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I recently realized that a lot of the accusations of #solarpunk as drama-less, boring #utopia might stem from a simple misunderstanding:
Solarpunk's hard-won #hope makes sense only in the context of the #ClimateChange #trauma , acknowledging it and processing it, with the bright colors contrasting with the despair all around it.
To talk about Solarpunk we need to talk about the coming changes especially if they terrify us.
Otherwise the term has no meaning.
This is why a lot of our @SolarpunkPrompts are set against an otherwise dystopian, cataclysmic scenery - we need to see the hope in the refugee camps and among people fighting pandemics.
Dreaming about sustainable cities of tomorrow with no set path towards them is no different than reading a fairy tale.
It entertains, but hardly inspires to take any action, to believe that today's struggle makes any sense.
I want stories which inspire, which allow us to applaud our daily sacrifices.
solarpunk prompts @alxd@writing.exchangeThink about it: we are about to have a hard century and there is simply no way of "fixing" the planet climate in our lifetimes.
The best we can do is to create a new shape of civilization which will set a stable course towards sustainability and keep it there for decades, if not centuries.
We are planting trees we know we won't see becoming forests within our lifespans.
We need to see our struggle as a context for this better world.
Otherwise it's just escapism into a fairy tale.
That's why I'm squeamish about calling some of popular fiction Solarpunk.
I see the post-struggle stories set on other planets exploring the themes of sustainability and coexistence.
I may marvel at them and rest with them, but I don't think that they're what we need. I don't think that they let us understand that we will struggle, but our struggle can have a point, that we can do better today.
Maybe it's just a different genre of Solarpunk, not for me.
I want the one with dirty hands.
@alxd Exosolarpunk?
@Szescstopni TeaPunk ;)
@alxd Whatever that means.
@Szescstopni You'll meet a monk, you'll meet a robot, you'll get what I'm rambling on about.
@alxd a bit of respect for Becky Chambers, please 
Cozy fiction is much loved. Suggesting a body of work is cozy isn't disrespectful.
Becky Chambers has authored engaging science fiction that doesn't definitely fit in Solarpunk. That's fine when it doesn't.
Hopepunk is already viewed as a related genre.
@shadowfals @dancingindystopia absolutely! I respect the Monk and Robot, I just want more sweat and tears within my subgenre.
@alxd Found it. Maybe one day I'll find some time to read Becky Chambers