A POST-APOCALYPTIC world in the midst of recovering from a large-scale war on an undefined world parallel to our own. All story versions take place within (THE DISTRICT) & it's many variations. Unreliable narrators and perpetual moral grayness present among characters. Normalized violence & frequent darker & horror topics to be expected. A story themed around GRIEF & ACCEPTANCE.TAKES INSPIRATION FROM Q Hayashida's works, the Outlast franchise, Devilman, Trinity Blood, REPO! The Genetic Opera, Rocky Horror Picture Show, among others.
( ... Year 803 defines the year that the District, a place seemingly confined from any outside portions of the world, begins to start contracting an Atelier disease simply titled Black Rot, a disease which enhances atelier capability and the inner workshop whilst rotting and deteriorating the outer form. The District is shabby living, with housing centers that often intertwine in strange patterns; some more maze-like, whilst the fourth largest housing center in the District — 018895, or also known as the Shell Housings — is defined by a strong spiral pattern that houses primarily lower and lower middle class residents.... Summer of 804 marks the disappearance of resident DOGA, eldest brother of one of the lower-class families living on the inside housing of the Shell Housings & a childhood companion of KIKI, who’s adamant to find where he’s gone. With her only lead being that the last sighting was him going deeper into the Shell Housing and into the Sewer Well, she began to retrace his steps back to him.. )
... ATELIERS are a species that come from time-old, but are looked down upon within THE DISTRICT due to their nature being more questions than answers; while what you see of them looks human, it’s simply considered an outer shell, and seems to serve merely as some form of aesthetic purpose to fit-in with their surroundings. In some cases, these shellings are distorted, resulting in a form of uncanny valley. All are composed of inner working beings that operate individually to come together & form a single being, producing magic-output and a human persona ‘like a workshop’. They’re also regarded as Fake humans & Vessels. Each Atelier has their own forms of unique and limited magic; with there being 3 different classes (Class 1/2/3) to determine an Atelier’s strength and cause for concern.... THE BLACK ROT is a disease which distorts the biological makeup and works the ‘INNER-SENTIENTIAL NERVES’ to their very core, resulting in higher magic output whilst also shortening lifespan and disfiguring & warping the outer shell. It often works to alter that of the ateliers behaviors, including personality, with the most common changes being brain-deadness, amnesia, aggression/volatility, and paranoia. Over time, the outer shell will begin to crack & break until reduced to mere exposed nerves, which then go on to whither & die from exposure to the elements due to Ateliers' delicate internal structure.... Because of the effect of ateliers on the District and their high density among the population, many humans end up born with strange effects. These are often referred to as MUDCHILDREN.
THE SEWERS lie entrance-wise in various locations that have been blocked off with time, but have a notable presence within the Shell Housing's middle of it's spiral: the rumored location of DOGA's disappearance, and home to Atelier's who consider themselves 'SEWER CHILDREN', devotees of the Class-3 Atelier SEWER GODDESS who protects all ateliers within it's confines.A subsection within the SEWERS includes THE MARKET, of which define itself as not wishing to be apart of the SEWER GODDESS' care. Most Ateliers apart of THE MARKET often adapt into more inhuman, insect forms.
... THE DISTRICT was established by the HIVE as a means of living for post-war refugees as a result of the outside world going on to face extreme, barren climate often caught in heavy snow. Unbeknownst to all, THE DISTRICT faces a 'reset' every 100 years: all citizens are to die, all low-level workers to be cleaned out, & the story starts anew. Few civilians of atelier birth have been able to withstand the resets.... The District is inspired very much by the Hole from Dorohedoro; The District’s structure is essentially isolated within walls that are meant to lock the inner from the out, the out being mainly wasteland with smaller nations peppered around. The government (HIVE) runs as an oligarchy that, while successful for the first few years of the district’s creation, began to falter as time went on, resulting in the creation of the REDLOCK district. The REDLOCK district is essentially an ‘anything goes’ area of the District, dealing with hardly any governing minus public cleaners & executioners who ‘clean’ the population, not particularly of ateliers nor humans, but rather problem-residents & sometimes government-supported executions. The more power you have, the better. For that reason, Ateliers gather there frequently in groups often referred to as covens or workshops.... The war that resulted in the creation of the District is still debated to-this-day and seemed to be based around foolish displays for power; The District, as a whole, is an experimental society that was meant to specifically test on its own citizens and population; outside communication is nearly impossible for general public & there was active propaganda in the past that the facility was to bring better post-war living & preyed particularly on that of the desperate of the fall out.
THE DISTRICT'S most notable source of living, but equally its most dangerous residence to remain apart of. Filled by cleaners & often resentful, independent Ateliers and their groups, it's a major source of in-fighting where any and all goes. No legality is to be found within the residence of the REDLOCKE district, despite it's search for justice through cleaning services.HOME TO THE BUTCHER SHOP, ran by Angelista and harboring THE MIDNIGHT BUTCHER, most notable for sadistically drawn-out cleanings.BACK.
KIKI: she,it. 19+, 5'5ft.
A young adult — dragged out from the general public at a young age due to suffering from frequent hallucinations, Kiki is a strange girl born with the rather oddballish feat of defying gravity against her own will despite having human anatomy, resulting in her wearing steel, weighted boots to keep her grounded at most times. She strikes a deal with the Sewer Goddess that she’ll help if compensated financially and she can promise to fix her gravity-defiance in exchange for helping with the Goddess’ search and look into the origins and how to fix the effects of Black Rot, all the while still trying to track down Doga in the midst of an ever-growing pile of work. By end-story, Kiki represents acceptance while starting representing denial.SEWER GODDESS/TOMORI: she, it, they. ???, 10'11ft (true form). Though her origins are unknown, she’s considered one of the rare living examples of a Class-3 Atelier, who she claims that in ‘modern terms’ go by terms of general godliness. Within the story, her character serves as a representation of bargaining, utilizing and manipulating KIKI into doing work for her in finding the origin of Black Rot and fixing it in order to save her son from an earlier than anticipated death. Neither good nor evil, but lacks care for anything outside of her son’s well being, and will do anything to change his fate. She’s the cause of the Sewer Well’s blockage, having turned the Sewer Well into a home for both herself, her son, and other Ateliers within the Shell Housing’s area.LITHE, LIONNE: he, it, MUDGIRL TL: 8, 3'2ft. DISTRICT 99: 9,908, 6'3ft.
The rather strange, oddballish son of the Sewer Goddess; he seems around elementary-age with a keen interest in carpets, antique junk, and shiny objects, often seen hoarding some strange black orb to his chest beneath an oversized coat that drags behind him whilst babbling about the outside world. Infected by Black Rot and Sewer Goddess’ main motivation to bargain with the grasps of death. He tends to call her 'Tiffy’, though no one knows why. Extremely temperamental and bratty. It becomes frequent later on for him to be essentially babysat by Kiki despite their rough beginnings, beginning to prefer Kiki over his own mother. The main character of DISTRICT 99, having mellowed out after spending his formative years under the foster care of Elliot Blanc & coming to terms with the guilt of his mother's by-then passing.VANCE VELOCCI: he/him, 32 6'2ft.
An outsider from the district with little to offer of his past other than the fact that he’s visiting the District ‘on business’; a previous blackmailer and private investigator in an underground faction outside of the District, hired by an unknown individual to locate the abduction of their wife and child approximately ~15-20 years ago. Received a visa to enter courtesy of connections through his old occupation. A notably hard-worker and despite his roots works for what he believes is for a greater good, though entirely cynical about the world around him. Odd-marked scars all around his body and has the makings of a man-made atelier & grew up at an experimental facility ran by HIVES' predecessors with Jade Orland. Represents depression.JADE ORLAND: she/her, 29 5'11ft.
An outsider from the district with little to offer of her past other than the fact that she’s visiting THE DISTRICT ‘on business’ alongside VELOCCI, visa provided by him, working closer to his own guard rather than another investigator; was avidly against VELOCCI taking the case due to believing he was finally getting way in over his head, THE DISTRICT a place of low tolerance for outside affairs meddling inwards & is aware of the danger that comes from what’s considered the HIVE. Eyes pitch-black, a side effect of constant dilation of them & has the makings of a man-made atelier. Was raised within an experimental facility alongside VELOCCI in their youth, marking her avid protectiveness over him.!! CONTINUED CHARACTERS LIST !!BACK