Japanese Steampunk

[Flynn MacCallister]

I've been trying not to comment here, I'm hopping Jha will come in and clarify without getting defensive about it.

Mmm, I wish he would...

She, Flynn...something I find so ironic that i can barely contain my impulse to guffaw!

Some talented contraptor could build a little clockwork doll of Jha.
It could stand on a soapbox, beat a drum monotonously and pause every so often to turn in a 360 degree circle, jabbing an accusatory finger and intoning ..." Racist....racist....racist....."

Jha is not Steampunk. She just shows up now and then to accuse people of cultural insensitivity, and trot out her poor old one trick pony. She should be mindful of the old adage, "When you point a finger at someone else, there are three pointing back at you."

Bet you a dollar she responds to this post. 

The troublemaker,
Thistlewaite.

Hey, I don't mind people getting my gender wrong online; I know it's ambiguous (not many girls around called Flynn). I just correct them. It can be a bit surprising when someone you think is a guy starts talking with considerable intimate knowledge about things like corsets and assorted women's undergarments...

The only one I object to is when someone bastardises my surname to what they think is the "correct" form of the "clan name". Sometimes it's accidental, but far too often it's deliberate. I'm not part of any clan, I'm Australian right back to the Convicts... (and I'm mostly Irish from then anyway. There's one English and one Scotch name in the tree, and against all the odds, I wound up with a Scottish one.) It's MacCallister. I may as well start calling all Smiths Smythe, because I happen to like that better.


When did she turn up? I don't seem to remember her.

[WickedPenguin]

Just stumbled across this thread (I usually hang out in the Aural and Textual sections, not Metaphysical).

I'm a big fan of meshing Japanese culture with steampunk. It just opens up so many interesting doors. At Dragon*Con this past year, after seeing all the steampunk gear everywhere, it inspired me to do a different take on it by dressing up as a sword-armed steampunk gaijin mercenary for next year's Con. Taking into account I've never dressed up as any character, ever (outside of Halloween as a kid), that may or may not happen.

Also, for the past couple of days I've been working on a new steampunk song about the Boshin War - a.k.a. the beginning of the Meiji Restoration - for my next album. Tentatively titled "Steampowered Samurai", it's been fun to experiment with traditional instrument sounds like shamisen and taiko drums.

[Gendrick]

Well I think I might add to the basis of my "Character" in terms of dress, and start incorporating some oriental aspects, (I use the term character as way of working out my steampunk clothing. seeing as my wardrobe isn't fully "Steamed" yet, I like to theme my steampunk clothing as that of a wasteland wanderer/scavenger, collecting stuff from crashed airships and whatnot, and then selling it on) So back to the point, any Ideas for Oriental aspects? and as has been mentioned before Miyazaki does incorporate a bit of steampunk into his works, Howl's moving castle in fact begins in a Victorian English Industrial town, albeit with strange outlandish flying machines.

[SteamJam]

I know that cab anywhere.. I work in it!

For anyone who cares. Its the engineer's side shot of a 42 ton 1912 Shay "bevel gear" locomotive. Thats where I sit most of the time.

[Flynn MacCallister]

I am utterly confused by the above post.

[The Nomad]

Mana, the eccentric transvestite guitarist for Malice Mizer and Mois Dis Mois, (Excellent music for the steampunk-inclined, I might add,) is also a forerunner in designing the Japanese fashion style known as Gothic Lolita. I regularly refer to this style when designing costumes for the characters in my comic. Good stuff, Check it out. A simple Google image search for "gothic lolita" will have you well on your way. Mana's clothing company also puts out monthly catalogs, aptly named "The Gothic Lolita Bible". They're expensive, and difficult to find in Queen's English, but they're invaluable visual resources nonetheless.

[Flynn MacCallister]

Mana, the eccentric transvestite guitarist for Malice Mizer and Mois Dis Mois, (Excellent music for the steampunk-inclined, I might add,) is also a forerunner in designing the Japanese fashion style known as Gothic Lolita. I regularly refer to this style when designing costumes for the characters in my comic. Good stuff, Check it out. A simple Google image search for "gothic lolita" will have you well on your way. Mana's clothing company also puts out monthly catalogs, aptly named "The Gothic Lolita Bible". They're expensive, and difficult to find in Queen's English, but they're invaluable visual resources nonetheless.

You should find that all Kinokuniya shops in English-speaking countries carry them.

[SteamJam]

I am utterly confused by the above post.

Its an interior picture of the cab of a steam locomotive...

I fire and drive that engine. Its my job to do so.

[Lord Wraste]

I am utterly confused by the above post.

Its an interior picture of the cab of a steam locomotive...

I fire and drive that engine. Its my job to do so.

That picture was also originally posted earlier in the thread as a reference for a prop idea. Thus, there actually IS context.

[Flynn MacCallister]

I am utterly confused by the above post.

Its an interior picture of the cab of a steam locomotive...

I fire and drive that engine. Its my job to do so.

That picture was also originally posted earlier in the thread as a reference for a prop idea. Thus, there actually IS context.

Right! Now I understand.

[The Nomad]

Mana, the eccentric transvestite guitarist for Malice Mizer and Mois Dis Mois, (Excellent music for the steampunk-inclined, I might add,) is also a forerunner in designing the Japanese fashion style known as Gothic Lolita. I regularly refer to this style when designing costumes for the characters in my comic. Good stuff, Check it out. A simple Google image search for "gothic lolita" will have you well on your way. Mana's clothing company also puts out monthly catalogs, aptly named "The Gothic Lolita Bible". They're expensive, and difficult to find in Queen's English, but they're invaluable visual resources nonetheless.

You should find that all Kinokuniya shops in English-speaking countries carry them.

Thank you, Admiral MacCallister. Yes, you're absolutely right. Sadly, I live in East Gish Bum-Buggery Nowhere U.S.A. where you can find beer, ammunition, and wedding dresses in the same tiny country store, but if you ask for the nearest kinokuniya shoppe, they stare at you like you've spontaneously spawned another head, and ask you not to use that sort of language around the missus and the chillins. For those of you nearer to civilization, however, you should be able to find The Gothic Lolita Bible without ordering it directly from Japan. Now if you'll excuse me, my neighbors are approaching my humble domicile with torches and pitchforks, and I need to fortify my apartment.

[darkshines]

I would just like to apologise if anything I typed could be taken as racist, I was not refering to the real world, I was referring to the fictionalised, fantasical steampunk world, as this is in the Steampunk section of the forum, refering to "Japanese Steampunk". If I have misunderstood the meaning of the thread, for example, if it refers o the here and now, then again I apologise.

[Flynn MacCallister]

I would just like to apologise if anything I typed could be taken as racist, I was not refering to the real world, I was referring to the fictionalised, fantasical steampunk world, as this is in the Steampunk section of the forum, refering to "Japanese Steampunk". If I have misunderstood the meaning of the thread, for example, if it refers o the here and now, then again I apologise.

No, no, I think you're fine. I think you have just been completely misinterpreted. (And that someone might have a bit of a chip.)

Mana, the eccentric transvestite guitarist for Malice Mizer and Mois Dis Mois, (Excellent music for the steampunk-inclined, I might add,) is also a forerunner in designing the Japanese fashion style known as Gothic Lolita. I regularly refer to this style when designing costumes for the characters in my comic. Good stuff, Check it out. A simple Google image search for "gothic lolita" will have you well on your way. Mana's clothing company also puts out monthly catalogs, aptly named "The Gothic Lolita Bible". They're expensive, and difficult to find in Queen's English, but they're invaluable visual resources nonetheless.

You should find that all Kinokuniya shops in English-speaking countries carry them.

Thank you, Admiral MacCallister. Yes, you're absolutely right. Sadly, I live in East Gish Bum-Buggery Nowhere U.S.A. where you can find beer, ammunition, and wedding dresses in the same tiny country store, but if you ask for the nearest kinokuniya shoppe, they stare at you like you've spontaneously spawned another head, and ask you not to use that sort of language around the missus and the chillins. For those of you nearer to civilization, however, you should be able to find The Gothic Lolita Bible without ordering it directly from Japan. Now if you'll excuse me, my neighbors are approaching my humble domicile with torches and pitchforks, and I need to fortify my apartment.

Good luck with that one. If all else fails,

UNLEASH the LIGHTNING! MUAHAHAHAHAHA.

[Lord Wraste]

I would just like to apologise if anything I typed could be taken as racist, I was not refering to the real world, I was referring to the fictionalised, fantasical steampunk world, as this is in the Steampunk section of the forum, refering to "Japanese Steampunk". If I have misunderstood the meaning of the thread, for example, if it refers o the here and now, then again I apologise.

You said absolutely nothing wrong.
The only thing I would dispute is that I believe your description fit the Victorian impression of China, rather than Japan, but I've not made a study of the Victorian impression of anything beyond their romanticization of the medieval era.

If anyone is actually offended, they either need to say something specific, or let it go.

[Rev.Hammer]

That is an excellent picture of a Johnson Bar!!

[SteamJam]

That is an excellent picture of a Johnson Bar!!

Its also a great picture of how messy that cab is..

[Jonny B. Goode]

I found this pic on another site, taken at the Steam Powered steampunk convention in Sunnyvale, CA. It gave me lots of ideas.

[Rowan of Rin]

Here is a great Japanese steampunk website, with some great info and pictures, might be of interest.

[Reni Valentine]

edited to indicate that i should have read the previous posts on pages 3 and 4...

[Reni Valentine]

Mana, the eccentric transvestite guitarist for Malice Mizer and Mois Dis Mois, (Excellent music for the steampunk-inclined, I might add,) is also a forerunner in designing the Japanese fashion style known as Gothic Lolita. I regularly refer to this style when designing costumes for the characters in my comic. Good stuff, Check it out. A simple Google image search for "gothic lolita" will have you well on your way. Mana's clothing company also puts out monthly catalogs, aptly named "The Gothic Lolita Bible". They're expensive, and difficult to find in Queen's English, but they're invaluable visual resources nonetheless.

The Gothic Lolita Bible isn't difficult to find in English, actually. i know Amazon stocks both the English and the Japanese versions, and i've purchased it in either Borders or Barnes and Noble - and i live in the suburbs...

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Gothic+Lolita+Bible&x=0&y=0

i would like to point out that for those who sew, they do include sewing patterns as well as being an invaluable visual resource...

[Wilhelmina Frame]

Mana, the eccentric transvestite guitarist for Malice Mizer and Mois Dis Mois, (Excellent music for the steampunk-inclined, I might add,) is also a forerunner in designing the Japanese fashion style known as Gothic Lolita. I regularly refer to this style when designing costumes for the characters in my comic. Good stuff, Check it out. A simple Google image search for "gothic lolita" will have you well on your way. Mana's clothing company also puts out monthly catalogs, aptly named "The Gothic Lolita Bible". They're expensive, and difficult to find in Queen's English, but they're invaluable visual resources nonetheless.

The Gothic Lolita Bible isn't difficult to find in English, actually. i know Amazon stocks both the English and the Japanese versions, and i've purchased it in either Borders or Barnes and Noble - and i live in the suburbs...

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Gothic+Lolita+Bible&x=0&y=0

i would like to point out that for those who sew, they do include sewing patterns as well as being an invaluable visual resource...

I can only imagine the upsizing I would have to do to use any pattern from the gothic lolita bible.

[Reni Valentine]

Wilhelmina - same here. I use most commercial patterns as a frame of reference as to details and nuances of construction. For the most part, I draft my own patterns from measurements