#environmental themes

[recsspecs]

[psitrend]

Interview with Minor Conflict on their Upcoming EP Parallels

Robbie Warin and Josh Smyth discuss Minor Conflict’s origins and new EP Parallels. Minor Conflict is a Bristol-based musical group that combines post-punk and leftfield folk influences. In their music, they address significant themes such as urban life, human relationships, and environmental concerns. The group consists of Natalie Whiteland on harp and vocals, Josh Smyth on bass and vocals, and…

[fathersonholygore]

Uncanny Terrors & Landscapes of Grief in ENYS MEN

[joncronshawauthor]

How Final Fantasy Has Shaped Modern Fantasy Literature

Final Fantasy, the video game series that’s been anything but ‘final’, has made a considerable impact not just on the gaming world, but also on the pages of contemporary fantasy literature. So, how exactly did a bunch of pixelated characters hopping across our screens wield such influence over authors and their hefty tomes? Chocobos to Giant Hawks? The first, and possibly most important,…

[delicatelysublimeforester]

Promoting Literacy through Nature: Building Sustainable and Peaceful Societies

[synchodai]

Another thing season two completely shelves was season one's commentary on ecological apartheid. The closest we get is the enforcers' weaponizing The Grey, but after that? Nothing. Also, Caitlyn weaponizing The Grey should have been a bigger point of contention between her and Vi. Vi could have leveraged her knowledge and experience of The Lanes to convince Caitlyn that they didn't need to use a bioweapon, something that she *knows* firsthand is a form of slow violence that poisons innocents. Their relationship would have then degraded when they keep failing to capture Jinx (maybe because the Zaunites keep helping her hide) which leads to Caitlyn busting out the gas because her view of the Undercity transitions from "innocent" to "complicit." But no, why have two characters interacting in real time when we can have another MV with flashy transitions and symbolic art?

[lore-of-mobius]

Political Themes in Sonic The Hedgehog

So there are people nowadays that complain about "politics" being "forced" in media such as Sonic The Hedgehog, whether or not this is the case. They often go on to say they just want things like Sonic to be an escapist fantasy and to keep politics out. So I wanted to talk about political themes in Sonic The Hedgehog that have existed since the first game, and exist in other Sonic continuities as well.

So starting off while I don't know where to find said interview, the environmentalism is major theme stated to be behind Sonic The Hedgehog 1. Now while some people might say environmentalism shouldn't be regarded as political which I agree with, it has been made political by other people. With many of the people who complain about politics in media often complaining about environmentalism viewing it in media as inherently political. This is why I am including it. Continuing said themes can be seen in how in Sonic 1 after Eggman is defeated the Chaos Emeralds create more nature in an instant, and in the 8-bit version the Emeralds get rid of all the pollution done by Eggman.

This is further seen in Chemical Plant Zone and Eggman's bases being cold, mechanical, and the absolute polar opposite of Green Hill Zone. This is further seen in the comparison made by ALtheBoi between Angel Island and the Death Egg being polar opposites in their video How Sonic 3 Tells a Story.

This is further seen in Sonic CD with Eggman's greatest and most prized creation Metal Sonic. Or how the Encyclo-speed-dia puts it, "Eggman's answer to nature's perfect hero." In addition, the good future depicts the Little Planet as a solarpunk paradise, while the bad future depicts it as a polluted mechanical city with no nature in sight.

Eggman and Sonic's rivalry is depicted as freedom and nature vs oppression and pollution, as many of the blue blur's descriptions make this clear. Sonic Adventure "With a strong love of freedom, the only thing Sonic hates is oppression." Sonic Heroes "He's basically easygoing, but when he gets fired up over an injustice, his anger explodes with surprising consequences. Always at the receiving end of this aggression is arch-enemy Dr. Eggman, whose fiendish plots to take over the world are constantly being foiled by Sonic." Sonic Riders Zero Gravity "Sonic is a big fan of freedom and has no tolerance for evildoers." Olympic Games 2016 "He despises anything that is unfair and will get into trouble to help anyone in need." Sonic Superstars "Sonic the Hedgehog runs at mach speeds and is quick to engage those that threaten his friends, his freedom, or the natural world around him."

On top of this the existence of the Guardian Unit Of Nations and what they represent alongside their crookedness makes it where there are politics in the Sonic world. The same goes for the existence of Princess Elise and Blaze the Cat adding in monarchies.

The same goes for Queen Alena and Princess Sally as they do the same for Sonic Underground and Satam. Speaking of which Sonic Satam is the more blunt of Sonic continuities with it's political themes with the tyrant Julian Robotnik and his polluted reign of terror over Mobius, which of course bleeds into the Archie comics.

[liesmyth]

All your TLT posting is making me questioning if I should try it.. The only thing i'm worried is that I don't want to start a series and then finding out in the third bookthat the author made the antiheroic genderbent mao protagonist throw the metaphorical atomic bomb on the japanese because the author is an american descendent of a Chang Kai Shek general and wanted to absolve the yankees to grant herself a career (it worked greatly). So should i still try TLT as an olde commie? Love your blog btw, please continue reblog all those TLT fan art they look great! Thanks!

whew lowkey glad I couldn't get past the first book in that other series. anyway *clears throat*

If you like LESBIANS, Locked Tomb is the fandom for you. If you like BONES and FAILWOMEN and ARE ANGRY AT GOD, Locked Tomb is the fandom for you. If you like BAD JOKES and SHITTY MEMES, we have those in spades. If you love EXCELLENT FANART and DIVORCES that last TEN THOUSAND YEARS and LOCKED ROOM MURDER MYSTERIES, if you think EVIL COUGARS are SEXY, if you think PLUTO totally COUNTS as a PLANET, Locked Tomb is the fandom for you!!!!

[here's the rest of the tlt manifesto on ao3, podficced by @/wilfriede ]

On a serious note! I think TLT is definitely informed by leftist politics, and it has many themes that lend themselves to juicy interpretations on top of a really meaty worldbuilding and characterisation. Also the fanart SLAPS. And if you read the books you can check out my fics which, not to brag, are some of the weirdest I've ever written! featuring such tropes as: "bodyswapped man sucks his own dick" "vagina dentata" "ritual sex to have a baby during a mass death event" "in-universe academia" and "orphan girl meets her parents for the first time and they suck"

tldr please read the locked tomb <3

[saturnniidae]

Cripplepunk Modern Au Hiccup

[recsspecs]

[leohtttbriar]

Energy Transfer is one of the Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Texas, and Warren is its extremely politically connected co-founder. Warren is also one of the most generous donors in the Texas (and national) conservative political scene, and has funneled huge donations to politicians like Governor Greg Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, and Attorney General Ken Paxton. Warren’s investments, unfortunately, seem to have paid off. In 2021, Energy Transfer and its execs profiteered $2.4 billion off of the February collapse of Texas’ electric grid, which resulted in the deaths of at least 246 Texans. Governor Abbott subsequently, and successfully, steered scrutiny away from Energy Transfer and other energy companies who were either responsible for or profited from the crash. Mere months later, Warren sent Abbott’s campaign a million-dollar check.

Warren and other Energy Transfer leaders and lawyers now seem poised to manipulate the system in favor of the pipeline company once again, this time in the federal courts. 

Prior to the recent raging pipeline fire in Texas, Energy Transfer was behind a very different disaster unfolding at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal agency that often acts as a watchdog for labor unions and regularly fields and reviews complaints from union members nationwide. In 2022, an unidentified employee of Energy Transfer’s subsidiary La Grange Acquisition filed an unfair labor practice charge against the company, alleging that it had retaliated against him for complaining about unsafe working conditions, including “radioactive material and hazardous dust in work areas.” The NLRB opened an administrative case, investigating those claims and the subsequent allegation that he was fired in part for filing the complaint.

In 2024, Energy Transfer sued the NLRB, seeking to halt the administrative proceedings and joining SpaceX, Amazon, and other corporations in basically arguing that the board’s foundational structure is unconstitutional. That argument threatens the basic function of the NLRB (and other agencies like it) and could have sweeping consequences for its ability to conduct investigations or engage in basic enforcement actions for violations of labor rules and regulations. 

That suit ultimately landed in front of Judge Jeffrey Vincent Brown of the Southern District of Texas—a Trump appointee—who issued a preliminary injunction against the NLRB’s investigation into Energy Transfer in order to allow the company’s suit against the NLRB to proceed. 

Though the NLRB has nearly 90 years of case law supporting its structure and administrative court reviews, Brown’s ruling cited instead a recent Fifth Circuit ruling, Jarkesy v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which held that the SEC’s structure and enforcement procedures were unconstitutional. In July of this year, the Supreme Court partially affirmed Jarkesy, but remained silent on the Fifth Circuit’s ruling on the (un)constitutionality of the SEC’s administrative law judges, a structure that the commission shares with the NLRB—and many other federal agencies. 

When the Supreme Court does not affirm nor reject an aspect of a ruling issued by a lower court, the lower court’s ruling is functionally left in place, which now poses a serious threat to the basic functionality of the SEC and other federal regulatory agencies that are mandated to act as watchdogs over unscrupulous corporations and in defense of the public interest. Contradictory rulings on the issue from other federal judges have highlighted the conflicting precedents that have allowed the Fifth Circuit to activate an issue that had been deemed settled for decades. 

[...]

An NPR investigation just this year found that he, along with two other Southern District of Texas judges, had failed to file a required form disclosing his attendance of a privately funded seminar. 

The case is far from settled, and it will now be heard by the Fifth Circuit with the NLRB’s appeal of Brown’s earlier ruling. What happens next is yet to be seen, but with the foundation of the government agency that historically has protected labor union members’ rights in the hands of a notoriously partisan court that previously attacked it, the outlook is not promising. 

[lore-of-the-mushroom-kingdom]

Political Themes In Mario

So there are people nowadays that complain about "politics" being "forced" in media such as Mario, whether or not this is the case. They often go on to say they just want things like Mario to be an escapist fantasy and to keep politics out. So I wanted to talk about political themes in Mario games similar to how I did for Sonic.

So to start off we have the 2 kingdoms the Mushroom and Koopa Kingdom which are constantly in conflict bringing monarchies into the mix. Peach in particular has asked Mario and Yoshi to help the Jewelry Land out from Bowser's conquest in Yoshi's Safari.

She also has at least tried to met with the goodwill ambassador of the Beanbean Kingdom in Superstar Saga, she tried to deal with blorbs outbreak in Inside Story when she held a meeting, and has met with other Kingdom rulers such as Prince Florian.

There is also several kings she rulers over and vast amounts of land that make up the Mushroom Kingdom such the Eastern and Western territories.

There is also the themes of exchange rates of coins and borders established in Superstar Saga.

We also can't forget about the entire Koopa Army's existence.

In Odyssey it is established places like New Donk City hold elections for mayors as Pauline was elected to be the mayor.

Meanwhile in on Isle Delfino has an entire jury system that convicts Mario, alongside law enforcement.

In Super Mario Sunshine Bowser Junior pollutes Isle Delfino which Mario gets blamed for and has to clean up. This game as such themes are pollution ruining a beautiful island and disrupting the lifestyle of the islanders.

Speaking of pollution we can't forget about the Kremlings and how they not only polluted DK Island with Kremkroc Industries, but their homeland. As seen in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, Crocodile Island has a been almost completely ruined by the Kremlings create a dark polluted atmosphere.

All of this creating an environmentalist theme to these games.

Now while some people might say environmentalism shouldn't be regarded as political which I agree with, it has been made political by other people. With many of the people who complain about politics in media often complaining about environmentalism viewing it in media as inherently political. This is why I am including it.

On top of that there is the hypothesis the Kremlings and K. Rool particularly in the Donkey Kong Country 1 could possibly represent a real world event and person.

More on the environmentalism theming, there is the existence of the Wild Yoshi Sanctuary and possible rewilding of Yoshies.

Plus dinosaurs are often made inherently political by some people because of prehistory and evolution.

Also, of the Kremling, pirates are also political because of their connection to monarchies historical, especially being true for the Kremlings.

Finally Mario and Luigi are immigrants which should be self explanatory. In the games they lived in New Donk City for a time, while in the movieverse they are Italian-American immigrants living in Brooklyn, and many continuities.

Mario and Luigi are plumbers and went through many working class jobs in the past like construction, bottling, and cement.

On top of that Mario fought in an unnamed war as well in Mario Bombs Away.

And one extra thing Bowser especially in the movie can represent toxic masculinity, and someone who can never take no for an answer. Such a theme is often made inherently political by some people.

Also, the way Peach is described by Miyamoto can also be viewed as inherently political by certain people who hate the mere thought of someone like Peach being like that.

[aroaessidhe]

little free library cat led me to the little free library this morning...... and I found a good book there!

[lucabyte]

Elder Scrolls 🤝 Homestuck 🤝 Snapewives

i have a connection to make here but im not telling you

[skrunksthatwunk]

jsjdkdbjsskh this fucking movie man

^^destruction caused by a fight his boys and some randos got into

[itstimeforstarwars]

Me 🤝 jude watson 🤝 half the star wars visions writers: when the main character commits ecoterrorism that is a heroic action.