North America North East

a no-sburb humanstuck Homestuck AU.

[nane-1991]

In 1963 AD, humanity stepped back from the brink.

Hohenzollern Castle, 1963. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and President of the United States John F. Kennedy drafted and signed the Hohenzollern accords, a framework that would lay the foundation for a unified human government by the end of the decade.

Paramount to this framework was the consolidation of the human population into megaregions of roughly 100 million people each, with the rest of the world rewilded.

The form of government would come to be known as Civil Management. A sort of labor controlled social-technocracy led by the General Council.

These are the stories of the day-to-day lives of those who live within one particular megaregion.

North America North East.

[nane-1991]

arsenicCatnip (aC) began chattering at gardenGnostic (gG)

aC: :3 Pitt-kitty to tree top terrier, come in terrier

gG: reading you loud and clear Pitt-Kitty, how's it hangin’ Natasha?

aC: hangin’ like moss on a branch. Hey, I found a fanfic that’ll make ya flip, juicier than a french dip sandwich.

gG: Good gravy yes! On a disk right?

aC: yup, keep your eyes peeled for a media mailer.

gG: don't divulge the deets, I wanna be surprised.

aC: he he, you got it mountain girl! :3

gG: only 1 more week until April break, and once we go back, you know what that means.

aC: :3 oh yeah! Summer uniform time!

gG: cute skirts and short sleeves, now we're talking!

aC: if I had my way about things, I'd wear the summer uniform all year around.

gG: even winter?

aC even winter!

gG: you're wild, ya know that?

aC: what can I say, I know what I'm comfy in as far as the uniforms go.

gG: oop, gotta go, dad has to send a digipost.

gardenGnostic (gG) ceased chattering at arsenicCatnip (aC)

[nane-1991]

Funny knock on effect of every single household owning an Amiga 500 in this timeline. The game console market is basically eviscerated overnight.

This results in some of the biggest publishers of the 8 and 16 bit era developing for the Amiga. Nintendo, Square, Konami, Capcom, Sega, all developing with the Amiga 500 in mind.

Nintendo games being seen as the marquee releases, distinct yellow diskettes inside of clear plastic cases standing out on a shelf beside dozens of plain grey disks. Square making bespoke themed cases for their RPG releases, and Sega with bright blue disks and in your face advertising.

Where a kid might afford a couple budget releases with a weeks pocket money, a Nintendo or Sega release would be a month or more allowance, with those games being treated as the gems of a kids collection.

[nane-1991]

The education system in NANE is not too different than the school system in our timeline, but with a few key differences.

Firstly, school runs in 3 month chunks, each chunk followed by a 1 month break. It ends up looking like the following.

January

February

March

April (off)

May

June

July

August (off)

September

October

November

December (off).

This is alongside the standard weekends and holidays off as well.

Secondly, schools have a uniform system, with each seasonal stretch having a different uniform. For example, the January-March stretch has longer sleeves and skirts/pants with heavier fabric, while the May-July stretch is shorter sleeves/shorts/skirts with lighter fabric. The uniformed are paid for by the education stipend, and every school has their own pair of colors. The school Jade Harley attends, St. Olga of Kyiv public high school has beige primary color with dark green secondary.

St. Olga of Kyiv public high School isn't even a religious institution, the public in Scranton where the school is located voted for that name. Absolutely wild.

[nane-1991]

arsenicCatnip (aC) began chattering at carcinoGeneticist (cG)

aC: kenny-cat!

aC: kenny-farthing!

aC: ken-drip!

cG: what.

aC: <3

cG: ....what's that?

aC: a heart, silly! :3

cG: and what in the world is :3?

aC: a kitty face!

aC: guess what I had for lunch today?

cG: For Pete's Sake! you had the same thing you have every time, a chipped ham BBQ sandwich, salt and vinegar chips, and a pepsi from Marios Deli! you tell me this every time!

aC: awww! you've been paying attention! <3

cG: you are gonna drive me mad.

carcinoGeneticist (cG) ceased chattering at arsenicCatnip (aC)

[nane-1991]

twinArmagessons (tA) began chattering at timaeusTestified (tT)

tA: alright, the offload cycle you implented on the last patch should solve the Out Of Memory Error, in theory.

tA: even with a Zorro II and 8MB of fast memory, this will still max out due to physical limitations. You would need something in the realm of GBs to run this.

tA: what the hell even is this for?

tT: an attempt at neural net simulation.

tA: even on a maxed out amiga 2000, that's not gonna get far, you'd need....

tA: Strider

tA: tell me you aren't gonna break into Palidan Ridge to run this on PALADIN II.

tT: no, not PALADIN II, I'm smart enough not to shit where the family eats.

tA: thank Christ for that.

tT: I'm thinking of a cross-continental hack on SORCERER.

tA: why am I even surprised?

tT: I'm pulling your leg, Santiago..I should get some time when I go to college to eventually get a slot at some cycles on PALADIN II. I'd just need a couple minutes.

[nane-1991]

gardenGnostic (gG) started chattering at ectoBiologist (eB)

gG: yo Johnny boy!

eB: hey Jade, what's up?

gG: mom and I are heading down to the Lakehurst area this weekend, figured we'd swing by for an afternoon.

eB: oh wow, you're gonna be near Roosevelt Ridge? Perfect! We can finally hang out in person for a bit.

gG: yup, and my heirloom tomatoes are coming in nicely this time of year.

eB: I still cannot believe you and your mom have a full fledged garden on that little apartment balcony like that.

gG: what can I say, mom knows how to make the most of a space.

gG: speaking of which, let your mom know she has a whole basket of these tomatoes coming her way.

eB: ha, she's gonna flip.

gG: so how's your sister doing?

eB: Jeannie? Pain in my neck as always.

gG: that's what Jake says about Mini all the time. You all make me simultaneously jealous and relieved to not have a sibling.

[nane-1991]

carcinoGeneticist

Karkat Vantas

In this setting: Kendrick "Kenny" Van Buren

Age 16

He lives with his father Joseph Van Buren, his mother is Ira Van Buren, and his younger sister, the 15 year old Janet Van Buren.

Joseph Van Buren is a reverend, Ira is a community organizer. They live in Fallston Maryland, near Baltimore.

[nane-1991]

tipsyGnostalgic (tG) began chattering at tenticleTherapist (tT)

tG: okay, you know how you said you never had a cheese steak before?

tT: yes, I do recall

tG: next time you're down in the Philly area, I'm taking you to Andre's over in Chariotville.

tT: Isn't Chariotville all the way on the other side of the Philadelphia from where Upper Chichester is?

tG: girl, it's fine, we'll take the train across Philly, hop off there, have an afternoon out there.

[nane-1991]

cuttlefishCuller

Feferi Peixes

In this setting: Felicity Pescatelli

Age 16

Felicity lives in the Battery Park City, New York City, New York.

Felicity lives with her mother Beatrice "Betty" Pescatelli, her father Ramone Pescatelli, and her 13 year old brother Anthony Pescatelli.

Ramone Pescatelli works as a dispatch manager for the Water Department within the NYC subregion.

Beatrice "Betty" Pescatelli is the highest head honcho one person can be in NANE. Not a council member, no, she is Chairwoman of the Union of Labor Unions. She's the woman who can sass Ernest Anders Sr. Right to his face on a live televised regional council session, and get away with it. She's the one who brings the labor issues in front of the regional council, she's the one who can call for and authorize a GLS, a General Labor Strike, if deals aren't met.

[nane-1991]

caligulasAquarium

Eridan Ampora

In this setting: Ernest Anders Jr.

Age 16

Ernest lives in Washington DC with his father Ernest Anders Sr., his mother Jacqueline Anders, and his 15 year old sister Beatrice Anders.

Ernest Anders Sr. Is a regional council representative, Jacqueline works at the Pan-American museum system, an expanded out successor to the Smithsonian.

[nane-1991]

terminallyCapricious

Gamzee Makara

In this setting: Gerald "Zero-G" Mathews

Age 16

Gerald recently moved to Baltimore from the NALS region with his father Huey and his mother Rhonda.

Huey is an electronics repairman, specializing in consumer goods repair. Rhonda is a middle school Gym teacher.

[nane-1991]

centaursTestament

Equius Zahhak

In this setting: Ezekiel "Zeke" Zambrano

Age 16

Ezekiel lives with his father Zacharia and his mother Svetlana in Concord, Massachusetts.

Zacharia is an accomplished robotics engineer, an M.I.T. Graduate. Svetlana is a linguistics professor.

That's a lot of expectations placed on young Ezekiel from such accomplished parents.

[nane-1991]

arachnidsGrip

Vriska Serket

In this setting: Victoria Sampson

Victoria lives in Montauk, New York with her father Elijah "Snapper" Sampson, her mother Sarah-Marie Sampson and her 9 year old brother Harling "Hooper" Sampson.

Elijah is the owner and operator of the fishing vessel FV Clocktower. Sarah-Marie is a postal worker.

[nane-1991]

gallowsCalibrator

Terezi Pyrope

in this setting: Teresa O'Patrick.

Teresa lives in Providence, Rhode Island with her Mom Cynthia O'Patrick and her dad Patrick O'Patrick (yes, really.)

Cynthia is Paralegal, Patrick is a public safety officer (Think Law Enforcement meets OSHA inspector)

Teresa suffers from severe myopia, without her glasses, everything beyond arms reach is a blur, her glasses bring it up to about 9 feet.

[nane-1991]

grimAuxiliatrix

Kanaya Maryam

In this setting: Katherine Montague.

Katherine lives with her mother Ethel and her father Patrick, and her twin sister Christina.

Ethel runs a tailoring service, and Patrick is a train conductor for in-region cargo transport.

[nane-1991]

arsenicCatnip

Nepeta Leijon

In this setting: Natasha Laporte

Age 16

Natasha lives with her mother Francesca Laporte and her father Ramses Laporte. Francesca is a veterinarian, Ramses is an archeologist specializing in recent history, and spends a good amount of time in the field, the field being the ruins of old towns.

The Laportes live in West Pittsburgh, right at the edge of NANE. Natasha can see the rewilded land from the top of the tower she lives in.