‘You don't need dysphoria to be trans. You don't need a body at all.’  
 
When Detective Sean Hastings is asked to investigate the disappearance of Character, he enters the First Trans Commune in Sim World, a virtual reality  cult  community imagineered by transfluencer Kevin, and bankrolled by a mysterious tech company, VSI. 
 
 
Haunted by the death of his cis gayguy college bestie and their shared diasporic dilemmas, Taylor, VSI’s token QTPOC face, sees potential in Kevin’s ability to Release trauma into the virtual world. Meanwhile, Casey, Sean’s ex, hopes Releasing will cure their Long Plague. Then femme fatale Mitchelle reappears. And the plot twists.
A pulpy neo-noir romp through the anxiously assimilated transmasculine id,  Jaw Filler  asks: who is VSI, and what do they really want? Can you be your own dad? And if Character’s mind is trapped in Sim World, then where is his body? 
 
 
‘There’s something faintly Brazil about  Jaw Filler:  wilful and breakneck, self-aware yet never cynical, paranoiac but always coyly – unarguably – plausible. Calling it a pastiche would be stupid. To do so would overlook not only the ravenous delight  Jaw Filler  takes in the melange of its genre conventions, but also, more importantly, its surgical commitment to grounding a narrative in what I can only succinctly describe as genocide-reality. Murray & Markbreiter have achieved the extremely contemporary and impossible to falsify: true camp darkness.’ - Hesse K., author of  Disquiet Drive  
 
 
 'Jaw Filler  instantly joins the canon of outlier literature: jaw-dropper, more like.’ - Isabel Waidner, author of  Sterling Karat Gold  
 
 'Jaw Filler  strikes a rare and clever balance: it lampoons its genre while flawlessly exemplifying it. Filled with femme fatales, hard-boiled detectives, and corrupt corporate supervillains, Charlie and Maz have crafted an immersive, twisting neo-noir that surprises to the very last word. Hilarious as it is riveting,  Jaw Filler  exploits the most exciting themes of the classic crime thriller, like mistaken identity and lovers’ scorn, and applies them to contemporary queer life in a way that feels surprisingly natural and profound. It’s like  The Sluts  meets  Double Indemnity  but everyone is trans. I had an absolute blast.’ - Macy Rodman 
 
 
‘Maz Murray and Charlie Markbreiter’s  Jaw Filler  is a sharp, satirical neo-noir that blends pulp detective tropes with the surreal textures of online trans culture, skewering influencer economies, corporate DEI doublespeak, and queer assimilation while still capturing the raw ache of longing, shame, and desire. Weird, funny, and unsettling.’ - P. Eldridge, Worms World CIC 
 
 
'With  Jaw Filler, Charlie Markbreiter and Maz Murray offer a searing, noir-flavored lens into the world of terminally online guys and our insecurities, fantasies, and wild imaginations of ourselves and each other. I will be discussing this in therapy and billing Charlie and Maz for the expense.' - James Tom 
 
 
‘Against the fashion of autotheory and autofiction, Markbreiter and Murray prove how parody, genre fiction and a good plot have become more unnervingly suitable forms for cultural critique in trans literature. Whilst never letting dystopia stop a good joke, Jaw Filler ribs the unflattering and often narcissistic consequences of a liberal trans politics without losing sight of the more insidious infrastructures that propagate them, exemplifying post-identity trans literature in the disconcerting era of Big Tech.’ - Donna Marcus Duke, TISSUE
Charlie Markbreiter is the author of  Rapid Onset: Anti-Trans Culture and U.S. Imperial Decline  (Bloomsbury, 2027) and  Gossip Girl Fanfic Novella  (2022). He is a PhD candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center. 
Maz Murray is an artist who makes films, writing, performances and things. They had their first institutional solo show at Focal Point Gallery in 2024. He’s currently working on a collaborative performance, PLOT HOLE, developed while an awardee at Studio Voltaire. 
ISBN 978-3-945247-40-2
Year: 2025
Format: 117 × 180 mm
Binding: Softcover, Perfect Bound
Pages: 240
Price: £ 15.00
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
