The current flag of the Union of Pacific States.

ETHERpunk: The decaying remnants of the 1980s and 1990s deconstructed in the 2000s. The 90s still existed in 2001, and cassette futurism abound, but viewed through the longing lens of the early 2000s to early 2015.

In 1946, literally days before the beginning of the Cold War, the United States and Canada began the construction of a massive Particle Accelerator nicknamed ‘JACA’ (Joint American-Canadian Accelerator, eventually Japanese-American-Canadian Accelerator).

It finished construction in 1973, and the technologies and Anomalous effects that sprung forth from it radically altered the course of history as we know it. One of the most significant effects was the sky was no longer blue after its first test fire.

The USA and the nations bordering the Pacific Ocean coalesced into the Union of Pacific States, the largest nation on Earth. At the same time, the Soviet Union underwent the most significant technological boom since the creation of Silicon Valley.

Everything exploded, people returned to the moon in 1989, several commercial space stations orbit Earth and the Moon, and perhaps the most important invention in the history of the human race:

The ETHERnet

A massive, interconnected highway of cables and wires with towers every so often, it turned the world from a place where cultures were defined by borders to a global melting pot of ideas, memes, and so much more.

But that has since passed. Metallica broke up, Nirvana decided to call it quits, the Union of Soviet Republics is preparing to invade Poland for defecting to NATO, Bush just dragged the US into Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the economy is very slowly turning downwards.

In other words, it's a great, big, explosive twilight to a golden age. Growing up and smelling the ashes, if you will.

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There are two kinds of people in ETHERpunk.

Humans: baseline Homo Sapiens.

Metahumans: Humans with strange (and surreal) facial features, ranging from faces composed of inky blackness with neon smiley faces to faces made of reeds.

The Aesthetics are just as strange.

It's subdued post cyberpunk. A lotta cassette futurism, some Frutiger aero, and other aesthetics clash and fit. Heavily inspired by the works of Simon Stalenhag and Umami and the game NORCO. As such, you could see the saddest-looking row homes next to cassette futurist stores selling all the newest PC tech.

So, what I'm saying is: go ETHERpunk your hometown, city, or just some random bumfuck place!

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le epic lore aside, this will be updated when I feel like it

also heavily inspired by the works of Simon Stalenhag and Umami (Interface, specifically) and the game NORCO

Please, God, do not use the JLLM with this. It ***sucks***.

Check 'em all out, you will NOT be disappointed