I Am Currently Planning My Own Webcomic, Which Will Take Place In A Victorian-esque Steampunk City. Automatons

I am currently planning my own webcomic, which will take place in a victorian-esque steampunk city. Automatons have as many rights as humans, and are seen as equals. They live amongst the other civilians of Brenning, and can have a job as anything they please.

Jeter Nyland, one of the main characters in my story, is a doctor for the city of Brenning. He is on the wealthier side of things, owning a large mansion outside of the city limits. His name is known by nearly everyone, and he prides himself in that. Showing off his wealth through custome fitted suits and expensive parts, he has money to spare.

Dr. Nyland is a perfectionist, everything must be in its place and accounted for. Intelligent and talented. He has built a smaller building onto the side of the mansion, where he performs surgeries on his clients. This ranges from simple checkups to limb/organ removal and replacement. He has spent decades studying his craft, and it really shows.

When not working, he cares for his ward. A young woman named Emalia Nyland was placed in his care after her parents died to a mysterious disease. He takes this very seriously, and Ema is well cared for and in perfect health. Her wellbeing comes before his own, and he keeps her blissfully ignorant of his scientific/medical studies.

Voice claim: Jon Sprocket (Cog is Dead. Specifically their Hallelujah cover)

First art trade!

My half of an art-trade with a radical new friend @airatherobot ! This is their adorable SPG OC named Aira, and can I just say, I love her.

The color scheme, the simple yet wonderful design, it's all very good.

Check them out if you're into SPG or robots in general!

"A Summer's Day" ~ 1894

This young woman is Emalia Nyland, Jeter's ward since she was a toddler. Her parents both died to a disease known as "The Rust", and has been under her future husband's care since then.

It's not unusual for sick parents to hand their child over to an automaton, as it provides the kid with an immortal bodyguard. Most, if not all, of these kids end up forming a strong bond with their automatons, and end up marrying them. This is also what will happen with Emalia, since she and Jeter are nearly inseparable. Ever since she was little, she looked up to the automaton and eventually fell in love with him.

Now, this may seem odd, but Jeter is the only loving figure that she has had in her life. (Besides her parents of course. Zala, her cousin, could also be considered a loving figure, but he rarely ever sees her.) Because of this intense bond, Jeter has given himself the golden filigree that you see on his right cheek. (Once an automaton is considered married/ spoken for, they will get filigree somewhere on their face. Most commonly on their cheeks or chin)

Ema spends most of her days at the manor with Jeter, doing her own thing or getting things ready for meals. Her life is pretty routine, but she couldn't be happier about it. The times where she does go to the city, she finds herself sticking to Jeter's side. It's a big place with a bunch of strangers, and Jeter provides a warm feeling of protection. Of course, they sometimes visit Zala at his home a few hours away, but this is only once or twice a month. As he is very busy with his studies, and Ema doesn't want to bother him.

Personality wise, Emalia is very much an introvert. She spends most of her day inside or around the manor, her nose in a book or hands full of ink from drawing. She's extremely creative, constantly writing stories or doodling pictures, anything that pops into her head will be jotted down. Her room is filled with journals and miscellaneous novels, all sorted by date of recieving them. She wishes to become an author one day, or even an explorer like her parents. Anything to gather more fun stories and drawings that will hopefully make it into their own books one day.

Fun fact about Emalia, she is completely colorblind. She sees the world through shades of grey, and this trait is shared with every woman in her bloodline. This doesn't bother her at all, as she has found other ways to enjoy "colors". Instead of seeing colors, she relates them to textures, emotions or even flavours. Dispite not being able to see these colors, Emalia considered a delicate light blue her favourite. Jeter has told her that she reminds him of this color, as she is soft spoken and welcoming.

Headcanon voice/actor: Phillipa Soo

Some (Non-spoiler) facts about Pierre:

~ He is able to flatten and fold his body in order to fit into most crevices. His body is extremely flexible, as his inner mechanisms can easily shift and collapse into whatever size is needed. As long as his head can fit through the entrance, his whole body can follow.

~His eyes are a large ring with a circle in the center. This is a model specific trait, and means that the automaton has the ability to record whatever they see. This model of automata have insanely good photographic memories, and is perfect for Pierre’s job.

~Despite his age and appearance, Pierre can hit some pretty high speeds when running. Able to easily outrun a horse when needed, which isn’t a very common scenario. Fences and walls barely slow him down, as he can easily climb/jump over most blockades in Brenning.

~He has yet to change his metal plating, despite it being rusted, scratched and broken. This is because it has yet to hinder his ability to work, and so there is no need to upgrade his body. Unlike more “modern” automata, Pierre’s plating is unable to be penetrated by bullets of any kind. Dented by, yes, but the bullet will not pierce through. This does not mean he is invincible though, as he does have multiple open wounds on his head and body.

~His model is able to record and play back anything he has heard before, and has extremely good hearing. If standing completely still and no one is speaking, Pierre can actually pick up the heart beats of any humans in the room. This comes at a price however, as very loud noises may startle and stun Pierre for a few moments while his programming adjust to the sudden input.

~The voice Pierre uses for himself is actually that of the man who created the plans for his body, and later helped calibrate him. This man, who Pierre never learned the name of, spent hours talking to him in order to have a large library of words to use. A millennium later, and Pierre still uses that same voice. For new names or words, he stiches together syllables of different words and is able to shift their tone. This makes it less jarring and sound more natural.

~Rarely ever uses weapons of his own, finding it easier to take people out using his speed and strength. Pierre is agile and can react suddenly, incapacitating an enemy within seconds. He tries not to kill his opponent, relying on non-lethal take-downs the majority of the time. He does possess a pair of twin pistols, and is equipped with bullets that can take out any automata with ease. (These bullets are only provided to those who work as security for the Tower)

~Pierre’s creator programmed him to “smoke”, despite not having lungs. The creator assumed that having an automaton that shows human habits might be easier to trust, and so Pierre never goes anywhere without a pack of cigarettes in his coat. This “human habit” rule also applies to his attire, since it isn’t really needed for his job. But, his creator liked the aesthetic, and so Pierre dresses like a classic detective.

I've mentioned Zala a few times in my other OC posts, so why not introduce him?

There has always been something a little... off about Zala, something that unsettled those who met him. Maybe it was his curiosity, or the way he'd hold himself as if he was constantly on edge. No one was sure, but people tended to stay away from him, even at a young age. Not that he minded of course, Zala was never one for social interactions.

He has found solace within his cousin Emalia, who shares his interest in strange creatures. Zala is rather talkative when he wants to be, to the point where he's constantly stammering and cutting himself off in order to get a thought out before it dissapears. Usually though, he finds it extremely difficult to hold a conversation. He's awkward and nervous, preferring to speak with family over anyone else.

Fascinated by life, death, and everything in between, Zala is a man of science. He loves to pick things apart just to figure out how they work, and to have the fun of putting them back together again. As a kid he used to dissect insects and small animals, just to see how they looked from the inside. Everything he saw would be sketched and noted, and he still keeps those books today.

Along with books and drawings, Zala has an extensive collection of taxidermy animals in his house. From strange fish to conjoined twin bears, he has them all. Anything odd is captured and brought to him by other scientists, whom he shares his studies with on occassion. One fun thing, Zala does indeed have a selection of taxidermy humans, and is rather pleased with how clean they came out.

Evolution, mutations, disabilities both physical and mental, he was interested in it all. The brain, the human consciousness, how does it work? How do people learn and adapt while keeping who they are intact? Zala loves to ask questions, every tiny little detail being questioned and prodded until something akin to an answer can be found. He can't leave anything unanswered, not even the most mundane questions. He needs to know everything.

His intelligence comes at a price, however. Zala focuses too much on the outside world and it's state, and completely ignores himself. He has kept himself awake long enough to become a somniphobiac (The fear of sleeping/falling asleep), and is incapable of getting any proper rest. Food and hygiene come last to him, always, as his time is better spent in his lab.

Thankfully, he has a pair of automaton that also live within his house, who constantly watch over him. Darla (an automaton I have yet to design) keeps him decently clean, and makes sure he eats enough to keep him alive. Zala is ever thankful, excited to be in good enough health to continue his work.

Headcanon voice/actor: David Micheal Bennett

A couple WIPs of comic panels

I had the urge to draw some unrelated panels from random scene ideas.

The panels will rarely overlap, or take a different shape unless an action scene is taking place. I was inspired by Ava's Demon with this kind of panelling, since I personally find it less confusing to follow. (And I want to make my comic read more like a detailed storyboard for a movie.)

I try to make each character have their own color for the sketches, so that it is easy to identify them, even from a distance. These colors will also be used in their text when they speak, to make things easier when a character is speaking off screen. Each character will also get their own font as well. (Except for Odin, who will be borrowing different fonts while speaking, to show that he is indeed using recorded audio to converse.)