#the iron dream

[abuddyforeveryseason]

Today's April 27th, and this is the Buddy for the Day.

The Jetpack+Flying Saucer combo is a bit of an homage to Frank R. Paul, a beloved artist from the Golden Age of Science Fiction, whose art includes the first depiction of a flying saucer.

Truly, the world's most beloved Austrian artist. Not to be confused with the world's least beloved Austrian artist. You know the one.

There's a book by Norman Spinrad called The Iron Dream, which posits that if Hitler, instead of becoming an intelligence agent for the German army, had moved to America to pursue an art career, he'd end up with a career similar to Paul's. I don't know if that was Spinrad's intention or just a coincidence.

But the story goes on that Hitler would move from illustrating science fiction stories to writing his own, and that all his racism and general insanity would leak into the stories. What Spinrad meant by that was heroic fantasy and sci fi stories like The Lord of the Rings and Dune are also pretty racist - which is why so many neonazis and generally racist people are drawn to it.

Ironically, nazis themselves enjoyed Spinrad's book for showing the Hitler-like protagonist as a hero, missing the satire behind it. So I'm not sure if Spinrad should be taken seriously there.

Still, it's something that a lot of people discuss nowadays - is fantasy and sci fi racist? Or rather, are some tropes employed racist? On one hand, there probably are some writers who do hold racist views, either secretly, openly, or subconsciously. But there's also a lot of misaimed criticism that aims at popular entertainment because it's an easy target (and one that's enjoyed by lower class people).

Star Trek is a big example. There are different alien races there that are sometimes called examples of modern-day racism with a sci fi veneer. The Klingons, being rude, strong and with a love for violence, have the same stereotypes applied to black people. The Ferengi, greedy, sneaky and ugly, represent jews. And the Borg, emotionless and robotic, are the technology-obsessed east asians.

But that comparison is unfair. Because on one hand, greed, violence and lack of emotion are classical villain traits, and the reason minorities were accused of having these flaws was exactly to vilify them.

One episode of Key & Peele had a dialog about white guys approaching them and talking about ho King Kong was a racist movie. It is, to a certain point (the natives of skull island are portrayed like savages), but then the guy goes on to say it's racist because it's about a powerful monkey being chained and taken to America. And Peele said "that's not the movie being racist, that's on you".

It does kind of annoy me when people say pop entertainment is racist in general, because a lot of it is stuff I enjoy, and it seems like punching down at an easy target. On the other hand, nothing is stopping a racist guy from writing his own sci fi stories and just pretend it's just regular tropes about aliens. And if actually racist people are enjoying it, maybe writers should consider that before creating a random "evil race".

The rule of thumb I use is, if it's a book I like, then it's just coincidence, different values or exaggeration from the critics. If it's a book I don't like, then the author's secretly racist.

[forgrtashes-blog]

Frank aint paying allat.

[alienboikyle]

Interrupted

[blondeaxolotl]

ngl my heart has been warming up to Dream Tiger!Kalim, he's a little scary but he's still our little guy

[zu-is-here]

Selfish request of Dreammare pls ?

Pygmalion

idea by @clownyclowns

Dream & Nightmare by jokublog

+ the perfect finger sketch :'D

[vaguely-concerned]

on the one hand I think inner demons could stand to have a bit more romanced rook specific content, but on the other hand the underlying in-built implication that 'yours is the one true voice of comfort and safety in my inner world' is a sentiment and intimacy so way beyond the romantic or the platonic or any secret third thing you could care to name that it makes me lose my entire poor little mind a bit. it's so big and fundamental — near-existential — that in that exact moment at least the distinctions kind of seem irrelevant.

all the people lucanis' mind conjures up along the way are relationships he has that are unavoidably mixed and fraught in some ways even when they're also full of love (they are fraught BECAUSE they're full of love) — the good in them inseparable from things that hurt him at the same time. (it's about: the basic disorganized attachment patterns this poor guy is dragging around with him. careful with those, they're dellamorte heirlooms. what you love also inevitably hurts you and you won't be allowed to have one without the other, you have to surrender parts of your soul to hold on to what little you have left: this is the story up until now.) and the idea that rook isn't that to him — that beneath the fear of wanting them when romanced (which is more its own separate thing because within this psychology, actively wanting something and not just clinging on for dear life to even a meager status quo lest you lose it is in itself dangerous bordering on catastrophic), this is a relationship where there isn't resentment, or guilt, or shame, or dread, or rage, or self-hate, or any of the other emotions that keep him paralyzed, unable to move this way or that. no debts, nothing owed of yourself and your soul's substance except what you can freely and safely and happily give. love and freedom don't coexist — but, I mean, you're almost starting to make me think........... unless...👀👀👀. the unconditional and undramatic 'you are here and I am here with you, you can be exactly how you are right now with me and it's safe for us both even though you're afraid it won't be, I'm not going anywhere' acceptance rook shows him here that he returns to them in the big romance scene, when it's rook who needs it. the way he's just. standing there in the center of it all, like a child desperately helplessly waiting to be found, hiding in the place he hopes you'll know to look first. (rook does know. it's one of the first things they say in there.)

in short the most important room in his little mind palace for the romance is the very first room — the one where rook isn't. where, in fact, rook cannot be, because they disprove the entire structure of the place with their existence and presence in his life. with everyone else he's putting words in their mouths about what they think of him, and rook is the one who actually gets to come in to speak their own words to him — and have him listen. ('he'll listen to you, he always listens to you', 'your voice is a comfort'.) of course rook isn't present anywhere else in there — at the risk of stating the obvious to a tedious degree, they aren't one of the locks, they're bringing the key. in the very finest 'the messenger and the message' sort of way.

[doctorsiren]

I love Hermes teehee also I decided that Athena should have the lightning scar from God Games so just pretend that I drew it on the other gf/epic drawings of her hehe

[toalltheangels]

Pete is one of my favorite poets ever (maybe I'm just emo)

[gravedigg]

hi. do you see my vision?

[benjaminrydersnest]

Dreams and reality, what difference is there? In the Iron Dream, there is none.  A perfect world, just as you want… You, and no one else. It is yours.  For five years.  Then you must choose: Dreams… or reality? But if there is no difference… What choice is there but to choose a better, happier reality? Though, it may be concerning that some dreams can just as easily turn to nightmares, we promise you will be safe… That is our mission.

-The Iron Dream advertisement, by Arcturus Inc.

...if you would like to be notified of my progress on this dystopic fantasy, feel free to reblog this post and I'll add you to the taglist!

Came up with a New Thing, calling it “The Iron Dream” for now. Stay tuned for updates. Also, I’m revealing a different, also new WIP soon.

[floralbabie]

[whumpster-dumpster]

"I don't care? I don’t listen? Do you remember what happened the last time I tried to share something deeply personal with you, something close to my heart? You fell asleep."

[starryarts]

made a cover for my soriku playlist

[idontmindifuforgetme]

Going to get into the habit of carrying my journal everywhere w me bc I truly want to soak up every snapshot of this transitional period where I’m just a 22 year old girl finding my footing and the only thing I’m tied to are the decisions I make and the path I carve for myself

[toffeesbabbles]

@wickjump requested that I do hypersomnia, so I couldn't resist!

Given the name, I also decided to include sleeping habits for them

yapping under the cut

The difference between dream and ink is dream forces himself awake, and ink doesn't. Ink just struggles to sleep and doesn't really need to? Dream doesn't either, but the mental toll of his job often exhausts him. In my head, ink would need sleep eventually but just not as frequently as maybe normal skeletons would. Error actually has okay sleeping habits, better than the other two. Not that he doesn't have his own issues, but he sleeps far more often than the other two. He sleeps less often than classic, though.

[mifs]

theyre literally two blokes who do fuckall