Porkbracelet is a work-in-progress collection of short stories created collaboratively by Cal
and Omii.
The stories follow a diverse collection of characters in near-future Newark, New Jersey and Rotterdam.
Porkbracelet contains examples of:
- 20 Minutes into the Future: In the 2050s setting of the majority of the stories, certain changes— like integrated iris chips that replace cell phones and computers— are widespread, but other things, like people's fashion sense, seems not to have changed much from the modern day.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Lucian's death.
- Alto Villainess: Both Luci and Valeria.
- Ambition Is Evil: Lucian was originally only trying to escape how awful his situation was growing up for him and his sister, but greed and ambition (and obsession with escaping that childhood) made him evil.
- Antagonist Abilities: Villains like Lucian and Luci have the power of cybernetic mind control behind them, but the heroes have no such thing... because of how inherently immoral it is.
- Ax-Crazy: Luci, which is, to put it lightly, not fitting for a corporate setting— leading Lila to frequently have to cover up her misdeeds or hold her back.
- Black-and-Gray Morality: The Good Guys assassinate people, but the Bad Guys brainwash children, so maybe it's actually OK to do some assassinations?
- Card-Carrying Villain: Lucian, and even more so Luci, are quite aware that they're bad people.
- Commune: The Good Guys (Isaiah and Reagan) live in an old broken-down apartment building that's been converted into a house/school/farm for the local group of revolutionaries.
- Company Town: Everything in Newark, and the rest of North Jersey, is owned almost completely by the local Evil Corporation, Passaic.
- Gilded Cage: Lucian tries to keep Ellie away from joining the freedom fighters by offering her a much better life than she was used to... though sadly it implies a lot about the state of the rest of the city that this "better life" mostly includes things like air conditioning, a nice warm bath, and hot chocolate.
- Eco-Terrorist: Isaiah and his followers are this, though they're still the good guys here.
- Equal-Opportunity Evil: Passaic's higher-ups are quite a diverse group, both racially and gender-wise, but they're pretty much all horrible people who have no problem with stepping on the little guy to get their way.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Lucian will do anything to protect his sister Everly, even once they're somewhat estranged.
- Evil Debt Collector: It's mentioned briefly that Luci used to be this— a very violent one— before going into marketing.
- Evil, Inc.: Passaic is a clear example.
- Fashionable Evil: Also Vale.
- Femme Fatale: Luci. Vale also plays with this trope, despite being male.
- Hacker Cave: Terry's apartment is a total tech disaster, as well as being home to a potentially-sentient AI named NULL.
- The Hedonist: Lucian, and he's trying to get Ellie into this lifestyle too.
- Industrial Ghetto: What Newark was like when Lucian was growing up, though it's become sinister in quite a different, more Company Town Cyberpunk way since then.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Lucian. Ellie thinks that he's a good guy deep down, but his actions end up showing her he's not.
- Living with the Villain: Ellie lives with Lucian for a good part of the story.
- Oppressive States of America: It's mentioned in discussion between the characters that the US government has decided to suspend public elections until the violence from the freedom fighters is under control. Surely this won't cause any major issues!
- Privately Owned Society: So privatized that the literal police are now privately operated by the local Evil Corporation (Passaic).
- Soulless Bedroom: Valeria's apartment(s) are... aggressively minimalist. Well-decorated, but they look like no one lives there.
- Soul-Sucking Retail Job: Every job Ellie has is this.
- Suddenly Significant City: Due to Passaic's meteoric rise because of its AI technology, Newark has become nearly as important as New York City by the time the story takes place.
- Sweet Baker: Sophie's endgame partner, Femke, is a baker who is much sweeter to her than Valeria was.
- Urban Hellscape: Newark.
- Work Hard, Play Hard: Vale and Lucian both fit this— and it's made them both very successful, though you could argue Vale is more committed to the "work hard" part and Lucian more to the "play hard."
