Hey Joe... Where you goin' with that pun in your hand?

(Yes, Aytakk is Joe IRL)

I sink into the deepest despair at the thought that so many go ignorant in the ways of the Steampunk. And that's why we're here.

As you can tell by my intro there are people who think they know all there is about Steampunk based on surface observations. Personally my experience with Steampunk involves some anime (Steamboy and Howl's Moving Castle come to mind), the movie Wild Wild West, seeing photos of people dressed up, and events like the annual Adelaide Steampunk Ball/LARP thingy. Plus there's cool stuff like that computer decked out in steampunk aesthetics including old-timey typewriter keyboard stuff. But I could also be wrong.

Akin to "Explain Like I'm Five" on reddit, for the benefit of those of us who have little to no idea about it, what is Steampunk?

Contrary to the popular belief that Steampunk is whatever you want it to be and you shouldn't let anyone tell you what is or isn't Steampunk, the genre can be boiled down to 4 words: Victorian era science fiction. That's all it is, the word "steam" relates to the Victorian era and the industrial revolution where steam power was at its peak.

Science fiction authors of the era such as Jules Verne, author of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and Around the World in Eighty Days, and H. G. Wells, author of The Time Machine, War of The Worlds, and The Invisible Man, provided a lot of the themes and aesthetics for Steampunk. Examples include sea beasts from 20,000 Leagues, the concept of time travel from Time Machine, etc.

Contemporary Steampunk author G. D. Falksen penned a brilliant article on what he believes to be the 6 rules of Steampunk, the link can be found at the end of this question. The rule that stands out for me the most is the second rule: when in doubt, dress Victorian and then add. In my opinion, the self-professed "Steampunks" who buy a 70’s brown suit from an op shop and glue brass cogs on a $2 top hat aren't even close to dressing in Victorian style and therefore, are not real Steampunks.

I have no problem with the n00bs who are eager to learn so they can better themselves, but the ones who discredit someone who tells them what is or isn't Steampunk are complete posers who know next to nothing about the culture. Having said that, fashion from the Edwardian era, which was after the Victorian era, can be accepted as Steampunk in my books. Just for reference, Titanic and Downton Abbey are both set in the Edwardian era.

6 Rules of Steampunk

Goth seems to have that same "Goth is whatever you want it to be" problem. A thing Goth and Steampunk seem to share as well as the Victorian attire.

You mentioned before how Steampunk and goth scenes are different. How are they different? Would you consider Steampunk big enough to be considered a subculture in its own right? Or is it smaller scale individual lifestyle over groups?

I suppose every internationally recognized scene differs depending on where they are in the world, I know that Goth events in Europe can attract tens of thousands of people whereas in Adelaide, South Australia, a Goth event would average between 30 to 60 people, maybe more. The Goth scene in my experience is split between kindergoths hanging out at the mall and the 18+ scenes at a handful of venues whenever a Goth night is on.

The Steampunk scene has a very large age demographic and draws a much bigger crowd than the Goth scene. All of the Steampunks at the events I’ve attended are either middle aged married couples with children, geeky young adults, professional costumers, or Victorian Goths who can't wait until the next Goth event to wear their clothes out in public. One of the biggest differences I've noticed in both scenes besides the aesthetics is that Goth events tend to start around 9 o'clock at night and go until the bar kicks everyone out at 3 or 5 in the morning, Steampunk events either happen during the day such as the Time Traveller's picnic and the Railway Museum's Steampunk convention, or run from 6pm to 11pm like the Steampunk Pirate Charity Ball.