In a sprawling metropolis built so tall some denizens never see the sun, a hacker reluctantly agrees to help a young vagrant who can't remember who he is... or why the government wants him dead.
Evelyn has had this job long enough to know not to trust anyone, least of all her eccentric friends, and especially not when they insist on using unsecured public networks and not changing their passwords. But when one of those friends starts doing research for a casual video project, her curiosity spurs someone to take decisive action to ensure their secrets stay buried. Suddenly Evelyn has more to worry about than keeping jailbroken cybernetic firmware up to date.
To survive, the group will have to work together to find out who's behind it all and what they are after. But one among them knows more than they're letting on, and the city's secret roots may run deeper than anyone imagined...
🎶 Project Playlist 🎧
Blu City FAQ:
What is this?
A webcomic. At the moment it's still in development. I'm writing the script for the first season now.
What happens?
A group of friends must solve a mystery. What they unravel has personal and far-reaching consequences.
Is there mature content in this story?
There will be some mature content, including violence and language. There will not be any sexual content.
Why is everyone dogs?
It's an artistic choice, not a thematic one. Think Lackadaisy, as opposed to Beastars. I just like drawing dogs.
Is this set on Earth?
Yes, it's set approximately 300-400 years in the future.
What's going on in the rest of the world?
Bad things.
Where is the story set? Where's the city located?
You might be able to figure it out if you pay close attention.
Anything else?
Without spoiling too much, I'll just say this story is my spot to explore my thoughts on technology, artificial intelligence (both the real deal and the fake shit LLMs are trying to be), consciousness, society, wealth, and politics, and how all of that shapes our relationships. There are robots and flying cars and hydrogen-powered passenger trains! Yay! But there are also shitty health insurance companies and greedy politicians and shady corporations willing to kill to protect shareholder value. So, you know. But ultimately, my goal is to write something uplifting, so even though there are going to be dark moments, things will ultimately reach for the light. Cynicism will not win while I still breathe.
Content warnings: Language, gallows humor, graphic violence including hand-to-hand combat and gun violence, mentions of suicide and suicidal ideation, drug use, medical abuse, and state-sanctioned violence of various kinds. There will be no sexual content of any kind, aside from some jokes and veiled references to the kink scene, and probably not even any romance at all, really.
I've had trouble tracking down the original photographers, but these mostly appear to be pictures of the blast furnaces in Belgium (called things like Haut-Fourneau 4/6/B etc.); here are some other pictures of HFB, of HF4 Charlenoi, and some of HF6 Seraing, by other urban explorers. the first picture is probably cables for an arc furnace, I saw one Instagram post claim it was in Canada but it didn't seem to be the original.
“In school kids used to say if you dropped something from high enough, it’d bust right through to the underground. If the teachers heard you saying that stuff, you got sent to the guidance room for 'telling lies.'”
“The guidance room?”
“It’s just a creepy little room where they tell kids what they’re allowed to think. It’s supposed to be nicer than punishment, but if you’re really bad they’ll leave you in there by yourself for hours and hours. Or maybe it just felt that long, I don’t know.”
