It's Trans Rights Readathon week! We encourage you to read books by and about trans folks frequently, but we decided to bump this episode up the release list to celebrate.

Depictions of alcohol use are frequent in romance, but drug use is rare, particularly in books that feature white characters exclusively. Is cannabis use black-coded? How can reading about characters with neo-pronouns help us be better allies in real life? Can I please get access to this tinder app for monsters???

Content warnings: Sex work, drug use, heights, prejudice (external and internalized), slut-shaming (not by MC's), drug use, safewording, autistic meltdown (intrusive thoughts, mention of self harm), mentions of parent death, monsterfucking, BDSM (especially bondage, domination, submission), dirty talk, breathplay/choking, begging, restraints, raw sex, sex toys/strap-on, fingering, spit play, wet and messy (paint), oral sex/cunnilingus, PIV, humiliation/degradation, teasing, daddy kink, threesome, partner sharing/voyeurism, crying during sex, flying sex, extra/special appendages, light slapping, anal play, bloodplay, intercrural/thigh job, collar, restraints, flying sex, magic during sex, extra/special appendages, spanking, exhibitionism, edging/orgasm denial

Tropes: workplace romance, rivals to lovers, accidental encounter, "f*ck the stress out"

Master Kim’s Corner:

Blog Post: The Rise of Gender-Inclusive Pronouns and Language in Literature - Maya Sungold on We Need Diverse Books.org

Find us on threads?

What's an "Alpha Male," and is Zaf one? Doesn't everyone who goes viral get called fat? Why aren't there more stories with mixed race couples where neither is white?

Content warnings: Car crash, death, mentioned/discussed death of close family members, grief, general anxiety disorder, panic attack, over developed gag reflex, and, as always, explicit sex

Tropes: Fake Dating

Who might feel represented? Fats/mid-size people, people in interracial relationships

Articles referenced:

https://www.rwa.org/Online/Romance_Genre/About_Romance_Genre.aspx

*this is an official Comcast HATE account*

Are vampires always white, and are shifters/werewolves usually people of color? Are vampires the ultimate colonizers? What is the omegaverse and is this book in it?

Content warnings: death of several people within the context of a war between different species (vampires, werewolves, and humans), several mentions of blood, kidnapping, mild violence, poisoning and attempted murder, attempted kidnapping/harming of a child (she is unharmed), death of a parent (off page in the past and off page in the present), explicit and graphic sexual content, knotting (the MMC’s apparatus is not quite human?), cursing and vulgar language

Tropes: arranged marriage, fated mates, vampires vs werewolves

Who might feel represented? Skinny people, people who hate their parents, sarcastic people, women in STEM

Articles referenced: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=EV8VCp-xCKcC&oi=fnd&pg=PA55&dq=vampires+and+werewolves&ots=HKt2_1nyi6&sig=LUimXy4IK4S2_QCqRhffiLFeFqo#v=onepage&q=vampires%20and%20werewolves&f=false

"Haters to lovers"

Our first episode with a guest: Welcome, Emily!

Why can't she be fat AND the most beautiful woman anyone has ever laid eyes on? How much do character descriptions matter? Is his only kink wanting to f%$# a fattie?1?

Content warnings: Abuse (emotional, financial), body shaming, murder (off-page), guns, explicit sex

Tropes: Marriage of Convenience, Fake Relationship, Morality Chain

Who might feel represented? Fats, people who feel they aren't good enough for their partner, strained familial relationships, strong sibling bonds, demisexuals

"So it's like a shake weight?!?"

Why are orcs hot? How does romance/smut give us room to explore new kinks in a safe manner? And finally, a statement: sex work is WORK!

Content warnings: Dominant/submissive role-play, sex work, primal play, light consensual/non consensual, chasing, wrestling, oral sex, anal sex, spanking, sleep deprivation, forced orgasm, use of toys for DP, restraints, paddling, biting.

Tropes: mating, self discovery post breakup

Who might feel represented? Fatties, people who want to explore kinks, people who think orcs are hot.

Is it ok for a white woman to write a story almost exclusively about Black people? How do authors show fatness besides just telling us the character is fat? There are straight men in therapy?!?!!

Content Warnings: Anxiety, Fatphobia, Strained Parental Relationships

Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Forced Proximity, Forbidden Romance, Reformed Playboy

Articles referenced:

Godin, M., Kishan, J., David, M., & Newhouse, L. (2006). “The Medium of Testimony: Testimony as Re-Presentation”. Working Paper Series. (37). 

Malek, A. (2018, November 2). “Does Lena Dunham know more about Syrian refugees than a Syrian writer?”. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/02/lena-dunham-syrian- refugees-hollywood

We're so excited to finally be launching the pod! In this episode, we give a brief explainer on who we are and what we'll be discussing this season.