Writing What You Don't Know: The Assistants

I went to a private elementary school, but I was pretty upper-ish middle class? I was definitely nowhere near as wealthy as many of my classmates (which...kinda gave me a skewed view of how much spoiling and indulgence was Normal and made me feel like my parents were Intentionally Depriving Me, but that's an Acey's Brain Is A Shit thing), though--I knew kids who lived in literal mansions, whereas I grew up in a mid-sized three-bedroom home.

I wasn't bullied a huge amount in general at that school, mainly because everyone else there was kinda weird like me, but when I was bullied, it had nothing whatsoever to do with me not being super rich (and like I said, it's not like my family was anywhere near poor--we were definitely middle-class, but we were on the upper end of that spectrum). In fact, I felt a lot worse about not being rich when I went to a public charter school for middle school, because the rich girls who could afford whatever they pleased were the popular girls, whereas wealth had little to do with popularity in elementary school--though that's probably because we were all a little young to care much back then.

 

I believe that thing is also a bit of a british fancy school type thing. Which might explain why two americans dont know it.

 

The bullying someone for being in a fancy rick kid school on a scholarship/charity thing.

 

I had a college roommate who was from Beverley Hills, and given the fact that she was filthy stinking rich (closet full of nothing but designer clothing, once got all whiny because the toilet got clogged and we had to fix it and she would’ve just had the maid do it back home—she was shocked when the guy who was helping me unclog it and I said we didn’t have maids—etc.) but would always talk about how she wasn’t THAT rich, I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case in uber-wealthy communities.

As an additional note, my elementary school was a Weird Alternative Smart Kid School, as opposed to a Posh Fancy Prep School, so that may have played into it as well.

 

I don't recall anyone ever asking me what my parents did. Maybe it was because they didn't talk to me at all enough to get to that point? At that age my description of my dad's job was "something boring with computers" so I wouldn't have been any help if they had.

 

So, brainstorming has produced this scenario. Character in early teens, without many role models or sources of personal advice, tries to figure out what crushes and attraction are like by comparing the way he feels about girls to the way he feels about boys. But it turns out he's pan without realising it, so he just ends up like, "??? I don't really know what's going on but people sure are interesting?"

Before I actually write that, I wanted to check if it was realistic and so on. Thoughts?

 

i mean, that was basically my situation so yeah, sounds reasonable

 

Sounds reasonable and adorable!

 

Question; in a thing I'm writing, several members of a cult which murdered a lot of people have been arrested. How long would it take between arrest and trial? Would it take a really long time to collate all the evidence for multiple murders going back years, especially since there are multiple people involved? ETA: It's in the USA in a fictional state most closely based on California.

 

Months are fine, the story takes place over a fairly long time period. Thanks!

 

does anyone know anything about playing table games in a casino setting? i'm mulling over some fanfic that would have a scene set in a casino, with one character working as a dealer and one a player. i've spent some time in big casinos so i know the vibe i'm going for, but i've never actually gambled or played cards in one. specifically--what's the relationship between the dealer and the players? i know in black jack and baccarat the dealer essentially acts algorithmically. but what about a game like poker?

 

In casino poker the dealer isn't playing. Guests/gamblers play against each other, and the house just takes a cut - that is, the casino gets a certain amount of the money regardless of which player wins. I've also heard of winners tipping the dealer in proportion to the stakes of the game.

I doubt casinos would like to have an employee routinely dealing for a good friend. There would seem to be obvious security risks there.

 

Yeah, I had heard about the tipping thing. This would be a first meeting scene (in an AU, if it matters). I was more wondering, is there chatting between a dealer and players they don’t know? Is there patter? Or is the dealer normally silent and just calling the cards?

ETA: or rather: would patter be so out of place that it would throw people out of the story? What makes someone good at being a dealer?

 

does anyone have any tips for writing a general rural/country accent? as in, good markers that distinguish one from a city or other accents, and what should be avoided when writing one. I have a character who has such an accent (or, well, slips into one when she gets Really Fucking Mad, which might affect things?), but no real idea of how to write one out in text