④

[heart_ofitall]

[ reading an article in the news, jake's expression seems to darken with every word. why are his cities such failures? and why can't he go back to help? ]

"Ohio was the only state with multiple cities in the Top 10 for poverty rates last year. Cleveland was ranked second, with Cincinnati seventh. Detroit was No. 1."

[ ... but at least his cities

Comments

[firstcapital]

Guess it's kinda good to be at the bottom of a list for once. I'm trying my best with fixing that problem though.

[heart_ofitall]

Philadelphia, is it? -- Well, that's not the worst place to be, I guess. I can't really talk, though.

[firstcapital]

Yeah....or you can just call me Philly or Josh, either or is perfectly okay.
You Pops' neighbor, long time no see...well I don't think we ever met, I'm all the way on the other edge of the state. My sis is probably closer to you, Pittssburgh.

[heart_ofitall]

You can call me Jake, then. Nice to meet you, Josh. Ah, though I guess the situation could be better, ahaha...

But yeah, I've met Alexia a few times. Is she doing well?

Both of them have been summoned. :|b

[talktodahandeh]

[He sent Tony out earlier to deliver a message and the little freakster hasn't come back yet. Making sure that Tony hasn't fallen into a dumpster and can't get out (you wouldn't believe how many times stuff like that happens), Griffin is on a mission. But hey, visit to the neighbor in question? Good plan.

But heeeey, what's with the list? Not like it isn't expected, but he can't help but smile.]

Hey, only one city of mine compared to three. Things are looking up for me!

[This isn't to say he still doesn't seem a little upset. It's only expected.]

[heart_ofitall]

Well, at least none of mine have gotten that bad. That's one-third of the population, you know.

[ Jake's enjoyment in tormenting Griffin is stronger than his inner turmoil. Only slightly, though. ]

[talktodahandeh]

[That wasn't a wince. You saw nothing. Just smiles all around. Forced ones, yes, but still smiling. He's not going to take that.]

Hey, he's gettin' better, ya know. We're all gettin' better up here. An' like I said, he's my only one. If ya put your three together, 's kinda funny. I may not be great at math, but that adds up pretty badly, 'specially since those are all top metro cities. My little thirty-three percent compared to all of yours added up comes out nicely!

[heart_ofitall]

[ Good, 'cause Jake isn't, either. ]

No, that's not how you do it. You have to add up the percentages and divide by three to get the average, which is still way lower than yours overall. Haha -- didn't you learn that in math class?

Besides, the only reason there aren't more of your cities on there is 'cause they're all moving away. [ Take that, Mr. A-Family-Every-Twelve-Minutes. >:| ]

[brownthrush]

Natasha overhears his private ranting and invites herself into the threshold of his door.
"Well at least you're getting some attention fo dhat stuff. Tha only times my cities eva get into tha papa is because some dumb body dun gun and done somethin' embarrassin'! Do you know how hard it is to shake the stupid southerner stereotype when all the news sees is "Billy Joe killed his entire family, dog included, then killed himself all with a lawnmower blade . . . because God told him too!?"

[heart_ofitall]

Not exactly the kind of attention I like, though...

[brownthrush]

"Well that's kinda true I guess. But what I'm sayin' is that if they recognize that you have a problem then people'll get off their butts tah fix it. I mean, I've got hobos all over the streets of my cities . . . . the schools are too poor to hire good teachers and have updated facilities in my lower regions . . . Hell we should have made the list but people outside of tha state don't even seen to know about us. Can you name more cities in Georgia besides Atlanta and Savannah?"

[snowyalyeska]

[[well hello there. aly will just stand there, being concerned.]]

That's... Unfortunate.

[heart_ofitall]

Yeah, it is. [ sigh~ ] But, at least none of your cities are on here, right?

[snowyalyeska]

Well, that is good for me. But, what about you? We're all in it together, right?

[minnesnowtah]

Lena squints at the stats

...M' Surprised the 'Sin Cities' or Milwaukee aren't on there...

[heart_ofitall]

Ah, Lena! Your cities seem to be doing pretty well, huh?

[minnesnowtah]

Ah....Sven's just a showoff. He's really a bad influence though...but a better influence than some I guess.
Don't dwell on this too much though Jake, we all have our hard times.