iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

i am right there with you haha. thank you! i'm so happy you enjoyed it!

Two things I did not get to shill in this piece: my favorite fic from 1998 which was called Pemberley, Inc. and featured Lizzy as a jazz lounge singer and Darcy as a billionaire CEO; my favorite current JAFF writer, Grace Gibson, who writes lively canon-based books! fansplaining.com/pride-and-pr...

fansplaining.com

Pride and Prejudice in the Jane Austen Fanfic Community

A 30-year-old moderating decision still defines the Austen fic fandom’s identity.

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 13h

I am SO happy I got to write about this, my earliest and longest fandom, and its odd online trajectory! Especially grateful to @fansplaining.bsky.social for publishing and FS subscribers for supporting this type of work! And to @elizabethminkel.bsky.social for letting me keep all the Austen quotes 🙏

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 13h

For Fansplaining I wrote about Jane Austen fic, aka JAFF, and how a moderating decision 30 years ago set the tone for an entire fan culture of genre-shaming and gatekeeping around content. Also don't forget Fansplaining is currently having a six-month sale with 50% off! Subscribe, read, and share!

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Just a shout-out to the staff of @weareravenous.com for being some of the classiest journalists around. <3

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

(okay just one more note: of all post-war horror genres the pure slasher is probably the genre that sticks closest to the "defeat the monster to restore the status quo" briefing, but it's also arguably the one where we find the most subversion of its own established status-quo-enforcing tropes.)

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

sorry to babble but this is one of my favorite topics haha. i could go on about horror and fear of the other but i'm sure you get it.

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

...embrace villainy and monstrosity. (be gay do crimes!) and often depictions of villainy and monstrosity are inherently queer-coded. and there are feminist and queer readings of many superficially misogynistic and queerphobic texts. the subtext of horror is often more important than the surface.

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

—classic "torch-bearing peasant" works of horror undercut their own narratives by holding a great deal of sympathy for the monster. this is also why horror is such a huge part of queer culture, because queerness has historically been villainized so often that queer people have learned to...

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

so obviously most classic Universal Monsters-esque horror is like this, yes, but beyond that surface it gets very complicated. nearly all modern horror fans recognize these themes as problematic othering, but also revealing these subconscious fears helps us overcome them; plus many—

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

you should be able to! I believe this should give you a discounted rate for the next six months after your current subscription ends, at whichever level you choose. 🙏

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

It's spooky season so i'm bringing back this post from when I ordered one vintage sepia-toned tarot deck, the author dead-ass slipped a bunch of FREAKY PUMPKIN HEADS into my deck, and i was so creeped out i bought a completely different vintage sepia-toned tarot deck in order to exorcise the first 😭

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

i don't think people are objecting so much to his doing different things with adaptations—that's one of his strengths to me. It's that horror is all about embracing otherness, deviance, and societal subversion by embracing monstrosity, so a director saying "how can we love a monster" misses the mark

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

At @fansplaining.bsky.social we're celebrating our six-month-versary by giving you 50% off for the next six months! We've also made all of @gavia.bsky.social's Lanterns recaps free to read, so once you've caught up on those, take a look at all of our other articles and sign up! Join us! 🎉

fansplaining.com

Celebrating Six Months of Fansplaining: The Publication!

In October, we’re marking the half a year since we launched with a special sale.

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

(I also think this is why he sticks so closely to adapting Stephen King, because King has actually mastered the art of doing dysfunctional loving family sagas that *are* also pure horror, and MF gets to amplify the lightness of those stories without losing too much darkness.)

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

(Every time I have made this argument in the past, I have been eviscerated for it, and also been personally roasted by Mike Flanagan in a Mike Flanagan project, lol, but I believe it continues to be true.)

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

My very longstanding opinion of MF is that he is not actually writing horror but rather using the aesthetics of horror for what he would rather write instead, which is dysfunctional but loving epic literary family sagas. This impulse always undermines his darkest projects bc he's *not doing horror.*

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

It is fall!! so I have been reading Fall Into You by @dylanthyme.bsky.social and it has been such a lovely time, full of the comfort of apples and the bittersweet nostalgia of going home and writing that feels like an old friend.

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Listen i don't know a jigglypuff from a powder puff but I learned so much from this piece! It's so clear these fans pour *so* much into these games, so of course Nintendo started DMCA-ing them because god forbid people increase the value of your brand by making cool stuff for it 💀

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

we have been mutuals for like a decade and fwiw I definitely consider you a part of *my* fannish community! 🫰🩵🩷💚

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

laughing bc I was so exasperated by this gormless bad fic take in *2010* that I wrote a low-key viral response to it (this one bookshop.livejournal.com/1044495.html) pointing out that many of the most elevated literary masterpieces operate exactly like many fics, and yet somehow we are still here. 💀

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

in case anyone is wondering how seriously Tennesseans are taking 9/25 Day, apparently the governor made it an official state day, this concert I'm at is at least 40% Dolly covers, and grown people who have likely never cosplayed in their lives are out here in Dolly wigs

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

i judge every single TV ranking list like this by whether ATLA is on it, cowards lol

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Avatar: The Last Airbender is better than like 70 of these sorry

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The stats on 2013 top ships is like someone walking over my grave 😅 just a long litany of every major LJ-era old-school slash pairing. What a trajectory we've since had.

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Reposted by Aja Romano

Elizabeth Minkel @elizabethminkel.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I was so delighted that @bookshop.bsky.social wanted to revive the Tropefest series with me! 💓 We started with the broad umbrella of "secret identities," touching on masks, identity porn, fairy tales, opera, superheroes, bodyswapping, romance, transness, RPF....and even more topics somehow lol.

fansplaining.com

Special Episode 40: Tropefest: Secret Identities

He’ll never know the real me hiding behind this mask…

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

This was such a fun conversation! This is maybe my all-time favorite trope in all its many forms. I wound up talking about everything from Death Note to The Shop Around the Corner to my favorite fairy tale! Drive-by mention of Wangxian and I do need to know whether you all think Lan Zhan would peek.

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

3LBE needs an infusion of pledges to make their goal! Help them continue pubbing weird and wonderful fiction from authors like Nisi Shawl, Premee Mohamed, Laird Barron, Cat Rambo, SO many more! 🙏

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

3LBE needs an infusion of pledges to make their goal! Help them continue pubbing weird and wonderful fiction from authors like Nisi Shawl, Premee Mohamed, Laird Barron, Cat Rambo, SO many more! 🙏

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Reposted by Aja Romano

Trollbreath Magazine @trollbreathmag.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Hey folks, 3LBE is still seeking support for their next year of work, and with only 12 days left they've barely passed 50%. Please consider giving them your love, your support, and most of all your cash so we can keep enjoying their uniquely delightful publication!

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

OH SHIT IS THIS MY YULETIDE NOMINATION

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

it IS except who is going to write the inevitable enemies-to-lovers rival polycule fic!

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I'm still thinking about Matthew elaborately scheming to use the ease of modern streaming access to inundate his child with Star Trek, only to have all his attempts fail and wind up streaming Liverpool matches instead 😂 fansplaining.com/fandom-the-n...

fansplaining.com

Fandom: The Next Generation

Maybe the 80th attempt to get your kids to like your show will be the one that sticks.

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Reposted by Aja Romano

Elizabeth Minkel @elizabethminkel.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

We've got a totally delightful essay from Matthew Razak up at @fansplaining.bsky.social that I have sent to multiple Trek parents with young kids. 🙂 Intergenerational fandom is fascinating—shared interests and/or shared inclinations—but you can't force it!!

fansplaining.com

Fandom: The Next Generation

Maybe the 80th attempt to get your kids to like your show will be the one that sticks.

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Reposted by Aja Romano

Elizabeth Minkel @elizabethminkel.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I love the pictures Matthew took for this but before we had those, I suggested leading with something like this and the caption "what 10-year-old wouldn't instantly love this???"

Screengrab of Q in red robes and a black hat...situation from Encounter at Farpoint

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Happy Birthday week, Star Trek fans! Please enjoy this wonderful @fansplaining.bsky.social essay from longtime Trekkie Matthew Razak on his hilarious, fraught attempts to get his son into Star Trek: fansplaining.com/fandom-the-n...

fansplaining.com

Fandom: The Next Generation

Maybe the 80th attempt to get your kids to like your show will be the one that sticks.

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Reposted by Aja Romano

TJ Alexander (they/them) @tjalexandernyc.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I'd like to talk to some Midwestern trans people for book research. If any trans folks from one of the dead center tornadoy states, esp trans men, are up for a quick dm exchange let me know

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

@muckrack.com how do we report bylines with multiple issues? i tried to report a writer who's verified by your team, but who's clearly stealing and automating articles and producing garbled nonsense. when i clicked the "multiple issues" option though nothing happened except a useless chat pop-up.

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

sorry for ranting, i'm just so endlessly tired of this convo, which keeps being circular even while JKR is donating more and more of her fortune towards the goal of eradicating trans people from public life and fostering trans genocide. This series is killing trans people. Erase it from your world.

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

If I can give this series up, you can and you should. Nobody else has any goddamn excuse to cling to it when millions of Harry Potter fans have wrenched ourselves away from this thing that we used to love and now refuse to have anything to do with BECAUSE we internalized the lessons of the series

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

And I find it so fucking infuriating for some dude like Peter Sagal to lecture people like me on the importance of this fucking series. You know who sat in an Applebees one afternoon in 2004 writing JKR a six-page letter (that she was hand-delivered) about their hopes for the series? NOT Peter Sagal

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

If you claim you love queer and trans people but you also just love Harry Potter soooo much? No you don't. You love your easy access to a vaguely liberal fantasy whose real-world harm doesn't reach you. Guess who doesn't have that luxury? The millions of trans people whose lives JKR is endangering.

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Aja Romano @bookshop.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

When you check HP out of the fucking library, firstly JKR still gets a cut bc the library had to license that book, but moreover, you perpetuate it. You perpetuate the "which house are you in?" quizzes, the muggle jokes, the "X for Voldemort" bumper stickers, the theme parks, the entire juggernaut.

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