch sit down with Maggie North, Canadian author and anesthesiologist, to discuss her latest novel Fossil Feud — an almost second-chance, contemporary romance set against the world of citizen science and paleontology. They talk about the science and history baked into the book, why romance deserves more credit as an intellectual pursuit, what it means to write a protagonist who weaponizes her own rules to avoid being hurt again, and how a discipline built on unearthing the past became the perfect metaphor for love, grief, and the people we're always becoming.

Fossil Feud comes out July 28, 2026!

Topics: Maggie North, Fossil Feud, second chance romance, STEM, paleontology, Bone Wars, women's anger, complex female characters, heteropessimism, arrival fallacy, Jurassic Park

Reading Recommendations:

Fiction:

• Fossil Feud by Maggie North
• Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell
• August Lane by Regina Black
• Will They or Won’t They by Ava Wilder
• Scot & Bothered by Alexandra Kiley
• Mistakenly Saving the Villain
• A World Without You

Non-Fiction:

• Losing Gus: The Cost of Commercial Dinosaur Actions by Kristi Curry Rogers
• Bittersweet by Susan Kane

Podcasts:

• The Bone Wars | History This Week
• Paleontological Frauds | Strange Animals
• The Great Himalayan Golmaal | The Rearview Podcast

Follow & Support:

Follow us on Instagram.

Send inquiries to [email protected].

Buy merch on Threadless to support the show!

Hosted by:

adrie rose (@adrierising on bsky, twitter, instagram, & tiktok)

Stitch (@stitch on bsky, @stitchmediamix on instagram)

Guests:

Maggie North writes deeply emotional, strangely hilarious romance novels about introverts, STEM, Canada, and other overlooked, underappreciated things you’d love to discover. A doctor by day, author by night, she lives in Ottawa, Canada with the man she met in ninth grade, their kid, and a rotating cast of hypoallergenic aquarium friends. Maggie enjoys being autistic a lot more since her diagnosis as an adult. Her books include RULES FOR SECOND CHANCES, THE RIPPLE EFFECT, and FOSSIL FEUD.

Music: ⁠⁠HOLY MOLY⁠⁠ by Shane Ivers

Now you can grab some show merch, or become a show patron, and support the hosts. Share the show with your friends, no matter where they listen to podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Show Notes:

Follow us on Instagram.

Send inquiries to [email protected].

Buy merch on Threadless or become a Patron to support the show!

Hosted by:

Adrie Rose (@adrierising on bsky, twitter, instagram, & tiktok)

Stitch (@stitch on bsky, @stitchmediamix on instagram)

Guests:

Another Bad Salad (@anotherbadsald on tiktok and youtube) aka the Bob’s Burger’s lady

It’s not a phase mom, this is who I am!

Adrie and guest Holly (anotherbadsalad) dig into the "manic pixie goth girl" — the pop culture archetype of the politically-charged, aesthetically-consumed goth girl in teen and animated media, and why her actual beliefs almost always get tossed aside in favor of her look. From Ally Sheedy's makeover in The Breakfast Club to Jane Lane vs. Daria, Marceline's emotional labor in Adventure Time, Debbie Hyman in American Dad, the Hex Girls, and the underrated Wendell & Wild — they trace how goth girls get fetishized, disposed, tied to trauma, and rarely allowed to just be. Plus: the racialization of goth aesthetics, the goth-to-supernatural pipeline, and why the Catholic Church is actually very goth.

Topics: goth girl trope, manic pixie dream girl, media criticism, animated media, fetishization, teen media, Daria, Danny Phantom, Teen Titans, American Dad, Wendell & Wild, fandom, representation, goth aesthetics

Reading Recommendations:

Fiction:

• The Vampire Kisses series by Ellen Schreiber
• Leech by Hiron Ennes

Television:

• Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
• MTV’s Downtown
• O’Grady

Film:

• The Craft
• Forbidden Fruits

Past Episodes:

• E45: Once You Go Alien
• E49: A Thin Line Between Love & Hate
• E54: Gay Twitches! Gay Twitches!

Music: ⁠⁠HOLY MOLY⁠⁠ by Shane Ivers

Now you can grab some show merch, or become a show patron, and support the hosts. Share the show with your friends, no matter where they listen to podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Show Notes:

Follow us on Instagram.

Send inquiries to [email protected].

Buy merch on Threadless or become a Patron to support the show!

Hosted by:

Adrie Rose (@adrierising on bsky, twitter, instagram, & tiktok)

Stitch (@stitch on bsky, @stitchmediamix on instagram)

Leave room for Jesus, but it’s a 20 year old virgin on tiktok.

Adrie and Stitch dig into how purity culture is making a comeback — not just from the religious right, but from within progressive fandom and online spaces — and why the result looks eerily similar from both ends of the political spectrum. They explore the "SVU-ification" of media, the rise of kink-shaming in fandom, why nuance is dead on the internet, and how algorithm-driven outrage is producing a generation that can't sit with discomfort — let alone articulate it. From discourse about problematic romance fiction and RPF, to the harassment of actors for being straight, to the hot takes on God of War's Begtse, this episode asks: are we actually protecting anyone, or are we just doing purity culture from the left?

Topics: purity culture, fandom discourse, kink-shaming, consent language, SVU, romance fiction, RPF, problematic faves, fanfic, AO3, Heated Rivalry, and more.

Reading Recommendations:

Fiction:

• The Planet of Kings series by Lee Savino and Tabitha Black
• The Alpha Horde series by Milana Jacks
• Cold Sweat by Vera Valentine
• basically anything by Loki Reynard
• Maneater
• Royal Reincarnation
• The Mating of Elves
• Holesome Romance 

Music: ⁠⁠HOLY MOLY⁠⁠ by Shane Ivers

Now you can grab some show merch, or become a show patron, and support the hosts. Share the show with your friends, no matter where they listen to podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Show Notes:

Follow us on Instagram.

Send inquiries to [email protected]. 

Buy merch on Threadless or become a Patron to support the show!

Hosted by:

Adrie Rose (@adrierising on bsky, twitter, instagram, & tiktok)

Stitch (@stitch on bsky, @stitchmediamix on instagram)

And what if I said erotica is a social good?

From ukiyo-e erotica and Tijuana Bibles to webtoons and Kickstarter comics, Stitch and Adrie trace the surprisingly rich history of graphic romance. They cover the rise and fall of 1950s romance comics, the Comics Code's self-inflicted wounds, the erasure of Black and queer stories, and how manga, indie publishers, and the internet finally gave readers the romantic and erotic comics they actually wanted.

Topics: romance comics history, Comics Code Authority, Fredric Wertham, manga and shojo, graphic novels, webtoons, queer comics, Jackie Ormes, Women in Refrigerators, Kickstarter adult comics

Reading Recommendations:

Fiction:

• IDW’s Weird Love Romance Comic Anthologies from 2014
• Break Protocols by Sarybomb
• Artificial Love by Maria Llovet
• The Mafia Nanny
• Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe
• Smut Peddler Presents: My Monster Boyfriend
• Sunstone by Stjepan Šejić 
• Starfighter by hamletmachine
• Lucifer’s Garden by hamletmachine
• Super Fun Sexy Times by Meredith McClaren
• Vampire Knight by Matsuri Hino
• Ouran High School Host Club by Bisco Hatori

Non-Fiction:

• Comic Book Women: Characters, Creators, and Culture in the Golden Age by Peyton Brunet and Blair Davis with an introduction by Trina Robbins
• Love on the Racks: A History of American Romance Comics by Michelle Nolan
• Sequential Crush
• Race and Romance from Love Between the Covers

Podcasts:

• Service95 Book Club hosted by Dua Lipa
• The Great Comic Book Scare | History This Week

Music: ⁠⁠HOLY MOLY⁠⁠ by Shane Ivers

Now you can grab some show merch, or become a show patron, and support the hosts. Share the show with your friends, no matter where they listen to podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Show Notes:

Follow us on Instagram.

Send inquiries to [email protected]. 

Buy merch on Threadless or become a Patron to support the show!

Hosted by:

Adrie Rose (@adrierising on bsky, twitter, instagram, & tiktok)

Stitch (@stitch on bsky, @stitchmediamix on instagram)

Guests:

Ella Dawson (@brosandprose on bsky and instagram) is an NYC-based sex and culture critic and the author of But How Are You, Really, a romance novel about college reunions and millennial angst. She is also the host of the Rebel Ever After podcast about progressive romance novels.

If I’m going to suffer at the hands of a man, I would at least like a little narrative consistency.

Hosts Adrie and Stitch explore the history of the romance hero — from bodice-ripping pirates to soft cinnamon rolls — and why the sociopath anti-hero is making a loud, alarming comeback. Then they sit down with Ella Dawson (Rebel Ever After podcast, But How Are You Really?) to talk about why readers are drawn to these narratives, what the rise of dark romance says about hetero pessimism and the modern dating landscape, the genre collapse between erotica and romance, and why asking "why do you like what you like?" shouldn't be a threat.

Topics: dark romance, alpha heroes, romance tropes, genre criticism, consent in fiction, BookTok, feminist theory

Reading Recommendations:

Fiction:

• The Songs of Submission series by CD Reiss
• The Right to Bear Arms by Vivienne Savage
• To Conquer a Highlander by Mary Wine
• The Fever series by Karen Marie Moning
• Devoured: The Serpent and the Pomegranate by Eunren and Gamjajeon
• One Night Only by seowoo
• Love is an Illusion: the Queen by Fargo
• Steel Under Silk by snob
• The Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas
• Pot Shot by Laura Piper Lee
• Willing Prey by Allie Oleander
• Back for Seconds by Betty Corello

Music: ⁠⁠HOLY MOLY⁠⁠ by Shane Ivers

Now you can grab some show merch, or become a show patron, and support the hosts. Share the show with your friends, no matter where they listen to podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Show Notes:

Follow us on Instagram.

Send inquiries to [email protected]. 

Buy merch on Threadless to support the show!

Hosted by:

Adrie Rose (@adrierising on bsky, twitter, instagram, & tiktok)

Stitch (@stitch on bsky, @stitchmediamix on instagram)

Unfortunately, romance wouldn’t sell as well if the FMCs blocked the MMC every time he was annoying.

Reading Recommendations:

Fiction:

• Sensual Stress Relief by Pochitaro
• The Villainess is being Pleasure Interrogated by a Steely Knight 
• Tell Me When You're Full! By pokerou
• I Got Isekai'd as a Succubus and Became the Familiar of a Super Sadistic Magician!
• Faeling by SE Wendel 
• Hunger in His Blood by Zoey Draven
• Omega’s Gambit by Flora Quincy
• The Georgina Kincaid series by Richelle Mead

Non-Fiction:

• The Great Big Anita Blake Reread: Approaching the Ardeur (An Explainer)

Music: ⁠⁠HOLY MOLY⁠⁠ by Shane Ivers

Now you can grab some show merch, or become a show patron, and support the hosts. Share the show with your friends, no matter where they listen to podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Show Notes:

Follow us on Instagram.

Send inquiries to [email protected]. 

Buy merch on Threadless to support the show!

Hosted by:

Adrie Rose (@adrierising on bsky, twitter, instagram, & tiktok)

Stitch (@stitch on bsky, @stitchmediamix on instagram)

The pandemic emotionally dysregulated me and all I got was this cozy romance novel.

Reading Recommendations:

Fiction:

• The Brown Sisters trilogy by Talia Hibbert
• Necking by Chris Salvatore
• After this episode was published, we learned that Sylvie Stray uses or used generative AI for several of her works. We do not support or endorse the use of any technology which promotes theft or degradation of the arts. These notes have been edited to remove the recommendation of her work.
• The Claws & Cubicle series by Kate Prior
• Adults’ Picture Book by Kei Itoi
• Hawk & March by Charlie Amen
• Bless by Yukino Sonoyama

Music: ⁠⁠HOLY MOLY⁠⁠ by Shane Ivers

Now you can grab some show merch, or become a show patron, and support the hosts. Share the show with your friends, no matter where they listen to podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Show Notes:

Follow us on Instagram.

Send inquiries to [email protected]. 

Hosted by:

Adrie Rose (@adrierising on bsky, twitter, instagram, & tiktok)

Stitch (@stitch on bsky, @stitchmediamix on instagram)

I accidentally made eye contact with Y/N and now HR is asking me to clean out my desk.

Reading Recommendations:

Fiction:

• Love and Deepspace (yes, the entire mobile game)

Non-Fiction:

•  Fanlore’s page on the Mary Sue

Music: ⁠⁠HOLY MOLY⁠⁠ by Shane Ivers

Now you can grab some show merch, or become a show patron, and support the hosts. Share the show with your friends, no matter where they listen to podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Show Notes:

Follow us on Instagram.

Send inquiries to [email protected]. 

Hosted by:

Adrie Rose (@adrierising on bsky, twitter, instagram, & tiktok)

Stitch (@stitch on bsky, @stitchmediamix on instagram)

Quit tellin' everyone I"m dead!

Reading Recommendations:

Fiction:

• The Highlander series by Karen Marie Moning
• The Love at Stake series by Kerrelyn Sparks
• The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger
• The Fallen Angels series by JR Ward
• The Argeneau Vampires series by Lynsay Sands
• The Psy/Changeling series by Nalini Singh
• The Guildhunters series by Nalini Singh
• Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews
• The Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon
• Sweet Valley High by Francine Pascal

Non-Fiction:

• Mass Market Romance is Still Important, Ya’ll by Jessica Pryde | Book Riot
• Print Book Sales Saw a Small Sales Increase in 2024 | Publisher’s Weekly
• Mass Market Paperbacks are Dead by Daniel Greene | Youtube
• How Mass-Market Paperbacks Rewrote Reading Culture by Retha Tep | History
• Don’t Call Them Trash by Sophie Gilbert | The Atlantic
• So Long to Cheap Books You Could Fit in Your Pockets by Elizabeth A. Harris | NYT

Music: ⁠⁠HOLY MOLY⁠⁠ by Shane Ivers

Now you can grab some show merch, or become a show patron, and support the hosts. Share the show with your friends, no matter where they listen to podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.