I swear I'm not dead, my blog was just in hibernation for... Reasons. But! I return with news!
Free Runner is on hiatus due to simply not having the time to work on it currently but StarHearts has expanded... Exponentially. I've been pouring all my spare time into the project and come away with a massive bundle of stuff I want to dole out when I sort it out.
StarHearts is going to be a book series, currently sitting at 5 possible novels to make sure everything gets touched on correctly, and I have a prequel comic scripted as well as plans for companion illustrations or a comic to the novels. To that end, I'm going to post non-spoiler content as much as possible.
Accompanying this, I have writing samples and special bonuses on my Kofi! (It also helps me to save up for moving out because holy shit I need to get out of here.) My AO3 has some of the early draft chapters and a special free peek at select Kofi drabbles if you want a taste of what's planned~
Anyway.
Look forward to updates and later, the opening of the Ask Box for the squad! Thanks, all!
AHA, I DID TWO OF THEM BECAUSE I'M AN OVERACHIEVER
Hard to believe it's been a year already since I started this project. Starting as a DCA-AU inspired off of All My Favorite Things because I stumbled across 8um8le's Stellar City blog, turning it into an AO3 fic under that idea and then watching it evolve into something I didn't even expect it to become once I loosened the shackles a bit. Azil has basically consumed my life (not sorry) in a way I haven't felt in ages.
And there's so much more to share! I'm hoping as I work on cleaning up the boys' designs and figuring out my own stylistic choices for how robots look, etc, I can shake them free from their DCA origins more, though I know at it's core it will still be there. Like that shoe in Wall-E that the tree is growing out of in the credits.
I can only hope that this project will continue to grow and solidify into its own thing as time wears on, and I want to meet each step with enthusiasm and brainrot. I want to be abnormal about this, I want to give off radiation damage with how much I give off "weird little freak" energy about this project.
That being said, I will keep pulling away from DCA tags and while I love the content and the fandom is cool, I don't want to keep mixing signals so please, do not tag DCA in my posts! (Thanks!)
Goals for 2025 will be continuing to work on the rewrite script and outlines for Free Runner, showcasing the different market grades by making adopts/customs (like Vistor), showing off some of the other characters I haven't gotten to yet (I haven't even mentioned Toast since like, last February), and pushing out more world building! Hopefully I'll have a map this year! (AHHH)
Special love and shoutouts to the new year!
@quilandscroll for being the coolest bitch, my best friend and only reason my sanity is still in tact (the real MVP) who still tries to boost me up with one arm even when the other is busy fighting her own demons. I love you to pieces
@scarredkitty who's been following my content through the year and is also a lover of fine machinery ;) the likes and comments really kept me going when I needed it most
@imagine-creative @dragongirl658 and @8um8le fellow DCA-turned-original-works who serve as inspiration and reminders that we are more than how we started and break away from being "just an AU" to something far more. I genuinely appreciate you
Return of the Y/N bag carry from Bluesky, featuring a variety of Y/Ns and some very subtle lore references I don’t expect anyone to notice (if you figure it out, you’re magic)
Ty saves Classic Y/N from a fall
Nova offers Thicc Hips Y/N encouragement
Event is dufflebagging chubby fem!Y/N
And Echo definite didn’t ask before turning chubby masc!Y/N into a sack of potatoes
Thanks to everyone for the awesome year of robots and mayhem! ❤️❤️❤️
Been sitting on some sketches that got me through a rough mental dip. Practicing my sequential art and stuff is nice but god did I need the fluff that came with it. Holiday season can suck my butt.
Funny the only one who didn't get a solo run was Ty, I should make up to him for it
Echo is such a food junkie he's not allowed to pick the apples himself because he starts eating them, but after being a good boy with the basket he's given a treat. A little love munch makes sure it's ripe, gives him an easier place to bite down and sharing food is a sign of affection 🥰
Everyone got used to Jenn's night terrors pretty quick. She's had them for ages and skipped sleep a lot because of them, but Nova has been keeping her on track regardless because it's not healthy to run on empty like she does. While they can't do anything about the dreams, sometimes a little smooch settles the nerves for you 💕
In the cases where that doesn't work and her brain is just being absolutely horrid, even when awake... Well, there still isn't much to do at all. Event is hands on with his problem solving, so he has complicated feelings about his human seeking him out for comfort and safety but being physically unable to do anything about it. Drives him crazy, but he's not a quitter 🥺
Last batch is sketches taken from a pose sheet by AonikaArt on DA
So incredibly happy with how the lighting and everything turned out here.
I wasn’t going to draw the boys again until after their updates but I couldn’t get this idea out of my head.
I wanted to try adding solid blacks to my lineart to reinforce shading but the boys usually have colored lines so it was quite an experiment and in the process I think I found the style I want to use for the comic that makes the whimsical look I want. In this case though, I made y self take my time on the rendering and I couldn’t be happier with how the red light turned out.
As for the meaning, well… I’ll let you decide :3
Process shots below cut
[left] This effect was accidental and so beautiful I have to do it on purpose now
[right] Once i started adjusting it, i fell in love with the shading and lineart combination. Not sure yet if I’ll do soft shading or cell shading but I adore how it looks with the lineart
Special look at the lineart itself to appreciate all that good texture
“Love means being unafraid to not be your best at all times.”
Trying my hand at some more domestic scenes cuz I want to and to show the level of comfort the group has. A trope I’ve grown tired of is ‘perfect inhuman thing doesn’t mind gross human body quirks’ because it just makes me more aware of how organic bodies just are. They may be different from squishy flesh creatures, but even the incredible artistry of synthetics have their own version of quirks and issues not dissimilar to human ones. (Thematically there’s reason for this, ahah.) Everyone being comfortable enough to drop any pretense of perfection and flawlessness feels nice.
Especially when you know about their personal backgrounds.
Oh, and no, that long sink isn’t Jenn’s. The Guild supplies long and short stay accommodations for their members who are on long jobs, or as special member rates essentially, and some have the means to host large groups. Big long sink is one of those means.
Also I’m annoyed the pr0n bot got me so if you want to see the EchoxJenn pic you gotta go to my DeviantArt.
There was no more fitting scene to set than a wet street lit up by lamps and traffic lights that slowly shifted between red, yellow and green, a pulse of life between gray facades and darkened windows. The rain itself was a cold drizzle, the kind that seeped into the bones and lingered long after drying off, smearing makeup and flattening hair into an unrecognizable mess. Not that she cared how bad she looked at the moment.
Jenyl waited, eyes lingering on the reflections of the street lights as her heart drowned out the misting roar of distant traffic and raindrops. I’m doing this, she told herself, waiting for her feet to take a step off the curb on their own. I’m doing this.
A faint echo of frantic instructions hummed in her mind, the voice not her own and far less calm. “Go there. Talk to the bartender, but be subtle. Everyone that knows, knows, and there are eyes everywhere.”
Despite the damp weather, she found her throat to be very dry when swallowing, taking her pride with it. Lifting her gaze, the human followed the lamp lights as they wiggled in the puddles to the large spotlight of color across from her. Up, up, up she slowly panned her gaze, water rolling down her temples into her eyes-–the mascara burned a bit, mixing her tears with the rain until they couldn’t be told apart. What is this, a movie? she wondered but with no sense of humor to ease how pathetic she felt, standing in the rain alone, waiting for something to happen so she wouldn’t have to act on her own accord.
Blazing bright as lightning with navy lettering, she read the sign of the only building open and operating at this insane hour of night.
The Calm Before Lounge.
The irony was not lost on her as her breath shook–-from cold or nerves, she couldn’t tell-–but her time to wait had run out. Standing under the awning between her and possible safety was a large man, bald, also human though only just. Even from across the street, she’d managed to catch a glint on his left arm that told her it was mechanical, the color of charcoal and ice; it made her gaze at her right hand for a moment, the seams and joints criss crossed with beautiful inlays and filigree marks, color matched to her own skin so it would blend in at a distance–-subtle, but no less artificial. Might be a good talking point if he won’t let me in, she mused, knowing it was very nearly the last hour and many places stopped admitting newcomers then. He’d already spotted her some minutes ago, so any more delay would only increase her suspiciousness–and her odds of being stopped.
It had to be now.
I have to do this.
Taking a long, deep breath, Jenyl squared her shoulders, slicked her hair back from her face, checked the road, and stepped forward. The drop from the curb was barely anything but her gut churned nonetheless, threatening to empty itself despite there being nothing inside to evacuate. There was no way she’d have been able to eat, had she thought to. Not with the anxiety burning her veins.
The bouncer’s gaze, hidden by black lenses she assumed had a screen behind them, followed her with a slow turn of his head. Now safely under the awning herself, Jenyl paused to wring out her hair, tousseling it into some semblance of style as she settled into her decision. Once she flipped her ‘do into place, making effort to dig out her only compact from the clutch gripped in her left hand to clean up the awful coon eye the rain had given her, the bouncer spoke, which she hadn’t expected.
“‘Bout time you came over,” he said with a deep but shockingly gentle tone. “Started to think you were a ghost.”
Letting herself laugh, Jenyl gave her best disappointed smile–-smiles make the lies go down easy. “It starts to feel like it. My friends said they’d meet me here for a last crawl but now I’m thinking they went to bed without me.”
“Lousy friends then,” the tall man uttered, giving his new arrival a proper once-over-–both for door keeping reasons and his own curiosity.
A human woman, just shy of six feet, soaking wet and barely hiding her shivering. Hair flocked on the sides but grown long down the middle, past her shoulders, of a dark blond or light brown color too sodden by rain to get a clear idea of the texture for. Her makeup was ruined by waiting, but she didn’t seem to have much to begin with-–not that she needed it with the intense cyan irises she had. Any extra anything would be overwhelming if it had to compete with those beauties-–though he found her lip stain to be just enough, a touch of deep pinkish red that had his eyes jumping between her eyes and mouth when she spoke or blinked.
Under other circumstances, he’d be keen to let her in for free just for being nice to look at even if it was close to closing, but he hesitated. Something felt off. Five years in the business gave him insight, whether he knew it or not, and when he didn’t feel right he listened.
So the bouncer took another moment to assess this late comer. Just enough that her smile wavered–-she knew he was checking for something and she shifted her weight from one leg to the other to shake the unease. “Is there something wrong?” her voice wondered softly, still trying to be playful. “Am I too late to go in?”
It was there in the way her clothes shifted on her body, where they sagged and crinkled when they should cling and stretch as if the outfit was just a bit too large for her. In the way he realized the shadow of her cheekbones was not a clever use of bronzer but a genuine gauntness, as if she ate only saltines and tonic water for a long period. In the way he understood why she was there an hour before closing, waiting in the rain.
He’d seen it all before.
“Nothing of the sort, miss,” the man finally said, Jenyl’s shoulders relaxing as he stepped aside and lifted the rope in front of the door. “Go ahead in, no cover.” He nodded to the entrance, Jenyl’s hands pausing as she made to pull out the cash for the fee, her heart thrumming where it sank into her gut. “Go talk to the bartender, get yourself a hot toddy and warm up. On me.”
It was casual, done from behind a playful tilt of his sunglasses, but the wink he offered spoke volumes as the soggy girl entered the dim lounge and felt swallowed by its red, gold and navy interior. He knew she lied. She knew he knew.
She’d have to thank him if she ever found a way back safely.
