Steampunk

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What is Steampunk?

Steampunk is a science‑fiction and speculative‑history sub-genre imagining an alternate past (usually the 19th century) in which advanced technology is powered by steam, clockwork, and Victorian‑era engineering. Often described as “elegant machinery and anarchic adventure,” Steampunk stories explore societies transformed by retro‑futuristic inventions, with characters, inventors, and rogues navigating worlds where brass, gears, and steam drive both progress and social conflict.

Steampunk characteristics include:

Alternate historical or Victorian‑inspired settings where steam power and clockwork tech are dominant
Visible, mechanical technology: brass, gears, pressure gauges, airships, clockwork prosthetics, and elaborate contraptions
Characters who are inventors, engineers, explorers, artisans, or social outsiders familiar with mechanical craft
Aesthetic influences from Victorian fashion, gaslight streets, and period design mixed with imaginative machinery
Themes exploring industrialization, class disparity, the ethics of invention, nostalgia for craftsmanship, and questions about progress versus human cost

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Is it still steampunk if it has magic? (lemmy.zip)

submitted 1 day ago by Hammerjack@lemmy.zip to c/steampunk@lemmy.zip

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There's a subset of steampunk called aetherpunk, which is essentially "stampunk but with magic". Yet steampunk is already such a niche genre, I don't know if it needs a niche within that niche. Of course, people do love categorizing things and putting everything into its own little box, so we get these sub-sub-niches. But what do you think? Do you think steampunk and aetherpunk should be treated as two different genres or are you fine with just calling it all "steampunk"?

I'm mostly asking because I'm curious if I should avoid posting any steampunk works that involve magic. I doubt anyone here will be such a stickler for genre definitions, but I wanted this to be an explicit decision.

For example, the Netflix show Arcane is set in a steampunk world yet it relies so heavily on magic I'd consider it aetherpunk. Should posts about Arcane be allowed here?

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[–] Coelacanth@feddit.nu 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I do think magic can exist inside a steampunk setting, as long as the mechanical aspect remains mechanical and mundane. Arcanum is steampunk, despite having plenty of magic.

I've always thought of it like: what is coming through the pipes? If it's just steam, then it's steampunk. If it's magicy energy goop in the pipes then it's aetherpunk.

[–] Postmortal_Pop@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

That's basically what I'm saying about the mundanity of the situation. Steampunk can be loaded with magic, it's just not mundane. Take it like Indiana Jones, every movie has a clearly magical thing at its core, but even in temple of doom where the magic is daily practice of the culture presented, it's not mundane. It's an aberration even in it's own culture and needs to be stored away from society

[–] Hammerjack@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I still really like Postmortal_pop's explanation of how common the magic is. If it's commonplace enough to be used as an energy source, it's aetherpunk. Otherwise, if magic is uncommon or otherwise "special" then it'd still be considered steampunk. I like how that leaves some room for random unexplained phenomena to not change the genre.

[–] Coelacanth@feddit.nu 3 points 1 day ago

To me it's not the rarity so much as the interaction. If magic interacts too much with the technology (such as crystals powering engines or glowing energy goop flowing through the pipes instead of steam) then it's aetherpunk. If the magic and technology are mostly as separate, it's steampunk.