myrdschaem

I thankfully remembered why I watched Chernobyl anyway, it was so I could watch Bread Youtuber Abigail Thorn, then still uncracked egg, and their video essay about personal responsibility vs collective responsibility. Since this vid is from 2019, instead of Covid the example used to compare is the Grenfell Tower disaster. It's a good illustration that the responsibility can't just be pinned on Dyatlov or was inherent to the Soviet system. And of course the topic of taking responsibility is a favourite among the Right Wing, going back to Thatcher/Regan. (Heads up for UK viewers' blood pressure.)

( Read more... )After watching that essay, I found another on Chernobyl and philosophy, this time focusing on the concept of "risk societies"(= Risikogesellschaft) as a way to conceptualise the modern world. The focus here is that modern risks are often distributed widely and can't be understood without outside sensors and knowledge. As a result in modern society, there is a need to rely on experts to analyse and interpret risks. I don't think I agreed with everything outlined in the video, but it seemed overall solid and I might look into the work of Ulrich Beck further.

I finished Book of Boba Fett last week and it's flawed but left me overall happy. I think most people agree that the pacing and dialogue as well the overall craft in the series could have been done better. No two ways around it. ( Spoilers )

And finally, a link to a wonderful discussion about Digital Blackface. I find this strikes a good middle ground, explaining why it is bad, but also goes into linking memes and the concept of fungibility from the context of Black studies.

A Win from Last Year: Keeping it short and sweet, but I usually participate in podfic_bingo  without much happening and finally got my first bingo ever! Now I hope I can black out the same card.

In your own space, make a list of things that you wish existed in fandom or elsewhere, and/or that you'd like someone to create or do for you.

Besides the default, more people to discuss my micro fandoms with? (If anyone wants to talk, say, Delicious in Dungeon, SMT V, the Otherland books, Mushishi, Engelsfors or anything similar with me, hit me up!)

I'm going with the preaching-to-the-choir answer here and the choir is all podficcers. If you read this, think about making a permission statement about fanworks based on your fanworks! I made an exhaustive post about why and all the options years ago on tumblr, if you would like any help. Most podficcers naturally wish to have blanket permissions, but any statement helps. Authors or creators tend to think they will be around forever to just get asked for permission, but that's not feasible as platforms change and people vanish from fandom. Having your wishes spelled out clearly and succinctly is good for everyone. In long term, having statements around could help make fandom interactions smoother for everyone. Take some time and write one!

I finished the Chernobyl book! It was really heart-punching, wring your heart out interviews of all sorts of people. Some who lived there, some who were drafted into helping with clean up, some scientists who were trying to get objective facts out, some local officials making choices that focused more on calming panic than protecting people. People speak very frank all throughout and that makes this book strong. The first and the last individuals both are harrowing love stories to the husbands who died in clean up. It's the sort of love that is epic and more cheesy than all other couples and sadly they proved it both when their husbands start becoming sicker and sicker, staying by their side. They brought me to tears with ease.

All of the persons in the book are worthwhile to listen to though. Another case that was fascinating is the people who stayed or who kept coming back. It's their home and that was their way of life, in a way they didn't seem like they could imagine anything else. Multiple people crossing into the forbidden area to get the potatoes into the ground because that's what has to happen. No matter that no-one should actually consume any of the products - but of course they were mixed with others and sold anyway later. Officials kept worrying about how to fulfill their five-year plans while the military had to scrape off the topsoil and bury it for safety. Bonkers.

In fact, there were regulations and recommendations for radiation exposure and everyone broke them constantly. Maybe they don't see anything getting bad right now and keep going or they are given useless radiation meters or they are all just ignored. It resonates a lot with what I experienced with the Covid policies actually. Scientific evidence that is translated into best practices was/is just ignored because no-one wants to take the responsibility of issuing unpopular orders. Hard choices like transplanting villages or not producing anything in the zone anymore were either done much later or never. Even easy stuff like giving out iodine tablets, which were in storage just in case of nuclear war (!), got skipped because they might be needed later. A lot of people suffered as consequence.

The interviews read fast and are all personal. I assumed there would be some facts between when I bought this, so I wouldn't recommend this as an introduction on the whole thing. I will track down other reading I guess. This rec comes with a bunch of triggers, specifically animal death and anything with radiation sickness, cancer and death, including of children.

In other news, I'm slightly fixating on the newly released Shin Megami Tensei V. I don't have it nor do I plan to buy it right now but the urge. I love that they just straight up fused the protagonist teenager with a buff demon to make a superior femboy. Iconic! In fact, the protector demon seems very fussy and concerned with his teenage charge, so I ship that of course. The game play looks addictive. I admit I usually go for story over cutting edge graphics or cool gaming, but SMT games make what could be repetitive turn-based rpg play fun as fuck. The demon collecting aspect is great as always. I have seen some screenshots from talking with demons that are hilarious, like asking whether the protagonist is a top, middle or bottom, demons afraid of human fans, demons asking you to step on them and more. I am hyped, honestly.

Instead of buying SMTV, I caved and bought SMT IV to scratch the itch. I have played Apocalypse, the sequel to that game, before. It works beautifully to scratch my need. I'm at least 25 hours in with a ton of resetting when a random encounter suddenly wipes the floor with me and I. Love. It. Even though it's challenging and always a danger, the whole thing is addictive. I'm happy to grind, collect demons I'm missing or trying to fuse something cool. It's the best.

I started tracking recs roughly a year ago - as evidenced by the numbers, I missed nearly 20, but it's still going, so that's something. It's still more Star Wars recs with the bulk being QuiObi, the pairing I liked as a teen looking back on the first prequel. And some Soulmate Goose of Enforcement crack.

( Read more... )

Title: Wolf Territory by prettyarbitrary
Reader: myrdschaem
Bingo Square(s): First Time, Kinky, Rough
Fandom: Overwatch
Pairing: Gabriel Reyes/Jack Morrison
Length: 20:26
Content Notes: teratophilia, chase kink, knotting
Summary: The village hired Jack to hunt the werewolf. The werewolf has other ideas.
Recorded for pod_o_ween prompts Monster, Tremble and Flesh and for the podfic bingo squares First Time, Kinky and Rough.

Link to Podfic: Wolf Territory [Podfic]


Title: it's the great pumpkin, boby fett by petraquince
Reader: myrdschaem
Bingo Square(s): Collaborative/Multiple/Gang, Domestic, New Kink
Fandom: The Mandalorian
Pairing: Din Djarin/Boba Fett/Luke Skywalker
Length: 27:00
Content Notes: polyamory, outdoor sex, spitroasting, light choking
Summary: It’s almost Halloween and Boba Fett is thoroughly intent on making sure that his pumpkins squash the competition. Din and Luke are growing increasingly concerned by the fact that he hasn't slept inside in almost a week.

Recorded as a Treat for Pod_O_Ween 2021 for

eafay70 , who wanted "something about fall cuisine (ex. pumpkin spice lattes, stuff involving apples)" and the prompts Dusk and Mystery. And I'm also using this for podfic bingo, to fill my squares Collaborative/Multiple/Gang, New Kink and Domestic.

 

Link to Podfic: it's the great pumpkin, boba fett [Podfic]

Link to my card, where I got my first two bingos ever! \o/

I ended up not making a Buer because the ushioni got big. I'm pleased with the deisgn, even if there were accidents with too much glue darkening the paper on some parts. I was pretty angry and and sad about it, but eventually hung it and I am happy that I finished it.

( Pictures under the cut )

Ok, September was extra shitty for me and my mental health. I'm back, trying to pick up some pieces, so six week round up it is. Some phases include remembering Attack the Block exists & crying about Moses, scrambling to find works for CCPA submissions, sudden swerve into the Mortal Kombat, which I have never played, pairing Sub-Zero/Scorpion and crying about Pride (2014 movie) for a solid few days. I am also operating under the premise that making podfic of something is enough of an endorsement to already be a rec, haha.

( Six weeks of fanworks )

I and my region don't really celebrate and the whole pandemic is another wrench in spoopy season, but I thought I might try to make some paper decoration for my door, just because.

Of course I can't just do the normal shit, so I was looking around in different areas. Japan had a big boom in interest in yôkai 妖怪 in the Edo and Meiji - this wasn't ethnology interest only, but to criticise the government, which is not as fun as japanese monsters and goes missing as context when popular discussion in western media happen. Yôkai and japanese ghost stories got popularised by Lafcadio Hearn's story collection Kwaidan in the English speaking parts of the world - might even be the US only, I sadly don't know the reach. They are old enough to be copyright free, so anyone can read them. On the downside, the "translations" weren't only translations but often his own stories, so I will steer clear of him.

Anyway, from Japan I think I will try for a ushi'oni or gyûki 牛鬼 which is as a short hand a spider with an ox head. I could fuse it with the Magnus Archives Good Cows (tm) and go for a fluffy highland cattle base? I will see if I can execute that.

Searching for unique german spooky creatures is a bit harder because they aren't as visually distinctive imo. Options like the Roggenwolf (rye or grain wolf) are wolves living in grain fields or Moosweibchen are little female spirits dressing in moss. In short, there is lore, but not really a clear visible signal of a supernatural creature.

Instead, I think an easier demonic target is needed: a buer, the total goofy looking five goat leg wheel with a lion head that teaches STEM and ethics. At least they know how to be visibly striking.