Aja Romano

@bookshop.bsky.social

3898 Followers 845 Following

Longtime culture writer, formerly of Vox. Member, WGAE, ATCA. They/them or she/her. http://ajaromano.com - I am NOT @bookshop.org lol.

frame from Succession of Cousin Greg saying "We hear for you!"
The gorgeous teal-blue cover of Pasha the Storm by Lin Codega, featuring the title character, a woman with wavy gray hair, being buoyed on the surface of a turbulent sea by a swirl of sea dogs emerging from the waves and encircling her.
Snapshot of part of a Google doc reading: BRAINSTORMING TOPICS! * tropes! * AO3 trends~ and discourse as long as it’s actually additive (ie not just your thoughts on yaoi) * femslash and female characters * RPF, all the RPF * standom and bandom * global SFF fandom * Romancelandia * first-person pieces on elements of fandom that have influenced the writer in unique ways * Chinese media fandom, including wuxia, danmei, short videos/series, dangai, any individual fandoms, the Chinese entertainment industry and issues therein, all the things * old-school transformative fandoms and the history thereof * Thai BL and GL fandoms (and BL and GL generally but Thai BL and GL stand out bc they've been so important as an industry) * fandom and the publishing industry, especially anything exploring the complicated interplay between the two in recent years — thinking about the rise of romantasy, an increase in interest in m/m and f/f fiction, marketing drawing on fandom tag language, agents/editors looking for their next hit among AO3, promoting their authors as fanfic writers first, the rise of pull-to-publish and the rapid decrease in stigma around that practice, etc * fandom communities/practices in more global regions than just the US/UK, Korea, and Japan!
Naomi Wolf reacting "No! No!!" at a photo of a cute animatronic bear mascot wearing a mask and promoting vaccines
Paris handing Logan his balls, yes i do just have this sitting around on my laptop
my beloved Paris Geller and her Misandrist Sweater facing off against my beloved Jess Bradford and her Manos The Hands of Misandry Sweater, a personal attack on me, personally
Kaleidotrope Podcast show header. Art by Joy Yang.
What all of these pieces have in common is a form of “just asking questions.” On its face, “just asking questions” might seem like the fundamental role of a journalist. It often is — journalists may walk us through explorations of important issues by getting us to ask questions alongside them. But context is crucial; some questions might seem innocent, but what ends up happening is far more problematic and leads to undermining, derailing, or even distorting our understanding of the subject.
screenshot of the famous dril tweet, "'im not owned! im not owned!!', i continue to insist as i slowly shrink and transform into a corn cob."
screenshots of a MyDramaList watch list that keeps going...
Labubus on the Weibo Awards red carpet
Wang Yibo wth curly hair and a gorgeous black suit with a priest's collar, and a fetching antique Chanel brooch that costs more than my house, looking dapper and luxurious
screenshot of the r/nursing subreddit index page, with a large picture of Alex Pretti as the main sidebar image. The top post from today is a post asking if the sub can change the main image to Alex's picture to honor him. The other top posts are also all expressing outrage about Pretti's death.
emoji of a yellow featureless emoji-head with starry eyes and a rapt "yay!" expression. They have little blob hands posed in "yay!" fists
Dear [reps], As your constituent, I'm writing to express my opposition to HB1711, which mandates that all local law enforcement agencies in Tennessee must enter into 287(g) agreements with ICE. I wish to express my strong fear and worry that if local law enforcement are forced to cooperate with ICE, the result will be widespread fear, increased agitation and violence from ICE on our streets, and increased criminal acts, including the unconstitutional abduction and detention of US citizens without legal recourse or due process. I also want to stress that courts are already ruling that ICE's methodology is unconstitutional, and yet despite this ICE's power and lack of supervision only keeps increasing. It makes me feel genuinely deranged that here in the United States of America, we suddenly have a secret police force that has been arresting and unlawfully detaining hundreds of US citizens, has killed multiple people in their custody without any accountability or oversight, has shot multiple peaceful citizens in the streets (from previous link: "At least three people have been shot observing or documenting immigration raids, and five people have been shot while driving away from traffic stops or evading an enforcement action"), firebombed a six-month-old baby, and unlawfully entered homes — including shooting a man through the door of his own apartment — in order to (again, illegally!) arrest people. In addition to everything I've just mentioned, yesterday the AP reported that ICE has been instructed to act on authority to enter people's homes without any type of warrant. This is everything the constitutional clause against search and seizure was meant to protect us from, yet instead TN, vanguard of the 2A, wants to force local law enforcement to cooperate with these untrained, unsupervised, lawless thugs? It's terrifying. We should be working with every other state in the nation to abolish ICE, not further encourage domestic terrorism. Thank you, [Name]
Wang Yibo, standing in a comfy plain dark grey jeanswest sweater and blue jeans, looking at the camera. his hands are in his pockets with the thumbs tucked over the edge of his sweater. he has poodle hair and a relaxed expression. photo manip (to remove all the background ad copy and leave an empty white background) by @songminu.
screenshot of a news article reading "Under the proposal, AI and other machine-generated evidence offered at trial without an accompanying witness"
Screenshot of a Tumblr post reading: ICE is now calling bomb threats into food pantries they’ve been denied access to. So that’s where we’re at. Keep the pressure on. They were at my bus stop today. I am so scared for all of us. I feel like all the plans my partner and I have been making have just evaporated into thin air. How can you go on a trip with this? How can you build a family with this? The only thing we do with my family is go out to dinner, that’s off the table for idk forever? They want you to believe my city is a shithole and all I see is neighbors booked solid for the next three months to help kids that aren’t theirs get to school. Everyone collecting food for everyone - folks who can’t leave the house, folks who will lose SNAP because that man cut it off. Minneapolis is my adopted home but it’s so beautiful and my neighborhood is my favorite part of it. I know I’m panicking but I also feel like they’re just going to come kill us in the night. #american politics #minneapolis #federal assault on america
Screenshot of a bookmarks page on AO3, with only one bookmark shown, and that's because it's a bookmarked collection of someone's daily drabbles (very short fics) for 2019, with hundreds of descriptive tags gathered from all of the collected fics.
Tal ousting some foes (the traditional five of swords illustration from the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck, showing a red-haired person in a green tunic over a red shirt and breeches tucked into tan calf-length boots, holding two very long very big swords over one shoulder, another in their hand with the pointy end resting on the ground, looking smugly at the retreating backs of their vanquished foes as they walk away towards a large body of water with a vast sky streaked with grey cirrus clouds above)
screencap of cursed Gemini summary of an email thread now appearing at the top of the thread. The thread is for a job I applied for.
Naomi Wolf's iconic "No! No!!" tweet in response to learning that a fictional bear was promoting masking and vaccine safety. She is QT-ing a promo from the Stanley Bear account showing the stuffed bear wearing a mask and hospital volunteer uniform with his label "stan" written on it, standing outside of an NHS building.
A bar of music with a clef note, depicting a tritone sequence from tonic (middle C) to augmented fourth (F#) to dominant (G), all whole notes
Screenshot of an AO3 comment reading "Astoundingly sublime, time unraveled from my grasp like a fragile trail of smoke, inevitable in its escape, carrying with it the weight of memories, regrets, and moments I never realized were vanishing until the air was empty. and compelling plan inspired by your story I found an interesting angle after reading your tale let me know if you’d like to hear it on IG (f r e y a l y s a n d e r 1 2)"
Screenshot text reading "Interacting with Grok through replies on X is just one of several ways to use the AI chatbot. For example, the “Edit image” button still invokes Grok on every image displayed on X’s desktop website, and that same button can be accessed on the X app by long-pressing on any image."
Screenshot of text from a Daily Beast article: "Tensions between ownership and union journalists reached a boiling point in 2019, when John Block reportedly stormed into the newsroom and threatened to “burn the place down.” Several staffers believe the Blocks are shutting down the outlet as punishment after a federal appeals court upheld a November ruling finding that the Post-Gazette illegally declared an impasse in union negotiations to impose its own terms."
non-graphic screenshot from a video of the Minneapolis ICE shooting, showing Good's SUV with the tires turning to the right, the moment before the shooting.
Screencap of text from a magazine profile reading: War invaded Hanoi again in 1965. “When I was seven, the war escalated from the south of Vietnam to the north, with America bombing North Vietnam with its air force.” The advent of the American War shattered the world as Sơn knew it. Fearing for their safety, everyone in Hanoi evacuated to a neighboring village in the mountain areas. For the conservatory, relocation presented an additional challenge in terms of transporting instruments. “One can carry the violin on foot, and even the cello with some difficulty. But how about the piano?” Sơn remarked. There were four rivers separating Hanoi from the village 30 miles away, and no trains or cars could traverse the difficult terrain safely. “In the end, we tied all 60 upright and grand pianos to the back of buffalo carts and carried them all the way to the mountains.” They trudged along with the pianos under the violent beatings of sun and rain, jingling and tinkling with every bump on the road. As expected, everything was in pieces when the crowd arrived at the destination – the pianos were breaking apart, and the strings were unstrung and broken. “Half of the pianos had no sound. Not only had the strings snapped, but the mechanisms of the piano were also destroyed by rain.” To complicate matters, living space was limited in the village, so the pianos were left in the open and were often subject to the forces of nature. “There was no electricity in the mountains, so when the piano got wet, we had to wait till the sun shines to dry it out.” To make use of the infrequent spells of sunlight, they would take apart the insides of the piano and leave them out to dry, and assemble the parts afterward. “That’s how I come to know so much about the mechanisms of the piano now!”
Photo of Đặng Thái Sơn in 2019, playing a black grand piano on stage before an empty theater. He's wearing a casual black shirt and tan or gray pants and he's leaning away from the piano as he plays with emotion, his head thrown back.
grey kitten ripping through a layer of protective moving plastic that's wrapped around a kitchen barstool. She is fierce and her head is poking through the opening she has made with her mighty claws.
Zhang Jingyi sitting in a gorgeous large sumptuously designed room next to what looks like a wishing well, surrounded by huge, opulent, lit candelabras that create impeccable soft lighting for the scene.
screenshot of a slack exchange me (user name bookshop) texting yesterday at 8:01 pm Central: oh hey merry christmas :heart: EGT (username earlgreytea68) responding Today at 6:55 PM: earlgreytea68: hello!!! Merry Christmas!!!! you texted me on December 24, 9pm, eastern standard time lol (beneath this I have reacted with a trophy emoji) bookshop: well you know what that means from here on in we shoot without a script! earlgreytea68: and see if anything comes of it! bookshop: ’stead of our old shit! :weary:
Screencap from a court filing, reading: There’s a difference between a seasoned, good lawyer and somebody who uses AI to look like one. The Court reiterates that: [quoted paragraph] AI is a powerful tool, that when used prudently, provides immense benefits. When used carelessly, it produces frustratingly realistic legal fiction that takes inordinately longer to respond to than create. While one party can create a fake legal brief at the click of a button, the opposing party and court must parse through the case names, citations, and points of law to determine which parts, if any, are true. [end quote] Ferris, 778 F. Supp. 3d at 881 (emphasis added). This case presents a startling example of the harm unverified AI usage can cause. This Court has wasted significant time and efforts sorting through this Memorandum [65] which contains blatant misrepresentations.
Fu Xinbo staring soulfully as Luo Wenzhou in Justice in the Dark. I went to tumblr and he is making this face in every. single. scene btw.
Excerpt from a job description reading, "Note that we expect you to use AI to help write your scripts. *If you’re fundamentally opposed to AI then this position isn’t for you.* Also, if you think you can just dump a bunch of research into a chatbot and hand off the AI slop it generates, this position isn’t for you. AI is helpful, but it's not intelligent enough to write full scripts."
wang yibo, hair beautifully tousled, balancing delicately on the very edge of the frame of an overturned chair, wearing a burgundy dress shirt and pants, his left hand in his pocket and his right leg dangling in mid-air with balletic grace. He looks like a vision of poise and precision and divinity, and he is absolutely .05 seconds away from toppling off the chair and letting out a cackle and demolishing the entire moment like the gremlin he is.
blazing scarlet-pink wildfire sky at sunset, through some trees and a silhouetted house or two
A sample display of a very curly cutesy serif font with witchy sparkly flourishes here and there
screenshot of part of a job application for the company Givebutter. The excerpt is headlined "AI in the workplace" and reads, "Givebutter is an AI-powered workplace—we expect team members to use tools like ChatGPT, Granola, Claude, GitHub CoPilot and others to enhance their work. For this application and interview process, you are welcome (and encouraged!) to use AI to help shape your responses—for example, to brainstorm, reword, or proofread. We also expect that your contributions are ultimately thoughtful, human, and true to your own perspective." The paragraph has an asterisk next to it which means it's a required "question" on the application. The only option to answer given to the applicant is, "Yes, I confirm."
Pope crooning friends in (high?) places
Kate Beaton's "Dude Watchin' with the Brontes" featuring Anne Bronte getting increasingly outraged by her sisters' terrible taste in men
Snapshot of a portion of a quote from an Observer interview with Joyce Carol Oates. [Interviewer asks:] Did you expect to draw so much attention with your 2021 tweet deprecating the trend for “wan little husks of ‘autofiction’”? [Oates answers:] I don’t have strong opinions on autofiction; you could say almost every poet was writing autofiction. Twitter [now X] is very trivial and extremely ephemeral. The context was that I was reading novels of profound social significance as a juror for the Anisfield-Wolf Book awards [for books that contribute to the understanding of racism]. We gave our [2022] award to Percival Everett’s The Trees and I was thinking of the magnitude of some of the black writers we were reading. To set them beside autofiction ... I don’t want to condemn it by calling it “white” but there just seemed a painful contrast between the work Everett is doing and typical autofiction, which seems very narrow, takes almost no chances and says very little about the racial conflict that is so dramatic and terrifying in the US.
Wei Wuxian (Xiao Zhan) and Lan Zhan (Wang Yibo) fighting slash dancing together gracefully on a rooftop in their first meeting in The Untamed
Just Yibo, leaning on a chair with his other hand in his pocket, but somehow sassier than your fave. Also he's in all purple with a little pink Lacoste beanie and a giant wooly purple/pink/ochre scarf draped over his athleisure, making it all work.
Screenshot of the Epstein transcript linked below showing a message from an unknown sender, saying: "Our ticket to eternal life is worshipping a Jewish carpenter -- have to love it -- couldn't make this stuff up!!!"
insanely sexy poster for Netflix's new movie 10Dance, featuring Machida Keita and Takeuchi Ryoma holding each other close in a very sexy latin dance pose, clearly about to kiss. This movie is directed by Otomo Keishi, the guy who directed the action masterpieces that are the new Rurouni Kenshin films. I'm fine.
Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem (the muppet band) feat Zoot (in back with sunglasses and beatnik hat), Dr. Teeth on piano and vocals, Floyd on bass, Animal on drums, Janice on lead guitar, and Lips on sax.
Cloris Leachman leaning across the table to comfort smol traumatized Jeff Bridges, saying, "Never you mind, honey, never you mind," in the closing shot of the Last Picture Show.
version of the Kombucha girl meme showing kombucha lady making an "eww do not want" face at "Patti Lupone as Fantine" but then making an "hmm interested" face at "Lea Salonga as Eponine"
Wang Yibo at the Loewe show for PFW earlier today, beaming sheepishly at the interviewer and looking approximately 12 years old
A photo of a book display for copies of Rose in Chains by Julie Soto at a Barnes & Noble. The sign above the books has an anonymous quote that reads: "IYKYK (If You Know You Know) If I had a nickel for every time Dramione Fanfiction was republished as a fantasy novel, I'd have two nickels — which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice." The sign says it's from B&N Fullerton.
a typical Amazon comparison product grid with checkmarks for common features — except the "products" being compared are all JAFF novels (Jane Austen Fanfiction), and the "features" are TROPES. including things like "Darcy & Elizabeth live happily ever after," "Friends to lovers," "enemies to lovers," "Winter/Christmas," and "Wealthy Bennet." I may walk into the sun.
pretty grey kitten sitting next to pretty chestnut torbie adult cat, looking unimpressed
screencap of 3 different op-ed pieces in Newsweek, all eulogizing Charlie Kirk
Screenshot of text (from the Bitter Southerner newsletter) reading: "We can dislike much of what Kirk espoused politically and still mourn this murder. These two things can absolutely exist together. Also, with this latest political violence and yet another school shooting, it's completely normal to be feeling unsettled and anxious." The words "We can dislike much of what Kirk espoused politically and still mourn this murder. These two things can absolutely exist together" have been highlighted by me.