I might be a little obsessed.
I wanted to talk a little bit about cyberpunk today. A lot of my OC related lore involves cyberpunk tropes and stories, but I don’t want to specifically talk about my OCs’ involvement in the genre, so I will just write a little journal entry here instead. :3
Honestly, whenever the topic of cyberpunk gets mentioned, my brain starts to overflow with thoughts and feelings and I seriously don’t know why this genre specifically has such a great effect on me. I’ve been interested in cyberpunk for a long time – probably got into it around 2018 or so and slowly over time have grown my love and interest for it. I originally understood cyberpunk to be a visual media, or “aesthetic” and also the typical tropes most people know about. Stuff like “high tech, low life,” cybernetic upgrades and cool futuristic megacities.
Though now, after finally starting to delve into what the literary genre of cyberpunk is, I understand that it’s so much more than just a cool aesthetic. It’s even so much more than high tech and low life. Cyberpunk is a cautionary tale. It’s a glimpse into our reality’s own potential future, if we are not careful in which direction we go. It’s about the consequences of late-stage capitalism, overconsumption, consumerism, and the blurring lines between humanity and technology. It’s also punk. It’s really fucking punk. Raging against the literal machine, the corporations, the society that becomes complacent to a dystopian cyber-corpo takeover. Cyberpunk is a bleak dystopian world, but to me, it’s also so much more than that. Exactly why the punk is in the name, it’s a world where you can express yourself. Be radical and cool and unique. You can change into anyone you want, whether for internal peace or for nefarious gains. You can become… post-human – in a way.
I know there’s no way in hell I could ever adequately explain what cyberpunk means or even what it fully is in just a little journal entry. But that’s what I think of when I think of this genre. It’s become everything to me lately. I don’t know why, but it just really speaks to me. Every aspect of it. Although I do feel a bit conflicted being so attached to a dystopian genre because I do try to avoid overly negative topics and storylines, but I can’t look away from the glowing LED signs and soul-stealing ad screens, I guess.
I recently played Cyberpunk 2077 for the first time, starting sometime around July 2024. I held off on playing for a long time because I was so disappointed with the game’s initial release. Good thing I waited, because the game is FUCKING INCREDIBLE now. 2077 actually showed me cyberpunk as a genre in a whole new way. It absolutely ignited my interest in exploring and diving deep into all the intricacies of it. It also introduced me to the actual punk part of the genre, which I never really was aware of before. The whole storyline of Johnny Silverhand, SAMURAI, and all of that was just… mind blowing to me. Coolest thing ever.
Now that I finished the main storyline of 2077 (although I’m completing all the side quests and am going to try getting a different ending now) I really want to consume other medias in the cyberpunk genre. I honestly am not a big consumer of media because I don’t have the time for it. But I really want to make an effort to just explore more cyberpunk stories. I want to read Neuromancer first since that’s considered a cyberpunk classic. I have of course seen other cyberpunk medias in the past – stuff like Blade Runner 2049, Altered Carbon, BLAME!, etc. But if you have any recommendations for me, please leave a comment on this post!!
Anyway, I have honestly way too much to say about cyberpunk. I could also talk for hours about how I use cyberpunk in my OC universe and combine it with other stuff like fantasy, astronomy, and other concepts. I kind of dubbed this combination “Cyberfantasy” as I couldn’t find this exact merge of genre anywhere else. I have heard of Shadowrun but it’s not an exact match to my own interpretation. Tangent aside, I just absolutely love cyberpunk to death. I want to engage with more media and learn more about it. I want to keep writing about it within my OC universe. I want to make and consume cyberpunk art. I guess I could call myself a cyberpunk at this point! :D
Cyberpunk Music
One thing I wanted to share here is the music producer HIGHSOCIETY. He describes his music as a blend of rock/metal and EDM, which is like my favorite thing ever. His style is coined “DATAMOSH” which I think is hella awesome. Every time I listen to HIGHSOCIETY I feel like I am INSIDE a cyberpunk world. Just something about that mix of aggressive metal and futuristic EDM is so reminiscent of cyberpunk to me. I’m not sure if HIGHSOCIETY himself considers his music to be in line with cyberpunk “vibes,” but I sure do! Give his songs a listen, they’re seriously amazing.
My favorite HIGHSOCIETY tracks are:
On another note, listen to SAMURAI for that punk rock part of cyberpunk:
Final Message
And lastly, I’ll leave you with this incredible text I found from a reddit post of all places. It’s about capitalism’s connection to cyberpunk and I honestly come back to this text a lot.
“Cyberpunk requires deregulated capitalism. Its always been a metaphor for fascism and the dangers of new technology. The body augmentations and massive corporations are at the expense of exploitation to the working class. Corporations have grown so powerful they now control the government, deregulating working standards. This creates industrial revolution type labor conditions. The invention of AI is to allow corporations to outsource labor. Giant corporate buildings blocking the sun from shining 90% of the day. The rise of private militarism creates clashing gangs of militias.
People turn to cybernetics because their understanding of reality is only defined by consumerism. Neon signs and ad’s are everywhere in the mega corps constant competition for your dollar. Others might turn to street drugs. Drugs that make you forget about your monotonous meaningless life. Your disconnect from nature and your constant stress of when a bullet might fly through your window. Through all of this people find meaning in the nothingness, in the chaos of the living hell. Punks. Punks that have high tech and low lives.
And there. at the top of their towers are the corporate heads. They rest back in their chair as their AI serves them liquor. Maybe they sell pharmaceuticals? Maybe Weapons manufacturer? Maybe a synthetic food distributor? Regardless theyre watching you. Laughing at you.”
by u/Shouldthavesaidthat
Cyberpunk is my absolute favorite genre/aesthetic as well! It just captures such a unique feeling of trying to hold onto humanity in such an over technologized(If that’s an actual word lol) world. I would highly recommend playing Valhalla Cyberpunk Bartender Action if you haven’t played it! I also think your website is really neat and has inspired me to make one for sure!
I’ve also been getting into cyberpunk as an aesthetic and as a genre a lot more recently! The whole “hey, this looks so cool!” to “this could be our horrifying future” pipeline really hit me like a truck so it’s interesting to see that others have seen it too. There’s definitely a lot to be said about the genre as a form of social commentary or critique!
I used to think that asking friends for help was to burden them, or that it made me pathetic. Cyberpunk 2077 taught me that it is a virtue to ask for help when you need it. It is a blessing to the people who love you to give them the opportunity to help you.
This is particularly in relation to The Star ending and the Path of least resistance ending.
Ive been big on the 80s generation and the subcultures that came with it, thats what brought me to the cyberpunk genre so ive been going back to watching the old 80s movies of cyberpunk, dark synthwave and vaporwave as well. I actually started with the original Bladerunner then recently watched to sequel to it. I also love Ghost in the Shell and did an essay on it for psychology in college. My next media is probably going to be Akira and the 80s Terminator. I love Mid-tempo and dark synthwave and I listen to it while it rains and it takes me to a cyberpunk journey while just driving on my way to work. XD