Absolutely. It's the same for a lot of people, and I know a lot of Ukrainians too who only decided to visit the Zone after playing.
I'll be talking more about it in future, but I already wrote this a while back, in case you didn't see it –
www.theverge.com/2021/4/29/22...
With that done, my next big challenge is to bring my mind back to the present.
I have spent absolutely ages now working on projects that won't be seen by anyone for maybe years, and it puts me in this weird tunnel view – only looking at the future. In the process I sometimes forget how to person.
One critiques video games set in the Chornobyl Zone (necessary, I feel, as I suspect most academics discussing such games haven't actually played them); another details my experience designing 'anti-tourism' tours in Chornobyl; and another considers the value of ruins in the neurodivergent gaze.
Last year I got excited about pitching academic articles all over the place. And I just paid the price – a bunch of deadlines all converged so that I've spent the last 6 weeks working through one paper after another after another...
All done now though, plus it feels like genuinely good work –
A river, house boat in the foreground and colourfully painted houses behind, with the sun shining.
Lovely day for a mooch around Bristol.
Thank you. :) And yes! Just cleared a bunch of things off my desk, and out of my life this week, so feeling ready to get back to business.
Would you believe this morning I had ~40 online profiles?
On a culling mission – deleted a bunch (RIP Youtube, X), others are merging/redirecting. Feels good to trim the bloat.
Gonna be focussing on Bluesky, Substack, and my new thing that's launching in the next few days...
The moon reflects on a frozen lake in Sweden.
The same lake, still frozen, with yellow sunrise light.
Dusk / Dawn
Oh my gods!
Kate! What have you wrought!?
🤣💀
Gothenburg harbour - ships and cranes frame an industrial-picturesque view, with sea birds riding by on drifting ice floes.
Good morning from a boat-hotel in Gothenburg harbour.
Oh, thank you! ☺️ That may be one of my favourite things I've ever written.
If you'd be happy to, I would really appreciate that – thanks! I've already written a couple of papers on the intersection of heritage and games, and it's an area that really appeals for me.
sure, completely understood. I'll use your site as my point of reference then!
Thank you Xander! That means a lot. :) Let's see, I have a good feeling about 2026...
Okay, I just found you on ResearchGate – this is brilliant. And so close to my own interests too, so I'm gonna dive in and start reading. Very glad to be in touch!
Coming at this from the perspective of urban game design feels really valuable too. Have you published on this? I'd love to read that.
Also, just looking through your website now – what a fantastic studio space!
Thank you so much for this. Yes – Debord was a biggie for me, a whole chapter of my thesis was basically using Society of the Spectacle to define a mode of sense-led academic enquiry. (That was right before I fell down the Deleuze rabbit hole.)
Thank you so much!! And yes – the UE/ND thing. It seems so obvious to me, but no one in academia appears to have made that connection before. Which may speak to how few ND folks are represented there? 🤔 Anyway, I feel it's a really important conversation & it's giving me a renewed sense of purpose.
So I've decided to rejoin the land of the living. It's been a rough few years but I'm taking 2026 head-on and I'm cautiously optimistic that some very good things are coming.
I also updated my Substack, for the first time in ages:
darmon.substack.com/p/firing-on-...
Love to you all!
the cat has his face all the way into my glass of water. He is very handsome though, in his defence.
Small crimes are occurring
😂
Had a real treat at the weekend –
Dubioza Kolektiv at the Exeter Phoenix.
I am, yes. And gradually coming to terms with that. 😅
Thank you, yeah - had a lot to deal with lately but now cautiously edging back! Lots of new things to process now, new home and all the rest, but feel I'm in a good place to finally get some big interesting projects finished and released to the world...
“Matt Berry advertises synths now” are words that my bank account never wanted to hear.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbO1...
I'm working on lots – getting back on my feet after the big visa mess has taken a while, but I've been scribbling bits of fiction, non-fiction, music, ideas for tours... my plan now is to try and push a few things over the finish line before next year.
How about you?
I just really struggle there now, the world is depressing enough as it is without all the sewage 'X' pushes at me.
That's very kind of you. :) And I'm pretty sure I also use social media wrongly..
Good to know!
This is a photo of a golden cat called Hinko. He is very fluffy, and he has curled up to have a nap in the sun.
In the process of digging myself out of a bit of a hole. Are people mostly here these days? The online landscape feels so fragmented now, it's disorientating.
Here is a photo of my cat.
