some concepts for RiverClan nests! There's two main components, the outer "shell" and the bedding. The shell is made of reeds woven together and dried out, so they're stiff, almost like a basket. They're designed to be somewhat water resistant, so if they got swept away in a flood they would float and keep the nest together. This is what Petalpaw weaves! The shell is meant to last a long time, while the bedding of moss and other soft materials is replaced regularly.
Some cats have nests with higher walls for privacy, while other cats (such as queens in the nursery) have flatter, almost mat-like nests that easy for kits to get in and out of.
And of course, RiverClan cats love to decorate their nests to add even more personal flair. I wanted lots of variety in shape to show how the RiverClan cats see nest-weaving as an art form as opposed to Thunderclan, who would not have nearly as diverse or pretty-looking nests.
Didn’t felt like going hard on drawing, mostly just a simple look into what my mind goes through when I think about injector sparks for my au.
I’ve talked about them before for how they are even made and the social aspect when it came to their production, but this is to show what it’s like actually growing, since unlike the other ways of being born, this is only one where they have to grow over time
They start off with the CNA injected spark that is pulled from an energon river into a metal shell. In which it stays in it and forms the shell around it to help develop its protoform. Provided the energon from its creators the shell grows in size and develops the main color that the bot would have. Once it’s fully turned into the color and grown into the right size, it will hatch. Little nubs coming out and a full round head poking up seeing the world, though not very well since they haven’t developed pupils yet. They don’t come with a mouth so they continue just latching onto their creators for energon.
Once they reach toddler age they are officially a sparkling in development. They are still very simple but now have developed a mouth to consume energon on their own, same with pupils to properly see in their environment. Their main plating is very thick to protect themselves, but over time it will molt off and harden with what will be its main armor plates.
When they’re about 5-10 years old in Cybertronian (this is subject to change judging by the environment and conditions, so present day RBA injector sparks are able to grow at the same rate as human kids physically and mentally). They are still unable to transform but they do develop all the main structures that will grow with time. They are the most malleable and easy to damage in this time emotionally. They are at their most observant of their environment during this time, any damage done here stays. This continues on once they become teenagers.
By 11 they are able to transform into their preset vehicle form that was ingrained into their t cog at birth. Now able to move in an alternate mode, they require someone to teach them how to use it to the best of their ability. Still it is possible for them to learn completely on their own, though it takes more time and has them fall behind peers their own age despite how few years ago there were in development. Just as their previous stage, they are very different compared to other born sparks. Due to them being born effectively already in a mature body and mind, it’s difficult to make others understand the feeling of being a true child with no way of articulating it to others. This causes many to grow distant and aggressive towards others due to well borns and cold constructs unable to understand the feeling of truly being young and having no control over your environment or situation. Especially for those who manage to have a familial life instead of a factory made and lived life, due to how small that pool was. They are still growing at this stage since they haven’t reached their full heights or strength yet. They effectively are on equal grounds with the average bot but continue growing.
By ~18 they’ve reached their physical maturity being at the physical stage that well borns are. But further experience and mentally wise to having learned and grown over periods of time. They stay this way physically for the large portion of their life, only developing wrinkles and signs of old age further down the line
ah yes, more Midnight Lily, a silverbell cameo and two Moonflower doodles.
AU by @cuppajj
For Moonflowers story, we have her main conflict with her father, Saint Vanilla Cookie. But what about Midnight Lily Cookie, her mother?
To give a little context for whats coming up, Moonflowers story theming around the Saint where Moonflower symbolizes the Moon, which includes the Solar Eclipse to contrast the Saints light themed imagery. Plus Moonflowers additional and more religious theming being based on the Spirit of Apostasy.
It is abundantly clear that Midnight Lily is an enabler of the other Neo Beasts, while to some extent understandable as she is the weakest of the Neo Beasts (she has long crossed the line of it being acceptable).
To compliment well with the general religious theming, I did additional research into the role of a mother in the lens of the Bible.
'the mother is one who "binds" the family together, holding them together individually and collectively through her love and actions'
Despite how broken the family is, the only remaining connection that Moonflower has with the Saint IS Midnight Lily. And in return, she does care for her daughter and the Saint at some level. Yet, she does nothing to genuinely mend what has been broken (no one is, Moonflower is afraid of her father and the Saint is so delusional that he believes that this is the best course of action to save everyone).
This fits her pattern of enabling and being generally passive to the world around her, for the most part.
Another aspect that I have neglected to mention is her slow-burn of a plan, she seeks by the end to have the others at least playing by her rules, but also not liking when her children do things she does not like. This is now territory where I do a lot of guess work and personal thoughts n' research so this is very much subject to change if anymore gets revealed.
How I have understood the few tidbits we get about the Beast of Sovereignty, she is an enabler and insecure about being the weakest. And I think her insecurity in some way, even if unintentional may reflect on her relationships where she is the one in power.
In general, she is fine with her kids, generally passive until they get too unruly. At that point, she will remind them with harsh words who the mother is.
I'd like to note quickly, she will NEVER get physical. She only uses WORDS.
It is also important to note that she does wish for her child to understand where she is coming from.
She is an enabler because she holds little power over the beasts, but in dynamics where she is the one in power, this side vanishes for the most part. Despite valuing sovereignty I believe she still wants to retain some level of control so Cookies don't do things she does not like. This is generally in line with how leadership generally operate, they don't care when you're doing smth positive, but when it turns negative, that's when it starts turning sour.
As for the actual arc of Midnight Lily and Moonflower, I have a general framing but it is difficult to make something as substantial as the one she has with Saint Vanilla. Gotta wait until I get more lore and story for the gal.
But in short, it is a conflict of the two trying to make each other understand their respective sides. With Moonflower trying to save her mother, her only remaining parental figure from being a beast- while Midnight Lily seeks to make Moonflower truly understand her side and hopefully have Moonflower join her permanently.
Heres other tidbits for Moonflower and her relationship with the Creme Republic.
For her ventures to the Silver Kingdom are actually secret. She is a very powerful and talented magic user (similar to her parents), so her travelling long distances quickly is very possible.
Moonflower is already an outcast in the Republic, it is well known who her parents are. And Cookies keep their distance, there are very few Cookies who come and check in her. Its mostly some scientists who are researching the neo beasts (espresso, maybe, depends on his condition in this au), Clotted Cream Cookie, GingerBrave, Financer (sort of, she tags along the Consul) and depending on the direction of the story, Madelaine Cookie(I will start really brewing something here once more stuff comes out~). She stays isolated in her lab in the undercity, she never comes out, and when she does, she hides her face and just retrieves things like food or research material. It is normal for her to not talk with anyone for well over a week with nothing but a single lost Raisin Crow to keep her company.
I'd like to note that this raisin crow is now an albino, and Black Raisin tasked Moonflower to take care of it since it was bullied and ousted by the other raisin crows (I took inspo from the myth, but it is generally agreed that white color corvids are subordinate to the colored ones).
But she is also an outcast in the silver kingdom, despite being Midnight Lilys kid (its a well known fact), she has gotten into disagreements with their monarch and isn't the upmost loyal member- she has a strong stigma around her. Silverbell Cookie does take pity on Moonflower.
That's all for now. I'm gonna lay down, I've done so much research...I silently weep at the thought of fully showing the complexity of the three in full force.
Found a relationship chart for D.ate E.verything and wanted to write out some character/background stuff so making a post for all that :] art used above and as my insert’s icon is by Zom-Bee. Post is ok to rb even tho it’s mainly me rambling lmao
DE S/I’s full name is Maxis Eight (gets referred to as Eight a lot, those it’s closer with call it Maxis/Max). It’s the personification of a magic 8 ball, but also kind of not? At one point, it probably was a normal magic 8 ball, but anything “normal” about it has been absent for years. It’s a cursed object. Rather than being possessed by some singular thing, it’s mainly just an amalgamation of negative energy/malevolent forces, which took on the form of Maxis.
It’s been owned by previous people, and all of the accounts of it and its alleged curse remain the same. Despite seeming unexpecting, those who hover around it for too long experience an unexplained sensation of dread. Unlike other normal magic 8 balls, it’s able to predict the future scarily accurately. It’s also able to correctly answer questions about what its surroundings look like. As long as you ask “yes or no” questions, Maxis is seemingly able to be spoken to and reply. However, Maxis’s curse is meant to bring bad luck. After a while, it seems to be able to predict terrible outcomes in between its overuse of non-committal answers. But if it ends up not being used for a long time, Maxis starts to become extremely agitated, bringing an unbearable amount of bad luck. The negative energy that it’s made up of starts to act up, impacting its surroundings. Electronics glitching (lights flickering, TV turning on by themselves), people in the house are more likely to have unsettling dreams and night terrors, cupboards or doors opening and closing on their own, starting random small fires, paper clips and pebbles falling from the ceiling, sometimes the power going out completely, pipes start uncontrollably leaking, and potentially more. Maxis has been linked to seven known deaths (and it fully plans on adding on an eighth one) in the past decade. The urban legend of a cursed magic 8 ball is mildly known, but it always manages to slip away and blend in with any ordinary ball.
Somehow, Maxis manages to be owned by the homeowner. I think I’m gonna stick to it being bought at a yard sale, its previous holder being way too eager to get rid of it. The only bad thing is that the homeowner’s luck is already so shitty to the point where Maxis’s curse doesn’t really do anything and kinda gets canceled out. But regardless, when it eventually stops being used and forgotten about in some drawer on the desk, Maxis still lashes out all the same and has its outbursts, impacting the objects around it. While it’s already been forced to keep to itself with where it’s located, its curse of causing bad luck, violence, and destruction has made it very disliked by many other objects.
Despite everything though, Maxis is actually unaware of the fact that it’s cursed. On the surface level, it doesn’t know what it’s been causing because to it, it’s just a special magic 8 ball that’s doing what it’s meant to do. It doesn’t really understand why everyone seems to hate it and why people always try to get rid of it and stop using it. After all, it’s doing everything it’s supposed to do and more. It answers the question with a straightforward prediction. It gets everything right and the things actually happen. It doesn’t understand why people are mad when its predictions come true. Because wasn’t that what you wanted? Its destructive tendencies toward its surroundings is linked to its negative emotions, but it’s not like that’s what it really wants. It seems mildly mortified to witness some of the things it’s caused all because it wanted attention or its needs aren’t properly being met in its condition.
But as a person (as a puppet?), it’s a weird guy who’s easily excited over random nonsense and a little air-headed. It’s unpredictable, but it’s also well-meaning for the most part. It’s extremely persistent on being useful and not like other magic 8 balls, and it would do anything to prove to its current owner. To Maxis, knowing the future is both good and bad. It’s nice to know what will happen so you won’t get too upset and hurt when it actually occurs. But it can’t be good for oneself to always see every single thing that will happen to everyone around it. The only time it would become sinister and switch up the act is if it actually became enraged for another reason besides wanting attention. Being way too skeptical of its ability, asking too many questions of what it actually is, trying to claim that its real self is hiding behind some wooden puppet disguise, claiming that it’s actually cursed. It doesn’t want to talk about any of that. It won’t answer any of that. Just please let it pretend and let it believe that it’s a magic 8 ball.
Moving on some of its relationships with the rest of the objects, disclaimer: for the most part, Maxis’s relationships with some of the objects do not reflect my own opinion on the character. There’s many characters I very much enjoy that Maxis dislikes or gets disliked by. I just enjoy the drama and mess more.
For any slightly interesting dynamics/relationships to make note of, I’ll write that underneath the charts. But the arrows are pretty self explanatory :^) credit for the template is in the bottom right corner of the images!
Also I noticed Sinclaire was missing from the chart? But the relationship line is neutral. Maxis has no real opinion on him and vice versa.
Nightmare: They aren’t, like, biologically related. They’re both completely different things. But they’ve known each other much longer, before the homeowner got Maxis. I couldn’t imagine this dialogue ever existing in the game (due to it being a dating game where you can romance everything lmao), but Nightmare’s taken on a parental role toward Maxis. She’s able to talk it down from doing certain things and scold it for lashing out without enraging it, but they also remain protective. They understand its condition more than anyone else in the house. Maxis, ignoring the amalgamation that’s inside it, isn’t completely evil. It’s simply a supernatural force that’s not at rest. Then, for Maxis, it gets excited seeing Nightmare around, even if she sometimes scolds it and becomes a little too strict.
Daemon: Maxis doesn’t know that Daemon even exists. While some objects it’s not familiar with might show up in its visions, no one with that name has even appeared in one of those. However, Daemon is very familiar with Maxis. She’s taken a liking toward it. He thinks it’s funny.
Maggie: While Maxis isn’t malicious, it’s very much a troll that indirectly ragebaits others with its use of vague and non-committal answers. The biggest victim to this is Maggie who used to think Maxis could be a useful witness since it’s technically seen everything (future vision and all that). Unfortunately, it isn’t.
Mateo: To Mateo, Maxis is the friend he deeply worries about. He wouldn’t ever say anything bad about it, but he thinks some of the stuff it says and does is a little concerning. With the way it talks to him, Mateo doesn’t really refer to Maxis as a friend or would say they even are. However, Maxis calls him a friend all the time. It thinks he’s chill.
I, Ronaldini: Being a fortune teller is sort of like being a magician in the way. Regardless, Maxis and Ron are able to bond over magic. Unfortunately, they do not remain good friends or really all that close after being realized.
Bathsheba: With Bathsheba being a queen, she needs her prophet. And that’s what Maxis is :] Whenever she asks, it tells her about some of the main things that’ll happen today and maybe what others are going to do. If something bad is going to happens, Maxis immediately spills like “DO NOT GO THE LIVING ROOM AT 3:00!!!! PLEASE!!!!”
Shelley: One time, Maxis tried to drop a shelf on top of the house owner to hit them in the head. Its attempt wasn’t successful, but Shelley has never forgotten about that happening.
Jerry: Jerry thinks they’re best friends since Maxis has supposedly spent the most time with him. After all, they’re both stuck in the drawers. But Maxis could not feel the same way about him. It sometimes makes fun of him out loud directly to him or around him. They do become better friends after being realized.
Mac: While Mac is a much more logical thinker and probably doesn’t even believe in Maxis’s abilities, it admires them a lot for several reasons. It thinks it’s so cool that they can be so helpful and smart and no one seems to give them a rough time for being right about everything. They already seem to know everything there is when it comes to its own interests. And the way they talk and how their voice sounds, those two things make them so attractive to it.
Chance: Only technically distantly related due to the fact that magic 8 balls are just made up of 20-sided dice put into water and then locked into a hollow sphere. And because Maxis really isn’t part of the other magic 8 balls, it’s like that adopted family member of some very distant family to Chance. Regardless, they don't like each other.
Rongomaiwhenua: Maxis purely sees a beautiful goddess capable of so much when it sees her. But Rongomaiwhenua just sees a nasty malevolent entity whenever Maxis is around. She’s able to tell what Maxis exactly is and what it might be severely planning by looking at it.
Parker: Parker thinks they’re alike cause by all means, magic 8 balls are treated as toys. But Maxis doesn’t want to be associated with other magic 8 balls. To it, it’s better than them, and it finds associating with someone like Parker insulting to what it is.
Lady Memoria: If Memoria could be a representation of the past, then Maxis would have to be the future. They balance each other out. Even if they sometimes slightly argue and don’t always have the same stance on some topic, they’re still good friends.
There’s more I could write about, but I didn’t want to make this ramble longer than it is already lol I’ll eventually add on to this later. But for the most part? If an object dislikes Maxis, it’s probably because of something it indirectly/intentionally did to them :V
How do you balance answering asks about your AU while also deciding which spoilers to post and which ones to save to be revealed in a fic? I've been wanting to make posts about my AU, but I'm having a difficult time figuring out how much to share about it vs. how much I should keep hidden. On one hand, writing posts about it has kept me motivated. But on the other hand, I want to have some surprises for later. How do you decide what to share and what not to?
Ooooooooh this is a EXCELLENT question! Thanks for asking!
Figuring out which details to share and which ones to keep to myself is definitely tricky. Historically, I've been inclined to hoard as many details as possible because I'm paranoid of spoiling the story. 🤣 But recently I've realized it's okay (and even necessary) to share pieces of my stories while I'm working on them. A) I'll drum up more reader interest if I make posts about the story before I start publishing it, and B) Discussing my story with friends and fellow writers is an important part of maintaining my "writer health".
I've started developing a set of "mental guidelines" to help myself avoid sharing too much when making posts about the lore of my stories:
1. Know Before You Post - Might be kinda' obvious, but I find that taking the time to develop and fully know my plots, characters, worldbuilding, etc. as much as possible really helps me discern which details are safe to share, and which ones spoil too much of the story. If there's something I'm still working on/haven't quite figured out yet, and I need or want outside input, I'll discuss it with a close friend that I trust not to spill the beans.
2. Filling Groundwork Gaps - When I'm writing a fanfic that's canon-divergent, and/or expands upon canon lore, I like to share the worldbuilding details that are crucial to establishing my alternate universe in the reader's mind. For example, my Predacon Prowl AU incorporates my versions of the Predacon and Maximal factions into the TFA universe. This drastically changes world politics and world history on Cybertron, and adds a third player to The Great War. So I'm making a lore post that summarizes these changes to help future readers understand the unique setting they'll be stepping into when they read my fic.
3. Necessary Nip & Tuck - Sometimes, even chunks of basic lore to help immerse my readers contain super important, spoiler-related details. If I feel it's doable, I'll put in the time and effort to surgically remove said details from a lore-dump post to avoid giving too much away. This can actually create opportunities to call attention to the fact that I'm hiding something, and hopefully get readers to start asking questions that make them want to read my story to get answers! At other times, it just means that the readers and the characters have equally limited awareness of what's happening or has happened within the story. So when big reveals happen later on, the readers and the characters get to experience them together. 😈
4. Always Leave Them Wanting More - Wherever I can (or need to), I try to create "setups" in my lore drops, and then purposefully withold their "payoffs". Give the audience just enough info to get them hooked, so they feel compelled to discover more by reading the actual story.
Hopefully these guidelines will help you with making your own lore-drop posts! 😁👍🏻 (And now that you've reminded me of it, I should probably go work on that one I mentioned for my Predacon Prowl AU...)
info and design subject to change, refer to most recent drawings for accurate design
more info and text below cut
some stuff not mentioned in text but refferred to:
robloxians have no sex, they operate on cartoon logic and reproduce like minecraft mobs
dummy is the clone/son of builderman, and has a lack of empathy and need for control. My disordered grey blob 🩶 Just like papa
Blackrock is both a place and an organization. blackrock manages the gear limited trades, both referred to as artifacts. Blackrock also controls and hosts the wizardry organization (unnamed. need to make one.) which send robloxians into the banlands to recover artifacts. Roblox benefits from blackrock, as it has control over robloxians. Builderman has partial oversight over blackrock. uhh dummy is the CEO of blackrock’s organization.
banlands is pretty much hell. crosswoods is the main settlement and inhabited by robloxians who commited minor offenses. like cussing too much. The further out in the banlands the more hellish it gets.
the evil science center was founded in the banlands by an evil scientist. Need to build this idea but bullshit happens there. Inventing doohickeys and injecting people with green stuff n shit.
text in both images vvv
at the top of both: sylvester, no sex, he/she
Image 1:
Sylvester, a hot-headed and power hungry banned nooblet desiring to escape the restriction of his specie, went to the Evil Science Center to get what he wanted.
the scientist, recalling the immense power of admins, made sylvester resemble and embody them in the perfect body for enabling scripting & hacking.
After waking up, it was like she was a new person. she had to be told her name and personality and learn how to walk, talk, etc.
shortly after being released from Evil Science Center, Sylvester was captured by brigands and forced to work under The Pharaoh
tempremental and impulsive, his body adjusting to being alive and his mind young.
no sense of self from constantly being busy, overworked, and used as a tank in raids. he was emaciated from the overuse of scripts.
got abolutely sick of it. he heard high-ranking powerful wizards were spotted in the area and surrendered himself to them and brought to the surface/robloxia as a prisoner under blackrock.
image 2:
Being a prisoner was no better than being in banlands. during his time imprisoned he started to gather a plan to escape and cause havoc with whatever gears and artifacts he could find in the treasury.
dummy was the one who captured him, and saw immense power in her and wanted it for blackrock.
Sylvester became both aggressive and defensive torwards dummy over time. dummy didnt take this lightly, and coerced Sylvester into compliance, promising *some* freedoms.
while sylvester looks free, he cannot leave the grounds and has to follow dummy & blackrock's command. Back to square fucking one babey.
sylvester, to his own dismay, developed feelings for dummy, and the two have been in a relationship for quite some time. (and have had kids...) #unbalancedpowerdynamic #toxicyaoi
Sylvester's motivation and plans remain the same: Escape and cause chaos. Dummy suspects she is plotting something.
Sylv doubts leaving sometimes, but he'll get over it. (LOUD INCORRECT BUZZER)
thank you for reading this. im always so icky about posting oc lore cause nobody gaaaffffffffff except MEEEEE
{Admin @forgivemeomycyns has snt a msg}
Hello "Fleshbag" L-O-L
[ 🧱 ] how would you describe SD-K’s morality? what are her core values?
Hope this is satisfactory, Kit.
Enjoy the keychain, if the giant V does not EAT ME.
L M A O.
Smile.
🦊 || Ooo, I was hoping that I’d get this question! It’s a fun one to answer because it kind of changes over time.
As a worker at the manor, she had just kind of your standard good morals. Nothing particularly crazy or anything. Just a sweet, shy lil’ cinnamon roll.
After being turned into a disassembly drone, K had a total shift in personality, and was lacking in several areas of the morality department. She believed that killing workers was just a natural thing that she needed to do in order to survive, so she made sure to have fun doing it. She hardly even saw worker drones as actual living beings. Just food and playthings. She didn’t value their lives whatsoever.
Of course, K wasn’t completely without any morals at that time. She cared deeply for her teammates, and they mattered to her more than anything. She could mostly tolerate working under “JCJenson”, but she drew the line and immediately turned on the company the second that it put the lives of her friends at risk. If she was still with her squad when the pilot episode happened, she would have joined Uzi’s side without hesitation after seeing J almost kill N.
After running away and secretly living among the workers in Outpost 3 for a bit, K realized that they were pretty chill and acknowledged that they were individuals rather than statistics. She felt a bit bad for killing them, but it didn’t bother her too much at the time. Though, she did stop actively hunting down and killing workers at this point, opting to scavenge from the bodies of already deceased workers instead. On the rare occasion that she did have to resort to hunting fresh prey, K would only kill what she needed to survive instead of slaughtering a bunch of worker drones all willy nilly. Quickly and efficiently too, instead of dragging it out and torturing them like she used to.
Now that she remembers everything and understands the true weight of what she’s done, K’s morals have gone back to being similar to how they were at the manor. Maybe a bit more harsh/cynical in some areas, but otherwise she has good and reasonable beliefs. She values all life a lot more now.
Overall, I’d say that K is a good person at her core (even if she doesn’t think so herself). She’s done a lot of horrible things in her life, but she is remorseful for her actions.
(Also, don’t worry. I have you in between keychain N and Uzi, so you should be safe from the V-chain! :3)
