Last night I had an amazing idea as I was drifting off to sleep, doubtless inspired by reading Gotham by Gaslight just before: a steampunk A-Team! Murdoch - the mad pilot who can fly anything - is in a good ole Victorian asylum, but periodically breaks out to fly the team to safety in airships, biplanes and the like. I've already got a great image of him in my mind, bowler hat and ubiquitous aviator goggles. John Smith, thespian - known has Hannibal for his greatest performance - well, you could keep his look and personality almost without changing anything. The key, I've learnt from Marvel 1602 is to keep the colours the same - hence a sandy coat and black gloves. He's going to have a lovely-o pocket watch. Maybe a cane as well. Or maybe give the cane to Face, who would be on the recieving end of my love of Victorian male dress - I'm starting to think, maybe plum velvet for him? He's obviously a dandy. Amy Adams is a secretary to a journalist, and I can already think of some costumes of hers I can adapt into dresses. I'm just having a timeline problem - because of the ex-army aspect, it has to be tied down to a specific historical period. And then there's B.A. While I'm positive his race isn't going to scupper the whole project, it does nevertheless need to be thought about. Even in an alternate steampunk world, it would be thoroughly anachronistic were it passed over entirely - interacting with the Victorian past is part of the point. It's not going to be a major part of the storyline, maybe mentioned only in passing, but it'll give me authorial peace of mind. The bling will be replaced with tonnes of brass machinery and homemade stuff. What I do know is the "Blue Peter" patch of the show - where B.A. constructs a handy escape route using only the things to hand - would translate perfectly to the steampunk aesthetic. As will the low-fi plots. I'm thinking of doing a masquerade episode first....
Watch this space!
Watch this space!
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OH MY GOD YES.DO IT DO IT DO IT.
Have you seen this?It's amazing. Start here.
(Uncor - the opposite of Rancor?)
tiif you fancy a stab at radio drama there is a local competition with closing date 11th July. max ten mins. may do it.
Given my expertise, I feel obliged to point out that the Boer War, though a little late, had a similar (though much lesser) effect on the British psyche to Vietnam on the American. The Crimea was also a tough, nasty war in horrible conditions (and a better time).
If they have to be returning veterans, they cant be american, because they're all wimpily isolationist at this point.
Oh and obviously the opposite of rancor is walkcor.
Lovelace and Babbage - wow. I will read this when am more awake.
I reckon I could do radio drama, No. 2, with the number of Doctor Who audios I consume. Mind you, maybe that means I know how to do Doctor Who radio drama...hmmm...
Ajax - brilliant, thank you! You have saved me much research time. Plus, having a proper time period makes costume design a little less random. I had been wondering whether to make them American or not (chief issue: wanting to use the whole "gaslight romance" of London town and take advantage of this fantastic setting), so that instantly simplifies things. Again, when I am more awake, I will go hunt down these wars in the Akashic Records (i.e. Wikipedia) and do some researchies...
Flaviet - medieval instrument, something like a cross between a lute, some bagpipes and an accident in a tubing factory.
Isn't the Rancor the beastie Luke gets trapped with in Return of the Jedi? Therefore making an Uncor an infant of the species.
I can do research faster than you - I know where to look.
Andrew Lambert, a professor of mine and bona fide genius, wrote this nice little intro for the bbc: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/crimea_01.shtml
British uniforms looked like this: http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?parent_id=745924&word=
This site has many contemporary documents, but most importantly, they have the complete reports of WH Russell, the first proper war correspondent. He wrote very partial, very colourful pieces:
http://crimeantexts.russianwar.co.uk/sources/timesall.html
Finally, Roger Fenton was the first real war photographer. Some of his work can be seen here: http://www.geh.org/fm/fenton/htmlsrc/fenton_sld00001.html
Oh god I love those silly uniforms. Jimmy OWNS one of them. <3
Also, there's something adorably homoerotic about this one(Conwo - like a pidgin convoy?)
Ah, thank you! Saved me much time. I'm particularly glad we were still in those lovely red coats. I've got one character designed now - I'd post it, but my camera has broken. I'll do it when I get home.
Calypso: YES. I also think this is a rather tender glance:
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=746271&imageID=1500649&total=66&num=0&parent_id=745924&word=&s=¬word=&d=&c=&f=&k=0&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&lword=&lfield=&imgs=20&pos=9&snum=&e=w