What is Steampunk?

Originally posted on Airships, Anarchists & Anachronisms:

We seek inspiration in the smog-choked alleys of Victoria’s duskless Empire. We find solidarity and inspiration in the mad bombers with ink stained cuffs, in whip-wielding women that yield to none, in coughing chimney sweeps who have escaped the rooftops and joined the circus, and in mutineers who have gone native and have handed the tools of the masters to those most ready to use them (“What Then, Is Steampunk?” 1).

Steampunk began a...