iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 2h

I reckon it’s the one that spawned multiple sequel ads.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 16h

Gods I hate when my town is in the news. Literally always awful.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 28/09/2026

Last War in Albion is about comics in much the same way The Wire is about policing. Which is to say it uses comics as a panopticon through which a far larger thing can be seen with clarity: the terrible birth of the 21st century.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 28/09/2026

I accidentally looked at the snail so am reposting this.

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nn @abigailnicole.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I’m really enjoying Neoreaction a Basilisk by @eruditorumpress.com, which is extremely funny when I was prepared to be just in despair, and also about this set of horrible people

Neoreaction a Basilisk
"Do you know that every time you turn another page, you not only get us closer to the monster at the end of this book, but you make a terrible mess?" Grover, The Monster at the End of This Book
Let us assume that we are fucked. The particular nature of our doom is up for any amount of debate, but the basic fact of it seems largely inevitable. My personal guess is that millennials will probably live long enough to see the second Great Depression, which will blur inexorably with the full brunt of climate change to lead to a massive human dieback, if not quite an outright extinction. But maybe it'll just be a rogue AI and a grey goo scenario. You never know.
There are several reactions we might have to this realization, and many of us have more than one. The largest class of these reactions are, if not uninteresting, at least relatively simple, falling under some category of self-delusion or cognitive dissonance. From the perspective of 2017 the eschaton appears to be in exactly the wrong place, such that were either going to just miss it or only
*shitoads of people dying" bits. And even if it is imminent, there is no reason to expect most of us to engage with it differently than any other terminal diaonosis. which is to say to minimize the amount of time we spend consciously dying.
1 There is, if nothing else, a good Bavesian reason to do so given Brandon Carter's Doomsday argument, which suggests that it is probable humanity is closer to its end than its beginning.
* A hypothetical apocalypse in which self-replicating nanomachines convert the enturety of the world into themselves. Compare to footnote 5.

Indeed, my polite authorial recommendation would be to do exactly that if you are capable, probably starting by simply not reading this.
Hmm. Well, no one to blame but yourself, I suppose. A second category, marginally more interesting, is what we might call "decelerationist" approaches. (The name is a back formation from the accelerationists, more about whom later.)

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 26/09/2026

Last War in Albion is very much a festival of ADHD, at once ludicrously hyperfocused and comically distractable. An inversion of the old Fitzgerald quote, it never lets itself be bored and trusts that it will thus never be boring. www.amazon.com/Last-War-Alb...

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Paul Duane 🥔 @paulduane.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

This terrific piece about Gillian Welch & David Rawlings' masterwork Time (The Revelator) by @eruditorumpress.com is well worth your attention: www.patreon.com/elizabethsan...

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 25/09/2026

New career goal: get condemned by name at the UN.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 24/09/2026

I've been promising an essay nobody was asking for, and I'm pleased to announce that Patrons now have nearly 10,000 words on Gillian Welch and David Rawling's classic album Time (The Revelator), just like they didn't especially want. www.patreon.com/elizabethsan...

patreon.com

The Revelation of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings | Elizabeth Sandifer and Penn

As promised, an essay absolutely nobody was asking for. This'll be Patreon exclusive at least to November—I'm thinking a Thanksgiving drop o

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 24/09/2026

If you're a big fan of epilogues, btw, this is the book for you. Good luck finding another one where the epilogue is nearly 30% of the whole book.

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nina splendorr 🌻🏳️‍⚧️ @splendorr.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I have received both volumes, and 30 pages into the first, I can only say that I’m positively vibrating with enjoyment! Already followed several tangents out of enflamed curiosity. THIS IS VERY GOOD WRITING

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 22/09/2026

Less obvious things covered in The Watchmen Bomb: *The life and career of Deborah Delano, a lesbian novelist from Northampton *The influence of Scientology on the magic of William S. Burroughs *A brief history of weird horniness in superhero comics *William Blake. So much William Blake.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 21/09/2026

This strikes where I roughly am in practice on Talarico. Probably, when push comes to shove, trans people who are voting should vote for him. But we shouldn't lift a finger to campaign for him, and should use our voices to highlight that he sucks, then quietly and invisibly pull the lever anyway.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 21/09/2026

Really depends on the game. It's neurologically impossible for me not to enjoy blasting through Mega Man 2, for instance. But last time I fired up Wind Waker... that was kinda rough if I'm being honest.

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Mz. April Daniels ⚧ @aprildaniels.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Elizabeth writes the hands-down-best long-form criticism being published today, and lucky for us, it's about total nerd dreck. You should absolutely buy this book immediately.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 21/09/2026

Pleased to say that Last War in Albion: The Watchmen Bomb is the #1 bestselling work of both comics criticism and sci-fi/fantasy criticism. Which just goes to show all my middle school bullies that they were completely correct about how big a dweebus I was. www.amazon.com/dp/B0HJF5CVK9/

amazon.com

Last War in Albion Volume 2: The Watchmen Bomb

Amazon.com: Last War in Albion Volume 2: The Watchmen Bomb eBook : Sandifer, Elizabeth: Kindle Store

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 21/09/2026

Gonna admit, I’d not clocked that Snuffy Smith would go public domain before the end of America a Prophecy.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 21/09/2026

I currently have the #1 and #6 best-selling comics criticism books on Amazon, which I'm pretty sure means I'm the most popular comics critic in existence and you all better watch out.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 20/09/2026

This probably explains something or other about me.

Box for Dr Seuss Fix-Up the ix-Up Puzzler for the Commodore 64.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 20/09/2026

Highlights of The Watchmen Bomb: * The real reason Alan Moore fell out with DC * A detailed analysis and critique of Alex Jones’s interpretation of the Watchmen movie * What Jack Parsons teaches us about Watchmen and the Cold War * Lots of snark about how bad Batman: The Killing Joke is.

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Gretchen Felker-Martin PRE ORDER CHIMERA 2.16.27 🍉 @scumbelievable.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I don't know Parker Molloy well, but I think the way people are treating her for the crime of getting upset is shamefully and transparently transmisogynistic.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 20/09/2026

Here’s my compromise position on trans sports: if it becomes an actual problem whereby trans athletes are crowding cis women off the podium, we can talk. But right now this is naked bigotry masquerading as a solution in search of a problem, and anyone pushing it can fuck off.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 20/09/2026

Literally been on the edge of my seat for a month waiting for this review to drop, and like the film, it's all you could have hoped for.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 19/09/2026

Put a couple old favorite straplines back in rotation at eruditorumpress.com, as well as four new ones, so if you want to go repeatedly refresh the site, have fun.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 19/09/2026

My take is that if it’s got a copyright holder it’s a reboot, and if it’s public domain it’s a retelling. “Boot” implies a clear property that has an official version. “Telling” implies folklore.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 19/09/2026

I've been joking that the current essay I'm working on is something absolutely nobody wants from me, but I'm lying. @bobproehl.bsky.social is gonna flip his shit when this drops on Patreon next week.

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Penn @penn-fp.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Congratulations to the entire furry community on your new fursonas. ✨

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 18/09/2026

As an authority on the matter and a saint, this is perfect and correct.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 18/09/2026

This is the best account of the rationalist sex cult aspect of things I’ve seen. I stand by thinking “the intellectual foundations of this entire panic are built on sand” is the more important headline, but this thread hammers home how absolutely shitty people they all are too.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 18/09/2026

I will also stress that Neoreaction a Basilisk is not in any way an op except inasmuch as the op was to write something interesting that people would want to read, and then use the money to move to Ithaca.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 18/09/2026

And of course, if you’re a try before you buy kinda person, the original drafts of all of this are free on the website. Chapter ten is my favorite, and Cuddled Little Vice is obviously the big hit, but if you want a chapter that’s both representative and firing on all cylinders, try this one.

eruditorumpress.com

Chapter Six: Hello From the Cracks (The Abyss Gazes Also)

The line, of course, belongs to Rorschach, the glamorous poison at the heart of Watchmen’s appeal. Moore is self-effacing about the character these days, joking that his popularity is down to the fact...

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Gareth Watkins @garethwatkins.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The writer of the absolute best book about the Rationalist milieu weighs in on the whole 'sex cult' thing that Bluesky dot com the home of Sports discovered in the past week. (Read Neoreaction, A Basilisk).

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 17/09/2026

Wake up babe, new Dennis the Menace phenomenon dropped.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 17/09/2026

I think focusing on the "sex cult" aspect of the rationalists, while understandable for attention-grabbing, puts the emphasis in the wrong places. Sure, yes, the rats have sex, and because they're a fucked up abusive cult, some of that is fucked up abusive culty sex, but that's not the focus.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 17/09/2026

Actually, this is a point I don’t think I ever make clear enough. Last War in Albion is written for a general audience. You don’t have to have read the comics. Maybe read Watchmen, but that’s it. Also, v2 is a fine starting point. V1 is great, but you can jump on here.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 16/09/2026

Be a legitimately hilarious time for another ship to run aground in the Suez.

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Josh Zingher @zingherpolisci.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

"what are you going to do about power when there is no wind or the sun isn't shining?" i smartly declare, confident in the fact that a fossil fuels are not dependent on a complex and fragile web of global logistical connections.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 16/09/2026

Volume 2 of Last War in Albion is now available in print. The story of how Watchmen set off a magical war for the soul of Britain. Also featuring The Cuddled Little Vice, my Hugo-nominated history of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. Written for neophytes and deep fans alike. www.amazon.com/Last-War-Alb...

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 16/09/2026

Finding Lum posting Rationalist explainer threads is throwing me a little, ngl

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 16/09/2026

Ok this got to two thousand likes I’m going to go sulk and write an essay literally nobody is asking for while wondering why I remain such a niche taste.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 16/09/2026

Tfw you have a big viral tweet about a different book than the one you’re promoting.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 15/09/2026

Rough news for AI. Never a good sign when Time declares you a tipping point, lemme tell you.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 15/09/2026

The problem is that "while you weren't looking the tech industry was comprehensively taken over by a cult based around a piece of Harry Potter fanfic" is self-evidently an absolutely ridiculous claim that can't possibly have happened, which is a real problem given that it 100% did happen.

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Elizabeth Sandifer @eruditorumpress.com · 15/09/2026

I‘d love for Last War in Albion v2 to add “#1 Best-Selling comics criticism book” to its list of astonishingly niche accomplishments like “lost a minor Hugo Award.” So if you’re considering getting it, there’s no better time than now. www.amazon.com/Last-War-Alb...

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