STEAMPUNK - Terrible Writing Advice

[@thekaticorn99]

1:12 Not too many robots though. Otherwise the story turns into Daft Punk.

[@risso2309]

Banuhnuhnunuhnuuuuuuuuh.

[@halooshka1904]

*nice*

[@gingersmall1000]

*insert daft punk reference here*

[@justicedreams]

Burger! Nuggets! Nuggets! Burger!

[@monolith253]

But it’d be cool to be harder, better, faster, and stronger

[@TheSameYellowToy]

As a fashion history dork, what always annoyed me about steampunk aesthetic was the lack of color. The Industrial Revolution during the Victorian era (you know, when steampunk is based off of) was when synthetic dyes were invented and natural dyes were improved upon, making vividly colored clothing more affordable than ever before. So I don't get why the color palette in steampunk is so limited.

[@TheRezro]

Because it is about poor people. Also most cloths still were in darker tones. Only fancy dresses used more color.

[@sarahgray430]

Because dark colours hide the dirt, and if you work in an industrial setting you get really dirty!

[@SmartAlec1]

I feel like I'm the only one surprised that Steampunk is supposed to be victorian. I just don't care how accurate aesthetics are. Gears and top hats and goggles work together, I'll complain about a bad story.

[@phoebedarqueling783]

It's not. I regularly attend and speak at Steampunk events and there is a wide variety of colors and interpretations of Victorian fashions.

[@swishfish8858]

That isn't true! Yellow, orange and brown are colors!

[@jetpackwerewolf6278]

i have an idea for a new genre. A world that is ruled by a magic and radioactive substance called "potassium". Potassium can be used to power strange machinery, but it also gives everyone who consumes it powers beyond imagination, for the price of being hopelessly addicted to it. Potassium can only be found in strange yellow fruit, which are cultivated in giant plantations that now sprawl over the once fertile land. Two factions constantly fight over those plantations with potassium powered weapons, because only the one who has enough potassium can win this long an cruel war. I call this new genre: BANANAPUNK.

[@PrimordialNightmare]

So the origin story of the minions? (I'm sorry)

[@jetpackwerewolf6278]

its okay.

[@louisduarte8763]

"Always bring a banana with you. Bananas are good!" - The Doctor

[@MrRushhour4]

"Kazakhstan Number 1 exporter of potassium, all other countries have inferior potassium"

[@RuniqFrost]

K

[@devincory9695]

So, I saw a lightbulb powered by a lemon once. Can I write lemonpunk?

[@Bokune9999]

hmmm that could have some sort of potential... the distant future where humanity ran out of batteries and has to resort to fruits to power their stuff... yeah i think there could be a couple story ideas that could come from that setting (dont worry the irony of getting inspiration from a jokey youtube comment is far from lost on me)

[@armedwombat6816]

No, someone probably has a copyright on that as a band name.

[@Bokune9999]

@@armedwombat6816 awww dangit... we really shoulda thought of that

[@ahniandfriends123]

I'm pretty sure there's an X-rated version of that somewhere.

[@Bokune9999]

@@ahniandfriends123 you say that as if that is in any way surprising and that you are talking on a place that is not the internet

[@That_One_Xatu]

There's all these different punks, yet no "propane punk"?! That'd be a clean-burning fantasy world, I tell you hwhat...

[@Graknorke]

Isn't that kind of just the world as it is?

[@llamawarllord]

I think you mean natural gas punk (or frackpunk?)

[@talltroll7092]

@@llamawarllord No, like really early episodes of King of the Hill

[@billul1]

Alternate reality where the entire world is like rural southern USA

[@drakep.5857]

Hank punk

[@eugenideddis]

Steampunk is essentially the future as imagined by people from Victorian England. So there are many things that can be hand-waved away. Choosing “steampunk” for a story basically gives you 90% of the setting, so you can then spend most of your time building plot and characters. The people who write the kind of story you’re talking about here don’t realize this, so they spend too much time working on an aesthetic that people can already imagine whenever you say “steampunk”.

[@eugenideddis]

The Xenomorphian Depending on how much technology you want the rest of the world that can describe Beauty and the Beast.

[@arandomcommenter412]

@@eugenideddis deleted comment moment

[@dinoblacklane1640]

That....actually makes a lot of sense, kinda like how cyberpunk was kind of the 1980s imagining of the 2000s+

[@metazoxan2]

Steampunk's primitive view of the future also makes it useful to hybrid into actual fantasy settings. Want an advanced society in your fantasy world without actually turning it into sci fi or making them TOO advanced? Just make it Steampunk and they'll be more advanced than a medieval civilization without being so overwelmingly advanced. But in this case the story is still ultimately fantasy with only a small aspect featuring steampunk.

[@henrikfitch4017]

Yeah I feel like Steampunk has transitioned from a genre into a setting, which is totally fine, as long as the author actually fills it with themes instead of a surface level victorian era with nothing special or interesting to say.

[@gogopri]

Thanks for featuring my fanart this episode!

[@popstarchamp]

Gogopri You're a good artist.😀

[@justinthompson6364]

Pretty good! J.P. Looks kind of... effeminate, though.

[@usa_bruce4295]

Well you did good work! Now use this exposure and tell us about your blog or website so we can see more!

[@zeromailss]

how about you make a terrible drawing advice!?

[@SushiVolcano]

Wait, I don't get why the computer was on fire. . . .

[@FaeChangeling]

Don't forget that the best way to gloss over the horrors of the Victorian era is to set it in an alternate universe parallel to our own.

[@mrm7058]

Hm, wasn't the basic idea of steampunk an alternate universe anyway? Some kind of "what if internal combustion was never invented?" - or how a sci fi story would have looked like if it was written in the victorian era?

[@thebohemiancowboy2805]

I main torbjorn

[@FaeChangeling]

Have we met before or are you a different Torbjorn Main?

[@thebohemiancowboy2805]

BlackMania I’ve seen someone with the same profile pic I think we have

[@McDeus]

Originally the basic idea was to imagine modern technologies being invented a hundred or so years before they really were. I.e. start with a realistic 19th-century historical setting, but then imagine what would have been different if they had modern computers or nuclear bombs or something. And it was called 'steampunk' because it was based on cyberpunk--i.e. it was supposed to be dystopian, because you're taking people and societies with ass-backward 19th-century mentalities but giving them much more powerful tools to work with than what they had in reality.

[@BlueGhostofSeaside]

The ad with the dark lord is beautiful.

[@ajsouza3720]

Ashla Icebreaker I was literally laughing out loud 😂😂😂

[@ChaosRayZero]

That's because he used the power of the *DOLLAR SHAVE CLUB* to make his evil self look _even more handsome!_ ;^)

[@eloniusz]

One of the best ads that I saw lately. I didn't even rage-quit immediately.

[@monstrousmoss]

I’d like your comment, but right now it’s at a perfect 666...

[@alexross1816]

Considering nuclear reactors are just giant steam engines, you'd think steampunk world be all over that. But not too all over it, otherwise it becomes atompunk.

[@Captianmex1C0]

I waiting on hamster wheel punk

[@magicfishhobo381]

@@Captianmex1C0 Codename: Kids Next Door did that.

[@noizepusher7594]

Atom punk sounds like a legit incredible aesthetic

[@mrviking2mcall212]

@@noizepusher7594 The newer Fallout games are the perfect example of an atompunk world. Though me personally, I really prefer the more gothic/industrial aesthetic with more subtle 50s influences that New Vegas and all the games before that had.

[@owlismyfavouritecolorflame2325]

@@mrviking2mcall212 for me it was the dolphin

[@tunka1971]

Now I am wondering - is there a steampunk story out there that deals with the topic of Steampunk becoming obsolete, slowly replaced with Diesel, while the main character slowly realizes he becomes outdated and useless ?

[@calswartz615]

Of course not! That would require effort to write. That could be easily replaced with a love triangle, and so that story doesn't exist.

[@zur137]

**steals idea. Runs away** But seriously can I use that?

[@ezelfrancisco1349]

Stop. That idea is actually clever and can be used to showcase the parallelisms of people today. Plus, it might actually require research and effort. We don't what that.

[@rebeccawest3608]

I actually am writing a story like that. Got 120 pages 👌

[@kevingooley9628]

I believe it titled "history". 😆

[@pyroparagon8945]

2:39, I always assumed that everyone has or wears goggles in steampunk for when they have to work on machinery, so they dont get blinded by scalding steam

[@0Arcoverde]

I wonder how those glass would protect your whole face from the scalding steam...

[@redman7775]

@@0Arcoverde Welding mask

[@jennytulls6369]

@@0Arcoverde Hey man, he "blinded," he didn't say anything about not having a face in the first place

[@gabrielcancelado2490]

@@jennytulls6369 ja, it would be great if in a story, a the protagonist meets a old steampunk tinker, and then, when he is working, the protagonist ask him "Hey, Why when I meet you, you wasn´t waring googles in your hat? and what is that mask for?" And the Tinker is like "Oh, I see, don`t worry children, my country is closed to importation or exportation, so, there some archetipes, that how the people thinks how we the tinkers are. Ja, allways exaggerating about our fashion and our profession." And he´s kinda nostalgic "uhhhh, yeah, but, you guys wear gogles on your hats?" "Of course not!" the tinker says "my nation has persons who dress seriously, so if a young men of your age, sees a Gentlemen as I wearing that orange clothing, full of gears and coggs and googles, you would think that I am mad!" "oh... I see... and then, what are the googles for?" "Do you really think that some little things such like that can protect your face of high pressured steam and it powerfull heat? preposterous!"

[@schwarzerritter5724]

But why do the goggles need to have gears on them?

[@sori_osori_]

So, when is the next episode of Dark lord's sponsorship? I mean this Dollar Shave Club dark lord is the most compelling villain I have ever seen

[@GrievousFrom]

Before they take us To our graves Mary Sues Use Burma Shave.

[@user-vp6cn4kb2t]

The dark lord character made me sweat Edit:Gay

[@timothymclean]

Foolish Dark Lord. Does he not know the power of badass stubble?

[@cameronsmith3047]

*resists urge to shoot Kyubey*

[@janehrahan5116]

doesn't resist urge. *blam*

[@honestkyn718]

Well TWA you are an odd fellow, but I most say... you steam a good punk.

[@qwerty-on7gx]

A Steamed Hams meme? At this time of year?

[@CygK23]

In this part of KZbin?!

[@rallis3937]

CygK23 localized entirely within this channel?

[@trustworthytim4762]

Yes.

[@flyrefi]

...May I like it?

[@DragonfameDracas]

"Nice, clean, and PG 13!" I'm totally going to steal, er, be inspired by that.

[@Marylandbrony]

Mean, Dirty and R~ Deadpool, I guess.

[@MidoriMushrooms]

I mean I already stole "strawmanopolis" from the last episode ;v

[@klobiforpresident2254]

All hail hypno thorax.

[@mennograafmans1595]

You just went full PG-13. Never go full PG-13.

[@TheRezro]

@Hypno-Thorax I'm sue that this sentence is older then that..

[@Derpy-qg9hn]

In all fairness, the Hindenburg disaster was not because airships, as a concept, aren't safe (they can be a bit difficult to build, but then so are the planes that replaced them). That was mostly because of the Nazis not having access to helium, but instead being forced to use hydrogen, which is a fairly flammable substance; simple static electricity was likely what sent it burning to the ground. In any fictional setting, this can be completely avoided; simply say that airships got enough time to prove their worth, and also don't get filled with flammable gasses that can burn up because someone rubbed their head against a balloon too much. Bam, you can start writing about the potential effects and implications of dirigible travel (how would the military use them? what safety concerns WOULD there be? would their slow speed and massive size prove disastrous in a crash? etc.) without worrying about that whole "a German hydrogen balloon burnt up that one time" incident.

[@minifeebas8911]

"fairly flammable" well that's one way to put it ...

[@scratchy996]

Just call them Germans. The Nazi party was a political party. It's like calling Soviets/Russians the Communists, or refer to the Americans as Republicans or Democrats, depending on which party is leading at the time. Do you call the Italians from the same era "the Fascists" ?

[@ZKP314]

In fairness to Beaubien, I don’t think the wider audience actually understands that difference.

[@schwarzerritter5724]

Derpy 1109 Hydrogen is not as bad as a carry gas as its reputation. It has a lower density meaning it carries more. Since it is a molecule instead of an atom, it diffuses through the hull slower. There is a explosion thing, but making an airship explode is actually quite hard. In the war, pilots found out to make one explode you need a magazine loaded with both explosive an incinerate rounds and empty the entire magazine in the same spot. since airships have an inner skeleton, the hydrogen is not under pressure and as such does not mix well with the outer air unless you put a HUGE hole in it.

[@Medved725]

@@scratchy996 To be fair, it was because Germany was under nazi rule that they couldn't have helium due to an embargo. So in sense it was indeed the nazis who were being denied the use of helium. The idea wasn't "No helium for you, because you're German" but "No helium for your because you're nazi".

[@Nethan2000]

Remember, when you're writing a story with a "social" element, you should always fill the society with the most outrageous historical stereotypes to make it look bad. And then insert a protagonist whose social mores are pretty much modern, who will point out that this pseudo-historical society is indeed bad, so us, the modern audience, can think good about ourselves for being a modern audience. Don't let your characters be a product of their society or they'll get slammed for being just as racist or sexist or whateverist as the society they live in.

[@zakosist]

Yes, but I think people have always had different opinions on an individual level, although the majority opinion varies. Just like some people are racist today, some people back then may not have been racist. There are people today who support more traditional values and people who do the opposite.

[@scratchy996]

@@zakosist true, but we ignore the fact that some of history's greatest heroes were racist, sexists, bigots, etc. You can judge them by modern standards, but they were considered nice people back then, heroes even.

[@the_katzy]

@@scratchy996 That's what I hate. These days, people (mainly millennials; I'm ashamed of myself because of my own kind) look at historical figures through modern lenses and not the view from the people in that time.

[@orngjce223]

@@scratchy996 Meanwhile, Genghis Khan, bloodstained conqueror of all of Asia, was a feminist.

[@lXBlackWolfXl]

@@the_katzy I highly doubt the people they did horrible things to saw them as 'heroes'. History is made up of stories told from only one side. The founding fathers may have created our nation and defined what it would be, but that doesn't mean they should be forgiven for being slave owners (whose slaves never benefited from any of the 'good' they did, just so we know). And its hard to justify the fact that our nation was the result of CONQUEST. Also, all the racist ideas our country developed about blacks were made to justify slavery. So no, they didn't believe such things because they simply had no way to know better, they thought the way they did because they wanted cheap, free labor, without the guilt of treating their fellow humans so poorly. Yes, perhaps they did do goods and did honestly care about their fellow whites, but that doesn't change the fact that they were all two-faced and their thinking certainly shouldn't be used in the modern day. And yes, the confederacy had multiple grievances with the north, and SOME states succeeded from the union just because they didn't want to obey the order to wage war on their neighboring states, but MOST still succeeded to try and keep their slaves. Robert E Lee and everyone else who fought for the confederacy did what they did primarily so they could keep their slaves, and that CERTAINLY isn't admirable. And even at the time, there were MANY people who didn't see this as okay (including in the south, ever heard of the underground railroad?) Yes, its an unpleasant truth that this country and its entire culture is the legacy of some truly vile people, but we shouldn't live in denial of that, or try to defend the less admirable characteristics of these people.

[@lovethevoid1]

"I pasted some gears on it. That makes it steampunk right?" The exact words of a classmate during our theme art projects. 😂

[@jasdanvm3845]

Lol, for real?

[@michaelmartin9022]

It'll fetch a pretty penny on Ebay

[@jonathanwells223]

Michael Martin kzbin.info/www/bejne/inempnhrp62VhqM

[@mysticalmulberries]

Yes lmao 😂😂😂😂

[@chopperjoe1998]

"But not TOO much snark, otherwise the story turns into an episode of Terrible Writing Advice" See, this is why I love this channel.

[@baconbitz7937]

The rusty cogs moved. Slowly. In a circle. Spinning. The first gear moved the second gear. The second gear moved the third gear. The third gear moved the fourth gear. The fourth gear moved the fifth. Can I write a steam punk book now?

[@canaisyoung3601]

Can you expand on that for 200 or so pages?

[@chefboyardee2223]

This reminds me of the negotiations in war is the h word from futurama

[@akunekochan]

That's a really good start of a book

[@TheMamaluigi300]

No, you boob, you accidentally wrote a racing book!

[@nicomom9534]

No, it's clockpunk.

[@grizzlyowlbear3538]

So you like love triangles? What about love *T E S S E R A C T S ?*

[@grizzlyowlbear3538]

Grant Upton Gud

[@SmartAlec1]

Star vs the Forces of Evil does.

[@vocalcalibration8033]

Smart Alec Star vs FoE has a love dodecahedron.

[@a.morphous66]

The love sphere. Perfect spheres have a theoretically infinite number of sides.

[@lily91109]

Steam powered love triangle

[@zodayn]

0:16 I love the three connected gears. A fine detail of a terrible choice.

[@miku4977]

Three years connected to each other is the most efficient way to connect them, didn't you know?

[@dddmemaybe]

It's like a bullet, the strongest gear breaks the smallest gear when ready, all of the built-up mechanical force is broken and released as a projectile.

[@Jetpower485]

I missed that one, and was actually too distracted by the 3 gears on the book cover that actually aren't deadlocked!

[@SushiVolcano]

Gear triangle > love triangle

[@grizzlyowlbear3538]

It's a love triangle reference.

[@msun6526]

“Steam powered steam.” Ah yes, the floor here is made of floor.

[@ShibuNub3305]

But can I power my steam-powered steam with steam?

[@itstotallynotsai6577]

@@ShibuNub3305 No, you need steam 2, only made from the steamiest steam out there

[@TheMamaluigi300]

Floor-powered floor

[@Mr.Capitalism]

​@@itstotallynotsai6577oh yeah the gaz of the gaz, the molicules are so apart from each other it covers entire surfaces

[@nothinmulch]

Would love to see one on convoluted magic systems.

[@patliao556]

nothinmulch This 100%. For some reason there's nothing fantasy readers like more than a system for magic- that thing that by definition defies logic.

[@patliao556]

8Kazuja8 I certainly agree that less is usually more, but I don't know that a 'system'-- depending on how you define it-- always adds to a setting. Of course, a good amount of this is personal taste, I find pontificating on magic the most tedious part of any fantasy novel, even the ones I really like, but I feel like you don't need a 'system' for defined limits. Let's look at the Ur-Fantasy itself, the Tolkeinverse, there, magic is defined wholly by what it can or cannot do and its rank relative to other powers, and it works fine. The One Ring bestows invisibility, subtly seduces its user, and allows centralized control over the other Rings of Power. As a ring forged by a demigod in a place of power, its unmaking therefore also requires a return to that place of power. I don't need to know how it's manipulating Dark Magic via it's complex interactions with other flavors of magic, or how it's forged from ancient magic gold that has an affinity for whatever. It's unnecessary, it's tedious, and the application of science-like mechanics to magic creates unintended consequences; either you wind up following the rabbit hole into a magitech sort of situation, which is itself an incredibly tricky genre since you risk obliterating the appeal of magic itself, or you create magitech type plot holes like, 'why doesn't the ability to spontaneously create fire lead to the incredibly quick development of steam engines'. Magic and logic are a dangerous emulsification, most writers aren't up to the task of exploring that combination with intent and it seems to me that most of the magic systems that exist exist out of the modern human need to explain things instead of recognizing their original place in a meta-narrative, which is that of a fundamentally unknowable power. Gandalf isn't a wizard practicing a studied art, he is literally of a different race. The use of magic marks him apart from other mortal creatures, and marks him in the narrative as being Other.

[@patliao556]

I suppose we're defining systems differently. I don't personally think that having 'floating' limits like 'a genie can grant three wishes' is really a system, because the limit just exists on its own without justification. But as you define it, sure, I'm all for limits. Agreed on all other counts.

[@IdiotinGlans]

Or just magic in general.

[@ThanksIhateyoutoo]

Fairy Tail in a nutshell.

[@HxH2011DRA]

Steam punk is all about ~AESTHETIC~

[@Scroteydada]

*AETHSETICC*

[@OsirisLord]

Well yes. That's because unlike cyberpunk which drew from Neuromancer and Snow Crash or fantasy which drew from The Lord of the Rings and real world mythologies and folk lore Steampunk is based on nothing. There was no original seminal work that started the genre, it was all nerds who thought brass gears and hissing steam valves looked awesome. All you can really say about it is that it's a flavor you add to a pre-existing genre.

[@danielhall271]

+OsirisLord Ok, what about The Difference Engine by William Gibbson and Bruce Stirling. It is about what if Charles Babbage had succeeded in his ambition to build a mechanical computer. In this world the computer revolution happens earlier in Victorian England and is based on steam, rather than electronics.

[@DrTranofEvil]

The problem is you need to actually give a damn about the stakes or you should put out a ‘steampunk worlds’ art book to better effect. Want proof? Wild Wild West. X-/

[@blackore64]

OsirisLord Well, I'd argue that Jules Verne's works serve as the primary inspiration for the steampunk genre.

[@naooho9392]

Not even mad about the ad.

[@dddmemaybe]

His jokes make him- ironclad.

[@Carewolf]

It was a good transition and funny angle, but they unfortunately made up for it by making it much much much toooo long.

[@blamblam7578]

You should make one about plot twists.

[@mat8791]

PLOT TWIST he will never make one

[@marccolten9801]

THAT would be a surprise!

[@Dee-jp7ek]

It should seriously be 10 mins. of shitting on M Night Shyamalan.

[@kingslushie1018]

YES PLZ

[@HMN134]

**FRIENDSHIP SPEECH INTENSIFIES**

[@rothern3761]

"So how do you think we'll improve this-?" "JAM A PIPE IN IT" Steampunk Logic

[@johnathonhaney8291]

Robert Ciamei And don't for a second think about societal issues, rigid class mores and how tech can both elevate and degrade the world around it.

[@louisduarte8763]

I can hear NNYPD Officer URL from Futurama now: "Jammin' a pipe. Awwwwww Yeeeeaaaahhhh."

[@TheRezro]

@Johnathon Haney Steampunk isn't SF. Asking for that is like asking for scientific explanation in High Fantasy.

[@johnathonhaney8291]

TheRezro That's the lazy, bullshit answer bad steampunk writers use to excuse their lack of effort. Those questions are societal and human-based ones, not scientific. Done right, it can give an emotional depth to a steampunk story that's often missing. 1950s sci-fi didn't really give a shit about science either but some of it's best examples examined questions about people that helped them endure as stories.

[@GonnaDieNever]

Also Porn logic.

[@michaelfixedsys7463]

What about “steampunk but they discovered nuclear fission before electricity”

[@udhsids]

Michael Fixedsys - Fixedsys Labs I'm curious too

[@Alias_Anybody]

Michael Fixedsys - Fixedsys Labs Death through radiation poisoning?

[@Jebu911]

Naah its just falloutpunk

[@whoareyou1034]

How would that be possible? I want to know.

[@yochlel2642]

No, no, you can't have anything nuclear otherwise the story turns into atompunk.

[@pandorion8741]

You forgot the most important part! Everything is ridiculously effective despite the fact it is steampunk! Steampunk Lamborghini? Yes! Steampunk iPhone? Yes! Items work perfectly the whole journey until it’s convenient? Yessssssss!

[@gifyifhkhmcucyk6865]

They could actually make some crazy shit outta steam during the industrial revolution...

[@michaelmartin9022]

@@Bluestlark At one point steam (petrol, paraffin or naptha-fueled), internal combustion and electric cars all had pretty comparable performance (speed, range, reliability etc), with upsides and downsides to them all. One advanced, the others didn't. Watch Jay Leno's Garage on some of his really old vehicles. At one point most cars in New York were electric.

[@TheCuteycat]

Growing up I read a great steampunk comic called Girl Genius that actually made a point of admitting that the mad scientist were able to make anything because their brains acted on such a high cognitive process that they could make anything, but they also made a point of giving reasonable time frame for things that were elaborate or showed where they got the parts. They also made a point of highlight how genius in that world was genuinely a dangerous thing to have as most of the Sparks (mad scientists) die fairly young or blow themselves up a lot.

[@alexfriedrichs6240]

Felinis It's still running. You may want to start again.

[@TheCuteycat]

Alex Friedrichs oh, I know. I go back to it every year or two and reread and follow up to what's there. I've also got the novels which do a great job of expressing the story in a different fashion. As well as an excellent way to translate the visual humor from the background in the form of footnotes

[@AnonymousRandomDude]

It is indeed a fantastic read!

[@Crowley9]

One steampunk concept I find very fascinating is to take scientific theories of the day and pretend they are accurate and extrapolate from that. Space is filled with ether! Burning is caused by phlogiston! People can really undergo atavism! Yes, I am a nerd who loves historical research.

[@Graknorke]

The Fallen London setting runs with that a bit.

[@crypticmrchimes]

Indeed! Fallen London (Along with SUnless Sea and Especially Sunless Skies) likes to toy around with antiquated theories and the like. Though I would consider it more Cosmic Fantasy with hints of whimsy, it's worldbuilding and expansions on various tales, fears, and notions of the Victorian Era is excellent! As for the whole skull structure thing... yeah that is problematic but then again the notion doesn't mean you need to play around with ALL of the antiquated theories of the time.

[@mdnessfreeze1661]

remembering how ugly my ancestors were. no man no atavism for me thanks.

[@Soridan]

Atavism seems more likely than ever! kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJPJlKSXepyYr9k

[@bubbykins4864]

*F O O L I S H M O R T A L!* You do not know of the power of *I G N O R A N C E!*

[@djvile8924]

You must never forget the weird glove thingy that all of the characters wear

[@monstrousmoss]

What, you mean my Ember Gauntlet? What about it? (I am slowly coming to the realization that this video is literally about Torchlight. I don’t love it any less, though.)

[@FranktheSkeleton]

_STEAM POWERED STEAM_

[@matthewr6148]

*WITH EXTRA VALVES ATTACHED*

[@colinmillar9405]

Matthew R With trilocking gears on the valves!

[@Marylandbrony]

*With Brass covering everything!*

[@dddmemaybe]

Steamed Hams on your Steamed Steam sounds like a 7 star meal.

[@majorblitz3846]

_WITH A STEAMY GAMES FOR SEL...WAIT SHIT!_

[@k8prince]

Just glue some gears on it, and call it Steampunk!

[@crypticmrchimes]

That's the trendy fashion NOWADAAAAYYS!

[@minifeebas8911]

fuck i just made a post like this dammit ctrl+f you failed me

[@julietfischer5056]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/inempnhrp62VhqM

[@scottmantooth8785]

*Steam-powered Clockwork Pigs...that are held aloft by Contrivium Gas™ isotopes*

[@magisterofsteam7880]

Ug, people really don't understand steampunk at all. It's about the soul of the thing, not how many gears there are.

[@Mooseplatoon]

To be fair, there are plenty of real life doctors with real life doctorates who stray towards mad scientist territory. If we're going back to the Victorian era that number grows exponentially.

[@TheRezro]

But it is still a cliche though..

[@ls200076]

AMaliciousMoose cliché

[@Noahthelasercop]

TheRezro Ur ass is still a cliche boi

[@wiledwiredweasel560]

So? If it's useful for the story and it's handled well, why not use it?

[@DetectiveNyx]

Horrible Histories has some pretty cool segments on this, like the Victorian Medics.

[@jakubcesarzdakos5442]

Love Trianglepunk?

[@OPiONShouter]

Basically Sailor Moon

[@niggacockball7995]

Holy based

[@hellboy6507]

Yes, most fail to realize that oil processing had been well established in the 1860s, with electricity and internal combustion becoming popular in the 1870s-1890s. Bioshock Infinite is good steampunk, since it stays true to the tech available in 1912 (steam, combustion, electricity, etc) while also being set in a futuristic floating city. The technology is more subtle, ie there aren't gears attatched to everything, only the stuff that would *actually require them*.

[@MrKlausbaudelaire]

same goes for Scott Westerfeld's "Leviathan". They stablish steam-powered engines, but they use any fuel aside from coal, like Diesel, since you need SOMETHING to heat water into steam, right?

[@TheWampam]

I always wondered how those people couldn't have invented electricity. I mean, Volta lived in the 18th century, and the electric generator was invented bevor the widespread use of steam locomotives.

[@TheRezro]

@Pladimir Vutin And you failed to realize that Steampunk ISN'T Science Fiction! Plus 1870's is when Dieselpunk begin, so no shit.. "Bioshock Infinite is good steampunk, since it stays true to the tech available in 1912" Except even Victorian era ended in 1901.. so WTF you talking about? Not to mention that it is not f*g SF so that argument has nothing to do with quality of the genre. Ugh.. why people are so dumb 0_0

[@TheRezro]

@TheWampam It is not that it wasn't but before popularization of electricity what also overly with invention of the internal combustion engine (so guess what that mean?) most people see it as evil energy what rise dead from the grave and that is usually how it is used in Steampunk, what is after all a retro-futurism.

[@6272355463637]

By 1900, the vast majority of all electricity produced was used for lighting. Internal combustion engines were barely strong enough to move light vehicles and had yet to be established as the standard for cars or even really break into the market for heavier machinery. So it's not like electricity or oil processing/internal combustion engines hadn't been discovered/invented but they weren't all that present, either, and much of their usefulness had yet to be established.

[@christosvoskresye]

1:55 I live in West Virginia. We have PSA's on the radio reassuring us that coal is the answer to every question. "COAL IS WEST VIRGINIA!!!" Never mind that most of the mine owners live out of state and will drop the used-up husk of this state once they have squeezed the last nickel out of it.

[@carsonrush3352]

Eye protection seems like it would be incredibly important, given that they constantly live in industrialized settings with pointy metal and pressurized pipes that could rupture everywhere. If it's bright out, you wear sunglasses. If eye-puncturing hazards are everywhere, you where eye protection.

[@Marlin123]

"Don't forget the goggles"

[@tompatterson1548]

That’s fair

[@VonDeliriumTremens]

Also, most vehicles (cars and airplanes) were open and lacked good windscreens, meaning one needed to protect the eyes from wind dust, and insects (you don't want to lacrimate too moch or get your eyes overly to dry if you're flying a rickety plane). Also, steam power means a lot of smoke that gets into the eyes whether in a locomotive or on ship. There is a reason why early pilots and race drivers wore goggles.

[@stayniftyGuyFaceMannPersonDude]

*STEAMPUNK CLEAVAGE*

[@grizzlyowlbear3538]

STEAMY AS HELL

[@maxthepaladin2147]

Hands down the most important part of the character, the plot and the setting

[@festethephule7553]

Deathclaw2014 That sounds incredibly painful.

[@nippusimmer9028]

I imagine Steampunk is really hard to write because its like the Industrial Revolution meets Sci-Fi.

[@101jir]

There is that guy in Rome that discovered steam power. Had the Romans found a way to use it, steam punk would make sense in that context. The big issue is that there is a very good reason the Romans didn't have a way to utilize it: they didn't have the requisite other technologies. Which is exactly the challenge in steampunk: it is a grand what if that necessarily is very difficult to find a way to imagine as realistic. For some reason people tend to go with Victorian era though which I really don't get, Roman themed steampunk would make more sense, though even that would be really difficult.

[@101jir]

Well historically I meant that it is *at least* next to impossible, if not impossible. Though I would think that being historically next to impossible, if not impossible, it would have that impact on writing. Victorian era, the idea of being stuck there just doesn't make sense due to the reasons mentioned in the video. But then I have a propensity to overthink things like that and be too perfectionistic myself in terms of realism and believability.

[@VK-sz4it]

Because Victorian era is just cool, time of brotherhood of respectable gentlmen whos spadroon is as quick as their wit. Moral is as strong as their upper body and the world is full of new easy stuff to discover. Steam/cogs/whatever are not so important.

[@101jir]

Axel Pingol, I mean, a lot of the stuff in steampunk in and of itself is just not realistic as an invention, Victorian or Roman. But it seems more excusable that if it were somehow possible for the Romans to have made those advances before the Victorians, being less advanced in other ways makes it more believable that they would attempt such inefficient attempts at technological innovation than the Victorian Era, since the Victorians could already control explosives since the invention of gunpowder whereas the Romans, afaik, could not. So if it were possible in the first place for the Romans to utilize steam power, the inefficiencies of many of the inventions shown would make more sense than it would for Victorians. Am I making sense? I basically mean that the glaring inefficiencies of steampunk equipment make more sense for a Roman setting than a Victorian setting, or it would if it were even believable that the Romans could get there in the first place.

[@vocalcalibration8033]

Actually Roman steampunk soynds rad. You'd have to write it so that, for whatever reason, slavery wasn't really a viable option. Perhaps laws regarding human rights developed faster which left the slave trade not quite illegal, but frowned upon and greatly discouraged.

[@purplehaze2358]

There are so many variations of “Punk” settings that it’s kind of hilarious.

[@unicorntomboy9736]

I found a neat genre called Solar Punk aka Eco Punk. it's essentially the opposite of Cyberpunk.

[@HavingCrumpets]

@@unicorntomboy9736 solarpunk is nice visually, just wondering how it'd work without googling, because that is effort

[@unicorntomboy9736]

@@HavingCrumpets I was thinking about writing a novel set in the year 2100, on a floating city called Atlantis (which would be the book's title) and tell a romance story between an Asian bisexual women and an female Android/ AI Assistant named Sophia.

[@catbatrat1760]

It's to the point where I honestly don't even know what "Punk" actually means. Only thing I can guess is that it's like the modern "core" - basically meaning "aesthetic".

[@QuebecNinjaTV]

Just glue some gears on it and call it steampunk, that's the trendy fashion nowadays. A copper painted chuck of some 1980's junk, Will fetch a pretty penny on EBay.

[@iainhansen1047]

Now that is how you do an add

[@348joey]

ad*

[@littlefieryone2825]

But then how do you do a subtract?

[@k2k4]

It does increase the quality. Thats a plus.

[@GhostInTheShell29]

the subtract is usually signed before you do the add.

[@namingisdifficult408]

Iain Hansen that spelling and meaning don’t add up

[@InquisitorThomas]

Haven’t seen the video yet, but I already know how this is going to go “Zeppelins are inexplicably common place despite that fact that they are completely ineffective and have a tendency to burst into flame. Edit: Can one of you pick up the phone, because I fucking called it!!!

[@InquisitorThomas]

Mincerafter 42 Basically In Steampunk and certain Alternate History settings Zeppelin are so overly used that it’s become a cliche, and doesn’t help that Zeppelins went out fashion because they’re less effective than planes and had a nasty tendency to explode because the gases that allowed them to fly were incredibly combustible.

[@popstarchamp]

Inquisitor Thomas You and DBZ Abridged Cooler should get together and just go on a tirade of calling stuff.😉

[@isaacgray2909]

I remembered that my teacher mentioned this. He also said that the Zeppelin were extremely slow that you can just do something daily for hours before the it's gonna do anything and it won't be non-threatening.

[@ReddwarfIV]

Depends on what you're using a adoption for. Are you going places with no harbours or airports? An airship can land there. Would a long loiter time he helpful? Do you have access to helium, allowing you to build an airship that won't explode? What if your setting is a colony on a world like venus where airships would be super useful?

[@osedebame3522]

You know that airships with helium are still used today right? Not all airships you see are Zeppelins, those are a specific kind of airship with combustible hydrogen.

[@jkvz7184]

After watching Arcane, I actually got a look on how to write a steampunk genre without glossing over the fact that it is a steampunk genre.

[@KhymChanur]

You could do nothing but "sponsorships performed by badly written archetypes" and I'd still watch it.

[@europademon]

Contrivium... Is that like explodium used in all enemy vehicle hauls? Sounds expensive, I'll stick to my whale oil. Thank you very much.

[@louisduarte8763]

My thoughts on Contrivium: "Don't say Vibranium. Don't so Vibranium." So, like, Vibranium? "That's it! I'm outta here!" [angry footsteps][door slams][tires screeching]

[@RokuroCarisu]

Whose brainium?

[@asalways1504]

Steampunk is a genre that has constantly fallen victim to style over substance. Are there any good steampunk story recommendations? Edit: Wow,I didn't expect this much feedback! Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

[@miro.georgiev97]

As Always Would _BioShock_ count?

[@zeb857]

Miroslav Georgiev it counts!, there's brass pipes!

[@asalways1504]

Miroslav Georgiev Why yes, I almost forgot!

[@strawberrys0da714]

There's the Girl Genius comics. The story is really good and the characters are amazing.

[@countesschewi2399]

As Always Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura is a good one.

[@Lu_R]

3:07 actually slavery in England ended in 1833 before the Victorian era that started in 1837. It's a huge misconception.

[@_jpg]

"In practical terms, only slaves below the age of six were freed in the colonies. Former slaves over the age of six were redesignated as "apprentices", and their servitude was gradually abolished in two stages: the first set of apprenticeships came to an end on 1 August 1838, while the final apprenticeships were scheduled to cease on 1 August 1840. The Act specifically excluded "the Territories in the Possession of the East India Company, or to the Island of Ceylon, or to the Island of Saint Helena." The exceptions were eliminated in 1843." - Why-key-pedia

[@sandromnator]

​@@_jpgwhat part of "Slavery in ENGLAND" did you not understand?

[@_jpg]

@@sandromnator The part that has anything to do with my comment lol

[@seeleunit2000]

​@@sandromnator... What part of your missing the bigger picture do you not understand ?

[@alexoliver3282]

Finally, the Dark Lord gets some character development.

[@karmakameleon7118]

*insert obligatory love triangle comment here*

[@andrewgwilliam4831]

Jean Grey Still a better love story than "Twilight"...

[@miku4977]

How did he not mention it tho?

[@grizzlyowlbear3538]

EY, I HAD IT FIRST!

[@peacekeeper1413]

I want a gaslight fantasy video now

[@amfvideos6810]

Gaslight fantasy actually sounds really cool.

[@Fuzz82]

@@amfvideos6810 they did a thing with combining fantasy and steampunk in Arcanum (game). The medieval fantasy era is coming to an end, and conservative magic and sword users clash with the new technology and gun users. With magic and technology as two opposites in an uneast shifting balance. Orcs come to the new cities for fortune but end up in the slums, working in some factory while being underpaid. Dwarves and especially elves having a hard time ajusting to the new world. Protecting what they have left.

[@brandonvelde5774]

@@amfvideos6810 Read up on the comic "Girl Genius" it's basically this.

[@TobyDaBeagle]

@@Fuzz82 love that game

[@JLeighBralick]

Thank you for giving me the term "gaslamp fantasy." I've never felt comfortable classing my series as steampunk because, well, although there are steam-powered motorcars and planes, there are no dirigibles, no goggles, no ray guns, and only a few gears. There IS electricity, as well as magic, supernatural intrigue, societal garbage like eugenics and genocide, a mad/brilliant scientist who is morally ambiguous, and characters who actually don't just function as mannequins for the (albeit super nifty) steampunk aesthetic. 😝

[@manonpavllptdr]

Is your story available on the internet ? Or maybe published ? Because it looks really great and promising !

[@anomalocaristheabnormalshr3248]

made in abyss with more politics

[@jart1984]

basically Arcanum of Steamworks and Magick Obscura lmao

[@buu678]

Exploring the darker side of victorian era is the ONLY way to make steampunk work. Imagine a steampunk colony in Africa or Latin America.

[@johnathonhaney8291]

buu678 You could just as easily make it in London's East End, no Jack The Ripper required for its daily hardships and horrors. Too much steampunk focuses on the upper classes whereas a focus on poor and criminal classes would make more sense. Still, a colonial setting would also work, like a post-Mutiny of 1857 India or post-Opium Wars Hong Kong. Truly unique possibilities have yet to be plumed.

[@RokuroCarisu]

Here's a setting I came up with for roleplay: Britain won the Independence War and proceeded to colonialize pretty much all of North America and East-Asia. Electricity, combustion, nuclear fission and eventually fusion were still discovered and widely utilized, but almost exclusively for the benefit of heavy industry. Envoirmentalism is not a thing in this world and the ever increasing polution is seen as just an unplesant but inevitable byproduct of "progress". Living quality and social customs in the early 21st century are still where they were in the early 20th century. Instead of the World Wars, there is a lengthy conflict between the major colonial powers; the Great British Empire, the Franco-Germanian Empire, Christian-Fundamentalist Iberia (insert Spanish Inquisition joke) and Russia (currently in the middle of a late Communist Revolution), which had its hot and cold periods and is still going on. Also, magic exists, there is a local invasion of freaky undead, and Spring-heeled Jack is basically a Kamen Rider. It gets weird form here on...

[@johnathonhaney8291]

RokuroCarisu It's intricate world-building that you've put in but I cannot emphasize this enough: put as much effort into your characters as you did the setting. Also consider the ways your characters can and will change this world, even if it's only in a small part. Dynamic motion drives a good plot forward and well-thought-out characters make your readers interested enough to follow along.

[@RokuroCarisu]

Johnathon Haney Thank you for your kind words. As I said, it's a setting for roleplay. But I don't intend for the player characters' actions to change the world a great deal. Although they are pretty much superheroes, their task is to investigate and combat supernatural threats in secrecy; protecting this world from an outside force, not from itself. In fact, the world could easily turn into a threat to them if they aren't careful. I wanted to create a world that literally can't be saved just like that. The difference those heroes are making is between certain doom and a mere chance of survival. And there is also the ever lingering moral question: "Is this world even worth protecting?"

[@johnathonhaney8291]

RokuroCarisu Which is a very punk question at its core...bravo. Still, do consider writing some side stories of your major or even minor players of this world just to see what the feel of it is like from ground level. It will help EVERYTHING if you do.

[@mason8467]

Love. Triangles. When?

[@6272355463637]

Any time. All the time, really.

[@zyibesixdouze4863]

First 40 seconds and you already made a joke about the overabundance of machinery parts in places you shouldn't have them. Yes Also to note didn't the first few steampunks poke magic? EDIT: And poking at the other -punk? Nice.

[@Windows035]

"wind up jet pack" ah yes, the cousin of the rocket powered forklift

[@schwarzerritter5724]

The only reason it did not exist in old science fiction stories is because nobody thought of jetpacks. I advise to to read "The Balloon Hoax" for more information.

[@BillAngell]

My mother once told me "Remember cholera. Don't fetishize the Victorian Era."

[@yarpen26]

Bill Angell Thank God it was cholera rather than, say, smallpox or leprecy. Otherwise no catchy rhyme.

[@JC-om7nr]

My mother once told me “don’t fetishize feet”

[@sarahgray430]

You can say that about any era, really. Whenever someone starts to rhapsodize about a particular era, remind them of the harsh realities of that time. People tend to fetishize the mid 20th century, so I remind them about Watergate and the atomic bomb.

[@DetectiveNyx]

JACK OFF TO THE VICTORIAN ERA

[@jarltrippin]

My mom lowkey harassed me, kept telling me to stop fetishising the dark ages. Her views really began to plague me.

[@joesjoeys]

This has been the only commercial I've willingly sat through (yes, looking at you superbowl ads) and considered caring about.

[@HungNguyen-mi4vk]

Instruction unclear I have steam-powered cogs and steam in my love decagon now

[@StrikaAmaru]

4:00 "Nice and clean and PG13". Truly a quote for the ages.

[@RDeathmark]

Do superhero stories

[@andresjuansinisterrarosas705]

I second this

[@popstarchamp]

YES!

[@thepotatoartist689]

YESSSS

[@vocalcalibration8033]

YEAH!

[@korrochime2432]

But will the steam power my self-esteem?

[@LyamOfficial]

... *chuckles* oh you

[@grizzlyowlbear3538]

Self-steam

[@RC15O5]

Korro Chime Self-Esteam

[@MrBigCookieCrumble]

Easteampunk

[@novaterra973]

3:42 Well, you can read cyberpunk stories if you don't want to delve into history books. Not a joke, by the way. steampunk and cyberpunk can be very similar in style and theme. It is not a coincidence that the book which established steampunk as a genre was written by two renowned cyberpunk writers. You won't have AIs and cyberspace... but you can use difference engine and Victorian spiritualism.

[@powerist209]

I think Bioshock Infinite does that. Complete with stores that only accept company-issued currencies, fomenting leftist rebellion, and exploited working class. Same goes with Arcanum with Orcs, and Ogres in some cases, being oppressed working class.

[@thewanderingmistnull2451]

The genre existed well before the book you are referring to. All its author did was give it the name "steampunk". en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk#History

[@danbobski5225]

The sponsor spot was hysterical lol.

[@SprazzyGazoozle]

Hello, Journey-guy! Did you ascend to godhood yet?

[@danbobski5225]

@@SprazzyGazoozle I did indeed :p

[@catbatrat1760]

"Silence, worm!" JP: Okay! ✋😕

[@Gingerbreadley]

The goggles do serve a purpose! They are to protect the eyes from super heated steam. I mean they could just fix this by not having all the steam valves right where everyone is and 90% of the time the goggles are just on the top of their head but hey it looks cool!

[@MrKlausbaudelaire]

but steam valves are there to control the flow of steam. Something has to dial all that pressure and someone must turn a crank or spin a valve for it.

[@dimitriamiathefriggingbatt6552]

And now we wait for the deiselpunk genre to have an episode.

[@DarthBiomech]

It's basically steampunk with oil instead of steam.

[@blondbraid7986]

Yeah, but it does have some different conventions, like alternate-history where the Nazis won, retro-futuristic airplanes and tanks, and draws much more from WW2 adventure stories and dystopias than the whimsy Victorian optimism in Steampunk.

[@TheRezro]

@Darth Biomech "It's basically steampunk with oil instead of steam.It's basicall" A definition used by someone who don't know what each really is 0_0 These are retro-futurism. Works what deliberately use outdated futurism from XIX century (steampunk and its sub-genres like clock and cattle punk and related gas-light fantasy), early XX century (diesel-punk with its rayguns, Tesla's, rocket-Nazis and giant killer robots) or late XX century (atom-punk with its art-deco and flying souses, phallic rockets, plus disintegrating lasers).

[@Torchstone1]

I just wanted to mention that im pretty sure most airship type craft are filled with helium which is not flamible. The hindenburg was a special case and filled with hydrogen (very flamable) because helium is mostly mined in the US and not availibe to pre ww2 Germany

[@johnathonhaney8291]

TorchStone As someone mentioned, though, helium is actually a fairly rare element. That fact could cause lots of complications if handled correctly.

[@Torchstone1]

Johnathon Haney that is also true

[@runningcommentary2125]

Have you heard of the Airlander? I'm trying to write a setting with airships myself and they're based on those. It gets around Helium being less buoyant by being absolutely huge.

[@Torchstone1]

Running Commentary 21 I did not but that is awesome!

[@harkonen1000000]

Hindenburg was not nearly as bad as R101.

[@crazycookie4645]

Honestly, the real reason that steampunk hasn't really taken off as a genre is because, to put it as bluntly as possible, it's not a genre, it's an aesthetic. It's an excuse for artists and cosplayers to go psycho with over the top, vaguely Victorian costumes and props. That's where most of the focus in these stories go, and so they feel very bland and samey.

[@swishfish8858]

(Sorry in advance for such a long post, I guess I really needed to pour my heart out ._.) I was a die-hard steampunk nut for a while. A few years ago, I'd have vehemently denied your assertions and probably called you a rude word or two over it. But y'no what, I've since come to realize that your statement is 100% correct. Steampunk didn't catch on as anything more than "that annoying group of weirdos at comicon" because the genre thinks it's more than it is. You're right, it's an aesthetic. And what I used to claim was an open field for alt sci-fi creatives to go nuts and be creative and fresh, is really just the same thing over and over without even any real attempt to make it mean anything. That's what really makes me sad about the whole thing. I think the big problem with steampunk is its identity. What exactly *is* it? It exists in this weird limbo I refer to as "this is what steampunk isn't". A lot of stuff gets classified as "steampunk" but most of it falls outside of the classifications most fans would give to it. This video even makes fun of that phenominon a bit, with the "not TOO much X, otherwise the story is Xpunk" gags. It leaves the genre in a bit of a weird place, because with all this content being considered "steampunk" but none of it really *being* or *feeling* like "steampunk" for a lot of folks, how can there be any kind of coherence in the genre without it all jelling together? Every few years someone/thing will come along and try to breathe life into it, from bands like Abney Park and Steam-Powered Giraffe to films like Treasure Planet and 9, but they all quickly run into the same problem. They fall in with the same tired content that they can't expand on, and their attempts to expand fall outside of the oddly tight definitions for "steampunk" we've come up with. As a result, they eventually stop being "examples" of the genre. Arcane is a good example of this; folks are calling it "the best steampunk work we have" but it's not what I would have really called steampunk in those days. And to be honest, I don't know if I could have really told you why. I'm working on a project right now with that steampunk flavour I used to love so much, but I find that I'm doing what so many of those creators I mentioned have done and started to wipe off some of that flavour, because it's just not very tasty by itself. I googled the word "steampunk" the other day to see if there was any kind of rekindling, anyone that took the style I loved and did something important with it, but alas all I found was "intro to steampunk" videos/articles using vague and familiar language, and this old gem of a video here. All of which at least a few years old. I want to say that steampunk as I knew it is dead, but in reality it never stood a chance at even being alive.

[@MouldMadeMind]

Many things considered genres are more aesthetics/tones. Like grim dark.

[@TheRealGamada]

@swishfish8858 What a comment! Thanks for sharing. I am glad you’ve come to terms with steampunk’s « death ».

[@catbatrat1760]

Yeah, I kinda got that feeling... Steampunk can probably only really be a background for a story, but it's a perfect aesthetic when it comes to visual art!

[@wahlex841]

>gaslamp fantasy Ah, Hy see hyu are a man uf culture as vell.

[@guicaldo7164]

I never understood why one would have to choose between epic action scenes and a good plot and characters. Just do both, dammit! Create an entertaining, action-packed story with good plot and interesting characters, why is that so hard?

[@blondbraid7986]

I think part of it is due to the divide between what we consider classic fine art and what's considered pop-culture. Certain people into "high art" tend to scoff at anything with a hint of sci-fi or action in it and argue that the only good stories are the ones exclusively revolving around slow-paced and complicated dramas with little mass appeal, which leads to people on the flip side of the coin thinking that deep and nuanced characters are only for obscure dramas, all the broad mass wants is mindless action and explosions.

[@guicaldo7164]

Gertrud Bondesson Good point. Well, if I achieve my goal of becoming a successful film director and screenwriter, I'll do my best to make movies that are both fun and, well, good. Those are always the best! If you really care about the characters, the action scenes have a much bigger impact, with the audience genuinely fearing for their lives.

[@johnathonhaney8291]

Gui Caldo Why indeed...as a writer and ghostwriter myself, I fail to see the problem being anything other than creative laziness. We can and should do better.

[@connorschultz380]

Johnathon Haney ghost writers are still a thing? I only know about them from studying batman history I remember reading that it wasn't really a thing anymore? Or do you mean something different?

[@johnathonhaney8291]

Connor Schultz Whatever you read lied to you. Ghostwriters are still very much a thing. It's not a bad way to get into this game. You lose the rights to your work, sure, but you also get a chance to hone your craft and get immediate payment.

[@ChaosRayZero]

Normally I just skip over the sponsored ad part of KZbin videos, but _this- THIS ONE_ was worth watching!!! X^D *ALL* video ads should be done this way! 6:56

[@screamingcactus1753]

"You'd think the mad part would get in the way of the science part." By far my favorite line. I'm going to have to remember that one.

[@blixer8384]

Which is pretty much accurate. A good deal of the information gained from Nazi scientists has been called into question because all of their reported findings had to fall in line with the Party Line. Meaning the data may have been altered to better fit the conclusions the Nazis wanted the science to come to. Meaning that a large number of Nazi scientists probably escaped imprisonment and execution for horrific human experienets by giving the allies worthless data...

[@catbatrat1760]

@@blixer8384 I think I also heard that it was useless because "science" in this case was more an excuse to torture people than to actually learn anything.

[@sori_osori_]

3:16 *Also sexism, but I don't want to say that* But you wrote it. huh!

[@miku4977]

큐베다이스키 He didn't say it tho

[@johnathonhaney8291]

큐베다이스키 Very important point too often glossed over, though. Victorian morals on a women's place were downright disgusting by modern standards. My one steampunk shirt story "Faces" touched on that by way of a traveling strongwoman, who were the prototypes of the modern female bodybuilder and could be just as ripped (and without steroids, which didn't exist during this period).

[@SmartAlec1]

Johnathon Haney "too often glossed over" Most people talk about sexism of the past.

[@sori_osori_]

Oh my god, I might have accidentally started *THE INTERNET CULTURE WAR*

[@johnathonhaney8291]

Smart Alec Uh, uh, like Ella said, that never gets discussed in a steampunk story.

[@ur-local-lesbian-comrade]

Someday I'm going to combine everything this guy had told me to do and create the worst book ever written. Then I'll try to make it as popular as possible to show how idiotic we've all become. Just you wait Just you wait...

[@johnathonhaney8291]

LPS_Angel _Daschund Well? Stop talking about it and get to writing, Max Bialystock.

[@peterkershaw11]

Jonathon Haney part of the advice taken here is writer's block, so there's all the time in the world to write the book. Regardless, I will *buy* that book whether you publish it or not.

[@XPElite]

We will watch your career with great interest.

[@kimkillillasfuq8212]

can I help?

[@turtato2155]

LPS_Angel _Daschund I'll be waiting

[@zeromailss]

*SCIENCE!*

[@ChaosRayZero]

_...With full reverb!_

[@steampunker7]

And if you didn't immediately get Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science" stuck in your head after hearing that... ...THEN YOU'VE GIVEN YOURSELF AWAY REPLICANT HUMAN! D8

[@ChaosRayZero]

I, uh... _guess I'm a replicant then?_ _Who's Thomas Dolby?_

[@steampunker7]

*sigh* Gods I'm getting old. u.u;

[@darkmanstudios3828]

Shall we begin the experiment? RABBIT! TANK! BEST MATCH!

[@ianbirchfield5124]

i always had a story in my head that took place in a steampunk world and as soon as this video showed op in my recomendation a sence of dread came over me. i hope my story doesn't suck. (writing this before watching the video) EDIT: everything went great until he roasted airships. oh well.

[@mistersureshot1749]

I was also upset with the Airship talk, i wanted my characters traveling in a airship at some point too :(

[@johnathonhaney8291]

ian birchfield Oh, come on, guys. Airships can STILL work, just don't use hydrogen to make them float.

[@DarthBiomech]

Steampunk means no internal combustion was invented for whatever reason, which means no engine light enough to put onto plane, which means that dirigibles still rule the sky, which means that they can totally be used. Locomotive is powerful'n'efficient and all, as long as you have a railroad to go with it...

[@TerribleWritingAdvice]

While airships are a cliché in steampunk you can still use them in your story. Airships themselves are not the problem rather throwing them into the setting without thinking. Mainly, the technology must be safe and cheap enough for common use and the implication of cheap and easy air travel must be considered when designing the setting. Just because you use a trope I mention in a video does not make your story bad by any means. See my honest thoughts video if you feel you are struggling with some of the pitfalls I mentioned.

[@majorblitz3846]

@Terrible Writing Advice Actually, Someone Open Mary Sue's Mixtape in Hindenburg Airship.

[@Gilhelmi]

Derigables were very safe. Much safer than airplanes. Heck, even the Hindinburg disaster only killed a third of the passengers (compare to the nearly 95-100% casualties for aircraft disasters).

[@gifyifhkhmcucyk6865]

Yeah but dirigibles are big and fascinating and dramatic and luxurious and thus when they crash it's really dramatic and usually well covered.

[@talltroll7092]

@@gifyifhkhmcucyk6865 Oh, the huge manatee!

[@marccolten9801]

I believe most deaths came from panicked passengers jumping too soon. With the burning hydrogen going upward they might have survived the crash if they rode the ship down. Not an expert but it's what read.

[@drakep.5857]

A T H I R D

[@michaelmartin9022]

I think most plane crashes are survived too. But then again most plane crashes are a cessna with engine trouble breaking it's gear off as it slithers to a stop in a field.

[@agentfuse6416]

The only ad I've ever sat through, all because of the Dark Lord.

[@Klaevin]

I just finished Rick and Morty, and while it's not steampunk, I would like to talk about the point TWA brought up about *SCIENCE*. really, Rick's not a scientist, like all "scientists" who build cool things and seem to be geniuses in biology, technology and physics, even though it literally takes twenty four years to get a doctorate in each. No, these "scientists" don't do science : they're not pushing the boundaries of knowledge, they're using previously known knowledge to apply it to a problem : They're engineers. and a series that finally acknowledges that would probably be really cool.

[@DarthBiomech]

Well, in old days scientist and engineer were quite often one and the same. Many scientists build devices for testing their ideas themselves. It is later, when things become more and more advanced and sophisticated, scientists started to stick with purely abstract stuff, leaving it's practical implementations to other people.

[@MrKlausbaudelaire]

actualy, Rick pretty much pushes all boundaries known, unknow, and "don't even think about it" he can find. True, he applies old theories and discoveries, but he also create new ones.

[@Vitorruy1]

Klaevin Alan turing was a scientist and he also build computers

[@Klaevin]

+Vitorruy he built the computers to test his hypotheses. he was a computer scientist, so he wasn't exploring the physical properties of dopes silicon or gallium transistors. other scientists were leaning on those questions. As a scientist, Turing "just" built computers to define what a computer was. As an engineer, he took his knowledge of computers, and applied it to build computers that crack German codes. Cracking German codes using computers isn't science. it's engineering. In the same way, saying "you can convert matter into energy" is science. building a bomb that converts matter into energy very quickly is engineering.

[@Vitorruy1]

Klaevin No he didn't. It was already applied by the Z-1 and its sucessors. The turing machine was an abstract concept it didnd't need an implementation to validate it. Whatever you call the work on the ENIAC and ACE engineering work or scientific work is irrelevant. The point is that they were done by the same person meaning it's not unresonable for scientists to get their hands dirty.

[@notoriouswhitemoth]

Yes, airships are prone to explode, that's why people avoid hot air balloons at all costs. It's not like the Hindenburg was a freak accident resulting from carelessly combining specific materials without considering how those materials might interact...

[@ItsJustDoctor]

notoriouswhitemoth The Hindenburg happened because the US didn't allow sale of helium (a far safer gas) to Germany, so they used hydrogen instead. Can't excuse them painting the airship in thermite though

[@notoriouswhitemoth]

The hydrogen was a contributing factor, but there's no way the hydrogen inside the airtight hull could have ignited if the outside of the hull hadn't been flammable in the first place.

[@Poctyk]

@@notoriouswhitemoth it wasn't airtight. Airships literally assumed that floating gas will escape

[@notoriouswhitemoth]

@@Poctyk That does certainly put a different spin on things. It doesn't change the fact that using hydrogen was only part of the problem. Put iron and aluminum together and the result is not only flammable but extremely unstable.

[@dappercuttlefish9557]

I love the steampunk aesthetic and the types of stories it tackles, but I’m definitely more of a fantasy person overall, so thanks for teaching me about gaslight fantasy! It’s good to know there’s a name for the genre Fallen London is in.

[@catbatrat1760]

Same!

[@antigrav6004]

GOOD STEAMPUNK I RECOMMEND: The Lotus War - Jay Kristov. Japanese style steampunk fantasy The Leviathan Trilogy - Scott Westerfeld, good alt history ww1 with mecha and genetically engineered beasts. Read em.

[@scendles7360]

I thought that was Dieselpunk.

[@andresjuansinisterrarosas705]

These videos are some of the best content I’ve seen, especially as an aspiring writer (at least as a hobby) They are so good and so entertaining, and it is unbelievable the amount of quality these have. Love these videos a lot. (That ad at the end was weirdly funny and I like it, pretty nice)

[@loafywolfy]

every time i watch one of those i write down new ideas, or go "OF COURSE!" and correct dumb shit it wrote

[@johnathonhaney8291]

Andr‚s Juan Sinisterra Rosas Speaking as a pro ghostwriter, I can assure you these videos have crunchy bits for us folk who write for a living too.

[@miles6283]

I'm working on a Steampunk Wild West graphic novel write now...

[@intergalacticthoughtcrimin9763]

Make a video about it!

[@bootnell]

So, Wild Wild West?

[@miles6283]

Intergalactic Thought Criminal - I've thought about doing that... Michael Bunnell - Kinda

[@Jebu911]

Dont you mean cattlepunk

[@miku4977]

Ayyyy nice pun

[@mrhost561]

This is why I love the Leviathan series. I havent been able to find an x-punk story like it since

[@matcauthon9669]

You should do grim dark.

[@merrittanimation7721]

Mat Cauthon Everything is unpleasant and nothing gets better not because of issues inherent to the world or a history of greed and exploitation but because people made and make mistakes that a four year old wouldn't do.

[@Marylandbrony]

Make it so dark, People mistake you for Zach Snyder.

[@thedarklrd6714]

Marylandbrony make it so dark, people can't mistake you for zach snyder because they can't see two inches in front of them

[@glitchygear9453]

Mat Cauthon The way to do grimdark right is to openly acknowledge how over the top you're being and revel in it. The people who take grimdark seriously are just so criiiinge

[@neoselket562]

And be sure to add plenty of evil creatures/gods/demons/people with nigh unlimited power that inflict terrible eternal suffering despite the fact that things like that are unsustainable and uncommon for no reason other than EDJGE(coughSCPfoundationcough)

[@fortcastellan1730]

It felt like there was a lot more anger in this episode than some of the previous installments. You've been burned by some bad Steampunk stories, haven't you? ...Though, to be fair, so have I. Burned, insulted, and left very, very angry....

[@GunmetalRaven]

Finding a good steampunk story is like finding a YA without a shitty romance. It's impossible, which is why I've been working on one. @_@

[@johnathonhaney8291]

FortCastellan I certainly have the burn marks myself to show off. My solution was to write my own with a focus on the not-so-nice side of such a society with a bit of magick thrown in.

[@dreconit6156]

Johnathon: So Aetherpunk?

[@johnathonhaney8291]

Dreconit It's all just steampunk to me. The sub-categories imply more and better stories than this genre has yet to produce. I therefore have no patience for such flummery.

[@zackr102]

GunmetalRaven I know a series that could fit into both of those categories...

[@Jack-Oates]

Hi, could we please have a murder mystery video please?I

[@luckyschockmel5956]

you are the only youtuber where i dont skip the ads, they are just so funny

[@Pr0jectFM]

What about steam powered hams?

[@sarahgray430]

Hams are smoked.

[@Dianarodriguez-gt2bj]

A Men Hey! Don’t be mean.

[@funninoriginal6054]

Is this a Steamed Hams meme? At this time of day, in this time of year, localized entirely within this part of youtube?

[@DetectiveNyx]

Yes!

[@funninoriginal6054]

Kaede Akamatsu ...May i see it?

[@MisterTutor2010]

Actually you don't need a PhD to be a Mad Scientist, only an MS, which is what you get if you fail your final defense. The reason the Master in Doctor Who turned evil was that the Doctor constantly made fun of the fact that the Master's degree is only a master's degree :)

[@johnathonhaney8291]

MisterTutor2010 Actually, the idea of having a doctorate to be a scientist or inventor, mad or otherwise, wasn't really codified until after WWII. Most of the purveyors of important scientific advancements--Thomas Edison, Michael Faraday, Nikola Tesla, Alexander Graham Bell--just did it themselves sans any kind of degree.

[@MisterTutor2010]

Johnathon Haney Very true.

[@atomicskull6405]

All you really need to be a mad scientist is to have The Spark.

[@knightshade2654]

You know that you've been reading to much TV tropes when you know what all of this is...

[@pointlessrandom7619]

I stopped reading tv tropes when I came across the "TV tropes will ruin your life" entry.

[@Glimare]

Thus starts the TWA sponsorship wars plot. And I still think the end boss is just the writer coming back from the grave. =P

[@jackbenimble4903]

Awesome video as always. Do you think you could make a video about how not to go about editing your first and second drafts?

[@joesjoeys]

Second draft? Thats after second breakfast but before sevensies.

[@sleepysera]

I'd love that :D We have an episode on how (not) to start writing, and one on how (not) to finish and look for a publisher. But we are still lacking some snark about the middle part of the writng process :3

[@connorwalters3240]

Nooooooooo!!! My track meet went too late and I missed the upload! I have failed you great high priest of the love triangles!

[@kaydgaming]

Connor Walters - track meet? Which state are you in, because my season ended 2 weeks ago.

[@ComradeDragon1957]

Love triangle between Steam,Cyber,and Dieselpunk when?

[@leadpaintchips9461]

My eye twitched reading this, but after my brain started to compute again, I want!

[@Dreigonix]

Just glue some gears on it and call it steampunk That’s the trendy fashion nowadays A copper-painted chunk of some 1980’s junk Will fetch a pretty penny on EBay!~ (Also, I just really really love airships. >.>)

[@thewanderingmistnull2451]

Too many gears not enough steam. That's clockpunk.