Ella Dawson
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brosandprose.bsky.social
Ella Dawson
@brosandprose.bsky.social
15K followers 1.2K following 6.9K posts
sex & culture critic. author of BUT HOW ARE YOU, REALLY. host of the REBEL EVER AFTER podcast about progressive romance novels. survivor. she/her.

https://linktr.ee/brosandprose
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brosandprose.bsky.social
Zoey got microchipped tonight, everyone say good job Zoey!!
A grumpy black cat hides under a chair at the vet
November 25, 2025 at 12:26 AM
brosandprose.bsky.social
What makes a romance novel "escapist" — a world totally removed from our current trash fire, or a story about people finding love and community within the trash fire?

Listen to my conversation with @marisakanter.bsky.social: open.spotify.com/episode/4aKi...
“To me, happily-ever-after means finding love and connection and community in a world that isn't always the easiest to exist in. Finding your people and choosing happiness in spite of the world being a trash fire.” - Marisa Kanter
November 24, 2025 at 3:34 PM
brosandprose.bsky.social
this is all I have ever wanted from life
Ella sits on her sofa with her Nintendo switch control in her lap next to her frumpy black cat Zoey
November 22, 2025 at 4:06 PM
brosandprose.bsky.social
So uhhh I went on a bit of a tear about marriage in the most recent episode of Rebel Ever After.

Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/episode/4aKi...
“I'm not telling anyone that they made a mistake getting married. But I do think Romance as a genre has a lot to answer for when it comes to uncritically presenting a marriage proposal, or a wedding, or a baby, as the ultimate and default happily-ever-after. Marriage is not accessible to everyone, it is not safe for everyone, and it is a legal contract that does not benefit everyone, particularly women.” - Ella Dawson
November 18, 2025 at 8:26 PM
brosandprose.bsky.social
This week on Rebel Ever After, @marisakanter.bsky.social and I dove into her "marriage of convenience for health insurance and housing" romance novel FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS.

Plus: What does "escapism" even mean?? And am I a marriage hater??

open.spotify.com/episode/4aKi...
“I sold this book in 2023 and finished drafting it early 2024. I did not expect to release it during Trump 2.0, which I think has really impacted the reception. My hope when I was writing this book was that we would be moving a little bit closer to a universal healthcare model. To see everything getting torn apart and taken away... it's really upsetting. People are going to die, and that's not being facetious or dramatic. It's deeply upsetting.” - Marisa Kanter
November 17, 2025 at 2:51 PM
brosandprose.bsky.social
I am so grateful to the authors who spoke with me about their books and what it's like to publish love stories that expand the happily-ever-after this year!! You can listen at rebeleverafterpod.com or wherever you get your podcasts ❤️
a text graphic of all the authors interviewed on the Rebel Ever After podcast, including: "Becca Grischow, Shelly Jay Shore, Rachel Runya Katz, Joanna Shupe, Olivia Dade, Eva Leigh, Allison Raskin, Chloe Angyal, Danica Nava, Keah Brown, Liana De la Rosa, Elizabeth Everett, Erin Baldwin, London Sperry, Jessica P. Pryde, Georgina Kiersten, Tara Tai, Katherine Morgan, Chip Pons, Celestine Martin ,Jenny L. Howe, Elissa Sussman, Leanne Schwartz, Myah Ariel, Amy Spalding, Joanna Lowell, Adriana Herrera, Alexandria Bellefleur, Julian Winters, TJ Alexander, Nellie Wilson, Mallory Marlowe, Nina Haines, Laura Piper Lee, Andie J. Christopher Harper St. George, Annabel Paulsen, Lydia Wang, Betty Cayouette"
November 10, 2025 at 5:16 PM
brosandprose.bsky.social
Today is the one year anniversary of launching my podcast, Rebel Ever After!

- 37 authors interviewed about writing progressive romance novels
- over 10,000 downloads
- 4.8 ⭐ rating on Apple Podcasts

Big thank you to everyone who has listened, subscribed and bought a book by one of my guests.
the logo for the Rebel Ever After podcast with Ella Dawson. It is an American-style tattoo sketch of a heart with an arrow through it, a drop of blood dripping from the arrowhead.
November 9, 2025 at 3:50 PM
brosandprose.bsky.social
she watches
Zoey, a black cat, peers up at the camera from under a bed beside a pair of red high heels
November 8, 2025 at 12:54 AM
brosandprose.bsky.social
I genuinely think this week's episode of Rebel Ever After is the best one yet. Rachel Runya Katz speaks to our broken book review culture on social media SO well.

Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/23Gb...
“I would like for everybody to stop moralizing their likes and dislikes. If we say a book has a conservative ethos, [fans] are like, ‘How dare you! I love this book!’ It’s the legacy of Your Fave Is Problematic — the way that when people were first starting to learn about social justice, it resulted in a lot of: ‘This thing is Bad, Evil, and if you like it, you're Bad, Evil. This thing is Good, and if you like it, you're Good.’ People apply that further: ‘I like this, therefore it must be morally good. If somebody says it's not morally good, then they think I'm morally bad. Now I need to fight to the death about how it's morally good.’ That's doing everybody a disservice, and it’s why it can be hard to talk in any specific terms about bad trends in romance.” - Rachel Runya Katz
November 6, 2025 at 1:57 PM
brosandprose.bsky.social
woke up to this email from my mom
Email subject: “i learned a new word” Body of email: “Copium is internet slang for a metaphorical, fictional narcotic that someone "consumes" to deal with feelings of sorrow, loss, or disappointment by relying on denial, false hope, or irrational self-justification”
November 6, 2025 at 12:58 PM
brosandprose.bsky.social
breaking news from @hellgatenyc.com
A photograph of the Hell Gate livestream showing a meme image of Andrew Cuomo with the words “Embarrassed” and “mandate of hell”
November 5, 2025 at 3:29 AM
brosandprose.bsky.social
never has a man been so incredibly wrong
a screenshot of a tweet by Bill Ackman that reads, "Supposedly an unprecedented 2.2 million turnout with 60% above 45 years old. I am going to be an optimist and say @andrewcuomo is going to get the win. If he fails to win, it’s because @CurtisSliwa cares more about himself than NYC. Let’s never forget that. If Andrew wins, he is going to be a great mayor. Why? Because he will owe nothing to the Democratic Party and he will be working only for his legacy. He can therefore do whatever is right for NYC for the long term without worrying about the political consequences. @realDonaldTrump is going to want to work with Cuomo to Make NY Great Again, MNYGA. Say: ManyGA I think the President and Cuomo respect each other which increases the chances they will work well together. We will know supposedly by 9:30pm. Say a prayer."
November 5, 2025 at 2:31 AM
brosandprose.bsky.social
A meme image of Felicity, the American girl doll, on a horse holding a lantern with the text “Dick Cheney is dead”
November 4, 2025 at 1:40 PM
brosandprose.bsky.social
I never know what to expect when I offer my guests an open floor to vent. This week Rachel Runya Katz had a brilliant hot take on why we should worry about the amount of big penises and condomless sex scenes in romance right now.

Listen now: open.spotify.com/episode/23Gb...
“The return to ‘Every man has a huge dick and nobody is using condoms’ is a really bad indication of our sexual politic right now. There has grown to be this common lip service in romance: ‘Oh, we've both been tested. It’s okay.’ This is not me saying [every book with condomless sex] is bad, but I read a lot of romance, and this is the mode experience. It’s a bad thing that as a whole, we’re in a politic that communicates that sex is not as good or meaningful if there is a condom being used. The fact that it's appearing in almost every book is revealing of a conservative politics soup we're in.” - Rachel Runya Katz
November 3, 2025 at 6:34 PM
brosandprose.bsky.social
This week on Rebel Ever After, my guest is Rachel Runya Katz, author of rom-traum-coms WHENEVER YOU'RE READY and THANK YOU FOR SHARING.

We talked about how @ifbookspod.bsky.social inspired her new best-selling podcaster romance ISN'T IT OBVIOUS?

Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/23Gb...
The book covers for Whenever You're Ready, Isn't It Obvious, and Thank You For Sharing, which are rom-coms written by Rachel Runya Katz
November 3, 2025 at 2:58 PM
brosandprose.bsky.social
Let’s talk about review culture and unconscious bias! On Rebel Ever After, authors tell me about the weirdly coded reviews their books get on GoodReads.

Thank you to the IT’S A LOT podcast for letting me rant about publishing and my mounting cynicism ❤️ Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/3IyN...
November 1, 2025 at 6:16 PM
brosandprose.bsky.social
we did it joe 🥲
a screenshot of a wobbly graph that shows the Rebel Ever After podcast has hit 10,000 all time downloads!
October 30, 2025 at 2:42 PM
brosandprose.bsky.social
she’s such a flirt (sound on)
October 28, 2025 at 8:45 PM
brosandprose.bsky.social
Voted early for @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social!! I’m so excited to watch Cuomo get curb stomped by New York City AGAIN. Believe survivors!!
A smiling selfie of Ella wearing a “Brooklyn votes early” sticker. She is wearing a Zohran Mamdani scarf in her hair.
October 26, 2025 at 5:01 PM
brosandprose.bsky.social
LITTLE HEARTBREAKS — Saudi Arabia is Buying The Sims: www.patreon.com/posts/141994...
My disproportionate emotional response to the end of The Sims as I know it is an example of the disenchantment that comes with growing up. It is also a little heartbreak onto which I can project the bigger heartbreaks: the dread I feel about my career, my panic about affording health insurance next year, the threat that the Supreme Court will overturn gay marriage, the death toll in Gaza, the terrifying ICE dragnet only a few miles away from me at 26 Federal Plaza. I am afraid of so much and grieving so much and my brain latches onto The Sims because it is easier, black-and-white, deeply personal and yet low-stakes for me personally.
October 25, 2025 at 7:43 PM
brosandprose.bsky.social
I'm publishing a long, free essay about my heartbreak over the sale of The Sims to Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. Subscribe for free to get it in your inbox tomorrow: patreon.com/brosandprose
a brunette woman in The Sims 4 smiles as she holds her infant baby
October 25, 2025 at 2:04 AM
brosandprose.bsky.social
Cuomo saying "nothing came from" the allegations against him
October 22, 2025 at 11:39 PM
brosandprose.bsky.social
I'm watching Jury Duty again and Ronald is such a baby angel, how did they find this guy??
October 18, 2025 at 3:27 AM
brosandprose.bsky.social
strongly recommend getting a cat. usually I have a depressive episode when I’m isolated for weeks at a time but Zoey has kept me together
A black cat with big yellow eyes looks up at the camera. She is sitting on a blue rug and has dragged several cat toys behind her.
October 18, 2025 at 3:04 AM
brosandprose.bsky.social
I am cat sitting for my neighbors, and their grumpiest girl has decided to tolerate my presence
A grumpy tabby cat with light green eyes stairs at the camera as she sits atop a bed in the sunshine
October 16, 2025 at 6:37 PM