This is entirely personal and I hope I don't offend anyone.
Cyberpunk is defined by Bruce Sterling in wikipedia as Anything that can be done to a rat can be done to a human being. And we can do most anything to rats. This is a hard thing to think about, but it's the truth. It won't go away because we cover our eyes. This is cyberpunk.
This is a pretty good definition by someone who should know what he is talking about. He is saying that we can change society in ways that it dosen't even want to consider. But cyberpunk is also architecture, music, film... basically art. so how do I live my life in Toxian City as a cyberpunk? Is my life a work of art?
In all the cyberpunk fiction I have read from Neuromancer to the most up to date post cyberpunk such as Acclerando the "cyberpunks" are a small group of people working together against the system/government/corporations/mafia basically they help one another to subvert the system. Also a great deal of cyberpunk art is subversive or underground. So the two main themes to me are change and subversion.
Being an out and out subversive working to change the system doesn't work in Toxia. Basically its impossible to subvert the system as SL gives Miss and Dime absolute power (see my post about Wilma). That doesn't stop me being a subversive or the group as being subversive.
The dominant culture in Toxia is the whole goth/emo thing with demon and vampire characters used to express how deep/meaningful/miserable that person is. I try my best to subvert this culture. I make jokes, I try to be playful and not take things too seriously. Above all I help others. Most other groups seem to be very insular and don't reach out into the city as a whole. I try to make a point of welcoming new comers and talking to anyone at any time. I don't judge people by their race or affiliation.
This is subversive in Toxia. This is cyberpunk. Cyberpunks band together to make the city a better place by subverting the culture if not the system. We are the enfant terribles, the jokers, the jesters. But at the same time we create things, we help others and we get things done.
