i imagine Sparker was very very confused when they first ‘formed’ (like gained consciousness) since at the time they only really had vague memories from the body + Seeking Stars’ memories
curious to see what yall think. i think theyre dull purple. maybe indigo. i feel like most the responses i get will be purple but yk i wanna see what people think
it’s probably going to be common for me to close/reopen my ask box at random times (so i don’t get overwhelmed with it constantly open and stuff)
hello! this is my ask blog for Seeking Stars, my iterator oc, and Sparker, my slugcat oc!
my main is @fatickono but it’s kind of just a jumble of whatever i feel like posting and reblogging. my pronouns are they/he, i’m nonbinary.
the info about sending in asks and stuff about Seeking Stars and Sparker is under the cut. PLEASE read before sending an ask!
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Ask rules/info
No NSFW/super weird asks. And, even if your ask follows all rules, I still reserve the right to not answer it for whatever reason.
Specify who you’re asking. If you’re asking SS or Sparker, write “to Seeking Stars” or “to Sparker” at the beginning of your ask. If you’re asking me, specify with OOC written at the start of your post.
Be polite. I won’t answer if your question includes something like spam, insults, etc.
This blog may get dark at times in it’s themes in the future (will update to be less vague if/when it does), so please keep that in mind when checking this blog out! (the post(s) will be properly tagged with a cw/tw though)
Donation asks will be reblogged on my main @fatickono
Please don’t repost my art. Even if you credit me, I still would prefer you didn’t at all
If you’d like, you can send an ask specifying it’s to Seeking Sparks before Sparker gained consciousness, but write [PRE-CONSCIOUSNESS] at the start of your ask
This general story takes place only a little after Hunter, and assumes iterators are still generally connected online and able to talk with each other at this point, with equipment only degraded a small amount since Spearmaster’s campaign. Spearmaster and Artificer are both still alive
Not all asks will get art! Please don’t be upset if your ask doesn’t get art, it’s not personal. If I do include art, joke/memey asks will receive poorer quality art compared to non-joke asks (this isn’t to discourage joke asks, i’m just letting you know)
Tags
#stars asks - the asks i’ve gotten
#stars art - any general art/writing i may post about SS and Sparker that isn’t from an ask
#stars lore - lore i may post about SS and Sparker that isn’t from an ask
#stars whatever - random stuff that’s related to SS and Sparker in some way
#stars offtopic - non-SS or Sparker related things
#oc: seeking sparks - tag for stuff containing Seeking Sparks
#oc: sparker - tag for stuff containing Sparker
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Info about Seeking Stars and Sparker themself
Seeking Stars is a mid gen 2 iterator who created a (heavily modified) slugcat to be a vessel for her. This was so she could, after transferring her consciousness to the slugcat’s body, perform maintenance on herself and explore further than just her chamber. Whenever she was done with whatever she used the body for, she returned it to it’s cryosleep chamber until she needed to fix something else.
However, a while after using the body for it’s intended purpose with no issue, it gained consciousness. Now, instead of being a vessel for her, it performs maintenance on her as a sort of helper for her. They named themself Sparker.
Seeking Stars heavily regrets ever using the body as a vessel (despite thinking at the time there was a 0% chance the body would gain ever gain consciousness) and Sparker struggles with actually being a person and feeling like they failed their purpose (the purpose being be a perfect vessel)
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Their references
Overview of them. Image ID for SS is in alt text, image ID for Sparker is at the bottom of this post.
Seeking Stars - she/they, female - Friendly and sociable. Doesn’t understand much of the slugcat’s language, but is trying to learn. Mid gen 2. Often found chatting in random iterator group chats and calling with her local group when she can. Doesn’t focus much on the Big Problem.
Has normal iterator abilities, although some of her equipment is less advanced than a Gen 3’s would be.
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Sparker - they/it, genderless - Nervous and socially awkward around other slugcats. Understands slugcat language and can speak it, even if it sounds a little off at times. Body language is a weird mix of iterator and slugcat body language.
They can climb walls and ceilings because of pawpads being very similar to a blue lizard’s. Star marking on their face can project images, videos, groupchats, calls, etc. They can withstand very high voltage electricity. Around 60% of their insides are replaced with mechanics. Their antennae double as speakers (to speak the iterator’s language) and as ears. It’s tail contains complex electronics that serve as sort of an “extra processing system” for them and lets them have faster reaction time, memory, etc. than the average slugcat. It can produce an electric shock with it’s tail pincers, and if fully charged, can kill a fully grown black lizard.
It hates getting wet and if it tries to use any of it’s abilities when fully submerged, it will be shocked and their systems fried.
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hope you enjoy the blog! this is my first ever ask blog so i am learning as i go :)
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IMAGE ID for Sparker:
[start id]
A digital drawing of Sparker, a heavily modified slugcat, with a lot of text surrounding them. On the left of the screen is large blocky text reading, “ “SPARKER” ”, and below that in smaller text reads, “The Vessel/The Mechanic
they/it, genderless
generally anxious
socially awkward due to not having much experience interacting with other slugcats
originally intended as a vessel for Seeking Stars, the iterator that created it, but gained consciousness and now helps perform maintenance on SS instead
body can withstand extremely high voltage electricity due to major modifications
a good portion of their insides are replaced with mechanics
hates getting wet. if they use any of their abilities when fully submerged in water, they get shocked and their systems are fried
can climb walls and ceilings thanks to gecko-like pawpads, this aids in letting them easily access parts of their iterator’s can for maintenance
took their creator years upon years to perfect their design“.
To the right of all of that text is a drawing of a dull purple slugcat standing, looking to the side with creased eyebrows and their mouth downturned. Their underside is a lighter, paler shade of purple. They have darker colored stars scattered along their pelt, although their underbelly doesn’t have them. They have a star on forehead with smaller dots on both side of the star. There is text above this reading, “star marking can project images, videos, iterator chats, calls, etc.”. There is an arrow pointing to the markings from the text. Above that, is a white star with a green glow effect with text by it reading, “they have a star shaped Mark of Communication (SS found out how to alter the shape of it), although they don’t need it to understand iterators”. They have very dark purple eyes. They have 4 arms, with their upper right arm holding an electric spear with blue electricity coming off the tip. Their antennae are dark gray, almost black, and the circle connecting the antenna to the head has a bright green outline of a star on it. Next to the antennae is text that reads, “antennae serve as both “ears” (audio processors) and speakers, allowing them to speak the iterator language, as they physically cannot with their slugcat vocal cords”. Under the drawing of the slugcat are 11 empty circles (representing food pips), with a line drawn between the last 3, separating them from the 8 first circles. Below the circles is text that reads, “has to eat a lot to power their abilities and tail. if starved, their systems glitch and/or go offline” and “they’re omnivorous and their favorite food is centipede”. Their tail is large, gray, made of metal, and has a metallic shine to it. Their tailtip has dark gray pincers and a green battery bar. Near the tail, there are lots of different text boxes reading different things, all info about some aspect of the tail. Above it is text that reads, “tail was very important to Seeking Stars before Sparker gained consciousness. it contains complex inner electronics that contained a lot of Seeking Stars’ memories and helped with data processing so that Seeking Stars wouldn’t lose as much processing power and wouldn’t forget important memories after transferring her consciousness from herself to the slugcat. now, it’s been repurposed. Seeking Stars’ memories were wiped, and now the electronics serve as Sparker’s own “extra processing system” in a sense, allowing it to have greater memory, reaction time, etc. than the average slugcat.” and “very large tail”. Below it is text that reads, “tail shine can be drawn wiggly or straight, it doesn’t matter” and “tail is made of a lightweight yet extremely strong and durable metal”. Above the green batter bar is text that reads, “battery bar shows how charged their tail is”. Below the pincers is text that reads, “base color for tail is this
highlights are this
shading is this”.
Next to the text “base color for tail is this” is a swatch of gray, next to the text “highlights are this” is a lighter swatch of gray, and next to the text “shading is this” is a swatch of dark gray. A line points from the pincers on the main drawing to a drawing of just the pincers, viewed from above, with text in between the pincers of the connected drawing reading, “unshaded”. The pincers are dark gray, metal connecting them to the tail is light gray, and the tail itself is gray. Above the pincer drawing is text that reads, “tailtip pincers can clamp down and deliver an electric shock, and if fully charged, can kill a fully grown black lizard. if it doesn’t kill, it stuns”. Between the 2 pincers is a small spark of blue electricity. Scattered in various places on the drawing is translucent text of the illustrator’s signature, reading, “blip blop #2108”. [end id]
wrote about what the far future may look like for Seeking Stars and Sparker. is this fic canon to their lore? some of it but probably not all of it
i’m not really a writer but . i got bored and was daydreaming and thought this up and realized “hey. i can write this out.” and so i did
under cut is the story if you don’t wanna read it on AO3
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Sparker was scared.
Sparker was very, very scared but they knew this must be done.
The planned collapse of Seeking Stars would be happening in 5 cycles. They hated it. They wanted to cry and scream and stop this, but they knew that if Seeking Stars didn’t collapse now, planned and carefully coordinated, they would collapse at a later date and suffer much worse damage.
Every detail of this plan had been simulated (to the best of Seeking Stars’ ability, with their glitches and errors). They helped plan and work out the details with their creator. Everything that could be changed, fixed, or aided, Sparker helped with.
It had spent countless cycles working tirelessly, ceaselessly, moving it’s creator’s neurons to various shelters near their superstructure. New neurons made, altered, and compressed to hold more memories and be more efficient. Anything that could be removed and relocated from Seeking Stars’ superstructure, was.
This was to minimize the amount of damage dealt to her structure during her collapse. They would return everything removed to Seeking Stars after her collapse. She was losing power even more quickly without her rarefaction cells, and even though so far it was still according to plan, they were terrified.
Sparker’s last visit to her, before her collapse, was this cycle. They had cried. Seeking Stars, while unable to physically cry, did the iterator equivalent with her voice box. It was glitching more and more these days. Sparker was as well. They knew it was something of a miracle they had lived this long.
Most slugcats would’ve died of old age long, long before now. Sparker’s fur was more gray than dull purple by this point. Their systems often glitched. Perhaps a mix of mechanical engineering and pure luck had led Sparker to surviving this long. They were grateful, whatever the cause.
Along with preparing things for herself, their creator had also prepared some things for Sparker. Snow would begin to fall after Seeking Stars collapsed (although how long it would take to fall was undetermined, probably not too long after, seeing as she was the last standing of the local group). Seeking Stars had grown, using old blueprints she didn’t even know she had until recently, a thick robe of fur (matching in color to Seeking Stars’ robe) to keep Sparker warm in the frost. Along with that, a blanket for herself and Sparker.
Sparker was supposed to be sleeping. They couldn’t. Not when they knew this would be one of the last times they would hear the pounding rains outside of a shelter. It had always been comforting to them, on the occasion they weren’t in her superstructure. Normally, they’d be sleeping in a shelter within Seeking Stars, or, rarely, in her chamber itself. It was too risky to do so now. They resigned themself to ruminating in the shelter waiting for the rain to pass.
Next cycle is the last one they’ll even be near Seeking Stars’ superstructure before her collapse, to finish up a few final things. Then, they’ll spend the remaining three cycles running as far as they can from Seeking Stars’ superstructure. After the dust settled and it was safe to return, they would immediately begin damage control.
—
Sparker was shaking in fear, not for themself, but their creator. Even though they were safe and far away enough from the superstructure to not be hit by the blast of the fall, they still heard it.
They felt the rumble and creak as their creator fell and crashed into the ground below. Sparker was huddling in their shelter, even though they hadn’t eaten and the cycle was almost over—never mind. The cycle ending would be no issue, not when there would be no more rains! They laughed at the thought, a fake laugh that quickly morphed into a sob. They couldn’t bring themself to move. Everything could be going wrong and they wouldn’t even know.
Eventually, Sparker managed to leave, find and hunt a lizard, eat their fill, and then go straight back to their shelter. They stayed in the shelter, trembling, silently listening to their creator’s fall.
—
It was time. The moment Sparker knew it would be safe to return, they burst from the shelter and sped as fast as they could in their age, back to their creator. Thousands of worries and anxieties raced through their mind. They ate as they went along. They had no time to stop and hunt, so they resorted to eating whatever fruits they came across on the travel back. It wasn’t very filling, but it worked.
Sparker eventually reached one of the nearby shelters containing supplies, and grabbed a bag full of specialized neurons, geared specifically for helping with rebooting properly.
Shortly after, they finally reached the fallen body of their creator and stopped outside of it. They did not want to go in, to enter their creator’s corpse and feel the cold, dead walls that used to be alive, warm, and thrumming with energy. But they must, and so, they did.
Sparker crept through the empty structure, and it was horrible that what was once filled with thousands of neurons and inspectors and life, was empty. It was a mockery of what once was. At the very least, the way the structure had landed seemed to be how Seeking Stars had predicted it would.
Sparker hesitated before entering the chamber. It now had a hole in the side of its wall, allowing them to enter with ease. They slowly crawled in. They couldn’t help the panic gripping their chest seeing Seeking Stars’ robeless deep purple puppet lying unconscious on the floor, but they tried to calm themself, pushing down their panic despite the sight before them. They knew, logically, she should—would—be alright once they returned everything to her. That did not cease their worry, though.
Sparker gently opened the bag of neurons and let them float out over the puppet. They synced and, slowly, Seeking Stars pushed herself into a sitting position. Sparker breathed a sigh of relief and it felt like a massive weight was lifted off their chest. They held back the urge to hug her and ask a thousand times if she was alright, not wanting to overwhelm her right as she had rebooted.
She took a while, just sitting, recollecting her thoughts and memories, memories compressed into a mere thirty or so neurons. Nothing compared to the thousands she previously had. They would bring more, of course, but these were the most important to bring first.
Eventually, she spoke, “… Sparker. Did… is everything following the plan thus far…? My thoughts… I feel like I am swimming in thick slag trying to think. Such little processing power…” Seeking Stars had a confused and somewhat dazed look on her face. “My chamber is not as I remember…” She stared at the gaping hole in the wall.
It pained Sparker to see their creator in such a sorry state. At the reminder of the hole in the chamber, they grimaced and said, hesitantly, “…While your structure’s fall appeared to mostly go as you had simulated, a few issues did occur, like the hole in your chamber. However, it did not make it so snow will be able to reach you, so that is a relief. Once I have finished my duties in returning all of the removed parts, I could try to cover up the hole, somehow.” They didn’t bother trying to cover up the worry in their voice as they spoke.
Seeking Stars sat silent for a moment, before nodding, “Thank you Sparker… I… you are truly doing a lot for me.”
The slugcat simply nodded and said, “It is no problem, I am…” Their antennae crackled, and they took a moment to compose themself, before continuing, “I am really, really happy you’re okay and … just know I will do my best to help you in any way I can… if I had lost you I…” Sparker trailed off. They had said the last part to themself quietly, and their creator didn’t appear to have heard.
The two sat in silence for a while longer, before Sparker piped up, nervously and quickly saying, “Are you okay? I mean…” stupid question, of course not, “…my apologies, I mean, you are not in a significant amount of pain right now, right? Can you feel if everything is going as planned? Since, I can see that most of it is, I mean ignoring the gaping hole in your chamber, but you can feel if it is going properly, you know? And if it’s not, then, well, I’d- I’d like to help and…” They paused, realizing they were rambling. “I did not intend to ramble, apologies. It appears even the oldest habits linger longer than one would think they could.”
Seeking Stars was unbothered and merely chuckled at them. “It’s… alright. It is a comfort, really… that even some things remain unchanged, through all this time…”
Sparker smiled a little at that, and they agreed as well. In all this change, old things are a refuge. Their smile dropped as they thought more, and finally said, “I will go get more of the parts I took and restore them to your structure, along with your robe. I am sure you feel bare without it…” Very few times had they seen their creator without it, so it was a rather odd sight to behold.
Seeking Stars nodded, thanked them again, and waved goodbye. Sparker hesitated before leaving though, as they still had a question they’d like to ask before they went. Anxiously, they asked, “May I embrace you? I do not wish to overwhelm your systems if they are not ready, but it would be of great comfort to me.” Great comfort was an immense understatement.
Seeking Stars took a second to process the question and smiled, as much as a mouthless face could allow, replying, “Of course. I am not so damaged as to not want a hug from my favorite creation…”
Sparker hugged her puppet, and emotion flooded them as they noted that it was warm, so unlike the corpse surrounding them. It was proof she was still alive, in some way, she was still here, she was alive and warm and living and she was not dead. They let out a choked cry, and, unable to stop themself, sobbed as they felt a wave of the emotions they had been holding back—relief, happiness, sadness, anxiety—hit them. They didn’t mean to suddenly break down, but they couldn’t help it. They were so happy she was alive and they clung to her puppet like a lifeline, gasping through tears.
Seeking Stars held them and comforted them and, void, shouldn’t they be the one comforting her? Regardless, she held them until their sobs reduced to hiccups and their tears ran dry.
Eventually, they pulled away and said, voice still wobbly, “I’m- I did not mean to suddenly… I am just so happy you’re not gone, Stars.”
Seeking Stars replied, “You are not alone in that thought, Sparker.” She weakly laughed. “I- I know it was not you that collapsed, before you say it, but … I am very glad you are not gone, either.”
The two smiled contentedly at each other, momentarily at peace, and, after a while of more talking, Sparker left to fetch more neurons along with other parts. Although, not before both saying a little, “see you soon” to one another.
—
Sparker was nervous, but not scared.
Sparker was very, very nervous for the future and what it held, but not scared, not anymore. They knew their creator was alive, even as snow fell and the weather grew colder and colder with every passing cycle.
Their creator was alive and… that’s all they wanted.
