It has come to my attention as of late that people do not fully understand the difference in the punks. Some people seem to think that Steampunk is pretty much everything when you see it.
Let us review the fundamentals. Steampunk is set in an alternate future where steam was the primary technology and they continued on that path till now. That’s basically it. However there are MANY alternate futures with alternate technology’s, and lumping all of them into steampunk is just cheapening them. So let me just show you an example of each.
CLOCK/STEAMPUNK: This era is often Victorian in style for some reason and the steam powered robots often use lots of smoke stacks, gears, clockwork, belts and goggles.
TESLAPUNK: Unlike steampunk, this world functions as if Nikola Tesla had revolutionized the world with his electricity. Lots of lightning rods, Tesla rods and power cables. Often this is confused as steampunk because they often have the a similar look.
DIESELPUNK: This universe takes place in a world where diesel engines and machines using oil are everywhere. This is criminally underused. They usually use a more art deco and WW1/2 style.
ATOMIC/RAYPUNK: This one uses atomic technology. Lasers, blasters, radiation, green glows, aliens and giant robots. Also rarely used but I dare you to watch “The Iron Giant” and tell me you don’t love it.
CYBERPUNK: Possibly more well known than steampunk. A future, in which technology is so advanced people are more technologically advanced than some of the robots. Chainsaw arms, robotic eyes, hooking your brain up to the internet and evil corporations.
BIOPUNK: Imagine a future where technology has advanced so much that we construct living organisms as easily as building a robots. Living machines, weapons, organic clothing and new and improved limbs.
JUNKPUNK: Almost as unknown as candlepunk but still one to remember. This world all technology is composed of random parts you might find in a junkyard. Kind of like the ‘Coolest’ cooler.
SOLARPUNK: This one has been getting some recent attention. However in a world where technology is powered by the sun I have yet to find one robot picture so sorry about this one.
PUNKPUNK: You have gone off the far side of the spectrum. Turn back.
Hopefully now you can tell the different alternate futures apart and can better survive in the world with this Essential information.
(Note this is not my artwork just a quick google search, but I am working on a series that will clarify these examples better with my own work.)
Yo, just saying, but Cyberpunk ISN’T just an aesthetic.
Cyberpunk is a genre about contrast between high technologies and low life, and as such they focus on sadder/violent parts of people’s lives, like crime, law enforcement (treated realistically and not like in cop dramas), cybercrime, drug dealing, terrorism or warfare.
Common themes include any variation on a concept of identity (from identity theft, through search for identity, to identity politics), loneliness in digital age, anti-capitalism focusing on unchecked power of corporations, anti-fascism focusing on technological surveillance state, ethics of artificial intelligence and other technologies.
Best known examples are probably Robocop, Ghost in the Shell, Matrix (especially the first movie, sequels are more like post-apo war stories), Neuromancer, Snow Crash, Deus Ex, Shadowrun, System Shock.
Steampunk was an offshoot of cyberpunk, but since stopped being a genre and became only an aesthetic.
Biopunk is offshoot of cyberpunk, and usually contains similar themes (just with genetic engineering). Other offshoots include nanopunk (with nanotechnology) and, which has recently been getting more attention, nowpunk – stories that use concepts and themes of cyberpunk, but are set in contemporary times – we’re talking stuff like Mr Robot tv show, or Watch_Dogs video games.
Honestly, a lot of the punk settings and ideas are in some way political, or at least VERY good at exploring issues relevant to the time period they pull inspiration from.
Steampunk for imperialism, biopunk for ethical issues of biotechnology, atompunk for the red scare and cold war, etc. etc.
Not saying every story with these looks NEEDS to deal with those specific issues, but each punk type opens itself up to discussing those types of issues much more easily.
Also, each punk doesn’t need to exist separate from each other. I have a setting that is bio, solar, and junkpunk all at once.
These genres and aesthetics are tools, and the rules about ‘em aren’t hard and fast to say the least.
The “punk” part of all of these is a political analysis and a rebellion.
Steampunk without addressing the imperialism and class privilege of the Victorian era is “gaslamp fantasy” or “alternative history sci-fi”, depending on how sci-magical it goes.
Cyberpunk without the dystopia of a world ruled by megacorporations, and the small rebellions people engage in just to survive, is just gritty sci-fi.
Dieselpunk that doesn’t analyze how the imperialism of the late 19th century evolved into the rise of fascism in the early 20th is just more alternative history sci-fi.
Teslapunk have some similar imperialism themes to steampunk plus some of the anti-corporate vibe of cyberpunk. It’s an analysis of thing like “what would the world be like if an autistic dreamer like Tesla hadn’t been ground into the dirt by the corporate greed of Edison and others?” or “what if Edison and the other corporatists had stolen EVEN MORE of Tesla’s work?”
Solarpunk seeks to build clean energy, green spaces, and sustainable industries in response to the real threat of climate change.
The “punk” part is important. It gives us tools to dismantle injustice in the real world by analyzing or overcoming the injustice in a fictional one.
i think solarpunk should have texture, physical texture that explicitly rejects the perfectionism of capitalism / colonialism / eugenics.
like, really tangible solid objects and spaces, that are allowed to be wonky and imperfect and unique and non-minimalist with signs of repair and reuse. and realizing and celebrating that nature is the same way. and getting dirt on your hands. and the same logic applied to people – solarpunk by and for and about people with scars and marks and quirks, disabled people, neurodivergent people.
and solarpunk that rejects forcing prescribed requirements of “usefulness and functionality” onto people and objects and… everything.
If everything was legal for like twenty-four hours I’d start a communal garden.
This is barely even hyperbole.
I would legit start a communal garden with whoever wanted to join me.
I think that would be fucking dope.
Rewrite of The Purge where, for 24 hours, people hurriedly complete all those renovations and projects that the council forbids. Helen, leader of the PTA, laughs maniacally as she tears grass from her lawn with a pitchfork, her thirteen-year-old daughter Emily’s arms red with mud as she wades through the carnage, planting thyme. Jack and Mitch have left their friendly smiles behind at the RSL; today their faces show only grim determination as they methodically shovel gravel into potholes and pour bitumen. The local biker gang, gathered on the corner, are the most rambunctious of the mischief-makers, whooping and hollering as nail guns are driven into plywood, assembling miniature by-the-road shelters for the homeless to rest on cold nights. Their noise covers the sounds of Katy and Sam moving from street to street with their trolleys, picking up unsold or unwanted food from houses and restaurants to give to the hungry without fear of taxation or food safety reprisals. They’re young, and still scared of being caught.
But there’s no one to catch them. Not tonight.
…You know you live in a dystopian capitalist hellscape when….
So lately it occurred to me that it seems like you could split people’s ideas about Solarpunk into two categories: “City” Solarpunk and “Country” Solarpunk.
“City” Solarpunk:
Tends to focus more on the idea of cities as humanity’s future, and how to improve them to that end. Better urban design/planning, apartment living, walkability, better streets, better communities, etc. Want to make cities “greener” in both tech and look.
“Country” Solarpunk:
More of a focus on the idea of Earthships and the Homestead, as well as a preference for smaller communities closer to nature. Preference for self-sufficiency for the household and the community.
Both of these outlooks are perfectly valid! (Though I’m partial to City Solarpunk myself) In my opinion, any realistic future is going to include a little of both. This is also very much based on my own observations and ideas, so take this with a grain of salt. I just find the differences in what people think about when they think of Solarpunk very interesting.
*throws cress seeds at an abandoned warehouse* be the change you want to see in the world
Alright guys! Listen up! Its story time..
Does anyone wanna know why my user name is the-bluebonnet-bandit? No? Well I’m going to tell you anyway.
Its because a long time ago back in highschool my home town was slowly begining to be re-developed. A field I had loved as a kid moving in became a series of storage units. So basically, under the presumption of the myth that bluebonnets are illegal to pick in Texas, I decided the best way for me to handle this was to go out and buy a pack of bluebonnet seeds to basically chuck ‘em at the field in question. It takes time for a peice of land to be purchased and for a structure to take place, so if I planted some bluebonnet seeds in the field in early October, by next season there would be a whole field of them right? And then they couldn’t build there, hazzah!
Except its not as easy as it sounds. And now as an ecology major with a focus in plants, I know that. See, many empty fields in the suburbs are filled with agressive and non-native plants that would make it hard to establish something like a bluebonmet in just one season. I would need to remove those plants in a certain desired area around my square of bluebonnets then make sure each seed survives to flower. And then ideally I’d want to keep expanding my target patch, or establish a different patch the next year at a key place on the field.
Even if not illegal, destroying a field of our state flower, or a beautiful field of wildflowers is a harder sell to the public. It creates more dialogue. Draws more attention. And if you pair this with, say, a grassroots community campaign to spare the land in question you definately have more of a chance of achieving your group’s goal if it looks like the backdrop to someone’s family photo. Plus, planting wildflowers, helps the community and wildlife.
I’m not saying go out and chuck seeds at stuff until you re-claim your space and use gardening and tree planting (tree graffiti, or tree-fiti if you will…) as counter meaaures for over-development and urban sprawl.
DarkestElemental616 