8Petros

2024-03-01 11:54:11

On February 29, 2024, we submitted a project to the Chaos Computer Club competition for a grant for an artistic work depicting a utopian vision of a community in times of chaos.

For obvious reasons, we believe that TePeWu is creating and realizing just such a vision. So we asked ourselves what might be happening to our community in 2051 – and we intend to provide the answer in art form.

Below you’ll read how we answered the CCC questionnaire. If it resonates with you, join us!

What is your project title?

2051: SolarPunk Odyssey. Tales from a changing world.

Short summary?

A magical realism road trip story. As ecological succession unfolds, a solarpunk-ish community travels in search of a new place to live.

How do you imagine your project?

We will produce a narrative game, Nordic LARP style, in paper and digital form. Adding visual and sound elements will make it more engaging. For the CCC presentation, we will run a demo gameplay and provide assistance for people to try it on-site. All outcomes will be available in Polish and English, under a CC-BY-SA license.
The game will be available for free in electronic form, while there will also be print-on-demand hardcopy version available to buy.
After the CCC, we will keep developing and curating the game world as a digital commons, keeping it updated and available for everyone to explore and spawn their own stories in any form they wish.
The world depicted will be based on the (periodically updated) scientific consensus on the situation around the years 2050-2100. We follow a “downstairs collapse” scenario and global warming around 2.5 Celsius. On top of it, every tale will add some “(techno)magical realism” layer.

There are two kinds of protagonists in this story:

• communities, striving to build their utopias in the changing world, interacting with others,
• and people, re-learning their attitudes and aptitudes according to the dynamics of the communities they join.

We will use the game world to help people cross the chasm between their dreams and the bleak reality, so they infuse light and color onto the darkness.

Why does your project fit the topic (CCC Utopias and Visions)?

The world is experiencing the consequences of a profound ecological disturbance triggered by the expansion of industrial civilisation. It means a lot of unpleasantries for us and other fellow beings. As a species, we have three options: to die out, migrate, or adapt.

Whichever option we choose (if we can), as self-conscious beings, we still have some “wiggle room” to do it in our style. Why not make our utopia out of it?

Nonetheless, none of us can do it alone. We can transform our reality only through communities, through interactions within them, and their interactions with others.

We invite players to be a part of a community created in and shaped by the chaos of the multi-collapse. As a group of randomly gathered and detached from their previous environments people, they are chaotic themselves. In this stochastic situation, they must work together to create something new, orderly enough to be livable for them and other living beings.

What is the project team in TePeWu?

Petros – lifelong SciFi reader, I consider it the biggest thought laboratory we have. For decades involved in resilience and anarchist perspective on the civilisation collapse. Translator, political writer and commentator. Happy post-proletarian and fuckworker. Here I usurp responsibility for overall pushing things ahead.

Ludka – trained historian and editor, author of articles about history, environmental and social issues. I create dolls, draw and paint as a hobby. I have experience in basic web and graphic design. I used to play many RPG games. I’m thrilled to create something similar, using my skills, knowledge and experience.

Janek – soon-to-be graduate in English Studies. Precarious English tutor, translator and interpreter for psychotherapists and human rights NGOs, planning to start on a doctorate. Researcher and theorist of anarchist and autonomist thought and movement, in any spare time hiking enthusiastically in the mountain wilderness, writing, and playing the guitar.

What tale do you want to tell?

It is 2051. The ecological succession, triggered through synergy of dense energy sources and expansionist ideology, is unfolding. Multidimensional transformation of planetary environment is in full swing now, and nobody knows for sure what new shape is going to emerge at the other side.

For 25 years, a small community was living resilliently in XXX, supporting their neighbours and trying to find their way through the transformation process in a solrapunk-ish way. As the old world is crumbling and the new one still struggling to hatch, they are forced out of their place – and their comfort zone – and forced to search for a new place. Their goal now is to settle again, take part in shaping new world, raise next generation and pass the storyline forward.

As they travel, they meet various communities, struggling on their own. These interactions, and their influence upon the community and its members, are the essence of our story.

The whole composition is a classic road trip (journey?) story, in (techno)magic realism flavour. Our main focus is on communities as protagonists, and their members – their transformations through time an interactions.

https://tepewu.pl/en/2024/03/2051-solarpunkowa-odyseja/

#game #project

Fedipunk Stories

2023-10-13 13:34:54

Lamella on My Mind - Into the Fungiverse

In the heart of the city, where humans hurried past ancient trees, and the scent of coffee mingled with the scent of blooming flowers, I, Eury, a solitary dryad, felt like a relic of a forgotten era. My existence was a quiet one, my days spent observing the ebb and flow of urban life from the shelter of the ancient oak in the park. The world of smartphones, social media, and the constant chatter of digital connections felt alien to me, a distant realm I couldn't fathom. Yet, beneath my tranquil surface, anxiety gnawed at my core. Climate change had taken its toll on me, draining my energy with relentless attacks that left me feeling lost and powerless. In my family, they told stories about the weird fungi-people who said to plan radical attacks to stop climate change. It were dark times. ⠀ One day, as I wandered through the park, my eyes caught a glimpse of a peculiar-looking mushroom, its cap adorned with vibrant colors that seemed to pulse with an otherworldly light. Without much thought, I picked the mushroom and, driven by a strange impulse, consumed it. In that moment, my senses were catapulted into the Fungiverse, a realm where big mycels communicated with each other, forming intricate networks of interconnected life. In the Fungiverse, time seemed to lose its meaning. Days turned into nights as I ventured deeper, encountering the biggest mycels, which stood in constant communication with one another. And even though their ideologies clashed like thunder in the distance, mirroring the conflicts of the upper world; yet, here in the Fungiverse, battles were fought not with weapons but with spores and symbiotic relationships. It was a truly magical place, one that I had never encountered in the digital world that was created by the humans. Through my new found magical connection, I realized that many people in my city were also linked to the Fungiverse, forming communities that fought against climate change in innovative ways. Inspired, I joined one of these communities and, in the process, found love in the arms of Lamella, a fungi-woman whose heart pulsed with the same passion as mine even so we belonged to different myzels. Our love blossomed amidst the mycelial threads that wove us together. In the quiet intimacy of our moments, we explored the unique practices of our kind – the gentle exchange of nutrients and the harmonious dance between plants and mushroom-people. It was a profound connection, one that transcended the boundaries of our physical forms. Yet, amidst our bliss, darkness loomed. Horrible things began happening to members of the Fungiverse communities. People fell ill, their bodies ravaged by a mysterious force, their mouths expelling black oil like a grotesque manifestation of the world's pollution. Fear and uncertainty spread like wildfire, and within the Fungiverse, conflicts arose. The myzels, once harmonious networks of communication, now trembled with discord. The TerraForce Mycelium believed in radical, immediate actions to counter climate change, advocating for a swift transformation of the upper world, while in contrast, the GreenTech Mycelium argued for a more cautious approach, fearing that hasty actions might destabilize the delicate balance of their ecosystem. Caught between these conflicting ideologies, Lamella and I became determined to bridge the gap. We embarked on a perilous journey, traversing the vast expanse of the Fungiverse to bring the myzels together. Along the way, we faced countless challenges, battling fierce spore storms and navigating treacherous fungal terrains. In the heart of the Fungiverse, where the myzels converged, we made our stand. With unwavering determination, we pleaded for unity, for an alliance that would preserve the essence of our interconnected world. Through the strength of our love and the power of our conviction, we managed to quell the discord. As the myzels merged and harmonized, a surge of energy pulsed through the Fungiverse. The unity of purpose, the shared vision of a healthier world, resonated through every mycelial thread. Together, we vowed to continue our fight against climate change, not as separate entities but as one collective consciousness. ⠀ Back in the upper world, the change was palpable. The air felt cleaner, the skies clearer, and the earth more vibrant. Humans, dryads, and fungi-people worked hand in hand, sharing knowledge and resources to heal the wounds inflicted upon the planet. The once-weird fungi-people were no longer outcasts but respected guardians of nature, their wisdom and symbiotic practices embraced by all. Lamella and I stood at the forefront of this transformation, our love serving as a beacon of hope for a world teetering on the edge of destruction. Together, we became educators, traveling far and wide to share our experiences. We conducted workshops, teaching people about the interconnectedness of all life and the significance of mutual respect among species. Our story served as a living testament to the power of love and understanding, inspiring generations to come. And in the quiet moments we shared, few as they had become, away from the demands of the world, me and Lamella found solace in each other's arms. Under the starlit canopy of the Fungiverse, we exchanged stories, dreams, and whispered promises. Our love, like the mycelial threads that interconnected their worlds, grew stronger with each passing day. And as the sun rose on this new era, casting a warm, golden glow upon the united communities, for the first in a very, very long time, I felt a profound sense of hope. Together, hand in hand, we would face whatever challenges lay ahead, our hearts entwined like the mycelial threads that connected all life in the Fungiverse. ⠀ Thanks for reading. If you liked this story, please re-post it under #fungiverse or create your own variant if you want to. Its not under any copyright. Let's spread the idea of the fungiverse through the Fediverse and beyond! ⠀⠀