2009 NaNo Plottings

[wolfanfics]

Doing steampunk this year. Because apparently I suck at resisting a challenge. XD Thanks, bewarethespork, much appreciated. :P

It'll be fanfic again. The Chaser, because that was what Jay suggested. XD

So, er, lemme present preliminary notes/synopsis/research so far. Subject to change as I keep looking into this, so yeah. This ain't set in stone. :P

Title: Moonlighting (It's a pun. Or three. Don't look so surprised. XD)
Genre: Steampunk...ish. XD
Setting: AU!Birmingham, UK; also AU!London, UK
Year/s: 1765-1813 (possibly, if I use flashbacks); 1822 (main narrative)
Fandom/s: The Chaser RPS AU
Cast: (so far)
- Andrew Hansen (MC - grandson of Cassius Albion)
- Charles Firth (local war lord/leader/keeper of the peace; old friend of Andrew's)
- cameos from Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood and Bev Bevan  as scavengers/pirates (first people Andrew meets when he returns)(And this is only here because of watching tiny!Jeff in a pirate hat and eye patch performing in ~1971 and it amused me too much not to include it somehow. XD)(He was bouncing around! It was adorable. XD)
- Julian Morrow and Chas Licciardello (soldiers in the Loyal Birmingham Volunteers Corp, founded in 1802 by Charles' father and used to by Charles when he takes over his late father's estate to keep the peace during the crisis)(Yes, this allows for epic adventures, dammit. XD)
- Dominic Knight (general dogsbody and Charles' manservant)
- and probably others if needed. We'll see how we go.

Family histories:
For Andrew:
Cassius Albion (b. 1735 d. 1807 aged 72) m. in 1764 Sarah Walters (b. 1744. d. 1797 aged 53)
-children:
- 1) Margaret (b. 1765? - d. 1770)
- 2) (James) Theodore (b. 1767?) m. in 1786 Catherine Miller (b. 1767 d. 1840)
--children:
-- 1) John (b. 1788-)
-- 2) Sarah (b. 1791)
-- 3) William (b. 1797)
-- 4) Andrew (b.1802) (our fabulous MC)

So. Andrew as grandson of Cassius Albion, noted alchemist, magician and musician, and member of the Lunar Society. Will work on his (Cassius') biography later.

Still working on Charles' ancestry. If there isn't some sort of nobility in there somewhere, I'll be sorely disappointed. XD

Historical Notes: Lunar Society. Met once a month ~the full moon between 1765-1813 in Brum. "The members of the Lunar Society were very influential in Britain. Amongst those who attended meetings more or less regularly were Matthew Boulton, Erasmus Darwin, Samuel Galton Junior, James Keir, Joseph Priestley, Jonathan Stokes, Josiah Wedgwood, James Watt, John Whitehurst and William Withering." (via wikipedia) (Now with bonus Cassius Albion, a charming made-up addition to this illustrious group)

In a world with magic, the Lunar Society adds magic to its capabilities as it sets about trying to improve Birmingham for the better, though these magical discussions and experiments are very much kept secret. It was Cassius, Andrew's grandfather, who kept detailed notes of their experiments and theories so that someone might continue their work.

Also, yes, still working on the whole disaster thing, and the railways being introduced earlier than 1839. This is still at preliminary stages of research. Will add more as I fit in research between studying.

Summary/Synopsis: Andrew discovers his grandfather's books in an old room in their large estate when he's 15 (1817). He takes them with him to university in London. While he's away, the death of the Lunar Society and disease bring hard tims for Brum, and many people die. The railway isn't finished, and left abandoned by London, Manchester and Liverpool out of fear of disease spreading, what was once a prosperous and innovative city begins to fall to ruin.

While in London, Andrew studies as many sciences he can, as well as arts, Latin and music. In his free time, he studies his grandfather's books, though he doesn't dare try any of the spells. He talks his way into getting a basement workshop, and there hones his magical skills (in theory, he wasn't very good), and his mechanical skills as he builds whatever he can think of, inspired by some of the ideas in his grandfather's books. He's mostly tinkering, with no real end in mind.

Its to Birmingham that Andrew returns to in 1822 after finishing his degree/can't think of anything else to study/finds some reason to go home to Brum. He'd heard some of what had gone on, but no one had wanted to go there to see for themselves so it thrived on rumour. They had told him not to go back, but Andrew had his grandfather's books and he wanted to make things right. He didn't know how, but he couldn't let his city die. The carriage he travelled in would take him no further than the outer areas of the town, leaving Andrew to make his own way in.

It's eerie. There are so few people around. Society is damaged, but still holding together thanks to Charles and his Loyal Birmingham Volunteer Corps, as close as they get to a police force. Charles is also a childhood friend of Andrew's, but after Andrew left for London, they lost contact.

The town is not looking its best, however, and there have been riots as people have fought for what few resources they can get. They're not doing too badly, due to the mines and their established industries, but the lack of connection to other major cities is hurting their economy, especially with a much reduced population. Anyone fit to work still has to work to keep the town going.

Anyway. Andrew wanders around and meets Jeff, Roy and Bev, who are hanging around. Andrew, due to his time in London, speaks like a posh boy, as opposed to a Brummie, and they see fit to pick on him because of this. They also know how to practice magic, as does everyone (apparently). Andrew is all, dude, magic, whut? And they're all, what, didn't they teach you this in London? And Andrew's all, I-I've got my grandfather's books- (A/N: Resisting the urge to write this scene, like, now. XD)

Just as they go to take his books, Jules and Chas arrive, having been keeping their eyes on them since they started causing trouble, and after sending them on their way, they escort Andrew to Charles' house.

And thus, Charles fills him in as they take a trip around the town in his carriage. And I'm assuming Charles will set him up with a spooky basement or something and lo, Andrew begins experimenting again. And at some point, he picks up ickle Chris the puppy, and, well, we'll see where it goes.

Perhaps he decides that he needs to create the perfect human in order to help repopulate the city, so he works on that while studying the books in Charles' library.

And at some point, I want a goddamn abandoned university campus scavenge thing. Just because. D:

Also, that's all the plot I have so far. But it's not too bad. Not sure how 'steampunkish' it is, but we can work on that. It's more of a plot than I had yesterday, so I can't really complain. XD