The Universe of 'Kept Tears' - post four

[jana_denardo]

Aaron and Rhys meet at a steampunk party. Rhys is a noob but Aaron is pretty well into it, along with his friend, Corinne and her boyfriend. He finds the cosplay anxiety-relieving. His self image has been in the dumps since he was injured in Afghanistan but when he gets dressed up in his steam punk garb he feels a little better about himself.

I picture his outfit a little like this something along these lines though the jacket is probably less tails and more more like this Edwardian one

A little excerpt from the beginning to illustrate my point.

Easing his topcoat over his prosthetic arm, decked out to look like it ran on steam and gears, Aaron glanced into his mirror and felt handsome again. Ever since the war had taken his arm, he felt ugly until he got into character. He went to his favorite club, where they had monthly steampunk events. In his steampunk garb, he was like a wildly colored creature emerging from its chrysalis.

Even the miasma of fog rolling off the river didn’t dampen Aaron’s spirits as he went into Steel Spirits, a club that hosted a steampunk evening once a week. It was a step back into a time that had never existed. Scanning the bar with its low light levels, Aaron spotted men in topcoats and Victorian adventuring gear. Women swept by in bustles and ruffles, hats decorated with flowers, birds and gears perched merrily on their curls.

Aaron checked his pocket watch and sighed when he realized he was early. It would be a while before his friends arrived. By some karmic synchronicity, Aaron spotted one of the hottest men he’d seen in, well, ever. Shoulder-length honey-gold hair framed his pale face. The graceful bow of his lips drew Aaron’s gaze. The man’s costume was simple: some sort of mad scientist. The stranger might not be gay. That didn’t mean they couldn’t be friends. For that matter, there hadn’t been any lovers since he returned to the States. He barely had any friends left in his life. Either they had moved since college, or they didn’t know how to handle everything he’d had to deal with since the war.

And I always love sharing the music for my books and while music plays a bit of a lesser role in Kept Tears it is in the first scene, especially Abney Park so here are a few of my favorites

This is the one I imagine for the opening scene. Airship Pirates

I am Stretched on Your Grave is poignant

She Last Exile is interesting and I can see Aaron enjoying it.

And Lacuna Coil was being played as Aaron enters the club. This one works on several levels, Trip the Darknes

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Comments

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

I love the Steampunk society (at least from the outside, I haven't met anyone who plays in Steampunk yet), so the idea that they meet at a Steampunk get together is fun.

and I love the outfits you used.

[jana-denardo.livejournal.com]

Thanks. There is one in Columbus I've considered joining up with peripherally but I'm thinking it's going to be a lot like my SCA experiences from what I've heard around the circuit about a lot of steampunk groups.

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

That is kind of my reason for not looking too farther into it.

[jana-denardo.livejournal.com]

People I've known have found a certain high school clique thing going on but to be far not all of SCA was like that so hopefully not all of Steampunk is either (also I can't make the outfits like I could for SCA)

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

And yes, this too; SCA outfits were easy compared to Steampunk.

[jana-denardo.livejournal.com]

I can't make jackets or bustles even before I fragged my hand I couldn't so I'd have to come up with a few hundred bucks and modify from there.

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Though I could possibly modify my Romana outfit (IF I WANTED TO) to Steampunk; it's the right era.

[jana-denardo.livejournal.com]

do you still have that? I do know I looked GOOD in this type of costume. I dressed up as Maddelena when I was in Deadwood

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Of course I still have the outfit. The jacket mostly fits; I need to lose about 45 lbs to fit into the pants, though.

[jana-denardo.livejournal.com]

ah yes, I know how that goes. (like that original SCA dress I'd have to lose a person to fit back into)

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Yes, quite annoying.