Game Setting
.game setting.
Current season: Autumn
Current month: September
In-game months/seasons change periodically at moderator discretion, after a number of posts/threads have accumulated for a given in-game season -- sometimes changes will hew close to real-world time, sometimes not. Changeovers will be announced on the OOC comm. If you think it might be time for a month/season change, feel free to ask.
In Overclocked, the year is now 1922 -- D.Gray-man has finally entered the era of the 20th century. What does this mean for our characters? The planet has changed a surprising amount since the late 1800s, even moreso in a universe with anachronisms like portable phones, mecha and golems. Read on for more info and links about the setting of the Overclocked world.
A Brief Timeline
1895: D.Gray-man canon begins; Allen Walker comes to the Black Order (this is just the year we've chosen for Overclocked-verse).
1914: World War I begins.
1915: Late in the year, all captured members of the Noah family are executed.
1916: The Millennium Earl is defeated; he and the Akuma are destroyed. Over the course of several months, the Order disbands and most survivors move out of HQ.
1918: World War I ends.
1922: Miranda unconsciously activates the Time Record; Overclocked canon begins.
Also see here: Our very own Bookman has compiled a handy chart of character ages and dates of death.
The Golden Twenties
The decade known as the Roaring Twenties in North America is often referred to as the Golden Twenties in Europe, our primary setting. Like most of the continent, England in the United Kingdom (the location of Order Headquarters) had been hit hard in the just-concluded World War I, but at the beginning of the 20s it was just coming into a period of new ideas and new prosperity. Though multitudes still struggled with poverty, exciting changes were taking place at many different levels of society, and the future promised more innovations to come.
Here are some informative links to start you out in learning about the '20s:
Museum of London, 1920s Online Exhibit
"London was looking to the future and coming to terms with such novelties as skyscrapers, 'talking pictures' in the cinemas, robots, divorce, the BBC and Labour government. Londoners had more choices in their lives than ever before."
Wikipedia: 1920s
"-Women's suffrage movement continues to make gains as women obtain full voting rights [. . .] in the UK in 1918 (women over 30) and in 1928 (full enfranchisement); and women begin to enter the workplace in larger numbers.
-The tomb of Tutankhamen is discovered intact by Howard Carter (1922). This begins a second revival of Egyptomania."
Fashion Era: Life Between the Wars in England
"In the 1920s ragtime developed into jazz and young people flocked to dance halls and jazz clubs. Inventions such as the gramophone and the crystal radio began to be mass marketed and instant music helped to popularize dance worldwide. Dance-mad young people danced at home, at afternoon tea dances and in evening dance palaces and even later at night clubs."
Exploring 20th Century London
"London in the 1920s changed its mood. The lifting of war time restrictions in the early 1920s created new sorts of night-life in the West End. Entrepreneurs opened clubs, restaurants and dance halls to cater for the new crazes: jazz and dancing. The capital began to feel less traditional and more modern."
Internet Archive: Seeing London
Video - an interesting silent film look at 1920s London.
The Great War
Depending on when they've been regressed to in time, your character might not remember there was recently a Great War -- known now in the 21st century as World War I -- that ravaged most of Europe; or if they do know about it, they might not remember that it's been over for a few years. Regardless, all those who recall the war's existence are bound to have a few opinions about it, and its echoes still have a great effect on European society in the '20s.
BBC News: The War to End All Wars
A good general overview/summary. Great starting point for getting a handle on what the war was like.
First World War.com
More WWI info than you can shake a stick at -- we suggest How It All Began and Feature Articles as places to start looking around.
The Twenties in Overclocked
- Of course, technology in the D.Gray-man world is a little different than in the real one -- 'wireless' radio was a new innovation in the real-life twenties, but the Black Order has already had this for years.
- Video feeds are a newfangled high technology that were perfected near the end of the war with the Earl -- every non-Noah character will wake up in possession of a golem equipped with one, though some might understand how to use them better than others. Golems are now easily mass-produced for all Order members, and they include the ability to transmit both real-time voice and video. They can be used to hold a conversation between two people, broadcast to multiple golems over a wide area, or send transmissions back to Headquarters.
- The Ark is still around and works the same as ever, although only time will tell whether anyone remembers how to use it -- it's currently locked up in storage somewhere in one of the Headquarters basements.