OK! I'm writing a steampunkish story and just wondering what people think MUST appear in the story...

I've got so far...

Sky Pirates!
Huge Machines that do the silliest or simplest things.

Huzzah! Another steampunk genre person.

To add:

Airships
Automaton servants
Mad scientists/inventors
Time travel
Space travel
Clockwork dolls
Elaborate war machines
Steampowered vehicles

...oh the list could go on.

Good topic.

Well, I've always been partial to the idea of an army of frog-men wearing oldie-worldie diving suits.

And maybe a windmill on stilts? (Can't imagine why, but, you know...)

And definitely some clockwork musical instruments.

And possibly a well dressed woman with some kind of ridiculous cannon up her skirt.

Anyway, good luck. I would say have fun, but it looks like you're going to have that anyway. (:

okay that made me laugh....

now I really want one of my characters to have a cannon up her skirt.

LOL

'Bride of Tetsuo'?

For some reason I've been thinking about Frankenstein-cyborg farm animals recently - particularly chickens. I guess even steampunks eat...?

Victorian names. For the characters and names of places.

Really complicated apparatus for mundane things.

Lots of brass and gears. And steam (obviously)

Think of a technology today and how to make it run on steam and be way over the top / beyond practical. Texting with a... I dunno... type writer that once finished, auto-folds the letter into a paper airplane or origami and shoots it toward the target.

One of these. End of discussion.

Seriously, though, what I'd really like to see is period clothing. I've seen way too many examples of steampunk settings where the characters are wearing modern clothing, and IMHO it really detracts from the experience.

Other stuff?

Scientific apparatus appropriate to the period.
A clockwork cyborg.
Gorgeous men. Preferably mechanics.
Waaaaay more clocks than necessary.

My comic script has some steampunk elements, especially the steam-powered time machine! Time travel: always awesome.

Yes, period clothing. I'm writing a graphic novel so I get to draw all my characters in fun dresses and waistcoats.

I've also got a camera that's so big my character has to strap it onto his back to carry it.
And quite a lot of automatons.
Gears and levers everywhere.

The poor steam train gets so over looked. Perhaps because in the real world it is tangible. In steampunk where airships rule the skies the train should not only cover the land but conquered it and rule it completely. Whistlers that travel coast to coast in a day. Chuggers with their eight parallel tracks. Climbers who tracks have been replaced with racks to climb over the mountains instead of through.
I started chapter two started with an old battle worn train. I think I will end it on a luxury line.

I just saw a clip of The Mutant Chronicles and it looks very steampunky. They have steam powered space ships and a very WW1 sort of vibe, even though it takes place in the future.