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Spookshop (Aja Romano)

@bookshop.bsky.social

3.6K followers 740 following 2.7K posts

Longtime culture writer, full-time fan. Member, WGAE, ATCA. They/them or she/her, etc. http://ajaromano.com - I am NOT @bookshop.org lol.

ajaromano.com

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Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · Sep 13

Omg i have video, FINALLY! that means you all get to enjoy my hyperfixation (that will apparently take like an hour to upload but idc we're doing this), what else

Wang Yibo, Like the Sunshine (1/5)

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Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 1d

INDEED

Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 2d

okay what is your Tumblr so I can lurk, er, follow you there plz

Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 2d

I have yet to figure out how to have these conversations without sounding like I have a manifesto in my backpack, sob

Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 3d

When I saw First Reformed in the theatre it very much read as intended, i.e. as a spiraling descent into extremism, but these days I'm more and more just like, on second thought, wrapping yourself in barbed wire and turning into the unabomber seems like a perfectly reasonable response to all of this

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Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 3d

academic research (e.g. Alice Marwick) into social media dynamics suggests that many people really, *really* get off on one-upmanship online, and hope-expressers are an easy target. I'm not sure it's more complicated than that.

unfortunately that's also difficult to put a stop to.

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Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 3d

I stopped by ICYMI @slate.com to talk about Theo Von and the ins and outs of podcast bros! www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSWS...

Podcaster Theo Von Is A Manosphere Mystery | ICYMI Podcast

YouTube video by Slate

www.youtube.com

Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 3d

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 3d

I texted a maga family member the other day that I think this regime is probably just going to kill me, because at this point it really seems like the most likely outcome.

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Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 4d

flabbergasted @ all of this

Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 4d

yes! just trying to bump them up the list because i'm excited haha

Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 4d

this is also how I felt about both the Castle of Otranto and The Monk, fwiw, in case you are thinking ahead to your next gothic read!

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Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 4d

RIGHT this book is so great you're making me want to reread

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Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 4d

A ghost, you say? A ghost, maybe — she [lyrics swallowed by the sound of screaming fans; Marius arches sexily back against the table]

Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 4d

"Ricky Martin plays Marius in Les Miserables"

my life positively passed before my eyes

My first (and so far only) time seeing Les Miz on Broadway, and I had seen Ricky Martin play Marius

as part of perhaps the worst cast in the show's history

The End

Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 4d

fast forward a few years. My teenage half-sister came for a visit, bringing with her all her teen fangirl energy. Her heartthrob du jour? He had his own People magazine spread, and as she pulled it out and thumbed through it, excitedly explaining his career, I saw a single photo, captioned:

Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 4d

a few weeks after I saw the show, the producers actually broke equity rules in order to FIRE THE WHOLE CAST. That is how bad the cast I saw was. www.upi.com/Archives/199...

Les Miz' firings stir Broadway dispute - UPI Archives

British producer Cameron Mackintosh's firing of a large part of the Broadway cast of 'Les Miserables' to revamp the show for its 10th anniversary hit a snag...

www.upi.com

Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 4d

—played Marius. I'd never heard of him and my program said he'd been a member as a child of some boy band I'd never heard of. adding to the surreality was that this dude was TERRIBLE, overwrought and hammy, but every time he did anything the fangirls in the audience went wild.

Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 4d

In 1996 I was in New York and I randomly decided I'd go see Les Miz one afternoon. I was horrified, mesmerized, and baffled by how bad it was. The cast was sluggish and frankly bad and the audience was walking out—except for, inexplicably, an orchestra section of screaming fangirls for the guy who—

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Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 4d

Dave did you know that for the complete symphonic recordings they cast as Jean valJean, not Colm Wilkinson, but country music singer Gary Morris, whose hits include "I Love the Waffle House" 🫠

Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 4d

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"

Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 4d

Subscribe to Katelyn, whose work this year has been so necessary and insightful and strong

Katelyn Boo-urns @katelynburns.com · 4d

It's been awhile since I've done a serious paid subscriber drive on here. I came into this year with 509 paid Patreon subscribers and set the ambitious goal of hitting 1000 by the end of this year. I'm a little behind pace on that now at 802. patreon.com/katelynburns

Katelyn Burns | Patreon

creating LGBTQ journalism

patreon.com

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Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 4d

I would lean into the 70s of it all and redo everything with deep royal colors, a rich emerald green or maybe a dark pink, but that's just me not being a designer

Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 4d

DOUB-le dac-TYLS for the WIN! 😁

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Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 4d

jin ling's uncle and jin ling's cousins defend jin ling's uncle from jin ling and his uncle 😂

Spookshop (Aja Romano) @bookshop.bsky.social · 5d

she is beautiful! and she seems right at home. <3