• BASICALLY as i think is supported by canon: cities are little subpersonifications in their respective state's heads, who sometimes chatter to their states or temporarily take over the body to share their point of view (austin)
• +you should read the all my exes live in texas series btw. its basically all this and its really really good
• theoretically any city can have a personification but how "loud" a city is depends on how distinctly that city defines itself from the state
• this looks a little bit different for every state obviously but there are some major categories:
• states where one major city is basically co-fronting with the state at all times (new york & nyc, illinois & chicago, you would think mass and boston too but nope! see below)
• states that have a bunch of cities that all kind of blend in and out of front without being a noticeable change from the usual personality of the state (massachusetts, most new england states tbh, maybe florida ?)
• states with a couple large cities whose vibes generally match with the vibes of the states enough that they either don't feel the need to take the driver's seat often or it just isn't noticeable when they do (most of the midwest (indiana and indianapolis, minnesota and st. paul/minneapolis, ohio and the Three C's), colorado i think)
• states with cities whose vibes are different then their vibes but the cit(ies) are less of a Presence then chicago or nyc so they mostly just hang out and only occasionally steal the driver's seat (pennsylvania, tennessee (nashville), michigan (detroit), maybe north carolina. these are situations where like. people outside of the state think of the city (or cities) as Different from the state but don't just think of the city when they think of the state. thats a lot of words i hope it made sense)
• Whatever California Has Going On (i don't understand california)
• Whatever Texas Has Going On (states and cities having conflicting wants is pretty par for the course but everyone kind of finds it weird how much texas seems to actively be fighting with austin for control sometimes. i would love to expand on this more later perhaps. if i learn more about texas. i think a lot about that bit in dc statehood)
• okay and finally my most important note is that i think. you should all come play in this space with me. because it's self-indulgent and good character fun and also because it can lead to a lot of really funny situations. such as: new york city and la have a weird gay lovehate relationship going on. this infuriates philly and boston because they both think they hate nyc the most. chicago also doesn't like nyc but in a more platonic competition way. this leads to situations like "pennsylvania interacting with california and he's trying to just be normal about it because he doesn't have beef with california but philly is screaming THAT'S THE GUY WHO STOLE MY HOMOEROTIC RIVAL !!!!!! KILL HIM !!!!!!!! in his head and pennsylvania is like what the fuck are you even talking about". thank you for your time

https://archiveofourown.org/works/64417357