What will you do next?

Move-Your-Paws is a command-prompt blog! You can interact with the world much like you would in a typical RPG, but you have much more freedom and can even ask characters questions! Just send an ask telling me what you want to do, and you'll eventually see what happens! You are currently playing as [MC] in [clan] as a [age, role].

[move-your-paws]

Pinned Post!

Hello, my name is Storm, and I'll be your Dungeon Master for this blog! I use He/She/They pronouns, and I'm an adult.

You can expect plenty of shenanigans from this blog, as well as some plot heavy moments! We're telling this story together, so, please don't be shy and have fun participating!

I'll likely add information to this post and make it prettier further along, but right now there aren't many details that are set in stone!

Now, here's some important posts you'll want to keep in mind:

[Main Character]'s Character Sheet

Allegiances and Roles for the Clans

The Territories

Stat and Knack Basics

And I have a Discord server set up! It's simple, but should be helpful in keeping track of the story here should you want it. I'm using it to help organize stuff and offer easier interactions than the Ask Box! You should totally join if you want

[move-your-paws]

[You regain consciousness on the edge of a cliff, grass under your claws but the dirt underneath unstable. The feeling of air moving around your fur makes you think you're falling. You can't feel exact body parts in this darkness, either still not used to your body, or you're not currently in your body at all. How did you get here? Did Scarredface send you here, or did you just end up in this area?]

[In another flash of light, you can see again. Your sight is split in two, you're both looking up at the raining sky and the brightest flash of lightning you've ever seen, and you're looking down at yourself standing on the edge of a cliff.]

[Your vision merges into one again as white-hot pain strikes you with the prismatic electricity from above. It courses through your whole body, paralyzing you completely. Just as quickly as you gained your vision again, the world goes black, but this time you feel your body hit the ground with a heavy thud.]

(To be continued next post)

[move-your-paws]

Finished all turnaround references for the entirety of Lushclan. This is a HUGE step, especially paired with what I've already gotten done.

You can expect this blog to get back on its feet soon! I'm shooting for June 1st, so mark your calendars 👀

For extra notes under the cut plus a couple WIP things and doodles:

In total, we have roughly 550 unique drawings in this project made so far. Over halfway to 1k! Isn't that crazy? This project has so much backend work before anything fun its absurd, but it should keep the workload SUPER easy for me going forward.

Turnarounds count for 3 drawings unless I had to edit for asymmetry

The individual herb and prey items count for one drawing rather than individual drawings per piece of prey / herb. If I counted them individually I'd be around 600 drawings.

I did include some of my silly doodles and memes in the total because they're fun and a good chunk of them are being used as emojis in the MYP discord (which will eventually be open to the public)

Every character has at least one fullbody art, stats, classes, knacks, and brief personality/history written down. Some characters have family trees decided upon. All Lushclan cats have multiple expressions and turnarounds, but only two other cats do outside of Lushclan.

I just need to edit some old expressions to better fit the current style, make more backgrounds, and finish the map! Wish me luck 🙏

[sm0lcatfish]

HELLO I WAS TOLD TO POST THIS HERE

@move-your-paws

[move-your-paws]

LOOK LOOK LOOK

[move-your-paws]

Hi! Idk if you take questions that are out of character, so to speak, but could you tell me roughly how many expressions you give each character? I've been planning to present a story in a very similar way, but I'm soooo stuck with how many 'sprites' to make lol

I'm always happy to answer questions out of character!

For characters who aren't important in the way a main character is, I'm giving at least 10 expressions! Neutral, happy, angry, sad, scared, surprised, and worried expressions are all must-haves, then try to have a couple unique to each character if you can spare the time! A few cats have a Smirk, others dont. Some have an even angrier 'Pissed' expression, others don't.

For main characters, I'd also add Confused, Laughing, and Suspicious to the must-have list, and extreme versions of typical expressions depending on their personality (so Happy -> Joyful, Angry -> Pissed, Scared -> Terrified), so you can really hammer in bigger emotions for more important events.

My main character here, your host in universe, currently has 23 expressions and may get more!

I also suggest making the work easier on yourself: I make a couple body bases and head bases, then edit those to fit different emotions. Rarely will there be an emotion that doesn't have assets reused for other expressions on the same character. A forward-facing head and body, one thats angled, one thats hunched, all sorts of different pieces you can throw together will help you so much

[move-your-paws]

[He pauses, the words falling quiet and too faint to make out. It seems he's noticed something, because he's looking around and letting his wavering grin fall flat.]

[There is a long pause, you're waiting for him to continue, but he doesn't. His eyes are on the sky.]

[Scarredface looks back at you and shakes his head urgently, his eyes wide. Very quietly, almost silently, he whispers for you to be quiet. Is there someone else here, is something happening? Shushed, you strain your ears to figure out what it is that has him so tense.]

MC rolls to LISTEN, they roll an unnatural 21.

[There are pawsteps, just noticeable enough over the growing wind for you to pick up on it. They're light and quick, and you're not in a state to react fast to an attack. Together, you and Scarredface watch each other's backs and stay on guard.]

[You are no longer in Starclan's realm.]

✧ END PROLOGUE ✧

[move-your-paws]

New Icon!!

[move-your-paws]

No, nobody gets the context to these right now

Featuring art from my beloved friend @sm0lcatfish

[move-your-paws]

Heyyy these three guys from this blog will be on Artfight this year!! Do you even know Riftspring yet??? No, but she's my blorbo, so she's going to be featured anyway

(Work is still being done I swear, it's an on and off thing since it's such a big project. Take some more peeks under the cut if you want!)

[move-your-paws]

Sorry for no name post yet, take a meme instead

[move-your-paws]

(You listen to Scarredface's command, standing away from him as he watches on the sidelines. A deep breath rattles your core, the anxiety making this change less and less desirable the longer it takes.)

(That's when you begin to feel something shift, your extremities tingling and your mind open to the other ideas of these spirits Scarredface brought along with you. Turning to watch the change, you find yourself walking in circles around yourself.)

(Your fur lengthens, your colors darken, ears growing in size. Just about everything that could change did. No longer are you a blank slate; you are now an individual together, you and the many souls.)

(Scarredface approaches you and congratulates you on your new appearance, his expression happy even if he seems taken off guard. Maybe he was expecting different choices? Whatever the case, he offers you his support and encourages you to pick a name out.)

(You're tired of all of these long-winded discussions on these kinds of questions, so you just prompt your souls to give one SINGLE suggestion they each have for your name. Scarredface is excited that you're taking the lead, nodding along as he sits to write down each suggested name in the bark of a nearby tree to make things easier.)

[Please submit ONE name idea into the ask box, it will be chosen at random, so choose WISELY]

[move-your-paws]

[Name will be randomized on January 1st! Submit your names before then!]

[move-your-paws]

[The individual souls are slowly disappearing around you, the crowd becoming less and less dense. Now you know why, as the compulsions of their wants and needs are strong enough. You can't register what they want quickly enough to stop them yet. The question spills out of your mouth before you can react, and while it is an innocent question, the action still disturbs you.]

[move-your-paws]

Look at my guys, my funky little creatures, drawn by the lovely @cheerclaw ! Go commission them 🔫

[move-your-paws]

(You listen to Scarredface's command, standing away from him as he watches on the sidelines. A deep breath rattles your core, the anxiety making this change less and less desirable the longer it takes.)

(That's when you begin to feel something shift, your extremities tingling and your mind open to the other ideas of these spirits Scarredface brought along with you. Turning to watch the change, you find yourself walking in circles around yourself.)

(Your fur lengthens, your colors darken, ears growing in size. Just about everything that could change did. No longer are you a blank slate; you are now an individual together, you and the many souls.)

(Scarredface approaches you and congratulates you on your new appearance, his expression happy even if he seems taken off guard. Maybe he was expecting different choices? Whatever the case, he offers you his support and encourages you to pick a name out.)

(You're tired of all of these long-winded discussions on these kinds of questions, so you just prompt your souls to give one SINGLE suggestion they each have for your name. Scarredface is excited that you're taking the lead, nodding along as he sits to write down each suggested name in the bark of a nearby tree to make things easier.)

[Please submit ONE name idea into the ask box, it will be chosen at random, so choose WISELY]

[move-your-paws]

(It's been... an indeterminate amount of time, but long enough to notice. Scarredface had fallen asleep what felt like ages ago as everyone got focused on picking an appearance. You'd been trying to give your own input, but much of it was drowned out by other voices. It was only when it became mostly quiet, or questions directed to the sleeping spirit, did you wake him up to continue with the process.)

(It does not appeal to you, knowing you'll be feeling pain when shifting to an appearance you didn't get to personally pick yourself.)

[move-your-paws]

[You receive a command to eat a bush from an excited spirit.]

[Unhappily, you find yourself trotting towards the line of bushes that have given you and everyone else some semblance of privacy in this afterlife.]

[Looming over the plants, you struggle with the decision you didn't even make yourself. It's clear you resist, but it's not a hill you're willing to die on either. You don't say it aloud, but there is a part of you that IS curious too.]

[??? rolls a 12 to resist! They fail the roll, the DC was a 14.]

[Munch munch munch munch.]

[move-your-paws]

(As the conversation begins to die down, decisions mostly having been made, more questions begin to pop up again. Unfortunately, Scarredface must've gotten bored, and is sleeping above you all in a tree. You're annoyed by this, but don't want to wake him until everything is ready. No point in bothering him until he has to do his job.)