April has knocked on our doors, bringing with it days full of celebrations galore. A haiku, a poem here, a hug there and lots of awareness that opens up revenues of empathy and care. There's not much we can do, but to stay true--to ourselves. Be You. The best version of you and strive to be better than you were yesterday. It's hard as hell, and there'll be days when nothing seems swell. But whatever happens, don't give up, never ever give up on yourself ❤️ It's all you have. Keep striving, learning, pushing and believing that nothing is impossible.

This month's sub-genre took me into the rabbit-hole with Merge Punk in Tevun-Krus Land. Intriguing to the core, I was left with an "Encore"!

The term Merge-Punk was first used in the mid-1970's. Similar to the punk music revolution, punk genres within speculative fiction were constantly evolving, changing and merging. There were distinctive, evocative styles, but the boundaries blurred and constantly overlapped. There were some genres defined by a fusion of aesthetics, use of technology, and inspirational influences.

By trying to link them by their fundamental tropes, such as capitalism, corruption of society, the evolution of literary misfits, we can indicate how the Merge-Punks center their stories to that of the rebels which inturn intricately defined the whole scenario of music and resistance—misfits and protagonists, middle-class woes, pioneers, scientists and artists. In many ways they embody the "high tech, low life" characteristic of Merge-punk, but can be used to cater to diverse definitions of technologies and life.

The impact of Merge-Punk on modern culture maybe understated at times, but it has galvanized a gamut of subgenres that offer a unique blend of rebellion, creativity, social commentary combined with its distinct aesthetic, philosophy, reflecting the complexity of themes, and inculcating the diversity of Merge-Punk.

In the words of Joey Romone, "All punk is attitude. That's what makes it. The attitude."

As much as Merge-Punk science fiction genres flout the genre categorizations, the purists detest defying the boundaries. They are of the option that steampunk isn't steampunk if it steals the style but drops the tech, or dieselpunk isn't actually punk when it's openly patriotic or wasn't solarpunk so prominent to be defined as a cohesive genre.

While the fandoms around each genre furiously debate genuine interpretations of each other, as writers, these colorful, developing subgenres give us a lot of creativity and challenge.

Here are five strategies to address that risk:

1. Lean into the genre. Identify the stereotypical aspects of the genre and analyze the roles they serve. Consciously use tropes to create emotions or themes rather than just subconsciously adopting them as part of your world.

2. Break the non-core tropes to find tropes that aren't central to the genre and explore what happens when you break them.

3. Start from the basics, choose a technology along with cultural influences and work through the concepts of how they shape the world. Don't copy the ideas others have implemented.

4. Start with new basics. There are a lot of different Merge-Punk genres that cover many combinations of technologies and styles. However, history is more than that. Look for a less used period to draw from.

5. Continue the conversation. Art reflects back on itself and can have interesting things to say about what's already been said.

The wonderful thing about Merge-Punk is that you don't have to stay within the box. The sky's(in this case genre's) the limit for those who want to merge. Want to combine Cyberpunk with Afro-futurism? Go for it! Decopunk and Eco-Utopia? Yeah!! You welcome to cross Clockpunk with medieval Cattle-Punk if you so choose. Creative freedom is an amazing thing ✨

It's interesting to see the unlimited possibilities in the ways we can merge Steampunk aesthetics with the grounded mechanical rawness of Dieselpunk, the intensity of Desertpunk and the sophistication of Nanopunk aesthetics.

When it comes to creativity, there's no bigger and better universe than creativeness itself as it happily scoffs at the idea of hypothetical boundaries. Out of the box is refreshing and wonderful.

And Merge-Punk can lead to amazingly awesome styles. Whatever aesthetic corridor you wander into, make sure you are coherent. Chaos thrives in coherence. In the tapestry of Merge-Punk, remember to weave the threads of holding all these pieces together, a common thread weaving through your Atom-powered, Biopunk tapestry.

Here are a couple of recommendations:

- Neglected Merge: A Fantasy Utopian Romance by Eve Koguce (Author)

Summary: She is a Wingless. He is a Winged One. They weren't supposed to meet. But when fate brings them together, their lives are bound to change forever. As are the lives of the two different worlds they come from.

The worlds that have chosen not to have anything in common with each other. They live apart, by mutual agreement, on what is left of a shattered planet. Can two people persuade whole nations that reforms are better than inertia?

They say love is blind.

Sometimes, it is eye-opening.

Tauria believes she has found her balance living in a loveless society.

Doron has never doubted the rules set out by his ancestors.

It all is about to change when they catch a glimpse of the other world they have chosen to ignore. Still, the obstacles they must overcome might prove to be as impassable as the Mountains that separate the two worlds.

- Merge by Walter Mosley:

Summary: Walter Mosley's talent knows no bounds. Love Machine is one of six fragments in the Crosstown to Oblivion short novels in which Mosley entertainingly explores life's cosmic questions. From life's meaning to the nature of good and evil, these tales take us on speculative journeys beyond the reality we have come to know. In each tale someone in our world today is given insight into these long pondered mysteries. But how would the world really receive the answers?

Raleigh Redman loved Nicci Charbon until she left him heartbroken. Then he hit the lotto for twenty-four million dollars, quit his minimum wage job and set his sights on one goal: reading the entire collection of lectures in the Popular Educator Library, the only thing his father left behind after he died. As Raleigh is trudging through the eighth volume, he notices something in his apartment that at first seems ordinary but quickly reveals itself to be from a world very different from our own. This entity shows Raleigh joy beyond the comforts of twenty-four million dollars...and merges our world with those that live beyond.

I highly recommend reading these on Wattpad:

- Parallel (A Virtual Gamer's Story) by @Renoe_K :

Summary: After being kidnapped and thrown into a VRMMORPG, 17-year-old Suzuki Mato must find the line between his real and in-game personalities before it kills him.

Following the death of his popular online persona, seventeen-year-old Suzuki Mato decides it's time to retire from professional VR gaming. However, his plans are abruptly cut short when he's kidnapped from his high school and forced to be a guinea pig for Genaco Gaming, the world's largest esports and entertainment company. Armed with nothing but his wit and a new online persona, he's thrown headfirst into the virtual reality of "Live No Evil," a VRMMORPG littered with overpowered bosses, secretive NPCs, and backstabbing gods. His mission? Find a way to conquer this new world and get back at the company that took over his life, all while avoiding 'Parallel' -- a condition that would make it impossible to separate his real and virtual personalities. Because in a world obsessed with VR gaming, Parallel means death, and Suzuki just doesn't have time for that...

- Quarantine by Bella_Higgin

Summary: When a deadly disease ravages the town of Holmsley, Frankie and her friends find themselves trapped inside a military-blockaded quarantine zone.

A story that was first published in 2014 and feels more relevant than ever.

Fifteen-year-old Frankie and her friends must find their way out of quarantine if they want to survive. As the body count rises, Frankie realizes that this is no ordinary quarantine and no one is coming to help. Once infected, the sick become crazed and violent, while fear turns other survivors to savages. And who or what are the mysterious figures Frankie keeps seeing around town? It seems she'll have to unravel the dark truth behind it all if she wants to get out alive...

- The Four Baristas of the Apocalypse by Reffster

Summary: When aliens invade, four baristas are forced to become the saviours of the world. Grab your double-shot of java and strap in - it's going to be a bumpy ride!

In the Earth's darkest hour, unexpected heroes are stirring... their coffee, that is. Four baristas on a camping trip are under-qualified to save the world from an alien invasion. But thanks to a hologram with no fashion sense, newly developed superpowers and an alien with a guilty conscience, they've landed the job anyway! So grab your double-shot of java, your blueberry muffin and strap in - Hasta barista, baby.

- THE TITAN EXPERIMENT by ericdabbs

Summary: Sarah wants to save Jake.

The admiral wants the power she possesses...

Sarah Lawson was enslaved by the government because she's immortal. Put to work on a space station, she escaped after a terrible accident and she's been running ever since. The only person she lost was her husband, Jake, and when she's caught by the creators of the Titan X program, she finds out why - they want a working version of the serum that made Sarah immortal. Forced to work alongside the only people that can help her rescue her husband, Sarah has to risk everything to save him.

We'd love to know your favourite merge-punk recommendations. Feel free to drop them in the inline comments here-->

This is all for now. We meet in May with another exciting issue. Till then, love you and take care ❤️

Cheers, Nab =]

Nablai