In Service

[Aldersmaine]

true enough mynt, but perhaps he could see auras before his eyes were taken and as a blind man can see souls. maybe it happened in his first year? would he have known Jonny already?

[Matt]

Yeah In my head Jonny's been around for a Loooooong Time. With the capitals. Like... so unless Q has other plans (which is also fine), he was recruited when he was ye olde typical street hardened canal boy. Not sure how much yous know about the canals in Victorian Britain but they were a massive industry thing, right up until the trains began to take over. But even then it was a prolific way of life.

Unfortunately, it was also where a lot of kids were massively taken advantage of. Smaller crew, more space and you didn't need to pay them if they didn't have a family or if the owner was their family. If Jonny, age 15/16 was working on one of those, he'd be getting a bit old and a bit big for the boat - especially since he's a tall kind of guy anyway and broad-strong. If he didn't have a good relationship with the captain, he'd have been kicked off or he might have fled. I'm thinking the latter and headed for London, slept with the other orphan kids who weren't work house inclined and maybe set himself up as a sort of protector for those around him. That could have got him spotted by the Mechs. Someone who already keeps people safe/has an ingrained sense of justice, with the lack of fear to go against non-human forces.

So yeah, you'd have known Jonny. He's an old soul.

Background for the twins? Lower classes right? Maybe there can be some overlap in their pasts then...? A sort of chance encounter that had Jonny curious? Or you could tweak the blind story so that Connor's almost completely blind - cataracts or something. Or you could have them noticed because of the weirdness in his eyes. Or you could have the injury occur after they've applied but before they join...

Yeah I'm procrastinating instead of my essay right now. Sorry.

[Quaddy]

That comes with the surgery. The mechanical eyes they give him can see souls, which is why they give him the goggles, as the goggles work together with his eyes to give him pretty passable vision. Not, like, 20/20 or anything...but pretty decent. His peripherals are crap, but that's to be expected in goggles. He is actually supposed to wear his goggles at all times when in public, so he doesn't freak people out with his eyes. They don't look real at all, and that freaks people out. The Americans reconstructed his face to look perfectly fleshy even though it's mostly metal, but the eyes...well, there was no way he was getting perfectly functioning human eyes again, so the Brits asked for something cool. They got soul vision.

[Quaddy]

If he could see auras already (my various steampunk stories usually refer to them as electromagnetic fields) and he knew Jonny at all, he would definitely have been allowed in. Which would explain why they would elect to give him "soul vision" instead of something else when they reconstructed him.

[Aldersmaine]

Well there we go!

Mechanized eyes specifically crafted to pick up and perceive electromagnetic fields combined with the subject's innate ability to perceive spiritual auras, resulting in a completely unprovable yet insanely accurate ability to read souls, moods, and possibly more.

I like the idea of having met Jonny in the past though i don't know how likely it would be. Regardless. If he met him before losing his eyes or not he would see him as a person. He'd have seen his aura then if not his soul. And after his blindness would no longer have any need to feel weirded by his appearance and after his own surgery would just feel like brethren to Jonny.

[Aldersmaine]

Honestly I also feel like Connor's face while looking fleshy from furthur away would actually be mostly metal where they grafted. Across the eyes, bridge of the nose, and down the sides of his face and cheekbones. While yes his eyes look weird without the goggles, it's merely because they are indeed mechanical and glassed. But from far away he wouldn't necessarily look out of place without the goggles. Just when a person is close enough to see the seems and gears and the way his lids are solid an slide back behind his eyes instead of how real lids crumple and fold. Oh and the less then skin tone hue of it all.

/Imagines Connor as being quite beautiful aesthetically, just anything half-made from inanimate objects moving and such on it's own can be understandably unnerving to most people/

[Zephyr Shenkiken]

Sorry guys been gone a couple of days. Also sorry Mynt, Abe (Gambit) feels straight to me when i emulate him, changing that would be...forced. It would effect my writing, especially since I myself am straight. If he told me he didn't mind the company of men that'd be fine, but it just didn't cut out that way in my brain.

If it makes you feel any better I don't really see him as seeking out a love interest anyway. He's pretty static in my head. Doesn't change much through the story. Least the way I'm seeing it.

[Matt]

If you want Mynt, Jonny can get confused and have a sexual identity crisis? Perhaps because there's some sense that he and Izzy belong to one another but Izzy doesn't see him that way and he's like... maybe that's because I'm a man's man not a girl's man or something. Nae so sure but then... I guess this isn't the most romantically inclined story.

[Aldersmaine]

it seems more or less an action story with a bunch of emotionally retarded soldiers. No offense everyone lol.

[Mynt]

What's the point of this story again? lol

[Matt]

The band of emotionally retarded soldiers are Queen's Mechs. We fight ghosts and shit with steampunk technostuff.

Vicky is on the throne. Albert is dead. She's a little bit insane.

The Aristocracy ain't so pleased about this insanity stuff and are stirring, rumours abound about a potential uprising. There's also the threat that someone desperate and stupid enough could be pulling strings in the Aristocracy by making deals with the supernatural devils we Mechs hunt.

There's also the suggestion that the Queen herself, in her royal bonkersness, is trying to bring back Bertie. Or that she's succeeded and he's the devil spawn trying to overthrow the crown because everyone knows you can't bring back the dead. He's like a homunculus that's hiding a king ghoul behind reanimated eyes.

And then there's us, wanting to protect queen and country but being feared generally for being a spooktacular police force, fighting the aristocracy that mistrusts the plebs the plebs that mistrust the aristocracy, and sort of beginning to wonder if even god could save the queen.

[Mynt]

Doesn't sound too action-y to me. Almost sounds kind of comedic explained that way. xD

[Matt]

Yeah well..... this is my brain on tea and no sleep.

[Quaddy]

Essentially, it's a mystery crime action story. Queen Victoria has tried for years to bring Prince Albert back to life--ever since he died, which (as pretty much anyone can tell you) unhinged her a bit. Pretty much all of the scientific advances to be had in England stem from Victoria pushing the scientific community to develop the technology that would bring Albert back to life. Not all the advances are specifically crafted to bring anyone back, no, but the scientific...curiosity has its roots in her endeavor.

However, in her meddling, Victoria has weakened the barriers between the realms, especially those between the Fay Courts, our world, and the realm of the dead. This allows the Fay and the "ghosties" to come into our realm more readily. When this began happening, Victoria created the Queen's Mechs (not their formal name, but it's what everyone called her) to essentially investigate, catch, contain, eliminate, etc all paranormal creatures. The ghosties are typically eliminated, whereas the Fay provide a much greater challenge. They are usually contained and then banished. The Mechs use a combination of scientific technology (electromagnetic fields, etc) and spiritual stuff (rituals, seances, etc) to combat the Supernatural, and they are mostly viewed as unhinged or with a certain mistrust by Londoners.

The Americans have developed a similar institution over the years, when Britain's work crossed the ocean and began affecting the Americas. Theirs is a far more scientific organization--very efficient, far more advanced (in certain fields) and driven purely by the need to understand (and eventually harness) supernatural powers. Definitely not to bring a dead man back to life. Abraham is a liaison with the Mechs from the American Bureau of Paranormal Defense, as the two organizations have a very close relationship, and the Americans want to learn a thing or two from the English. There is a similar liaison from Britain in America.

As far as the plot goes...ahem: Victoria's increasing...instability and recluse-ness have made the upper classes (the blue bloods) very unhappy. A number of the Aristocracy believe that Victoria is no longer fit for rule and are working with the ghosts to undermine her reign. They hope that Parliament will get her to step down. Meanwhile, Prince Albert (the dead guy) is stuck in limbo, unable to move forward because of Victoria's machinations and unable to come back because nothing can bring the dead back to life (yet). Being stuck in limbo for a bit has driven him quite mad and he has begun manipulating the ghosts, determined to exact revenge on his beloved wife. Essentially, he means to work with the ghosts and the Aristocracy to sort of switch places with Victoria. Take a living body (Vicky's), switch out her soul for Albert's, and voila...no more Victoria, say hello to Albert (in Victoria's body). Of course, what the Aristocracy doesn't realize is they are not in control and Albert would simply unleash hell if he were allowed to take over his wife's body.

So...the Mechs have to stop that from happening. And, yeah, this is definitely a bunch of emotionally retarded ghost hunters fighting for Queen and Country. Abraham is probably the only well-adjusted one amongst them and he fought for the Confederacy...

[Quaddy]

As far as the bit about Connor: all the bits AROUND his eyes are masked to look like flesh. Neither Connor nor Brandon look like they have been messed with at all. They look entirely human, the both of them. Except for Connor's eyes, which look more...computerized, I suppose. The Americans probably didn't design the technology to look like real eyes, especially as Connor was meant to wear his goggles so much. But they are known for their aesthetic work, so they could feasibly have painted irises and stuff on them.

[Mynt]

I totally dont fit in here.

[Zephyr Shenkiken]

Why do you say that Mynt?

[Aldersmaine]

What's up mynt?

And okay fien Quaddy, have it your way! lol I just loved the idea that he had a half metal face.

[Mynt]

Everyone plans stuff and junk. I'm more of a whatever happens happens kind of soul myself. So I'm like "why not romance sex and stuff?" and it's like "oh, because it's all planned out that's why."

[Aldersmaine]

I don't think any of use will stop you from doing something in your posts. What we've done is only give information about how we see our characters. everything else will be determined in the CF, and in the CF the characters will evolve on their own.

I really have no doubt that romance and sex will happen as the characters get closer to each other. But the real dynamics between characters /and their authors/ will only be reveal in the story.

We can say that Connor and his brother are SUPER close! But in the story while it might start out that way, Connor could end up thinking of Izzy or Abraham as his best friend, maybe falls in love with your character, or maybe Izzy, or maybe even his own brother! LE GASP!

You just need to have fun imagining what could be and then when we're in the story pick what you like and lead the story with your posts like the rest of us.

The BEST thing about a CF is that it evolves on it's own with every post and becomes something none of the individuals would have thought of. Because we'll all be constantly reacting to each other.

[Aldersmaine]

But I'm with you Mynt. I like the way a CF evolves on it's own, but it's nice to be able to have a few resources to work with so you don't completely misjudge another author's character and end up writing them out of character.

[Mynt]

That's usually why I use a few rounds to focus on my own character first before trying to get them in a position for others to write about them.

[Aldersmaine]

then don't worry. you'll do fine as long as you do what you do.

[Quaddy]

Beast--the only reason I say no half metal face for Connor is because that's the dynamic between the twins and Jonny, who DOES have a half metal face. He could very well end up losing the flesh covering, but he starts out having the benefits of America. But he, at the very least, starts out having flesh, so that the twins and Jonny have that weird relationship.

Mynt, darling, of course you fit in here. You know you're still allowed to write Zeke however you want. All I've done is outline a plot in order to give everyone a baseline to understand the world and the story. So that you know where the story is going whenever you're lost or without something to write. I haven't planned out romance and sex yet, really. All I know is that Izzy will end up with either Jonny or no one. Dunno about anyone else except what they've already said. Maybe Zeke starts out with a crush on Abraham, but ends up with Connor...or maybe Abraham realizes feelings for Zeke after all? I really don't know. And neither, I think, do the others.

[Mynt]

I've been doing some exploring with his character and I've found some avenues to keep my occupied.