How to Brooklyn (Guide for Cap Writers)

hansbekhart:

So I read this really awesome How To Hell’s Kitchen (for Daredevil writers) the other day, and I thought, goddamn, what a great idea, especially when I’ve been howling at the cruel sky for absolute ages in hopes of getting more accurately written Captain America fic!

So, like the post I linked to, I’ll start with the basics.  I have a few posts planned in the theme of How To Brooklyn for Cap Writers, and I’ll preface with the following:

1. I like context!  You like context too, right?  So these will be a series of posts on various topics, centered around living in New York City during the 1930s/1940s, and present day (for modern AU or post Avengers fics).  They’ll be broad in nature, because I’m writing them explicitly to give people who live elsewhere a better understanding of what it’s like to live here, and how to portray that in their stories.
2. As a caveat to that mission statement, let me add that there is no be-all-end-all of New York experiences.  The place is just too big and fast moving and varied for anyone not to sound like a total asshole in saying that there is, and I try to avoid sounding like an asshole if at all possible.  So this is not meant to represent all of New York, just a subsection of it that may be useful to this particular fandom.
3. I am more than happy to take requests!  If you would like more detail about anything, have any questions about tropes you’ve seen, logistics issues for a fic you’re writing that you haven’t been able to solve, or are just confused as to why New York seems so damn complicated, my ask box is open.  Otherwise here I am, shouting into the void, about whatever the hell I feel like writing about.

So, let’s start with:

The Basics of New York City, or What the Hell are Boroughs, Anyway?

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