#watch city steampunk festival

[riveracheron]

gonna just do a base interest check . this is in like half a year but i wanna be able to plan if i need to.

american stowaways:

the city near where go to college (Waltham, a suburb of Massachusetts - 20 minutes outside of Boston) has this giant steampunk festival in May. it’s completely free and the biggest in the country.

would people be interested in maybe having mechanisms fan or cosplay meetup there?

i’ve seen a few uk meetups here and there and i was wondering if people would be interested in a US one.

[operationhammond]

Operation Hammond will be at Watch City Steampunk Festival in Waltham, MA on Saturday, May 11th, 2024. This will be our 8th year providing first aid services at this fun event, and we're all looking forward to it!

For more on Watch City Steampunk Festival, check out their website at www.watchcityfestival.com , and be sure to follow them on social media! 

As always, to learn more about our charitable mission and how you can help nerds in need, please visit our website at www.operationhammond.com

[rosestthorns]

Went to the Watch City Steampunk Festival today and found some amazing pins

[consolecadet]

For approximately the 10th or 16th year in a row, I once again do not have my shit together to go to the Watch City Steampunk Festival

[pale-chartreuse]

If anyone is the Waltham MA Watch City Steampunk festival today, please consider donating blood at the blood drive!

[phoenixcatch7]

Actually you know what yeah I'll make a little list of stories within the Unbound.

1: City of the wind: walled city state in the desert run by a secret cult of the sun, who secretly overthrew the previous rulers. Fresh air is so vanishingly rare due to the machinery the city is famous for being built at every choke point or crack in the walls, to the point the impoverished citizens hold festivals by the river when the wind blows just right. A wandering traveller and his loyal bodyguard friend rescue a young girl and the mother takes them to the secret old history archive where they're squatting illegally, sparking a chain of events that leads to a dream walking invasion of the castle.

2: a group of fairies are newly born, and to reach the outside world must solve puzzles designed to teach them life skills and about their magics in an ever expanding spiral of mossy tunnels, growing close in the process. Think a zelda forest temple, but even more green. And tinker bell style.

3: the kind clockwork stranger: an old shopkeeper of nicknacks invites a newly orphaned child into his home, but shortly passes away, leaving an unsupervised child with admittedly a large amount of self preservation but not common sense in charge of a time machine with a vague instruction booklet. Thankfully, they survive, but adventures have left them in the body of a child. With an oversized leather coat, a top hat, and a big staff they spend their time escaping guards, helping the local kids, and trying to convince another small orphan child to stop trying to break into the palace to look for their missing mother (this does not succeed until the time machine comes out). Steampunk.

4: a vampire has trapped an evil dragon under his castle for centuries. Unfortunately, the maiden he captures accidentally finds and awakens it, causing the great beast to destroy the castle above it as it claws its way free, tossing her and several staff members (also possibly vampires) into the steep but lush crater pit the vampire has been hiding for all this time with illusions to claim its rare resources. Yes the vampire gets eaten by the dragon while everyone figures out how to climb the sheer walls.

5: a supermodel is accused of murder of a political figure, so she and her friends embark on a dramatic escape from the police, guards, military, etc. There's disguises. Chase scenes. High risk improv. Everyone does drag at one point. The himbo everyone thinks she's dating gets caught in the crossfire and cheerfully joins the crew. There's cruise liners, there's limousines, there's a final push in the dead of night across a lake with a stolen pirate ship the supermodel resolves by activating a secret rainbow bridge mechanism in an abandoned island cave that links to a castle ruin where it's safe to hide until her innocence is proved.

6: the moon queen's daughter decides to go on her earthly pilgrimage after watching an astronaut football game. She awakens in her returning space craft several years later with no memory of her time on earth, and her father issues an investigation while she reconciles the seven years she's missed her siblings grow up.

7: an enormous half flooded cave system in a volcano is home to several communities of fishermen, mermaids, and assorted magical beings happily living side by side. One day, a young siren girl teaches her fire lion friend how to pilot her gondola, and they learn much about their island caves and it's history over the summer. They uncover a vent connecting to the still active volcano depths, and the fire lion slips down to explore, finding caves full of lava hiding the most beautiful crystals they've ever seen. They return home with a bag full, and the crystals are turned into jewellery by the young siren and her father, the master jeweller.

8: a figure of legend is reincarnated over and over again to fight evil, think king Arthur and the king under the mountain, until their patron diety decides to bring them through time and space until every version of them can meet. Though they are instructed to fight evil, there's not really much of it about, so they turn into a roving band of archaeologists and historians, despite not all of them being literate. There's a lot of forgotten dungeon raiding. They may or may not be telepathic and just haven't realised. The horse is also a version of them.

[misslisamiray]

Yay, Watch City Steampunk Festival is today, AND it's not cold, wet or windy out! Let's gooooo!

[karen-carlisle-off-the-artboard]

Wimmera Steampunk Festival Wrap Up/Event Video

https://karenjcarlisle.com/2023/05/12/wimmera-steampunk-festival-wrap-up-event-video/

April was steampunk month. It was the 36th anniversary of the coining of the word ‘steampunk’ to describe the literary genre by KW Jeter. It is the birthday month of the main character in my first steampunk series, The Adventures of Viola Stewart. It was the month I revealed my new steampunk short story collection, and the month we travelled interstate (5 hours drive) from Adelaide to Dimboola for the Wimmera Steampunk Festival.

The drive took six hours; there was the inevitable roadworks, April burnoffs, and ‘tea’ breaks – one of which resulted a fortuitous find at the ’24 Seven Cafe’ at Tailem Bend: the most deliciously sinful chocolate fudge brownie, with emphasis on the chocolate fudge. (We stopped there on the return trip for more!)

This year accommodation in Dimboola booked out quickly, with many having to stay in the surrounding townships. We stayed in Horsham – about a 30 minute drive from Dimboola – equivalent to our usual jaunt to the city here in Adelaide.

The town of Dimboola really got into the mood, with local businesses on Lloyd and Lochiel Streets joining the atmosphere. The Victoria hotel is worth the visit if you love 19thC Victorian architecture and design – with dark wood interiors highlighted with strong colours and gorgeous curiosities, and the perfect spot to sit and watch the world go by.

The Wimmera Steampunk Festival is a combination of street party (theme: Time Traveller’s Soiree), creator markets, costume parade, and music – ranging through rock, folk, and even a brass band (which, like the Pied Piper – had revellers trailing it as they processed along the street), and a light show over the Dimboola Imaginarium (residing in the historic bank building).

    Though the ‘Time Travellers’ Soiree’ was held on the Saturday, there were other steampunk-related events over the weekend, including a Poe play, Steampunk dinner, more bands, and two author talks, one by Perth author Carol Ryles on the Friday, the second by yours truly at the Dimboola Imaginarium on Sunday.

  Sunday 23rd April is also the birthday of the main character in my first steampunk series, The Adventures of Viola Stewart. To celebrate, I gave all talk attendees an eBook copy of my upcoming steampunk short story collection Cogs and Conspiracies scheduled for release on 17th May.

  The event itself was full of the whimsy, individuality, makers ethic, and joy which is an integral part of steampunk. Most attendees garbed up in their steampunk finery, with some astounding creations of their imagination.

     I finally got to meet The Brass Harpies in person – a trio of amazing women who promote steampunk – who I’ve been chatting to online for years (it was lockdown, remember). (Looking forward to them making the trip over for our own Adelaide Steampunk Aetherfest).

The event was organised by Chan Uoy, owner of the Dimboola Imaginarium, and sponsored by many local businesses. Thank you Chan and Dimboola for a fantastic event, to Chan for hosting my talk on Sunday, and to everyone who attended. Apologies to those who couldn’t attend as the room was full.

I want to particularly thank the staff of Horsham Priceline for their invaluable help. I’d left my painkillers behind in Adelaide (they were on the bench, ready to pack, when we got home) and I had a major fibroflare on Saturday night after a extremely long day. Fortunately, I had a script on file at the pharmacy in South Australia, so with a little email technology, they saved the day and I could function on Sunday for my talk. (Phew!)

And here’s my event video:

I’m looking forward to attending the next Wimmera Steampunk Festival in 2025.

(My Patreon supporters got a sneak peek and extended behind the scenes version. You can support me at: https://www.patreon.com/KarenJCarlisle)

[mulberry-changeling]

Time traveling witch gets lost on her way to the future

[shes-an-iso]

Riding in style. B) Remember when I pulled up to the Steampunk Festival in a real Satomobile? YEAH ME TOO. 

[angeltannis]

Some of the coolest stuff I saw at Watch City Festival!

[juicyparsons]

Watch City Steampunk Festival 2021- the home edition cuz it’s virtual this year!

I had to travel from the future and show y’all how it’s done! 🤎⚙️🕰

Image description: [ a light skinned Black person with short black hair poses at an empty park. They have on brown steampunk goggles with magnifying glasses attached, a dark brown corset with chains, and a dark brown Victorian high low skirt with black combat boots.] end image description.

[operationhammond]

Hello from Watch City Steampunk Festival! If you need first aid or just want to say hello, we are located near the information booth.

[zoenecrosis]

Yesterday we went to the Watch City Steampunk Festival in Waltham.

[princeasimdiya12]

Talentswap-DR1 Kids with V3 Talents

So I came across a post made by @mythgirlimagines who gave some headcanons that featured the kids from the first game with talents from the V3 game. I really enjoyed the idea and I began to think of my own headcanons for each kid and how their lives would be different with their new talents. So with their permission, I was able to come up with this. I hope you like it!

Sayaka Maizono as the SHSL Adventurer

As a kid, she spent all her time at home since her dad was always working and her mom passed away.

She found comfort in watching TV programs that showcased different countries and cities and loved seeing the people having fun together.

Wanting to find happiness like those people, Sayaka began to secretly wander around her home city and partook in sight seeing and trying new foods.

She also practiced interacting with the people and asking them different questions.

After getting enough practice, she began traveling around different parts of Japan before making her way through the Asian countries followed by the rest of the globe.

She vlogs her travels by uploading pictures and videos of the food, fashion and festivals in each place she visits.

The popularity of her vlogs has resulted in her gaining contracts with multiple tourist companies who want her to visit their cities to boost tourism.

Mukuro Ikusaba as the SHSL Pianist

Mukuro doesn’t really care about playing the piano. She only took it up because her sister insisted that she do something useful with her life

She spent most of her freetime practicing the piano and would perform for hours on end to see how far she could go before exhausting herself.

She’s won multiple awards and critical acclaim for her performances but they mean nothing to her if they didn’t come from her sister.

When Junko decided to become SHSL Despair, Mukuro began to channel her talent to her sister’s instruction.

Her music can manipulate the emotional states of anyone listening to her and increase it based on the melodies she performs.

Ex. A somber tune can make people into sobbing messes while an aggressive song can make listeners become hostile and violent towards each other.

Junko would use her sister’s talent to either influence new followers or to dispose of unlucky victims.

She mainly wears a slim black dress when she performs on stage.

Leon Kuwata as the SHSL Tennis Player

Just like in canon, Leon doesn’t like his talent. Particularly the heavy training that’s involved.

He mainly uses his tennis player image to become a celebrity.

This involves staging photo sessions with him posing in his tennis uniform or performing cool moves for the camera.

He mainly performs solo and the few times that he partakes in a doubles match is if his partner can boost his image.

This has resulted in him getting into arguments with them because of his lazy nature.

He ended up in multiple flings with various fangirls which tarnished his image as a celebrity.

His wardrobe consists of a white polo shirt with orange stripes, shorts and a red sweatband. 

Chihiro Fujisaki as the SHSL Maid/Butler

(As to avoid potential discourse, I’m going to gloss over their backstory and headcanon them as genderfluid)

They find cleaning and organizing rooms to be mentally relaxing.

They take pleasure knowing that a clean house or room will become much refreshing and comforting to their client(s).

Most people are surprised that someone as small and fragile like them is capable of doing multiple chores and duties in a single day.

They prefer to work behind the scenes or with as few people watching over them.

Chihiro often has difficulties when it comes to making public announcements to large groups.

Some days they dress up in maid uniforms while other days they dress up as a butler.

Their specialty when it comes to cooking is making perfect creme brulee. 

Mondo Oowada as the SHSL Artist

As a professional artist, Mondo can make a variety of artworks.

His area of specialties include sculptures and murals.

Despite making tons of money with his artworks, he secretly dislikes the rich people who buy his pieces due to their snooty personalities.

He initially hated his talent because he was hoping to be good at something that was more manly or cooler.

His big brother was the reason for why he became an artist to begin with.

Having been Mondo’s main parental figure their whole lives, Daiya wanted to ensure that his brother would have a secure career that he could be proud of and that he wouldn’t have to risk his life for. Just like he does as a gang leader.

After his inevitable death, Mondo took his art career more seriously to honor his big brother.

He wears cargo pants with a white tank top and has a paint splattered bandanna around his neck.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru as the SHSL Aikido Master

He took up aikido believing it to be an ideal practice of mastering self control

He devotes most of his freetime to studying the different forms of aikido aswell as the religious aspects tied to the skill.

At his old school(s) he became popular for taking down various delinquents who would terrorize his defenseless classmates. But what really moved everyone was how Kiyotaka invited each delinquent to join him so that they can master self control and change their lives for the better.

He ended up becoming the president of a large club dedicated to aikido.

Despite his popularity, Kiyotaka is still very awkward at friend making as all he can discuss is his general studies and aikido. 

All of his relations with his peers are purely professional.

Hifumi Yamada as the SHSL Anthropologist

He started out by watching foreign cartoons and dramas and wondered how different they were compared to the ones shown in Japan.

This led to him binge watching multiple foreign shows while taking notes and analyzing the cultural norms displayed in each show.

His hard work paid off when he landed a spot on a TV show where he showcased his research and the popularity for each show in their respective country.

He does most of his research in his hometown but sometimes he’ll travel to specific cities either to showcase new research or to analyze a TV show/movie production.

He dreams of being remembered as a hero who was able to connect every culture and bring world harmony.

He often reaches out to Sayaka in the hopes that they could do a travel collab together but she politely denies his requests using various reasons.

Celestia Ludenberg as the SHSL Inventor

She uses a steampunk lolita ensemble whenever she makes public appearances and speaks with a Victorian accent.

She’s able to maintain her composure when she’s in an environment with an exceptionally hot temperature.

Celestia takes pride in being able to take apart the most mundane of household appliances and rebuild them into something better and praiseworthy. 

Several companies have already commissioned her to make service drones.

She’s willing to make any invention that’s requested provided that the client can afford her extravagant prices.

There’s rumors that she’s been secretly making inventions that can brainwash people and turn them into her obedient servants.

She’s openly expressed interest in studying Kyoko’s existence but the robot makes it clear that she doesn’t want to be involved.

Sakura Oogami as the SHSL Entomologist

While she underwent extreme training thanks to her family’s profession, she has caused conflict among them for refusing to continue the fighting legacy in favor of her true passion.

She’s earned the nickname “The Mountain Woman” on account of how she’s always spotted hanging out in the mountain range studying bug life.

Sakura earned publicity by researching every individual insect found in Japan and how they interact with one another in their ecosystem.

Sometimes she allows the more dangerous insects and arachnids to bite/sting her so she can develop an endurance towards their toxins.  

She also does environmental activism by stopping companies from illegally destroying the forests.

In her spare time, she enjoys meditating in the middle of the woods or by waterfalls.

Aoi sometimes asks if Sakura could lend her some of her butterflies for her magic shows.

Junko Enoshima as the SHSL Supreme Leader

She’s a cult leader. Plain and simple.

Using her analytical talent, Junko can analyze any person who’s unfortunate enough to talk to her.

By lending her ears, she gives them the impression of a person who genuinely cares about them and their problems no matter how pathetic they may be.

Most of the people who are drawn to her are often poor unfortunate souls who have been hurt by society or loved ones.

Wanting to fight boredom, she used her initial members for manipulation games and mental torture to see how powerful her charismatic personality can be.

She uses her findings to establish herself as a prominent figure of the 21st century.

A figure that can guarantee dramatic change if her subjects are willing to follow her commands.

When she decides to become the SHSL Despair, she uses an alternate persona via Monokuma to broadcast messages of despair and hard truths to the listening audiences.

And to keep Hope’s Peak and the police from catching on about her plans, she makes it so that she runs an exclusive club for intellectual and high class individuals. 

Makoto Naegi as the SHSL Astronaut

Despite being average, he wanted to show everyone that it’s possible to accomplish the extraordinary even if you’re ordinary.

He loved the idea of going to space and seeing the beauty of the stars and the Earth down below.

Ever since middle school, he’s been training his body so he can be prepared for space travel.

He’s studied different star systems but he has difficulties when it comes to mechanical engineering and repair.

The closest he’s been to space was traveling in ships that reach high enough for him to experience zero gravity.

Despite being the youngest member of the space program, all the staff members adore him for his bright personality and his eagerness when it comes to completing missions.

In his free time, he tries to learn English and Russian should he be assigned to work with astronauts of the US or Russia.

Kyoko Kirigiri as the SHSL Robot

Her creator was her grandfather Fuhito who wanted an heir for his engineering business.

Her design was modeled after his young granddaughter who had died alongside her mother.

Having familiarized herself with the ongoing grudge between Fuhito and Jin, Kyoko can’t help but wonder if her creation was born out of spite.

She’s willing to follow along with her grandfather’s wishes but she does question if her actions are because she was programmed to follow them or because she herself wants to do it.

She’s built with a titanium body armor that can endure any extreme forms of damage along with providing her with super strength. 

Given the right resources, she can also hack any computer system and gain access to any information found in said system.

Jin had conflicting feelings about allowing Kyoko to enter Hope’s Peak due to her bringing up feelings of anguish for his lost daughter and needed to be pushed by his dad to accept her.

She prefers to stay in the background analyzing the actions and behaviors of her classmates but she will show no hesitation in using force to resolve potential conflicts. 

Byakuya Togami as the SHSL Cosplayer

In this reality, he lost his chance of becoming the Togami Heir and was banished from the family.

He still wanted to make a name for himself and decided to pursue a career that no one in his family would cross paths with him in: cosplaying.

Initially, he was depressed for a month after losing his big chance and immersed himself in anime shows to drown out his depression.

In a way, he found inspiration by watching the protagonists who continued onward and decided to make new paths for themselves despite failing to achieve their initial dreams.

If he wanted to be like them, then he could try dressing like them.

He only watches anime that has an enriching fantasy setting or has historical themes

Using what was left of his money, he funded a public fashion show that displayed the elaborate costumes of famous anime characters.

He became a big hit and was given sponsorships to produce more cosplays. 

He has a love/hate relationship with his talent. On one hand, he prides himself in being the best at cosplaying. But on the other, he hates it because it’s a reminder that he lost his right to be a Togami.

Touko Fukawa as the SHSL Detective

Having grown up reading mystery novels, Touko became familiar with the cliches and expected tropes found in each given mystery.

Before going freelance, she served as a secretary for a private detective.

When looking over his cases, she pointed out the familiar patterns for each case while explaining her reasonings behind her deductions. She ended up being right 9 times out of 10.

The PI decided to give her simple cases that involved family drama and cheating spouses to test and expand her knowledge.

Eventually she would be hired for more extreme cases involving drug rings and murder.

Because of her abusive childhood and upbringing, Touko still has Dissociative Identity Disorder and created Genocider Syo as a coping mechanism to protect her.

But rather than killing people like a cliche yandere, Syo shows up whenever Touko ends up cornered or captured by dangerous criminals.

While she has no idea what gloomy got herself into, Syo has no issue with thrashing the low lives who would threaten her existence.

This has often led to the criminals becoming seriously injured or even being killed as a result. When it comes to the latter, Syo takes special care to ensure that it looked like an accident or that the criminal died by someone else’s hand.

This unfortunately resulted in Touko having a bad reputation as a loose cannon detective.

The detective decided to cut ties with Touko to maintain his business but ensured to tell her that she has what it takes to be a true detective.

She still thinks badly of others and is quick to point out the negative qualities associated with that person.

Yasuhiro Hagakure as the SHSL Assassin

The reason he got into assassination was to own up for his mistakes.

When he was 13, his gambling habit led to him and his mother losing their house and having to live on the streets.

Wanting her son to learn responsibility, Hiroko called in an old friend who had ties with the local yakuza and requested that he give her son a job.

Unbeknownst to the two, the only job that the friend could offer was being an assassin. And wanting to make his mom proud of her boy, Yasuhiro accepted the job without telling Hiroko.

After years of brutal and life threatening training, Yasuhiro became the clan’s go-to hitman and was handsomely rewarded every time he successfully got rid of a clan enemy or someone who couldn’t pay their debts.

His preferences for killing involve drugging the victims with slow but lethal poisons or attacking them when they’re alone. His appearance requires him to be extra cunning as to avoid being detected.

Eventually he was caught by the authorities but was contacted by Hope’s Peak who learned about his unusual career. 

He was given two choices: he could go to jail for his murder or he could attend HP so that his talent could be studied while also receiving the school’s protection. Even a moron like Yasuhiro knew what choice to take.

When he went to tell his mom the good news, he found that she disappeared without a trace. Some say that Hiroko left out of shame when she found out about her son’s crimes, others believe that she was kidnapped and killed by revenge driven enemies. Regardless of the rumors, Yasuhiro has a gut feeling that she’s still out there and he intends to find her to make things right.

He uses the SHSL Fortune Teller title to keep his assassin career a secret.

He still maintains his carefree and ditzy personality both because no one would ever expect him of being a professional killer and so that he can keep pushing forward in life without falling into complete despair.

His baggy clothing and dreadlocks make it easy for him to hide knives or bottles of poison.

Aoi Asahina as the SHSL Magician

Ever since she was a little girl, Aoi loved everything about magic.

She read different types of fairy tales and myths so she can learn more about it and use them for her shows.

When she first started, she would perform tricks for her brother Yuta and would ask for his input regarding each performance and how she could improve herself.

Her costume is based on the classic witches mixed with a magical girl theme. (Think along the lines of Little Witch Academia).

Her magic shows put alot of emphasis on spectacle and enchantment so the people watching could fall in love with the concept of magic.

When she has the time, she bakes her own special donuts and offers them to a certain number of lucky participants.

Despite her friends and family encouraging her to participate in competitions, Aoi doesn’t feel that it would be right to use her magic tricks to compete for publicity.

She wants her magic shows to be an inspirational thing that brings happiness and wonder to the people watching.

She enjoys performing for children and often performs at schools, hospitals and orphanages.

The trick she’s best at performing is the underwater escape challenge.

[danafraedrich]

It’s finally here!!! The Watch City Steampunk (online) Festival is happening TODAY and it’s FREE to join in the fun. . Today’s festival is happening on Discord (more information below), so use this link to join the party: https://ift.tt/2SwTJkh . ... Direct from the organizers... . Discord is a text-based interface where you type messages to the other participants, much like you'd text on your phone. This year, some of our vendors and performers will be available to chat live on May 8th! Look for the appropriate channel to post your questions and comments. . Here's a direct invitation link to get you started: https://ift.tt/2SwTJkh . If you need assistance with Discord, please consult their support page: https://ift.tt/3bWqtt8 . Please come join us, meet the vendors, chat with fellow steampunks, and enjoy our trip to the Moon! ... Hope to see you there! . . . . . #watchcitysteampunkfestival #watchcitysteampunkfestival2021 #author #authorsofhinstagram #steampunk #books #booksarelife #booksaremagic #bookstagram #bookstagramcommunity #bookstagrammer #fantasy #fantasyauthor #fantasywriter #indieauthor #read #reading #writer #writerscommunity #writerslife #writersofinstagram #steampunkbook #yaauthor #yalit #yawriter #steampunkbooks #steampunkauthor #steampunkwriter