Kerry's Wednesday Challenge ~ Steampunk

“Steampunk is...a joyous fantasy of the past, allowing us to revel in a nostalgia for what never was. It is a literary playground for adventure, spectacle, drama, escapism and exploration. But most of all it is fun!” George Mann

For this challenge, we will examine the fascinating world of Steampunk.  Wikipedia defines the term as:

"A sub-genre of fantasy and speculative fiction that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. Other examples of steampunk contain alternate history-style presentations of "the path not taken" of such technology as dirigibles or analog computers; these frequently are presented in an idealized light, or a presumption of functionality."

Steampunk is nothing new and has been translated into art, novels, movies, jewelery, design, sculpture and computer games. Within this genre, you may expect to see fictional inventions, people dressed in pseudo-Victorian fashion and current day technologies reinvented to look like a 19th century design.

In researching the language of Steampunk, I found the following bit of advice for writers:
In general, steampunk uses extremely ornate, superfluous words in place of simple nouns and verbs that describe an item. For example, a washing machine might have a Steampunk name as "Miss Pennyfarthing's Hydro-electric Frock Osculating Mechanism." The longer, more ornate and weirder the name is, the more steampunk it is.
Steampunk scientists or inventors usually add the title of "Doctor" or "Professor" to precede their name, which gives them an air of authority on the topics they extemporize upon. (ehow.com)

There are many amazing images to be found while conducting a 'Steampunk' search.  I have been lost for days in this alternate world, which I hope others will find just as inspiring.

My challenge for the Reinvented Amphibians of the Hypothetical Arboretum is to join the League of Extraordinary Versifiers...

Original Comic Cover

... and discover the land of tomorrow that never was.