• Godort@lemm.ee
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      17 days ago

      The problem with Solarpunk as a fiction genre is that it’s much harder to write than any of the other --punks. Solarpunk has a positive bent to it in comparison to the usual cynical tone that the others have. This makes drama and friction appear to be much less of a problem for the characters in the world.

      There is a way to do it, but it’s harder because you can’t use the same story template that the others use.

      • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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        17 days ago

        Failure of imagination really. A newly established status quo always has its ghosts to reckon with, and its detractors.

          • Schmoo@slrpnk.net
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            17 days ago

            It’s not that hard to imagine either. My mind immediately jumps to a sort of post-apocalypse where climate change caused the governments of the world to collapse. Sounds bleak at first, but you can make the setting solarpunk by showing how people adapted to live in the new world sustainably, and are thriving in the absence of oppressive hierarchies maintained by corporations and states. The external threat could take all kinds of forms, but I think the most compelling would be a cyberpunk city-state that survived the collapse and is now attempting to re-establish governance over the thriving solarpunks.

      • rustyredox@lemmy.world
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        17 days ago

        In your opinion, what’s a good example of a well written Solarpunk story? How about another one that is at least well known in pop culture?

        I’d say “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” could be one good example. Perhaps a little more post-apocalyptic, but it’s got all the markings of positive change, societal sustainability, and environmentalism, along with futuristic sci-fi world building. Both the anime and manga are fantastic, but I guess not too prominent in Western pop culture.