RevolucianaApr 24, 2023

I want someone to produce SciFi/Fantasy films that have zero conflict. Just hours of gorgeous communist utopias with innovative settings, gorgeous landscapes, and beautiful concepts. Oh, and of course, characters queer AF.

Just people vibing, loving, caring, happy to exist and take pleasure in living in a purple star bubble spacecraft or cooperatively alongside cute creatures in a seafoam forest.

I am a writer and I know how storytelling works, but...

sometimes I want my escapism real chill.

LeschmaltzApr 25, 2023
Show threadRevoluciana

The more I think about this, the more I believe it is praxis. We are so frequently presented with visions of the future through SciFi, but often in the form of a warning to inform the present.

However, one of the things we often complain about is the inability of others to visualize a functioning perspective of the future.

What if, instead of designing dysfunctional futures, we occasionally splurged into utopian brilliance and wish fulfillment? Without the projection of our current problems?

Apr 24, 2023 at 11:49pmWeb
Show threadRevolucianaApr 24, 2023
This is not to say that the future will not have conflict. This is just to say that it would be both fun and a useful tool to illustrate a positive future of possibility outside of the construct of our current framework.
Show threadJo (she/they)Apr 25, 2023
@revoluciana Oh I so love this. 🩷✊
Show threadAmeliaJun 22, 2023

@revoluciana I also feel the desire for speculative future-fiction that isn't conflict driven.

I very rarely have the spoons for creative writing, but I try to get this into my microfiction whenever I can.

I do want to disrupt this common misconception that conflict is important to stories, though; that's a hallmark of the oppressive cultural muck we all have to swim in, and it's a lie.

People tell stories without conflict all the time. This is a great resource for exploring already-established cultural story structures that don't center conflict/resolution as the vehicle: https://www.kimyoonmiauthor.com/post/641948278831874048/worldwide-story-structures

Worldwide Story Structures

Because there are more continents on the planet than Europe. And sometimes we need to escape from such imperialism. Disclaimer: There are missing types from this list. I haven’t found all of them. If...

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Show threadRevolucianaJun 22, 2023
@mordremoth This is fantastic, thanks for the resource!
Show threadEric BrandomJun 22, 2023
@revoluciana *Under Plum Lake* was recently recommended to me, and I would describe it in sort of this way -- the drama and stress really is what the person from our world brings to that other better world.
Show threadRevolucianaJun 22, 2023
@ebrandom Adding to my reading list, thank you!
Show threadThalassJun 22, 2023
@revoluciana
A Miyazaki style solarpunk movie, where everyone works together to maintain their settlement / space station / moon colony?
That sounds amazing to me!
Show threadDampscribblerJun 22, 2023
@revoluciana Interpersonal conflict is worth having in stories. Not every story needs to be or should be about a hero saving the universe. Even in an idealized world, people are going to misunderstand each other sometimes. Honestly we could use more of these stories right now to remind us to put in some effort to get along with one another.
Show threadRevolucianaJun 22, 2023
@dampscribbler literally every story has conflict-- it doesn't need defended as there is plenty to go around. This was an old post about imagining a fun mental getaway from conflict, of which the world is drowning in.
Show threadDampscribblerJun 22, 2023
@revoluciana Sorry I misread that.
Show threadCohoJun 22, 2023
@revoluciana
The distopian mindset gets the world nowhere. It makes people feel all is futile so we hunker down in survival mode instead of getting really creative.
Show threadCautionWIP 🎃+🇨🇦+🏳️‍🌈= Jun 24, 2023
@revoluciana There’s honestly tons of optimistic SF out there, in assorted media. Star Trek is a really popular hopeful/utopian series.
Show threadRevolucianaJun 24, 2023
@cautionwip For sure. This was an old post, but the idea wasn't about optimism. It was about conflict, or lack thereof. Something much more ambient and much less story or plot.
Show threadCautionWIP 🎃+🇨🇦+🏳️‍🌈= Jun 24, 2023
@revoluciana Fair enough. How much does “conflict” cover in this case? So long as it doesn’t encompass strong disagreement or conflicting but non-violent courses of action, I think a lot of Star Trek would still fit. And most of Spider Robinson’s work would definitely fit there.
Show threadRevolucianaJun 24, 2023
@cautionwip I've seen the majority of Star Trek shows/movies and I love them. This is not even close what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the absence of conflict almost or completely entirely, almost like painting a mood through an assortment of utopian experiences.
Show threadCautionWIP 🎃+🇨🇦+🏳️‍🌈= Jun 24, 2023
@revoluciana I guess I’m thinking more of “presenting alternatives to conflict” rather than “transcended conflict”. I think there’s a trope in SF of societies that have done so interacting with less “advanced” ones, but that doesn’t really fit either, I think. Would you mind pointing me to an example so I can better understand, if it’s not too much of a hassle?
Show threadRevolucianaJun 25, 2023
@cautionwip no, not really. Part of the point of the post is that it doesn't really exist.
Show threadCautionWIP 🎃+🇨🇦+🏳️‍🌈= Jun 25, 2023
@revoluciana Gotcha.