#mythpunk

The Drowned Watch ARC applications for Raptoraem: Book I are now live in the Media Vault for members of the Contraband Network.

So if you’d like first dibs before the form opens to the general public, consider this your politely ominous invitation to join the Network and come in through the side door.

Small print from your local smuggling operation: applying does not guarantee selection. It does give Contraband members early access to apply before public signups open.

If you’d like to read Book I early and help usher this foul little enterprise into the world, the form is in the Vault.

Begin your descent:

RaptoraemOfficial.com

Join the Contraband Network:

The Ferryman

Pre-order Book I:

Amazon Kindle

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💜 A little favor from the old guard 💜

If Forward but Never Forget meant something to you, the best way to help carry its spirit into the next stage is to give Raptoraem a home on your shelves.

You can add the book to your To-Read shelf on Goodreads: it only takes a second, but it makes a big difference for visibility while we’re in the Kindle pre-order stage.

To everyone who’s already left hype reviews and ratings there: thank you. Truly. Those words build the first bridge for new readers who’ve never touched FNF but might be swayed by your excitement.

And if you feel like chatting on the Goodreads page—sharing theories, hopes, or just dropping a line—that chatter helps keep the book alive in the algorithm and shows there’s an active community behind it.

Song 1

Distazoel lived a life of bliss in the heavens above Earth. She would spend her time dancing or watching what went down below. She saw many things, but there was more to discover, so she left the divine halls to explore different vantage points, so she could discover new views. One day she found herself above a great big forest. She tiptoed close to the edge of a cloud to get a better view and ended up slipping. She failed to maintain perch and she fell of the edge. Her wings were not strong enough, so she plummeted to earth. “Oh no, if I touch the ground I shall become one of the fallen.” She cried.

She landed hard and hadn't it been for the friendly inhabitants of the land that nursed her back to health, she may have perished. Once better, she went on a journey to climb back to heaven. She would only know for sure if the heavens would take her back, if she at least tried to return. So after some farewells, she embarked alone on her journey.

On her way through the jungle, she met Moinen the Wizard. She was drawn by his magic song and he greeted her as if he had expected her. Enchanted by the beauty of his voice and skill in the lute, she begged him to teach her the art of music and magic, so she may return home and greet the gates of heaven with song, music and dance.

Moinen sung an alder sapling out of the earth and it grew into a lute. He then sang the iron in the earth into wires and bound it with unicorn hairs and then strung the lute. He told her, if she learned to play this new strange lute within a year and a day, he would help her find her way back to heaven. She practiced dutifully and within a year and a day, she could play one song. Moinen was pleased and together they started their journey through Pan.

Starved and tired they arrived at a village. They were greatly relieved to find an opportunity to have a place where they could fill their bellies and sleep on soft beds. The villagers fed them until they were full, replaced their ragged clothes and let them stay the night. Next day, the wizard and Distazoel found out that the villagers were starving. Game was scarce and the harvest was bad and they would be forced to slaughter most if not all their cattle to survive. Distazoel asked why they had fed them and had clothed them despite their predicament. They answered that since they understood hardship, they took pity on Moinen and Distazoel and helped them. How can one not take pity on those who are in plight just as themselves. Greatly stirred by the villager's own plight and goodness, both the master and student sang. They sang the one song Distazoel had learned and the magic fueled by their gratitude, made honey gush from springs and the winter ice melted and the sun shone and rain fell and the flowers bloomed. The people plowed the fields and planted wheat. Around the springs of honey, the first sweetcorn to ever grow sprouted from the earth. They had a plentiful harvest and even the livestock they feared had to be slaughtered, had enough feed to make them fat and multiply.

Moinen and Distazoel carried on their journey.

Song 2

On their way, they came across a battlefield. Two lords from two feuding families and their armies where just retreating to resume the fight another day. Once both armies had retired to their camps to rest and eat, Moinen and Distazoel made their way past the armies avoiding their detection. They arrived at the manor castle of one of the lords. They introduced themselves as bards and were invited to play at a banquet. Both lords agreed that after the battle they would dine together to discuss terms.

Both lords were young, since many of their family had fallen to each other’s side and they were the last remaining heirs. A baron and a baroness.

At the banquet Distazoel sang and played the second song she had learned during her journey. Enthralled by the beauty of the song, the Baron and Baroness forgot their grievances against each other for a moment and fell madly in love. But when the song ended, they remembered their grudges, the Baroness fled the halls and left the Baron in his castle, riding off with her entourage.

Despite all this, their love still persisted. Whenever their armies fought in battle, the Baroness fretted over the safety of the Baron. She commanded her men to not slay the Baron and to capture him instead.

One day the Baron was injured by an archer, his men were unable to retrieve him and he was captured by the lady's men. The Baroness forced an armistice with the Baron as a hostage as leverage. The Baroness personally nurtured him back to health. Spring turned to Summer and not long after, the Baroness discovered that she was pregnant. She told the baron of the pregnancy and they decided to marry in secret.

Soon the Baron's knights arrived, sent by his uncle and demanded their lord back, offering a generous ransom. The Baroness declined the ransom and the couple publicly declared their marriage and love for each-other. A great feast was held to celebrate the peace and unity of both houses; now united and no longer enemies.

During the feast, the knights who had been sent to ransom back the Baron, slew him. Stabbing him to death with dinner forks, which back then had two long pointed prongs and were not like the short three pronged ones we have today. Before they could turn on the Baroness, her knights came between her and the assailants, who fled. Her husband died in her arms while she wept and they kissed their final fare well.

The Uncle who had sent the knights to ransom the Baron resented him. He believed he should have been the head of the house and had him assassinated. War broke out again. This time the Baronesses’ house and the knights loyal to the deceased Baron fought against the usurper and the knights loyal to him.

In winter the Baroness gave birth to twins. Both boys. The first to come out was the heir to the Baroness’s lands and the second was to become the lord of arms and was promised his father’s lands and his title as baron, once the usurper faced justice. Both boys were instilled with hatred towards their great uncle and trained diligently in the art of war. As the war raged, they grew to be strong and proud men. The people adored them and their knights loved them.

They amassed a great force and when the day came to face the usurper’s armies, they were victorious and their treacherous great uncle was captured. He was judged as guilty by the king’s courts, however the Usurper Baron invoked the right of trail by combat, so his execution was delayed. The Lord of Arms, the younger brother stepped up as the challenger and slew his great uncle in the duel and took his place as the baron of his father’s lands, as it was his birthright.

Soon, war broke out again, this time, the children of the great uncle, vowing vengeance laid siege to the new Baron’s castle. The new Baron, a great warrior and the leader of many knights, defeated that army, victorious, just as he had been before. He was about to execute his treacherous aunts and uncles, but the daughter of one of his uncles, put herself between him and her father and brothers, trying to protect him. The Baron fell in love and asked to court her, in return for sparing her family and only banishing them. She accepted the proposal.

They courted and as time went by, she too fell in love with him and eventually they became engaged. They would finally be married and would have children. And at their wedding, Moinen and Distazoel sang and played the same love song they had sung to the Baron’s Mother and Father long ago.

Moinen and Distazoel continued on their journey.

Song 3

Many years later, their journey ended at a city near the sea. They took shelter at an inn. There they heard about the great and terrible sea wyrm. Every second year, the beast demanded a maiden sacrifice, or else it would flood the earth. When the sacrifice pleased the dragon, it would heard all the fish to the bay near the city. The daughter of the city’s mayor had been chosen in the lottery and she was to be the sacrificed. Dismayed, the mayor begged Moinen to hide her. Moinen refused the mayor’s request. Distazoel however went to the daughter and helped her escape and hide. The citizens refused to give up their daughters as substitute and accused the mayor of trying to worm out of his duty. Why should they give up their daughters, when he wouldn’t do it himself.

Distazoel, sang the third song she had learned during her journey and made the wyrm sleep for a further year and a day. That year, no sacrifice went to the dragon. The fish became scarce and the city became poorer and fewer merchants came to the ports. People blamed the lack of sacrifice for their plight.

When the wyrm finally woke, it was incensed; he had overslept and there had been no sacrifice to greet him. The dragon came ashore to confront the people. He rode in on waves that threatened to flood the city. “Where is my sacrifice! I overslept and it must have escaped back. Bring it to me!”

Distazoel went to the dragon, walking across the waves to meet it.

“Are you my pure maiden sacrifice? I never expected to get an angel. I am greatly pleased! I am merciful and shall forgive the insult made against me! In fact, I am generous too, so I shall send many fat fish!”

Distazoel said nothing and only played her lute and sang the third song. The waters calmed and the waves went to sleep beneath the surface.

Instead of being enraged, the Dragon puffed up his chest. “Behold my great power! I control the sees!” It said. “I can call the waves and I can dismiss them. Behold, I shall bring it back again!”

Yet when the dragon tried to bring back the waves the waters didn’t heed his command. The Wyrm was too busy acting surprised and embarrassed to notice that Moinen had crept up behind him. The Wizard sprung onto his back and ran up his spine all the way up to his head, holding a great spear in one hand. “You have finally revealed yourself,” said the Wizard, “and now, you shall pay the price for your mischief.” Moinen impaled one of the Wyrm’s eyes.

The Wyrm, driven mad by the pain, fled, never to return to that city and terrorize the inhabitants.

Moinen and Distazoel sang the third song again and that night all people slept soundly and with no more worry in their hearts.

Song 4

Moinen and Distazoel carried on their journey and they came across an old friend of the wizard. It was an immortal man, an old warrior. Despite his age and wisdom, the immortal was in need of help and would offer his undying gratitude if only Moinen would aid him. The immortal had a friend who was also an immortal and a great wizard. The immortal wizard had succumbed to great despair and hopelessness. The warrior explained that the great wizard had tried all he could to help humanity, but again and again, was faced with failure.

Moinen and Distazoel continued their journey now accompanied by the immortal warrior. Moinen lead them to at a great mountain, where a three headed, evil, fire breathing wyrm lived. Moinen and Distazoel, sung the fourth song the angel had learned. The song lured the wyrm out of the lair. The immortal warrior slew the wyrm by cutting of all three heads. Moinen told the warrior to open up the wyrm’s chest and remove it’s three hearts. The warrior did as asked.

All three hearts had been wounded in the fight and were black as coal, but despite the dragon being dead, they kept on beating. Moinen bundled up the hearts in a spare cloak and told Distazoel and the old Warrior to take turns carrying it. Then, Moinen instructed the warrior, to bring them to his friend. The three journeyed to the wizard’s tower, which was inside a great city. Once they arrived at the city, they were met by guards. They had been expected. The king who lived in that city had heard tales of the old warrior slaying the three headed dragon and asked for the dragon’s heads as a trophies and offered great riches in return. When the king found out that the warrior hadn’t brought the heads with them, he had his men rob the three travelers and stole the three black hearts. He then banned the three from the city.

In his palace, the king ordered a great feast and asked his cooks to cook the hearts and to stuff them with all his favorite meats, roots and herbs. The king, his knights, and his nobles, all ate of the hearts. Once they were done, they continued feasting and partying. As the days and nights passed and they kept on partying, horns and scales started to grow on those who had eaten pieces of the hearts. By the time they were done feasting and partying all, those who hadn't fled, had turned into scaly fire-breathing men and women, with a core of evil, where their hearts should have been.

Moinen, Distazoel and the immortal warrior went on a new quest. They went to find the three wise dragons, to ask them to aid them against the evil that had tainted the heart of the kingdom. Moinen and Distazoel sang the fourth song while on their journey. They found the first wise dragon up north, the second east and the third west. All three wise dragons agreed to purge this evil and disguised as humans followed the three back to the city. They found the city gates abandoned by the guards. When they entered, no one was in the streets and all windows were shuttered or boarded up. Moinen and Distazoel sang the fourth song again. This drew out all the vile creatures that once had been men and women into the streets and out of hiding. The beasts went for the adventurers and started to pursue them. The group fled to the wizard’s tower, where they finally met the immortal wizard, who had no idea what was going on outside, because he had spent all this time locked in his tower exploring magic and alchemy. The immortal wizard had become frail in his seclusion and his heart had stopped beating long ago and had shriveled up and turned to dust. Yet the wizard, being an immortal kept on living. The three dragons each gave one of their hearts to the wizard and laid them in his chest. Having done what they had come to do, the three dragons left, flying back to their domains. The wizard grew one whole foot, his bent back straightened, and life and strength flowed back into his body and his face flushed with life.

Moinen and Distazoel sang and played the fourth song for the last time. This time, all the people who had been hiding came out, the song revealed the bravery and strength in their hearts. Together with the help of the people and the powerful wizard, they rooted out all those corrupted by the evil wyrm and slew them. Some escaped, but most did not. The king, who had turned into a great wyrm himself, was slain by the immortal warrior and the wizard.

All praised and hailed the immortal warrior and the people demanded he become their king. The warrior, was reluctant. He had once been a king long long ago. He had been a bad king and his kingdoms had fallen, just as this one did. And further experience of holding similar responsibility had shown that ruling brought out the worst in him. The people kept badgering him to become their king and finally, the warrior relented and was crowned. The warrior, now king, chose to rule for the next seven years. In those seven years he spent his time ruling and writing new laws. Everyone loved their warrior king and his new laws, and they swore to abide by them. Once the seven years were over, the king wrote his final law, but put it above all other laws he had written. In that law, the king declared all the people of his kingdom his heirs, making them royal, giving them all of the royal privileges. The old warrior was ancient and most people of this city, were descended from him, and those who weren't were adopted, so his decree was indisputable. Commoner and noble alike all were now royalty and heirs to the throne. Every seven years, the royal people of this nation would vote one of their peers to be king for the next seven years. And after making his last royal decree, he abdicated after they elected his successor. And so, this nation where everyone was royalty, grew into great prosperity.

Song 5

Moinen and Distazoel continued on their journey, this time accompanied by the warrior and the wizard. Deep in the northern parts of the great dark forest of Nil, they heard a fae calling to them for help. They searched for days and finally came across a very small but very deep lake, more like a very deep water filled pit, from which a small stream flowed. The voice crying for help came from somewhere deep inside the lake. The wizard created a huge bubble and carried the party to the bottom of the lake. The closer they got, the better they could understand the words being cried out. “Please, I have been burned, please, stop this pain. Kill me.”

Moinen and Distazoel sang the fifth song they had created. It was the song of healing and a bright light emitted from them lighting up the great underwater cave. At the bottom of the cave they saw a figure of a woman. The water around her bubbled as it touched her burned skin and despite their attempts to heal her, her burns would return. Moinen sang the third song, giving the poor creature a chance to sleep, which it hadn’t done for a very long time. When she fell asleep the heat dissipated from her body. The water stopped bubbling, and when the bubbling ceased, they saw was a figure, still and pale. They then sang the fifth song again. This time the healing magic worked. The magic healed her injuries and even a great part of her soul. After sleeping for a year and a day she woke from her deep slumber and it told them their story.

Long ago a mortal girl covered head to toe in burns, fell into a deep pit, trying to escape the fires of the burning forest and the evil pursuing her who had started the fire. At the bottom of the deep pit, was a cool pool of water, fed by a spring. In the caves that lead to this deep pit lived a fairy. The girl had survived the fall, but was still dying. Wanting to save or at least comfort the dying human, the fairy touched her soul. The moment their souls touched, the girl grabbed the fairy with her hands and gulped it down. The girl then died with the fairy in her stomach. Trapped within the corpse, the fairy sought to get out, there it met the soul of the girl. She was on fire and screaming. She too was trapped in her body and condemned to feel the fires that burned her and it was the fairy who had inadvertently trapped her, preventing her from passing on. The fairy in it’s despair tore out it’s wings and within a day, died from the mortal wound. The spirit of the fae shattered, embedding itself in the corpses flesh and the girl’s soul. The body reanimated and the heat of the flames returned to the burned flesh anew. There the destroyed fairy and the soul of the girl, spent centuries, enduring the pain. Over time, their souls melted together and they became one being and a new fairy was born.

The fairy thanked the travelers for saving her. The fairy woman now called herself the Leanan-Sídhe. She was a very beautiful fairy. While her body had been healed and the heart was beating, just like the living, she hadn’t been truly resurrected. The company clothed the fae. The warrior taught her how to hunt and survive the wild. The wizard took care of her education. Moinen taught her to play the banjo and appreciate all beautiful things. Distazoel however, grew jealous of the Leanan-Sídhe and refrained from helping the fairy woman, besides, hadn’t she help heal her, that was more than enough generosity, she believed.

The Leanan-Sídhe returned the dislike, having sensed the angel’s animosity. Distazoel and Leanan-Sídhe would quarrel and fight nearly every day. One day, when hunting a boar, the angel was mortally wounded by a bores tusk. The Leanan-Sídhe found her. Distazoel begged the Fairy to sing the fifth song. The fae sang; and sang and played the song more beautifully than Distazoel ever could and Distazoel could make even those with the blackest heart weep with her voice. The song healed the angel and also healed the Leanan-Sídhe's soul further. Since that day, they were like sisters, as if joined by the hip, they would do everything together. They had become the greatest friends.

Song 6

One day, the queen of the Unseeli came to visit. She claimed the Leanan-Sídhe as her subject, for she was due to circumstances of her birth a dark fairy, or so the queen of the dark fairy court, argued. The Leanan-Sídhe had to join one of her courts. The court of winter. The Court of Autumn. And the court of Night. Moinen suggested to the fairy that she should choose the court of Autumn or Winter, since those two courts were the friendliest and least hostile to people. The court of the night, however, were filled with the darkest fae and some of the most wicked fairies.

Then the queen of the Seeli arrived. She claimed the fairy to be hers. Saying that the original fairy who had died, was from the spring courts. The Leanan-Sídhe had to either join the court of spring, summer or light. Both queens quarreled over their rights to the fairy. Then the king of the wild horde arrived. He said naught for a while. But when attention turned to him, he began to speak. He offered a compromise. He offered that he take her into his kingdom. The wild fairy hordes were allied to both the Seeli and Unseeli. This would keep the balance of power. The fairy queens all agreed to this proposal.

The Leanan-Sídhe was now a wild fae, and as a wild fae, was free to roam wherever she pleased, except for villages, towns or cities, which were forbidden to her. As a wild fae, the territories of people, such as villages and cities, was off limits.

The Leanan-Sídhe and Distazoel would stay united, the friends would not be parted, at least for the time being and so they spent a good century together, roaming the wilds.

One day, during their travels, they came across a group of cursed people. They lived like dark fairies. Living in the shadows and filled with the desire to prey on the race of man for their blood. This group of cursed people unlike, others of their kind, refused to hurt the innocent and lived on small warm blooded creatures. But sometimes the humans in cities outside the forest would send in their condemned to be fed upon. When a condemned arrived, they would judge them by tasting their blood for guilt. And if they tasted their guilt, they would devour them. If they were innocent, they would make them one of their own, cursing them, like they themselves had been cursed. The humans living near them grew arrogant. They used the cursed people to punish those who refused to be controlled. The Leanan-Sídhe was stirred by their plight, but Distazoel was revolted by the creatures. For the first time, in a long time, they fought. Leanan-Sídhe wanted to help them, but the angel wanted them destroyed, for how could one tolerate such darkness. They parted their way in anger. Distazoel returned to Moinen and the rest of the party. It would be a long time before they would be reunited. It would take Distazoel time to reconsider her choice and to regret abandoning her friend. So when she did, she went in search for her.

As fate would have it, they met again. The Leanan-Sídhe had left the wild horde and joined one of the Unseeli courts. She had joined the Unseeli court of night, as it was the only one that would take her. She then petitioned for a meeting of all fae courts, to decide the fate of the cursed people, as it was the fae that had cursed them. Her petition was granted and the fae courts of both queens congregated and discussed the cursed people’s fate. Even the king of the wild hordes joined. The Seeli courts refused to help and the Wild Horde left, since it could not go against either court. This left the Unseeli. The Dark Fairy Queen knighted Leanan-Sídhe as her personal royal knight and gave her the powers of a great warrior, then she gave her the title of duchess in her court and imbued her with the terrible power of a fairy duchess. After receiving council from the dark fairy queen, the Leanan-Sídhe made her decision on how to help the cursed people.

The Leanan-Sídhe asked Distazoel for help. Though reluctant to meddle with dark fairy business, she agreed. Her heart had softened to the plight of the vampires and guilt drove her to help the friend she had abandoned. So they both started singing. Immediately the cursed people started burning. They screamed in pain, begging them to stop as the pain was unbearable.

The Chief of the vampires dismissed his people, save for his family. “As a duty to my people, and their well-being, I must be the one to take the responsibility. For I am the one who brought upon the curse on my people. I am the reason, vampires roam these lands. I am their King and sire.” The King of the Vampires turned to look at his family. “This is my family, they refuse to leave my side. It saddens me that they too have to pay the price for my sins. But I must save my people, nothing is more important.”

Leanan-Sídhe and Distazoel started to play and sing again. Power flowed into the cursed King. The king burst into flame and his ashes were scattered across the field. The two kept on singing and cotton flowers grew from the ashes. Dark fae in the form of spiders picked the cotton and spun it into thread. They slew the king’s sons and turned their bones into spinning wheels and looms and spun the string from the cotton and made them into bolts of cloth. The Leanan-Sídhe and Distazoel kept on singing. The spiders then turned on his daughters, in fear, they threw their jewelry at the spiders who took them in exchange for sparing them. With the cloth, jewels, skin and bone, they fashioned a cape and hood. The spiders dyed the garment in the blood of the sacrifices. The Leanan-Sídhe and Distazoel kept on singing and their song awakened life in the bloody cape and hood. The cape and hood turned into a huge hulking monster and devoured all the remaining vampires but for one of the daughters. Then it went off to the nearest human settlement. It arrived at a city, filled with evil humans. The monster slew all the men in the city, including the evil king and his evil nobles and drank all their blood. The Cape and Hood returned. The spiders presented the cape and hood to the Leanan-Sídhe. Distazoel, shook her head, telling her not to take it. The Leanan-Sídhe also shook her head, but not at the spiders, but at her old friend. She stopped playing her banjo and laid it down on the ground and stopped singing. She took the Cape and Hood and wrung it out over a large cauldron, the size of a small cabin. The blood filled the entire vessel. The blood boiled and through dark fairy magic, it was boiled down into molten viscous fluid. The spiders tipped the contents into a bloomery furnace. They then smelt a bloom of dark fairy metal. Distazoel kept on singing and playing, her heart stricken with grief at what she was seeing. The Leanan-Sídhe summoned more spiders. They carried the bloom off to the dwarves. There the spiders offered half of the bloom in price for turning it into a pure ingot. The Dwarves smelted it in a crucible creating two bars of pure fairy metal, giving one back to the spiders and keeping the other as the promised payment. The Spiders then took the ingot of fairy metal, to the elven smiths. For half of the ingot of fairy metal, as payment, they asked them to fashion an enchanted hatchet head. Once the hatchet head was finished, they returned to Leanan-Sídhe. She went to the last remaining daughter and asked her for her femur. The Daughter declined the request but offered her spine instead. The Leanan-Sídhe declined the offer. The Daughter then offered her rib. The Leanan-Sídhe declined that offer too. The daughter then offer her arm and all the bones inside it. The Leanan-Sídhe accepted, and buried the limb, and a tree of bone grew from the earth. She fashioned a handle from the bonewood tree for her hatchet. She named the now finished hatchet Twane. Then she fashioned a wand and crown from another branch of that tree and crowned the vampire woman.

The Dark fairy declared the last remaining daughter the queen of vampires, who would rule them in the Leanan-Sídhe place. The dark fairy woman then mixed blood into clay and fashioned a manikin out of it. She commanded it to stand up, but nothing happened. Just then, she noticed, that Distazoel had stopped playing a while ago. The angel had fled and left her behind, but the Leanan-Sídhe had been to busy to notice. She could no longer relay on the song of healing to help finish the magic. She mixed her tears into the clay and using more of her own magic made it come to life and the thing became a vampire man. She named him the duke of vampires. He was to be the vampire queen’s consort. The Leanan-Sídhe then took the hatchet and struck the queen and the duke. The ax cut the curse in half. One half of the curse fell away and shattered, but before it was completely destroyed, a small sliver of it attached itself to the Leanan-Sídhe.

The grieving Leanan-Sídhe left the vampires to their own. She had done all she could. The curse was half broken. They had a sovereign in her place to rule them. They no longer had to fear the sun or fire, or feel the terrible thirst for blood. However half of the curse remained; iron and silver could still hurt them badly, even if it could no longer kill them outright, and they were still doomed with the dependency for blood, even though they no longer felt the thirst. The Leanan-Sídhe went to wonder on her own. The curse she had received, when she cut the vampire curse in two and destroyed one half, made her seek love, but to doom those she loved to misfortune. So she became known as an omen and muse alike.

Distazoel returned to Moinen and confessed all she had done. Expecting her master to expel her as his student, she bowed her head in repentance. Moinen had known everything from the start and instead of expelling her as his student he accepted her back. All members of the party, grieved the fate of the Leanan-Sídhe, now known as the Red Hood. The party continued journeying together, going around aiding people in need of their help. Every night Distazoel wept, still mourning her lost friend.

Resting one day under a lone tree in a great meadow, she created a new song, it was to be the sixth song. The song of grief. She sang the song and her sorrowful voice could be heard throughout the dark forest. Far far away, the Red Hood heard the song, and her voice joined Distazoel’s. The song lasted a day. And when they were done, they sang again. They sang almost a week and on the sixth day, the Leanan-Sídhe bade farewell. “My dearest friend, I will love thee always. I shall cherish my friendship with the strange girl who’s feet never touched the ground. And who’s dark hair, shone with gold.”

The angel looked down at her feet. She saw that she was hovering one foot over the ground. She was not of the fallen. She returned the farewell with her own. “May your path lead you back to the lighter places. Remember this, there are many paths to follow. Mine lead me here. And I feel gratitude that I am where I am now. I am grateful for all those I met and those that aided me on my way. Now I see who I am. I am Distazoel, the angel of cynicism and doubt.”

She soured into the sky with her powerful wings and flew towards heaven. Half way there, she stopped and looked back. She heard the song that Moinen had played when they first met. She returned to Moinen and to the wizard and the warrior.

Song 7

Moinen declared her no longer a pupil, but a master. Moinen gave her one last task, to prove her mastery; to create a seventh song within a year and a day. With this song, the gates of heavens would open to her when she returned. A year and a day passed, and Distazoel sang the seventh song. It was the song of the unknown. In that song, she declared all that she didn’t know, her doubts no longer hidden to her. She rose to the heavens and at the gate was Moinen to welcome her. She went through the gates leaving Moinen at the gates.

She would often return to earth and for a long time she couldn’t find her teacher, no matter how much she searched, but Moinen had promised her, that they would meet again, but until that time came he would always guide her, even if she didn’t see him. Both had parted with joy in their hearts.

Thus Distazoel became the angel who would traverse the earths below the heavens and meddle with human affairs and never fall.” ---

So, when I posted my history of Solarpunk, someone (probably not in good faith) asked: “So, what about the punk in all the other punk genres?!” towards my request to put the punk back into Solarpunk. And given that my autistic brain obviously cannot just let that stand… You know what? Let me talk about the other punk genre and in how far they are “punk”. I tried to be as exhaustive as possible, though there is a good chance, that I might have missed some of the punkpunk genre. So feel free to add.

Trying to judge the punkiness I do not assume punk as simple counter culture, but a specific ideology. Quote from Wikipedia:

[Punk ideology] is primarily concerned with concepts such as mutual aid, against selling out, hierarchy, white supremacy, authoritarianism, anti-consumerism, anti-corporatism, anti-war, imperialism, conservatism, anti-globalization, gentrification, anti-racism, anti-sexism, class and classism, gender equality, racial equality, eugenics, animal rights, free-thought and non-conformity

Most of the artwork here has been taken from concept art of either of the examples listed.

Sorted from most futuristic to pre(historic). Yes, the list is long.

Cyberpunk

We start with the OG punk genre, the one after which all other punk genre were named. Yes, you could argue that in fact the two genre following are more futuristic – but Cyberpunk kinda just had to start the list.

As a genre: Given that Cyberpunk had its start completely in literature it is the best defined in this regard. Taking place in a late stage capitalist dystopian world in which most is owned by megacorps who don’t follow anyone’s laws but their own, the protagonists usually are social outcasts fighting against their own oppression, trying to keep themselves alive in a world hostile to them. With cybernetics always being a core of the genre, it also tends to deal with the question of humanity in a “ship of Theseus” sort of way. How much can the human body be altered, before the human vanishes?

As an aesthetic: Cyberpunk is the most punk in terms of aesthetics, really. There is a lot of punk and grunge going on in terms of character design. Neon hair colors, fishnets and thorn up jeans jackets can be found here. As well as of course cybernetics on the characters. The world usually is a megacity with a stark divide between rich and poor, tons of neon signs, a slight Japanese influence, flying cars and somehow a constant downpour of rain.

Punk-Factor: Cyberpunk is the one punk genre, where the “punk” was chosen very knowingly as a name. Usually the protagonists are “punks” fighting for their place in the world against a suppressive capitalist system. (Also, they usually fit the punk aesthetic, if they don’t wear leather dusters.) It should be noted however, that especially in newer western Cyberpunk often the punkiness vanishes more and more – for the same reason we have so little Solarpunk: media that outright confronts the problems of capitalism is just less supported.

Examples: Neuromancer (1984), Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology (1986), Snow Crash (1992), The Matrix (1999), Dredd (2012)

Biopunk

As a genre: As a genre biopunk is still fairly ill defined, as it mostly shows up as a subsection of Cyberpunk. Rather than the characters having cybernetic implants (or additionally to it) they are augmented on a genetic level. This can be all sorts of augmentations, changing anything from appearance to giving characters higher strength and agility, giving them claws or night vision, or in some cases even “magic” powers. Usually the genre tends to be set in worlds similar to Cyberpunk. In fact it might well be set in a cyberpunk world, only that characters with bioaugmentations exist parallel to those with cybernetics. Additionally, though, there is a subsection of this genre, that concerns reproductive rights.

As an aesthetic: Ironically biopunk is even less defined as an aesthetic. There is not a lot of biopunk art out there and most that exists can go in different directions. As such it often mixes elements from other punk aesthetics – like Cyberpunk, Steampunk or Dieselpunk – with an assortment of bodyhorror elements.

Punk-Factor: It is hard to define the “punkiness” of a genre, that barely exists for the most part. Usually, when it is set against a Cyberpunk backdrop, it might be very punky, but in other settings those punk elements vanish.

Examples: Ribofunk (1995), Altered Carbon (2002), Bioshock (2007), The Windup Girl (2009)

Nanopunk

As a genre: Like Biopunk Nanopunk mostly exists as a subsubgenre to Cyberpunk, often being set in a mostly Cyberpunk world, only that instead of or additionally to Cybernetics, the technology used to alter the human body is nanites. These serve the same function as the genetic manipulation in Biopunk, giving the human in question more strength and agility and at times more or less magical abilities. There is one common plot that comes up again and again, with an AI or megacorp turning the nanites against the people they inhabit or trying to control them.

As an aesthetic: Aesthetically Nanopunk does not have much in terms of its own identity. Most artworks relating to Nanopunk feature a similar aesthetic to Cyberpunk, with megacities and lots of neon.

Punk-Factor: This genre is so small, that it is kinda hard to judge the exact punkiness.

Examples: The Diamond Age (1995), Prey (2002)

Solarpunk

As a genre: Being another genre, that started as such, Solarpunk is a bit better defined. Solarpunk usually takes place in a world post-strive. It is post-capitalist and decolonial in its settings, usually featuring a world that has either formed against the backdrop of preventing climate collapse or in the aftermath of it. A lot of it features people rebuilding – or alternatively building communities. It always features elements about living in harmony with nature or trying to do so. So far, the genre is mostly defined by short stories, partly because there is still disagreements within the movement, how far a conflict can be taken to still qualify as Solarpunk.

As an aesthetic: Solarpunk has a very strong aesthetic definition, mostly featuring all sorts of cities and urban areas, that incorporate natural elements into the urbanity, with greenery growing on roofs and concrete car-centric streets being replaced with more natural, walkable areas. The character design aesthetic is not quite as clearly defined, but usually features natural materials and patterns usually seen within indigenous art.

Punk-Factor: Contrary to what many say, Solarpunk is fairly punk, as it very much embraces the entire anti-hierarchical, anti-capitalist mentality. With the big difference, that the punk mentality is no longer counter culture, but the mainstream culture.

Examples: The Dispossessed (1974), Nausicaä (1984), Laputa – Castle in the Sky (1986), Princess Mononoke (1997), The Summer Prince (2013)

Lunarpunk

As a genre: Lunarpunk is pretty much a subsubgenre of Solarpunk, just as Nanopunk and Biopunk are sprung off from Cyberpunk. It is so far ill-defined as a genre, but the general consensus is, that it is set in solarpunk-esque worlds, but with a heavier focus on mysticism or spiritualism, at times outright including magic. It also tends to feature a lot darker places, being set in underwater or underground settings – or alternatively at night.

As an aesthetic: Lunarpunk is far more of an aesthetic than a genre so far. It features dark places, often with bioluminescent elements in it. Often featuring a mixture of black and dark blue with lighter blue, violet or light green elements shining in the middle of it. Mushrooms – especially glowing mushrooms – feature repeatedly in artwork.

Punk-Factor: Given that Lunarpunk is barely defined as a genre it is hard to estimate the punkiness in it. If it gets more stories, will those still feature the anti-capitalist and anti-hierarchical messaging we see in Solarpunk? This should be the defining factor. Some of the artworks use little aesthetics from the punk scene, but nothing much more.

Examples: Bioluminescent: A Lunarpunk Anthology (2023)

Hopepunk

Honestly, I had no idea where to put this one, given that it might technically be set at any time and place.

As a genre: Hopepunk is very much a genre, not an aesthetic. It has been defined as the opposite of grimdark by its “inventor/name-giver” Alexandra Rowland. The basic idea is to create fiction that instead of taking a dystopian, defeatist and violent approach, takes one defined by hope and to some degree pacifism. As such the genre can be set in any setting, real or fantastic. It mostly is defined by the protagonists taking opposition to cruelty and violence, fighting for a better world and, crucially, also partly archiving it. Other than in usual Cyberpunk, where the best possible ending, tends to be, that the protagonists get to live a somewhat better life themselves, Hopepunk aims to better the life at least for groups of people.

As an aesthetic: Being fully a genre, Hopepunk has no aesthetic associated with it.

Punk-Factor: Hopepunk is punk less in the sense of the protagonists or things happening within the story, which might or might not be punk, but was named such rather because it is considered counter cultural towards the gross of media at the moment, that often strives for a “realistic, gritty, grimdark” outlook on the world. Basically it is saying: “Hope is punk.” I will not make any judgement on whether or not this is true.

Examples: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (2014), Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), The Good Place (2016)

Mythpunk

As a genre: Another one, that does not really fit into a temporal sorting system, because once again it can be set anywhere between the stone age and the far future. The basic idea is, that the story interweaves postmodern storytelling with elements from mythology or folklore. This can mean mythological, genre-traversing retellings, but it can also mean, that mythology seeps into any given story bit by bit. As such the genre with probably the most media in the subgenre is Urban Fantasy, which often borrows from mythology and incorporates these elements.

As an aesthetic: Mythpunk as an aesthetic is a bit strange. There is definitely a mythpunk aesthetic that exists, often mixing familiar elements with elements from mythology and folklore (at times also including quasi-folkloric works of literature, such as Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz). Often just a bit dark and twisted.

Punk-Factor: To be perfectly frank, for the most part, there is not a lot of punk to be found in this genre. While there have been definitely punky stories told within the genre, this is more a story decision than something inherent to the genre.

Examples: Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), Over the Garden Wall (2014), Inscryption (2016)

Dustpunk / Rustpunk / Desertpunk

As a genre: Kinda grouping those above all together, because people argue about what they might entail and in some interpretations they kinda are similar: Post-apocalyptic stories set in a world of sand and rust. Often featuring a loner character, having to go up against everyone to ensure his own survival – and at times being forced to learn, that the lonerness might not win him (and most often it is a him) anything.

As an aesthetic: Aesthetically this tends to be very much post-apocalyptic, maybe in some cases with some more classical punk elements added to characters and surroundings.

Punk-Factor: Given that there is neither a system to rage against – nor a new, less hierarchical system – usually there is not that much punk outside of some aesthetic choices. Neither tend those stories go into constructing worlds of mutual aid or working against oppression.

Examples: Anything Mad Max should count for this.

Atompunk

As a genre: Atompunk usually deals with themes connected to the cold war – in some cases directly, in some indirectly. Often it overplays the American ideals that were pushed for during the cold war era and portrays scenarios in which American Exceptionalism slowly reveals itself as the dystopia most punks already know it to be. Outside of this vague idea for the setting, the genre is less described, as there is less of a clear script an Atompunk story might follow. So, little description of who might be the protagonist and what their role is.

As an aesthetic: The aesthetic of Atompunk borrows heavily from the Raygun Gothic aesthetic. So, futurism, as it was imagined in the 1950s and 1960s, with heavy influences from late pulp age science fiction art.

Punk-Factor: The aesthetic in this is definitely not punk. The stories often have some vague punk ideas of recognizing how fucked up the world has become, but given the genre is fairly wide in terms of stories, it is hard to give a definite answer to how “punk” it is. One can definitely tell punk stories within this genre, though.

Examples: Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (1978), Fallout (1997), Futurama (1999)

Dieselpunk

As a genre: Dieselpunk is once again an example of “strong aesthetic, but no clear genre identity”. Generally, Dieselpunk is concerned with the interwar period, but might cover either of the world wars. In some cases the genre features alternate timelines, in which one war happened and not the other, or in which another faction won, with the technological development being influenced by this as well. But as a genre it is not much defined. A lot of stories building on Lovecraft’s legacy feature Dieselpunk in some regards. And there is definitely a subsection of Dieselpunk stories centered around “what if Nazis won” or “what if Nazis somehow went underground and did their own technological development after the war”. Also, there are a lot of stories about pilots of war planes in this genre.

As an aesthetic: As an aesthetic Dieselpunk is more clearly defined. A lot of bare metal and the sorts of technology you would expect from this era, often with retro-futurist and art noveau elements in between. A lot of the fashion within the genre is defined by pilot and military clothing of the times, but at times also dipping into “roaring 20s” fashion styles.

Punk-Factor: In this genre I would generally say: “If the story involves punching Nazis, you might get a couple punk points – but otherwise this is not really punk.”

Examples: The Iron Dream (1972), Brazil (1985), Dark City (1998), Iron Sky (2012), Bitter Seeds (2010)

Teslapunk

As a genre: Yet another one of these, that exists mostly as a vague idea, with no clear definition. The basic idea is a world, that works on Tesla’s inventions. And as those of you, who watched Doctor Who, might know, Tesla sorta, kinda already invented the internet or had an idea of what it could be and how it could work. So a Teslapunk world is based in an alternate timeline, but might in fact go into light futurism. There is not much in this genre though with a unique thematic identity, as stories that use Teslapunk as a backdrop rarely have coherent themes.

As an aesthetic: The aesthetic of Teslapunk is basically “Steampunk, but with Tesla-coils and electricity”. Which is not a big surprise given that Tesla came from the same era that would also be the inspiration for Steampunk. So, we have a lot of Victorian fashion, maybe some light augmentation, airships, and – again – all the tesla coils you can muster.

Punk-Factor: As, again, I think punk is more about themes than aesthetic, this is once more not really possible to judge, because there do not seem coherent themes within the genre so far.

Examples: The Prestige (2006), Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), Bioshock Infinite (2013)

Arcanepunk

Another one of those that do not neatly fit into the timeline…

As a genre: Arcanepunk takes place in a world, where both magic and technology have developed. In some cases both developed side by side, in others, we might have a technological world, that suddenly discovers magic by some happenstance. The fact is, though, that both exist parallel to each other or might at times be intertwined, with technology being powered by magic. This can exist at different technological stages, usually featuring settings inspired by the late 19th or early 20th century. But usually futuristic stuff that includes magic might be considered Arcanepunk, just as might stories that mix 18th century technology with magic. While also a vague genre, there is a repeating theme of magic being hoarded by those in powers and the poor and downtrodden finding ways to still use it in their own advantage.

As an aesthetic: Given that Arcanepunk’s setting is defined by the co-existence of magic and technology, rather than a specific technology, Arcanepunk has less of a defined aesthetic. Never the less, we have a part of punk aesthetics that often come up, as a surprising amount of Arcanepunk features characters with neon colored hair.

Punk-Factor: Another genre that is rather thin, yet, there is a surprising amount of stories featuring some punk ideas of fighting against an oppressive system and being counter culture to a main culture build around suppression.

Examples: Too Many Magicians (1966), Shadowrun (1989), Bartimaeus (2003), Arcane (2021) duh

Steampunk

Steampunk was the second genre to pick up the “punk” suffix and hence is as much responsible for the punk-punk as Cyberpunk as the originator.

As a genre: Being named as early as it has been, Steampunk kinda suffers the same issue as Cyberpunk itself. There is a lot of ideas there, but some are only vaguely defined. In general, though Steampunk always takes place in a world where the steam engine became the defining technology and was never replaced with the combustion engine. As such cultural aspects from the steam era, especially Victorian England and the Belle Epoche, still carry over for longer, than they did. So often we will see noble households based around similar values as the puritan Victorian English families, while the very poor are made to work in workhouses. At times we might also see themes of colonialism here. In some cases magic might exist in these worlds, as might electricity for some aspects. There is often a heavy inspiration from Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. Though it is still hard to define the “stereotypical steampunk story”, given that Steampunk offers a wide variety of stories, from adventure stories and romances, over to stories where people rise up against the Victorian-esque society.

As an aesthetic: Steampunk as an aesthetic is very much influenced by Victorian aesthetics and the time period of the late 19th century, mostly in the USA, Great Britain and France. But as all other punk genres it knows very well: “If it is worth doing, it is worth overdoing,” so steam-related elements are added to everything. Could

Punk-Factor: In the original idea for Steampunk was a lot of punk. “What if we took Cyberpunks ‘rage against the unjust system’ and made it 19th century” they asked. But given that the genre branched out so much, it is not necessarily there in all the stories. There is a ton of stories where people rage against that steam powered Victorian machine – but also a ton in which the Victorian world gets idealized and romanticized.

Examples: Thief (1998), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (1999), Wild Wild West (1999), Clockwork Century (2008) – also half of all Sherlock Holmes adaption made after 2000 in any medium usually use Steampunk elements

Silkpunk

As a genre: Silkpunk is hard to define, despite there being a clear definition. The reason for this is, that the person who coined the term – Ken Liu – had a very specific idea in mind. He explains that the idea is of a world that has technology as language. In which form is as important as function, is made to speak a language all of its own. Inspired by ideas from W. Brian Arthur and Chinese philosophy. However, what the wider Science Fiction and Fantasy community made from it was “Steampunk but East Asian!” But given he coined the term (and also the alternative feels vaguely racist) I am going to go with Ken Liu for this. While Silkpunk will usually be set in an East Asian inspired world, the central idea is about the duality of technology, which will also be addressed within the stories.

As an aesthetic: As said above, the idea Liu had for it was a world that features some technology, but technology that is as much about form and communication through it, as it is about function. So the technology here has strong visual ideas. At least that was, how Liu intended it. Once again, the wider community made “Steampunk, but East Asian” out of it.

Punk-Factor: There is not a lot of stuff in this genre for now – however so far I do not manage to see a lot of punk ideas in it, even though some of Liu’s stories definitely feature the concept of challenging a higher power.

Examples: Dandelion Dynasty (2015), The Black Tides of Heaven (2018), The Tea Master and the Detective (2019)

Clockpunk

As a genre: Once again storytelling in this genre is not really defined, but the worlds diverge a bit before the wide adaption of steam, instead featuring mechanical devices powered by coils and springs and somehow kept alive, often at least implied through some form of arcane magic that gives “live” to these mechanical inventions. Most examples of Clockpunk, however, tend to show up as settings for parts of fantasy stories. Any fantasy world might have this “Clockpunk” area, where protagonists might travel. Especially games tend to feature this. While there is definitely a trope of the “mad inventor” often going along with this, few other tropes stand out.

As an aesthetic: The aesthetic of Clockpunk tends to take some inspiration from the early 19th century, but tends to add a lot of gears to everything, with even city wide gear constructions keeping things working. We often will find mechatronic characters, such as wind up soldiers or wind up dancers.

Punk-Factor: Once more, there are so few stories told, that it is kinda hard to speak about how punk this is. Most stories told so far, however, do not feature punk elements.

Examples: The Great Mouse Detective (1986), Hugo (2011), Clockwork Planet (2017)

Whalepunk

Please note: This is one of those genre, I would love to see more in, though so far it is barely explored.

As a genre: And you might ask: “Why do you even name those genre, that exist mostly in theory?”, to which I might answer: “Because I am a nerd.” As all these retrofuturists genre, Whalepunk imagines mostly an alternate historical timeline, where the technology that became defining was based around whale oil. This means that in Whalepunk often whalers or harbors play a big role, though as the genre is again very thinly spread, it is hard to say what “THE whalepunk” formular is. It seems there is a tendency, to mix some mysticism or magic into the genre, though, as the idea of hunting sea monsters often plays into it as well. Good chance that it could at some point merge with Cthulupunk (which I did not name separately, because most of it is either covered in Whalepunk or Dieselpunk).

As an aesthetic: The aesthetic of Whalepunk is basically “Steampunk, but with more sailors, ships and sea monsters”. There is definitely a bit of Oceanpunk mixed into it as well, with some aesthetics being somewhere between Steampunk and Dieselpunk. (Which is kinda ironic, because whale oil was mostly used in the early 19th century.)

Punk-Factor: And again. There so far is not a lot of connective thematic tissue within that genre, so exploring themes is kinda hard.

Examples: Dishonored (2012), Dredge (2023)

Oceanpunk / Piratepunk

As a genre: It really is hard to divide the Piratepunk out of the Oceanpunk, though some might call it different. The idea here is that this genre features stories mostly set on the ocean and often more heavily leaning into fantasy, than science fiction. While the worlds might feature technological elements, they will almost certainly feature magical elements of some sort. The characters will usually be seafaring one way or another and stories might involve any sort of adventure. There might be a storyline, though, about one company or nation trying to control the seas – often times through magical means – with the characters often unwillingly being made to oppose them. This genre might also take place in a post-apocalyptic setting with a flooded planet.

As an aesthetic: While the aesthetic is not clearly defined, there is a good chance that it borrows heavily from the late 17th and early 18th century and the golden age of piracy, when it comes to both ships and fashion sensibilities.

Punk-Factor: Pirates, at least as far as modern media imagines them, tend to be very punk, as they tend to inherently oppose any sort of government and what not. While the punk is not there in all of the stories, a lot of the most popular stories from the genre will feature at least lightly punky elements.

Examples: One Piece (1997), Pirates of the Caribbean (2003), Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (2013)

Dungeonpunk

As a genre: So, the idea of the genre is basically “What if Cyberpunk, but Dungeons & Dragons?” Usually set in a vaguely medieval world, this world still shows the same corporate corruption as your usual Cyberpunk world. Adventurers are just another resource to be exploited by the system, their day job involving going on yet another dungeon crawl. For this there might be some technology entirely powered by magic, with those magic items taking over the same functions technology might have in a Cyberpunk world. And yes, indeed some brave dwarf, elf or halfling might rise up and challenge the corporate dungeon syndicate. (As you might sense: Yes, this genre tends to be at least partly a bit of a parody of the punkpunk idea. Though it also can be played straight as “Cyberpunk conflicts, just that all technology is somehow magic.”)

As an aesthetic: This is once again one of the examples, where there is a clear idea behind it – but absolutely no clear aesthetic, as this genre might cover anything from medieval settings to a lot more modern stuff.

Punk-Factor: The base idea, being heavily inspired by the base idea of Cyberpunk, just from a very different perspective. But too many people read the genre as “Magic Technology, yay”, in which case, no, it is not punk.

Examples: Dungeons & Dragons can be played this way, also Final Fantasy VI – XIII definitely counts.

Sandalpunk

As a genre: I mostly include this for the sake of it, because this genre tends to boil down to “fantasy set in ancient Greece or Rome, but with vaguely anachronistic elements”. It might also include alternate history stories (even going so far as Science Fiction) based on the idea “What if Ancient Rome/Ancient Greece never fell?” There is no real overarching themes, even though I could imagine some interesting way one could build those up. So far, though, it is mostly a vague gesture towards: “SciFi Fantasy, but with more ancient civilizations.”

As an aesthetic: The aesthetic is usually just Ancient Rome or Ancient Greece, but with more magic or anachronistic elements.

Punk-Factor: Given the super vague nature of the genre and the fact that it seems more like a genre of hindsight (with most media being declared this having been released even before 2000)… Nobody wrote those stories to be punk. The one punk thing I can see about several of these stories is people challenging Gods, but… That’s about it.Examples: Hercules: Legendary Journeys (1995), Xena: Warrior Princess (1995), God of War (2005)

Stonepunk

As a genre: The basic idea of Stonepunk is, that it is set in a stone age world, but with the technology being pressed towards a very anachronistic end, which is often played for laughs. Basically it gives stone age people a modern seeming world, though not really. Often enough this is used to make a point about the modern world and parody it in some regard. An argument can be made for stories, that feature stone age technology people being somehow subjected to modern technology (for example through time travel or space travel) also possibly falling into this genre.

As an aesthetic: Usually the aesthetic of Stonepunk is one of an overplayed stone age setting. The clothing characters might wear are not what we know is historically more accurate but really just “everyone wears a pelt around their shoulders”. Meanwhile stone age tools get spun to be used as all sorts of modern technologies.

Punk-Factor: The genre does usually not feature punk themes. However, the nature of parodying and challenging the modern world tends to be punk in its own merit, I assume?

Examples: The Flintstones (1960), The Croods (2013), Horizon: Zero Dawn (2017)

That's it. That's the list.

"Even I Too! Even I Too!"

Illustration by Sidney Sime for "The Fall of Babbulkund," from Lord Dunsany's The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories (1908).