Dr. Acafanmom

Beyond belonging: A conversation on inauthenticity, third-culture kids, and fandom. Lori Morimoto (University of Virginia, USA), Haerin Shin (Korea University, Republic of Korea), Sangita Shresthova (University of Southern California, USA)

Moving across personal narratives and scholarly reflection, this dialogue situates fandom as a contact zone shaped by asymmetrical power relations, affective attachments, and performative negotiations of identity.

Read the full article here: doi.org/10.1177/1367...
@acafanmom.bsky.social

are there any tech and/or culture journalists that are interested in the vtubing and virtual idol space that are located in LA? if so please dm or email me. would love to get in touch concerning an upcoming event.

I'm available for indexing academic volumes. Areas of specialization include fan studies, media studies, gender studies, visual culture, art history. DM if interested!

Please share if you know someone who may need their monograph or edited collection indexed!

New issue of Fandom | Cultures | Research ⬇️⬇️⬇️

#FanStudies

journals.uni-marburg.de/fcr

I feel the rage…

OH yeah.

Lately, my greatest delight is coming across unpopped bubble wrap and just sitting and popping it, bubble by bubble. Sums up my state of mind pretty well, tbh.

a poster that says protect trans kids with hearts around it Alt: a poster that says protect trans kids with hearts around it

I want trans kids. I want to live in a world absolutely brimming with happy, thriving, safe trans kids. I will fight for that world with everything I have. And I hope that I am helping to build it, playing some small role in manifesting the world where no one else has to live with this kind of fear.

The application deadline for the 2026 Japan-America Student Conference is in 10 days.

(I guess that means it will soon be 25 years since I attended the conference.)

I encourage anyone at a US college or university to check it out.

iscdc.org/jasc

OMG this

アメリカ歴史学会の年次総会に参加される方は、JPPのオペレーション・リーダー、ポーラ・R・カーティスとの面談をぜひご検討ください。🗓️ 期限まで残り三週間となりましたので、面談を希望される方は、2026年1月5日までにご連絡ください！

Ack, I should have spelled it out. Let's try this again...

The latest issue (52) of the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies @jjrs-nirc.bsky.social has been published! 🥳
nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/journal/6/is...

Read more about the individual articles below 👇

It was amazing. Front row.

Introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen.

Billy Joel (1987)
Leslie Cheung (1997)
Hotei Tomoyasu (2003)
(literally that's it)(ironically, all in Japan)

And of course when they are finally given the scriptures, they've been redacted.

My forthcoming book on K-pop fandom looks at how parasocial relationships in K-pop today can be viewed as asymmetrical relationships -- never entirely one-way, but in many cases, two-way, asymmetric-yet-mutual attachments 💞

Close-up of a hand-carved wooden Godzilla sculpture by Ushijima Takahiro, with an expressive, snarling face. The detailed carving features textured scales, sharp teeth, and deep-set eyes. The sculpture sits in a woodshop, with tools and materials visible in the background.

Slight tangent, but Godzilla’s roots connect to Ainu culture alongside Japan's nuclear history - something rarely mentioned. Composer Akira Ifukube, from Kushiro, spent lots of time around Ainu. Learned this when visiting Akan Ainu woodcarver Ushijima Takahiro who showed me a wood Godzilla he made.

This is such a great article by Eva Cheuk-Yin Li & Ka-Wei Pang about a specific incident in fandom in which discourse around AI deepfakes was weaponised by fans. Beyond the incident itself, it offers a thoughtful example of how to engage with fandom incidents with care and respect.

Aca-Alien-Colleagues

I’m putting together a Companion on the Alien Franchise and have some gaps on abstracts about Alien Earth (all angles welcome), Romulus, and the crossover/influence with the Predator franchise.

If of interest contact me at: baconetti@gmail.com

I feel like it's time to grow a backbone and have a little faith in myself. I'm really tired of debilitating self-doubt, especially when there's no reason for it.

Hannibal, Season 2.5-3.5

So if I haven't seemed very connected to Fan Studies lately, that's partly why.

Lost my research mojo during the height of COVID, and I'm still trying to get it back ... resulting in a kind of personally profound loss of my sense of self.

Right there with you.

The Routledge Handbook of Fan Video and Digital Authorship This cutting-edge collection explores the histories, aesthetics, and cultural work of fan video across a wide variety of manifestations and genres. Editors Louisa Ellen Stein and Samantha Close have a...

New book ⬇️⬇️⬇️

The Routledge Handbook of Fan Video and Digital Authorship

Edited By Louisa Ellen Stein, Samantha Close

#FanStudies

www.routledge.com/The-Routledg...

Please join us this Friday at 10am ET for a conversation between Rebecca Wanzo and @alfredmartin.bsky.social on his groundbreaking new book, Fandom For Us, By Us. Follow the link below to register!

Manga's First Century: How Creators and Fans Made Japanese Comics, 1905-1989|Paperback A comprehensive English-language history of a beloved medium, Manga’s First Century tells the story of the artists and fans who built a cultural juggernaut. Manga is the world’s most popul...

My book Manga's First Century: How Creators and Fans Made Japanese Comics, 1905-1989, comes out in October! And it's eligible for a 25% discount in Barnes & Noble's preorder sale.

The first printing paperback includes 12 pages of full color images!
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mangas-fir...

I'm really excited that a collection of fascinating work on fandom, fans and AI that @suzannerblack.bsky.social and I co-edited is out today in the new volume of @journal.transformativeworks.org - and as the journal's first 'New Currents' section! Read our editorial here doi.org/10.3983/twc....

Former SIG co-chair Rebecca Williams is quoted in a recent article in the Atlantic about Netflix, along with SIG member Abigail DeKosnik. We love when the pop press interviews scholars!

behold the bold and brave washington post opinion section (under new management), lol