for all of us who've seen the light, salute the dead and lead the fight (part I)

The pictures I got, not all of them came out, sadly, but I picked the best ones of the lot. This was the Aether Salon for dieselpunk, held at the Academy of Industry in New Babbage.


(Edward Pearse, Duke of Primbroke, presenting the discussion.)

This is also one of the few events I'll cover where I leave names intact.

[14:03] Rory Torrance (rory.torrance): hiya ceejay. is this in voice? not hearing...
[14:03] Edward Pearse: Nope text.
[14:03] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach (klauswulfenbach.outlander): Nein, not Voice.
[14:03] Rory Torrance (rory.torrance): oakily doakily then
[14:03] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach (klauswulfenbach.outlander): It has been on rare occasions, but they are announced in advance.
[14:03] Ceejay Writer: Local Chat
[14:03] Edward Pearse: Just giving it a couple of minutes for the late arrivals

(A shot of the crowd to start.)

[14:03] Bixyl Shuftan: It's in chat
[14:04] Jimmy Branagh: This is also a test of speed typing ability
[14:04] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach (klauswulfenbach.outlander): Herr Baroque! It has been too long.
[14:04] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr) grins
[14:04] Rory Torrance (rory.torrance): sehr gut
[14:04] Polly (polly.ellsmere): interesting phenomenon: clouds opening doors
[14:04] Edward Pearse: Yeah I cheated and lots of this I've written down already :-)
[14:04] Cassie Eldemar (cashew.writer): smiles
[14:05] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach (klauswulfenbach.outlander): That will make it easier for Fraulein Ceejay.
[14:05] Ceejay Writer: That's CHEATING? *eyedarts*
[14:05] Jimmy Branagh: ((I have everything written for mine ahead except for witty badinage. Cut-paste king.))
[14:05] Edward Pearse: Okie dokie, I think we can start
[14:06] Ceejay Writer: ((Ditto, Jimmy.))

(A definition of dieselpunk.)

[14:06] Rory Torrance (rory.torrance): Fire when ready, Duke!
[14:06] Jimmy Branagh: ((I would goo crazy otherwise))
[14:06] Edward Pearse: My name is Edward Pearse.
[14:06] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Wait, you mean not everyone writes it in advance?
[14:06] Edward Pearse: Hi!
[14:06] Ceejay Writer: Apparently we ALL do!

(A diesel deco train, and a poster from Seraph City.)

[14:06] Edward Pearse: Most of you in New Babbage are familiar with me
[14:06] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach (klauswulfenbach.outlander): I should hope you do.
[14:06] Edward Pearse: For those not, I'm one of founders of New Babbage and a long time fan of Steampunk.
[14:07] Edward Pearse: I got interested in dieselpunk through the old sim of Seraph City.
[14:07] Ceejay Writer: You found it? Was it lost?
[14:07] Edward Pearse: Exhibit A
[14:07] Breezy Carver: smiles
[14:07] Edward Pearse: I wasn't part of the founding group but discovered the sim through mutual friends

(Hindenberg's flight.)

[14:07] Edward Pearse: I created a nightclub there called Seraph Club.
[14:07] Darlingmonster Ember: woot
[14:08] Edward Pearse: While Seraph City has long gone, the Seraph Club still lives on, now in its new home of Cassandra City.
[14:08] Polly (polly.ellsmere): the Roving Seraph Club
[14:08] Jimmy Branagh: Oy just missed being a founder. I'm a fumbler Oy guess.
[14:08] Baron Klaus Wulfenbach (klauswulfenbach.outlander): Quite charming.
[14:08] Poison (marylucretia): here here
[14:08] Edward Pearse: I will apologise in advance if this runs a little short.
[14:08] Rory Torrance (rory.torrance): A luvvily venue.
[14:08] Edward Pearse: I volunteered as a last minute thing so I haven't had time to check the run on this.

That was entirely my fault, by the way. I had been tasked with finding a dieselpunk speaker, and I contacted six or seven people, all of which turned me down, never once thinking of Edward, and I REALLY should have. Thankfully, he agreed.

(Cover for Children of the Sun.)

[14:08] Ceejay Writer: More time for drinks after - no worries!
[14:09] Darlingmonster Ember adjusts her little shorts
[14:09] Edward Pearse: Dieselpunk is really an aesthetic rather than a genre.
[14:09] Nyx Malaspina whispers: lms and schedule provided in some handy notecard. :)
[14:09] Edward Pearse: As such there will be a lot of imagery in this presentation
[14:09] Edward Pearse: This of course leads to a lot of opinion over what is and isn't dieselpunk.
[14:09] Rory Torrance (rory.torrance): Huzzah!
[14:09] Nyx Malaspina: claps hands...like pictures.

(A selection of artists' renditions of dieselpunk cities.)

[14:09] Edward Pearse: What I present today is mostly my own opinion but other schools of thought will be touched on here and there.
[14:10] Edward Pearse: Dieselpunk the term, first came to use through an RPG called Children of the Sun, published in 2002.
[14:11] Edward Pearse: It was never a big hit. I've never played it but the reviews I've read are "neutral"
[14:11] Edward Pearse: Interestingly the world of Children of the Sun is somewhat different from what we think of when dieselpunk is used today.
[14:11] Edward Pearse: It was very much an urban fantasy style setting.
[14:12] Edward Pearse: It had magic, a variety of races and an assortment of critters, littered amongst the skyscrapers.
[14:12] Rory Torrance (rory.torrance): And an interesting font, at least.
[14:12] Edward Pearse: I saw one description of it as D and D meets Saving Private Ryan
[14:13] Edward Pearse: Similar to the transformation that steampunk undertook, dieselpunk too has expanded beyond a D and D campaign with a fantasy WW2 setting.
[14:13] Emilly Shatner-Orr (emilly.orr): Interesting
[14:13] Edward Pearse: Also similar to steampunk, it's about the set dressing rather than the story itself.

(Continued in part two.)