#utopian city meme

[emma-is-swaggy-and-epic]

Society if emma-is-swaggy-and-epic didn't keep fucking forgetting to tab out of her art blog to reblog shit

[thumbsart]

In a world without copyright law, za/um's new owners would still be able to do exactly what they did, and are doing, in the exact same way. It would change literally nothing. What an absurd misunderstanding of both copyright law and what the fuck happened to za/um.

re the za/um shit while i understand the rhetorical value of calling haavel and kompus 'thieves' or saying that the DE creators have been 'cheated' out of their creation, i think it's really important to remember that this is copyright law and IP protection working as designed. it is not an abuse of the framework of intellectual property, it is the de facto standard use case of it. like it's very likely all this will go to court and it'll turn out that all of this is entirely legal because allowing corporate entities to forcefully enclose creative works--often with the creators on the other side of the fence--is not a perversion of copyright law, but its main purpose!

[nutzo0001]

Promised Neverland

Other name: Tech-zine future (inspired by July '97 edition of WIRED [picture] [link to read])

Main interest - Retro-Futurism, Cyberpradism

Related/Similar to the genres/aesthetics of Vaporwave, Y2K, Cyberpunk and those sorts -

Wonderland, Cyberparadism, Global Village Coffeehouse and Hauntology - among others -

This aesthetics talks about idea of "what could have been", "what we lost", even incorporating in talks those terms of "look what they took away from you".

Speaking of general "vibe", we are in-between on terms of: Dark Academia, sometimes Bastardcore - Mallgoth. Also might vary between Utopian scholastic, and/or cassette futurism (and others).

Talking of Hauntology - PNL can make us look over for "what went wrong/what could be//get better", this is, speaking figuratively. Human imagination, in these forms, presents to us, "what could have been's" - world envisioned: in 10, 50, 100, 500 years. Many projects and arts envisioned our "future"s, now long-gone (1800s, 1900s, 1950s-1980s ~ y2k).

Idealised future (now past) can consist of:

Topics: pro-freedom hackers, cyberpunk, "long bloom", "promised 80s neverland", (once upon a time-space - Barrille) futures; human-library-utopic, free world, calm, pre-9/11 dreams (y2k), new ways-opportunities-progress, tech = (as) saviour, "gay space free commie", unity-community-mutual help-understanding, econ. boom, "kids are alright"/no real deal, small media-only, man vs himself/bad habits (spooks?), theories of mind and research (everything is relative > no meaning, or value > nihilism); slow steady steps, new school(s) of thought, "kids = (are) future", "we build this city"/people-first, man-gov collab. ~mutual help/or, liberation...

for Gallery, see Retro-Futurism#Gallery

Mini-gallery

Albert Barillé landscapes

More:

"90s (Cyber/-) Positivism" and or, "Oldest (Alt.) Nets (80s-'93)"

- Also, *when* "Oldest Web"/"Old Alt.-nets" (Work name)? (1980s-1992/93) - "Eternal September", "there is no Cabal" and such? (https://aesthetics.fandom.com/wiki/Old_Web?commentId=44...54588&replyId=44...436775)

- https://aesthetics.fandom.com/f/p/44...52421

- https://aesthetics.fandom.com/f/p/44...53803

- https://aesthetics.fandom.com/f/p/44...53936

(^ Related: "90s Positivism")

-- Ike this: https://kyberia.sk/id/8639748#7 (https://aesthetics.fandom.com/f/p/44...53936/r/44...435546)

- https://aesthetics.fandom.com/f/p/44...53936/r/44...435363 (... (copied this text to AI and asked about mark fisher + stirner + hauntology...):)

[skullhaver]

weirdly specific request

can someone help me find a "society if" meme utopian-style image, but the picture has no flying cars or car-sized roads, and instead appears to be a walkable/bikeable city?

[lovejustforaday]

2023 Year End List - #11

El Diablo En El Cuerpo - Álex Anwandter

Main Genres: Synth Pop, Dance Pop

A decent sampling of: Electro-Disco, Synth Funk, Electro Pop

Yet another entry on the list that I discovered this year while looking for records from outside the Anglosphere. And again, it's another artist from Latino-America.

I already said this in an old review, so I'm just gonna reiterate my stance briefly again - the 21st century 80s synth pop revivalism wave has been very hit or miss. And I'm mostly talking about the stuff that very clearly is actually paying homage to 80s music, not just any artist who happens to make bleeps and bloops.

But yeah, hit or miss. Some of it is frankly very dull and uninspired, and makes me wanna just put on some classic Depeche Mode or Strawberry Switchblade instead.

But when it hits, it hits hard, somehow managing to justify this ""trend"" that's been going on far too long to even be considered a trend anymore. Let's face it - the whole 80s synth pop / synth funk / sophistopop sound is here to stay forever, and I think that's for the best, even if occasionally I get a little exhausted from the over-saturation.

Anyways, moving on to the artist.

Álex Andwandter is a queer Chilean alternative pop artist and director based out of Santiago. He's collaborated with one of my own favourites, fellow Chilean indie/alt pop artist Javiera Mena (who makes a guest appearance on this record!). The dude has been active for over a decade now, so again, I'm a bit late to the party. Cut me some slack; I'm a gringo.

Álex himself sings in a bright, chipper, falsetto-y tenor full of sunshine and rainbows, sounding every bit as colourful as the classic synthesizer sounds that he incorporates into his music, though he also has a more dark and seductive register that he often injects into his steamier dance songs.

El Diablo En El Cuerpo ("The Devil in the Body"), his latest offering and my first introduction to his discography, is classic dancey, funky synth pop with a lot of sincerity and a few pinches of homoerotic mystique sprinkled in here and there. A very indulgent record for you to just lose yourself in the glitter and glam of it all. Basically, this is some utopian gay space shit (shout out to those who get the meme) and I am here for it.

Nothing could prepare me for the tantalizing and straight-up badass electro-disco thunderstorm that is "Qué piensas hacer sin mi amor?" ("What do you think you will do without my love?"). Anwandter channels Depeche Mode, Soft Cell, and Donna Summer all at once on this fierce juggernaut that's absolutely soaking with erotic tension. Puts me right in the middle of the dimmest, sweatiest fucking over-crowded dancefloor in some sleazy ass gay bar on a goth night at 1:00 am, and I'm too drunk to feel anything except the pounding pulse of the rhythm and the arousal of strangers rubbing up against me....ahem, is it hot in here? Anyways, eat your heart out Troye Sivan ("Rush" is great too, I'm mostly just memeing).

In contrast, the following track "Precipicio" ("Precipice") gives off a very 'classy' vibe - more cocktail dresses and glowing white LED dancefloors, less BDSM goth fetish gear and sweaty dankness. Some nice, sexy funky horns on this one that really brings the whole thing together. I also LIVE for Álex's sassy twink diva vibes all over this track; gets me almost as h-word as the previous track.

"Toda la noche" ("All Night") is anthemic synth funk that's giving a little bit of INXS. Groovy and life-affirming feel good shit that I would snort if I could. I want this to be the soundtrack of my own silly little 80s romance that's all about being young in the big city.

"Vamos de nuevo" ("Let's Go Again") is less of a nocturnal dancefloor number, and more something you might skip along to down the sidewalk on a sun shower summer's day with your hot pink Sony Walkman. Gorgeous upbeat vibraphone and detuned synth keys providing a backdrop for foolishly lovesick lyrics. My other favourite cut off the album, after the obvious one.

At the end of the day, the record is definitely a bit frontloaded, and it wears me out a little bit with its sixteen tracks in total. I understand this is probably meant to be the kind of record you play late at night when you're ready to get wasted and dance your heart out until you pass out; I just think it could be sequenced to have more of the outright bangers towards the end. But putting that aside, this was my second favourite dance record in a very stacked year for dance records, and it's certainly my favourite on the more disco/house/funky/electro-y end of the spectrum. El Diablo En El Cuerpo is simple, hot, memorable fun with a lot of exquisite taste. I can't imagine anyone in my own life that I couldn't successfully recommend this album to. So go on, embrace your inner gay synth pop twink.

8/10

Highlights: "Qué piensas hacer sin mi amor?", "Vamos de nuevo", "Precipicio", "Toda la noche", "Tienes una idea muy antigua del amor", "prediciendo la runa", "Unx de nosotrxs (feat. Javiera Mena)"

[messrsbyler]

for anyone who cares to know, this is an illustration made by Damian Krzywonos and it illustrates an utopian city in the year 2080.

The image shows a fictional city in an even more distant future of the year 2080. The green city with its curved buildings combines sustainability with aesthetics and quality of life. The many green spaces and parks invite you to linger and enjoy, because hectic, stress and burnout are afflictions of the past.

for more info, here is a link to the DevianArt post

to everyone who makes posts of that meme "society if..." can i suggest instead of using this atrocity (ew, this sucks, who even wants this, it makes me sick)

we use this instead? (beautiful, with public spaces in human scale, outside public activities, building with hight restrictions, inclusion of nature, modern but not ugly)

[yngai]

dash game, get to know the mun. ( repost, don't reblog )

🦋 name: nadiya, diminutive of nadezhda. 🦋 pronouns:  she/her. 🦋 preference of communication:  tumblrs IMs as a starting point though i will always move things to discord since it's less of a hassle. 🦋 single/taken: single & aromantic so i'm fairly comfortable as is.

🦋 three facts.

currently i work in a fairly expensive & somewhat busy sushi restaurant in my city that's about 2 minutes away on foot from my apartment, so can you believe that my favorite movie from 2022 was the menu? all the kitchen nightmares & hell's kitchen binging me & my pals did during the pandemic didn't help.

beforehand i worked at a run-down pasta shop that survived through delivery apps & while the food was pretty good (i wasn't a huge fan of pasta beforehand), the location was in a part of the city with a bunch of restaurants that act as fronts for potential criminals, so most of the owner's friends were coen brothers characters. i'm glad i got out of there. the place closed down after i left, my boss was sent to a mental health facility for 2 weeks for reasons unknown, though her last act was to try & rally a bunch of businesses against the leading delivery app in my city, which failed spectacularly, as you can imagine. me & an ex-coworker still text each other whenever there's an update on our old boss.

restaurant work has led me to pick up a smoking habit that i've avoided till now.

🦋 experience.

gosh i've been roleplaying since i was barely a teenager on windows live messenger, then skype after a long break, & i eventually moved to tumblr in 2014 because i got very tired of the group chats i was in, stuck to d.octor who for ages & ages writing basically every character you can imagine, from the show to the audio dramas & its expanded universe novels, it was a fixation for a large part of my life that led me to meet some of my best friends on this website. then i switched over to h.ellsing & that blog is what helped get my foothold in the rpc, i was a pretty obscure writer until then, & the people i met through the fandom i still talk to daily, we've been a gaggle for five years now, inseparable. we'll see where things go from here but i'm pretty solidified with writing ada, i care a lot about her character & properly portraying it, & while i've had my ups & downs in the ressie rpc i'm glad to be back & very happy with the writers i've befriended since my return & with all the peeps that have stuck around with me since i first made the blog, you're all so cool, i don't deserve any of you.

🦋 sub-genres.

political/crime thriller is my favorite genre to write in which is pretty basic taste though it does fit the blog, mix that in with the ideological/body horror of ressie & you have a recipe for success. across other blogs though i love both utopian & dystopian sci-fi, high & modern fantasy, again, basic.

🦋 plots vs memes.

plotting is my bread & butter i'm always sitting on like a million headcanons, ideas, inspirations for my characters & i'm always looking for people i click with to share them. tumblr is a social media platform first & foremost so i'm always searching for people i can bounce things around with very smoothly & maybe i've been lucky that i've never struggled to make new pals. even the act of plotting itself can be fun & creatively rewarding to me, we don't have to actually write anything on the dash, really.

🦋 long or short replies.

i used to struggle with longer replies as a younger writer but now i write so many needless paragraphs of introspection for most of my characters i feel like i give nothing to the other writer to reply to, just thoughts upon thoughts with little action & even lesser dialog.

🦋 best time to write.

i try to get a reply in before a shift if i can help it because usually i come home exhausted, if i'm off work though i usually write in the evenings or afternoons depending on how not distracted i am.

tagged by: @croftborn, danke :) tagging: steal it, i dare you.

[its-suanneschafer-author]

Someone who follows my Facebook page recently reacted to my posting of a Trump for Leavenworth meme and advised me that writers should stay out of politics. I am sorry, but I thoroughly disagreed. My two novels, Hunting the Devil and A Different Kind of Fire (soon to be renamed Passion & Paint) while not overtly political, look at women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, human rights, world politics, and genocide.

Off the top of my head, I can think twenty-one authors (listed below) who took it upon themselves to comment on politics and seek reform. I don’t claim to be in the same league as these men and women, I just want to go on record as saying that writers and other artists have a duty to record abuses, comment on atrocities, delve into politics, advocate for the oppressed, and share those views and their individual beliefs with the world.

Annie Besant: She advocated for a free and independent India, writing about the oppressive, regressive policies Britain maintained toward their colonies in the name of acquiring wealth. Her goal was to produce employment, provide better living conditions, and education for the poor. She fought for the freedom of thought, secularism, women’s rights, birth control, and workers’ rights in the late 19th century.

Amartya Kumar Sen: He is an Indian philosopher, political author and economist who has written about social choice theory, economics, and economic and social justice. In addition, he has written about public health, decision theory, and measures of the well-being of countries. He won the Noble Prize for Economics.

 John Steinbeck: An American author and the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, John Steinbeck is known his social perception. His works explore the concepts of fate and injustice, especially of the downtrodden and the poor. His book, The Grapes of Wrath, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1939. It looks at the Great Depression and the millions of people who poured out of the Dust Bowl looking for a better life and documents the horrific conditions the migrant workers endured.

Plato: He innovated the dialectic forms and written dialogue in philosophy, raising questions that later gave rise to practical and theoretical philosophy. The Republic, his most famous work, outlines his political thinking and looks at the meaning of justice and wonders whether a just man could be happier than an unjust man. Existing regimes are discussed at length as well as proposing a utopian city-state.

Charles Dickens: His book, Oliver Twist, narrates the life of a mistreated child who joins a gang of thieves. The British upper classes had no idea of the living conditions of London’s poor, and Dicken slams them in the face with reality. He looks at the victimization of children, the poor law system, and Victorian workhouse, which operated with a system of prolonged hunger, physical torture, humiliation and hypocrisy. Dickens’s works brought out much-needed change in society.

George Orwell: Like Annie Besant, Orwell wrote about British policies in their colonies, particularly India, which exploited the people and natural resources of those countries. His books, 1984 and Animal Farm were written in response to the USSR and its draconian policies. These dystopic novels envision a future with no freedoms or rights and serve as reminders of the importance of freedom of speech and thought.

Adam Smith: He is “The Father of Economics.” His book, The Wealth of Nations, is the first modern book of economics. In it he looks at topics such as the role of the free market and the laissez-faire structures though a mix of disciplines: philosophy, politics, history, anthropology, economics, and sociology. He redefined the role of the government, saying that the government was responsible for its people.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau: He was a philosopher, writer, political author, and composer whose political philosophy influenced some aspects of the French Revolution. The development of modern political, educational and economic thought can be credited to him. The Social Contract and Discourse on Inequality are most well-known works. Social contract theory suggests that people live together in society and follow certain moral and political rules. He believed that if society lived by a social contract, it can be moral by choice and not because a superior being requires it. His Discourse on Inequality may be the best critique of modernity and traces the psychological effects of society on human nature.

John Locke: He was a physician, philosopher, and political author and considered the “Father of Liberalism”. His works influenced the development of political philosophy and epistemology. His contributions to republicanism and liberal theory are seen in the United States Declaration of Independence. He argues that if a government fails to protect the rights of its people, such as life, liberty and property, it can be lawfully overthrown. 

Henry David Thoreau: He was a staunch abolitionist. His philosophy, as explained in Civil Disobedience, influenced the political thoughts and actions of many. In Walden, he reflects on simple living in natural surroundings with an emphasis on self-reliance. He argues that people should not permit governments to become agents of injustice and suggests individuals listen to their conscience. He proposed disobedience to an unjust state.

Thomas Paine: He wrote Rights of Man in 1791. It rules as one of the finest statements to come out of the 18th century. His ideas were revolutionary and inspired people to move toward democracy and gave birth first to the American Revolution and, later, the French Revolution.

Upton Sinclair: He provided accurate journalistic details of the corruption and social hardships caused by big business in the United States. His book The Jungle was an exposé of the meatpacking industry, sparking a public uproar about the hygienic conditions in food processing industry. The American government couldn’t ignore the outcry. As a result , the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act came into effect. 

Charles Darwin: He was a naturalist, geologist, political author, and biologist, best known for his work and contributions to evolutionary biology. His book, On the Origin of Species, changed the political, cultural, and religious views of society. His theory of evolution caused an academic revolution but is now widely accepted. 

Betty Friedan:  She is credited with using in the second wave of feminism in America. She sought to bring women into equal partnership with men. Her book, The Feminine Mystique, shattered the image of the perfect woman, in particular the housewife, urged women to become educated, and to use their talents to do more with their lives.

Harriet Beecher Stowe: When Abraham Lincoln first met Harriet Beecher in 1862, he said, “So you are the woman who wrote the book that started this great war.” So her mighty words in Uncle Tom’s Cabin were part of the movement that freed American slaves.

Noam Chomsky: He is the founder of modern linguistics and one of the world’s best intellectuals and has influenced a vast array of academic fields. He is famous for his staunch anti-war position and is critical of the U.S.’s foreign policy, capitalism, involvement in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. His book, Deterring Democracy, is about the United States playing the role of global police after World War II and its desire to remain a dominant world power more than promulgating democracy.

Elie Weisel: He is a Holocaust survivor who spent much of his life speaking on the Holocaust and human rights. He advocated for victims of oppression in places like the Soviet Union, Sudan, the Kurds, the Armenian Genocide. He won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Roméo Dallaire: He was the commander of the United Nations forces in Rwanda during the genocide in 1994. Since then he has lived with PTSD while advocating against genocide, for human rights, for children’s rights, and for the abolishment of child soldiers. His book, Shake Hands with the Devil, documents his struggles and the nation of Rwanda’s struggles during the genocide.

Thomas Hobbes: He was a 16th century English philosopher whose book, Leviathan, looks at social contract theory and societal breakdown. A polymath, he wrote on history, law, geometry, ethics, theology, the state of nature and the laws of nature. 

Aldous Huxley: He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature nine times. A pacifist, he wrote Ends and Means which looks at war, inequality, religion, and ethics. He was a Hollywood screenwriter who spent much of his income bringing Jewish and left-wing writers from Hitler’s Germany to the U.S. His books, Brave New World and Island, look at dystopia and utopia respectively.

Mary Wollstonecraft: She was an 18th century writer and philosopher who advocated strongly for women’s rights. Her book, A Vindication of the Rights of Women, argued that women were not inherently inferior to men but appeared to be solely because of their lack of education. She felt men and women should be treated as rational beings and envisioned a social order founded on reason.

[laxref22]

this is the psychosis we are dealing with folks. Apparently Children are dying because of oil and our food supplies are disappearing because of oil. i’m all for ecological and technological progress. I truly am. However……..I’ll ask the question again: So these people win and oil production STOPS immediately. NOW WHAT?? NOW WHAT?? No more cell phones, no more computers, no more plastic of any kind. No fixing our roads with asphalt, No more air travel, no more shipping, no more deliveries, no more cars, no more motorcycles. NO MORE MILITARY to protect your country.

So your answer is solar and electric?? By all accounts it’s not Feasible or Realistic but i’ll humor you……..So now instead of drilling for oil we have to mine for Cobalt and destroy the countryside and the land. (By the way, destroying the land was the environmentalists major argument about coal.) We now have the so called “oil barons”that everyone hates because they have drilled/discovered/capped/tapped/transpired and sold oil for over 150 years. You honestly think that’s NOT going to happen with Cobalt?? It already is!! Further, What are we going to do with all of the cobalt batteries in all of the vehicles when they no longer hold a charge 10-15 years from now?? where do we dispose of these toxic batteries?? you think kids are dying and food sources are depleting now????…….you just wait until your “utopian society” has nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

I saw a great meme the other day. it was a picture of the capital of North Korea side by side with a picture of the capital of South Korea. the meme read “Take two cities. Add Capitalism to one and keep Communism in the other and wait 50 years.”

[hoursofreading]

1, 5 and 7 for the reading meme?

What are 2-5 already published fiction books you think you want to read in 2023?

I don't really read that much fiction, which I'm hoping to rectify. The last fiction I remembered reading was a Quaker rom com (yes, really).

But here's a list:

Romola by George Eliot - One of George Eliot’s most ambitious and imaginative novels, Romola is set in Renaissance Florence during the turbulent years following the expulsion of the powerful Medici family during which the zealous religious reformer Savonarola rose to control the city. At its heart is Romola, the devoted daughter of a blind scholar, married to the clever but ultimately treacherous Tito whose duplicity in both love and politics threatens to destroy everything she values, and she must break away to find her own path in life. Described by Eliot as ‘written with my best blood’, the story of Romola’s intellectual and spiritual awakening is a compelling portrayal of a Utopian heroine, played out against a turbulent historical backdrop.

The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson - Decades into our future, a stone’s throw from the ancient city of Shanghai, a brilliant nanotechnologist named John Percival Hackworth has just broken the rigorous moral code of his tribe, the powerful neo-Victorians. He's made an illicit copy of a state-of-the-art interactive device called A Young Ladys Illustrated Primer  Commissioned by an eccentric duke for his grandchild, stolen for Hackworth's own daughter, the Primer’s purpose is to educate and raise a girl capable of thinking for herself. It performs its function superbly. Unfortunately for Hackworth, his smuggled copy has fallen into the wrong hands.

Nation by Terry Pratchett - Written loosely in a third-person perspective, the novel is set in an alternative history of our world, shortly after Charles Darwin has published On the Origin of Species.[5] A recent Russian influenza pandemic has just killed the British king and his next 137 heirs. Except for the opening chapter, the novel's action entirely occurs in the Great Southern Pelagic Ocean (the fictionalised South Pacific Ocean) on a particular island known by its indigenous inhabitants as "the Nation".

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson - The Ministry for the Future is a climate fiction ("cli-fi") novel by American science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson published in 2020. Set in the near future, the novel follows a subsidiary body, established under the Paris Agreement, whose mission is to act as an advocate for the world's future generations of citizens as if their rights are as valid as the present generation's. While they pursue various ambitious projects, the effects of climate change are determined to be the most consequential. The plot primarily follows Mary Murphy, the head of the titular Ministry for the Future, and Frank May, an American aid worker traumatized by experiencing a deadly heat wave in India. Many chapters are devoted to other (mostly anonymous) characters' accounts of future events, as well as their ideas about ecology, economics, and other subjects.

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō by Hitoshi Ashinano - Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō is set in a peaceful, post-cataclysmic world where mankind is in decline after an environmental disaster. Exactly what happened is never explained, but sea levels have risen significantly, inundating coastal cities such as Yokohama, Mount Fuji erupted in living memory, and climate change has occurred. With the seasons being less pronounced, the winters are milder and the summer isn't scorching anymore. The reduced human population has reverted to a simpler life, and the reader is told this is the twilight of the human age. One scene depicts an anti-aircraft missile being used in a firework display. Instead of raging against their fate, humans have quietly accepted it.[5][6] Alpha Hatsuseno is an android ("robot person") who runs an out-of-the-way coffee shop, Café Alpha, on the lonely coast of the Miura Peninsula of Japan, while her human "owner" is on a trip of indefinite length.[7] Though she spends much of her time alone, Alpha is cheerful, gregarious, and—unlike the slowly declining humans—immortal.[6] Most chapters of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō are self-contained slice-of-life episodes depicting Alpha in daily activities, either alone, with customers, or on occasional trips through the countryside or into Yokohama for supplies (whence the "shopping log" of the title came). Whole chapters are devoted to brewing coffee, taking photographs, or repairing a tiny model aircraft engine, sometimes with only a few lines of dialogue. Through Alpha's experiences, the author brings out the small wonders of everyday life and makes the reader aware of their passing: the aircraft engine runs out of fuel; her scooter breaks down; the rising ocean encroaches on her coffee shop; the neighborhood children she loves grow up and move away. In evoking a nostalgia for this loss, Ashinano follows the Japanese tradition of mono no aware (sadness for the transience of things).[8]

What 2023 new releases are you most looking forward to?

How to Think like a Woman by Regan Penaluna and Justice For Animals by Martha Nussbaum

What languages do you plan to read in? Do you want to read anything in translation?

I'd like to read a translation of The Monarchy of Fear in French. And of course, the Little Prince.

[capisback]

The world of One Piece if Blackbeard had died in the knock-up stream:

[rjalker]

[ID: The meme of a futuristic utopian city. End ID.]

Society if people stopped using “he” for characters that use they/them or it/its

[rjalker]

society if I weren't allergic(????) to mint and could eat all the white chocolate peppermint candies I wanted without getting a splitting headache

[ID: The meme of a futuristic utopian city. End ID.]

[flowers-of-io]

life update: not really okay + overslept + WORK STRESS, but I’m finishing up a 5k fic to cope, so… profit?

[avatar-state-kate]

I see a lot of avatar fans throw ACAB around, especially when discussing lok, and while I understand why the fact that the slogan has almost become a meme rather then actually initializing any real discussion about the depiction of police in legend of korra is honestly such a shame.

We could be discussing how the republic city police departments origins as an offshoot of Toph’s metal bending academy perpetuates the myth that police departments are pro social institutions.

Or how Lin and Mako’s self sacrificial character traits fulfill the hero cop archetype of someone willing to “do the job” despite the danger.

How Lin’s book 1 subplot wherein she has to resign from the force in order to correct her mistakes follows the ‘good cop’ trope wherein police need to work outside of the law to actually do their job, and how this emboldens real life police to operate outside of the law, and desensitizes citizens to officer law breaking.

How in book 2 Mako begins a similar plot trajectory, but instead is punished by the narrative, as his plan to work with the triads fails. Rather then being a hero like Lin, Mako’s status as a ‘good cop’ actually trying to solve the case of the SWT cultural center bombing ends with him being arrested, as being a good cop isn’t enough in a bad system. We could be debating the effectiveness of this criticism, how does Mako being right or Varrick being turned into a hero play into all of this?

We could be discussing how “when extremes meet” portrays the police as a tool of oppression as wielded by Tarrlok, a foe that Korra as an individual can not overtake as it is a system not an enemy she is fighting. How Tarrloks uses his task force and the republic city PD against disenfranchised populations, republic cities nonbenders, subjecting them to unjust laws such as the curfew and in humane conditions with the shutting off of their power. How this episode dipects it’s heroes being unjustly arrested- that breaking the law if justified when they are laws such as those Tarrlok was implementing in this episode.

Zaofu, as the shows utopian city state is overrun with military personal; why does lok’s vision of utopia include such a strong police presence? Why are the police so integrated into ideas of a ‘good’ ‘prosocial’ society, why can the show not imagine another way?

The depiction of police in LOK is not purely positive or negative, however the criticism does ultimately endorse the goodness of the good cops- policing is not a system problem in legend of korra, but a leadership problem. This image of police, as a not inherently oppresive system is a great entry point into what the goals of copaganda are, and how police criticism in media can itself serve these end goals.

There is a lot to be said on LOK and copaganda, the least of it being “I hate Mako, ACAB” but I guess the fandom isn’t ready to have these discussions.

[weremustelidae]

[Image Description: The utopian city meme with text that says "Paranatural if anyone actually communicated." End Image Description.]

the parallells between flipflop and polaris, the sphinxes and max, penny and rick, and to a lesser extent doorman and the angel are crazy. they’re all looking for someone who’s literally right under their nose, with the first two literally being in the same room at one point. imagine mayview if people actually talked to one another it’d be that one utopia image