The City That Never Sleeps.

inanimate livelihood in the city that never sleeps

Fifteen years following the disappearance of Hurdy, the father of all sentient vehicles known as Advanced Vehicle Automatons, the wondrous technology has begun to spread across the world. From planes to trains to boats, countless things have been subject to these mechanical miracles, and now cities are taking the next big step— Advanced Structural Automatons.

The buildings of New York City are alive— so are the taxis, the ferries, busses, and subway trains. This is a glimpse into their lives, and how exactly they intertwine with the humans that created them.

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created by @gravelgrowl

sister blog (same universe, different story): @motorhearted

CATHEDRAL <3 Im so glad people like her, I didn’t expect the amount of positive feedback I got when posting her on here!

As previously mentioned, she’s a character that’s stuck in a situation that’s very… “allegory of the cave” adjacent. The subway trains in the story are moved from line to line occasionally but most like to stick to what they know, including Cathedral. The trains tend to be programmed with a need for consistency and routine! Cathedral thinks a bit more beyond the average train though, and she has a burning curiosity for the city beyond going back and forth in the same tunnels all day and resting in the same train yard all night.

However, her anxiety and set purpose as a subway train holds her back. Even if she had the ability to take off on her own like a car would, where would she go? What would the commuters do if she wasn’t there? She knows about the rest of the city but has not experienced it, and that scares her. She isn’t fully aware that she has a warped perception but she also understands that she isn’t seeing the full picture.

Im still figuring out what her actual route is within the subway lines that existed at the time… I have a few leads but obviously to make her situation work I need something that is primarily underground with little action on the surface. She relies on other trains and passengers for information when it comes to just about anything she’s curious about. She actually picked the name Cathedral for herself simply because it sounded pretty— she’s either never actually seen one or has seen one and didnt know what it was.

id one: A sketch page featuring an anthropomorphic subway train named Cathedral with various expressions and levels of completion. Most of the sketches are of her first car and face, but there is a small one that shows a full train car from the side. Most have anxious or worried expressions, besides one where she is smiling. The top left corner of the canvas features real life reference photos of the train model. end id

id two: A second sketch page that is similar to the first, Cathedral with different expressions and levels of completion. The drawings are a bit more cartoony and exaggerated this time. The only completed sketch is on the bottom right, and shows Cathedral going through a subway tunnel with her headlights shining ahead of her in the dark. The reflection of the light is shown on her face, wheels, and windows. end id

Times Sq is the first "building" character I went with for Manhattan Speaks simply because there's so much you could do with the place and I feel like it has characterized itself well enough. Like most people probably know vaguely what it is and might have some impression of it even if they've never been. I dislike it fundementally (especially after Disneyfication in the 90s) but man I can't not admit that from a historical lense it really has grown on me as a place of interest.

she/he

Times Square (often shortened to TSQ and not-so-affectionately known as a “corporate whorehouse”) is the Motorhearted entity that controls that exact area of Manhattan. She emotes using the spectacolor billboard on the main building in the square (One Times Square/Allied Chemical building) and talks with the public through a ticker tape around the building called the zipper. She can manipulate other billboards around the square but can’t do much with the neon advertisements— those are involuntary, like a beating heart.

She can speak vocally through specific telecommunication stations made for Motorhearted individuals across the city. He’s known to be very flamboyant and campy, a bit emotional and dramatic. Plenty arrogant yet dangerously self critical. Has spells of paranoia. He’s rather nosy and has a bad habit of snooping on (or even blatantly interrupting) other AVA/ASA conversations. TSQ runs a radio show called Manhattan Speaks that is accessible to humans and Motorhearted alike; he adores talking about current culture in the city, listening to the latest hits and asking her listeners for their opinions on both.

As of right now, I have no plans to continue this ask blog, and for that I apologize.

However.

Some concepts from this blog are going to be merged with the lore of my other story Motorheart! ( @motorhearted )

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