#im so glad to be able to give u an interest in it WEEEEE. peace and love. thank u

[tomwaterbabies]

For a long time I thought I hated Steampunk, but when I have moulded a fair amount of my life around Steam Locomotives and get really excited to see them in the wild, I think what I dislike about the genre (which is of course, a broad sweeping Range of ideas rather than a monolith) is that the Victorian Era was really bad in several ways, and the lone Steampunk book I read was more about the hack author's sexual fantasies. I dare not name the book in case it makes people look at it lmao -- but anyway, your approach to the ideas are coaxing me back into liking it for more than just the Choo Choos (but still, they're the heart of it for me 🚂🥰)

ooooOOOOO this is a DELIGHT to receive

steampunk is definitely at times very shallow in depiction so i can understand having a distaste for it. i feel like the "mainstream" (sorry this is the only term i can think of lmfao) version of it really misses what it's about

like even me who is ALSO into the victorian aesthetic and settings focused on the victorian era (though its far more interesting when the stories highlight the problems of the victorian life), i can get disappointed when thats all u see

BUT YES STEAM LOCOMOTIVES ARE AN ESSENTIAL!!!!!!!!!!!!! all steampunk is is another genre of retrofuturism so really anything that could fall under the technological advancement in that period would fit. i actually think non-western media tackles it really well (tezuka's metropolis is a favorite, but there's also a Heavy Amount of ghibli films as well as various anime like full metal alchemist. which i have Not seen but i know its good so)

and i mean. even stuff like Super Classic Jules Verne has some incredible stuff. i am a HUGE fan of 20,000 leagues under the sea. not only for the cool steampunk but also the themes around it. it is a very anti-imperialist story and completely sympathetic towards captain nemo who used his epic steampunk submarine to take down warships lol

whatever cursed book you read is making me laugh but also just reminding me how we MUST take back steampunk from the cishets. i'll do it myself if i have to. i look like this btw