iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Queer AND free - what more could you want? I'm so happy to be getting involved this year. Come hear me talk about dysphoria and horror in contemporary manga!

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Honestly shout out to Poland for making me feel like an old-timey traveller by still having compartments on the trains

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

When I was growing up we didn't always have loads of money for books, and a family friend who worked at a book shop would sometimes save these de-covered returns from the rubbish pile to give to me instead. Some of my most cherished reading as a child was from cover-less paperbacks.

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

a few days left to send in your abstract!

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Dr. Aurélie Petit 👩🏻‍💻✨ @aurelievpetit.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

✨🎀 NEW CFP: The Queer and Feminist Perspectives on Japanese Popular Cultures symposium (supported by the University of Tokyo, Media, Gender, and Sexualities Study Group) is coming back for its third edition!!!✨🎀 📩 Send us your abstract by August 15 at popculturesjapan@gmail.com✨ Share widely!

events.humanitix.com

Call for Papers: Queer and Feminist Perspectives on Japanese Popular Cultures Symposium 2026

A platform for critical discussions about gender and Japanese animation, fashion, video games, literature and digital cultures

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

(yes I've been massively in my head about writing for what feels like months and I finally feel unstuck and I'm very glad)

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

The cool thing about writing is that you can just... do it? You don't even need anyone's permission. Like every so often I remember that I can have an idea and just.. write about it? And even if it's bad I've still turned a thought into a thing that actually exists in the world. Pretty neat really.

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

CfP now open! Come join us at the University of Sheffield on the 29th and 30th October for the Sheffield Gothic conference, 'Dark Enchantments: Gothic Folklore and the Monstrous Fairy-Tale'. Pls send your abstract and bio to darkenchantmentsconference@gmail.com Deadline for submissions 31st July!

Sheffield Gothic Presents
Call for Papers Now Open!
What is it that keeps drawing us back into the deep roots of folklore? What drives us to
reinvent, recreate, and revive old folk tales and fairy-tales in the Gothic mode? What
insight can be gained from the ever-changing form of the fairy-tale monster?
We are happy to receive submissions about folklore, fairy-tales, and the Gothic in any
medium - literature, history, art, film, music, and beyond!
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
◦ Folklore and folk tales surrounding May-Day traditions.
◦ The telling of folklore through music, sound, and other oral traditions.
◦ Depictions of rituals, witchcraft, and human sacrifice.
◦ Monsters, motifs, and morals in fairy-tales.
◦ Class, community, and the Other in folk horror films.
◦ The friction between the past and the present in Gothic and folk horror.
◦ Gothic fairy-tale adaptations and/or recreations of fairy tale characters.
◦ Gothic folklore and fairy-tales from non-anglophone countries.
◦ The Gothic's use of folklore and folk figures, including vampires, were-wolves, mermaids, ghosts, and so forth

This conference is open to submissions from interested parties from any discipline and any level of study or career stage.

How to submit your paper
Please email a 300 word abstract, along with a 100-word biography, the title of your paper, your name and pronouns (optional), and university/institution affiliation (if any), to: darkenchantmentsconference@gmail.com.
The deadline for submissions is Friday 31st July 2026.

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Dr Sam Hirst @romgothsam.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

As it is Pride Month, I thought people might enjoy a list of the many queer themed talks that Romancing the Gothic has run over the years. Whether you want to explore trans rage in Polish cinema, explore the history of gay Gothic pulp, or lean about lesbian vampires, we've got it all! 1/

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

I had so much fun talking about Japanese b-horror, evil '80s salesmen and the terrifying concept of a public phone box at Horror Studies Now 2026. Very grateful to @horrorstudies.bsky.social for organising and to the many brilliant speakers redefining the ways we think and speak about horror.

A slide showing the title of my presentation: When a Salesman Calls: Confronting Consumption in Banmei Takahashi's Door.
It also features the promotional image from the film's digital remaster.

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

returning from beyond the Bluesky grave to share a picture of a pond full of secondhand paperbacks does feel quite on-brand for me

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

“books from the book pond ¥110 each”

A shallow pond full of dozens of second hand paperbacks

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

rare 'I went to a Quaker school' W for me

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

I just saw the new Final Destination movie and honestly it was ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

this 'Labour' government cannot make it any clearer at this point: they will only be happy when every aspect of our bodily autonomy - medical care, gender expression, disability status, reproductive ability, the right to live or die - is fully deferred to the authority of state.

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

Ok work, apparently I’m redhead coded?

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

So much of the discourse is focussed on the post-social, post-humanist futurist lure of AI, but for a lot of men I truly believe that their fanatical embrace of generative AI is largely just another indulgence of their puerile psychosexual fantasies of themselves as Lord of some medieval fiefdom.

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Alexis Nikole 🌻 @blackforager.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

“I asked ChatGPT-“ okay well I asked the big oak tree at the center of the woods and she said you’re a lazy dork

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Hector Diaz @iamhectordiaz.com · 08/05/2025

A Chicago Pope implies the existence of an MLA Pope and APA Pope

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

Feeling very excited (and only slightly trepidatious) about presenting a small slice of my PhD research for the first time tomorrow. It’s like letting a tiny little bit of my baby loose in the world.

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The Japan Times @japantimes.co.jp · 05/05/2025

The Taiwanese writer reflects on the importance of queer community, her ascent in Japan’s literary world and her ongoing battles against online harassment.

japantimes.co.jp

Li Kotomi: 'I refuse to choose death'

The Taiwanese writer reflects on the importance of queer community, her ascent in Japan’s literary world and her ongoing battles against online harassment.

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Kathryn Hemmann @kathrynthehuman.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

I just published a new horror fiction zine! Strange Tales and Modern Legends collects three stories inspired by demonic folklore from Japan. You can download a free digital copy from Itchio, and I've put paper copies on Etsy. 👹 digitalterrarium.itch.io/strange-tales 👹 www.etsy.com/listing/4299...

A photo of the interior pages of my short horror fiction zine Strange Tales and Modern Legends. The illustration was created by the artist Maxyvert.

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

Honestly? I’m extremely here for this (and not just because I’m currently writing something about Audition)

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Steven Perkins @stevenperkins.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

remember when LGB Alliance were asked in court what charitable works they do and they didn’t know

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

Very very much looking forward to this! It'll be so nice to (virtually) see some familiar faces presenting and hopefully even more familiar faces attending 😁

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

At this point, the British state is pursuing a policy of forced medical detransition and coerced social detransition for all trans people, regardless of age. Any discussion of what comes next for UK trans people which fails to acknowledge this is either naive or in bad faith, and will go nowhere

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

“after 25 years, I personally still cannot (will not) read or speak Japanese. This means that the language is Uniquely Wacky and Impenetrable. I’m very smart”

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Nate Bethea @inthesedeserts.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

ruining their own life with Islamophobia British bf / ruining their own life with transphobia British gf

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Simon Lamrock @simonlamrock.com · 19/04/2025

Thousands show solidarity at #TransRightsAreHumanRights Demo in Parliament Square.

Photo of thousands of people with placards and flags packing Parliament Square.

Thousands show solidarity at #TransRightsAreHumanRights Demo in Parliament Square.

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

transphobia is a disease and the British media machine is sick to its core

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

Men will literally try to re-invent Dejima instead of going to therapy

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

without downloading new pics, where are you at mentally?

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

Can't wait for this! I love Yuko Tsushima - her novella 光の領分 was one of the first pieces of literature I ever read entirely in Japanese, for a class that ultimately led me to my PhD topic. Such an outstanding writer and so formative for me personally. Everyone read more Tsushima!

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa (trans. Polly Barton) is my first 5 Star read this year. I inhaled it this morning with a cup of coffee. So subversive and still so deeply human, it almost reminded me of a 21stC Kono Taeko in places. The kind of story that makes me want to write about it right away.

The UK cover of Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa.

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Like with much policy, the UK gov’s approach to trans healthcare is based solely on milquetoast handwringing and deliberate, performative cruelty to appease the same small handful of ‘journalists’. Science or empirical evidence (or desire to make normal people’s lives better) doesn’t come into it.

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Johann Fleuri @jfleuri.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

Women’s march in Tokyo gathered 800 people 🌸　 #国際女性デー #戦争反対

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Once again recommending this book to any friends interested in Film Studies, Horror Studies or learning more about trans and Queer issues in general. It's an excellent and informative book that feels even more vital now than when I first shared it in December.

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

I'm so sorry but this man looks like if one of the Eagan waxworks came to life and escaped from the Perpetuity Wing

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Criminalising "illegal" protests, raw sewage pumping into the water with impunity... at this rate, the US is going to turn into the UK!

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

Some questionable scenes aside, diving into Oshimi's manga has taught me some really fun ways to insult people in Japanese that I don't really come across reading literature. A personal favourite so far has been パーマ野郎. It really tickled me and now I don't know how I ever spoke Japanese without it.

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

I took a module on audiovisual translation during my undergrad, and translating + subtitling a very short Spanish documentary in English was one of the most linguistically challenging but rewarding projects of my degree. I've had a real appreciation for clever and artful subtitling ever since.

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Over the past few days I blasted through all 9 volumes of ぼくは麻理のなか after picking up the first volume in a BookOff in Japan last year and I have... a lot of thoughts

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Matthew Cooper @mcooperk.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Bookish friends: If I can only make time to read 5 books from the longlist, which 5 should they be?

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