To what does steampunk refer to...

To what does steampunk refer to ? Someone told me it represented the Victorian England and someone else told me it represented futuristic cities.

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youtube.com/watch?v=LqD7PVHrI64&t=296
youtube.com/watch?v=31-NAkq8YEY
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its one of the gayest aesthetics ever

bump

You must've seen the technology/setting on Steamboy, Full Metal alchemist or Attack on Titan would be other examples.

Steampunk refers to fantasy or sci fi settings in which steam technology, think the British industrial revolution, becomes the main form of technological advance aka internal combustion and electricity are not developed or found minimally present. There's a lot of Victorian England in terms of aesthetic influence, Gotham by Gaslight would be a good comic book example, but this isn't necessarily a defining feature of the genre, as the Wild West or 19th century continental Europe, particularly France or Germany, tend to also be used for inspiration. I think in literary terms it branches off cyberpunk but I haven't read much in this specific genre to be sure.

As if broad technological advancement stagnated in the Victorian age, yet kept improving on a linear path.

steampunk is pretty shit, the only time I've seen it done well is the anime movie steam boy
imo
raypunk/atompunk > nanopunk > solarpunk > dieselpunk > biopunk > whalepunk (dishonored) > cyberpunk >>> steampunk

Culturally Victorian England / 18-19th century Europe
Technologically steam engine on steroids

What the hell are all these expression ? What is it exactly ? I don't understand.

He means similar genres based on different technologies. Think of the -punk part as indicating an unconventional/edgy aesthetic (in the original cyberpunk it was quite literal but nevermind that) so cyberpunk is based in cyber-organisms and body modifications eg Blade Runner. Steampunk is based on a world where steam technology is the main driving force, tho the setting's aesthetics have become attractive enough many works only feature steam as conventional background technology (eg Full Metal Alchemist) basically you get to re-imagine the late 18th century/early 19th century in a way that allows for say sexy outfits. Strictly speaking steampunk is defined by unconventional sci fi steam technology, this video is an example of that, this is steampunk.

youtube.com/watch?v=LqD7PVHrI64&t=296

The setting may be historical as in this example or it may be a fully re-imagined new world. In videogames the genre is better known for the Bioshock series, tho arguably it crosses into other genres the setting is steampunk.

youtube.com/watch?v=31-NAkq8YEY

Any punk that isnt cyberpunk is extremely triggering to me. This subject makes me feel really autistic. Let's be clear: Cyberpunk >>> ANYTHING ELSE-PUNK. Cyberpunk is a legitimate genre of literature with many critically acclaimed works. It tackles such questions as: where does the line that divides man and machine lie? Is there a line? Or: as technology brings us closer together, are we sacrificing our individuality?

Every other punk is just cogs or gay goggles on top hats and faggy shit like that. They're all just hollow aesthetics for lazy cosplayers. It triggers me so much that cyberpunk is compared to made-up shit like "raypunk" or "dieselpunk"

>raypunk/atompunk > nanopunk > solarpunk > dieselpunk > biopunk > whalepunk (dishonored) > cyberpunk >>> steampunk
Fuck you on about.
Steampunk evolved from Goth culture. Brits and Krauts dressing up.

All there is to it.

I'd love a steampunk film of HG Wells War of the Worlds.

I think he was ranking them.

Can a copperpunk exist ? A futurist fantasy based on ancient Greek technology ?

those categories don't exist
it's stupid

That exists in comic books, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Yes, by all means, do write it/draw it up

I understand the feeling but cyberpunk was itself a genre that fought for recognition and had to overcome a lot of prejudice, think of the reaction to Muslim traps with giant tits in the 1980's (Effinger)

Whether genres float or sink is up to artists and their audience, I agree most of steampunk is shit but the aesthetics of it are pretty solid (and that's enough of a basis for a literary genre btw) and it does have a solid following. If it's meant to be forgotten trash or it explodes at some point it will do so regardless of anything we argue here. Personally, I love it in anime.

Yeah, I can't say I recognise them either. I think if you get down to it any variation is really just a spin on either cyberpunk or steampunk anyway.

>fought for recognition
Cyberpunk didn't just show up one day and say "hey this is cyberpunk isn't this cool looking?" like every other punk did. Cyberpunk started with a couple of critically acclaimed sci-fi works (Do androids dream of electric sheep in 1960s and Neuromancer in 1980s), and the genre developed further from there. Neuromancer was especially influential as the book to coin the term "cyberspace." These books created settings/characters that people were really interested in, and eventually inspired new authors to expand on the genre.

Steampunk never did that. There is no such thing as an archetypal steampunk character, nor is there a literary theme that ties the steampunk genre together. The same could be said for any of the other made-up punks. It's quite literally an entire movement based on putting gears (or rayguns, or diesel shit) on things.

I mean Jules Verne is owed a nod but trad goths were rocking what is now steam punk since the late 80s.

Jules Verne, Blixa Bargeld and Siouxsie Sioux

Checked. Man, it's just a label of convenience, that's been around sci fi since the genre got started, Air Wonder Stories comes to mind, and was originally meant as more of an insider thing for enthusiasts. Xenofiction would be a good example (Enemy Mine, Love is the Plan the Plan is Death) or the much maligned Gothic Punk that did end up as a fantasy genre.

Neuromancer and Electric Sheep are not really cyberpunk, they were retro-actively included in the genre given their role as precursors but were written as just good sci fi, the thing about cyberpunk was the easthetics matched up nicely to symbolism, it helped Punk rock did actually have an ideology of sorts, so it became a thing much like the old isms in art, that's a very tall order on which to measure the legitimacy of other genres and in any case limits cyberpunk to a very specific period, without a doubt it is dead as a literary movement, which doesn't mean any of the diehard hacks still at it might not yet produce another classic masterpiece.

Steampunk is just a label of convenience, it allows people who love the setting style and aesthetics to find material, that's it. Reading into it as it being bs is taking it way too seriously, the other genres, I agree for the most part they're kinda bs, but if there's an audience for them, no matter how niche, then sure, why not? All that matters in the end is creators connect with their public.

That's because steampunk has its roots in the earliest SF stories from the 1800s. In some ways, steampunk is just modern readers trying to approximate Jules Verne.

1800s fantastical view of the future = steampunk
Early 20th century fantastical view of the future = sword and planet
50s to 70s fantastical view of the future = raypunk
80s to present fantastical view of the future = cyberpunk

...

You're like over an hour and a half late

Are you a fan of genre fiction, Mexibro? Who's your favorite SF author?

Yeah, I'm a fan of Sci Fi, I'm kinda very strongly biased toward Asimov as aside from the Foundation series I read my way through his compilations with Martin Greenberg. For cyberpunk specific I'd say Alec Effinger whom I mentioned earlier and Jeff Noon.

Good taste user

Thx man, any books you'd recommend?

Anything by Neal Stephenson if you can get through the /sci/ slog in his novels. Le Guin is also excellent if you don't mind a more feminist-y anthropologist-y perspective in your literature.

Outside of the Anglosphere, Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem is also quite good.

IMO, the only steampunk-related works done right were The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and The Diamond Age.

Nice, I'll be looking those up, I love James Tiptree Jr. so I can do Le Guin

>somethingpunk
Nice style over substance you have there buddy.