The world of Journal Seekers, it's a world where modern day and the cosmic go hand in hand. Follow our party of Freelance Journal Seekers, Null, Wynter, Madame Faudaine and Abraham J. F. Stokes as they explore the strange and unusual workings of this world..
Things are fine. Journal Seekers has been on kind of a big hiatus because making the maps takes a lot of time and effort and myself and the GM have been on separate mental health breaks that have been slowing progress.
Faudaine's player @nikodraws is a very busy person and we havent had a chance to sit down and write out a bio for her.
Hopefully we can get some work done soon, but in the mean time feel free to check out a different game our GM @arsonsara has been running on @eternal-savvy-blog‘s channel ‘Animal Crossing: Fallen Leaf’ a Monster of Week game set in the AC universe! https://www.twitch.tv/collections/JaeYwDte_xUSaA?filter=collections
Hello there everyone, Arsonsara here! And it’s time I put an end to the unfortunate radio silence of the past few months and give you all some conclusive information!
The next episode of Journal Seekers: Viral Aftermath, is going to be coming soon!
Episode 3.5 of Journal Seekers will be streamed November 18th, and start around 3-4 PM EST
Now as for everything else, such as the two Oneshot Episodes in development and the date for Chapter 4, those will be coming soon. There were a few snags along the way and not to mention there are a few other surprises to look forward to soon!
I do dearly apologize for the silence, but with this being a personal project and there only being a handful of us on board, sometimes things like these do take time but I immensely appreciate those of you who stuck around waiting while the Hiatus was in effect.
On another note, there will be a big announcement at the end of Episode 3.5. But we’ll just have to wait until than.
Heyo folks, Arson here! So for those curious I wanted to keep you all posted on the state of affairs regarding Journal Seekers seeing as we’ve been a tad quiet as of recently. The reason for that being, Chapter 3 took a lot of energy and time for us to make, with the entire two parter taking up at least Six Months to make. Hence, we’ve been focusing on easier, smaller projects for the time being.
For those unaware, we have a couple of different projects for our streams that aren’t just Journal Seekers (Mobrole, the recent Legend of Zelda Campaign, and Spell Oneshots just to name a few.) so for the sake of my own sanity as well as those who help me make Journal Seekers we took a break on working on the main series as creating Chapter 3 took a lot of time.
However, we have been working on a few supplementary projects such as the aforementioned Zelda Campaign. However if you’re curious as to what new things are happening for Journal Seekers, I hope you’ll all be happy to know the next Oneshot is well underway and is very close to completion. All that’s left now is planning out the combats, finishing a few maps, character creation and scheduling.
For the time being, however, I implore you to watch the other shows we have on https://www.twitch.tv/dragonqueen. These things take a lot of time to make, and trust me when I say we can’t thank you all enough for your patience.
For the time being however, we can’t wait for the Oneshot to be ready and raring to go. I hope to see you all there for:
Background: Abraham Stokes is a 41-year-old stockbroker working for MegaCo Corporation's finance division (NYSE: MEGA). Abe lives in the suburbs just outside of Manhattan with his lovely wife, Emily, and his current eldest son, Jacob. Jacob's starting middle school this fall.
Abe has a rocky relationship with his ex-wife, Maria. The two of them were married between 2003 and January 2009. Maria filed the divorce papers right after the 2008 crash. Abe and Maria had a son named Samuel. Maria got custody of Samuel in the divorce. Abraham learned, in the middle of 2009, on his 25th birthday, in bankruptcy court, that Samuel had died in an unfortunate trampoline accident at a friend's house. It wasn't a very good day.
From 2004 to 2009, Abraham worked for Merrill Lynch; first as an intern, then as a junior trader. Abe achieved large returns by trading on new-fangled collateralized debt obligations and insider info about forex. The returns were astronomical. Abe got out of CDOs before the crash, but his information broker started feeding him bad information. Abe's positions were heavily leveraged. Abe was among the first wave of employees that Merrill Lynch laid off in 2009.
Between 2009 and 2024, Abe worked for various banks as an increasingly senior trader while trying to launch small businesses on the side. Most of the businesses Abe started sputtered out quickly, but a couple of them turned a modest profit.
Abraham became a Journal Seeker as part of the third step of his mid-life crisis roadmap.
Fieldnotes (Fun-Facts!):
-All of Abe's grandmothers are named Maria. It makes Thanksgivings very confusing.
-Abe has a seven-step roadmap for how his mid-life crisis will play out. It must be strictly adhered to.
-Abraham has both an MBA and a CFA. He got his employers to pay for them.
-Abraham enjoys reading Dilbert in the Sunday edition of the Wall Street Journal.
-Abraham used to be happy-go-lucky and full of life. He isn't now.
-Abraham enjoys playing golf and tennis at his local country club.
-Abraham's great-great-grandfather, Ricky, was born in the late 1800s. Due to circumstances that nobody in the family likes to talk about, he's still alive.
-Abraham has a boat, laden with fishing gear, parked in his driveway. He keeps insisting he'll use it this summer.
-In high school, Abraham said he wanted to be an artist. That didn't pan out.
Welcome back to The Seeker Files, my fellow humans and anomalies! Apologies for the weeklong silence, after the massive undertaking that was Resident Biohazard I had to step away from Journal Seekers for a bit but I didn’t want to leave you in the dark for too long. So right now we’ll get into one of the more odd things in the Journal Seekers universe: The Struggle of Clowns and Toons.
Welcome back to The Seeker Files, my fellow humans and anomalies! Apologies for the weeklong silence, after the massive undertaking that was Resident Biohazard I had to step away from Journal Seekers for a bit but I didn’t want to leave you in the dark for too long. So right now we’ll get into one of the more odd things in the Journal Seekers universe: The Struggle of Clowns and Toons.
-Arson
Now the History of the Journal Seekers universe is quite different to that of the real world. A few examples being: Planet Earth is twice the size of our Earth, The Crusades never happened (technically, but that’s for another time.), and technological advancement happened far earlier in history than it did in our world. 100 years faster, in fact! By the 1800’s the Journal Seekers world was in the same technological era as us in the 1900’s! Which is funny because that is where this little ditty begins.
Our story begins back in 1800’s, with a woman by the name of Annabelle Affini and man by the name of Alan House. The two lived completely different lives yet unbeknownst to them their lives would intertwine. Annabelle lived most of her life in New York when her mother and father had immigrated back a few years ago, and despite the fact that living here was much better than where they came from, income was sparse and the family needed to do everything they can to continue to have a roof over their heads. Annabelle, understanding the predicament their family was in, tried their best to support their family as well.
Keep in mind this is the 1800’s and while the JS universe is different, some historical moments do mirror that of our own world. So Annabelle could just get a job, however she had a horrible streak of bad luck. Wherever she went she would fumble, fall, and tumble into danger and just barely make it out with her life. People who knew her didn’t know if she was the unluckiest girl on earth, or a blessed child for making it out of scraps alive. Her mother and father always coddled her because of this, making sure she was always safe and never ever put herself into danger. Annabelle on the other hand was persistent, and one day went to go help painting buildings to try and scrounge up some money. This moment would forever change Annabelle’s life, with what was supposed to be a simple errand becoming a cataclysm, and then into a performance. Clown Historians call this moment in time “The Raise of the Curtain” as any Clown performance beforehand was merely leading up to the main event.
Citizens looked on in horror as a small child was thrust into such danger, but as time passed that unease and fear turned into laughter and smiles. As Annabelle trudged forward, leaping from building to building, spilling paint everywhere and objects precariously falling from ropes, she felt something. For her entire life she knew that her streak of misfortune meant something and today she would find out what it was. Everytime something like this happened she’d always run instead of facing it head on, and while for most people it would have been suicide, for Annabelle it was something different. She stood still on the roof of a building, as a Piano had been launched into the air not moments before. For a moment the onlookers paused, their joviality returning to it’s origin of shock. As the Piano fell upon Annabelle’s head the crowd gasped, some even screamed. However, not even a few seconds later, Annabelle popped her head out of the front door of the building, spat out a tooth and shouted “I’m okay!”. The crowd went wild.
It was then that Annabelle found her purpose as a clown. Now at this point in times, Clowns had already existed. However they were nothing more than roles they played in the real world. People who dressed up in colorful clothes and makeup to put on a show for the masses. However Annabelle began something more. As she grew up to become a Clown Legend she created what is now known as The Clown Ethos. The Clown Ethos’ original writer has been lost to time. Some theorize it was written by Annabelle herself, a student of hers, or simply someone who was dedicated to chronicling Annabelle’s passion and heart. The crux of the Clown Ethos is one simple saying: “Let them laugh with you, and you’ll know a joy greater than laughter.” After The Clown Ethos was created the way people saw Clowns was changed forever. Instead of just being performers, actors, comedians and stagefolk they were seen as beacons of some sort of holy joy. With some people even coining the term ‘Paladins of Comedy’. The more people believed in this strange Magic that clowns had, the stronger it became*.
*In the Journal Seekers Universe, belief can actually give power and bring things to life. This is what gives Gods their power. If you’ve ever played the game Okami, it works sorta like that.
But, in the shadows something was being created to rival Annabelle. Enter Alan House, the creator of House Animation. House Animation was a powerhouse Animation Studio at the time, mirroring that of Fleischer Animation in our world. Alan was born in New York same as Annabelle, but despite not sharing the same bad luck as Annabelle, Alan’s life wasn’t pleasant. He was born in the slums, with an absentee father and a mother who did everything she could so that Alan could lead a normal life. Alan’s mother gave everything for him, even working as a prostitute in order to make ends meet. As the years went by Alan grew to pity his own mother, knowing that she was giving her life to make sure that Alan could avoid the strife she had to live. The world was so cruel to Alan and his family he coped the only way he knew how: imagination.
Alan created thousands of characters in his own head, using them as a coping mechanism so that he could forget about the troubles of reality and make a world that was just for him. One where him and his mother could truly be happy. As Alan grew from a boy into a man he finally took his shot in becoming an animator, working for a small startup company trying to get off the ground. Sadly, once his first animation came to life on the big screen was also the day his mother had died. After that day, Alan eat, slept and breathed his own work in order to avoid the crushing reality of what his life had become.
From that day forward House Animations became a juggernaut of animated film, with Alan leading the charge. Every day he spent time coming up with new ideas, new characters and putting his blood, sweat and tears into his work. His most famous character being Blythe the Dog, a small little animated Bulldog with a bowler cap and tie known for their wily attitude and bullheaded mentality. Children and Adults alike fell in love with Alan’s work but there was a problem. It wasn’t real.
With the art of Clowning becoming what it was around the same time, Alan knew he’d always be a step behind the curb. Back than Clowns didn’t have any sort of strange abilities or uncanny powers, they were just regular people. But now because of Annabelle and The Clown Ethos, Clowns could do anything that a Cartoon could do but in real life. Alan furiously tried so hard to bring his creations to life with theme parks, actors, toys and even animatronics (one of said animatronics being of one of Blythe’s secondary characters, Chaze the Cat. Although, that’s a story for another time…) yet nothing worked. As the years passed Alan’s passion became an obsession, the joy that he gave people becoming adrenaline, and he became addicted. As he grew more desperate, until one fateful night.
As Alan sat in his room, furiously scrawling on scraps of paper, he heard a voice. A deep, smooth and surly voice. A voice promising that he could make his dream become a reality. The voice Alan heard went by so many names, yet it simply asked to be referred to as Mr. Zebub. Zebub had promised Alan that if he gave up his blood, sweat and tears, he could bring Blythe to life, just as he wanted. Alan, not even second guessing the situation at all, agreed. Nobody knows of what happened to Alan afterwards. Some say he went through his own personal hell and came back a husk of a man, other believe he literally gave up his soul to put into that of Blythes. The answer remains a mystery, but one thing does not: After that night, Blythe came to life.
Blythe looked just as he did from his cartoons. A monochrome, four-foot tall dog with a bowler cap and tie who only spoke in growls and barks. With that, Alan had completed his life long goal and was prepared to show his work off to the masses. Needless to say, it was everything Alan could have ever dreamed of. Yet people who worked close with him said that despite that, he looked dead inside. During the first showing of “Blythe’s Alive!”, Alan simply sat in the crowd motionless, and silent. Rumor has it that once the first show had come to an end, and just as the crowd began to cheer, Alan simply got up from his seat and left.
After that night, Alan was never seen from again. Despite the fact that he was clearly still alive, and people still heard the sound of a pencil on paper and heavy breathing from his office, nobody had ever seen Alan’s face ever again. And the fate that was in store for Blythe was one nobody could have predicted. The humor of most House Animation cartoons tended to be very dark and grim, with almost every joke resulting in someone getting hurt, brutalized, and in some cases even killed. Blythe even had a trademark wheezy laugh that he’d do every time he saw someone get hurt. However, Blythe’s sense of humor didn’t translate well into the real world. As time passed the “Blythe’s Alive” show became more and more grim, with actors working with Blythe coming home with bruises, black eyes, and if they were lucky only one broken arm. As time passed less and less people began to show up to the show, and Blythe’s grew angry. One night, on a rehearsal before the last Blythe’s Alive show an event occured known as “The Black Comedy.”
That night, Blythe had created a new act for the troupe. One written by Blythe himself that he knew was going to rake in interest. In his own words “Someone is going to show up, even if it kills us.” Well he didn’t say it he kinda, growled it. In fact it’s a wonder how anyone understood him. Some theorize that once Blythe came to life he had a set of ethereal subtitles or something. Back on point, “Someone is going to show up, even if it kills us.”
And kill them it did.
What was supposed to be a show rehearsal became a massacre, with every actor being brutalized by what Blythe thought were jokes. People were crushed under ten-ton weights, decapitated with mallets, torn limb from limb and had their limbs juggled, it was a living nightmare. What’s worse, is that with every actor killed, Blythe had devoured them whole and consumed their souls, becoming an overgrown, 10ft tall beast. Once the curtains raised for the final showing of Blythe’s Alive, the crowd met gazes with a horrific beast soaked in the blood of the innocent. As the crowd ran away, Blythe gave chase, trying to keep his audience captive and watch him for all eternity.
As he broke out of the theater, he wreaked havoc upon the city until he finally met gaze with the thing he hated the most. Annabelle. Ever since Blythe came to life he had an undying hatred for Annabelle, knowing that he was made to compete with her. As he went to rip into Annabelle’s flesh, she jumped into the air, tap danced on his head and started running. This began the final event in both Annabelle and Blythe’s lives. The event known as “The Eternal Showstopper.” To this day, The Eternal Showstopper continues, an game of cat and mouse that will last until the end of time. As Annabelle and Blythe ran through the streets of New York, Blythe tried one last time to get rid of her and dragged her into hell by the legs. Now the two remain in the Hellian Badlands, Annabelle acting as a sacrifice to keep the beast at bay.
As The Eternal Showstopper continued, Blythe began to throw himself into danger. Despite how much he tried to kill Annabelle, he always fell just short, always hurting himself in the process, whereas Annabelle never even lifted a finger to ever hurt Blythe. With each contraption that had backfired on Blythe, another geyser of black, inky blood spewed from his body. This black blood would soon create a river in the Hellian Badlands known as “The Ink Splot” from where the next era of Toons were born.
And that, my friends is the beginning of Clowns and Toons. Next time we’ll talk about Clowns and Toons and get into how they work, the powers they have, the different variants, and so on! Be vigilant, my fellow seekers and be wary! Laughter may be the best medicine, but you can overdose on anything.
Thanks to everyone who joined us for today’s Journal Seekers stream! (and for the people who did fan art holy MOLY) I don’t have any drawings for today’s stream yet but I do have some doodles I haven’t posted yet and some redone player icons! Hope you’ll join us for the next one, too!
Fanart of @doodledrawsthings || @artisticdoodler ‘s character Null, and the boss character from the Resident Biohazard stream via @journalseekersofficial !! Thank you so much for the hella cool stream! <3 WHAT A BOSS BATTLE
Hello! Sorry to bother you, but I have suddenly become insanely interested in the Journal Seekers and was wondering what sort of a system you were running off of and if you would be willing to let me know a bit about it?
“Ah, 00x7…” Arson bellowed, sitting upon his throne of leaves and ash. “I’ve been expecting your query for quite some time now.” As the words lecherously slewed from the creature’s mouth, a smile formed behind their cracked mask of stone.
NOW ENOUGH OF THAT DUMB, OVERTLYFLOWERY INTRODUCTION LET’S BE A BUNCH OF FUCKIN’ NERDS AND TALK TABLETOP.
Well, as Mak had told you before, Journal Seekers is a modification of the Anime Campaign System, which is a modification of Unforgotten Realms. Now the important part is Anime Campaign. Anime Campaign was a series run by JelloApocalypse on Twitch.TV/Warpedlamp. It’s a good watch and if you like Journal Seekers, you’ll more than likely enjoy Anime Campaign.
Anime Campaign’s system has been documented inside this Google Doc, so there’s that: Here’s that.
As for what we changed for Journal Seekers, not a lot actually! If you read the How to Play Anime Campaign system than you’ll get most of the jargon i’m gonna spit but here goes:
Instead of having Epithet Users, we have Anomalies. There can only be one Anomaly on a team of four, and the four players roll a D20 in order to determine who the Anomaly is. The player who rolls the highest chooses who plays the Anomaly.
You don’t have to roll a random word for your character. While I do think that leaving a character up to chance can give you an opportunity to make a character you otherwise wouldn’t, I feel it’s best to give players the seat of power.
The Anime Campaign system was made soley for Anime Campaign, so of course, I threw all the rules out the window that revolved around it being in the setting they created and made my own. While I do love Anime Campaign I feel as if I kept Journal Seekers in the AC universe it just woulda been weird.
And that’s pretty much all I changed! As much as I love the system we use for Journal Seekers…there’s no lying in that it’s just roleplaying with dice. Yes it does have it’s own rules, yes it can have it’s own nuance and YES I do make it work to have the players be engaged.
But honestly, it’s not a complex system.
Thanks for the question and glad Journal Seekers has piqued your interest so much!
FINALLY FINISHED HER! It took me a couple weeks, thanks to the heavy workload from college, but I finally got around to filling out the colors cx
Pronouns: She/her
Nicknames: Neki, Manny
Profession: Anomalous Plant Botanist/Conservationist
Home: Abyssal Valley Woods Preserve
Favorite Plant: Dragonsnaps and Roaming Roses
Age: 23?
Gender: Female
Click the Read More for the full description! I had a ton of fun devising her abilities. I tried very hard to stick to the rules and guides posted on the official Journal Seekers page, while still sticking to what I thought would fit Maneki (and also what was just fun for me to write as a storyteller Cx)
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