Fiction - Some Questions Related To My Nano Novel
November 24, 2015 8:03 AM Subscribe
I have some questions about various things for my Nano story, including life in America, US universities, US politics, memes in 2005, life as a Black American, and a questions about an issue I have with a gay guy and a crossdresser he likes (although they are both English), and how my FMC gets sacked from work, baseball and Dungeons and Dragons. They are all inside.
(I am assuming the time traveller, who sets all of this up, has some magic powers that enable him to sort these things out - he is a time travel genius, and I am not, so I really don't know how he did it!)
Ultimately, this is a rom-com, so it's mostly about FMC and MMC meeting, spending time with one another and falling in love (awww!) so most of the questions are for the background details. I am at 47K so 3K from the finish line, but the story will need a ton of work to get finished up!
Link to Synopsis in metatalk Nano Thread
USA/university questions
1) When my FMC goes back in time to 2005 and is transported to the USA, the time traveller has set her up with an identity and so on. So he has created for her: SSN, Passport, Driving License, Bank Account, Car Insurance, Credit Card, Mobile Phone contract, cable tv and internet. Have I missed anything?
2) How would healthcare work for her? Would he need to set that up too?
3) The story has no setting, it is in a city with a university. Should I make up a fictional city? The problem here is that, in the USA, there are some strange place names (Mechanicsburg lol) Should I make up a fictional university?
4) What are term dates for universities in the USA?
5) The story is set in Spring, any bank holidays or similar I should be aware of? Does everywhere close on Back holidays?
6) I have a scene where FMC and MMC go horseriding - it is a day or half day thing. Is this feasible?
7) Are poorer people buried or cremated in the USA?
Politics Questions
1) My MMC wants to get involved in politics after graduation - how could he do this?
2) Were there any prominent Black American politicians in 2005 my MMC would know of, and maybe look up to?
3) If he is studying Politics with International Relations, I assume he would know about UK politics in a historical context. is this correct?
Life as a Black American
1) MMC's family move out of the inner city - I thought there might be a scheme but (apart from a voucher scheme which (I am informed - this thread tanked hard!) has a waiting list) there doesn't appear to be. How could I get them out of the inner city?
2) MMC's wants to work in politics, as a Black American, what difference would this make?
3) I am stuck on what sort of jobs to give his parents - what would you suggest?
4) Is there anything special I need to know about life as a Black American?
Memes in 2005
1) What memes were around in 2005 (and just prior) that FMC and MMC would hear about? The "no asians" Australian guy? Technoviking?
Getting Fired from her job
My FMC is suspended and fired from her job as a web designer in the UK. A girl at work who isn't a coder and two coders who are a bit MRA have conspired to get her fired. I know why the guys did it, but not the girl, who has slept her way up the corporate ladder. So, how and why could she be suspended and sacked? What could they conspire to do, and what would the girl get out of it?
Gay guy/crossdresser issue
Link to Nano Forums Question
Okay, a side plot in the story - one of FMCs friends in England is a gay guy called Les. Les likes cross dressers, and meets a girl called Rachel and her friend Autumn, who is either genderfluid or genderqueer (I am not sure) while out shopping with his friend Steve. I asked it in the Romance forums on Nano and got just about the worst answer ever from someone who didn't seem to understand the question. The problem Les has, as you will see if you read it, is that he had never considered how people stare at Rachel and Autumn as they cannot fit them into a gender binary. So, he wants to be with her but is put off by the thought of people staring at them if they go out as a couple. How can he get over this?
Baseball
My MMC and his friend like baseball (yeah, I was surprised as well!) - I was going to have a scene where he takes FMC to a baseball game (hello, Benjamin Sisko!!) so I need some baseball lingo!
Dungeons and Dragons
My FMC is a geek girl and plays D&D - I need some D&D lingo please, as I was going to have a scene where she takes MMC to a D&D game.
Thanks for any help you can give!
(I am assuming the time traveller, who sets all of this up, has some magic powers that enable him to sort these things out - he is a time travel genius, and I am not, so I really don't know how he did it!)
Ultimately, this is a rom-com, so it's mostly about FMC and MMC meeting, spending time with one another and falling in love (awww!) so most of the questions are for the background details. I am at 47K so 3K from the finish line, but the story will need a ton of work to get finished up!
Link to Synopsis in metatalk Nano Thread
USA/university questions
1) When my FMC goes back in time to 2005 and is transported to the USA, the time traveller has set her up with an identity and so on. So he has created for her: SSN, Passport, Driving License, Bank Account, Car Insurance, Credit Card, Mobile Phone contract, cable tv and internet. Have I missed anything?
2) How would healthcare work for her? Would he need to set that up too?
3) The story has no setting, it is in a city with a university. Should I make up a fictional city? The problem here is that, in the USA, there are some strange place names (Mechanicsburg lol) Should I make up a fictional university?
4) What are term dates for universities in the USA?
5) The story is set in Spring, any bank holidays or similar I should be aware of? Does everywhere close on Back holidays?
6) I have a scene where FMC and MMC go horseriding - it is a day or half day thing. Is this feasible?
7) Are poorer people buried or cremated in the USA?
Politics Questions
1) My MMC wants to get involved in politics after graduation - how could he do this?
2) Were there any prominent Black American politicians in 2005 my MMC would know of, and maybe look up to?
3) If he is studying Politics with International Relations, I assume he would know about UK politics in a historical context. is this correct?
Life as a Black American
1) MMC's family move out of the inner city - I thought there might be a scheme but (apart from a voucher scheme which (I am informed - this thread tanked hard!) has a waiting list) there doesn't appear to be. How could I get them out of the inner city?
2) MMC's wants to work in politics, as a Black American, what difference would this make?
3) I am stuck on what sort of jobs to give his parents - what would you suggest?
4) Is there anything special I need to know about life as a Black American?
Memes in 2005
1) What memes were around in 2005 (and just prior) that FMC and MMC would hear about? The "no asians" Australian guy? Technoviking?
Getting Fired from her job
My FMC is suspended and fired from her job as a web designer in the UK. A girl at work who isn't a coder and two coders who are a bit MRA have conspired to get her fired. I know why the guys did it, but not the girl, who has slept her way up the corporate ladder. So, how and why could she be suspended and sacked? What could they conspire to do, and what would the girl get out of it?
Gay guy/crossdresser issue
Link to Nano Forums Question
Okay, a side plot in the story - one of FMCs friends in England is a gay guy called Les. Les likes cross dressers, and meets a girl called Rachel and her friend Autumn, who is either genderfluid or genderqueer (I am not sure) while out shopping with his friend Steve. I asked it in the Romance forums on Nano and got just about the worst answer ever from someone who didn't seem to understand the question. The problem Les has, as you will see if you read it, is that he had never considered how people stare at Rachel and Autumn as they cannot fit them into a gender binary. So, he wants to be with her but is put off by the thought of people staring at them if they go out as a couple. How can he get over this?
Baseball
My MMC and his friend like baseball (yeah, I was surprised as well!) - I was going to have a scene where he takes FMC to a baseball game (hello, Benjamin Sisko!!) so I need some baseball lingo!
Dungeons and Dragons
My FMC is a geek girl and plays D&D - I need some D&D lingo please, as I was going to have a scene where she takes MMC to a D&D game.
Thanks for any help you can give!
This post was deleted for the following reason: Heya, a few related grab-bag questions is workable but this is too many and too broad; see email about trimming it down some and get back to me and we can bring back up an edited version of this. -- cortex
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