Verbal Spewage

I know I’ve not posted much as I’ve been plugging away on my various projects. One project is well over 200 pages following the 6×9 format used for most of the Fate books out there. What follows is the introduction to Sunset City, the focal point of the metropolis used as the setting’s backdrop. This is a place where image and media can change the narrative and the view the residents have of its superpowered citizens.

         To say Sunset City is expansive is an understatement.  It’s the second largest city in the nation with nearly half the population of New York City.  There are 114 neighborhoods in the city and the county has the highest population in the nation spread throughout its 88 cities.  Sunset City has attracted people for any number of economic reasons ranging from the ports to oil, to its shining lights, and to aerospace and all points in between.  While entertainment may be the dominant output of the metropolitan area, the city’s industries are diversified enough that it’s escaped some of the plights that have struck other regions much harder, such as Oakland, Detroit, and Pittsburgh, with the changing times.

Sunset City isn’t immune to the hardships others faced in one recession or the other, but having so many neighborhoods has allowed it to weather the downturns by highlighting the areas where little has changed despite a stock market crash or two.  The City of Quartz has long been able to shape the narrative others view, but there are times when it has had to stand aside and let others tell the story without intervening in the narrative.

         Given how divided the city is and how much land it takes up in Verdugo County, shifting the blame from the city’s elite and government to that of the neighborhoods is easy.  After all when you have so many neighborhoods that are the size of a small town in their own right, you can show it as an isolated event or the providence of a few bad actors.

Sunset City has long been the destination for those looking to strike it rich.  After the first settlements established by the Conquistadors and the mission system that runs up the coast to just past the Marin Headlands, the region become an economic center.  The growth in population and new arrivals looking to make a name for themselves led to the city’s prominence as a shipping center and the population explosion followed each wave of technological development (oil, motion picture industry, television, aerospace, etc.) pushed the city to dominate the county’s landscape.

While all of this has helped the city diversify its industrial base, it hasn’t helped it overcome the problems of a multicultural society.  In fact, despite some of the gains that have been made, the city (like the county as a whole) suffers from the nation’s segregated past.  There are plenty of enclaves within the county and especially Sunset City where the demographic is nearly 100% one race or ethnicity.  Part of this is rooted in the desire for familiarity for the immigrants who made Verdugo County their new home, but it’s also driven by the city’s politics and various exclusions that provide the neighborhoods with some of their characteristics.

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