#asian scifi

[ahb-writes]

"There is no such thing as karma [..] Or, if it does exist, it sure doesn't give a shit about people like me. Some of us were born to be used and discarded. We can't afford to simply go along with the flow of life, because nothing in this world has been created, built, or set up in our favor. If we want something, we have to push back against everything around us and take it by force."

"Wu Zetian" (Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao)

[elsolarpunk]

Ilustraciones norcoreanas de entornos urbanos solarpunk. 

[visuallifes]

[r34needfulthings]

[chessboxingstreetwear]

hamcus

[analogvideostore]

Dragon Ball

[aipunk]

BIOMECH CHIC TECH NOIR: Mei Lin's Urban Armor

Mei Lin is a cyberpunk Asian woman with biomechanical elements and wearing a protective helmet.

In the sprawling cyberpunk city of NeoTokyo, Mei Lin is a skilled mechanic with a penchant for merging technology with her unique sense of style. She navigates the futuristic landscape, seamlessly blending with the biomechanical elements of the city.

Mei Lin's attire isn't just a fashion statement; it's a reflection of her expertise and resilience in the cybernetic metropolis.

[realisticfantasy]

Red emperess

[swearwolf-does-stuff]

requested by @thestoriesincoffeestains // 712 gifs of CHRISTINA CHONG as LA'AN NOONIEN-SINGH in STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS SEASON 2 EPISODE 3 // click on the source link below to be redirected to the gifs. all gifs were created from scratch by me. please respect my work - do not claim as your own or redistribute. edits are allowed with credit. these are free to use but if you like these gifs and would like to support me, please consider donating on ko-fi! lastly, please like and reblog if you find these useful or plan on using them in the future.

tw: fighting/choking, body image/semi-nudity, injuries/collapsing, blood, flashing lights/eyestrain, shouting, theft, shaky camera, food/eating, alcohol/drinking (background), insomnia, fire/explosions, police, kissing, guns, (fictional) death

[alpaca-clouds]

Some thoughts on Silkpunk

It's Punk-O-Clock. And today I am going to talk about Silkpunk and... the rather complicated feelings I have about the genre.

Silkpunk is one of the new Punkgenre, the term being coined in 2015 by writer Ken Liu to describe his book series "Dandelion Dynasty" of which the first book released back then. It was originally just a cheeky way of his to describe his own writing, but he since has given a proper definition for the genre.

To quote two parts of the short description:

The vocabulary of the technology language relies on materials of historical importance to the people of East Asia and the Pacific islands: bamboo, shells, coral, paper, silk, feathers, sinew, etc. The grammar of the language puts more emphasis on biomimetics–the airships regulate their lift by analogy with the swim bladders of fish, and the submarines move like whales through the water. 

And:

Finally, the “-punk” suffix in this case is functional. The silkpunk novels are about rebellion, resistance, re-appropriation and rejuvenation of tradition, and defiance of authority, key “punk” aesthetic pillars. 

(Also: Yay, someone who thought about how to make the themes actually "punk".)

But he also makes one thing very clear:

No, it’s not “Asian-flavored steampunk.” No, it’s not “Asian-influenced fantasy.” No, it’s not …

Which kinda gets us to the core of what I want to talk about here. That Silkpunk, more than maybe most other of the punk genre gets misappropriated as a term. Because most people do use the term to say "Asian-flavored Steampunk". And to be perfectly honest: "Asian-flavored fantasy that has some steampunk aesthetics in there, and hey, look, a pagoda!"

Asia, more than maybe any other cultural circle (except maybe indigenous American cultures) sadly tends to be culturally appropriated in fantasy and science fiction a lot. Especially East Asia, doubly so Japan.

I mean, let's face it: the original punk genre - Cyberpunk - is full of appropriation of Japanese terms and aesthetics, due to all the techno orientalism.

And this makes Silkpunk so complicated. Because the genre so often gets just used as an excuse for that. Some cultural appropriation, because folks really want to give their fantasy a bit of anime flavor.

Thankfully most lists online so far have been somewhat currated in this regard to not include just self-proclaimed Silkpunk but think of this philosophical framing. Which is also why I take a big issue that half the lists of media I saw on the genre features Avatar - The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra. While with ATLA you can at least argue that there is some themes of rebellion and re-appropriation of traditions... Korra does not even do that. (Look, folks, I love Korra for the characters, but the politics of that series as messy as fuck and almost the opposite of punk.) And the design in both series also does not feature any of the described Silkpunk aesthetics, being rather more traditionally Steampunk and Dieselpunk.

I don't know... I really, really love Ken Liu as a writer and his books are amazing. But outside of his books... I have found a list of other Asian American writers whose books might be considered Silkpunk and definitely will look into it. But so far... Most of the stuff I saw under "Silkpunk" did strike me particularly as what Ken Liu describes.

[eynoxart]

Waterpixel Art #116

[not-your-asian-fantasy]

Sarita Choudhury, Fallout 2024

[inkcurlsandknives]

A fun underwater themed #booklook for The Memory Extracts by @judyliu_author and my first blurb as an author! Thanks so much Judy for thinking of me and sharing your awesome anthology

"A vivid futuristic slice-of-life that builds upon the intriguing oceanic world building of the Vending Portal with new characters that leap off the page, while the broader conflicts and themes of its companion novel lurk in the depths and between the lines, both mesmerizing and eerie." – Gabriella Buba, Author of SAINTS OF STORM AND SORROW

Go Check it out!

[shevr]

hey yesterday i got distracted until 5am into browsing lists of old animated movies on wikipedia and there's a bunch of stuff that i wanna get around to dig up & watch but i crave even more older, more obscure, more forgotten stuff

plz feel free to drop any obscure animated flick you know of so i can go check it ( extra bonus points if you're not american and it's a movie from your country )

[sanshofox]

Finished my 3D realism scifi military character project.

This project is inspired by yuriy mazurkin’s cycle frontier concept art for yager . For bigger and full resolution versions of the videos and images you can visit sansho.artstation.com

I really wanted him to look like he‘s been on a mission for longer. Meaning: dirt in crevices, smeared and dried dirt on face, stained and damaged metal and fabrics and so on…

I gave myself a 5 weeks time limit to work on this. Just to see what I‘d come up with in that time frame. I learned a lot again.

After 5 weeks I am really happy with the result. I hope you like it too.