"What the Hell is Steampunk?"

Shichibukai

A nice and insightful article on steampunk. It even mentioned Abney Park

Seriously, it bugs me how certain philistines and ultra-modernists look down on anything glamourising the aesthetics or technology of a past era, or indeed feel that anything "old-fashioned" or "obsolete" belongs in a museum or worse, in a scrapyard. I would gladly break their bones with a falchion (being meta here) for even saying such a thing. 

Do you know anyone who reacts with hostility to steampunk or the like?

IanExMachina

If anything there are too many people who fawn all over the idea of steampunk, and then completely fail to understand the aesthetics of it.

On the topic of obsolete technologies though: it depends on each item I guess, if they've been abandoned because they kill 9/10 users and the current tech reduces it to no deaths I think I'd rather see it abandoned.

Also:

captainbrass

I can't say I've ever come across a lot of hate for the genre. The last encounter I had with anything steampunk related was an exhibition of a bunch of imaginary contraptions at a museum in Oxford which seemed to greatly amuse the visitors.

I think there's always been an undercurrent of this sort of thing in English culture e.g. when I was a kid, a local shopping centre had at its centre a kind of sculpture of a fantastically-complex retro flying machine, complete with model pilot, that used to come to life on the hour and move around to the accompaniment of music. Even earlier, there were things like the Heath Robinson cartoons. It may be less familiar in other countries.

Icalasari

I need to find that guide on the aesthetics of steampunk again. I feel like drawing some steampunk designs right now, but I remember that it's quite a bit more involved than just throws cogs on something...

Kinkajou

I've never encountered steampunk backlash.

CommandoDude

It's caus people keep hyping steam punk.

Wicked223

*insert generic comment about steampunk being misleadingly named here*

Icalasari

^ Except the contraptions (at least in fiction) are powered by steam, so... ?

Wicked223

"Punk" implies that it's an offshoot of cyberpunk, a genre defined mostly by dystopic settings and anti-corporate/authoritarian attitudes, which steampunk is... not

Icalasari

...Oh

Hmm...

So it should be called Steam?

Wicked223

Then Valve would sue for copyright/trademark violations.

vandro

I am all for steampunk, when the outfits look realistic, that is.

Malkavian

Wicked: Yeah, which is weird considering the Victorian setting you could do a lot about Class, repression, and the have/have not divide.

I prefer Phil Foglio's term 'gaslight fantasy' but let's see that one take off...

captainbrass

If nothing else, that would be confusing to a search engine. Gaslight is quite a well-known Hollywood thriller from the 40s where the plot is basically - "Is this woman going nuts or is her husband trying to make her look nuts?" It has a Victorian setting, appropriately.

Vivi

I love me some steampunk.

Icalasari

...Maybe call it Steam Tech Fantasy?

Scrye2

I love steampunk, but I have an issue with most people's idea of it: It's not actually a genre where fucking everything is steampowered. It's pretty much historic science fiction. Jules Verne and HG Wells were steampunk, but since the term didn't come about until the late 20th century, to their readers, they were just science fiction. You can do alt-history steampunk and Victorian-era steampunk without making everything steampowered instead of electrical. Remember Disney's Atlantis? That was steampunk, and yet it still had a lot of diesel/electrical/crystal powered machinery. Steam isn't necessary for steampunk. The only reason steam is half of the name is because it was a term that was coined to play off of cyberpunk.

Icalasari

^ But I thought the majority of the devices being steam powered was the point of Steam Punk?

Scrye2

Not really.

Icalasari

Then what?

Even with that article all I can think is mostly steam powered tech with victorian era clothing and ideals

Scrye2

The most prevalent concept in steampunk is the idea of new meets old. In all the "steam-powered tech with Victorian-era clothing and ideals" works you see, what do they use the steam-powered technology for? For creating things that we have nowadays or things that we haven't even accomplished with our current technology. Steam is just a time-appropriate means to put the "new" scientific advancement next to the "old." Tesla wasn't exactly a steam tycoon, but if you did a story about him doing some sci-fi things with his electrical work (think The Prestige), it'd still be classified as steampunk (which The Prestige has been.)

Dirigibles are also highly common in steampunk, but dirigibles mostly use lighter-than-air gases and internal combustion engines to function. Not very steamlike. But they're part of "the path not taken" concept prevalent in steampunk, and that's why they're so common. Steampunk is mainly Old Meets New, not Everything Is Steam.

I'd even argue that Treasure Planet treads on steampunk ground, but everyone is welcome to disagree.

MadassAlex

For instance, a medieval story with advanced clockwork technologies is still steampunk.

Scrye2

Bioshock took place in the 40's didn't it? It may have the steam thing down but it's anything but Victorian.

And in theory, if you had the American Revolution being fought where American minutemen went up against gyro-powered armored suits that increased their strength, that could also be steampunk (and really fucking weird.)

MadassAlex

You mean awesome, surely.

Scrye2

Depends on the execution.

Also, just a fun fact: Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea? The story which many steampunk works take major inspiration from? Yeah, the Nautilus was electric powered.

Scrye2