#unless you actually live in the nyc area

[oflgtfol]

people in the 9/11 tag acting like 200k people died. “you know someone who lost someone that day” are you from fucking new york city? no? shut the fuck up then

[wordwarriors]

World Building

I'm a little late with the summary, but here it is. Thanks to everyone who attended and see you all again next month!

Where does your story take place?

Real-world v created world: You can use the world that we live in as it is. You can use the world that we live in with some tweaks. You can use alternate timelines/universes or create an entirely fictional world.

Alternate timelines Ex: modern day real world but WW I never happened.

High v low fantasy:

High fantasy refers to epic fantasy which is set in an alternate world. It typically includes lots of magical elements, fantastical creatures, and unusual technology. Whereas low fantasy is when magical creatures and elements intrude upon the regular world.

Things to consider/include:

Magic system

Geography

Political systems

Religion

Culture

Is there a class system? What does that look like?

Being grounded in the real world doesn’t save you from having to world-build.

What continent, country, city? Urban or rural? Mountains? Beach? A country can be set in the real world but it’s a fictional country. A city can be fictional. It can be based on NYC for example but still be fictional. Change the name and whatever else you need to.

You can blend real and imagined. Ex: Used the name of a real restaurant but placed it in a different town, etc.

Example: I used real roads but fake places. Anyone local will recognize the intersection but I put a fictional forest where a horse pasture actually sits.

You can create fictional shops, buildings, etc in NYC. NYC is real but the places aren’t.

Example: I had to create a building with a helipad in a story once b/c there are no helipads in that area, but I needed one for my story to work so I made it up. Could have used an actual one but my characters would have had to get past the FBI barricade, so it was easier to make up a building that was inside the perimeter.

Note:

If using magic, one must first establish how it normally works before showing it malfunctioning. Same if the character is supposed to be super strong or smart or something, establish that first so the reader understands what is normal in this world before the thing goes wrong.

Establishing Scenes: tell us all of the above. But do it in a way that shows not tells.

Also, make sure it matters. You need rich world-building but the reader doesn’t care what your character's first car was unless that information tells us something important about the character that we need to know, like he worked three summers in a row to earn the money because his parents were poor. Or because they were rich but stingy. Or because they were rich but wanted him to learn to earn things rather than have things handed to him. (if this is important to set a tone for his character or personality, ie, learned the value of hard work or this is why he resents his parents or this is why he is so driven to succeed in his career so he never goes hungry again!

Fabulous establishing world-building scene courtesy of @karahalloway:

The horse responds with a sour-faced snort, stepping quickly past the moss-covered waypost — a brazen reminder of this land's heathen roots. Because despite the House of Rys' conversion to Christianity almost a millennia ago, in the far-flung reaches of the kingdom — where the roads ran out, and the name of the King is just that... a name — the tenet of the old ways is more than just a memory. It is a living, breathing ethos. Suffused into the very heart of this harsh, rugged, yet beautiful land. Where portents, spells, and otherworldly creatures exist in the same breath as Christ, the Eucharist, and Judgement Day, and the very air crackles with mysticism and superstition. Which is partly what drew me here — to the edge of the proverbial map, where the laws of Cordonia fray into irrelevance in the face of the jagged peaks of the snow-capped mountains, and your fortune is what you craft it to be.

This sets the stage with so many rich details: geography, history, socio-political, religious background, his place in this world,etc.

Please, if I've missed anything, feel free to mention it in the comments and I'll add it!

Also, check out these articles:

World Building

February Event:

Live Discussion on character building on Friday, February 23rd, 2024 12:00 p.m. CST

Word Warriors:

@karahalloway @aussiegurl1234 @harleybeaumont @alj4890 @peonierose @petiteboheme @twinkleallnight @lizzybeth1986 @noesapphic @thedistantshoresproject

@ryns-ramblings @tate-lin @nestledonthaveone

@aallotarenunelma @kristinamae093 @coffeeheartaddict2 @memorias-depresivas

@jerzwriter

[rpmemesbyarat]

Hello! I've been reading through some of your writing rants/advice posts and I've found them very helpful! If it isn't any trouble, do you happen to have advice or knowledge on how to write realistic city settings? Often in fiction we are presented with friendly, quirky, advertiser-friendly versions of cities when its obvious in reality none of that is remotely true. New York City is especially a victim of this. How can writers give their city setting a definite personality without idealizing it too much?

I don’t have any lengthy opinionated rants about it, but as someone who has never been to NYC, or LA, or Chicago, or New Orleans, but who has RPed in those settings, the trick I use is looking to the locals. Reddit has entire subreddits for the residents of cities and talking about those cities. So here are some things I tried googling and the result! Google: reddit trendiest shopping area new york First Three Results: An NYC Shopping Guide to: SoHo and Neighbors New York Ladies... What are your favorite mid-range Fashion Districts for hidden gems?                Best and cheapest places to shop in NYC?          Google: reddit best clubs in new orleans First Three Results:  Nightlife in New Orleans: Any suggestions from locals? Best bars for people in their early twenties?                             Best bars in New Orleans?                                I find these to be a lot more reliable and authentic than travel websites, which are often trying to sell you on certain places or the city as a whole to encourage tourism. I know this, because I used to work on the side for a travel company that paid me to write about clubs and restaurants and talk them up on their site. . .and I’d never been to any of the places that I “reviewed”. I just went to places like Reddit and Yelp and so on, looked at what people who had actually been there had to say, and crafted articles that certainly made it SOUND like I’d been there (while never actually saying that I had)    These places are also great for details that come from personal stories in the comments, whether it’s just opinions on the bars/clubes ets or wild personal anecdotes like threads on Weirdest Thing You’ve Seen in New York or Strangest Thing You’ve Seen on the Subway. You can also google “reddit most unsafe places in new york“ or “tips for living in new york reddit“ or whatever else it is you want to know and you will get threads FULL of firsthand advice from locals that you can incorporate into your writing and characters! Reddit isn’t the only source either. For instance, there’s THIS FORUM for New Yorkers! I’ll also often go to Wikipedia for directions. For instance, say I want something set in a church in New York. I google “wiki new york church” which brings me to Category: Churches In New York and I decide I want Category:Eastern Orthodox churches in New York City and from there I pick St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral (Brooklyn) and the page tells me it’s at 355 State Street in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. So instead of having my character say “I’ll meet you at the church” which is vague and would be horribly confusing to whomever they’re speaking to unless this is already a church they both regular meet at, or giving them the whole address which sounds awkward and like a tourist, I’ll have them say, “I’ll meet you at St. Nicholas in Brookyln, it’s on State Street” or something like that. That makes them sound much more like a local person who knows this area. I just used New York as my main example for this answer, since you mentioned it, but all these tips work just as well with any other major city!       

[novakspector]

helpful travel USA hints:

Don't visit anywhere as a tourist without doing research on where not to go, what neighborhoods are and aren't safe. This is true anywhere, not just the US. This is a real thing, it's not scaremongering or "hate," there are neighborhoods in major cities where you will be threatened, robbed, or attacked. This information is freely available online.

Don't come to the US as a tourist if you can't even afford a hotel/motel in a decent location. "Inglewood is ok because Tyra Banks is from there." LMAO. Staying somewhere sketchy to save money could put you in danger, it's not worth it. Just wait until you have enough money to stay somewhere safe and comfortable, you'll have a better time.

Stay out of the ghetto, skid row, the hood, sketchy areas, whatever you want to call it. The only people who live in those areas are people who don't have the means to leave. They don't want to see tourists taking photos and videos of their misery.

Probably shouldn't be a tourist anywhere if you're as dumb as this girl and her friend were. Like, just stay home. You're going to get in trouble or end up dead. They were lucky. If you're naïve and think everyone is your friend, you're not ready to be an international tourist. That is to say, you don't have common sense. No, you should not walk around thinking that everyone is trying to rob you or kill you because they're not, but you should be aware of your surroundings and know where to go and where not to go as a bare minimum.

Don't think that people are the same as they are wherever you're from, because they're not. People shape their environment and everyone is shaped by their environment. Ireland for example is a small island country, it's generally pretty safe and on a small island almost everyone is cousins so there's a quaint sort of we are family vibe there. It's not like that in big cities in the US, it's just the opposite.

Go to an actual travel agent and sign up for a guided tour if you want to do touristy sight seeing in LA, unless you are close friends/family with a local who is showing you around. LA is not just a city, it's a huge metropolitan area with terrible neighborhoods and upscale neighborhoods. It's not all Beverly Hills 90210 and Baywatch.

Don't come to the US as a tourist if you can't drive or aren't old enough to rent a car (you have to be 25 to rent a car!). Safe and reliable public transportation that exists throughout most of Europe is not a thing here in most places. Taxis are not cheap, neither is Uber in big cities.

Don't come to the US as a tourist if you only want to see NYC and LA because "that's what's in Hollywood movies!!" That shit is not real! Hollywood is bullshit and those places are not really like that. You get a completely fake idea of what America is like if you're only basing it on movies and TV shows.

[yuna-writes]

What makes me happy?

Have to admit, after a while living in the town I moved in for several years, I realize I don't really like it here. The people are boring and there's nothing much to do. It's really a place to raise a family in a suburban area. At the same time, I have no idea which state or town I want to move to. The move would be so daunting. Would the grass really be greener on the other side? Or would I be unhappier?

Happiness is what you make of it. Moving to a new town actually made me realize the old town I lived in wasn't bad. I actually miss my old town because there was things to do in the area. The only downside is that it's very expensive to live there. I had to find a roommate and rent out a place, but through those encounters, I actually made new friends out of the problem of high living cost lol. I guess if things were more affordable, I wouldn't really need help and wouldn't find new connections or friends. Although living cost is a very real issue, I don't think I can live there long-term just based on how prices are increasing. Unless I magically became a rich person. It's still on the list of places to live.

Truthfully, I prefer living in the city but NYC is too expensive and dirty...lmao. I mean, there's clean parts to New York but mostly the subways and streets are old and decaying. It smells bad. People piss on the streets. But there are more things to do. If I had to live in the city, I want to live somewhere that's much cleaner, safer and a little bit cheaper. It's great for single people to explore and enjoy city life, but as an introvert, I don't think I would appreciate the loudness of the city. At the same time, the suburban/rural area sort of bores me because there's nothing much to do besides looking at nature and going to bars maybe. I think what works best for me is a combination of an urban and suburban feel which is my old hometown. It has a mixture of city life and a quiet suburban area.

There's nothing much to really make me happy because I find that idea sort of elusive. I really just need a good book and maybe a movie to perk me up, but these days, I thought about my future. And if I had to think years down the road, I don't think my current place would be something I would choose again. Honestly, with any decision, everything boils down to money. If you have the funds, it's possible to move and start over, but very expensive to do so without stable work.

[doubleddenden]

I'm anxious so I'm gonna ramble about pokemon

I know it'll never happen, but I want a Pokémon game that takes place somewhere you'd least expect. I know the reason it's always places like Tokyo, NYC, France, Etc is because they're popular tourist destinations (especially so for Japanese folks), and we'd most likely get games set somewhere like California or Italy in the future. Don't get me wrong, I'd welcome both as long as they actually cared enough to finish the games.

But I feel like we're missing out on some real magic and wonder by only going that route. Like instead of always going to some big city, I'd love to have it set somewhere completely out of the way so that we explore nature or some fantasy routes instead.

To me, going back to childhood, i found appreciation living in the countryside because I could always see my surroundings being perfect pokemon routes. The tall grass in the pasture? Tauros. The trees? Pidgeotto. The quarry? Onix. Ponds? Wooper, Magikarp, Poliwag, etc

You get my point.

Legends Arceus kinda scratches the itch, but I think it'd be neat to start out somewhere rural and travel the boonies and woods and rivers and creeks to catch pokemon, and then have some accurate small town vibes here and there. Not gen 1 style, but like

Starting point:

House in the boonies

Route 1: woods, pond, pastures, other small houses with tractors and farm pokemon

Route 2: closer to town, pass under some power lines, train tracks, interstate equivalent

Town 1: small community, convenience store, truck stop, small shops, a few npcs that talk about the harvest and the weather, diner, a small town school (you are not forced to attend) where you meet up with buds, have some battles on the local football field, move on-

Somewhere you get something like an ATV to help move along faster, maybe some small town hijinks

Route 3 takes you through some backwoods area with creeks, old houses, an abandoned house that could be haunted

Town 2: another small town, this one has a quarry where rock types gather, you help the locals with a Pokémon equivalent crawfish boil and BBQ party, you gain access to some form of interstate travel

Rinse and repeat. Maybe 2 big cities, but the entire thing is small town vibes. Something to really romanticize small areas that most wouldn't really take into account for a Pokémon game. Cozy, nostalgic vibes. The plot doesn't need to involve some reality splitting calamity again, maybe the biggest threat is your stereotypical "I'm gonna steal the farm" business man, and the legendary is just some local cryptic equivalent to Bigfoot that you don't see unless you track it down. Ideally some fun slice of life vibes with Pokémon battles, friends, and some small local competition or community event/party vibes.

Could have gym leaders, doesn't really need them imo. Music could be based on old songs you'd hear on the radio or a simple guitar and drum vibe.

Anyway that's all hypothetical. I know it'll never happen unless it's a fan game, but hey. Good candidate would be based near New Orleans or generally a southern US area I guess.

[voidsumbrella]

my house is currently 4 rooms (kitchen, studio, bedroom, bathroom) and was converted from a large garage. the largest house ive lived in is my parent's, which is ~2350 sq ft. decently sized, but not huge by any stretch of the imagination.

so it's kind of hard to wrap my head about the scale of Really Fucking Big houses, such as, for a random example, witch's, which was a moderately sized house that they have stuck new rooms to ("yeah sure ill break into the most secured government library in the world so you can get the research materials you need for your life's work, and in exchange i will be taking your dining room.") on a fairly consistent basis. for like 1100 years and counting. and like on one hand, the general advice of "dont provide exact numbers unless you are 100% sure you can defend it" holds true, but on the other hand im having a rough time visualizing it.

so the game plan is like, supernaturally large. the total space they have to play with is 10 square miles/6400 acres, divided roughly like this:

done in paint while i try and coax csp into updating. not really to scale. don't worry about like, geological accuracy, it's a manufactured space sustained largely by magic. also it loops at the edges- like, if you walk from the house thru the marsh and keep going you'll wind up in the grasslands.

so the whole space around the house before it starts being trees is a bit under 2 square miles/1280 acres; for the sake of rough numbers, im gonna round it down to 900ish acres; this a bit larger than central park in nyc. the gardens around the house (including the greenhouses) take up about the same space as the house itself, and while some parts of the house get very close to the woods, the structure itself doesn't cover the entire area

the largest palace in the world defined by area within the walls is the forbidden city (beijing) @ 7.8m sq ft/180 acres. if i boost that to 200 acres it would bc about the size of the national mall between the washington monument and the actual capitol grounds, which feels like. a good ballpark for a Supernaturally Big Fucking House.

don't worry, witch's house isn't a rectangle

the guiness world record holder for largest residential palace by floorspace is istana nurul iman (brunei), @ 2.1m sq ft floorspace, split across 17 floors including basements, and has 1788 rooms. if witch's house takes up 200 acres on one level, that would put one floor as being roughly 8.7m sq ft., which im going to round down to being about 4 times as many as the INI. the palace includes stuff like a 5000 person banquet hall and multiple bigass garages, neither of which would be present in witch's, but these are all approximates so im gonna just say that any one floor has about 7152 rooms. the full number of floors they have varies from "9 layers of basement, 4 rooms each" to "single level sunroom" to "15 story tower w/ observatory", so im gonna average it to 3, for a total of roughly 21000 rooms.

this averages on about 19 rooms added per year. keeping in mind that these are frequently "ok im stealing your 200 room palace now" acquisitions, and a bunch of "tacking on a boring square because i needed another storeroom" that feels............................... uhh ......................... okay reasonable is not the word i would use here, but in the vague ballpark of plausible???? maybe?????????????

yknow, im not sure this actually helped me visualize it much at all ._.

[kilgorierealestate]

Employing a Real Estate Broker

When you're employing a real estate broker, there are a number of things to consider. To start with, she or he must have a strong understanding of the regional market. Ask him or her concerning the most challenging realty bargains she or he has managed, the pricing of different areas, the types of proprietors in the area, as well as just how each broker works out. Finally, ask them regarding the characteristics of the structures in the area. An excellent Kilgorie real estate broker can handling many tasks. He or she must have exceptional customer care and also leadership skills, as well as have the ability to efficiently manage realty transactions as well as the business procedures of the brokerage firm. A realty broker must additionally be able to lead a team of representatives, which is important if you're preparing to grow your company. 

Ensure to create a compelling task summary for the position, and guarantee you work with a professional who is totally licensed in the state where you live. One more important element when working with a realty broker is education. An university education or college degree is a superb structure for a successful profession in realty, and it's a great idea to choose a person with some experience. You ought to also stay clear of realty agents with much less than two years of experience, unless they belong to a team with years of experience. If they have actually remained in the business for a couple years, they're more likely to have knowledge of similar listings and have the ability to press a purchaser in the direction of acquiring the home. 

Finally, you must search for a real estate broker with tools as well as software program that assist representatives manage their organization. By doing this, you'll be able to get to more individuals and enhance your profits. This is especially crucial if you're a brand-new representative. A brand-new agent requires extensive training and oversight, while a knowledgeable agent does not want to spend useful time learning over-engineered workflows. In addition to devices, try to find a real estate broker who uses mentoring to assist representatives come to be extra efficient and rewarding. The advantages of employing a real estate broker are numerous. They know the marketplace and can discuss for you on your behalf. You can view here for more info about the best real estate broker.

Having a broker manage the offer will certainly suggest less paperwork for you as well as a smoother closing. Furthermore, they will know people in the sector who can help you find the best residential or commercial properties. This will certainly conserve you time, money, and also trouble, so it's well worth hiring a realty broker to handle your purchases. You must recognize that you'll have to pay a fee for a real estate broker. In NYC, a property agent will certainly request for a cost of between 5 and 6 percent of the list price. This cost is divided between you as well as an additional broker who brings in a buyer. If you remain in a seller's market, nevertheless, you may find some agents going to lower their commission to four percent. Non-broker buyers can likewise negotiate costs to 4%. Regardless of whether you hire a broker or not, it is important that you do your research. Check out this related post that will enlighten you more on the topic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_estate_agent.

[lostalioth]

i love ur writing!!<3 could i request some loki x reader where loki and his gf get drunk at one of tony’s parties in nyc and reader finds out loki is rly soft & clingy when drunk? like he cant stop kissing n cuddling his gf so they decide to go home?

𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘬 ; 𝘭𝘰𝘬𝘪

warnings: fluff, loki x female!reader, drunk loki [DONT DRINK UNLESS YOUR 21], mention of alcohol, established relationship clingy loki, beware of the cuteness

authors note: AHHH THANK YOU! i’m glad you’ve liked the few writings i have i was quite nervous to start writing. also i loved writing this request thank you! ENJOY!

Loki hardly ever got drunk and you’d think with being a god it would take a lot for him to actually get drunk.

Nope.

That boy is a lightweight. It must have something to do with the fact there isn’t much weight to his body or something because 3 hours into one of Tony Stark's annual party’s he held and around maybe 6 drinks in, Loki was drunk.

You stood at the bar in a gorgeous scrunched short black dress that fit your body perfectly. You were currently talking to Thor about him and Jane when you suddenly feel large hands snake their way around your waist. Normally you’d panic thinking It’s some pervy strange, except the moment his face is buried in your neck, you smell the alcohol on his breath as well as his forest/nature smelling cologne hit your nose.

“Hi baby” you chirp up as you turn away from your boyfriend’s brother who had been cut short by his brother's antics, to your boyfriend himself as he stood slumped over with his body still pressed as much as it could be into yours.

“Hiii darling..” he eventually gets out as his face stayed buried in your neck and he began leaving little pecks all over as you spoke up again.

“How are you feeling, love? Are you feeling okay?” you question with worry laced in your soft voice. He only got very touchy and clingy when he was upset, or so you thought. “Yeah I'm okayy my love..” he lifts his head to look you in the eyes as best as he could anyway. His pupils were very dilated almost completely obscuring his beautiful blue eyes you loved. He nodded as he spoke again “I am just quite full at the moment love”

Ah so he's drunk.

You had never actually seen Loki this drunk before as he had very rarely drank alcohol.

“Darlinngggg i want a kiss” Loki whines as he held a pout like a puppy dog. You chuckle slightly at your needy boyfriend and grab him by the tie he had been wearing with his formal outfit and press your soft lips to his. You both slightly melt into the kiss immediately.

Loki drunkenly smiled into the small kiss before you pulled away.

“Noooooo i want another!” he began to whine again like a little kid as he slumped his body over and pulling your body even closer to his as if you were gonna run away from him. It’s not like you wanted to or when could at the moment he was holding onto you so tight.

“You only asked for one my dear” you teased which caused him to whine even more and louder. Which was likely and luckily not hurd over the fairly loud music that was playing through surround sound speakers Tony had installed.

Loki huffed like a child as he looked up at you waiting on his second kiss. “Fine you big mush” you groan lightly, not that you were actually annoyed at your boyfriend but he was acting like a child. “Yay!!” He squealed softly and pulled you into his lips by his hands that had remained in their previous position on your hips. He deepened the kiss more as he didn’t want you to pull away.

Needing to catch your breath you slowly pull away causing Loki to whine and pout again. You giggle slightly as you now understood it seemed Loki would get needy and clingy when he became drunk. “Come on baby lets go sit on the couch” you pull one of his hands off your hip to drag him away from the bar. He stumbled slightly at the sudden movement as you pulled him into the living area where Tony and Thor sat.

You had sat down and began conversing with them, as Loki sat with you. He had almost immediately cuddled his lanky body into your side with one arm around your torso in a protective manner. the other was laid across your lap and every once in a while he would try pulling the end of your dress down when it would ride up from your movement. He also seemed very protective while drunk.

You don’t know how much time had passed but Tony and Thor had wandered off and suddenly you began to feel Loki kissing all over your neck and shoulder. “Darlinggg can we just go home now??” He whined as he played with the strings at the bottom of your dress.

“Want you all for myself don’t wanna share no more, we go home”

he finally looked up at you from his place where his head laid in your lap by this point. Your chest rumbled with a chuckle as you nod. “Yes my love we can go home now. Then you may have me all to yourself” you smile wide at him as his eyes light up brighter blue. “And hey baby, guess what?” You ask softy as he tilted his head to the side in question like a puppy.

“We can cuddle all night love”

You couldn’t even wait on a response as that had caused Loki to spring up into action and grab onto your hand and drag you towards the front door. He had stumbled a little bit but managed to pull you all the way outside to the car. No goodbyes or anything to anyone. You didn’t mind you actually quite liked seeing Loki so needy for you for a change.

I surely hope I did the request you had in mind justice!!

[leupagus]

Who’s your County Executive? and other steps to becoming a valuable pain in the ass

I fired off a tweet thread this morning, but I feel like a lot of folks here might benefit from this info, too. Which is: if you want anything to change, from police abolition to getting statues removed to passing local ordinances requiring masks to removing local legislation putting limits on abortion (just for some random examples), you need to get real familiar with your local reps. As in, you need to know who they are, what they do, how they’re elected/appointed, how long they’ve been doing that job, what their history is and how you can pressure them into doing what you want. Using hashtags and sharing links and signal boosting can only do so much. Talking to the people who are actually able to implement the change you want is a huge part that I don’t think gets discussed enough; and although it requires some preliminary work, once you get into the groove it’s surprisingly easy.

First, find out where you live! Which you may think is a stupid step, but —do you live in a city? Are you sure? I live in a city, for example, but I actually live in a township/suburb of that city, not the city proper. (Fortunately due to what I suspect is some white flight-related weirdness, I can still hassle the city proper.) There are entire towns inside of some cities, like West Hollywood and Los Angeles. Double-check; you might be surprised.

Then, find out who’s in charge of said place. There are quite a few people, actually. You probably have a mayor — but they might be called a supervisor. Or you may have a city manager, or executive, or clerk, or all three, or someone else entirely, who’s actually doing the day-to-day running of the place — for instance, while Austin has a mayor, it also has a city manager, and the city manager does WAY more than the mayor does. You also have people at the county/parish level — a county executive is I think the most common term, although sometimes it’s the county clerk, who can have entirely different duties depending on the county. Whatever way it works where you live, find out. While you’re at it, find out who’s in charge of your local elections. Sometimes that’s the county clerk (actually I think it’s almost always the country clerk, but sometimes it’s the county auditor or something weird like that); sometimes they’re elected and sometimes they’re appointed. Find out. Get names, put their contact info in your phone. (More on that later.)

Then, find out who represents you on the city/town council and the county legislature, or whatever they’re called where you are. Finding out what district you’re in can sometimes be hellaciously frustrating; when in doubt, an email to the county or city council can often get you an answer if you provide your address. Also bear in mind that different places have different ways of apportioning council members; sometimes they’re all “at large,” sometimes they’re elected according to districts, sometimes it’s a combination of both. Sometimes (not often I don’t think) they’re not elected at all but appointed by someone. Find out who! And don’t leave out things like school boards and zoning boards and community college boards and anything else you happen upon that has a representative you didn’t know existed. They exist, and I guarantee they’ve got power.

Note: find out who represents you state-wide, too. Often calling the governor isn’t that effective (at least for me, calling Cuomo ain’t gonna do much; if you live in Delaware or Montana or Iowa or somewhere relatively less populous, definitely get your governor’s information), but your state reps are usually pretty eager to talk to constituents, even — and this is really important these days — ones who aren’t of the same party. I’m represented by a GOP state senator, for example, but he ended up voting for this bill that just got signed into law. Most states are bicameral (except Nebraska, heyooo), so you likely have a state senator and a state rep/assemblyman/whatever. Make sure to get info for both. (Unless you live in Nebraska, in which case tell Ernie I said hi.)

Next, find out what the court system looks like where you are. Are your state/county/district/etc judges appointed? Elected? What are their terms? Who’s your District Attorney? Who’s in charge of your Public Defender’s office? (I actually haven’t bothered to look up that myself until today!) What courts handle which offenses in your area? Collect that information.

And what do you do with this info? You put it into your phone contacts, or whatever you use to keep your contacts organized, I dunno, maybe you still use your Wizard from 1992. No judgement. However you do it, put all of these contacts somewhere they’re all together — for example, if you have a letter in your directory that isn’t used much. I have a kind of weird method of organizing my contacts, which is that I put their first and last names (and their handles, if I know them online) in the Firstname field, then the Lastname field I use to say how I know them. So all of my New York-based friends are listed as “NYC, Holly Golightly/moonrivergoddess” or whatever. So for me personally, I just put all my political contacts under “Y” as in “Y do I have to keep pestering you to make you do the right thing.” So a county clerk would be listed like so:

Y, County Clerk Horace Vandergelder

In the “Company” field, I usually put their party and when/if they’re up for election next as well as term length, so Horace would be “Dem, 2020/2024.″ And then I might add any links I thought were helpful as well as notes about, say, what staffer I may’ve talked to or if there’s an important bill coming up etc.

And now you’ve got that information, it’s time to fuckin’ use it. Was there a protest that happened in your area that ended in arrests or violence? Call your mayor, register your displeasure. Call your DA, ask if anyone’s being charged. Call your city council member, ask them what legislation they’d support to end police violence. What do you know that you want them to know? Alternatively, was there a protest in your area that was really great and positive? Call these people; ask if they attended. If they did, offer support for them and say that you want them to follow up with actionable steps. If they didn’t, ask why. (BTW, it’s election season — look at the candidates, too! That state senator I mentioned earlier is retiring this year, and a pretty awesome Democrat is in a good position to get his seat; I’ve started volunteering for him in part because he’s got a history of agitating for police reform and has been regularly attending the protests here.) You can email, too; you’re welcome to c&p form emails, but once you have all these people’s contact info at your fingertips you’d be amazed how easy it’ll be to write something from you, that will be far more effective.

It’s also important to keep a record for yourself of who you’ve talked to, when you talked to them, what they said, if you want to follow up etc. I’ve got a little section of my planner for this; it has dates, names, topics, the works. It’s been really helpful to me over the past few weeks making sure I’m exerting pressure to a variety of people in a variety of positions, not just repeatedly calling one office and leaving the same message over and over again.

But if you really want to, as I put it on twitter, tighten the sphincter of local government, nothing beats face-to-face (or, these days, facetime-to-facetime). And here you’ve got a shitton of options. You can see if a particular politician/government office is taking virtual one-on-one meetings, where you can lobby either your politician or (more likely) one of their staffers to support legislation or policies or whatnot. This is, and I cannot stress it enough, HUGELY EFFECTIVE, especially if you are a demo they don’t often see (aka if you’re not a white Boomer). Local politicians are both desperate for and terrified of an engaged constituency; they want you to care but they’re very much aware that anyone showing up to an office (or a zoom meeting) could make their lives very, very difficult.

If one-on-one isn’t your style, there are also committee meetings, which... holy shit, you would not believe the number of committees there are. Committees for art festivals, committees for transportation, committees for public safety, committees for pretty much everything you can think of and a few I’ll bet you can’t. Noodle around on your councils’ and county’s websites, including their facebook page (nine times out of ten there will be more — and more up-to-date — info on the facebook page) to find out what committees meet when. And here is where your specific priorities will be important, because usually you can attend and in some cases even become part of these committees. Do you want to advocate for better public transportation? Find out when the transportation committee meets. Go to that meeting. If they have a Q&A, get some fuckin’ Qs ready and demand some fuckin’ As.

And then there’s the big kahunas of council meetings and state legislature sessions. Most city/town councils have a segment of their weekly/monthly meetings to hear from the public (this is different from a public hearing, FYI, although they too are really important and you should find out if there are any going on where you live and when). Do you have something you want to get in front of the whole council? Get your ass on the list! In Austin I think you had to call or email the council’s office by the day before; in my town you just roll up and get in line when it comes time. Then for state legislatures, often there will be specific bills on which they ask for “citizen input” or however else they describe it. This is less practical because we don’t all live in easy distance of our state capital, but if you do, consider getting involved there. (And right now with the pandemic, your state legislatures may have new rules about citizen participation that actually make it easier for you to get involved, for once.)

Mostly, though, this is about local involvement — find out who’s in control of your city, your county, your precinct and district and all the other ways your home is demarcated. Talk to these people, even if it makes you nervous; their power to make effective change comes with their responsibility to listen, and your power to make them listen comes with your responsibility to speak.

[we-are-inevitable]

new fic you say??? 👀

BAHAHA yesssss

it's? slightly different to what i usually write too! like. idk. my mental health hasn't been the Best lately and this fic is just going to be very easy and happy and rom-com ish (even tho it definitely does not start out that way) and i am !! literally so excited for it

also sidenote: this fic starts as a high school au but the majority of it is actually going to span over college years and into adulthood (i have no idea how long this is going to be yet but oh well)

the basic premise is:

jack has a mental health break at the end of his junior year. medda owns a cabin near the Buffalo area, so Jack amd Medda spend the summer there- a good 6 or so hours away from NYC.

the cabin is just a few minutes away from this small town- very touristy, very Hallmark-y, very cute- and the town is where Davey has lived all his life!

the first few chapters kind of go into davey and jack's beginning friendship; how they meet, how much time they spend with each other, the underlying feelings and the fear that comes with having a stupid crush on a friend.

the end of the summer comes around and davey and jack really don't want to say goodbye, so they make vague plans for the "what if" scenario of Jack coming back the following summer.

spoiler: jack comes back.

it's not something they've actually talked about, especially considering they don't talk much throughout the rest of the year, but surprisingly that summer kicks off and it's like jack never left. they're instantly close again, and now that they're both older and both getting ready to go off to college in the fall, they're both a bit more reckless.

SIDENOTE: jack goes to The City College of New York and Davey goes to Stanford in California !!

they basically "date" that summer- hooking up, kissing, doing coupley stuff- but they never actually make anything official. it's just a summer fling, there's no point in putting a label on it.

but during the week before Jack goes back to NYC, they decide that this- sharing summers together- should be their thing.

so, they make a rule: they both promise to barely talk to each other over the rest of the year (unless it's just One Of Those Things where they have to) and refuse to follow each other on social media, just so they have an entire year's worth of stories to talk about that following summer.

and, oddly enough, they keep this thing going until they're both about to graduate college.

and that's when it hits them that their summers are about to be too hectic for each other.

and their summers are coming to an end.

but, the thing is, neither Jack or Davey want to say goodbye.

you may be wondering how does jack work in the summer if he's constantly Not Home? how does jack afford to live somewhere for three months out of the year (whether it be at the cabin near the small town or in California once david gets an apartment and isn't living in the dorms? how do either of them function like real adults and do real adult things if they spend every second of their time together during the summer?

and my answer to that is: i don't know! and i don't care! this isn't supposed to be realistic because it is supposed to be cute and fun and stupid!

i'm unironically SO excited for this because like. idk. it feels like a good mix of jack's spontaneity with david's more controlled personality, and it's just ?? idk !! it's cute to me and that's all that matters aha !!

tysm for the ask !!

[daydreamrry]

I mean, if you think about like timothee chalamet who lives (lived? I don’t keep up much with him) in NY- he literally walks around the city without getting papped all the time. All I see of him in ny is fans taking pics from far away or selfies with him. I’ve only seen a handful of actual pap pics and they always look super set up.

I also watch this YouTuber who lived in ny and he said that celebs never get papped and only do if they’re in an area were paps hang out or after events. He also said that it’s so normal to see celebrities around that nobody really cares about them or bothers them unless your like..a tourist lol

THIS IS TRUE! NYC is such a big, busy city that the paparazzi aren’t hanging around, looking for celebrities left and right. most pap pics in NYC are planned (and we know that all of holivia/olivia’s pap pics are planned no matter where they are taken).

[yuna-writes]

Is the grass greener on the other side?

Lately, I’ve been having thoughts about moving somewhere else and “starting over.” I’m unsure whether that’s a good idea or not. I currently don’t have strong feelings to move but I’m not exactly thrilled at the current area I’m living in. I thought about moving somewhere with more nature and wildlife but I also think I won’t be able to relate to anyone there and there won’t be anything to do but just look at nature. It’s going to get boring after a while. Peaceful, but not what I usually enjoy most of my time. Unless you like concerts, cowboy culture, southern food, and vintage lifestyle then it would be an ideal place to live in. 

Ideally, I think the best city that fits my personality and interests is probably Tokyo. The land of anime, video games, technology and convenient living which pretty much fits into my interests. The country is small enough for you to drive somewhere with a lot of nature, but the city is nearby and there are tons of things to do. I’m unsure whether life would be better there because Japanese culture is different. It’s a very competitive and a workaholic culture. I saw foreigners who decide to move to Japan only to move out shortly after because of the culture shock. There’s a saying, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. The only way you know is to actually cross over and experience it. 

Currently, I don’t have strong desires to move to Japan. I live near NYC and they do have something similar but it’s not as technologically advanced or as interesting compared to Tokyo. NYC has a vast culture which I like, but sometimes I feel like the city is kind of dirty, expensive, overcrowded and loud. Tokyo is overcrowded but the city is much cleaner. I’m not sure what their noise level is, but I doubt it would be as loud compared to NYC. It’s just on my bucket list of places I might want to reside in, but I have no plans currently to move anywhere anytime soon. 

It’s not really so much I’m happy or unhappy in my current location but I realize I can’t really relate with the residence here and the events surrounding them don’t interest me as much. I can see how someone who likes concerts, sports, partying and likes to ride on boats would love it here. It’s really a place to raise a family. It’s just not exactly the right fit in terms of my interests and what I enjoy. I really spend my time in NYC going to anime conventions, gaming conventions, art exhibitions and tech meetups. I think I realize I tend to gravitate to cities that have more intellectual and cerebral type of events. Which a typical person around my age would find it strange and weird because normal people like to just go to concerts, meet their favorite celebrity, play a sport, or party. 

I’m still looking into places but I’m also trying to find content in my current location. I’ll never know maybe moving might have been a mistake, and I was far better off when I was in my previous place. I don’t think I would move countries, because that requires a lot more planning and I need to learn the language of a country to assimilate properly into their culture. I think NYC would be perfect if they took the advance technology from Japan and displace their current infrastructure. NYC does have events pertaining to Japanese culture, but it’s occasional and not really the norm.   

[creatorofclay]

Welcome back to observations with your favorite Kamski obsessed roleplayer. Last time, we talked about the actual location of Elijah's villa (boy was that a pain to dig back up too), the exact location of it on Belle Island. Today, it's time to discuss inside.

So, credit where credit is due, I want to thank @nock-and-bolt for their post about it that caused me to dig myself because, wow. I actually bought the game on PC and paid for the freecam (from otis_inf on Patr.eon) to dig because I am absolutely desperate. Hope you enjoy!

For my research purposes, I will be focusing on the parts of the rooms you don’t get to see normally, since the pool room and waiting room are explored enough in game... As well as a bunch of other things, wow this post got long LOL woops.

Okay, so, first off, I have said this before and I will say it again. This place is UGLY. But, I don’t get modern design, so we will move on from that. Second, the place is literally aesthetic only, I swear to you. There are at least 20+ different chairs/couches that you can see just in the main parts of the house. There’s no reason to have that much sitting space unless you either host people a lot, which I highly doubt he does, or its for design and nothing else. It doesn’t even include what we can’t see on the other side of the house, its just the rooms we CAN see. 

Its not a place you live, this is like a museum. Or office or some showroom.

The left side (facing the building) is the only part that I believe is the living space and it seems to be very small. But, knowing that Kamski has an appreciation for Japanese culture, and that I personally believe he’s absolutely a minimalist, this would make sense. He doesn’t need more than this small corner of the house for the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. 

Roughly this size which, like I said, is probably enough for him. It would be the size of basically a studio apartment except more utilized because the living room and dining room are the other side of the house. 

But, moving on from the outside. Now, nock-and-bolt showed us what was behind the door that Chloe walks through in the pool room, but what I am curious about now is the farthest right door in the waiting area.

I think I remember seeing concept art that made it out to be what looked like it could have been a room, there was a bookshelf behind the door. I always assumed it was a home office or something, and its what I personally have worked with in my headcanons. But, nope. Thats actually wrong. 

Its just another hallway into this main living room. Which makes sense, sort of, if the kitchen and other things are on the other side of the waiting area. So you don’t always have to walk through the pool room to get to the other side of the house. But, whats super neat, that I love about this, is the stuff on the shelf here. Its just a few things but boy are they interesting. 

A floral vase and a couple weird, modern art pieces. I really don’t like Elijah’s style, I can’t stress that enough here, but its again clear how much of a minimalist he is. But, there is also one more thing:

What looks like some sort of Greek inspired vase the highest on the shelves. I did a bit of research to figure out what its supposed to be and what I could find seems to be referring to a nostos, which is “is a theme used in Ancient Greek literature, which includes an epic hero returning home by sea.” Which I only found from reading about Odysseus who was most known for his own nostos that took his 10 “eventful” years after the decade long trojan war, the subject of the Odyssey, one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer.

Crucial themes in the poem include the ideas of nostos (νόστος; "return"), wandering, xenia (ξενία; "guest-friendship"), testing, and omens. Scholars still reflect on the narrative significance of certain groups in the poem, such as women and slaves, who have a more prominent role in the epic than in many other works of ancient literature. This focus is especially remarkable when considered beside the Iliad, which centres the exploits of soldiers and kings during the Trojan War.

I am pretty sure the symbolism in the game is pretty obvious by this point, but this is just interesting because the vase is not something anyone would EVER see in the game. Its behind a door you can’t open, that never opens, and tucked away in the corner you would never see. But, it is still important for Elijah Kamski as a character. Assumed trials and tribulations, as well as the 10 year gap? Its just too coincidental. But, thats a whole other story honestly, and I don’t really know the most about Greek Mythos to be talking about it right now. 

Some other small things from this weird house that I thought were interesting. Just textures really, but detail. The marks on the cellos may be my favorite because it means they’re being used. Probably played in that chair sitting beside them. 

ALSO THIS? Theres one chair that isn’t pushed in equal with the others. ONE. Its literally like an inch out further than the other 7 chairs. Someone was sitting there recently. 

Now, these are interesting. because they--

--are literal tubes. I’m assuming these are for the androids. Maybe where they go when they aren’t in use or doing something. Or just. Charging? Stations? I don’t know, it could literally be a spawn point for them, but I think they are purposely placed and its interesting to me that they are placed like pedestals in front of the tv. Like he just likes to look at them standing there. Like a weirdo. 

Now we have this door. This door that I thought went somewhere because I didn’t notice it from the outside before but. Nope. It just goes outside. 

So I watched a video recently that was someone looking at $40 million NYC apartments and I realize what this door must be. Its the only way to get fresh air in this bitch. None of the other windows are made to be opened, anywhere in this villa. So, there has to be one. Its just weird to me that its at the far end overlooking the pier. 

I just have a love hate relationship with this place. Its aesthetic, but the aesthetic is modern and weird. This place, what we can see of it, is not a living space. This is an office. What you show off to show how much money you have. I’m curious what this place looks like during the Kamski ending. All dark even though I think all these lights he has on are NEVER turned off. We shall see...

Also when Chloe goes to talk to Elijah she stands at this door and doesn’t move until shes ready again. He’s spawned in the pool by this point. Sure, when she goes to open the door again, she appears a few steps back so she can walk up to it, but my heart wants to believe she was told to just stand there and make them wait LOL. 

There was also a very human reaction from Chloe when Connor appeared to be standing in her way. I had stepped in so Kamski would start swimming and went behind the door to see where Chloe got the robe from (im sure she just pops it out of thin air because its just floating under the house) but she didn’t force him to step aside for some reason, like she has done before. She just... Waited there behind him.  She reached behind her head, rubbed at her neck, motioned like she was impatient like... “God is this guy really going to just stand there and play with a quarter or is he going to move?” She even tapped her hand a couple times against her thigh. It was.... Strange to see.

In conclusion... Is there a conclusion? This is just a collection of things I discovered. If I find something else interesting, I will share. For now, thats all. uwu I went overboard and this is really long but.... I don’t call myself obsessed for nothing........

[aelaer]

First: welcome home & I hope you get the sleep you need to get back into your routines! Second: it's Feb. 2, a significant day to our beloved Stephen Strange. I know you're exhausted right now, and the timing is poor--but perhaps when you're up to, you could write a little one-shot about his feelings all these years later (is it 2022 or 2023?) on the anniversary of the accident that changed his life forever. Can't think of anyone better suited to write it! xx

This was sent a year ago but last month I planned to have it out for Feb 2nd, hah.

For canon, he comes back in 2023 in what I think was likely after Feb 2nd, so realistically he can address the anniversary again in 2024. It'd feel like only 3 years for him while, in actuality, it'd been 8. But when it comes to his experienced time versus actual passing time, Stephen's pretty messed up without the Decimation already (I'm not sure how I feel about the name of the "Blip" yet.)

The prompter also requested first person after I asked for more details, and I haven't ever written Stephen in first person so I thought I'd give it a go. I know first person isn't everyone's cup of tea, but if you're willing to give it a shot, call me very obliged.

Warning for canon compliance :P

——————

Staring Back In Time Rating: G (well, other than language)

An entry from the memoirs of Doctor Stephen Strange, Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, during his time as the Master of the New York Sanctum, several months after the Battle of Earth against Thanos:

February 2, 2024

Calendars don't mean as much as they used to. Once upon a time my life was ruled by the calendar. Consultation here, surgery there, society dinner over the weekend. Dates were important and generally set without change once marked down.

It doesn't work that way as a sorcerer. I keep a schedule, of course, one that marks down classes with apprentices and adepts and meetings with other Masters, never mind all the business outside of Kamar-Taj. But I learned early on that these set times shifted occasionally to accommodate the emergencies that the order often had to quash down, and it became obvious that as a Master, my schedule was more of a hopeful guideline than anything set in stone. Flexibility was a necessity.

Ever since my return to the living, keeping anything resembling a set schedule has been more of a laughable dream. Earth being the center of two universe-changing, Infinity Stone-powered events in a matter of hours did serious damage to the fabric woven about reality across the planet, and the Masters of the Mystic Arts are going to be dealing with the multidimensional repercussions for years to come. Nothing is predictable in my day-to-day anymore.

My relationship with time was fucked the moment I confronted Dormammu, so I can't say it's a large surprise that calendars have become mostly irrelevant.

If someone had told me that I, Doctor Stephen Strange, a man of order and precision, would learn to live with such unpredictability, I would have laughed in their face. But I'm not the man I once was (and thank God for that; that man was a dick). However, it's also because of this change that I didn't realize the day until it was nearly done.

I was reviewing my schedule for tomorrow, which I had set up on Google Calendar (Google had, naturally, survived the Decimation just fine, but like most other non-vital services, had many of their upcoming products delayed for years. But their email and calendar services continue to work great). Tomorrow's a Saturday, which means nothing in my world. My work continues on. The threats on our reality care little for weekends or holidays.

Still, it was only during this review, shortly before I planned to retire for the night, that I realized that today is February 2nd.

I won't ever forget the day, of course. It was both three years ago and eight years ago—or perhaps many lifetimes ago would be a more accurate description, though I lost track of time in both of my major journeys with the Time Stone. One day I'll write about them. Not now, but one day. Both memories are still too fresh.

The memory of the day of the accident, though? It feels both like yesterday and centuries ago. Some parts of the day are engraved in my memory like a film. I remember the last surgery down to the individual conversations. Christine's "thank you". Nick's watch. The cling of the bullet as I dropped it onto the tray.

I can remember my last conversation with Billy, too, in the car. Every damned word. But the drive itself is fuzzy, even in my head with my memory. I remember it began to rain during the drive, not beforehand, and I know the road was narrow and two-laned. I know I avoided a direct route to avoid traffic, driving first into Jersey before heading north and crossing the river again. But the rest is forgotten to time, or perhaps to trauma.

I was told that Billy was the first to call 9-1-1 as he heard the tearing of metal and shattering of glass before the connection was lost. The driver I hit—I learned much later that she escaped with only minor injuries—called a couple minutes later. But it was out in the mountains, dark, and raining. It took them hours to find me and extract me from the car.

Funny. Never thought I'd ever write about one of the worst days of my life like this. But I was told early on that personal journals were encouraged for all who stay in Kamar-Taj. Something about its therapeutic benefits was mentioned at some point. I only picked up the practice once I learned that each gifted journal was inaccessible to others until the time of their death, and after I mastered the art of enchanting a pen to write the words I spoke. Unfortunately this journal appeared to others after the Decimation, but Wong has reassured me that no one read it and it has since disappeared again from public view. 

Still, the point is that, one day, someone just might read this—account of a man who was part of an effort to save the universe. And it is difficult for a reader to judge my actions if they don't know how I was the one who ruined my life. My driving was reckless and stupid. I was running a little late, but it wouldn't have mattered in the long run had I been fifteen, twenty minutes, thirty minutes late. Not really.

Then again, I suppose it would have. I certainly wouldn't be here right now.

One could say that the accident and everything that has followed is some sort of penance for my hubris as a surgeon. I enjoy my newer abilities—quite a bit—but the responsibility that has come with them has not come without its own hardships and sacrifices. Perhaps the worst of the sacrifices were the ones I was unable to prevent others from performing, all for the sake of the universe.

Those sacrifices were made willingly, but I cannot help but feel responsible for them, regardless. 

During my first winter again returned to the living, when the days grew colder and my hands ached in the bad weather, and the only thoughts to accompany the pain were bitter, another thought was born. I was tempted, for the first time in a long time, to give it all up, restore my fine motor skills with channeled magic, and go back to the world I once knew, for a life much, much easier than this one is now. Even with all the troubles that had cropped up as people tried to reorganize a world that doubled in size overnight, it was miles away from the difficulties we were facing in Kamar-Taj.

Their sacrifices—the fates I pushed so many people towards—quelled the idea quickly. It did little to ease the physical pain or sting of guilt, but it lifted the temptation. And ever since that day, I have considered the situation and I don't think I will ever be tempted by the idea of giving up my duties for an easier, pain-free life again.

And I suppose that counts for something.

——————

(Hey look, my interest in geography's leaked again.)

I've always wondered where Stephen actually crashed mostly because New York City is *flat* and those mountains were *very much not flat*. I figured out the bridge that he crossed to get out of the city (there are like, 21 bridges that lead out of Manhattan) was the George Washington Bridge, and it leads to New Jersey—but that's not necessarily useful because it can quickly turn back into New York state if you turn north. We also know he crashed down into a body of water, which *might* be the Hudson, but also might not, but that the body of water is to his left, which narrows it down a bit. But again, not much. And the site of his crash is so dark in the videos and screenshots that I can barely tell what's on it. It looks like a bridge and some industrial building, so the Hudson's a good guess, but otherwise? Well, basically I turned on the topography part of Google maps and started searching.

The 202 on the east side of the river just north of Peekskill (again in New York) matches the movie road's windiness, height, and closeness to the river, and even has a bridge that could be just to the north of the crash site. Unfortunately the railing's off and there's no industrial building thingy by the bridge. It also makes the route out of the city via George Washington Bridge make no sense. Like the Stark Industries area in LA in the films, it's probably a completely fictional landscape.

But as I wasn't able to find a better locale that was still close enough to NYC to direct an emergency helicopter to, my headcanon for this scene is that he left via George Washington bridge to avoid some major traffic or something, crossed the river via the 287 a bit further up north to get back to the east side of the river, then went up the 9 to the 202. Unless someone who lives in the area can find the actual road he was driving (if it's real), this is what I'm gonna go with. (And if someone DOES please let me knowwwww). Funny enough, I don't see him getting led to *his* hospital totally unrealistic, because he'd need a very talented orthopedic surgeon with a specialty in hands to come in, and generally speaking a patient can be helicoptered to another hospital where such a surgeon is available. If Stephen is working at the Metro-General, it's likely they can afford a large cast of talented surgeons. So I don't think Nick was necessarily the lead surgeon in his case, just one of many necessary surgeons.

[bisluthq]

Actually i agree with all your points except this one. Where i live in Europe it's relatively common for your parents to buy you your first car when you start taking lessons. Most of my friend group got them and we were all solidly middle class //

Idk where in Europe this anon lives but I'm south European and only one of my friends has a brand new car their parents bought them because they are kinda rich. I'm 22 and I had to BUY my mum's really old car to be able to go to work.

I think cars are very geography dependent tbh. Like if you live in places that require driving then like you’re gonna need a car and unless your parents are STRUGGLING they’re gonna get one for you. They can get nicer or worse ones but like they’re gonna have to buy you one yk like if that’s a requirement for life. If you live in places driving is more of a luxury, it’s an upper middle class thing. But like if you live in places driving is rare or unnecessary or annoying - London, Paris, NYC, I know they’re under sanctions but Moscow, etc - you can even get legit RICH kids who don’t have a car because like they genuinely don’t need one.

So I’d say that one is geography dependent.

Like if you live in a rural area for instance and your parents can’t get you one you might be legit struggling because it was needed and impossible and if you live in the cities above you could be in ATJ’s or even Rothschild girl’s weight category and not own a car.

The ponies thing is 100% international besties lol like if you had ponies growing up - even if your parents bitched about how expensive they were to maintain like my one horse girl friend whose parents complained a loooot - you’re upper middle class.