Literature What is your favorite -punk genre, and what are the most important aspects of it to you?

[welian]

By -punk, I mean cyberpunk and all its derivatives such as steampunk, solarpunk, and dieselpunk! If you like these sorts of settings, which one is your favorite? What are some of the things you like the most about it? I always really liked clockpunk, which is basically Renaissance era technology - I like the aesthetic of really early tech, and I think that setting, when combined with elements from the sailing era, makes for some dope-ass mega aesthetic pirate RPs.

 

[starshinesiren]

I didn’t even know there were things besides cyperpunk and steampunk, and now I feel really enlightened. Thank you so much for sharing this knowledge with me

 

[Error 420]

Arcadepunk. I think there's a real name for it that I don't know, but it's the specific retro-futurism of 80's action films. The most clear example to me is 2015's Kung Fury, but there's elements of it in Guardians of the Galaxy. The inverse are actual sci-fi movies from the eighties, like Blade Runner, Back to the Future, Demolition Man, Terminator. I personally prefer the more light-hearted aspects of the genre, but there's definitely some good placement for darker arcade aspects, just look at Stranger Things and Blade Runner 2049.

 

[welian]

I didn’t even know there were things besides cyperpunk and steampunk, and now I feel really enlightened. Thank you so much for sharing this knowledge with me

Check out TvTropes for more variations! Fallout is "atompunk", for example.

 

[Idea]

I just kind of hate them all. It's not really a rational thing, I just don't like their general aesthetic and find their themes to often be presumed for the genre.

 

[adrian_]

cyber because its the only good one

:insert shrug meme:

Spoiler: haha pranked

i mean tbf theres a lot of good ones but cyberpunk's generally dark settings appeal to me a lot more than say steampunk which can be pretty and happy and bright a lot easier.

 

[Idea]

:insert shrug meme:

 

[adrian_]

View attachment 592460

i like this

 

[Idea]

i like this

So I noticed, and so I also liked this

 

[adrian_]

So I noticed, and so I also liked this

yay

 

[welian]

cyber because its the only good one

:insert shrug meme:

Spoiler: haha pranked

i mean tbf theres a lot of good ones but cyberpunk's generally dark settings appeal to me a lot more than say steampunk which can be pretty and happy and bright a lot easier.

Cyberpunk is the original -punk genre, if that makes you more confident in your totally wrong opinion because OBVIOUSLY cattlepunk is where its at smh

 

[Daisie]

For a while I wasn't really a fan of steampunk, and I was only slightly interested in cyberpunk. I liked steampunk for the aesthetic, really. As soon as my partner unexpectedly integrated it into our RP, however, I really started liking it! Again, the aesthetic of it is simply fascinating to me. Gears, rusty metal, the old-style yet significantly more complex clothes... I just found it interesting.

However, I didn't know that other types existed other than cyberpunk and steampunk. I googled solarpunk and my, it does look absolutely lovely. Thank you for enlightening me! I'm gonna have to use some of those concepts for that RP, now!

 

[Ronan]

I didn't realise there were other -punk derivatives besides cyberpunk and steampunk! So, thank you for acquainting me with these underused genres! I'd bite for a clockpunk, dieselpunk or, as TVTropes names it, a apunkalypse role-play.

 

[welian]

apunkalypse

Please let that be the title of your next roleplay, please. It would thrill me to see literal punk rockers fighting Mr. Smith-like enemies, bashing them over the head with guitars.

 

[Nove NuVonde]

I like cyberpunk but only under certain circumstances. I think it often takes itself so seriously and gets so melodramatic that it can actually take me out of the experience. I'm talking worlds that are nothing but shades of blue, black, and grey, with totalitarian villains so 2 dimensional they put pieces of paper to shame. I like a little levity, at least some acknowledgement of the absurdness of the world they live in. Characters that don't have enough edge to gut me. Otherwise though I really love the filthy, urban, "concrete hell" sort of vibe a lot of cyberpunk stuff has, juxtaposed by piercing neon and cool tech.

I also really like solarpunk too though, just because I find a lot of the spec technology really cool. Big greenhouses and floating islands and that sort of thing.

A lot of people really like steampunk but frankly I just find it sorta ugly and dull. So much copper and brown and clockwork. I get tired of it really fast.

 

[Ronan]

Please let that be the title of your next roleplay, please.

I'm flattered you'd place an apunkalypse role-play in my hands, but unfortunately, I don't think RPN is the right demographic for it.

 

[Jitterbug]

A relatively new term coined by a writer friend: sickpunk. It's a bit like Repo! The Genetic Opera, focusing on a futuristic, cyberpunk-era except the biggest concern is being becoming so sick, people replace body parts with manufactured ones. After some time, it develops into a trend: like, make your x-rays beautiful! and your ribs are so much prettier when they have art carved into the bone! It's very horror-centered and I really like what she's come up with it so far. She really takes "Beaty Comes From Within" and twists it into something dark. ​