#interaction: nari/nova

[teachmenari]

20 Teach me! - again sometimes

Tighnari x GN reader

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632 words - 4 pics

___

You stifle a yawn. Seems like the evening and your full stomach are getting to you.

Tighnari notices from the corner of his eye and turns to you. "Are you tired? Do you want to go home?"

"Ah- Sorry, I can usually stay up this late. If you want to stay, I don't mind-" you try to protest. 

"I asked. I don't mind," he cuts your rambling off. Yanfei looks up from her endless stream of tofu.

"Y/n, if you stay here you're going to pass out on the table and drool all over it. Take the nice man's offer."

You try to argue more but Kazuha sends you a look saying 'I'm not sharing the ride home alone with Xiao for your stubborn ass' and you let out a defeated sigh.

"Alright, fine. I know my limits. I'll see you guys later."

You grab your coat as your friends say goodbye and head out soon after, followed by Nari.

________

The quiet rumbling of the car makes for a pleasant background noise as Tighnari drives through the empty streets, your head resting against the window. For time to time, you sneak a glance at the man next to you. When the streetlights illuminate his face, you can see the light smile on his lips.

"So? What did you think?" You ask after a few minutes. "Of my friends."

He chuckles. "I'm more worried about what they thought of me, to be honest." 

"Oh, they like you. They kept tweeting about every interaction the whole time." You give him a big smile and he laughs.

"Was that what Lumine thought no one noticed her doing?" 

"Mhm. You didn’t realise when they took her phone the first time?"

He lets out a sigh of relief. "I thought I was getting ripped to shreds in the group chat."

You huff dramatically. "How mean do you think we are?" You say, gently nudging him with your elbow. He snickers. "Anyways, you still haven't answered my question. Thoughts on my friends?"

"They're very welcoming and nice," he says. "I think they'd like my friends. I know Collei and Ayaka are already hanging out, too."

"Right! I keep forgetting about that. My memory is failing me." 

"That might explain your old grades," he whispers loud enough for you to hear.

"Hey!"

________

The car stops in front of your apartment building and Tighnari gets out to open your door. 

"Gentleman," you tease him. He winks at you and bends down in an exaggerated bow. You stifle a laugh. 

"Thank you for inviting me," he says with a smile. "I had a really good time."

"I'm glad you did. I love my friends but I know they can be a bit much sometimes."

"Like I said, they're really nice. I wouldn't mind hanging out with you and them again."

"Oh, awesome! I'll keep you updated, then!"

A moment of silence passes, the cool evening air against your warm cheeks. You don't know if the red tint is because of the cold or blushing. 

 He then takes your hand gently. 

"Do you mind if I hug you before we part ways?"

You shake your head, and he wraps his arms around you. You bury your face under the crook of his neck, noticing his subtle scent. You can't place it, but it smells fresh, like plants.

"Have a good night, flower."

Your eyes widen at the nickname and your cheeks feel suddenly warmer. 

Tighnari ends the hug and waves before getting back in his car and driving away. You can only wave back, because you're 80% sure you would just end up stumbling over your words to hell and back.

___

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Teach me!

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▪︎Synopsis ➤ You’ve been attending the Akademiya for some time now, but for some reason this year is harder than the others. You’re failing almost everything regarding math and science. Your biology teacher, Ms. Rukkhadevata, offers the help of Tighnari, her TA... Let’s just hope he’s nice.

a/n: finally the end of the evening....... but the start of something else??? 👀

[untxld-stxries]

Nari's eyes progressively grew wider. She covered her mouth, almost tearing up. She sniffed. "I'm... I'm sorry. It really isn't easy not being human, is it?" She wiped her eyes.

"Your powers are... they're really cool," she breathed. "I can manipulate static."

untxld-stxries​:

Nari scratched the back of her neck nervously. “Yeah. I’m… kinda a magpie, honestly. If it’s shiny, I have to have it.” She bit her lip. “It’s… it’s fun. I like flying. And getting to help some of the freshmen with physics projects.” She held up her hand, showing off some blue sparks dancing between her fingers.

“But overall, it’s sometimes scary. You never know who you can trust with it. A lot of people… a lot of people would want to take advantage of it.”

Nova gasps in awe as the other shows off the blue sparks, before glancing to her as she explains her fears. Her concerns about her gift and having to hide it…

“I get it,” the words are out before she can stop herself. She clears her throat. “I’m not a dragon, but I’m not… just saying that out of sympathy.”

She takes a deep breath and looks around, reaching back to the pocket of her bag her harmonica is in and pulling it out, setting her back on the ground beside them so they’re both blocking it from the view of the path. She looks around again and takes a shaky breath before starting to play.

As she begins to pick up, the backpack starts to slowly lift off the ground and float up to about chest height, before dropping abruptly when Nova cuts off, turning back to Nari. “I’m… well, I was born on this planet. But my species originated in the stars, aliens to Earth. When their planet was destroyed they were forced to escape and seek refuge. My hometown is… one of our few remaining colonies. My dad… when he was younger, my dad’s powers were abused by humans who saw him use them to help someone. A human mad scientist used a mind control device to force my dad to follow his every whim and to abuse his powers. That’s why we hide ourselves from humans. Well, that, and the opinions of a local town back years ago when my dad and my Aunt Tia were kids. The mountain has a different ‘real’ name, but it’s called ‘Witch Mountain’ by locals outside my hometown. They think we’re witches, and evil. When my dad and Aunt Tia were kids trying to find their way home, the people in the local town… tried to hunt them and kill them.”

She picks up her bad and tucks the harmonica back into the pocket of her bag. “No one’s supposed to ever find out about us ever again. It’s been so long we hope that the idea of ‘Witch Mountain’ is only mentioned in legend, just considered a piece of folklore meant to scare kids.”

[faery-the-diamond]

It’s me once again ;)

I noticed your little crossover between Nova’s RBB AU and MGW! That leaves me with a possible interaction idea…

How would Crownbert + Nari react to the Breaking the Script cast?

Of course, you can completely ignore this, I won’t be hurt, it’s just a funny lil idea that popped into my head.

I don't know anything about your AU to answer that :">

[lgcmanager]

SIDE EVENT 006.

a reminder on side-events; they are non-mandatory occasional events that your muse can choose to participate in or not.

while missing an event might mean missing out on points, be aware that choosing to take part in it could have positive or negative consequences for your muse. there is also no telling which part of the event will have consequences either since they will be tailored to make it difficult to guess what could impact your muse. while the final consequences are decided at the same time as the event is created, we will only reveal them the sunday after the deadline. so choose wisely: are you willing to make a gamble with your muse?

** the admin team would like to add a special thank you to @lgcjude / @lgcjina / @lgcwon for the event idea **

LEGACY FESTIVAL

spring is the season of festivals. since april, senior artists have been busy with the many festivals (universities and musicals) that run throughout the season. with their current roster being larger than ever, legacy is looking to create a whole new experience inspired by the extremely popular festival: ‘COACHELLA’. the THREE DAYS festival will begin on JUNE 12 and end on JUNE 15. a site with tents and three stages will be set up for the occasion. food trucks from various restaurants will also be set up in a resting area. various activities and merchandise will be available during the festival, but the main attraction remains LEGACY ARTISTS.

during the three days of the festival, the senior artists will perform on the main stage. alongside them FUTURE DREAMS will also take on the main stage. with little time to prepare, they will perform the songs they have been rehearsing and performing during the past months. the rest of the trainees will be performing on the two smaller stages. they have been divided between SIX different activities. the first is a FANMEETING, where trainees will sit with a host, answer question from the crowd (pre-screened) and take pictures with lucky winners. the second is a LIVE SHOW with trainees hosting it. the third is a BEAUTY PANEL with a professional makeup artist of innisfree using trainees as models, they will discuss beauty with the trainees too. the fourth is DANCE BATTLE where trainees are divided in teams of two and have to ace the most choreography of songs randomly given to them. the fifth is the same concept but as a SINGING BATTLE. the final stage is a RAP BATTLE, a mock form of show me the money form where each trainee will have to perform a rap stage.

while the festival is for fans to enjoy, trainees will also be given a few hours to attend 2 stages. safe areas for artists will be arranged everywhere so that legacy artists can enjoy activities freely. those areas will be close enough from the vip area so that fans who paid more could interact with legacy artists should they wish to. trainees are forbidden to attend stages of trainees of another gender.

here’s the detail of each day and trainees division (each stage is 1 hour):

DAY 1 (June 12)

Main Stage (6PM): Type Zero, with Hwang Minjun [ performing: simon says, hala hala, stronger, super car, kick it ]

Dance Stage Girls (10 AM): Aikawa Yuuki, Gong Minju, Jin Eunji, Liu Jiao, Song Ahri, Yamashita Ichika VS Cho Yoomin, Kang Dana, Lee Jiae, Li Zimeng, Oh Mina, Park Nickie

Dance Stage Boys (11AM): Bae Nathan, Chung Hanjae, Im Nova, Jung Ahin, Lee Mike, Okamoto Akira VS Choi Jongsuk, Jang Taesung, Kang Jaemin, Lim Sanghyun, Oh Max, Song Shaun

Beauty Panel (1PM): Kim Ara

Fanmeeting (2PM): Choi Daehyung, Choi Max, Han Insoo, Kang Eunho, Lee Jaewoo, Seo Minseok, Tsai Sunisa

Live Show (4PM): Hwang Subin

DAY 2 (June 13)

Main Stage (6PM): Project Origin Girls, without Lee Rachel [ performing: adios, favorite, rollin’ rollin’, hip song ]

Singing Stage Boys (10 AM): Bae JC, Kim Alex, Kim Luccas, Kim Junghwan, Lee Youngmin, Ryu Hyunseok, Tangsrisuk Sao VS Cho Hanjoon, Lee Benji, Lee Minseok, Lee Seungjae, Wu Aaron, Yoo Minwoo, Yun Yebai

Singing Stage Girls (11AM): Han Allie, Hwang Chanmi, Jo Jiwoo, Kim Noeul, Lee Roobi, Ok Miyoung VS, Kim Nami, Min Elly, Pongsak Arinya, Son Seolmi, Tsuchiya Mitsuki

Beauty Panel (1PM): Kwon Sihyun

Fanmeeting (2PM): Im Nari, Jung Jihye, Lee Rachel, Leong Charlotte, Wu Sally

Live Show (4PM): Kim Jinah

DAY 3 (June 14)

Main Stage (6PM): Project Origin Boys with Park Seojin, without Choi Max, Hwang Minjun, Park Iseul (not revealed yet) [ performing: HIT, Energetic (by DBSD), Pretty Girl, Flash ]

Rap Battle (10AM): Ahn Dohyun, Chwe Hunji, Kim Jinseo, Kim Mia, Li Dean, Na Jaehyun, Ok Minhyuk, Pongsak Theerat, Son Alec

Beauty Panel (1PM): Lee Hanbyul

Fanmeeting (2PM): Ahn Jaeyoon, Hwang Jingren, Kang Dongwon, Kang Seyoon, Moon Sungkyu, Park Iseul

Live Show (4PM): Yoon Shinha

REQUIREMENTS

you have until JUNE 27 to complete the requirements for this event. the official tag for this event is lgc:festival2020.

Write a 300+ words solo or a 4 replies (minimum 8 lines) thread with another trainee about the preparation period or the stage performance. REWARD: +8 POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE ANYWHERE +4 NOTORIETY.

Write a 300+ words solo or a 4 replies (minimum 8 lines) thread with another same gender trainee about enjoying any other activity during the festival. interaction with the fans in the VIP section are required. REWARD: +6 POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE ANYWHERE +6 NOTORIETY.

to validate your skill points and collect your notoriety points, please submit the following form ONCE on the points blog before JUNE 28, 11:59EDT.

TITLE: MUSE NAME ∙ FESTIVAL

- STAGE THREAD/SOLO: +8 ( skill points distribution ) +4 NOTORIETY [ LINK ]

- FREE TIME THREAD/SOLO: +6 ( skill points distribution ) + 6 NOTORIETY [ LINK ]

[thegeekcurmudgeon]

The Steam-Driven Time Machine: My Adventures in Steampunk

As revealed in my previous post, I’m moderating the Steampunk panel at this weekend’s Comicpalooza. Newer folks may wonder why I’m moderating such a panel. (Or not, but I’m going to share this with you anyway).

Way back in 2008, I produced this little essay for Ann and Jeff VanderMeer’s bestselling, seminal anthology Steampunk. The magnificent book came out just at the beginnings of the latest Steampunk craze. After nine printings, one could argue it helped fan the flames of the movement.

Without further ado, here’s the unabridged piece.

The Steam-Driven Time Machine:

A Pop Culture Survey

by

Rick Klaw

When I was a child in the seventies, it seemed like the 1961 Ray Harryhausen special effects-laden The Mysterious Island played constantly on the TV. Not that I minded. Michael Craig leads a crew of Confederate P.O.W. escapees as they pilot a hot air balloon toward points unknown. Crash landing on an apparently deserted island, the castaways encounter giant animals: a crab, a flightless bird, bees and an cephalopod, all presented in Harryhausen’s dynamic stop motion animation. The group discovers the presumed dead Captain Nemo, who had mutated the animals as part of an experiment. Throw in the pirates that attack the island and you have the recipe for a near-perfect movie. By nine years old, after many repeated viewings the film entered my personal zeitgeist, informing my later tastes and many of my creative decisions.

Mysterious Island was my first exposure to steampunk, long before K. W. Jeter coined the word in the late 1980s.

Personally, I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collective term for [Tim] Powers, [James] Blaylock and myself. Something based on the appropriate technology of the era; like “steampunks,” perhaps… (Locus, #315 April 1987)

Featuring interviews with Jeter and Blaylock plus a cover by Tim Powers, the Winter, 1988 issue of Nova Express introduced me to the term “steampunk.” By that time Powers and Blaylock were both part of my reading repertoire. Jeter joined a few years later.

Among many of the advantages of living in Austin as a young science fiction fan in the late eighties and early nineties was the strong and fairly well organized creative community. The local science fiction literary convention, Armadillocon birthed though probably as a surrogate the Cyberpunk movement, as it was the first North American convention to feature William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Lewis Shiner, and Pat Cadigan as guests of honor. Austinite Lawrence Person’s previously mentioned ‘zine Nova Express further encouraged science fiction critical studies with insightful interviews and reviews by professionals and fans alike.

Some twenty years later, pop culture has embraced steampunk. Publishing, film, and even the Internet embolden the term as a branding tool. Nary a week goes by without Boing Boing (www.boingboing.net), the venerable group blog, posting about some sort of steampunk inspired gadget, cartoon, or essay. A search of their archives generates almost 1500 articles. Subjects vary greatly: laptops, keyboards, watches, Transformers, planes, Car Wars, submarines, and so on. Many articles showcase functioning modern technology using steampunk methods and materials. Others present actual working machines from the 19th century. Images presenting artistic depictions of steampunk, paintings, sculptures, architecture and the like. Reinterpretations of popular shows such as Star Trek and Star Wars litter the listings. Original short films featuring steampunk tropes offer many amusing and sometimes exciting diversions.

The user-generated online encyclopedia Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org) contains lengthy, extensive entries for both “Steampunk” and “List of steampunk works”, citing an array of sources. The English language version of the Polish site Retrostacji, Steampunkopedia (steampunk.republika.pl) offers the most comprehensive steampunk works chronological bibliography available on the web along with numerous links to steampunk-inspired videos. Sadly, the site stopped updating in February, 2007.

Using the collaborative wiki-method, ﾆther Emporium (etheremporium.pbwiki.com) claims “to provide a onestop resource and archive for all things Steampunk”. Potentially very interesting, the sparse site supplies some intriguing information and views from the nascent steampunk subculture. Another online cultural source, SteamPunk Magazine (www.steampunkmagazine.com), dedicated to “promoting steampunk as a culture, as more than a sub-category of fiction”, produces a pdf format magazine and for-sale print version under the auspices of the Creative Commons license, an agreement that allows anyone to share and distribute the work as long as it is not for commercial or financial gain. Each of the three currently produced issues contain fiction, features exploring different aspects of the subgenre, and interviews with steampunk luminaries.

Even Wired (www.wired.com), home of the techno elite, lists some 930 archived pages about the subgenre. Often sharing similar coverage with its cyberculture cousin Boing Boing, the subjects run the pop culture gamut. Oddly, the domain name steampunk.com works as the home for The Speculative Fiction Clearing House, a portal for science fiction websites. The site has only a tangential relationship with the subgenre.

Back in the late eighties, I encountered my first steampunk role playing game. Featuring Victorian space travel and steam powered devices, Space 1889 (1988) was the first primarily steampunk rpg. At the time, I immersed myself in the rpg community, envisioning myself more of a gamer and possibly role play games creator than an essay or even a fiction writer. This delusion lasted for about two years, after which I decided to devote my creative energies toward other writing and editing pursuits.

Prior to Space 1889, steampunk elements frequently cropped up in games. Most Dungeons & Dragons campaigns contained various steam-powered devices, usually projectiles or vehicles. Hero Games’ pulp era adventure game Justice, Inc (1984) featured many steampunk-type props, most notably steam-powered robots. Cthulhu By Gaslight, Victorian era rules for the Lovecraft-inspired Call of Cthulhu game, premiered in 1986. While set in the 1890s, the supplement relied less on steampunk– beyond an odd section on time travel– and more on real-world settings.

In the ensuing years, steampunk routinely appeared in rpgs. Within the popular gaming universes such as Warhammer, GURPS, and Dungeons & Dragons, steam-driven devices and Victorian era tropes became commonplace. The cross-pollination of the American Old West and anachronistic devices thrived within several games, chiefly Deadlands and the Japanese title Terra the Gunslinger.

Even LARPers got in the act. Premiering May 21, 2004 near Baltimore, MD with a three-day episode, Brassey’s Game, a steampunk live action role playing game (LARP)1, involved approximately 30 players in Victorian garb, who relied on heavy character interaction. The initial campaign ran for six weekend-long episodes. Six other stand alone Brassey’s Game episodes took place during the first campaign. Since its introduction, several other groups from various parts of the US, using modified versions of the original rules, participated in their own Brassey’s Game events.

Another element of my seventies childhood, The Wild Wild West, the first, best, and longest running steampunk television series, forged my future love of the weird western. The show related the adventures of two Secret Service agents- James West, a charming, womanizing hero, and Artemus Gordon, inventor and master of disguise– as they protected, often in secret, the United States, its interests and citizens. In four seasons from 1965-1969, the duo encountered all sorts of odd villainy including a brilliant but insane dwarf, recurring arch-villain Dr. Miguelito Quixote Loveless, and bizarre weaponry such as cue stick guns and a triangular steam-powered tank with a barbed tip. Combining the best elements of traditional westerns and James Bond, The Wild Wild West spawned two late seventies TV movies with the original cast, a dreadful 1999 big screen movie, two separate comic book series (1960s Gold Key and 1991 Millennium Publications), and four novels, as well as influencing a generation of writers including Joe R. Lansdale, Norman Partridge, and Howard Waldrop.

The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., the direct thematic descendant of The Wild Wild West, premiered on August 27, 1993, starring the cult actor Bruce Campbell of Evil Dead fame as the title character. Set in the 1890s, Brisco attempts to capture the members of the Bly Gang, the cutthroats responsible for his father’s death. The series sported an intriguing cast of characters: Lord Bowler, bounty hunter and rival, lawyer Socrates Poole, Dixie Cousins, con-woman and Brisco’s great love, and inventor/scientist Professor Wickwire, brilliantly portrayed by John Astin and supplier of Brisco’s steampunk-like gadgetry. Even with clever story lines, the show lasted for only one season.

Perhaps the most unexpected use of weird western steampunk tropes occurred in the second season of the animated Adventures of Batman & Robin. “Showdown” with a Joe R. Lansdale teleplay from a story by Kevin Altieri, Paul Dini, and Bruce W. Timm tells of the immortal Batman villain Ra’s al Ghul’s 1883 confrontation with the DC Comics gunslinger Jonah Hex. The battle centers around a plot to blow up the nearly-completed tracks of a transcontinental railroad using dirigibles loaded with cannons and other explosives.

Because starring in one Wild Wild West­-inspired short lived TV series is never enough, Bruce Campbell portrayed the title character for two seasons in the disappointingly inane Jack of All Trades (2000). Jack Stiles, a secret service agent stationed by President Thomas Jefferson on the fictional French-controlled island of Palau-Palau, defends American interests while serving as the aide to a French aristocratic. Jack employs many steampunk-type weapons and gadgets. Loosely based on the classic 1919 novel, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World amazingly ran for three seasons (1999-2000) with poor special effects, bad acting, poorly crafted storylines, and some minor steampunk elements. The 1982 Q.E.D., set in Edwardian England, last for only six episodes. Voyagers!, a time travel adventure series with periodic steampunk bits, managed 22 episodes over one season (1982-1983). Steampunk materials appeared in several episodes of the various Doctor Who incarnations.

Under the premise that Jules Verne actually lived the adventures that he wrote about, The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne (2000) delivered steampunk action with airships, steam powered devices, and even a steampunk cyborg! Playing upon the inherent metafictional possibilities, several episodes featured “real life” authors and personalities such as Samuel Clemens, Queen Victoria, Alexander Dumas, Cardinal Richelieu (a time travel episode), and King Louis XIII. The promising show never jelled and was canceled after one season.

The Japanese have also embraced steampunk television, albeit the animated variety. Based on the long running manga Fullmetal Alchemist, set in an alternate late- 20th century society that practices alchemy and uses primarily early 20th technology, enjoyed a 51 episode run (2003-2004) and an 2005 anime feature film. Steam Detectives (1989-1990) follows the adventures of a young detective in a reality where the only source of energy is steam power. Set on a floating world with stylized Victorian fashions, Last Exile (2003) relates the story of airship pilots Claus and Lavie and their involvement in a plot about a mysterious cargo.

Another steampunk show derived from the works of Jules Verne, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (1989-1991) inspired a feature film sequel (1992) and a manga series. Set in 1889, circus performer Nadia, young inventor Jean Ratlique, and the famed Captain Nemo attempt to save the world from the Atlantean known as Gargolye who is bent on restoring the former underseas empire. Translated into eight different languages, the series achieved worldwide popularity.

Based on a series of popular video games, Sakura Wars relates an alternate 1920s reality that uses steam primarily to power all sorts of modern devices. Developed into numerous video games on several platforms, a manga, a tv series, five OVA2 tie-ins, and a feature length movie, Sakura remains a uniquely Japanese cultural phenomenon.

Back in the seventies, Mysterious Island opened my eyes to new worlds as I encountered many more steampunk films. The 1930s Universal monster pictures with lighting-powered monsters, chemically induced madmen, and animal-mutating mad scientists exploited the yet undefined genre. Beneath a Victorian backdrop, Victor Frankenstein empowered his creatures in both Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935) using the highly unlikely method of electrocution. In the latter film, Dr. Pretorius joins forces with Frankenstein, attempting to create life through alchemical means. Director James Whale recognized the inherent Victorian melodrama and the treated the films accordingly, thus creating two masterpieces.

Two of H. G. Wells’ science gone-amok novels inspired a pair of 1933 Universal movies. The Invisible Man, directed under the masterful hand of James Whale, relates the story of a man who goes mad after imbibing his own creation: an invisibility potion. Starring Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi, The Island of Lost Souls adapted The Island of Dr. Moreau for the first time. The story of Dr. Moreau and his rebellious mutations, like that of The Invisible Man speak to the Victorian notions of science and sadism. The Island of Lost Souls has been remade poorly twice as The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977, 1996).

Fittingly, the first film recognized as steampunk was the 1902 fourteen-minute French animated short Le Voyage dans la lune (A Trip to the Moon), based on Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon and H.G. Wells’ The First Men in the Moon. Wildly popular upon its release, the Georges Méliès film– one of his hundreds of fantasy films– achieved canonical status within science fiction.

Hollywood rediscovered Verne with a vengeance in the 1950s and 1960s, making numerous film adaptations including the steampunk films 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), The Fabulous World of Jules Verne (1958), Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959), Mysterious Island (1961), Master of the World (1961), Five Weeks in a Balloon (1962), and tangentially Captain Nemo and the Underwater City (1969). Wells was not far behind with most notably The Time Machine (1961). One of producer George Pal’s special effect spectaculars, The Time Machine thematically remained close to the source material especially the portrayal of the machine itself. An awful version of Wells’ book was made in 2002.

The seventies witnessed a severe drop in steampunk related films as whiz bang space science fiction became the norm. A notable exception, the entertaining Time After Time (1979) suggested that Wells invented a time machine and traveled to 1979 in pursuit of Jack the Ripper.

In 1986, Hayao Miyazaki released his groundbreaking anime Castle in the Sky (aka Laputa: Castle in the Sky). A magical tour-de-force featuring floating cities, airships, and pirates, the film follows a young girl, Sheeta, and boy, Pazu, on their quest for the mystical, missing city of Laputa. Miyazaki returned to steampunk in 2001 with his masterpiece Spirited Away, the highest grossing movie in the history of Japan. Easily the most awarded steampunk work in any medium, Spirited Away won the Academy Award for Best Animated Film, the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival Silver Scream Award, the Nebula Award for Best Script, the San Francisco International Film Festival Audience Award Best Narrative Feature, five Mainichi Film Concours Awards, two Awards of the Japanese Academy, four Annie Awards, and many others. Miyazaki’s eagerly anticipated follow up was the steampunk Howl’s Moving Castle (2004), based on Diana Wynne Jones’ popular young adult novel. Successful both financially and critically, Howl’s plays as a traditional European fairy tale but with steampunk elements.

Sadly with a few exceptions, Miyazaki’s works represent the abnormal in modern steampunk. While movies such as Vidocq (2001), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), Hellboy (2004), Van Helsing (2004), Around the World in 80 Days (2004), Steamboy (2004), and The Brothers Grimm (2005) display strong stylings, they all fall short on substantive storytelling.

The third and perhaps weakest of Terry Gillum’s Trilogy of the Imagination, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) recounts the legendary tales of eponymous Baron. Littered throughout with steampunk tropes and devices, Gillum displays a magical world in this delightful, if overlong film.

The French duo Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro created the strange, surrealist masterpiece 1995’s The City of Lost Children (La Cité des enfants perdus). Unable to dream, a mad scientist steals the dreams of children. The kidnapping of a circus strongman’s little brother leads to some bizarre and fascinating confrontations between the strongman, the children, and the scientist. Beautifully imagined within a late 19th century industrial city complex, The City of Lost Children magically envisions a dark steampunk society.

The disappointing film version of The Golden Compass, the first novel of Phillip Pullman’s extraordinary trilogy His Dark Materials, premiered in 2007 amidst a maelstrom of controversy, as various Christian groups–most notably The Catholic League– urged their members to boycott the movie citing the story’s perceived anti-God bias. The protesters had little to worry about since director/screenwriter Chris Weitz stripped the original tale of any complexity and relevant subtext, presenting a dull, lifeless movie. Even with gorgeous visual effects (particularly of the dæmons and the airships), superior acting (especially Dakota Blue Richards’ authentic portrayal of a fierce twelve year-old girl), and a $200 million budget, The Golden Compass offered yet another 21st century steampunk film failure.

Some thirty-five years after my initial discovery, steampunk still fascinates. I eagerly await to read about the new devices listed on Boing Boing. Even given the poor quality of most steampunk movies, films with airships and Victorian stylings still excite me. Clearly I am not alone as evident by the sheer amount of steampunk material continually being produced and the very existence of this anthology. 

Vive la vapeur!

1a form of role-playing game where the players physically act out their characters’ actions.

2Original video adaption, a phrase coined by the Japanese for direct-to-video films.

The Steam-Driven Time Machine: My Adventures in Steampunk was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

[untxld-stxries]

Nari nodded. She wished she'd grown up somewhere like that. Isolated. Able to be herself without fear. "I grew up just outside New York. Your home sounds.. amazing."

"Really?" she asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise. "Wow... I... I'm a living defibrillator?" She laughed. "If it has something to do with electricity, I can do things with it. Yesterday, I sneezed and the light bulbs blew in my dorm."

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Nari’s eyes progressively grew wider. She covered her mouth, almost tearing up. She sniffed. “I’m… I’m sorry. It really isn’t easy not being human, is it?” She wiped her eyes.

“Your powers are… they’re really cool,” she breathed. “I can manipulate static.”

Shaking her head, she sighs, and choose not to focus on the horrors of reality. “We get by. We’re an entirely independent town, not listed on any maps, I’m pretty sure the world’s forgotten about us. So, that cuts down the danger significantly.”

Nova chuckles. “The telekinesis is but a fraction of it, the fraction I’m not very good at so I need to use the harmonica to focus it. I can see into the past, in a way, but I need the help of others talking about it to really see things clearly. My people are able to communicate with telepathy and hear over great distances, and we can use the telepathy abilities to tame animals. My Aunt Tia, and several others, can get specific intuitive feelings about the future.”

She shrugs. “Among other things, anyways. I’m not very strong with my abilities yet. My best gift is the telepathy.”

[untxld-stxries]

Nari scratched the back of her neck nervously. "Yeah. I'm... kinda a magpie, honestly. If it's shiny, I have to have it." She bit her lip. "It's... it's fun. I like flying. And getting to help some of the freshmen with physics projects." She held up her hand, showing off some blue sparks dancing between her fingers.

"But overall, it's sometimes scary. You never know who you can trust with it. A lot of people... a lot of people would want to take advantage of it."

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Nari blushed, blinking away the orange. “Sorry. I thought I smelled something. I-I’m a dragon. It’s not very common. Sometimes I just… look around for heat signatures? I’m kind of a reptile so…”

She cleared her throat. “Sorry.”

Nova nods quickly, beaming. “That’s so cool! I knew Auradon was going to have some interesting people but I don’t think I was expecting a dragon. Now I get the whole rock thing though.”

She smiles still, laughing. “So, what’s that like? Being a dragon, I mean.”

[untxld-stxries]

Nari blushed, blinking away the orange. "Sorry. I thought I smelled something. I-I'm a dragon. It's not very common. Sometimes I just... look around for heat signatures? I'm kind of a reptile so..."

She cleared her throat. "Sorry."

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Nari shrugged. “Uh… interesting. I get a lot of people asking me for answer keys. I never give them out, so the only people that ask anymore are the newer rebels.” She smiled. “Other than it’s mostly the occasional giggle when I call her Mom instead of Mrs. Park in class.”

She sniffed the air, frowning. What was that smell? She blinked, her eyes turning orange as she scanned the heat signatures around her. Nothing out of the ordinary…

Nova chuckles a bit. “I’d imagine it gets troublesome after awhile.”

She beeps in surprise when she notices the other girl’s eyes had turned orange in an instant, confused and curious… and pretty well impressed. She has no idea what’s going on though, and says nothing, just kinda awkwardly smiling.

[untxld-stxries]

Nari shrugged. "Uh... interesting. I get a lot of people asking me for answer keys. I never give them out, so the only people that ask anymore are the newer rebels." She smiled. "Other than it's mostly the occasional giggle when I call her Mom instead of Mrs. Park in class."

She sniffed the air, frowning. What was that smell? She blinked, her eyes turning orange as she scanned the heat signatures around her. Nothing out of the ordinary...

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Nari smiled sheepishly, her cheeks darkening a little. “Yeah. I like rocks. I’m… a bit of a collector. That sounds cool. Mountains…. I like mountains.”

She shook Nova’s hand. “Nari Park. My mom teaches here, so if you hear that last name being thrown around a lot in your time here, that’s why.” She gasped and reached down swiftly, snatching up a big blue rock. “Lapis!! Nice!”

Nova chuckles and smiles a bit. “That’s awesome. I’d love to see your collection sometimes, if you’re willing to share it. What’s it like having a teacher for a mom?”

Her mother doesn’t teach, except with Nova herself, and only because Nova needed extra practice using her gifts, so that doesn’t count. She glosses right over Nari diving after another rock, just stepping back out of her way to let her get better access to the rock in question.

[untxld-stxries]

Nari smiled sheepishly, her cheeks darkening a little. "Yeah. I like rocks. I'm... a bit of a collector. That sounds cool. Mountains.... I like mountains."

She shook Nova's hand. "Nari Park. My mom teaches here, so if you hear that last name being thrown around a lot in your time here, that's why." She gasped and reached down swiftly, snatching up a big blue rock. "Lapis!! Nice!"

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Nari leaned down and picked up another rock. “Citrine! Awesome.” She put it into the bag. Rock collecting seemed to be a thing that stemmed from her draconian side, but she wasn’t ever entirely sure.

She bent down to pick up another one, noticing that someone walked right up in front of her. Nari looked up and slowly stood. She waved awkwardly. “Hi.”

Nova chuckles. “If you want rocks, you should see my hometown. We’re a mountain town, so… we don’t have a lot, but we’ve got rocks.”

She eyeballs the sack the girl was using to carry her haul and smiles before shrugging and offering her hand to shake the other’s. “I’m Nova O’Day. It’s my first day.”

[untxld-stxries]

Nari leaned down and picked up another rock. "Citrine! Awesome." She put it into the bag. Rock collecting seemed to be a thing that stemmed from her draconian side, but she wasn't ever entirely sure.

She bent down to pick up another one, noticing that someone walked right up in front of her. Nari looked up and slowly stood. She waved awkwardly. "Hi."

Open Starter: Brave This New World

Nova straightens out the straps on her backpack for the 100th time, reaching back to an outside pocket and feeling that her harmonica was still in it. Satisfied with that, she looks around at the school apprehensively… immediately seeking comfort.

Dad?

Is everything okay, Nova? He’s always so quick to respond when she’s not home. When she’s out here. He’s always so paranoid… and she understands it.

Yeah. I’m just a little nervous. I’ve never gone to a regular school before, and this place is different from the cities you and Aunt Tia have taken me to before.

I know, her father’s tone is warm, which soothes her a lot, I thought, maybe, if something happened, if someone saw you…

…do anything weird, it could be explained away easier, I know, she agrees, but it’s still strange.

You’ll do amazing, SuperNova. The nickname makes her smile as he continues, I’m proud of you. Go make some friends.

Okay. I love you.

I love you too, he answers, and Nova shakes her head and takes a deep breath, walking into the building ahead of her… looking around in total confusion, instantly wanting to pull into herself, confidence gone, hesitantly approaching another student. “Uh. Hello.”