MOTORHEART

“I’d rather take freedom than smoking arenas.” - Fog of War, Young Dreams.

[motorhearted]

MOTORHEART -- a tale for the average automobile.

Set in a world where machines are built with a form of sentience & sapience, Motorheart is a tale about trauma, community, and revenge. After killing the lover of a car named Joan in an illegal demolition derby, the misunderstood Brad goes off into the world, alone, for the first time in his life. During his journey he is attacked by his own conscience and is forced to reflect on the gruesome actions he was forced into in the past while the vengeful Joan is hot on his trail.

WEBSITE (lore & characters): TBA.

ASK BOX: open!

[motorhearted]

Oh man, I haven’t posted on this blog since August. I apologize for that. Don’t have much to say other than I took a break for a few months but I am hoping to get back on track and have been writing bit by bit this week. I’m probably going to attempt some sort of schedule for myself because I really don’t know how I will get any of this done if I’m not consistent, lol.

Chapter preview soon, maybe?

[motorhearted]

Actually, I was rambling about my thoughts recently on my instagram story (bookgilled, if you’d like to follow) so I’ll post that here in screenshots under the cut. Again, sorry for the slow progress. Things have been a bit crazy.

[motorhearted]

Been super busy with other projects and preparing to go back to college but I am thinking about those talking cars, trust me. I finished a new draft of the first chapter and a new outline so things *are* being chipped away at, slowly and surely.

[annapolisrose]

Saskatchewan prairie views.

[marvelous-mechanical-mayhem]

L

[ From this ask game. ]

I’m choosing Lily!

Lily is the character that haunts the narrative of Runaway Champion (@motorhearted). Her death is portrayed in the very first chapter and influences everything else that happens in the story afterwards. My plan is to show off her character and her interactions with Joan (one of the main characters/POVs) through short flashback chapters called interludes. I wasn’t going to originally because I just didn’t care about her for the longest time, for some reason? But in my most recent drafts I’ve really fallen in love with her and I’d love to show her off. Besides, I just think showing the audience how Joan interacted with her girlfriend before things turned for the worst is important to the narrative.

But anyway.

Lily is a van with many stories to tell. She claims to have traveled most of North America with a man named Flash at her steering wheel, spending all of her functioning years with him exploring the open roads. The concept of adventure is drilled deep into her very Motorheart, so much so that she continues on by herself after Flash tragically passes. It is through these solo journeys that she meets Joan.

She is a bold character, unapologetically brash and tough as nails. She knows when to be gentle, but there are times that her emotions get the best of her, which is something she’s a bit insecure about. She can come off as arrogant, taking pride in her knowledge of the world from her travels, believing her experiences have left her a bit more well-rounded than the average car. She’s crude, excitable, and impulsive. She loves being loved, and even if she cares about those she attracts deeply, she isn’t always the most forward reciprocate. She’s kind of clumsy on an emotional level.

Lily takes fault for Flash’s death because they had been so close. She sees Joan as a fresh start when they meet, eager to pass down what Flash had taught her to someone who does not share any of her experiences at all. She does genuinely love Joan, but there’s also a part of her that wants her around to boost her own ego. She gives the world to Joan and expects total admiration in return, which is easy considering the situation Joan comes out of. A nagging part of her knows that their relationship isn’t a steady one, but Lily convinces herself it’s a bridge that they’ll cross when they get to it… right?

[rzmryn-deactivated20240214]

[kafk-a]

Joan Didion, South and West

[motorhearted]

Plotting and scheming…

[motorhearted]

Quick Update (02/07/25)

Hi! Long time no see. Things have been a bit hectic for me and I’ve been circulating through a lot of different creative writing projects. To be honest I’ve been having trouble sticking to one thing for more than a month or two at a time, and that’s been extremely frustrating. I really want to be able to work on Motorheart, especially this storyline, long enough to make progress… it’s not a world I plan to abandon by any means. I’ve been developing this story for years now. My interest may ebb and flow, but I still love it dearly and would like to get Brad’s story completed at some point soon.

Long story short, Motorheart is still absolutely a thing, I’ve just been preoccupied with other tasks/concepts and life is making it hard to focus. And with that being said, here’s some things I want to get done/am changing:

1. I will be removing the written preview chapters from this blog. I appreciate everyone who read them so so much. The reason they’re being archived is because I’m toying with ideas for a different format. Motorheart has had several drafts over the years and I’m still developing the latest, so even if I were to stick with full prose I feel as if I wouldn’t be comfortable presenting it in its current state.

Besides… I just don’t like my writing and I’d like to put more care into editing for future drafts. If you’re interested in being an editor (or test reader) feel free to reach out! (Unfortunately I can’t offer a lot in return other than my thanks, I do not have the money to directly hire people.)

What the new format will actually look like is very much in the air. I’m leaning towards a First Person POV (both Brad and Joan) with some illustrations and plot/thematically-relevant tidbits here and there. More than anything I want to have fun writing it. I want to get it completed in a way that’s actually manageable. So when I have a clearer idea I will update everyone.

2. Since Motorheart is moreso the world’s name now rather than the singular story it started out as, I’ve decided to give a title to Brad’s plotline: Runaway Champion. This has the potential to change in the future but I’m just happy to have something there during development.

I have also considered making more separate stories within the universe simply because it’s fun and I don’t want the two current works to be the end-all. More on that will come along eventually; as I’m writing this, I have character concepts but no plots.

3. Im going to try releasing new material only when I have a solid, updated (and edited) draft thats at least 80% done. I will still answer asks, share art, maybe share previews. I’d really like to make character profiles as well. But the actual story of Runaway Champion may not be here for a while.

I wish I could give an estimate on a release date, I really do, and it’s just not possible for me right now. I’m hoping to recenter my creative focus and get some decent work done for Motorheart this year. All in all, we’ll wait and see and I will update where I can.

Thank you for your interest in this project, it means a lot to me. And thank you for reading this post!

[manhattanspeaks]

UPDATE… 2!

Changed my mind again— Manhattan Speaks does take place in the Motorheart universe now, but I think I will keep the blogs separate! Info will be shared back and forth 👍

[toskarin]

I mean you've threatened to kill me a bunch of times. You once told me you were gonna drown me in a river like a kangaroo.

[warm laugh of fond reminiscence] I did do that

[manhattanspeaks]

UPDATE!

As of right now, I have no plans to continue this ask blog, and for that I apologize.

However.

Some concepts from this blog are going to be merged with the lore of my other story Motorheart! ( @motorhearted )

I am very excited for this development— the main story of Motorheart is not changing, but there is now an NYC spin-off/sequel within the same universe being planned! Ask about it on the blog mentioned above. Stay tuned and thank you for the love that this ask blog got when running, it’s appreciated beyond belief <3

[motorhearted]

can you tell us about both vehicle/vehicle relationships and human/vehicle relationships in this world? (if they exist)

Sorry I didn’t see this until now!! Such an awesome ask.

Vehicle/vehicle relationships are normal and expected. Most vehicles interact more with humans on the daily but they will most likely find a stronger connection with other motorhearted beings. There’s definitely a connection to be made with others built like you and to everyone it just “makes more sense”. Humans don’t necessarily frown upon friendship with vehicles (ignoring them is seen as rude) but depending on one’s exposure to Advanced Vehicle Automatons they might think you’re a bit weird.

A lot of people who don’t like AVAs are forced to acknowledge their sentience, as they do have rights, but not everyone is entirely convinced into seeing them as more than machines if that makes sense. It’s kind of like how characters like Data and HAL are treated. They don’t see AVA emotions or thoughts as genuine.

And there’s also a sizable group of humans who communicate with AVAs out of fear that they will take over, which is not helped by active propaganda from certain political groups across the world. It’s not an entirely paranoid train of thought (although terribly exaggerated from any meaningful concerns), as machines are powerful and there have been uprisings before, though majority just want to be treated with mutual respect and not be abused for… being a talking car.

Humans and AVAs, on average, are co-workers. They share mutual benefits by respecting one another and many advancements (good and bad) wouldn’t be made without their collaboration. Humans are expected to have their own lives outside of AVAs, AVAs are expected to have their own lives outside of humans. (Key word here: expected.)

Vehicle/vehicle relationships can be anything; platonic, familial, romantic, sexual, etc. and it’s not really seen as shocking if you are fine with AVAs. Human/vehicle in the familial sense is pretty normal too— a lot of people who get AVAs consider them a part of the family, which is something that will be brought up in future chapters. But human/vehicle romance of any kind is… unfortunately taboo. It isn’t wrong by any means but like real life objectumness a lot of humans are disgusted or confused by it. Some don’t even consider it to be possible. I could definitely see unjust laws being made against it.

However, Hurdy’s attempts to give rights to vehicles definitely didn’t go unsung. His ideals have a big human following! He was very approving of relationships between vehicle and human, and he often argued that pushing it into the norm would lead to more people being generally accepting too. I imagine there are organizations to protect and secure these relationships with his words in mind.

Hurdy dreamt of towns that would be formed by AVA and human alike, encouraging a peaceful connection between them— both could do their own things with their own kind, but interaction would be inevitable. They would be relying on each other to make the community function. An example of this will also be in the story. :-)

[motorhearted]

ID: a set of tags that read: “#motorheart #hurdy and his sacred band of thebes”. end id.

I’m in love with this interpretation.

[motorhearted]

Ask me some Motorheart related questions :-) I wanna talk about it

[motorhearted]

can you tell us about both vehicle/vehicle relationships and human/vehicle relationships in this world? (if they exist)

Sorry I didn’t see this until now!! Such an awesome ask.

Vehicle/vehicle relationships are normal and expected. Most vehicles interact more with humans on the daily but they will most likely find a stronger connection with other motorhearted beings. There’s definitely a connection to be made with others built like you and to everyone it just “makes more sense”. Humans don’t necessarily frown upon friendship with vehicles (ignoring them is seen as rude) but depending on one’s exposure to Advanced Vehicle Automatons they might think you’re a bit weird.

A lot of people who don’t like AVAs are forced to acknowledge their sentience, as they do have rights, but not everyone is entirely convinced into seeing them as more than machines if that makes sense. It’s kind of like how characters like Data and HAL are treated. They don’t see AVA emotions or thoughts as genuine.

And there’s also a sizable group of humans who communicate with AVAs out of fear that they will take over, which is not helped by active propaganda from certain political groups across the world. It’s not an entirely paranoid train of thought (although terribly exaggerated from any meaningful concerns), as machines are powerful and there have been uprisings before, though majority just want to be treated with mutual respect and not be abused for… being a talking car.

Humans and AVAs, on average, are co-workers. They share mutual benefits by respecting one another and many advancements (good and bad) wouldn’t be made without their collaboration. Humans are expected to have their own lives outside of AVAs, AVAs are expected to have their own lives outside of humans. (Key word here: expected.)

Vehicle/vehicle relationships can be anything; platonic, familial, romantic, sexual, etc. and it’s not really seen as shocking if you are fine with AVAs. Human/vehicle in the familial sense is pretty normal too— a lot of people who get AVAs consider them a part of the family, which is something that will be brought up in future chapters. But human/vehicle romance of any kind is… unfortunately taboo. It isn’t wrong by any means but like real life objectumness a lot of humans are disgusted or confused by it. Some don’t even consider it to be possible. I could definitely see unjust laws being made against it.

However, Hurdy’s attempts to give rights to vehicles definitely didn’t go unsung. His ideals have a big human following! He was very approving of relationships between vehicle and human, and he often argued that pushing it into the norm would lead to more people being generally accepting too. I imagine there are organizations to protect and secure these relationships with his words in mind.

Hurdy dreamt of towns that would be formed by AVA and human alike, encouraging a peaceful connection between them— both could do their own things with their own kind, but interaction would be inevitable. They would be relying on each other to make the community function. An example of this will also be in the story. :-)

[motorhearted]

Ask me some Motorheart related questions :-) I wanna talk about it

[urgetocreate]

Michael Allen, Portal, 2020, Oil on linen