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Solarpunk, realism, dystopia: a rant

Hopefully this is helpful to someone out there 🌸

You can find the Prompts podcast here, I drew some of the covers :D Also check out this digital library full of Creative Commons Solarpunk art (neither of these are sponsored).

🦗Somewhat shameful plug🦗

I would highly appreciate if you threw me a couple bucks on Buy Me a Coffee or bought a commission, my money number is only getting smaller these days 😔🤙

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Tag game!

@soliscital, thine tag is greatly appreciated.

Were you named after anyone? I share the same name with my grandfather, however, the name actually originates in the biblical Hebrew name עִמָּנוּאֵל‎, meaning "God with us".

When was the last time you cried? I do not recall, it must have been many moons ago since I last shed a tear.

Do you have kids? Not in the present nor in the past. I can only wish to have descendants one bright day, when the ocean still plays its angelic melody and the birds are singing to it.

What sports have you played/do you play? I played tennis for a couple of months when I was a wee child, and then I engaged in polo for a brief period. Sports do not currently have a place in my everyday life.

Do you use sarcasm? I avoid it. While it can be enjoyable, I fear that it ultimately hinders our ability to communicate properly and clearly with one another.

First thing you notice about people? Hair and then facial features, such us one's eyes. Every time two beings look at each other's eyes, the universe is looking at itself. The universe is filled with heavenly colors, like a canvas of a curious child who is seeking to create. Some of these bewitching colors can be found in our eyes. It is a stark reminder of the wonder we are all living in and we get to experience.

What is your eye color? Brown, the same as the ground we are all standing on, and should learn to love more.

Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings are good for the soul, although scary movies have their valued place in our world as well.

Any talents? Talent is naught but a lie. My beloved reader, never limit thine abilities to what thou call "talent". Learn, engage and enjoy various activities. It is with great effort and passion one's ability improves, and not with innate talent.

Where were you born? Athens. A city with a lot of history, but now reduced to a gray mass of concrete. May the green rise once more.

What are your hobbies? I revel in crafting interactive experiences in a digital form, video games, that seek to engage with people's minds and souls. I am also a virtual toolsmith, a creator of software that aims to aid humans with their creative endeavors. I am creative, but also a seeker of knowledge, sailing through the universe's mystery waters and uncharted oceans of theory and imagination, with the sciences being my map, and the stars up above my compass. Alas, the greatest mystery remains my own self, as I am on a quest to learn who I am and what do I rejoice in.

Do you have any pets? Regrettably, I do not have the fortune and the pleasure of being in the company of a pet.

How tall are you? My true height lies somewhere in the range of 170-180cm. Alas, I have not yet measured my height properly. We, as humans, should be wary not to give too much significance to numbers.

Favorite subject in school? The educational system of this world is flawed, it seeks to produce cogs that maintain the machine of capitalism. Corrupt at its very roots, hurting and oppressing million of children in the globe. In truth, I did not enjoy any subject, but now that I am free from the chains of school, I can truly appreciate the beauty of mathematics, physics, computer science, languages, and so much more.

Dream job? A dream job is more akin to a capitalistic nightmare. We are blessed to live in such a fascinating world, a pale blue dot among stars and dust, and yet we spend our valuable time working, while the fires of industry we serve so much steal the life out of our planet, ruining the very things we deeply seek to cherish. Rebel, deny the teachings of this system, become unchained. Go solarpunk.

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some loser: humans are innately selfish creatures

my psych book:

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In honour of Disability Pride Month, I just wanted to spread a message that I haven’t really seen anyone talking about yet. 

Artists, writers, creators of any description: when you’re creating a character that you wish to portray as less intelligent, creepy, or just unappealing in general, DO NOT give that character features that are typically associated with disabled people. In particular, do not give them crossed eyes, a lazy eye, or anything of the sort. 

Think about it; almost every character you see on the big screen who has lazy/crossed eyes is either stupid, ugly, a creep, or is just weird in general. Lazy/crossed eyes are used as shorthand for “this character is meant to be ridiculed and seen as lesser than everyone else”. This is particularly a problem in cartoons - in children’s media.  Here’s some examples from the top of my head:

And there’s countless more examples of this trope out there. As someone who was born with Ptosis, basically a lazy eyelid, this trope definitely affected me from a young age. When the only characters you see that look like you are weird or stupid or ugly, you internalise that shit. So my hope is that maybe a few people will see this post and become a little more educated about this issue so that we can put an end it. 

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It’s too late to save the world

Ash trees sprout in cracks in the asphalt. The gutters collect leaves, which become soil, in which dandelions sprout.

There’s nothing you can do

A man plants an entire forest. A young girl teaches a drone to deliver saplings. The elderly volunteer to clean up radioactive waste.

You might as well give up

Wolves return to ancestral hunting grounds. Bison return to the prairie. Otters return to the kelp beds. Young oaks push roots deep into reclaimed farmland.

Who cares anyway?

Children draw pictures of flowers. Festivals are held for cherry blossoms and pecans and apples. A crowd cheers as the last line is cut away from the ensnared creature.

I have disobeyed worse than you

The world does not die on my watch

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Remember, a solarpunk future without support for the disabled population is just green-washed ableism.

A solarpunk future that doesn't include (or purposely excludes) Indigenous/PoC populations is just green-washed white supremacy/colonialism.

A solarpunk future that doesn't feed the hungry or house the poor is just green-washed capitalism.

Solarpunk is more than just an aesthetic. It's a hope for a better future for everyone.

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My dream I think now is to someday live in a large shared villa with many friends and partners and their friends and partners, we share our homes, share our resources share our love, feel bound to one another like family, there's a complex web of polyamorous relationships between everyone many of which blur the line between friend and partner, but none of us really care to sort it out, we just those connections be whatever they are and enjoy it, just, being happy. We are all free to find what works for us and have the openness to continue to strive together for the healthiest relationships we can manage.

Our home is covered in greenery, designed with permaculture and sustainability in mind. As a collective we even out the burdens of our individual hardships and lift up our achievements. We provide the foundation for more of us to take risks on paths that make us happy even if they might be more financially unstable at first. We cook for each other regularly, taking turns helping to feed everyone so we stay healthy and happy. We have a workshop with shared tools and skills, we learn from each other and help each other do create more things artistic and functional to improve our environment for everyone.

Maybe some of us have kids and we parent them as a collective, our diversity of experience, balancing out the mistakes any one of us might make as individuals, and instilling them with a wide range of wisdom and knowledge and strong sense of community and independence. We raise them to be stronger than we were, to make the most of their life from the very beginning.

We are as close as we can be to being free from the constraints that our world crushes us under. We have our own strength to oppose it. We have love, we have connection, we have stability, we have freedom.

I know it'll never happen, it would take a miracle to find the right people to do something like that with, and decades of work and experience to bring it into reality. But that's what makes it a dream I guess. It doesn't have to be realistic, just hopeful.

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