While diversity representation is slowly becoming more balanced in books, film and TV, the scales still tilt firmly towards a straight, white, cis-gendered, heterosexual and usually male default. This creates an expectation that all stories will default to this default setting which everyone to some degree ingests on a subconscious level. This week the dragons try an exercise whereby they deviate from the default and read fiction as though the standard is for a character to be 'queer' or non-cis gendered and non heterosexual, before exploring how shifting the default can enhance both reading experience and real worl perception. On the slab this week - The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch, Moby Dick - Hermann Melville, Dracula - Bram Stoker, The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins and many more.
Title Music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Ep 395: Weirdstones and Magic Keys - What makes a Children’s book a classic?
Ep 394: Divas Debutantes and Girls next door - the best and worst female main characters
Episode 393: Unlikely Rebels - the Moral Outlaw Trope
Episode 392: An Awful Lot of Walking - Mastering Pacing in Speculative Fiction
Episode 391: Lost in the Woods - Tracing the Origins of Hansel and Gretel
Episode 390: Let the Games Begin - Why the Competition Trope is so Popular in Speculative Fiction
Episode 389: Beautiful Misery - The Hunger for the Afflicted Woman in Fiction
Episode 388: A Conflagration of Authors - AI, Audiobooks and Infringement
Episode 387: Complicated Runes and Ineffable Power - Hard Versus Soft Magic Systems in Speculative Fiction
Episode 386: The Art of Not Fitting In - A collection of Not Like the Other Girls Trope Observations
Episode 385: Both is Good - Examining Bisexual Representation in Speculative Fiction
Episode 384: Appearances Can be Deceiving - The Hidden Power of Modern Fairytales
Episode 383: Gaslit Magic and Immortal Monsters Hunters - Incorporating Strong Historical Elements in UF
Episode 382: Part of Your World - Tracing the Origins of The Little Mermaid
Episode 381: Hard Times in Magic & Logic - Examining the Parameters of Hard Scifi and fantasy
Episode 380: Will He Escape those Dastardedly Clutches - Why Cliffhangers Are a Bad Idea
Episode 379: Exuding Menace 101 - How to Create Menacing Villains
Ep 378: Separated by a Common Language - Examining the Differences between UK and US Urban Fantasy
Episode 377: Bringing in Dessert - Serving Up Delicious Endings Against Desperate Odds
Episode 376: In that Time In that Place - the Monomyth and Other Storytelling Modes
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Lit Society: Books and Drama
Ex Libris
Write The Book: Conversations on Craft
The Story of Mankind
Anne of Green Gables
Fresh Air
Myths and Legends