pretentiouspoppy

[pretentiouspoppy]

🌿 GEAR UP: PROTEST WEAR UNDER FASCISM 🌿

An Ecopunk Guide to Staying Safe, Smart & Untraceable

We are living in a time when surveillance is constant, eco-collapse is accelerating, and governments are increasingly cracking down on dissent. When fascism tightens its grip, resistance becomes not just necessary — it becomes sacred.

If you're taking to the streets, defending the forest, or showing up where you’re not “supposed” to be:

You need to be protected. You need to be unidentifiable. You need to blend in and strike smart.

🌿MASK UP — COMPLETELY

★ Not just a COVID mask. Full face concealment.

★ Layer a disposable surgical mask under a bandana or balaclava to disrupt facial recognition.

★ Avoid bright colors, logos, or anything unique.

★ Stick to earth tones, plain black, or blend into your surroundings.

★ Wraparound sunglasses help, but avoid reflective lenses that attract cameras.

🌿WEAR YOUR DAMN GLOVES

★ Fingerprints = evidence.

★ Wear lightweight, grip-friendly gloves (mechanic’s style are great).

★ Do not take them off — not for phones, not to fix your mask, not for anything.

🌿BLEND IN WITH YOUR ENVIRONMENT.

★ Urban action? Go normcore — hoodie, jeans, plain sneakers.

★ Forest defense? Camo, greens, browns — dress like the terrain.

★ Avoid any outfit you’ve worn in photos. Burn it if necessary.

★ No logos. No slogans. No flair. You are not a brand. You are resistance.

🌿GO SCENT-FREE, STAY CLEAN

★ Wash clothes in scentless detergent.

★ No perfume, cologne, essential oils, or deodorant.

★ Dogs and thermal tech can track your scent and heat signature.

★ Think animal. Think ghost.

🌿LEAVE YOUR PHONE BEHIND.

★ Seriously. Do not bring your smartphone.

★ If you must have one, use a burner bought with cash — no accounts, no contacts, no selfies.

★ Better yet: Faraday bag it, keep it off, and never unlock it at the scene.

🌿BE THE FOG, NOT THE FIREWORKS.

★ No unique patches. No one-of-a-kind bandanas. No flashy signs.

★ Uniformity = safety in numbers. Ego gets people doxxed.

★ You are not there to stand out — you are there to stand together.

🌿ECOPUNK ARMOR, DIY-STYLE.

★ Layer cardboard and hemp under your hoodie for padding.

★ Upcycle rubber, denim, or leather into forearm guards or shin shields.

★ Reinforce clothes with natural fibers, not synthetics that melt.

★ Protection should be defensive, not aggressive. Know your limits. Know your risks.

🌿KNOW YOUR RIGHTS — AND ACT ACCORDINGLY.

★ Memorize legal aid numbers. Write them on your body.

★ Don’t talk to cops. Period.

★ Don’t bring ID unless your local laws absolutely require it — and hide it deep.

★ Study the difference between stopped, detained, and arrested.

Knowledge is armor. Don’t wait until you need it.

🌿 FINAL WORD: YOU ARE NOT POWERLESS.

Fascism wants fear. It wants faces. It wants silence.

We give it none of that.

We are rooted in the dirt.

We are wind through cities.

We are the mycelium under empire.

They can’t stop what they can’t see. They can’t kill what keeps growing back.

And to those who can’t attend, be loud, silence is the enemy of progress.

✊ STAY SHARP. STAY HIDDEN. STAY WILD.

[pretentiouspoppy]

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 😔🤙

[pretentiouspoppy]

just gonna share some resources on preventing and treating activist burnout (and other trauma) from mutual aid disaster reliefs resource list

weve got 4 long years ahead of us, and after that many more years until the american empire is dead and capitalism is defeated and all are free. we need resilience. we need to learn how to make resistance a regular, sustainable part of our lives. let this radicalize u instead of lead u to despair

Mutual Aid Disaster Relief: Navigating Trauma

Trauma_OverviewPreventing BurnoutUnderstanding and Coping with Traumatic StressUnderstanding and Addressing Vicarious Trauma

Grounding and Centering for Activists

Rising Up Without Burning Out

Sustainable Activism and Avoiding Burnout

Psychological First AidActivist Trauma and Recovery

Trauma and Therapeutic Art: Information for Children, Families and Volunteers

Community Trauma Toolkit

Coping With_Climate_Change_Distress

[pretentiouspoppy]

How to begin a sustainable way of life

This is a draft of something I've been writing for a couple months. It is mainly focused on the culture of the USA. Feel free to repost or otherwise share, with or without credit.

Do not tell people what to do—help them do it! 

Give the gift of relief from being forced to engage in society’s unsustainable ways of life. 

“People need to eat more plant-based foods.” ->Talk about your favorite recipes, give others recipes, cook for them, and grow vegetables and plants in your garden and give them away as gifts. 

“People need to repair their clothes.” -> Offer to repair others’ clothes, and teach people how to repair their clothes. 

“People need to buy less clothes.” -> Give them old clothes that you don’t want, help them repair their clothes

“People need to buy less plastic stuff.” -> Learn to make things that can serve the same purpose, such as baskets, and give them as gifts. Let people borrow things you own so they don’t have to buy their own. 

“People need to stop using leafblowers and other gas-guzzling machinery.” -> Offer to rake the leaves. You can use them as compost in your own garden. 

“People need to be more educated about nature.”-> Learn about nature yourself. Tell people about nature. Be open about your love of creatures such as snakes, spiders, and frogs. Do not show awareness that this could be strange. You are not obligated to quiet down your enthusiasm for creepy crawlies to demonstrate awareness that it is weird. Point out at every opportunity how these animals are beneficial. 

“People need to use cars less.” -> Offer rides to others whenever you must go somewhere. Whenever you are about to go to the store, ask your neighbor or your friend who lives along the way, “Is there anything you need from the store?” 

You cannot control others’ behaviors, but you can free them from being controlled. 

If you think to yourself, “But this would be so difficult to do!” ask yourself WHY? Why does your society coerce you into less sustainable ways of living, forcing you to consume excessively? After thinking about this, consider that it is less simple and easy than you thought to make more sustainable choices, so why would you judge others for not doing it? 

Do not act alone—act with others! 

Environmentally friendly behaviors that can be done alone, without collaborating with or consulting another person, are the least powerful of all. Whenever an “environmentally friendly” behavior is suggested, figure out “How can I give this as a gift?” or “How can I make this possible on the level of a whole community?” 

“Personal choices” do not work because every single person has to make them individually. If you are focused on making your own personal choice, you are not focused on others. If you are not focused on others, you are not helping them. If nobody is helping each other, most people won’t be able to make the “personal choice.”

You inherently share an ecosystem with your neighbors  

            Start with your neighbors, the people physically close to you. You live on the same patch of land, containing roots from the same plants and trees. You can speak to them face to face without traveling, which means you can easily bring them physical things without using resources to travel. 

            Always talk to your neighbors and be friendly with them. Offer them favors unprompted and tell them about how your garden is doing. Do not be afraid to be annoying—a slightly annoying neighbor who is helpful, kind, and can be relied upon for a variety of favors or in times of need is a necessary and inevitable part of a good community. If you make the effort to be present in somebody’s life, they will have to put up with you on some occasions, but that is just life. We cannot rely on each other if we do not put up with each other. 

Simply spending time with someone influences them for good 

Every hour you spend outside with your neighbor is an hour your neighbor doesn’t spend watching Fox News. Every hour you spend talking with someone and interacting with them in the real world, eating real food and enjoying your real surroundings, is an hour you don’t spend only hearing a curated picture of what reality is like from social media. 

            Isolation makes it easy for people to become indoctrinated into extremist beliefs. When someone spends more time alone, watching TV, Youtube, or scrolling social media, than they do with others, their concept of what other people are like and what the world is like comes more from social media than real life. TV and online media are meant to influence you in a specific way. Simply restricting the access these influences have to yourself and others is helpful. 

A garden is the source of many gifts 

If you grow a garden, you can give your neighbors and friends the gift of food, plants, and crafted objects. This is one of the foundational ways to form community. When you give food, you provide support to others. When you give plants, you are encouraging and teaching about gardening. It is even better when you give recipes cooked from things you grew, or items crafted from things you grew. You can also give the gift of knowledge of how to grow these plants, cook these recipes, or craft these objects. 

More on gift-giving

            Some people are uncomfortable with receiving items or services as gifts. They want to feel like they are giving something back, instead of having obligation to return the favor hanging over them. 

            It can help to ask a simple favor that can be easily fulfilled. People generally like the feeling of helping someone else. 

When you give someone a gift, it can help to say something like “Oh, I have too many of this thing to take care of/store/eat myself! Do you think you could take some?” This makes your neighbor feel like they are helping you. 

When allowing others to borrow items, you might not get them back. Don’t worry about that. It just means the item found a place where it was needed the most. You can ask about the item if you think it might have been forgotten, and this can create an opportunity for a second meeting. But don’t press. 

If the person you give to insists upon some form of payment, this is a good opportunity to negotiate a trade. 

Ask to be given compostable or recyclable things 

Ask your neighbor to save compostable scraps, biodegradable cardboard and paper products, and any other items that might be put to use. Use them in your own compost pile. Or, start a compost pile at the edge of the yard where you both can add to it. Remember that “wet” compost like vegetable and fruit bits needs to be mixed with twice as much of “dry” and “woody” compost like cardboard, leaves, small twigs, paper and wood bits. 

Use the front yard for gardening

Overcome the cultural norm that the front yard is only decorative. Use the front yard for gardening so you can be seen by others enjoying your garden, and others can witness the demonstration of the possibilities of land. In the front yard, anything you do intentionally with your land can be witnessed. It also makes you a visible presence in your community. 

Grow staple foods 

Don’t just grow vegetables that cannot be the core component of a meal themselves. Grow potatoes, dry beans, black eyed peas and other nourishing, calorie-dense foods. Grow the ingredients of meals. You could even build a garden around a recipe.

Invite neighbors and friends over to eat food made from things you grew 

Be sure to send them home with leftovers.  

Grow plants for baskets 

Containers are one of the fundamental human needs. If we had more containers, we wouldn’t need plastic so much. You can learn to make baskets, and to grow plants that provide the raw materials for baskets. 

If someone rakes their leaves, ask to have the leaves  

If you see someone putting leaves in bags, don’t be afraid to ask if you can have the leaves. More likely than not they will be happy to agree. 

Collaborate with neighbors to plant things in the no-man’s-land of the property line 

In the border land between your neighbor’s yard and your yard, it is almost always just mowed grass because no one can plant anything without it affecting their neighbor. But these border lands add up to a lot of space. It would be much better if you talked to your neighbor about what would be nice to plant there, and together created a plan for that space. 

Give others the freedom to wander 

Make it clear that you will not get mad if the neighbor’s kids play in your yard or run across it. Invite the neighbors onto your land as much as possible. Tell them they are allowed to spend time in a favored spot whenever they would like.  

The power of the hand-made sign 

If there is a yard sale, you always know about it because of the hand-drawn signs placed around. Therefore, a cookout or unwanted item exchange can be announced the same way. In rural areas I have seen hand-made signs that say: FIREWOOD or WE BUY GOATS or EGGS. This is one of the few technologies of community that remain in the USA. If someone who looks to buy and sell can put up a hand-made sign, why shouldn’t you?  

Religious people or people with strong political opinions like to put signs everywhere. If they have the confidence and courage to do so, why shouldn’t you? 

So if there is a message you would like everyone to see, use the simple power of the hand-made sign. Proclaim “BEE FRIENDLY ZONE!” above your pollinator garden with all the confidence of a religious fundamentalist billboard. Announce to the world, “VEGETABLES FREE TO ALL—JUST ASK!” “WE TAKE LEAVES—NO PESTICIDES.” Instead of YARD SALE, or perhaps in conjunction with YARD SALE, you can write, PLANT EXCHANGE or SEED SWAP or CLOTHING SWAP. Who can stop you? 

Someone has to do it for society to change  

Some of these ideas might be eccentric, strange, or even socially unacceptable, but there is no way to change what is normal except to move against it. Someone has to be weird. It might as well be you. 

[pretentiouspoppy]

I made some solarpunk soda tab jewelry!! Again. And I'm making more. (Image ID at the bottom of he post)

A choker, a pair of earrings, a belt/waist chain and some bracelets using 100% thrifted/recycled materials! The choker and the bracelets have two layers so that the sharp aluminum edges on the back of the tabs aren't making contact with skin, you can kinda see it in the pictures. Here are more pictures:

[Image ID: 8 images. The first one shows a choker made out of soda tabs, with black cord weaved through it forming x shapes. There's a silver spike charm hanging from every other tab about an inch apart from each other. Im in the picture wearing the choker, my face is not in frame but my pale as fuck neck is visible and so is my dark brown hair.

The second image shows a pair of clip-on earrings laying on a sage green background. Each earring is made of 6 soda tabs weaved into a flower shape with green yarn, and three dangles hanging from the bottom. The dangles are made of a wire link with a black bead on in and a silver spike charm hanging from that. The same spike charms I used for the choker.

The third image shows a 2 ft 7 inch long belt chain made of the soda tab flowers from the earring image. Each flower is made of six tabs weaved together with the same green yarn but they yarn fades to yellow towards the end of the chain. 16 soda tab flowers are linked together with large jump rings and there are large silver clasps on each end to attach to a belt.

The forth image is my hand wearing a black compression brace and two soda tab bracelets. They are weaved together the same way as the choker, with the cord forming x shapes, but the cord is orange and not black. The bracelets are the same size, 8 inches long when laying flat including the clasp. There are two layers of soda tabs which makes the bracelet a little thicker.

The next 2 images shows a dress form wearing the belt chain from two different angles. It had a black skirt with a soda tab belt, with various spikey chains hanging from it. There's a black strip of grommet tape hanging on the right side of the belt and my soda tab flower belt chain hanging on the left side.

The next image shows one of the bracelets at and angle so the double layers are visible, and the last image shows the bracelets, the choker, and an unfinished soda tab choker with green ribbon weaved through it all laying flat on a sage green background. End ID]

[pretentiouspoppy]

What is Hopepunk?

Wild laughter from ragged throats

Flowers growing choked from crumbling asphalt

A warm bed after a long, hard journey

Your partner’s hand cupped in your own

Bright graffiti on cracked tunnel walls

The chains falling loose to the stone floor

A glint of silver beneath a century of tarnish

A long rain after a blistering wildfire

Just one more step, and then another

A single candle flame joining the stars against the night

A loved ones voice calling your name after hours lost in an unfamiliar place

A hand taking yours, just when you’d given up on reaching out

Smiling, laughing again, when you thought you’d forgotten how

Knowing, despite everything, that humans are inherently good

It’s not simply blind optimism, or naivety. It’s choice. It’s taking the human race by the hand and saying, “I will love you, because I am you”. It’s facing a world dripping with cynicism and fashionable hopelessness and saying, “no, I will not give in”. It’s putting kindness out into the world, knowing you might not get it back, knowing you may be scorned for it, knowing it might not change anything, but with a certainty that kindness is what the world needs the most.

It is choosing hope

[pretentiouspoppy]

went guerrilla gardening w my little sister! planted tomatoes :>

saw a grown person standing on a pile of dirt after technically trespassing there too into the construction site, they seemed cool

[pretentiouspoppy]

It is more important than ever to protect our environment and forests as climate change accelerates and policy changes under the Trump administration push for increased deforestation and drilling in national parks, among other environmental rollbacks.

Nonprofits That Direct 100% of Donations to Tree Planting & Conservation Initiatives:

1. National Forest Foundation (NFF): NFF is dedicated to restoring and enhancing national forests. They ensure that every dollar donated is used exclusively for tree-planting initiatives. 

2. Arbor Day Foundation: As a longstanding organization in conservation, the Arbor Day Foundation offers donors the option to cover processing fees, ensuring that 100% of their contributions support tree planting efforts. Every dollar plants a tree.

3. One Tree Planted: This nonprofit operates globally, planting one tree for every dollar donated. Reforestation is one of the best ways to restore ecosystems that have been degraded or deforested. Plant trees to support reforestation work in the locations where it is needed most. They maintain transparency by providing annual financial reports detailing their planting projects. 

4. #TeamTrees: Initiated in 2019, #TeamTrees collaborates with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant one tree for each dollar donated. Their campaigns have gained a lot of support due to their commitment to reforestation. 

5. Trees for Climate Health – Jonas Philanthropies: This organization focuses on planting trees to combat climate change and improve public health. They emphasize transparency and leverage partnerships to ensure donations are effectively utilized for tree-planting initiatives. 

Other Ways You Can Help:

✿ Reduce meat consumption (try Meatless Mondays or smaller portions)

✿ Thrift and repurpose items instead of buying new

✿ Use reusable bags, bottles, and containers

✿ Recycle paper, plastic, and glass regularly

✿ Conserve water and energy at home (use solar energy panels or solar lamps, candlelight, etc)

✿ Carpool or bike when possible, especially if you live in an area where biking to places is accessible

✿ Support reforestation and conservation organizations by volunteering, donating, or spreading awareness

✿ Buy sustainably sourced and certified products (fair trade certified, leaping bunny, rainforest alliance certified, vegan certified, B corp certified, ecocert, animal cruelty free)

✿ Avoid single-use plastics and disposable items by switching to reusable alternatives like stainless steel water bottles, cloth shopping bags, and glass food containers, choosing products with minimal or compostable packaging, bringing your own reusable straws when dining out, and shopping in bulk to reduce plastic waste

✿ Advocate for environmental policies and community green initiatives by attending public meetings/ town halls to support sustainable development projects or volunteering with environmental groups to organize clean-ups and tree planting events

[pretentiouspoppy]

Anti capitalist + anti consumerist + anti work master list

*originally started writing this as a reference for myself. may add more later

No buying/no spending options

Libby (books, audiobooks, magazines). you can use multiple library cards. harris county and queens allows you to sign up for a card with just your number.

Hoopla (music)

Kanopy (movies, tv, docs)

Anna's Archive (books, academic papers)

Tubi (movies, TV, docs)

Your local libraries

Bartering. they got facebook groups for this. if you still use that.

Low buy/low spending options

Bookbub

Dollar stores

Thrift stores

Only buy when you need/run out of it. you don't really need another damn notebook (note to self)

lowkey thinking about buying that $25 tablet from five below

Going analog

Book Outlet

Thrift Books

Thrift stores

Blank cd's and an external drive

Food

Learn. To. Cook. get a rice cooker from family dollar. some rice, sausage, chicken, ramen, eggs, frozen mixed veggies,et c etc. get some spices. you can just throw this in for 15-20 min and have a meal. do some experimenting while you at it. start looking at those big back recipes from tik tok while it's still around.

eat less shit. less fast food. less processed snacks.

TooGoodtoGo. pay about $5 to get some surprise bags from different restaurants.

Companies to boycott (if you are able to)

Amazon. you know why.

Walmart. gets tax subsidies for employees on welfare. they aint never giving them a payraise, despite their profits. anti dei

McDonald’s.

Trader Joe's. anti union.

Companies to support instead

Local.

Black owned/BIPOC. buy essentials.

...or make your own shit. read some books, watch some videos to teach you to make skin care, set up raspberry pi, whatever you wanna learn

Making money (for anticapitalist, antiwork, anticonsumerist, autistic, young, wild, free)

Writing on Medium. something i've been doing a little of.

Micro investing. invest $5 here and there to make a little money.

All in on specific niches. see where it takes you.

Qapital. an app where you can save money without having to think about it. this has helped me in a pinch.

Prolific. good way to make a little money. pays thru paypal tho.

anything you're capable of doing

Skills that could actually matter

Herbalism. make natural remedies for chronic issues.

Gardening. grow your own food and kush. (if possible)

Reading. a skill often taken for granted. read all that you can. do annotations. actually do media literacy and ask yourself why you like or don't like a movie, TV show, anime etc etc.

Archiving. with the tik tok ban coming, i've been made more aware of the importance of saving shit. download things. write info you learn down in a notebook or notion.

Self defense. hand to hand combat or a glock. even if you start with practicing with a toy gun.

Sailing the seas

just look up 'pirating' on here

[pretentiouspoppy]

this is probably the best darn I’ve ever done! It’s on some of my little sister’s pants that I cut up into makeshift arm covers!

wearing a whole shirt under my gym shirt to stay covered was getting annoying, so I’m glad I got the opportunity to do something cool like this instead of buying shirtless sleeves or stacking shirts!

[pretentiouspoppy]

"My son has been brutally killed and I seek revenge," said the Queen. "You have my sword." proclaimed the Hero. "And my bow," added the Archer. "And my magic," intoned the Mage. "And my gun," quipped the Ranger. "AND MY AXE!" exclaimed the Warrior. "And your son!" replied the Necromancer.

[pretentiouspoppy]

Art by u/reachling

[pretentiouspoppy]

It’s solar and wind and tidal and geothermal and hydropower.

It’s plant-based diets and regenerative livestock farming and insect protein and lab-grown meat.

It’s electric cars and reliable public transit and decreasing how far and how often we travel.

It’s growing your own vegetables and community gardens and vertical farms and supporting local producers.

It’s rewilding the countryside and greening cities.

It’s getting people active and improving disabled access.

It’s making your own clothes and buying or swapping sustainable stuff with your neighbours.

It’s the right to repair and reducing consumption in the first place.

It’s greater land rights for the commons and indigenous peoples and creating protected areas.

It’s radical, drastic change and community consensus.

It’s labour rights and less work.

It’s science and arts.

It’s theoretical academic thought and concrete practical action.

It’s signing petitions and campaigning and protesting and civil disobedience.

It’s sailboats and zeppelins.

It’s the speculative and the possible.

It’s raising living standards and curbing consumerism.

It’s global and local.

It’s me and you.

Climate solutions look different for everyone, and we all have something to offer.

[pretentiouspoppy]

"i need to clean my room / do the dishes / do the laundry" = boring, horrific, makes it seem like a burden.

"i'm tending to my realm / the magic tower needs maintenance / i'm restoring the kingdom to what it was" = beautiful, amazing, spetacular, joyful, full of childlike wonder, actually describes what the task feels like as opposed to what it is

[pretentiouspoppy]

Tips for Defying the End of the World.

Printable version here - feel free to print out for yourself or distribute to others for free.

[pretentiouspoppy]

growing garlic on a window

[pretentiouspoppy]

Dialogue Response

"Is this what you wanted?"

"Absolutely not."

"You know it's not."

"It's so much more."

"I didn't do anything!"

"Yes! And I'm so happy!"

"It's everything I've hoped for."

"Yes, actually it is what I wanted."

"This is not my fault and you know it."

"How can you think that I wanted that?"

"Yes, and I can't believe it finally happened!"

All the Dialogue Responses can be found here.

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