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Robots - Blog Posts
First Drop
On Deslotair, the storm cycle breaks every three years, clearing the skies for off-world ships to make a rare visit to the planet. But for every ship that can make the landing, another falls to the unfamiliar conditions and dust-laden atmosphere. Scavengers watch the ships as they crash, ready to strip them to the hulls for all their worth.
Taglist: @glacierruler
Wooahh look another robot oc by yours truly. Shocking, I know.
This is 5TR1P W1R3, or just Wire for short, who is the sharpshooter and medic for @glacierruler and I's crew of space pirates!
Wire was originally made for a caretaking/nursing job, but grew to hate this role the longer they had to endure it, until they eventually ran away. To fully lean into this change, they removed most of their smooth, friendly plastic paneling to revel the mess of wiring and motors underneath, although they have kept some to protect more vital areas. Wire can only communicate through various beeps and trills, and the only person that can understand and translate for them is the engineer on board who is... just the sweetest and doesn't want to pass along half the shit they say. Trying their best to be a serious pirate amongst all the shenanigans. Big fan of getting to shoot things, not really enjoying the fixing people part.
OCtober Bingo: Multilingual
“Come here,” Glass signed.
Sprocket shifted forwards, sand sliding over and into his joints, tubes bending to follow the movement. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground, hands folded in his lap. Opposite him, Glass kneeled in the sands.
The mid-morning sun fell through eir body, refracting and splitting through the glass, shining brilliantly on pieces of metal and bulbs of green liquid before falling onto Sprocket. It would be warm, if either of them had the skin to feel it.
(Natural heat was lost to Sprocket in the storm of his own whirring processors and grinding motors. He just had the vague impressions offered to him by an internal thermometer ticking up or down: 42.3°C.
He’d once asked Glass if ey could feel warmth, could feel the sun beating down on them.
Ey said it felt like life, which sounded very different from 42.3°C.)
Glass pressed eir palm against Sprocket’s chest, warping the way the light fell, and hummed three notes.
They slid together like the gradient of a sunset, each higher than the last. They sat somewhere in the middle of Glass’s vast spectrum of sound, a neutral sort of tone that shook around in Sprocket’s chest but didn’t quite stay there. He raised a hand from his lap to grab onto Glass’s forearm, fingers clinking into place. Another point of connection, without the leather of Sprocket’s vest separating them.
“Go again,” he said.
The same three notes played. Sprocket could feel the vibrations humming against his sensors, sound washing through him. It brushed over those parts of him designed only to detect pain, to alert to problems, gently passing by without alarm.
The sweeping rise in pitch felt whole in some way, complete. Someone with more musical knowledge than him, with more knowledge of the language Glass was trying to speak to him, could have had the right words to describe it. Sprocket had neither of those things, so all he had to offer was-
“It sounds nice. What does it mean?”
Glass nodded. Ey pulled eir hand away from his chest, and Sprocket followed suit, disengaging.
“It’s supposed to sound nice,” ey signed. “It means ‘to give comfort.’ We have many words like this, that represent concepts, that can be used in many different ways as long as the emotion is there.”
Those bulbs of liquid rolled around in Glass’s chest, occasionally colliding with each other to become one, other times clinging to the clear walls surrounding them. A pool of it splashed in eir head, right behind the pair of white, glowing eyes that watched Sprocket intently, making sure he understood. Glass continued.
“It means ‘it’s okay.’ It means ‘it’s alright.’ It means ‘it’s over.’ It means ‘I’m here.’ It means whatever it needs to mean.”
“And does it… work? Do you feel comforted by it?”
“Of course. That association has been well-established for me. The same will be true for you, eventually.”
Glass hummed the notes again. Ey nodded at him to do the same.
Sprocket took a moment to find the first pitch, letting it hum in his speaker before he climbed to the next, and then the next.
Glass tilted eir head at him. “You’re climbing stairs.”
“What?”
“When you move from one syllable to the next, you find in betweens and jump to them, instead of sliding up the scale. Here, try it with me.”
Ey reached out, pressing a hand against his chest, the globs of liquid in eir fingers twisting and reforming. Sprocket reached back, grabbing onto eir arm. The tubing that coiled loosely around him flexed and shifted, filled with that same blood.
Glass held the first note, leading the way for him to follow. Sprocket could hear the vibrations, could feel them thrumming in his veins of tubes, buzzing where cheers of metal met each other. The sound rattled discontentedly while he tried to find the right note, warping and grating until it fell into place.
Glass raised eir pitch, and Sprocket clumsily followed em up the scale, resting together at the three notes along their journey. When Glss nodded, Sprocket already knew what ey meant, and they starting over, and he led the charge.
They traded off like that several times, taking turns to find the right notes to play, each time getting closer to each other’s rhythm. Until the need ceased for a lead at all, and Sprocket and Glass spoke as one.
Liquid danced in Glass’s body, bulbs of it twisting in eir chest, all surrounded by singing glass.
Sprocket’s metal sang, carrying waves of sound. Gentle hands, not ones that poked or prodded, cupped his sensors, pressed against his vest.
They reached what Sprocket knew would be their final iteration and grew silent together, the last of the sound fading out of reach. Only when every last bit of it was gone, when Sprocket couldn’t possibly feel it, did Glass pull away. Sprocket’s hands fell into his lap.
“Like that,” ey signed.
“Thank you,” Sprocket responded. “I understand.”
@glacierruler
Another square down! I actually wrote this story a while back, it was one of the first things that went into my Deslotair notebook. Just some thoughts on the glass bot language and how we can communicate even when we're so different. Languages are very important to Glass (ey used to be a translator) so this was a really good prompt for em!
Little fit doodles for the Deslotair gang! We got a clothing swap for Sprocket + Alonze, Desmona in some clothes I saw in the store the other day, and Glass wearing a fit I saw someone on the bus in. Feels weird to draw em in clothes, but I think it works!
This is for @glacierruler's OC Bingo! Board below the cut
I think it's funny when robots in fiction are just,,, super old and they outlive multiple generations of humans and are kinda treated as functionally immortal but irl tech is like "Your car is 20 years old???" or "I get a new smart phone every two years!"
Lemme see old ass bots who are mocked for being all ancient and outmoded and then when someone asks "How old are you??" it turns out they're like five.
Currently going down my list of people to ask about OCs because they rbed my OCtober bingo card :3
Tell me of the OCs!
Deslotair gang! Deslotair is a sci-fi western story that follows a group of scavengers through the desert as they fight to survive. If you already know the team, here are my bingo board ideas! If not, read more
For the board!!
Involved in crime is good for Sprocket and Alonze, obviously.
Sign language and multilingual are good too, most of the gang has some knowledge of sign language, and both Glass and Sprocket know several other languages as well.
They all need a Fucking Break. Probably Sprocket the most.
Ghosts could be fun!!
For outfits: i need to draw Sprocket in Alonze's jacket don't ask me WHY i just have that image in my brain.
Fucked up character dynamics for suuure. What do Sprocket and Alonze have going on? Who knows? Canon relationship??? Maybe!
Desmona has a pet! We love Tak! Weird lizard dog!
queer. obviously.
Tragic antagonist DOES fit but we're not getting into all that lol
Outer space was MADE for me <3
Inventor is interesting. Sprocket is a mechanic but he doesn't typically invent things? Him and Glass invented a 'suit' for Desmona though.
Alonze would commit murder, so would Glass! Sprocket tries not to but it's probably happened. Occupational hazard. Desmona would rather die.
Sprocket - he/him, their leader. Used to be a mining bot, where he learned mechanic skills to take care of the other robots down there. He's since made it out of there and has been scavenging the longest. Knows a lot about machines and how to strip things for the highest quality parts. He's a fairly straight-laced guy, and absolute worry-wart trying to keep everyone alive.
Glass - ey/em, primarily a navigator. A glass bot, which are a type of robot naturally created from old scrap that becomes encased in glass. Ey was raised completely around glass bots and worked as a translator between them and humans, but it was a pretty shitty environment to be in. Ey is very curious about humans and is an excellent teacher, specifically of languages.
Desmona - she/her, the outcast. Desmona is a 17 year old girl that came in contact with vitrel, the unstable energy source of Deslotair, which became a part of her. She left home after the accident and met Sprocket and Glass soon after. She's very shy and withdrawn, generally more comfortable around bots or animals than humans. Very crafty, likes sewing and embroidery.
Alonze - he/they/she, the sharpshooter. Used to work with Sprocket in a bandit group, before being caught and arrested after a train robbery gone wrong. Spent his life moving around with his dad, who was a rancher, and deeply loves Deslotair. Very opinionated and hotheaded, but deeply loyal once she's decided she's on your side.
Epic Cosplay of “Horizon Zero Dawn”
Fun fact originally Sprocket was going to have a head and torso with 360 range of motion but I scrapped that idea because it was a pain to draw and didn't really make sense with all his external wiring. On the plus side it means sometimes he needs help with maintenance now.
Taglist: @glacierruler
fanart of one of @eggnogo 's robots :3
link to og
WIP of a Deslotair comic I'm working on!
It's soooo funny to me when people draw robots kissing and they're just sort of smashing screens or cameras against each other. What is that accomplishing? What is that doing for them??
Although on the other hand I think it's kind of significant how this shows bots mimicking human actions even when logically it doesn't make sense. No one taught us intimacy but I guess this is how it's done. Do you feel it? No me neither but I've never seen another way. Maybe if we keep trying the right sparks will fly. I'm trying to tell you I love you by the way. If that can be enough.
Fuck. What was I saying?
Saloon
Glass and Sprocket's first meeting, way back when. Added a couple of ports for Sprocket's tubing to flow through, which makes a hell of a lot more sense than them just kind of sticking out at his joints or junctures in the plating. Better for consistency's sake too.
Tags: @glacierruler
Incredibly dumb doodles on what would happen if Sprocket and Alonze met @glacierruler's oc, Fig
Whereas Sprocket and Alonze live in a world where bots are fully realized beings that have to fight to be recognized in society,,, Fig's world is still cruising with boston dynamics style military drones. Shenanigans ensue.
The decay of the mechanical.
My webcomic FACING THE SUN has a new update
Read on my website | Read on WEBTOON
Challenge Day 276 of Year 9 Teb was a simple plastiform home kit robot that it's builder less than legally squeezed a grey market AI into. It was fairly sure that it hadn't been put together correctly, but didn't have the tech to do diagnostics on itself just yet.
What I used: Muji Light Blue 0.7mm pen, and Muji 0.5mm Light blue pen on Karst Stone Paper Notebook. What this is: Daily Character Design Challenge, 2024-02-26 Year 9 - No276a, by Jeff Stewart
Training
Glass teaching Desmona the tricks o' the trade. It means a lot to her to have a way of self defense that she can control, and that is very much designed to be non-lethal. I originally gave her a spear to be more matchy-matchy with Glass, but quickly realized that didn't fit.
So now she gets a staff! Still very much a weapon Glass can help teach her how to use, of course. It's something they can bond over as well- they worked on that staff together, and now they can train together with it.
I feel like there should be some sort of symbolism for the long bandages on the glass bots spears. Practically, they can help with grip for a people with very smooth, slippery hands, but there's not really a reason to leave a tail that long. Could be some kind of status symbol, or maybe vitality? Glass bots can be a little obsessed with age, so maybe you clip it as you get older? Idk, but I need to come up with something so it's not just impractical for no reason haha.
I look at this headline, and in my head I imagine several of my robot-obsessed friends remarking, “So… where do I sign up? Is there a waiting list or something?”
Mono. He is called this because of his serial number, 3020 (it's on his arm). If you write that vertically it looks like "Mono". I'm unsure of his precise backstory details right now but he is sentient (infected with the MorningChorus virus). He is a former guard of Selaphiel (evil mantis priest popstar robot) but now he protects the Archive or whatever it's going to be called, which is a sort of robot hive mind thing.
Happy Birthday @therealjacksepticeye ! Thank you for making us smile when ever we had a horrible day! Please continue being you! - Collaboration with my best friend part 2. I did the sketch, she outlined and colored. Hope you enjoy (sorry for it being a bit late)!
EVERYONE SHUT UP
IT'S
GIVE YOUR TELEVISION A HUG!!!
I SAID SHUT UP
IT'S
KISS YOUR COMPUTER
NOW!!!!!!!!
Unfinished rubix cube robot monster thing
Might finish this properly but I was getting tired so just threw some colours in and called it a day
Back In Highschool
I had a class in the magical world of
GAME DEVELOPMENT
And our end of year project was a fully complete game. And at the time I was really into games like Donkey Kong, Mario bros, and Annalynn.
Unfortunately,
Due to my lack of know-how the game was never “complete” per say. Rather I got far enough with some stand in characters to make the passing grade. Regardless, here is some of the character art I made while planning… who knows, maybe I’ll resurrect the idea in the future…
Edit: Added my art of the stand in I used…
Why is giving this piece of shit a name so difficult, he’s just a robot dude.
“We love you Starscream,” We all say in unison.
Pookie of mine has got me hooked on Transformers. How? Starscream.
MEGATRON HAS FALLEN !!!