iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ellen Forget @ellenforget.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Abstracts are due this week! October 1. We take a broad view of "publishing" and are very interested in non-traditional forms of publishing and accessibility. Please get in touch if you have questions or want to float an idea before submitting an abstract.

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Birds can be very snuggly! I have a (much smaller) conure, and she loves to snuggle on her humans' faces and necks—especially my husband's, because he has a big beard. I was also surprised by this when I first started spending time with birds.

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I get that for finishing a game they've already started if they don't particularly like it, but why buy the sequel? Nobody forced them to buy the sequel!

Yes! This is exactly the same thing. If you don't like a thing, just... do/make something else?? Why is that hard. 😅

Correction, one week post-release. My Steam library said three weeks because I pre-ordered it three weeks ago!

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Anyway, all this to say, if you like grindy crafting games and weird farm sim type games, check out Graveyard Keeper and its recently released sequel. They're great! If you don't like those kinds of games, then go play a game you do like instead.

Post negative reviews on games in genres you like that don't live up to what they promised. That's fine! I'm not saying people should never post negative reviews. But don't tank reviews on games because you don't like the mechanics they use, especially if it matches what the game promised to be.

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If you love Dark Souls, don't post a negative review on Stardew Valley because there isn't enough action in it. If you love Resident Evil, don't post a negative review on Wytchwood because it's all fetch quests. You're tanking the reviews on games some people like because of those aspects.

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I'm a casual gamer. I prefer games with fetch quests and grindy crafting far more than games with a lot of fast-paced action. I see so many negative reviews on these games because they're "too grindy" or "not much action." Okay so these just aren't the games for you? That doesn't mean they're bad?

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I'm so confused why people would purchase the sequel to a game they didn't like? And they expect it to be wildly different from the first? I'm glad it's so similar to the first—that means I'll likely love it like I love the original.

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Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 28/09/2026

A sequel to one of my favourite games was recently released. I already bought it, but I decided to check the reviews 3 weeks post-release. Overall very positive, but some negative reviews start with "I didn't like the first game, and I'm disappointed that the sequel isn't better/different." WHY.

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Reposted by Ellen Forget

Thanks to y’all’s help & some more research, my list of video games that include printing presses is growing I think I’ve found a student who wants to work on this project with me, so any other suggestions—particularly from the 80s & 90s—would be most welcome I can’t find an existing list anywhere

Sid Meier's Colonization (1994)
* Anno 1404 (2009)
* Deus Ex Human Revolution (2011)
* Dishonored (2012)
* Assassin’s Creed 3 (2012)
* Anno Online (2013)
* Bioshock Infinite (2013)
* Assassin's Creed Syndicate (2015)
* Fallout 4 (2015)
* Civilization 6 (2016)
* Graveyard Keeper (2018)
* Anno 1800, Empire of Skies DLC (game 2019, DLC 2022)
* Hitman 3 (2021)
* Pentiment (2022)
* Baldur’s Gate 3 (2023)
* Esoteric Ebb (2026)
* The Sinking City 2 (forthcoming)
* Stop the Press! (forthcoming)

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Thanks, Amanda! I'm glad you had a good experience with JEP. I was so happy they approved me doing braille transcriptions of every article in our special issue about accessibility. I'm so excited to work on this!

I'd love to have submissions about poetry, choose-your-own-ending narratives, comics, and non-codex publishing forms.

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Michael Iantorno☔️🕹️ @michaeliantorno.com · 28/08/2026

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Reposted by Ellen Forget

I'm happy to share a new 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 for an edited collection on game preservation in Canada, with co-editors @jeanketterling.bsky.social and @videogamehistorian.bsky.social. We welcome essays, material studies, and interviews. Full details at the link below - please share widely!

gamepreservation.ca

Call For Papers – GamePreservation.ca

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Anna Holmes @annabookwriter.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Perhaps consider a faculty of information? I did my PhD in an iSchool, and they're very interdisciplinary. With the right supervisor in an iSchool, video game narratology could be a great fit.

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Reposted by Ellen Forget

That said, the fact that there is so much interest makes me feel like I should mention them at least a little. This thread in no way can stand in place of working with a sensitivity consultant with lived experience! Here is a brief, nonexhaustive list of harmful disability tropes in fiction.

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Amanda Wyatt! Visconti @literaturegeek.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I go into detail (when do I not, in documentation??) on the most financially accessible ways to access or buy a printing press, in my free peer-reviewed zine (that's pending journal publication). Until that's out: 👍 on the Provisional Press (& my particular press needs are maybe not typical ones): +

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Ellen Forget @ellenforget.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

A short wishlist for this CFP. Also very interested in comics, games, audiobooks, and more! Really hoping for a submission on accessibility for fixed layout illustrated ePubs and poetry ebooks. bsky.app/profile/elle...

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Reposted by Ellen Forget

Just over one week until the October 1 due date for abstracts for this CFP on Accessibility in Digital Publishing! Please submit if you work in this space, and please share. Click the quoted post for a short wishlist I put together for this issue.

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Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear this. Does she need surgery? I hope she recovers quickly!

If they remove the recording capabilities—video and sound—they could still be used as real-time accessibility aids for folks with visual impairments, but not be a privacy and safety risk. I see the accessibility use for these, but as they are, they are dangerous and harmful.

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A big thanks to everyone who came out to my talk about my braille character recognition model at the @transkribus.bsky.social conference in Passau today! (And thanks to @melissaterras.bsky.social for the photo!)

Ellen presenting in a lecture hall. The slide above them reads Training Braille Character Recognition Using Transkribus.

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All good to share it! Just ask that you don't share it elsewhere until it's published in the spring. DM me your email address and I'll send it tonight!

Thank you! The model isn't open access yet—I'm working on improving it still. I have a chapter about it that's in production. I can check with the editors if I can share that with you now. They're here, so I will have an answer for you soon! Happy to Zoom in or provide other info if helpful.

Ooh amazing! That would be great. Would you do the narration yourself? Interested to see what their guidelines are.

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Congratulations! Best of luck on this project, and I look forward to reading what comes out of it.

I love the shadow text type that you have! This looks great.

Thank you! I did the best I could. Trying not to think about it now until February when they announce the results. (Obviously having mixed success with that plan.)

I'm hoping that this fellowship will bring me to University of Edinburgh, so I have a 7% chance of being able to chat with you about this in person next year! 🤞

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It also doesn't take into account that my proposed supervisor spent significant time reading several drafts, as did the 10+ other people we got to read and provide feedback. It's a lot of time for a lot of people.

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I spent three months writing and revising mine. Not full-time, I was doing other things also, but this application was my highest priority and I spent a significant amount of that time reading, writing, revising, and thinking for it. Definitely more than equivalent of 2.5 full-time weeks.

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It's on my to-read list! So excited to get to it. Is it permanently open access, or only for a short while?

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Wishing you the best for these results today! I will think positively for you, and I'm sure many others here are doing the same. It's valid to be worried. We'll put positive energy into the universe for you.