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?
(source image: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/qemlOe)
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My take as someone who only glances in here on occasion.
Does it have big gears? Does it have zeplins? Does it have big clocks or pipes and bells and whistles? If so, it’s fine by me. Steampunk was always about the aesthetics and machinery for me, less specifically about “it runs on steam”.
That’s my expectation as well. I think most people are just here for the vibes/aesthetic and aren’t going to “well, ackshually…” at me. I might add an [aetherpunk] tag for the items I post that are closer to aetherpunk than steampunk, but I don’t think it’s going to prevent me from posting those items.
Of course, people do love categorizing things and putting everything into its own little box, so we get these sub-sub-niches.
Specifically, building taxonomies seems like a Victorian-era thing.
Steampunk with magic and supernatural elements can exist, Castle Falkenstein is a good example of it. My two favorite examples of Aetherpunk are Eberron setting of DnD and Kaladesh/Aavishkar from MtG - places where magic is the fuel of scientific inventions.
I would argue that Arcane isn’t steampunk, just as I would argue that World of Warcraft isn’t - sure, both feature stuff that is steampunk looking, but those things are just a small part of the greater world.
The term I seen used for stuff like this is aetherpunk, which is similar to steampunk but with constrained magic as the predominant fuel source.
