Anyone Ever Dabble In Erotic Steampunk?

[Adam Strange]

I've just recently gotten sucked into the whole steampunk thing and am curious if anyone else is into this genre. PM me if you are. - Adam

 

[xssve]

I am.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I am, and so is Voluptuary_Manque

 

[xssve]

So where's the stories may-an?

 

[voluptuary_manque]

So where's the stories may-an?

Sort of in-progress but on hold until I get this veneered tool chest finished/back from La Jolla/etc.

 

[bronzeage]

You have to start with the basics.
http://www.craftster.org/pictures/data/500/medium/83897_goggles_before.jpg

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Talk to me about this genre.... !

 

[Noor]

Not yet but I have seen a lot of Steampunk fashion shows, and am going to a Steampunk party soon.

 

[Verdad]

Talk to me about this genre.... !

I'm curious how it'd work in the erotic, too.

Steampunk is a kind of retro-futurism, or if you will, an alternate history/future in which XIX century technologies such as steam power continued developing instead of being supplanted by the new technologies known to us. Often, fashions and social mores of the time are carried over to the fictional future world, too, with a bigger or smaller degree of modification.

With all those gorgeously quirky clockwork-y objects, lots of shiny brass, and Victorian/Edwardian fashion classic such as corsets, steampunk's greatest popularity is, not surprisingly, in the area of design, although its origin is, of course, in a sci-fi sub-genre.

Visually, I find the aesthetic extremely appealing, but I have a feeling it would require a very elaborate set up to properly come through in writing—very elaborate, at least, for the purposes of an erotic story. On that, however, I hope someone who's actually writing in that vein could say a bit more.

 

[Handley_Page]

You have to start with the basics.
http://www.craftster.org/pictures/data/500/medium/83897_goggles_before.jpg

what is it?
A bra for an under-age Rhine Maiden ?

 

[Huckleman2000]

I'm also curious about how steampunk would work in erotic fiction. I haven't read any Jules Verne or H.G. Wells in decades, but I don't recall anything even close to a sex scene. There were sexy elements to Wild, Wild West, but as Verdad points out, these were more in the elements of design and fashion. I find the visual aesthetic fascinating.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

It's an alternate history. All you have to do is presume that the Vickies embraced sexuality instead of repressing it. If you really have to get heavily philosophical about it, you lose the fun. Yeah, I can come up with a rationale for the switch in ethos but do you really want fantasy that has to be so soberly explained? Come on, people!

 

[Adam Strange]

Well, personally, I can't imagine why it couldn't work very well together. Maybe I'm old school but I still find that romance and eroticism can and should go hand in hand. Many view the Victorian age as a prudish time and I say bullocks to that.

I'm beginning an outline of a story, actually, I'm creating "the world" of it right now. And I am planning to incorporate a fiercely independent female character and a timid mad scientist who work together and play well together.

We'll see.

 

[Verdad]

It's an alternate history. All you have to do is presume that the Vickies embraced sexuality instead of repressing it. If you really have to get heavily philosophical about it, you lose the fun. Yeah, I can come up with a rationale for the switch in ethos but do you really want fantasy that has to be so soberly explained? Come on, people!

Well, that sounds a lot like good old faux-Victorian erotica? Nothing wrong with that, for sure—it's been popular for ages and I've enjoyed it myself. Our own Dr. Mabeuse used to be fabulous with that kind of thing. The name and the fact that I'd read some non-erotic steampunk stories probably lead my expectations on an overly complicated track.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Yeah, now you understand. Remember the thread that came up with the words 'sexuelle' and 'copulist'? That's what got me started. Like Stella said, "Mia was brilliant company, well versed in mathematics, and a knowledgeable copulist. Dr. Merely could have asked for no better lab assistant."

 

[Verdad]

Yeah, now you understand. Remember the thread that came up with the words 'sexuelle' and 'copulist'? That's what got me started. Like Stella said, "Mia was brilliant company, well versed in mathematics, and a knowledgeable copulist. Dr. Merely could have asked for no better lab assistant."

Gotcha. Sounds very promising, too! Obviously, you could combine it with that other idea, and throw in a Metropolis-style fembot.

Oh, and I forgot to say: welcome to Lit, Adam!

 

[Stella_Omega]

You write in a semi-flowery style, and add a dirigible or two...

What I've been noticing, though is that people catch on to the "Steam" part of the genre, but not so much the "Punk" side. Mia and Dr. Merely is rather Sherlock Holmes with genitalia-- which is plenty okay with me! But what intrigues me more is punks, surviving in a steam-powered, stratified society.

 

[ExoMani]

Sounds like an interesting genre.

Is anyone actually working on an erotic steampunk story? I’d love to read one.

 

[Adam Strange]

I'm beginning work on one as we speak. I will post for feedback soon. - Adam

 

[voluptuary_manque]

You write in a semi-flowery style, and add a dirigible or two...

What I've been noticing, though is that people catch on to the "Steam" part of the genre, but not so much the "Punk" side. Mia and Dr. Merely is rather Sherlock Holmes with genitalia-- which is plenty okay with me! But what intrigues me more is punks, surviving in a steam-powered, stratified society.

See, I can't do that. Coming from rather up the strata myself, and having never really been down in the dumps, middle class intelligentsia is what I know about so that's what I write about. Sad? I dunno.

 

[Stella_Omega]

See, I can't do that. Coming from rather up the strata myself, and having never really been down in the dumps, middle class intelligentsia is what I know about so that's what I write about. Sad? I dunno.

naw, plenty of people have a preferred genre-- not sad at all

 

[jm_kaye]

I started one years ago.... need to get back to it.

 

[SeaCat]

Read "The Difference Engine" by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling.

Cat

 

[Stella_Omega]

Read "The Difference Engine" by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling.

Cat

Yes! or "The Diamond Age" by Neil Stephenson.

 

[jomar]

I always think the Wild, Wild West (tv show) with explicit sex scenes.