The League of STEAM (Supernatural and Troublesome Ectoplasmic Apparition Management) is an organization comprised of Inventors, Scientists, Adventurers, Craftsmen, Monster and Creature Hunters, and Paranormal Researchers.
What’s not to love?
The League of S.T.E.A.M. have released eight videos to date, including “Monkey Business” in which their ghost-busting efforts are not quite so successful, and “Big Trouble“, in which the team defeat a near-sighted troll with the best use of a robot ever.
I love steampunk. And silent movies. And robots with punchcards.
I have a confession to make: I have a huge crush on the whole steampunksubculture.
The aesthetic of steampunk harkens back to an era where steam power was still widely used, and often adopts a pseudo-Victorian look. Inspiration is taken from H.G. Wells, Jules Verne and fantastical technological inventions, sometimes set in an alternate-history.
I don’t see much awareness of it in Toronto (or perhaps it’s here, but I’m just not seeing it?); my first encounters with it were from flyers posted online for club events in other cities, and, of course, the gorgeous steampunk laptop (pictured above) created by Datamancer.net: a fully functional laptop made of wood, copper, and brass which starts with a clock winding key.
Datamancer.net does custom work, using authentic pieces to mod current technology where possible, but due to the labour-intensive nature of his creations, they are quite pricey. Still, fun to look at.
