Proposed Punk-Punk subgenres

true, I should've said lack of LARGE vegetation. You don't see many trees in the Arctic do you?

Someone brought up Vaporpunk as an offshoot of a sorta Cassette Futurism crossed with Cyberpunk's cynicism with a heavy focus on bland consumerism and the promise of a future that never came and I think that's dope so let's expand on that.

The Opposite of Grimdark is Noble Bright. There's an entire chart around somewhere also establishing Noble Dark and Grim Bright. Hope Punk as a term is weird as -Punk suggests that something is wrong. Cyberpunk, for example, is always a grim look at a cybernetic future.

Heck yeah, I've always envisioned it as cyberpunk's more gentle, wistful cousin, a bit like film noir with a city pop soundtrack.

Sifsand: Ah yes, no trees.

I think Hope-punk stems from the determination to keep going despite the wrongs of the world, not necessarily that something is actually wrong with hope/determination.

That's actually what bugs me about Hope Punk. See, Character vs Environment is a classical story conflict that crops up darn near everywhere and to great effect. Grimdark is the most extreme version of this with a an extremely hopeless and unfair setting and the protagonists striving to hold on to hope and morality despite the world doing everything to deny them.

Hopepunk sound like it denies the Character vs Environment conflict by creating a very fair and hopeful setting.

I dunno, I need better examples of Hope Punk to make judgements worth a damn.

An update to radiopunk: Not only are radios the primary technology and has an amateur radio aesthetic, but radionics is also an accepted medical practice in such a setting.

I think we need Punk Punk Punk: a world in which generalized punk themes get themselves an extra helping of punk. Then we need Punk Punk Punk Punk and Punk Punk Punk Punk Punk.

Take any word and put "punk" after it. It's word salad.

Bet you can't say that five times fast.

Tropepunk- A setting that uses as many tropes as possible.

I propose a "punk" genre based around one of the species from the Star Control setting. That's right: Pkunk-Punk! :P

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Nov 18th 2019 at 7:50:27 PM

Get out.

There was mention of a Central Asian setting being rare in fiction. I'd like to bring up an example: Indivisible uses the setting a lot (though there are other Fantasy Counterpart Cultures as well), with the architecture and culture based mainly on Nepal, Kazakhstan, and western China with a hint of Mongolia.

Edited by ZombieAladdin on Dec 16th 2019 at 6:12:56 AM

Looks cool, will check it out when it goes on sale. Thanks a lot for the rec!

I dunno, I'm liking the idea of "Hope Punk". As someone sick and tired of the way things are going, I really need to be reminded of something to believe in...

Edited by TheOtakuNinja on Dec 28th 2019 at 1:11:16 PM

Can someone PLEASE provide examples of Hope-punk because the term is making as much sense as "Subverting the Heroic Cycle"

https://www.vox.com/2018/12/27/18137571/what-is-hopepunk-noblebright-grimdark

The end of this article mentions a list of media with Hope Punk themes. Though I admit it can be a nebulous term, probably more meant for theme and not genre, if that makes any sense.

Edited by TheOtakuNinja on Dec 29th 2019 at 12:03:03 PM

Ah, that explains it. By the definition given, even 40k, the Poster Child of Grimdark, can be considered Hope-punk at times. Just look at Ciaphas Cain, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM, for example. Or the Justicar Alaric of the Grey Knight novels. It's kinda the central theme of 40k. Despite how horrific the setting is, some people will still fight tooth and nail in the name of good. Sometimes they fail. Often, all they can do is keep the setting from getting even worse. But sometimes they do win through and actually make things better.

Is that not the very essence of Hope-punk?

The problem with that is that the original punk genre, cyberpunk was a descontruction of many sci fi history and tropes, so hope punk have to be a reconstruction, otherwise is just a regular sci fi story or cyer-litle in the same way lovecraft-lite is just the same but lesser.

eagle: I recomend against the wicked city(http://udan-adan.blogspot.com/p/against-wicked-city.html) which is described as "Romantic clockpunk fantasy gaming in a vaguely Central Asian setting. May feature killer robots." I recomend well because it show how more or less craft a central asia setting.

(A unfortunately off-topic question) Explained, why the Bio Punk page's link from the Punk Punk page got weirdly removed, when they're few Biopunk-based entertainment stories like Resident Evil, BioShock, and Orphan Black have a dystopian feel like its sister (sub)genres?!?

While including the Urban Fantasy (a mostly Science Fantasy-like subgenre of Fantasy) its also getting a weird pass on being on the page? Like I'm just mostly confused with this new change for the page itself.

Edited by Franco-America2018 on Jan 3rd 2020 at 8:44:55 AM

While I like some Punk Punk genres, I think it's going a little overboard, like Nowpunk. Also, what even is Castlepunk? Is that just generic medieval fantasy?

I figure Castlepunk would be a subversion of the classic Arthurian tale. And yes, Nowpunk is entirely excessive.

If we go by the "extrapolated technology" definition of Punk Punk, how would Gunpowder Punk look? Assuming building a gunpowder based engine is even possible (which it probably isn't).

It's probably possible (for a fairly relaxed definition of "possible"). After all, an automatic firearm is essentially a "gunpowder engine" (or rather, a gunpowder piston).

I would imagine an awful lot of smoke, unless the setting quickly developed a smokeless form, and a general scent of burnt metal.

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Jan 17th 2020 at 12:27:57 PM

Lockdownpunk: A deadly, invisible threat has driven humanity into self-isolated bubbles. With the ethos of self-sufficiency and mutual cooperation at heart, the denizens of this challenging future resolve to stand together... at a safe distance. Dressed in sweatpants and wearing unkempt hairs, they share online recipes to help each other stretch out their vast stocks of tinned corned beef hash, as brave parties of medics and deliverypeople venture out in protective gear to keep society alive.

There's probably a bunch of existing examples out there, but Death Stranding (which I haven't played) would probably be the closest. As for the aesthetics, well, we're well on the way there: