Everyone look at my boyfriend's blog! - Oh, and Steampunk Personas

As promised, months later, I bring you a new blog post.

I hope my boyfriend, Ryan Gelgud, doesn't mind if I use his website in this post!

Cryptobotanist is a journal-styled blog filled with entries of a captain's adventure into horror and madness.  Based on the novels and short stories of the great H.P. Lovecraft, professor Phinneas Troughton battles for his own humanity as he pilots himself and the remainder of his crew towards the source of insanity that has infected them.  Eager to study this strange otherworldly being and yet suffering under the poison of its sting, he battles his persuit of the terrible monster between fascination and revenge.  Only a few posts have been created, however.  How about showing him some encouragement? :)

This brings me to a point in the blog where I start wondering to myself: how important is it to have a steampunk persona?

This, of course, all depends on how active you'd prefer to be.  For Ryan, I suppose he created Troughton as his own steampunk persona.  Personally, I've invented my own character for my own steampunk purposes.  But I find a key component in order to consider the idea is this first question: what do you intend to do with it?

Here's a list of possibilities.  If you have anything you'd care to add, please post a comment.

• A means to express creativity through writing, posting videos online, drawing pictures, etc.
• A tool for business; a self-promotion
• Developing a social presence within the community
• A reflection of your own interests
• An alter-ego to be used within tabletop RPGs or LARPing

Take my persona, for example.  Let me introduce you to a lady I'd like to nickname Lucy.  First, I started creating her as a means of collecting my own thoughts, styles, and interests and compiling it into a storyline.  Thus created her backstory.

Lucy:

• Is British, because I love their accents
• Lives in America, because I live in America and I am American
• Lives in a small western town, because I love the idea of a Wild-West scenario and I don't enjoy big crowds
• Is part French, because I like to include British, French, and American-style aesthetics to my costumes, as well as because I am part French-Canadian
• Has her own cannon, because steampunk weaponry is a 'thing' and I like the idea of the whole 'little chick with a big gun' theory
• Finds herself in time-traveling situations, because I love Doctor Who
• Works as a barmaid in her own time, because I like to make functional ceramic pieces that can be used in such places

Some of it might be a bit - what's the word - abstract?  However, this is what I wanted and these are the reasons why I wanted it this way.

Then I started to create links in between these interests:

Lucy moved from Great Britain to America following her lust for adventure after hearing about America's rush for gold.  However, after catching an airship overseas, she realized that particular adventure would not happen for her when she followed a group out west and got stranded due to failure - and thus lack of - transportation and supplies.  Thus, she and the group were forced to settle, creating a small makeshift town in the middle of nowhere.  Eventually, aid had arrived, but by the time that happened the townsfolk had gotten word from the same transport ships that going west for gold was next to useless, since the majority of people who had been able to reach their destinations found little to turn to profit.  A sleepy routine of a town, the most activity it had ever received was a random passerby or a local bar fight at her place of employment, the local tavern, where they all called her 'Miss Lucy' (Or 'Lady Lucky', a play on her name, because the only way she would end up making extra money was helping the men cheat at cards.)  Until one day, Lucy decided to travel to the outskirts of town, where she found a rather curious cavern with a rather curious cracked rock wall.
Thus, hilarity ensues.

Not the BEST concept, but still, it's a start.  I'm always re-thinking the backstory, or my persona's ultimate goal, of which I haven't decided on.  But you get the gist of it, right?

Not all personas have to be this detailed, even though some go even farther into detail.  In fact, nowhere does it say that a member of the steampunk community absolutely HAS to have one.  You can actively participate by making your own art, creating a performance, writing your own stories and music, inventing things, creating costumes, and simply communicating your own ideas within the community about steampunk itself.  But does it help?  Depending on who you are, it may.  It certainly helps me.

Well, my dry eyes and lack of focus are telling me that it's my bed time.  I promise that I will try my best to incorporate a lot more about clay into the next blog post.  Also, probably some fun pictures!  Until then, my fellow people, enjoy yourselves!