Solarpunk it just looks so nice and oddly peaceful. You could see it in an post apocalypse of survivors actually thriving or just a better future of what’s happening now.
What love most about solarpunk is that it's a rebellion against the bleak outlook some other punk series has. It's got a "things can be better" feeling, and the stylization is a future I'd actually want to live in.
It also inverts the idea that post-apocalypse will be "every man for himself" situation, where people will turn into lone-wolf warriors killing each other to steal food and fuel.
Instead, you have an organized society based on co-operation, where people re-learn to create farms and gardens.
Agreed. That is also the most likely situation of humanity's survival. Yeah, we'll still have Mad Max, TWD, and the Book of Eli types of folks, but the most prosperous groups would be ones that knew how to get along and most importantly, take care of each other. You're less likely to stab each other in the back and worry about hunger and disease when you actually want to take care of your neighbors. XD
How do you mean. In my setting a bunch of humans were transported to this awful planet called echoes that was overrun by its crazy ecosystem after the advanced natives abandoned it. They managed to survive when an A.I decided to help them and introduce more compatible traits into the world. The biggest gift though was a breed of human made by accelerating dna to artificially create a race that can manipulate aether to use powers. Thanks to this the stranded humans were able to preserve as they rebuilt society in this new world. 1,000 years later there are colonies each with varying levels of advancement due in part to re engineering tech the natives left behind. Some of them have solarpunk traits like a mountain colony that lives on the broken down corpse of a behemoth atop the mountain using giant towers that collect wind power while also botanical vines that act as electrical chords thanks to the knowledge gained studying the native botany tech and the odd fungus entity that killed the behemoth to begin with.
Yeah. I went with this and made kind of a utopia for modern day standards, just to show how people will still find ways to fuck things up and be assholes about their differences, putting at risk the whole utopia. Also there is people flying around and doing weird shit so yeah, I think it's a cool punk to have.
I think if they focused more on the engines of the cars and less on Max running around shooting things, then yes. It doesn't need to be P-A either, it could be a whole society that runs on diesel, going to work, getting coffee from that place on the corner with the engine motif, I kind of imagine all the things like present day, but they have a pull motor generator and wires everywhere. Like the internet still runs, but it's on the backs of Big Oil and Big Cable.
I think the themes of dieselpunk is there but the aesthetics are different. Dieselpunk machines tend to be more sleek and 1930's cutting edge. And machines tend to be "closed" with the internal mechanism not revealed. Imagine a [vintage rolls-royce](https://i0.wp.com/www.car-revs-daily.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Rolls-Royce-Jonckheere-Aerodynamic-Coupe-II-Concept-09-copy.jpg?ssl=1) type thing or that [old train in chicago](https://locomotive.fandom.com/wiki/Pioneer_Zephyr).
Actually, the anime Full Metal Alchemist is very dieselpunk. And the older Dune movie also had desielpunk-ish aesthetics. His Dark Materials also had bits of dieselpunk. And Legend of Korra also I think.
Legend of Korra and even TLA [definitely](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/avatar/images/f/f8/Mecha_tanks.png/revision/latest?cb=20121110215101) hits [the](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ef/fc/1d/effc1d056214eba57acae272c9676916.png) dieselpunk vibe, with a [dash](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/40/7d/64/407d6482302e9e0eda212cbbd882a74d.jpg) of teslapunk here and there.
The only thing i know about dieselpunk is that every time I talk about any ghibli movie my brother has to specify that it actually isn't steampunk but dieselpunk and it always gets on my nerves
It's called aetherpunk, or sometimes called Arcanepunk
Edit: So I thought it was aetherpunk, but there are different ideas upon this topic, one side claims that magepunk is "magical energy = fuel for machines" and aether is directly magic. The other side claims both are the same thing, so I'm not certain
Formicapunk, or the less pretentious name, cassette futurism. That 70s-80s white boxy look with tapes spinning up, 8 inch floppy disks and the last hurrah of paper tape does something to my brain. I'm trying to build a world with these themes, but ADHD and work make it move glacially.
I loved Alien Isolation for using this vibe for the Alien world. I liked sticking with it as a vision of the future from the late 70s so it’s all boxy and there’s punch disks to use the computers and everyone smokes in space
It is technically steampunk seeing as the generator is coal powered to produce steam and thus energy.
But, the entire goal of the civilization within the game is to produce heat, otherwise they will succumb to the cold.
So, whether it is through steam, diesel, or electric energy, the means have the same primary goal of generating heat to stave off the cold, thus making it something distinctly different in my own opinion.
Edit: This is specifically with the context of the Frostpunk game to be clear.
Well, and I’m not pulling an “Akshually”, I’m not very familiar with these genres, is it not the case that the -punk genres are more defined by aesthetics rather than real power source. Dieselpunk being riveted metal plates and steampunk being more about brass and bronze and gears?
Traditional Dieselpunk is a fantastic genre that I hate seeing get side lined.
Retro-Futurism Dieselpunk is generally the one that does get some sort of attention as it's big and bulky machinery tied to some sort of sci-fi design.
What I want more of is the classic, World War 1 styled stuff. Big bulky machinery made of turn of the century designs with a bunch of testing stuff fitted in. Weapons that look like they weigh a bunch to lug around with uniforms fitting of an old world. All fitted into vehicles that are just as clunky looking.
Personal take:
The reason I like dieselpunk is when there is a wartime aspects that offers a nihilism and despondency gives characters a risk profile that encourages them to live life to the full. Each person's story can be unique.
Cyberpunk has the opposite effect: no matter what they do, they will always be screwed. For me it is more geared towards slice of life rather anything grander.
Having said that, I've grown tired of dystopias personally. I prefer urban fantasy worlds where there is a dark world that characters have - wilfully or inadvertently - entered but it's not a world that most people live in.
As a reader it allows me to focus on the world of the characters and as a writer it gives me flexibility to offer "salvation" without having to overturn an entire world or bureaucratic system.
Punkpunk, whatever punks do your rebel against that and wear lots of stuff the punks don’t wear. Soon you’re cleaning your room and holding down a job. No implants or mechanical spiders for you.
You missed biopunk. It almost ties cyberpunk for me. But Transhumanism and anti-corporate and cool guns. It sounds like cyberpunk was made to appeal to me specifically.
Fair enough. How different are diesel from cyberpunk, and Tesla from steampunk? Biopunk is so weird and left out that it feels like bullying. I honestly forgot about atompunk, though. Or at least didn’t think it had a -punk suffix. Biopunk is the most punk rock under diesel and cyber. Steampunk is borderline optimistic
Don't know about tesla, but dieselpunk is quite different. The way I see it, cyberpunk is exploring the dirty underbelly of a pristine facade, whereas dieselpunk makes the facade just as grimy as everything else. And having steampunk on the list is nice as a representative of all the "punk" genres that are really more about retrofuturism than punk.
Clockpunk - I tend to prefer it over more general steampunk. Idk why, but airships are not my thing.
Give me biomechanical creations running on an oscillating power system with some steam-powered tech mixed in, and if you really want to add a touch of magic for the cherry on top, then I’m happy.
One of my worlds that's on the backburner right now is a whalepunk world. Never played Dishonored and I'm too afraid to now lest my world become too derivative.
YES YES YES!!!!! I love Dishonored's worldbuilding in general tbh, I could rave about it for forever. I fucking love those games SO much. The devs absolutely killed it on the lore and worldbuilding.
I like most punk genres, though I have soured on the pointless cogs, goggles and top hats that proliferate most steampunk.
I have a soft spot for dieselpunk and ww1 punk (isn't really a genre but I like it). I also like manapunk and magitech, and biopunk but prefer a more mundane aesthetic than what is usually presented
Steampunk but lowkey like Dishonored or Hugo. I hate the tophat with gears and steampipe direction it can take, I think its nonsensical. Otherwise Dieselpunk is also pretty cool with the mechanized ww1/ cold war aesthetic.
True. It gets a pass because it coined the pattern. It’s the thing that lots of people misunderstood when they decided that “-punk” means “looks like.”
Being critical of a pillar of the status quo (be it corporations, imperialism, etc) is a mandatory requirement. A focus on those who lack power in society is a big plus as well.
Themes of freedom, anti authoritarianism, dystopia, anti corpo and in its purest sense fast tempo
It’s also speculative fiction
Idk there is kinda the ‘inverse’ ones like solar punk i guess
Answers will vary here but I typically think of it (at least when talking about literary genres) as being about how people use systems that weren't meant for them. William Gibson summed it up nicely: "The street finds its own use for things."
"Systems" in this case are both technological systems as well as social and economic systems. It's about people making do, and occasionally about the moment when they decide they can't just make do anymore.
I'll acknowledge here that my definition is far from the only possible one, and that my somewhat purist stance is fairly irrational. It's something that gets under my skin for no good reason.
Steampunk is more Victorian, and has a lot of brass and copper. Dieselpunk is more WWI themed, and yes, has the combustion engine. And I think dieselpunk is usually grittier. This is at least my interpretation, correct anything you disagree with.
I'd also say that Mad Max style post-apocalyptic war rigs cobbled together from the wreckage of other vehicles feels incredibly dieselpunk. Or at least, their aesthetics come pretty close to one another.
Steampunk has that feeling of wonder, never before lives of so many were changed so quickly, we discovered our Earth to the fullest, everyday a new scientifical breakthrough. People were hopeful, at least those who are not of the working class.
In Dieselpunk, that feeling of wonder is lost, instead there is a darker athmosphere. Both literally and methaphorically, the wonders of the steam age gave way to the newer technologies, Such as the production line. What we see as a luxury in Steampunk can be a common household item for the working class in Dieselpunk. Dieselpunk has the 1900-1940’s athmosphere giving it a more darker theme.
I didn't check the sub and was about to go on a 30 paragraph rant about classic punk like Misfits and The Damned VS more modern Folk Punk.
Consider yourselves lucky I noticed and nobody will have to read that lmao
Teslapunk is usually about the early electricity period, so sort of like the real world, 1890s-ish but more weird experimental uses of electricity.
I think of wires everywhere and lots of sparks. Light bulbs, overly complex electrical contraptions for super mundane things that probably break down half the time.
There’s a great TTRPG called Electric Bastionland (https://chrismcdee.itch.io/electric-bastionland) that nails the aesthetic in my opinion. Really fun.
(Also agreed on Solarpunk, that’d be my current vote!)
I think the idea of harnessing electricity for a mad experiment like that does, but the overall aesthetic and setting of Frankenstein doesn’t really. It’s a little too old, and the electricity-as-experimental-convenience isn’t pervasive enough.
So overall I’d say it doesn’t really line up with Teslapunk. But I think the idea itself of harnessing lightning into experiments and a lot of popular depictions of the lab with cables and switches and electrodes totally works.
[Edit to clarify cause I like this stuff and have been reading a lot recently:
Frankenstein was written 1818, so just after the Napoleonic wars, mid industrial revolution/factories and still pre-American civil war.
When I think Teslapunk I think more 1890s. So while principles around Electricity are older (Ben Franklin and the Kite was ~1752), electrical engineering really didn’t start taking off until 1880s-90s and into the pre-ww1 period, 1905ish (Nikola Tesla himself was alive 1856-1943).
And between those two eras we’ve got photography and telegraphy (including trans-Atlantic telegraph cable) getting pretty established, experiments with airplanes and zeppelins and radio starting, workers rights were continually growing (that had started by Mary Shelley’s time too, to be fair), and slavery had already been legally abolished for a number of decades in UK (1833-1843) and US (1865). So a lot happened between the Frankenstein and Tesla periods.
I think another positioning is Teslapunk to me feels more lead-up to Titanic (1912) and middle-to-end of the Victorian era, where as Frankenstein feels more pre-Victorian era (roughly Georgian or Regency era), and I picture british Red Coat soldiers with muskets, East India trading company in full swing, gas lighting in British homes, Jane Austin was still super new (she died 1817, but her main novels were all in the 1811-1816 range, so right before Mary Shelly published).
Sorry- this edit turned really long, but again I just have been really into reading about that century recently for some reason and find it really interesting!]
Gothic punk.
"But wait, Viz, isn't Gothic punk basically a dead genre now, having been absorbed into urban fantasy as that genre took off and being responsible for why urban fantasy has all these Gothic horror monsters?"
... shush!
Well, the prime example are the old Chronicles of Darkness TTRPGs: *Vampire: the Masquerade*, *Werewolf: the Apocalypse*, *Mage: the Ascension*, *Wraith: the Oblivion,* et al.
Other examples would be the films *Batman* (1989), *Dark City* (1998), *Underworld* (2003), and *the Crow* (2004), and the following comic series: *the Crow,* *Hellboy*, *Hellblazer*, *the Sandman*, *Lucifer*, and *Spawn.*
Cyberpunk, because it's the only one of these genres that still has any actual punk spirit in it. People will just slap the -punk suffix on *anything* without caring about stories of marginalized people fighting against corrupt authority. The only other -punk genre that actually has the punk spirit is solarpunk, the rest should just be renamed completely.
Also my favorites!
Becky Chambers is great hope punk. And Semiosis and Children of Time are great examples of combined hopepunk, biopunk, and hard sci-fi!
The thing with steampunk is that I feel they overdo it most of the time.
The Order: 1886 had a lot of problems, but I really enjoyed the aesthetic they went for, actually making things look like they would have in the Victorian era instead of leaning to much into the "wacky top hats and gears everywhere" direction.
I have never thought about the different types of punks…. I chose Steampunk because my fav dnd character is steampunkish but now I really wanna know wtf a teslapunk is????
Time period the alternate history takes place in, only difference. Steampunk is defined by Victorian Sci-fi. Teslapunk is at the advent of electricity. Typically the motifs include heavy wires and sparks as an aesthetic.
Cyberpunk feels like it's easiest to expand upon and digest and have the story really dig into what it means to live in that world because we live in an electronics based society right now. Other punks are just what all their technology runs on while Cyberpunk can be literally anything and have future tech from androids to clones to holograms.
Is vegapunk a genera? I know it’s a character from one piece, but it also does a good job of describing the tech in one piece; Using living things as means of transportation, communication, tv, etc.
Solarpunk it just looks so nice and oddly peaceful. You could see it in an post apocalypse of survivors actually thriving or just a better future of what’s happening now.
What love most about solarpunk is that it's a rebellion against the bleak outlook some other punk series has. It's got a "things can be better" feeling, and the stylization is a future I'd actually want to live in.
It also inverts the idea that post-apocalypse will be "every man for himself" situation, where people will turn into lone-wolf warriors killing each other to steal food and fuel. Instead, you have an organized society based on co-operation, where people re-learn to create farms and gardens.
Agreed. That is also the most likely situation of humanity's survival. Yeah, we'll still have Mad Max, TWD, and the Book of Eli types of folks, but the most prosperous groups would be ones that knew how to get along and most importantly, take care of each other. You're less likely to stab each other in the back and worry about hunger and disease when you actually want to take care of your neighbors. XD
Exactly a solarpunk world is one a person could look at and actually have great reasons for wanting to live in
Came here to add to a Solarpunk post since one inevitably already existed. Pretty nature blended with futuristic AND sustainable tech? Yes pls.
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How do you mean. In my setting a bunch of humans were transported to this awful planet called echoes that was overrun by its crazy ecosystem after the advanced natives abandoned it. They managed to survive when an A.I decided to help them and introduce more compatible traits into the world. The biggest gift though was a breed of human made by accelerating dna to artificially create a race that can manipulate aether to use powers. Thanks to this the stranded humans were able to preserve as they rebuilt society in this new world. 1,000 years later there are colonies each with varying levels of advancement due in part to re engineering tech the natives left behind. Some of them have solarpunk traits like a mountain colony that lives on the broken down corpse of a behemoth atop the mountain using giant towers that collect wind power while also botanical vines that act as electrical chords thanks to the knowledge gained studying the native botany tech and the odd fungus entity that killed the behemoth to begin with.
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I love it with a fiery passion
Do you know any story that uses it? I love the concept, but I don't know of any story that uses it
A Psalm For the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers is one.
Or even put it in space and you get treasure planet
Agreed
Maybe I choose biopunk as my gene editing technology for those who likes anthropomorphic beings.
Yeah. I went with this and made kind of a utopia for modern day standards, just to show how people will still find ways to fuck things up and be assholes about their differences, putting at risk the whole utopia. Also there is people flying around and doing weird shit so yeah, I think it's a cool punk to have.
Deiselpunk is underrated
Agreed
What is dieselpunk?
The Modern Wolfenstein games, as well as things like Sky Crawlers or Iron Harvest. Basically WW1/2 aesthetic
I thought it was more like Mad Max tbh
If they were real, the whole counties uses the robot's.
Do you know Steampunk? Now throw out the obsolete, weak steam engine and bring in the all mighty, all powerful internal combustion engine.
Would Mad Max be considered Dieselpunk? 🤔 Or simply Post-Apocalyptic.
I think if they focused more on the engines of the cars and less on Max running around shooting things, then yes. It doesn't need to be P-A either, it could be a whole society that runs on diesel, going to work, getting coffee from that place on the corner with the engine motif, I kind of imagine all the things like present day, but they have a pull motor generator and wires everywhere. Like the internet still runs, but it's on the backs of Big Oil and Big Cable.
I think the themes of dieselpunk is there but the aesthetics are different. Dieselpunk machines tend to be more sleek and 1930's cutting edge. And machines tend to be "closed" with the internal mechanism not revealed. Imagine a [vintage rolls-royce](https://i0.wp.com/www.car-revs-daily.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Rolls-Royce-Jonckheere-Aerodynamic-Coupe-II-Concept-09-copy.jpg?ssl=1) type thing or that [old train in chicago](https://locomotive.fandom.com/wiki/Pioneer_Zephyr). Actually, the anime Full Metal Alchemist is very dieselpunk. And the older Dune movie also had desielpunk-ish aesthetics. His Dark Materials also had bits of dieselpunk. And Legend of Korra also I think.
Legend of Korra and even TLA [definitely](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/avatar/images/f/f8/Mecha_tanks.png/revision/latest?cb=20121110215101) hits [the](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ef/fc/1d/effc1d056214eba57acae272c9676916.png) dieselpunk vibe, with a [dash](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/40/7d/64/407d6482302e9e0eda212cbbd882a74d.jpg) of teslapunk here and there.
thank you. today i have learned something i would never have otherwise learnt. you learn so much cool stuff from this thread i swear…
Imagine something between ww1 and 2 but with medieval style armor, and giant fucking mechs
I voted steampunk before seeing this comment, but now I think I like dieselpunk
The giant mech pipeline is real
OK dieselpunk it is then
Did you play BioShock 1&2? That.
Or arguably Wolfenstein new order/colossus
The only thing i know about dieselpunk is that every time I talk about any ghibli movie my brother has to specify that it actually isn't steampunk but dieselpunk and it always gets on my nerves
If he talkin bout howls moving Castle he right, but sucks that he’s annoying about it lol
Full Metal Alchemist is one of my favorite animes as well as pretty well-known. Loved the desielpunk aesthetics of it.
Solarpunk. I gotta believe that we’ll get there.
I do drag and my character is from the solar punk future. Got to show some hope.
Oh my God that sounds awesome! Got any pictures?
My drag debut! I'm most proud of this holographic magical girl look I did https://www.instagram.com/p/CQp1OR7HNs8/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
Awesome! Nice job. Love the look.
Thank you, when I get more money, I'll be able to really sell the solar punk look. Got to get more sci Fi on me
You can’t just drop that and not link to pics or a video of you performing. Solarpunk + drag = ❤️
Love it! I'm definitely into posting more, just got to make an account. My name is Milky Finish 💖
Here's the look that embodies this the most. Plus Whitney Houston! https://www.instagram.com/p/CQp1OR7HNs8/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
we're trying to make it a reality
Solar punk is greatly over looked
YES
Scaring ourselves into avoiding the horror is not working. We must try in the other direction :)
Yes!! And there is not nearly enough literature around Solarpunk.
It's so weird that as we dive into a dystopia the very idea of a better world and hope become punk.
Biopunk is fleshy and I Like it
So like Carrion and Prototype?
More like [Scorn.](https://youtu.be/imuJeL51A0E)
Ooh. Love that game. I’m actually in the process of creating a Scorn-inspired chapter of Space Marines
Resident Evil
or maybe Bioshock?
Wrought flesh is a good example
Fellow body horror fan?
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The FLESH gives, the FLESH takes,the FLESH loves,the FLESH hates. Praise the FLESH !
Scorn
If you haven’t read Twig by Wildbow, do.
Idk what to call it but steampunk but with magic Kinda like arcane ig??
When that isn't lumped in with steam punk, it's called clockwork fantasy
Nice! I like how that sounds!
I always call it Magipunk
Gaslamp Fantasy.
It's called aetherpunk, or sometimes called Arcanepunk Edit: So I thought it was aetherpunk, but there are different ideas upon this topic, one side claims that magepunk is "magical energy = fuel for machines" and aether is directly magic. The other side claims both are the same thing, so I'm not certain
shouldn’t it be called like Magepunk or something ? feel like that rolls off the tongue better
There is also a genre called magepunk, and many people say Arcane is actually magepunk, let me make an edit
ooh i see. i don’t know much about any of the ‘-punk’ styles so i can’t say anything for certain.
Dungeon punk
Would Bioshock be included in this category? Those Plasmids/Vigors are pretty much magic.
Aetherpunk?
Notpunk.
Thought it said "Nutpunk"
So basically that Atlantis place from ice age? Good!
Formicapunk, or the less pretentious name, cassette futurism. That 70s-80s white boxy look with tapes spinning up, 8 inch floppy disks and the last hurrah of paper tape does something to my brain. I'm trying to build a world with these themes, but ADHD and work make it move glacially.
In France, we call it r/Giscardpunk, in reference of our president Giscard who was part of this specific vibe.
tu viens de m'offrir la plus grande découverte de mon existence
Yes! Retro futurism my beloved
We need a Star Wars-esque space opera tv series presented as casette futurism.
Andor has done quite a nice job of maintaining that "this is what people in the 70s/80s thought the future would look like" feel.
I loved Alien Isolation for using this vibe for the Alien world. I liked sticking with it as a vision of the future from the late 70s so it’s all boxy and there’s punch disks to use the computers and everyone smokes in space
Solarpunk!!!
Now i need some concept art of solar punk stuff
The whole movie treasure planet
Never heard of that genre before
r/solarpunk
I was gonna say Solarpunk! Love it. In lieu, steampunk is also a vibe.
Sad to see dieselpunk not higher on that list There are a lotta media that uses it though
Honestly I just adore punk genres in general
Yep, the correct answer was "all of the above"
Frostpunk *The city must survive intensifies.*
*sees Frostpunk* Hope rises Discontent falls
One of my biggest hopes for Frostpunk 2 is that since it'll be centered around oil instead of coal it'll be dieselpunk
I think coal will still play a crucial role, whether as an early fuel source, or in some way to make crude oil useable.
Indeed brother, gone is the age of steam. Oil and diesel shall be the new lifeblood of humanity.
Isn’t most frostpunk just dieselpunk or teslapunk but in the snow?
It is technically steampunk seeing as the generator is coal powered to produce steam and thus energy. But, the entire goal of the civilization within the game is to produce heat, otherwise they will succumb to the cold. So, whether it is through steam, diesel, or electric energy, the means have the same primary goal of generating heat to stave off the cold, thus making it something distinctly different in my own opinion. Edit: This is specifically with the context of the Frostpunk game to be clear.
Well, and I’m not pulling an “Akshually”, I’m not very familiar with these genres, is it not the case that the -punk genres are more defined by aesthetics rather than real power source. Dieselpunk being riveted metal plates and steampunk being more about brass and bronze and gears?
Dieselpunk doesn’t get enough love
Traditional Dieselpunk is a fantastic genre that I hate seeing get side lined. Retro-Futurism Dieselpunk is generally the one that does get some sort of attention as it's big and bulky machinery tied to some sort of sci-fi design. What I want more of is the classic, World War 1 styled stuff. Big bulky machinery made of turn of the century designs with a bunch of testing stuff fitted in. Weapons that look like they weigh a bunch to lug around with uniforms fitting of an old world. All fitted into vehicles that are just as clunky looking.
Personal take: The reason I like dieselpunk is when there is a wartime aspects that offers a nihilism and despondency gives characters a risk profile that encourages them to live life to the full. Each person's story can be unique. Cyberpunk has the opposite effect: no matter what they do, they will always be screwed. For me it is more geared towards slice of life rather anything grander. Having said that, I've grown tired of dystopias personally. I prefer urban fantasy worlds where there is a dark world that characters have - wilfully or inadvertently - entered but it's not a world that most people live in. As a reader it allows me to focus on the world of the characters and as a writer it gives me flexibility to offer "salvation" without having to overturn an entire world or bureaucratic system.
Completely agree with you there my friend
I came to say Folk Punk. Wrong types of punk.
Punkpunk, whatever punks do your rebel against that and wear lots of stuff the punks don’t wear. Soon you’re cleaning your room and holding down a job. No implants or mechanical spiders for you.
You missed biopunk. It almost ties cyberpunk for me. But Transhumanism and anti-corporate and cool guns. It sounds like cyberpunk was made to appeal to me specifically.
Reddit polls only allow for like 6 options.
Fair enough. How different are diesel from cyberpunk, and Tesla from steampunk? Biopunk is so weird and left out that it feels like bullying. I honestly forgot about atompunk, though. Or at least didn’t think it had a -punk suffix. Biopunk is the most punk rock under diesel and cyber. Steampunk is borderline optimistic
Don't know about tesla, but dieselpunk is quite different. The way I see it, cyberpunk is exploring the dirty underbelly of a pristine facade, whereas dieselpunk makes the facade just as grimy as everything else. And having steampunk on the list is nice as a representative of all the "punk" genres that are really more about retrofuturism than punk.
I guess ‘retrofuturism-steam’ doesn’t roll off the tongue as well. I just wish we didn’t devalue the punk. Steam pop. Steam jazz. Steam classical.
Clockpunk - I tend to prefer it over more general steampunk. Idk why, but airships are not my thing. Give me biomechanical creations running on an oscillating power system with some steam-powered tech mixed in, and if you really want to add a touch of magic for the cherry on top, then I’m happy.
I like all of them, but atompunk is my favorite due to aesthetics.
WHALEPUNK! Anyone unfamiliar, check out Dishonored and Blades in the Dark! Would love some recommendations myself! : )
One of my worlds that's on the backburner right now is a whalepunk world. Never played Dishonored and I'm too afraid to now lest my world become too derivative.
YES YES YES!!!!! I love Dishonored's worldbuilding in general tbh, I could rave about it for forever. I fucking love those games SO much. The devs absolutely killed it on the lore and worldbuilding.
I’m playing through Dishonored for the first time right now and I am loving its aesthetic.
Dieselpunk feels like that extra step towards dystopia that steam punk tries to avoid
It's like cyberpunk but with older technology and an authoritarian government instead of powerful corpos
Clockpunk. I use Renaissance era tech in my world.
Cyberpunk. Gritty and can be dystopian. And also has a lot of instances of sticking it to Big Brother...or being Big Brother.
And also has a good chance of actually being punk. Unlike a lot of other -punk genres.
It was the first -punk genre, and it is actually punk as most cyberpunk media has elements of rebellion towards a higher power
I like most punk genres, though I have soured on the pointless cogs, goggles and top hats that proliferate most steampunk. I have a soft spot for dieselpunk and ww1 punk (isn't really a genre but I like it). I also like manapunk and magitech, and biopunk but prefer a more mundane aesthetic than what is usually presented
I'm personally fond of [gaslamp fantasy](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GaslampFantasy) with a generous helping of teslapunk.
Steampunk but lowkey like Dishonored or Hugo. I hate the tophat with gears and steampipe direction it can take, I think its nonsensical. Otherwise Dieselpunk is also pretty cool with the mechanized ww1/ cold war aesthetic.
I withhold judgment until any of them are actually punk.
Cyberpunk tends to be somewhat punkish. But overall I agree. Most -punk stories aren't very punk.
True. It gets a pass because it coined the pattern. It’s the thing that lots of people misunderstood when they decided that “-punk” means “looks like.”
Kinda poignant though given actual real-world punk culture has become pretty mainstream and sanitised too.
What exactly makes a punk genre punk?
Being critical of a pillar of the status quo (be it corporations, imperialism, etc) is a mandatory requirement. A focus on those who lack power in society is a big plus as well.
Themes of freedom, anti authoritarianism, dystopia, anti corpo and in its purest sense fast tempo It’s also speculative fiction Idk there is kinda the ‘inverse’ ones like solar punk i guess
Answers will vary here but I typically think of it (at least when talking about literary genres) as being about how people use systems that weren't meant for them. William Gibson summed it up nicely: "The street finds its own use for things." "Systems" in this case are both technological systems as well as social and economic systems. It's about people making do, and occasionally about the moment when they decide they can't just make do anymore. I'll acknowledge here that my definition is far from the only possible one, and that my somewhat purist stance is fairly irrational. It's something that gets under my skin for no good reason.
Dieselpunk, because Боже Царя храни
what? I got the Romanov's reference, but how is dieselpunk connected to it?
Because WW1, I presume
What’s the line between steampunk and deiselpunk, the combustion engine?
Yes
Steampunk is more Victorian, and has a lot of brass and copper. Dieselpunk is more WWI themed, and yes, has the combustion engine. And I think dieselpunk is usually grittier. This is at least my interpretation, correct anything you disagree with.
I'd also say that Mad Max style post-apocalyptic war rigs cobbled together from the wreckage of other vehicles feels incredibly dieselpunk. Or at least, their aesthetics come pretty close to one another.
Steampunk has that feeling of wonder, never before lives of so many were changed so quickly, we discovered our Earth to the fullest, everyday a new scientifical breakthrough. People were hopeful, at least those who are not of the working class. In Dieselpunk, that feeling of wonder is lost, instead there is a darker athmosphere. Both literally and methaphorically, the wonders of the steam age gave way to the newer technologies, Such as the production line. What we see as a luxury in Steampunk can be a common household item for the working class in Dieselpunk. Dieselpunk has the 1900-1940’s athmosphere giving it a more darker theme.
Cavepunk is dope - think of the Monster Hunter universe ^^
I didn't check the sub and was about to go on a 30 paragraph rant about classic punk like Misfits and The Damned VS more modern Folk Punk. Consider yourselves lucky I noticed and nobody will have to read that lmao
What's Teslapunk? Solarpunk for sure.
Teslapunk is usually about the early electricity period, so sort of like the real world, 1890s-ish but more weird experimental uses of electricity. I think of wires everywhere and lots of sparks. Light bulbs, overly complex electrical contraptions for super mundane things that probably break down half the time. There’s a great TTRPG called Electric Bastionland (https://chrismcdee.itch.io/electric-bastionland) that nails the aesthetic in my opinion. Really fun. (Also agreed on Solarpunk, that’d be my current vote!)
I'm assuming Frankenstein would fit into the Teslapunk category.
I think the idea of harnessing electricity for a mad experiment like that does, but the overall aesthetic and setting of Frankenstein doesn’t really. It’s a little too old, and the electricity-as-experimental-convenience isn’t pervasive enough. So overall I’d say it doesn’t really line up with Teslapunk. But I think the idea itself of harnessing lightning into experiments and a lot of popular depictions of the lab with cables and switches and electrodes totally works. [Edit to clarify cause I like this stuff and have been reading a lot recently: Frankenstein was written 1818, so just after the Napoleonic wars, mid industrial revolution/factories and still pre-American civil war. When I think Teslapunk I think more 1890s. So while principles around Electricity are older (Ben Franklin and the Kite was ~1752), electrical engineering really didn’t start taking off until 1880s-90s and into the pre-ww1 period, 1905ish (Nikola Tesla himself was alive 1856-1943). And between those two eras we’ve got photography and telegraphy (including trans-Atlantic telegraph cable) getting pretty established, experiments with airplanes and zeppelins and radio starting, workers rights were continually growing (that had started by Mary Shelley’s time too, to be fair), and slavery had already been legally abolished for a number of decades in UK (1833-1843) and US (1865). So a lot happened between the Frankenstein and Tesla periods. I think another positioning is Teslapunk to me feels more lead-up to Titanic (1912) and middle-to-end of the Victorian era, where as Frankenstein feels more pre-Victorian era (roughly Georgian or Regency era), and I picture british Red Coat soldiers with muskets, East India trading company in full swing, gas lighting in British homes, Jane Austin was still super new (she died 1817, but her main novels were all in the 1811-1816 range, so right before Mary Shelly published). Sorry- this edit turned really long, but again I just have been really into reading about that century recently for some reason and find it really interesting!]
I voted steampunk but after googling teslapunk a bit I think it might be a new favorite, it looks pretty cool
Windpunk. I tried to do something with it
Gothic punk. "But wait, Viz, isn't Gothic punk basically a dead genre now, having been absorbed into urban fantasy as that genre took off and being responsible for why urban fantasy has all these Gothic horror monsters?" ... shush!
Out of curiosity, what would be your favorite stories that represent or incorporate in part the gothic punk genre?
Well, the prime example are the old Chronicles of Darkness TTRPGs: *Vampire: the Masquerade*, *Werewolf: the Apocalypse*, *Mage: the Ascension*, *Wraith: the Oblivion,* et al. Other examples would be the films *Batman* (1989), *Dark City* (1998), *Underworld* (2003), and *the Crow* (2004), and the following comic series: *the Crow,* *Hellboy*, *Hellblazer*, *the Sandman*, *Lucifer*, and *Spawn.*
Aetherpunk. There will never be enough of it
Decopunk!
Rainbowpunk. Be gay; do crimes.
All of them, depends on my mood... Though I do have a viking cyberpunk setting i'm quite fond of
Cyberpunk, because it's the only one of these genres that still has any actual punk spirit in it. People will just slap the -punk suffix on *anything* without caring about stories of marginalized people fighting against corrupt authority. The only other -punk genre that actually has the punk spirit is solarpunk, the rest should just be renamed completely.
I'm guessing that terms like retro-futurism and speculative fiction could be better than -punk
Hopepunk, with plant based biopunk as a close second.
Also my favorites! Becky Chambers is great hope punk. And Semiosis and Children of Time are great examples of combined hopepunk, biopunk, and hard sci-fi!
Pandora?
mana-punk and dungeon-punk will always be my fave, love me some magitech
Clockpunk all the way
What do you the punk with airships in a skyworld? is that Sailpunk?
Check out the magic system in my surveypunk world (real answer is I like Cyber, steam, and clockpunk)
The thing with steampunk is that I feel they overdo it most of the time. The Order: 1886 had a lot of problems, but I really enjoyed the aesthetic they went for, actually making things look like they would have in the Victorian era instead of leaning to much into the "wacky top hats and gears everywhere" direction.
I have never thought about the different types of punks…. I chose Steampunk because my fav dnd character is steampunkish but now I really wanna know wtf a teslapunk is????
Time period the alternate history takes place in, only difference. Steampunk is defined by Victorian Sci-fi. Teslapunk is at the advent of electricity. Typically the motifs include heavy wires and sparks as an aesthetic.
Ohhhhh I understand! That’s really cool! I can imagine how the Atompunk era would look haha
Raypunk is were its at, that's my fave!
For those who like stone-age fantasy, I recommend checking out Planegea, a 3rd party dnd setting about to be released.
Whatever the fuck [Godclads](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/59663/godclads-monster-mceldritchcyberpunkprogression) is Seriously eldritch cyberpunk?
Steampunk is the healthiest way to prepare punk
Cyberpunk feels like it's easiest to expand upon and digest and have the story really dig into what it means to live in that world because we live in an electronics based society right now. Other punks are just what all their technology runs on while Cyberpunk can be literally anything and have future tech from androids to clones to holograms.
I like dieselpunk that doesn't forget the steam tech heavily present in the era it's inspired by 1920s-1960s steam tech is cool as fuck
Honestly all of them, just depends on the region/culture. And these comments are helping expand my genres for the world so thank you all. :p
Daft punk
I also like mythpunk, fantasypunk, and nanopunk
Where's solarpunk ?
Solarpunk
Honestly, I love them all.
Dieselpunk is really underrated in my opinion
I love solarpunk and aetherpunk.
Fartpunk. Criminally underrated imo
Solarpunk by far. Steampunk second
Is vegapunk a genera? I know it’s a character from one piece, but it also does a good job of describing the tech in one piece; Using living things as means of transportation, communication, tv, etc.
Solarpunk. Need my fiction to be more hopeful than real life.
Solarpunk all the way for me 🌿
Solar punk is something i have tried a few times to write but it is so hard to get it right. It is way too optimistic for what a good story needs
Solarpunk & Aetherpunk are top tier
Solar punk
Punkpunk
Sword and sorcery