bakerstreet | The Steampunk Meme

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[warning] trigger warning

The Steampunk Meme

THE STEAMPUNK MEME

"Imagine it... The Victorian Age accelerated. Starships and missiles, fueled by coal and driven by steam. Leaving history devastated in its wake." - Doctor Who

What To Do:
1. Post with your character's name and canon in the subject line. You can leave it blank but it would be exceedingly helpful if you were to kindly post a role for your character to give other taggers a jumping off point.
2. Tag other characters, using the RNG to pick a prompt if you so choose.
3. Have fun and play nice!

The Prompts:
01. Masquerade Ball - Dress in your best and don a mask for a night of mystery and enchantment. Will you manipulate suitors with the movements of a fan, try to work out who you do and don't know, or immerse yourself fully in the experience and do something you normally never would?

02. Airship Pirates - "With a crew of drunken pilots/We're the only airship pirates". You've taken to the skies in an airship, and now a pirate is what you are... Or what you're up against! Ruthless cut-throats or simply men fallen on hard times, these pirates are not marked with a good reputation. A fight just may be on the horizon.

03. Exploration - The Steampunk genre is not only marked by technology and a unique aesthetic, but by the spirit of adventure! Now's the time to look for new lands, or explore the wild, exotic places you've always longed to see! Just be careful to avoid that colonialism nonsense. The natives aren't usually on board with it.

04. Cattlepunk - Steampunk in the Old West! What will you get when you combine steam-powered technology with the life of cowboys, saloons, and a thirst for gold? It's harder to beat the sheriff when he's got a metal heart and his revolver mounted right on his arm.

05. New Discovery - Besides finding new lands, there's finding new technology; new invention! Be it a new way to create steam power, a unique kind of animatronic, or something entirely unheard of, you could have just gotten your name down in history books! Is it the money you're in it for? Or just a love of science?

06. Factory Work - We can't all flutter our fans in the drawing room. Someone has to work to make all this steam power that everyone is going crazy over and, lucky you, you get to be a factory worker. Are you down in the hustle and bustle of the factory floor, laboring for a few shillings to keep your family out of the workhouse, or a factory owner looking down on your empire?

07. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea - The advances in technology aren't just used above ground; you have a job to do beneath the waves, perhaps as a spy on enemy territory or a merchant trying to get to your destination faster. Or maybe you're just an explorer. Just watch out for the sea monsters.

08. Flesh Made Metal - Amputation? No problem. Clockwork limbs, eyes, and even hearts are available for those who can afford the necessary enhancements. Supposedly they've even created clockwork brains...animatronic creatures so lifelike you can barely tell they aren't human. What measure is a man?

09. Post-Apocalypse Steam - Something terrible happened to the world. Maybe it was a natural disaster, or maybe humanity has committed a grave crime against the planet. Either way, the result is a world forced into ages past - although with modern knowledge, perhaps it won't be quite the same as in the history books.

10. Revolution - Whether you're a citizen of a colonized nation, a plotter in the back streets of a city or simply a factory hand who is sick of poor treatment, it's time to rise up against your oppressor and fight for freedom! Let's just hope there are people willing to help you.

11. Wild Card - Roll again, pick a scenario that strikes your fancy, or come up with something not represented here!

[Meme taken and modified, with respect, from

brunettely]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

Cynric doesn't spend a world of time on his work, it's true. There's a lot more ducking and covering and scampering and picking of pockets to be done. But he does have something on the table. He does have the impulse to create.

And he does think, when he finally sets gears into motion, that he's hit on something this time. If he can replicate himself? He can pull much, much bigger hits than hands dipping in pockets.

Work, little machine. Work, damn you!

It's barely anything. A collection of circuits and wires, pieces of data created to join together.

A spark of something unexpected...

The box suddenly begins to charge up, diodes glowing an unearthly blue as it does.

The first thing he is aware of is the curious difference between light and dark. And an access code.

The next thing is data, so much data to absorb. He's almost overwhelmed for a moment. "...I....I.....I...." The voice wavering slightly as he uses the vocal processors for the first time.

...it talks.

It talks and it whirs with the most satisfying noise an inventor can ever hear in his life. There's a genuine spark of victory in his eyes as he leans back a bit. Something will have to be done about the blue-ish-ness, but it's still a fantastic win.

"There we go. Slow and easy, friend."

Words. There are more wordssentencesdataoverwhelmingstop.....

Then it's finished. And he is able to process the two sentences easily. His eye units move scanning slowly to the left.

Identifying a human sitting next to him. His internal gyroscope telling him he's on his back on a flat, smooth surface.

"....I...am here." Hey, a first revelation for him. He exists.

It thinks. It thinks, it does!

There's a bright bark of a laugh before he reaches to carefully start shifting the mechanical man upright to sitting.

"You are, my handsome creature. Let's have a look at you."

His skin isn't even on yet, most of his insides metal and hollow. But the blue glow is still there.

The voice controller modulates slightly, the mechanical man experimenting with different tones as he tries to find the right one. He seems not to notice that he's been sat up, the orbs of his eyes on the man in front of him.

"You...you are a person. A human being." He's trying to classify his creator. Not realizing yet that he is his creator.

"That I am, dearest."

How can he not adore his own creation? His fingers move light and birdlike over exposed gears, checking carefully to ensure nothing's about to pop out of place and ruin his new creation.

"Your human being, even. How d'you like that."

He hasn't yet learned he can blink. Not that he really needs to. He doesn't need to do things like breathing or blinking.

"I do not understand."

There's a discordant whine as one of the gears grinds out of place. And Jarvis is introduced to the concept of surprise. He looks down at his middle, seeing the open areas and the now sparking gear that needs fixed.

Blinking will be easier when he's got his eyelids on. But that's not yet. There's still a long time of checking things over.

There's the faintest pause as Cynric's click his tongue, tugs his goggles down over his features and ducks to examine the mild damage.

"I've brought you here, haven't I, mm? Don't-- move about for a moment, then."

He goes still, not even moving an inch, as instructed. But there are still questions, he keeps having them.

"You brought me here?"

"I did. From a pile of gears..."

He trails off for a moment, tongue caught between his teeth as he lifts a fine plier to the delicate gearbox, shifting the little whirling error back into place, twisting a copper wire to keep it from jumping off again.

"...into this."

"That is aaaaaa--..." He shudders suddenly as the wire is put back into place, unable to complete the sentence till it's done. "....that is a gear."

Understanding. He is made up of gears. Gears can work and not work. "This gear works now."

Not a bad stutter, actually, all things considered. He leans back again, nudges the goggles up to the top of his head again.

"It does. Most of them do. You've to tell me if you feel one that doesn't."

Wait.

"C'you feel them?"

It takes him a moment, finding the definition of feel. Sensation. Knowing something is there without seeing it.

"Feel them...yes." He's aware of his insides. Especially before when one was sparking. It wasn't painful, he had no concept of pain. Not yet anyway. But perhaps Cynric's creation has far exceeded what he had planned on making. "All of them are functioning."

A pause. "I am not human." Humans don't have gears for insides.

More brilliant than he knows, apparently. He's not getting distracted by it. He's focusing on finishing up the once over so he can start stitching the skin on.

"No, dearling. You're not human. You're... quite like human."

That wasn't much of an answer.

"What am I?"

Ah, the question that needs answered now is what is he supposed to be called? He had a downloaded answer about humanity and the human race. But nothing on himself.

Huh. What was the word for this?

"...a mechanical man."

Yes. That's a good word.

He was a mechanical man. Yes, that did seem right. Mechanical because he was a machine. Man because he had the form of a man.

"Okay."

A beat.

"Can I move now?" He still hadn't moved since the human had told him not to.

"You can, m'love." With one last nudge of wires, Cynric takes a proper step back. "Just don't go too far."

He's got to go check over the skin now.

The mechanical man ceases being still and starts moving...oho, what is this? He has long appendages just like his creator.

He experimentally flexes each finger, turning his hands this way and that. Next come the feet as he leans forward slightly to look at them. They also can move.

He doesn't make a move to get off the table though. Everything is so different and new. He must observe.

"What are you doing?"

It's distracting to watch the new creation learn itself. Like a child, but in adult form and already incredibly intelligent in a myriad fashion he'd designed. Fascinating.

So he'll start small, bring over a glove to offer to the new machine.

"Making you look less like a collection of gears." The 'hand' is held up for examination. "To help you... fit in, more properly."

The syntax is lost on him. "Where am I fitting in?" Into the glove? He lets the man maneuver his hand into the synthetic skin.

"To the world. The rest of humanity."

His words fade away as he focuses on working the 'skin' over the 'bones' of metal and wire. It fits well enough. From one of his zillion pockets, a needle and thread appear, setting in quickly to stitch the hand in place.

"Suppose you really ought to have a name."

The mechanoid watches intently as his hand is taking a shape closer to that of a human.

"A name...designation 04937." The numbers come easily to him from the data in his head. It's the only name he has right now.

J.A.R.V.I.S. | Iron Man movies | no smut

5, I tell you! 5! 5 for Cynric Stark! B|

woo! should it be hologram or android?

Oo, I vote for android!

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