tentacles – The Steampunk Meme Logbook

Logbook Entry #008 – Tentacle Diplomacy Protocols

What’s your steampunk solution to unexpected sea monsters?

Drop it below

Deploying the diplomacy Kraken again… Or never mind the tentacles…?

Visuals are conjured with the help of machines. No krakens were harmed (or negotiated with) in the making of this image.

Facebook, 13th May 2025;

A steampunk-style etched illustration of a chaotic scene where a man in Victorian attire releases a large pigeon from a cylindrical canister marked “broadband.” In the background, another character appears alarmed by questionable events. The style is darkly whimsical and deliberately surreal.

Observed anomaly:

Unidentified leviathan encountered in the lower fog banks of the Thames-Sargasso Channel.

Standard torpedo etiquette is deemed insufficient.

Protocol Theta-8 enacted: Deploy the emergency diplomacy kraken.

Results: inconclusive, but impressively dramatic.

Meme context:

Originally posted to Facebook with the prompt:

🧭 What’s your steampunk solution to unexpected sea monsters?

The replies included everything from polite cannon-fire to “ask if it’s read Jules Verne.”

This image represents one of the more… tactile approaches.

Text reads:

“Deploying the emergency diplomacy kraken again.

Some days call for torpedoes. Other days call for tentacles.”

Because sometimes, even in steampunk diplomacy, things get grabby.

🧭 Meme Entry: Sabotage on Deck Three?

Facebook Caption: One problem at a time. Finish your biscuit.

Believe it or not, AI helped with this sketch without any artisans being harmed.

First posted 6th May 2025.

Victorian-style illustration of a calm woman holding a teacup and biscuit in front of a mechanical wall exploding with sparking cables. She appears unfazed. Text reads: “Sabotage on Deck Three? One problem at a time. Finish your biscuit.”

🖼️ Image Description:

In a richly detailed, Victorian-style etched illustration, a woman in late 19th-century attire stands with an air of calm resolve, holding a delicate teacup and a biscuit mid-dunk. She wears a high-necked dress with intricate embroidery and a pendant watch on a chain. Her expression is completely composed — almost bored.

Behind her, the airship’s mechanical interior has erupted into chaos. A tangle of thick, writhing pipes and cables has exploded in sparks, clearly suggesting sabotage or malfunction. Despite this dramatic event, the woman remains unfazed, fully focused on the critical matter of tea and biscuits.

Text at the top reads: “Sabotage on Deck Three?”

Below: “One problem at a time. Finish your biscuit.”

Hashtags at the bottom include: #airshiplife #steampunghumor #biscuitfirst #shipboardmanners

🧐 Meme Explanation:

This meme is a celebration of steampunk stoicism and utterly misplaced priorities — in the best way possible.

Faced with what appears to be a catastrophic mechanical failure aboard an airship, our character chooses calm, civility, and biscuit protocol over panic. The phrase “One problem at a time” underscores the absurd but relatable sentiment: yes, sabotage is happening — but first, the tea ritual must be completed.

Like earlier entries in the series, this image exaggerates British manners to the point of parody, poking fun at the cultural impulse to remain composed even in the most ridiculous of emergencies. It also subtly satirises modern burnout culture — where crises pile up, yet we’re still told to “stay calm and carry on”… or at least finish our snack.

The disclaimer “AI helped with this sketch without any artisans being harmed” playfully acknowledges the AI-generated nature of the artwork, reinforcing the Automaton Improvisation aesthetic that runs throughout this meme series.

A brass-bound record of chaos, corsets, and commentary.

Tag: tentacles

Deploying the Emergency Diplomacy Kraken

Observed anomaly:

Meme context:

One problem at a time. Finish your biscuit.

🧭 Meme Entry: Sabotage on Deck Three?

🖼️ Image Description:

🧐 Meme Explanation: