#Love to see the Midwest rep

[leapdayowo]

As a kid who’s only traveled concrete paths next to houses no older than two centuries, I send my love to Lisboa

How I loved your cobbled streets, even with the cigarette buds between the cracks. Their edges worn smooth by ghost of faces I will never hope to meet

How giddy I felt to discover new designs of stone below my feet (I was Dorothy following my own magic road)

In my dreams, both day and night, I still see your carvings and mosaics adorning every nook and cranny. Winding through your streets by memories of a left at the restaurant of gods, straight past the theatre, and just past the blue tiled apartments. I trace these paths and feel the gentle breeze from the river below.

Your doors are green! And each store and home is nestled tightly in the city’s burrow of buildings (how lost I felt on where to look, only knowing neon signs and fields of asphalt parking lots telling me where to go)

[gremlingottoosilly]

Sooo I am from the Southern United States,and so I can't help but picture Konig having to deal with a Southern!Wifey.

One thing Konig will have to get used to, if his little wife is Southern,is her food and drinks. She will make Biscuits and Gravy(White Gravy) and drink Sweet Iced Tea by the gallon. Also,if she is the home maker he will learn he can not set foot in her kitchen while she is cooking otherwise he will be put to work. "Oh handsy hmm? Well if you have energy to be handsy you can peel potatoes,shuck corn,and shell some peas now can't you?"

He will never go hungry,or have to worry about her defending herself. Nothing is scarier than an angry southern woman with a cast iron pan in her hand.

Sorry if this like came from no where,I just don't see a lot of southerner rep in COD headcanons or stories and sorta just wanted to share my thoughts!

Hi!! Omg sometimes I forget that Americans are real, it's sounds so cool!! Konig is FOLDED. Southern wifey actually goes really well with his traditional values and how he perceives his possible wife-to-be. He was raised on the belief that a true Austrian woman should always care about home, cooking, going to church etc, and be ready to face the attackers with her own powers - so when his adorable wifey from overseas cooks for him, takes care of him, all with that cute accent of hers...poor guy is ready to get USA citizenship and buy a farm in the midwest. He loves your food! He is a big boy and he needs meat, and he would gladly sacrifice his time to cook with you just so he could get an opportunity to grop your ass and steal a few kisses while you are too busy with doing the meat. Someone is trying to harass you and before Konig could step up, you already defeated the attacker?? Omg he wishes he could marry you a second time..... He is a bit of a cringe cowboy fan because he is a loser who was reading that very old western and exported Italian cowboy movies, so he still thinks of you as a bit of a cowgirl...he would silently push a hat to your direction, but would actually fucking die if you'd wear it.

[lookninjas]

Pick A Song From A Bad Description (Minnesota Nice Edition)

What can I say? This dude's inspired me.

(Also, let's be real -- Minnesota's always had a crazy fucking scene that deserves highlighting. I'm not just saying it 'cause they're my Great Lakes family.)

Pick a song from a bad description! You don't have to recognize any of these songs to vote for them (although if you've been on tumblr since 2014, you will likely recognize at least one of them). Pick whichever description makes you smile. Whatever makes you curious. Whatever makes you think bitterly about how much your state House Rep sucks and meanwhile, people in some districts get cool reps and --

(It's okay; he lost his primary; I'll feel better in January when he's gone).

My point is, just pick a song. At the end of a week, I will compile the songs into a playlist, running in order from the song with the lowest number of votes to the song with the highest number of votes. If you would like to hear the playlist at the end, leave a comment or put it in the tags on your reblog, and I will tag you when the playlist post goes live. If you desperately need to know what a particular song is and don't want to wait, shoot me an ask and I will answer.

Also, please reblog the post! Minnesota does have a ridiculous music scene, and I guarantee you will find something to love on this playlist. This one will probably also get an extended cut, so. Even more songs. All from Minnesota. Gonna be epic.

Last but not least, to my U.S. Citizens reading this: You are registered to vote, right? 'Cause it's not that long till Election Day, and I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting kinda hyped up for it. (Especially now that my House Rep lost his primary).

That's all I got. Have a great day, listen to some weird music, read up on your state and local candidates if you've got an election in November, and I'll see you in a week!

(But not really, 'cause the rap playlists are still going).

[simply-ivanka]

To Understand Trump’s Staying Power With the White Working Class, Look at Michigan Supporters remain loyal to former president’s policies, personality

Tuesday February 27, 2024 Wall Street Journal

By Jimmy VielkindFollow and Ariel Zambelich

DEARBORN, Mich.—At its peak, more than 100,000 people streamed in and out of the massive 

Ford Motor factory here along the Rouge River. In addition to cars and trucks, the behemoth plant helped mint the American middle class.

The thousands of people who still work here and at other factories across Michigan and other Midwest states helped forge those states’ politics. These blue-collar voters were for many years reliable Democrats, but in 2016 a big group of them, mostly white, helped Donald Trump capture the presidency—including an unexpected win in Michigan.

His supporters said they remain loyal to him thanks to a mix of economic policy proposals and a unique personality that they haven’t seen from many other Republicans, according to recent interviews conducted by The Wall Street Journal for its “Chasing the Base” podcast series.

His policies? They shined. They shined…I made more money than I ever had. My money went  further.— James Benson

I just love Trump’s enthusiasm and positivity, he’s positive, he’s  enthusiastic…But I like to see an American leader that says we can be great again, we can be number one.— Joe Pizzimenti

The United Auto Workers endorsed President Biden in January, but union officials acknowledge that a sizable portion of their members back Trump. More than 100,000 people in the Detroit metro area work in auto manufacturing alone. It is still home to the headquarters of marquee American auto brands such as Ford, Chrysler and General Motors.

Trump lost Michigan to Biden in 2020. Democrats made up the difference in white-collar suburbs, including Oakland County northwest of Detroit. They made some inroads in blue-collar areas like Macomb County, northeast of Detroit, but Trump still carried the day.

So did former Rep. Andy Levin, a Democrat who won the portion of his district in that county by 36,000 votes. He said Democrats need to be bolder to blunt the GOP. (Levin lost his seat in 2022 due to an intraparty fight following redistricting.)

Republicans were able to peel off people over culture war issues like abortion and guns and LGBTQ rights… They wouldn’t have succeeded if Democrats had—if the average workingclass person could say, well obviously I know what side my bread is buttered on.— Former Rep. Andy Levin

There are other dynamics that will be important in the general election. Biden has dispatched foreign-policy and political advisers to meet with Muslim and Arab-American leaders upset with the administration’s handling of the war in Gaza. The mayor of Dearborn, home to a major Arab-American population, has said the Biden administration “failed to act to protect the lives of innocent men, women and children.”

John Sellek, a Republican political consultant, said a loss of support from Arab-American and younger voters over the Middle East conflict was as important for Trump as his continued hold on the white working-class.

Macomb County is a bastion of the latter group. It is home to strip malls, sports bars and massive auto plants that cropped up as people moved from Detroit to the suburbs in the latter part of the 20th century.

Trump brought many new voices into the Republican Party here, and that has caused a fight about who controls it at the state level. Stacy Van Oast, 59 years old, said at a monthly coffee hour held at the Macomb County GOP office that one result has been dysfunction.

Peter Kiszczyc emigrated from Poland in 1984 and worked for decades at area factories. He said it was great that the former president has broadened the party’s appeal.

He’s changing the party…He’s appealing to many blue-collar workers especially, not only [in] Macomb county, but Michigan So I am Christian, [a] patriot, and I support Donald  Trump 100%.— Peter Kiszczyc

[nicegaai]

okay you found me (well the account that wanted to be found anyways 😭).

love the responses about the sibling dynamics (although i'm under the impression that the sámi people hate finland [for good reason]). somewhereville usa is so real [although if you're wondering, you got the vibe of most of the midwest down. much of the suburbs are very anywhereville].

i read your rereading þr post and one thing i want to add is that i hc that emil was wearing a hot topic logo t shirt (although apparently they don't sell those???). what's another small hc you have about the five?

kksdjlk SORRY!! the activity page on this acct is slow, i notice when i get new followers :P

the sapmi/sámi irl probably do, but historically speaking, theyre probably closest-ly related to the finnish out of the nordics...maybe. but she could just as well have been adopted. ummm of all the concerning implications þetta has that i should probably make a long disclaimer about , the sapmi oc thing is the last thing i was thinking ab but maybe ill tack that on whenever i put it together. im thinking last chapter... "im sorry to every nordic person and especially the icelanders in real life for implying you(r natl reps) do incest. i have a fetish and im doing a bit. please stop blocking me on ao3 i didnt even know u could do that"

thank you for the midwestie endorsement!!! it means a lot fr! :D im basing a lot off of TV and somewhat my own experience in the american suburbs. btw this lot live one town over from you so watch out next time u see a blond guy

i could make up headcanons for them all day long ... or i guess in this AU everything i say is canon actually. whoa . thats a lot of power

everyone has a nicotine addiction lowkey (except emil? so far) im talking vapes (timo) im talking zyns (mads) and normal ciggies too (sig) (ber is all of the above)

sig in high school was angry and confused and kind of a freak. i think he wore gir hoodies. he would have loved myspace era jeffery star and being an awful diva but he was doomed to something else entirely by association with the magic (the gathering) club

mads' peak golden retriever bf era was high school. he played sports, he was popular, he started a band with his friends... he just didnt have a plan afterwards and burnt out (temporarily?). SAD

ber was graduating hs ab the time sig and mads were starting. i think he was in band, brass section, socially awkward and a kissless virgin. he thinks back on hs and gets embarrassed about the way he was, but minus the virginity he hasnt changed one bit.

timo is an enigma to me. i have trouble pinning him down. i think he could have been one of those theater kid furries but hes also outgoing and generally likeable by the school population (showers regularly). just kind of a weirdo!

WAIT . THE REST OF THIS LIST IS GOIGN TO BE GOOD ONES

(not incl timo) their shared grandparents were first cousins, and it was less weird back then. :) no, they do not know this. when the day comes he finds out, mads will go into a downwards spiral of "we should have done this thing proper, me and sig could have been married"

timo's full time job is doing furry commissions on xitter and vrchat. im talking some real degen illustrations. he is soon going to start an autobiographical webcomic about furries doing incest (names changed to protect identity) and people online will call him a LARPer and the story unrealistic and it will piss him off so much

fun fact the rest of the town is minorly fleshed out, i used to talk more ab other things too... alfred and gilbert do crossfit with mathias and they do gay shit in the locker rooms and are about 1 flash of insight away from admitting they have a 3p fuckbuddy thing going on but nah nah theyre bros they hang out its fun its lighthearted its male bonding. working out together just does something for the libido you know how it is

gilbert is dating erzsebet (there was a whole sideplot with them and roderich but i forgor it) and alfred is a Sigma Male Who Is Too Cool To Date A Woman but he actually has a weird thing with matthew going on behind closed doors

most of the heta characters are out there in the town and a lot of them went to high school together. or something. england was one of the teachers... aughhhh its been so long since i was talking ab the au the details r murky fml

[withahappyrefrain]

I love the new grill dad anon..the oil to clean thing doesn’t make sense to me either, I’m pretty sure once you become a man with a grill you understand it..no woman has understood that shit (maybe it makes sense in their weird boy brains😂)

But I feel like Rooster, Hangman and Bob have a grill off (organized by coyote and Phoenix and videoed by fanboy and payback with steller camera work) and Bob just out grills them with the power of midwesterness.

Bradley’s is too basic and chill (cali and Virginia don’t have much rep for grilling)

Hangman’s is way too fried and oily (fried food is good until it gets gross and soggy “family recipe”)

Meanwhile Bob’s grill doesn’t have a deep fry attachment and he makes cheese burgers (every kind of cooked) (with toasted buns) full sandwiches (family recipe) and hot dogs that aren’t full of chemicals that made fanboy throw up last time (didn’t help that he ate five of them) and hands down won (clean grill and a “kiss the cook” apron) They decide to rotate who grills at the annual bbq but everyone comes to Bob’s house in the summer on Sundays 😂

The oil thing sounds intuitive but it's like a cast iron skillet. Water removes the seasoning and depending on the material of the grill can cause it to rust, whereas oil can still remove the gunk but not hurt the grill or cause shit to get into your food. It's not a guy thing it's the chemistry of cooking :)

Bradley can grill steaks, but his burgers aren't anything special. We're not known for grilling in Virginia, but I can see him being really good at smoking meats. So he'll bring his smoked brisket to the dagger cookouts and everyone takes leftovers home.

Jake does use too much oil. He makes a delicious deep fried turkey for Thanksgiving and like Bradley, his burgers and hot dogs are alright. He knows how to do fried chicken and that becomes his speciality for cookouts. Ooo, and fries okra!!

Bob knows the secret to grilling is timing and seasoning. He doesn't have a super fancy grill, it gets the job done. He tinkers around with seasoning, trying out different ingredients and varying amounts until he cracks the code. He has several notebooks of different recipes, seasoning mixes, marinades, etc. If he shares a recipe with you, that means you're in his good graces ;)

[lakecountylibrary]

Pride Month Read & To-Read

Two great Pride Month reads Kate recommends:

Loveless by Alice Oseman (aro/ace rep)

Georgia has parents who are still in love, two sets of grandparents that are still together, and a brother who married his girlfriend. But at eighteen she has never even kissed someone (not even her lesbian best friend, Felipa) or particularly even wanted to. In college she comes to understand herself as asexual/aromantic, and tries to capture the part of her identity that has always eluded her.

Destination Unknown by Bill Konigsburg (gay rep)

1987, New York City. C.J. isn't just out-- he's completely out there, and Micah can't help but be both attracted to and afraid of someone who travels so loudly and proudly through the night. As their lives become more and more entangled in the AIDS epidemic that's laying waste to their community, whatever Micah and C.J. have between them will be a bond that will determine the course of their futures.

And two (probably) great Pride Month reads Kate is looking forward to:

Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli (lesbian rep)

Imogen Scott maybe be hopelessly heterosexual, but while visiting her newly out best friend Lili at college, any support Lili needs, Imogen's all in. Even if that means bending the truth, just a little, when Lili drops a tiny queer bombshell: she's told all her college friends, including her new bestie Tessa, that Imogen and Lili used to date. And the more time Imogen spends with Tessa, the more she starts to wonder if her truth was ever all that straight to begin with.

Always the Almost by Edward Underhill (trans, gay rep)

Trans boy Miles Jacobson has two New Year's resolutions: win back his ex-boyfriend Shane, and finally beat his arch-nemesis at the Midwest's biggest classical piano competition. Miles hatches a fake-dating scheme with the new boy in town, Eric, a proudly queer cartoonist from Seattle who asks his pronouns and cares about art as much as he does. But the ruse turns real with a kiss, which throws all of Miles' plans - and feelings - into disarray.

See more of Kate's recs

(Summaries provided by publishers)

[docholligay]

13. United Kingdom

This is one of my daughter’s favorites, because she’s two and also europop trash. She seems (seems) to like Israel slightly more, but she’s a toddler and can’t quite use the ranker yet. I also knew @verbforverb was going to like this the SECOND it came out.

I have mentioned that I try very very hard, and sometimes fail, at letting the personalities of the singers get to me in any measurable way, because I’m not asking someone to be likeable, I’m asking them to sing.

I ABSOLUTELY fail with Mae Muller. There are so many things I hate about this song. I hate the accent levelling* until the JARRING jump where she talks like a person in her Spice Girls Spoken word moment, I hate that the song sounds like a 3 minute commercial jingle that you can’t get out of your head (as jetty put it), I hate the lyrics, I hate it all.

But goddamnit. I LOVE Mae Muller. I HATE that I like her so much. She did a pretty terrible job in Barcelona, really, and immediately the next day put out a short of her running through the airport that said “Me fleeing Barcelona after [twitterid] said my vocals flopped last night (I’m sick!)” and I laughed and I hated that I laughed. She is funny and engaging on stage, and she is honestly like, sorry verb you’ve been replaced by a new British Jewish mess I’d like to get drunk with (Actually, come along, i think it’ll take both of us to wrangle her). She’s tacky and I KNOW she’s a sloppy drunk and I am SO MAD about how much I like her and I want her to do well. DESPITE HATING EVERYTHING ABOUT HER SONG. RAGE.

And she was fucked from the word go by TAP music, who, so there was this huge rumor that Rina Sawayama was going to be tapped to be the Eurovision rep. It was never going to happen. It was a FUCKING PIPE DREAM. Rina has actual things to do with her life (affectionate). This was rumored even to be her song, I think it JUST hit the line for being viable:

Would I have loved that? Yeah, I absolutely would have. But it was never going to happen, and of course Rina played along, and they took WAY  too long to announce Mae, and honestly...they could have just candidly said, “Okay we promise it’s not Rina, we can’t wait for you to see who we picked” ANyway Mae was IMMEDIATELY thrown into a situation where she was a disappointment, which is SO UNFAIR to an artist no matter how I feel about them.

And she’s basically just made it her business to charm the shit out of every human being who comes into contact with her. I worry about her some, in that I fucking wish she would stop trying to dance and sing. She can’t do it. She loses her breath. Like, work on your cardio, but for now, STAND STILL. I doubt she’ll flop, but she’s closing the whole show and I would hate for her to put in a disappointing result (BECAUSE SHE’S CHARMED ME) because no one is paying attention to her actual abilities. She’s also changed the Spice Girls Moment and I don’t like the revamp as much.

*Every time I say this, someone says this isn’t a real thing, and this is just what singing is like, and, no, it isn’t. I have linked people papers and articles and I’m tired of doing that for shit you can hear with your own ears. It’s a noted observable fact in music, particularly mainstream music, it’s called accent levelling, and it is true and real even if that fact annoys you because maybe you or someone you love do it subconsciously. It’s a strange midwest-atlantic American mix that’s been more and more codified since the 80s, and, I also do it and I don’t care for that either! Look no further than singers like Billy Bragg or Steve Earle or Dave Carter, or to use a better known example, Lily Allen, to see it doesn’t actually have to be that way! It’s due to a series of media based and sociocultural factors, and also pressure from mainstream record companies to ‘sound mainstream’ but it’s not just how people sing. I said I wasn’t going to link, but here’s a very straightforward article from the guy who literally wrote the Cambridge Dictionary of the English Language and also was chair of his department in Reading for ten years, also wrote a great book about English pronunciation. Link.

[jasonlindsey]

Jason Lindsey Is an Empathic, Determined Creator

by Heather Elder on Notes from a Rep's Journal 

A person’s life values, built through their journey on earth, change throughout their lifetime. Jason Lindsey had one particular experience that colored the way he views the world, more than anything else. We wanted to hear his story, what lead up to his vision for today and the future. Here is what he had to say.

Growing up in the Midwest, being raised and surrounded by factory workers, meant becoming part of a community that prides itself on getting dirty on purpose. Through them, I learned what it means to put in a full day’s work for a full day’s pay – that hard work is simply the price of entry. From these competent and dependable “salt of the earth” people also came the inherited ideals of the gritty, enterprising pioneers who came before us and the belief that decency and integrity are paramount and that strength of character comes from a deeper connection to the land.

As a teenager, I worked on a farm, engaging fully in the physicality of the land. Young and imaginative and always outdoors, I was armed with a do-it-yourself spirit when it came to solving problems on the fly, I loved the feeling of improv and the satisfaction that came with making something out of seemingly nothing. Resourcefulness and thinking outside the box grew to be second nature to me. I learned to see problems as questions. And questions as opportunities for creativity.

At the heart of this creativity were my mother and my grandmother. I cannot remember a time when they weren’t creating or crafting. They introduced me to all that is possible with oil paints, blank sheets of paper, and a glue gun, forever encouraging me to use my imagination further, be inspired by the nature around me, and explore new ways to express myself. In middle school, I tried a photography class, and from working in the darkroom, I found my salvation — the medium a perfect co-existence of science and art.

Through photography, I caught a glimpse of other ways of life. I saw people and ideas that revealed different perspectives on the ways of the world, ideas that challenged me – I was all in. Defying expectations, I went to college and majored in graphic design, all the while continuing to explore photography. After five years as a designer and art director, I took the leap to pursue photography full-time, my opportunity to craft the kinds of stories that preserved what I saw, narratives I believed would contribute to a deeper understanding of the world.

This passion for creativity and the belief in getting dirty for a purpose continues to fuel me. It is important through my projects to call attention to what I envision could get lost in our world. Be it the renewal of nature, or the preservation of land, a loved one, or even just a moment in time, each shoot, another opportunity to make the time to create, to preserve.

All the while aspiring to do whatever it takes to find something extraordinary in each moment, each shot. Be it drifting downriver in a dugout canoe or hiking 8-hours up a mountain with full shoot gear in The Amazon, for me the journey is just as important as the process.

Whether we are talking about nature or people, a person must leave their comfort zone and imagine through the eyes of another. Empathy is one of the greatest gifts that humans can give to each other — to slow down and step into another’s shoes, to feel what they feel. It is not always comfortable, but it is precisely because of that discomfort and being shaken out of familiar narratives that we learn and grow.

I’ve always thought that the more life experience you gain, the more empathy you will have. Though nothing could have prepared me for my newborn son’s first four month’s stay in the Neo-Natal Intensive Care or his 20 surgeries and six years of 120-hour a week home nursing. Not only was I forced to deal with my feelings but also to be fully present for those I love. It was necessary to develop trust and rapport with the army of caregivers who were there to help us. The doctors, nurses, therapists, medical, and health insurance providers were our champions and cheerleaders. Their philosophy to treat the patient and family made a huge difference in helping us heal – everyone’s compassion and empathy on full display every day. It was a growth experience that continues to help me in my professional and personal life.

Today it is my son who continues to teach me. As I watch him grow and interact with the world, he demonstrates children’s unapologetic interest in all things. My son’s wholesome approach and his never-ending questioning about the marvels of the world serve as my catalyst to tell the kinds of stories that move us to be more imaginative, more empathetic, more compassionate, and more generous. One must strive to make choices to ensure the things you love continue to thrive.

Each choice is a reminder of our ripple effect, an invitation to take full responsibility for our impact on the world. Our lives, our work, the health of our environment, and how we value it, all interdependent. And like those gritty and enterprising pioneers who came before me, I believe that no one is too small to make a difference in the world. My son is living proof of this.

These deeply held ideals are the driving force behind why my wife and I fulfilled a long-held ambition to purchase 20-acres of forest at the mouth of Jordan Creek. Ultimately, we raised money through print sales and worked with a non-profit to get a grant for the preserve to be transferred to a land trust for permanent protection.

We also challenged ourselves to explore new ways to green our studio. We weatherized, insulated, overhauled and installed. We paired geothermal with a rooftop solar system and are now 100 percent powered by clean energy. Nothing was exempt from examination to make our workspace one that’s not only good for the health of everyone who works or visits but also good for the planet. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. At the heart of it, I want the work I create to be a reflection of all that I hold most dear – my wife and son, the environment, the caregivers. For this, I will continue to dig and search and leave no stone unturned; to do whatever it takes to tell the kinds of stories that bring people deeper into something that will move them and inspire action. This, my ongoing ode to great design is my way to make something memorable and meaningful.

Follow Jason on Instagram for more honest stories, true emotions, and real moments.

[therealgothambychelsealauren]

Chapter II: Arkham Asylum

In my Criminal Law class, we've been learning about the abolitionist movement and prison reform. I've found myself agreeing with a lot of the stances and reasoning the Abolitionists have petitioned for eradicating the prison system - primarily for petty crimes and those incarcerated for being homeless (the criminal legal system has systemically and historically served as a means of punishing poor people, but more on that later).

While lawyers and Abolitionist activists have been trying to reform and free oppressed people from the Big House, I've been having my own housing challenges.

After undergrad (where the events of the prequel series, The Real Gotham: Origins, occurred) I moved to the South Bronx, New York City. It was a 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom, for me and 3 coworkers who all served for a nonprofit organization centered on education reform (though how much The Organization combatted versus condoned educational inequality is to be debated throughout this series). The apartment was nice - very nice compared to the apartments I grew up struggling to complete a lease in. We were in an ideal location for public transport. The local eateries I frequented almost compensated for the inevitable contribution to gentrification I caused by moving here in the first place. Until a select group of neighbors moved in upstairs and before the block became increasingly more policed (2 homicides occurred within a month's span of each other at the start of summer), it was actually a nice place to live.

So when my roommates suddenly decided not to renew our lease, I felt like our T.J. Maxx rug had been pulled right from under me - but I didn't completely hate the idea of moving elsewhere, either.

Part of orientation with The Organization encouraged us to be proud of the NYC burrough we were repping. One of my roommates was born and raised in Brooklyn, and ofc with the hype Brooklyn gets on NYC-Transplant-TikTok, she earned respect and gas from the rest of our cohort quickly. Another roommate repped Staten Island, which earned love and hate both because of Pete Davidson. My third roommate was from New Jersey - but they never said "New Jersey", it was always just "Jersey."

I obviously was not a New Yorker and was not at all proud to hail from such a conservative state in the Midwest, so I decidedly attempted to embrace the pride of living in the Bronx, arguably - with Brooklyn, hence the constant shade between BK and The BX - the home of modern hiphop and rap (suck it Jay Z).

And there were good reasons to be proud of living in The BX; it's the only borough that begins with "The," it's a melting pot of Afro-Latino culture (something I had not at all encountered until I moved here), it took my virginity of eating tostones, churros, and quesabirria tacos.

But I think the biggest pride of The Bronx is that it's the last borough to be massively gentrified by white transplants. Even now, I see many people sharing community on stoops and I hear Hispanic music being played in the streets. Some of these houses/apartments are living testaments of history, not having been hardly touched by the decades of families and friends who resided in them. The gentrification is definitely still happening, but it seems to be consuming The Bronx at a much slower pace than the other boroughs.

So keep all of this in mind as I tell you about my sublet.. with two white sisters of the Catholic church.

I have nothing against Catholics - I myself am spiritual/Christian and I went to a Catholic university. I have nothing against white people - I myself am half-white.

But considering everything I've come to know and experience as a Black woman (yes, mixed technically but still definitely perceived as a Black woman - in both good and bad ways as you could probably imagine), it's hard not to wonder about the historical implications behind this setup.

I mean, I read those news stories when so many bodies of Native American children were found where Catholic elementary schools once stood. I see how out of place these white Catholic sisters look amongst the Black and Brown neighbors on our street, and I notice the odd glances (sometimes even winces) from these neighbors when they see the two 70+-year-old sisters taking out the trash. In a city where the standard is to mind your business and avoid eye contact, where the norm is to trust no one, I witness so many neighbors get nervous seeing these dainty old sisters on the sidewalk.

And though they are kind - and clearly generous to be letting me stay with them at such an affordable rent - the lawyer/social activist in me recognizes the historical implications of two white sisters living in an old 4-floor house in a neighborhood dominated by Black Hispanics.

It's almost comparable to what living in Arkham Asylum must be like; though I am out most of the day, I cannot help but have some anxiously intrusive thoughts about how they may think of me or plan to treat me. Have they prepared a lecture for me about my curls shedding in the shower? Are they planning to guilt me into sacrificing school/free time to fulfill unreasonable household/cleaning responsibilities? Do they assume I'll be irresponsibly smoking weed on the weekends with friends and should I expect to have my shit searched while I'm at school because of that racist stereotype? (thanks War on Drugs)

I hate having such anxious thoughts, but when you're a poor Black person living in a historically white-owned house with two white Catholic sisters who moved here as part of a community/nonprofit initiative built on white saviorism, it's hard not to wonder.

Not to mention the house is lowkey haunted.

Supposedly, this house once belonged to an extremely wealthy family; there's a knob in the center of the living room floor that used to be a button to ring for the servants. Ironically, it is directly under this button, on the ground floor in a small room off-side from the kitchen which was once the servant's quarters, where I am staying. How this house came into the possession of the Catholic church is still a mystery to me, but hopefully I'll be able to give y'all the history lesson on it soon.

[a-guy-named-e]

the states as weird things my directors have said

alabama: you have so much school spirit i almost forgot you don't know how football works

alaska: why can't you all shut the hell up every once in a while

arizona: you're the only person i'll let complain at this point. i don't think you're right, but i do think it's funny.

arkansas: you're still here? i thought you graduated. leave already, dammit.

california: i thought i was ready for the pronoun question but clearly i was not.

colorado: i don't know why he hangs out with you, all you do is smoke weed! [turns to me] you haven't started smoking weed have you?

connecticut: i will pay you seven dollars if you can get the tenors to stop giving me stupid nicknames.

delaware: yes. i know you were the first to reset. that's because you don't move.

georgia: do you know where the disembodied cougar head is? no? well then i don't know what to tell you.

florida: i never thought i'd have to say this but please do not pick up any more squirrels.

hawai'i: your disregard for authority is only funny when it's [band director], not when it's me.

idaho: i don't care what you call it, i want to know why you were arranging a marriage on the back of the bus.

illinois: i need you to do me a favor and make sure [friend] never wears that packers jersey again because next time i might strangle him.

indiana: why is it so hard for you to march slides? just turn and look at the damn cornfield!

iowa: alumni, i appreciate you coming out to watch, but please do not turn our rehearsal into a field of dreams moment.

kansas: if you make one more comment about the scenery i'm kicking you off the bus.

kentucky: you were a horse girl in a past life, weren't you?

louisiana: i know you can't dance worth shit but i need you to play like you're trying to convince someone that you can.

maine: i can't tell if you're agreeing with me or just acknowledging me but i like being agreed with so i'm going with that.

maryland: i don't trust anyone whose only experience with crab is imitation crab meat

massachusetts: i'm not technically allowed to swear around you but that was fucking terrible.

michigan: so are you just emotionally invested in awful sports teams or what?

minnesota: i know this is the midwest but can someone please bring anything other than a casserole to the pitch-in?

mississippi: i don't care who was talking, i'm telling all of you to shut up so i know i get the right one.

missouri: i know dark humor is in and all but i feel obligated to tell you that i'm a mandated reporter, so can you please make your jokes about jumping off the arch where i can't hear them?

montana: no, you may not run laps in the enchanted forest.

nebraska: it's almost the 4th, right? okay, if you can play three notes better this rep i'll run to the cornfield and check if it's knee-high for you guys.

nevada: oh my god you did not just start a poker game.

new hampshire: i don't care that it's 101°, i'm not allowed to let you be shirtless.

new jersey: the way some of you march makes me so scared of you becoming drivers.

new mexico: this should be sultry! be sultry!

new york: i don't pay $5 for my coffee. i like it black. like my soul.

north carolina: you're acting like a whiney little brother. i should know. i am the whiney little brother.

north dakota: all things being equal i'd love to agree to disagree. however all things are not equal. i'm smarter than you.

ohio: buckle up kids, this is going to be the only interesting thing you see for the next several hours.

oklahoma: trumpets i am begging you to get a personality other than metaphorical dick measuring contests with the tubas

oregon: i don't care that we used the bridge last year, we're using it again. it's our thing now.

pennsylvania: i often get sad about the fact that we border ohio but then i remember that ohio also borders us

rhode island: one more wrong note and i'm putting the piccolo on a high shelf where you can't reach it.

south carolina: i want you to play like $40 peach sweet tea.

south dakota: i wish i were an only child too, but not all of us can be that lucky

tennessee: if you hear me blasting dolly parton in my office shut up and mind your business.

texas: we don't have much going for us, but i can guarantee no one else is dumb enough to cram 90 horn players on a gym floor and make them march.

utah: i don't know why you have seven pictures of jesus taped to your face and honestly i'm a little scared to ask.

vermont: alright folks, practice is starting late today. someone put seventy two bottles of cracker barrel maple syrup in my office. yes, i counted.

virginia: i hate to be a buzzkill but unfortunately murder is still very illegal.

washington: i'm sorry, you're now legally required to get starbucks before all of our competitions. i will buy it for you if that's what it takes.

west virginia: you may have noticed country roads is in our pep band binder. please note that i will be using this as leverage for the rest of the season. if you cross the line, it gets cut. consider yourself warned.

wisconsin: i have a lot of questions honestly, but i think the two most pressing are "why are you eating a whole block of cheese" and "aren't you lactose intolerant"

wyoming: you know what? i think i'm with you on this one, i would've preferred sexy cowboys to sexy firemen too.

[rgr-pop]

this is a building i pass a lot and just really looked at it now, tracking the block. there’s a building on the national registry--now a biggby coffee for state reps--two buildings to the left, and the office of that building’s architect used to be in a building located to the right (i also love the late modernist blue and brick building that is there now). preservationists put up a fight for the stuff to the left--this is a part of downtown that was nearly totally razed for state government complexes, producing a lot of kind of decent postmodernism actually. these are not really regular urban renewal era redevelopment blocks, as i recall off the top of my head (adjacent blocks were razed for modernist civic projects and then again for 90s blue glass state government projects). i remember seeing a photo of this block in this kind of progressive planning preservationist report from the 60s that really influenced me. (when i saw that, originally, i stared at that photo, i know i know that building.. oh yes, it’s the state rep biggby.) i saw this just now looking at an older historic photo of the block and i was like RIP that art deco thing sandwiched in the middle! wait actually that might be there still (rare thing to experience looking at stuff downtown). wait i can just show you that picture too:

in the background you can see ottawa street power station, our best art deco and a whole other political preservationist can of worms (one of my fantasy research projects is doing a history of struggles over its redevelopment from the 30s to the early 2000s that’s in the “long neoliberalism” genre). the photo doesn’t do justice to the thing in the middle, although i greatly appreciate it in mundane context (as all the darius moon commercial buildings kind of felt). architects moon & spice practiced in the tussing building, the brick box thing on the corner (rip to her). on the nearer corner is a church that i think sucks personally lol sorry what’s there now is the state house office buildings, which stretch over the street. one of my favorite buildings in the city actually and it produces two of my favorite tableaux. one is if you walk up ottawa when everything is deserted (most any time) and just look back:

second is walking underneath it at night and the columns are just absolutely glimmering but with lots of postmodern black. it’s great i’ll take pictures sometime.

can’t wait to expropriate that into social housing! i’m living at the top.

anyway point being, i only just now looked at the ingham county building, and what a cutie! there’s not a lot out there hyping it, and this makes me ask how it came to be preserved (and i have an inkling it spent the latter 20th century less loved than its neighbors). its incredible academic neoclassicism as art deco surface ornament. this building is camp. it’s literally a joke at banks. (it is currently owned by... the prosecuting attorneys association. possibly more cursed than a bank!)  i believe it was originally a board of water and light building. (some receipts from a local history king’s flickr.) they’re responsible for or connected to a ton of incredible art deco in the city--some stuff that’s as good as there is in any city of comparable size. lansing has the worst ��token art deco skyscraper” in any industrial/ist city but we make up for it with public power art deco imo. i don’t know who designed this building but i could find out (i already got out of bed to look something else up and here i am so not tonight.) i have a lot of disorganized info on lansing art deco that i would like to turn into a guide. i have a kind of intro-level take on this for audiences, which is that (in the industrial midwest) we can think about vernacular art deco as the design vernacular of a moment of mass social and public building, but that more histories of art deco intentionally or unintentionally turn their eyes toward private enterprise. i have kind of a mission about that because i think we have such great public project art deco here that people should really hype but at the same time--and you know this, my readers--the story of these buildings is the story of the long public-private. but also, we have a lot of great great art deco banks. everybody does! and, a pretty good masonic temple. 

[creacherkeeper]

I’m about to finish Critical Role, and am looking to start watching one of the Dimension 20 shows! The two that I’ve heard the most about are Fantasy High and The Unsleeping City - which would you recommend?

oh, thats very exciting!! first off - congrats on catching up on cr?? i dont know how long youve been at it but that's very impressive. im way too terrified of the backlog to even try

personally i absolutely love fantasy high!!! but there definitely are draws for both shows. the basic pitch for fantasy high is that its john hughes meets dnd. so what if there was one place in the dnd world that was basically a modern midwest usa suburbia? it definitely evolves from that concept quite a lot, but the tropes it's playing off of are so fun to see in a fantasy world!! what if the nerdy overachiever came from an immigrant wizard family? what if a teen found out the person who raised them wasn't their bio parent and they're actually part demon? what if the egotistical jock was trying to live up to his pirate lord father's legacy? it starts with these really fun character concepts, and just shows how that evolves within a fantasy world. it's very funny, it's very cute, it's utterly heartbreaking and terrifying at times, and by god is it SO found family. if you've ever been upset at the "and they all split up after the adventure ends" trope, you really need to watch fantasy high. bonus points for characters of color, canon disability rep, and multiple important queer relationships. it starts so funny and cute but GOD does this show fuck me up in all the best ways. the end of ep 2 will fuckin get ya so be prepared for that

the unsleeping city is also very good but is less My Brand personally. disclaimer that i still need to watch the s2 finale but am through the rest of it! this one takes place in modern day new york city, with an added twist of 'what if there was a secret magical world there too'. some of my friends like this one more than fh, but the plot and worldbuilding (mostly in s1) didn't speak to me as much. that said, GOD are the characters so good and honestly, of the d20 shows i've seen, i think this one has my favorite player to player interactions. also, the characters are all adults in the real world so they have actual backstories and pre-existing relationships that you get to uncover as the show goes on, which is very spicy and fun. if you like urban fantasy or are a fan of nyc, this one is probably gonna be your jam. fair warning that s2 took place during the pandemic, and therefore is done over zoom. that said, i've been enjoying s2 much more than i did s1 on a plot and worldbuilding level (the antagonist?? the themes?? oh chefs kiss). loses points for me for having weirdly strong christian worldbuilding and almost no jewish characters in nyc??? and also very few main queer characters. but that isn't as much of a bother to other people as it was to me

both of those shows are with the main cast!! so either way you'll be able to fall in love with them as the rest of us have. you can watch the first seasons on youtube but you need dropout after that! (i'm sure you can find it uploaded somewhere but i was way too eager to give them my money lmao i fell in love so hard and they deserve it)

either way, i hope you have a ton of fun nonny!!! theyre really great shows with lovely people!

[abouttoplaymy-ace]

🐣🐨🦔🐢🐄🐸🐧🦭

DID YOU LIKE MY COUNTDOWN!? That was fun! I had fun. That was actually more fun than I thought it would be! There were too many good posts to name. It was very fun reading all your comments and theories.  Though side note: animal anon has no problem with people joining her BUT it must be animals and it must not mess with my countdown. No statues! Animal anon does animals, not statues. Side side note: can someone settle the debate of if that emoji is a hedgehog or a porcupine? Because I have no idea. Side note side note side note: sorry if you got multiple asks in a day...my system isn't perfected yet so sometimes I send two (or three) because I forgot I sent one and didn't want to accidently miss anyone (also sorry if i did miss you, still perfecting the system, no one has been animal anon blacklisted, i promise!)

Anyway, GUESS WHAT TODAY IS!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 It's been one year since I started animal anon! How exciting is that?! Phew, what a year we've had together! I mean what better way to start this second year than some chaos since that's how animal anon started to begin with! I will admit, it was slightly stressful coming up with something to meet the occasion of this event. I hope the countdown and this post live up to it. No, I'm not going to reveal myself just yet.. maybe that will be for year 2...😏😏. BUT I will give you some fun facts about me! So let's see; first, I'm from the Midwest (so not Canadian, but close so I do have a slight accent), but I currently live in the TriState area. Second, I am a MASSIVE theater nerd. No, seriously I have been to 21 shows since Broadway reopened in September and I'm actually going to my 22nd tonight. I don't know if this makes that fact better or worse, but I've really only been to about 12 different show because out of those 22, 10 of those are one specific show. Third, I am fluent in German and English. Though, I suck at writing in German, I never learned how to, so don't ask me to do that please. Fourth, my favorite color is red, so you can guess my favorite Taylor album (and coincidently also the show I've been to see 10 times on Broadway...). Fifth, I love to talk A LOT if you couldn't tell by the essays I send yall. And lastly, I can also confirm I am not Taylor...but I will say that I do share something very important with her... tell me your guesses down below as to what very important thing you think Taylor and I have in common, and I'll send some extra animals to whomever I see gets it right first!

So contuining on with my dissertation here, this week I have been trying to figure out a prompt to live up to this occasion. As I already mentioned, my system isn't perfect! And I've been thinking a lot about community lately and how that's been lacking for so many because of Covid. So what I want yall to do is if you get this dissertation of mine, please send a message, post, anon, whatever you want to at least 1 other blog (though you can do more), telling them something you like about them and giving them an animal emoji! That way we can keep spreading the love all day long to as many as possible! 🥰

As always, you are all brilliant, kind, worthy, beautiful and as this past week has shown, hilarious and unique human beings. No seriously, some of your posts had me kneeling over in laughter. If you would so like, you can tag #animalanon so I and everyone can read all your lovely posts! IM STARTING EARLY TODAY SO WE CAN PARTY ALL DAY LONG BECAUSE I LOVE YALL SO MUCH 🎊 🦥🦁🐯

Omg happy anniversary animal anon!!! 🎉 We all love you so much <3333 The chaos was 10/10 thank you for the entertainment you’re an icon!!

It’s so nice to hear more about you!! I am also from the Midwest not too far from Canada! Maybe I know you 👀 I ALSO love theatre but wouldn’t consider myself an expert by any means but you sound like you’re living the dream 🤩 and I also also love Red! I go back and forth on if it’s my favorite or rep (tho Red TV I think pushed it to #1 ❤️) So we have a lot in common!!

I’m going to guess what you have in common with Taylor issss… you have 3 cats?? 🐱

I love your idea for spreading the love! Bringing the light to the fandom, as always! I hope you have a wonderful anniversary!!! 🐳🦚🐇🦒🐘🐬🦉🦄🐝🦕🐙

[theggning]

1/2 Why do you think Danse hates ghouls? Super mutants, sure, they caused the death of Cutler, & they are so brutal that even PRESTON wants them exterminated. Synths, fine, if you buy into the idea that technology out of control, rather than corrupt rich elite, caused the apocalypse, and if you know that synths murder and replace humans, then I can see why the idea of machines with a will would be terrifying. I wish he had realised that they are victim-blamed slaves, but propaganda is a bitch.

Pardon me, anon, I’m not very good at tumblr so I don’t know how to post your asks all together. In lieu of this, I’m just going to post the other two parts together here and answer all at once:

2/3 But sentient Ghouls? They have nothing to do with technology. If anything, they are an example of humans hurt by technology, so you'd think Brotherhood propaganda would love them, like 'look at what the big bad science did to those poor guys!' They are usually very meek, and the aggressive ones are part of groups of aggressive humans like raiders or gangsters. And the scars can't be a problem for a military group whose members are often horribly injured. So what's with the hostility?

3/3 For that matter, do you think Danse will overcome his bigotry towards ghouls once he finally comes to terms with his worth as a synth?

Y’know, I don’t think Danse actually hates sentient ghouls.

When people list Danse’s likes and dislikes in short they often characterize him as hating mutants, synths, and ghouls-- he certainly hates feral ghouls (as do most wastelanders, really,) His perk even gives you a damage boost against all three enemy types. But I think “mutants, synths, and ghouls” are more of a list of the Brotherhood of Steel’s enemies and thus an appropriate perk for Danse to offer.

Because for the most part Danse DOESN’T treat sentient ghouls any differently than other people. He is notably kind to Billy the ghoul kid and hates it when you’re not. He is supportive of Kent Connelly, likes it when you encourage him to follow his dream (even if he’s a little skeptical of the practicality) and loves it when you save his life. He likes when you’re polite to Daisy in Goodneighbor, and likes when you help her by clearing out the library at her request. He is complimentary to the residents of The Slog and expresses admiration for their ingenuity, and hates it when you’re rude to them or disparage them.

There’s really only two sentient ghouls that Danse is actually rude to: Hancock and the Vault-Tec rep. And Danse is super quick to jump to insulting them for being ghouls, absolutely, which points to him at least somewhat buying into the BoS’ overall disdain, but I also don’t think he’s rude to these two specifically BECAUSE they are ghouls.

Hancock openly and actively hates the Brotherhood. He’s a chem addict and at least in Danse’s eyes, a criminal. I ain’t gonna say Danse is RIGHT to dislike him for these reasons (or to call him a “filthy ghoul” as his first retort,) but Danse is nothing if not hardcore lawful neutral, and a chaotic person like Hancock is going to grate on him no matter what they are.

And Danse is super, unnecessarily nasty to the Vault-Tec rep, but I almost wonder if this is more because he was with Vault-Tec. Danse vocally hates Vault-Tec. He talks about their cruel experiments and abuse of technologies, and includes them among the hated pre-War corporations that he believes doomed the world. No, it’s really not cool that Danse jumps straight to calling him a “thing,” but given his really acid reaction to this guy in particular, I have to wonder if it wasn’t intended to be a swipe at his affiliation with Vault-Tec rather than purely anti-ghoul bigotry.

So anyway, I’m not going to say Danse doesn’t have some issues with ghouls, likely ingrained into him by drinking the Brotherhood Kool-Aid, but I feel like it’s often overstated how much he dislikes them. He is perfectly accepting and nice to most of the named ghoul NPCs that companions can interact with, and for those he’s rude to, there’s other reasons why he might be acting that way. I do think any prejudice Danse may have will soften once he’s removed from the Brotherhood influence. He is clearly fully capable of treating ghouls with respect and kindness- perhaps something ingrained into him during his time living as a wastelander in the Capital.

As for the Brotherhood as a whole? They’ve always had some human supremacist problems. I’m not familiar with the earlier games, and diving down the Brotherhood rabbit hole is a MESS, so I’m not sure if there’s any canon information as to why that is. Maybe they believe ghouls are already a “lost cause” or maybe they buy into the “all ghouls will eventually turn feral” idea (which is actually not canon, by the way. Widely-accepted fanon.)  But ghouls and any other types of sentient non-humans are generally looked down on by the Brotherhood, are not allowed to enlist*, and are treated as second-class citizens at best and targets at worst.

And this is a problem with the Brotherhood as a whole, absolutely NOT something caused by Arthur Maxson. In FO3, the Brotherhood is callous about the lives of ghouls and its soldiers are freely allowed to take shots at ANY ghouls they see, even sentient ones. And that was the “nice” Brotherhood led by Elder Lyons. By FO4, Maxson has discouraged his people from opening fire on sentient ghouls-- and presumably, they’re treated like all other civilians, as far as being compensated for their tech and traded with rather than robbed from. I may give Maxson a ration of shit from time to time, but he is quite a bit LESS shitty than other Brotherhood elders on this front. That doesn’t change the BoS at large’s shitty attitudes towards anything nonhuman, which is so deeply baked in that I think a lot of its members don’t question it anymore. (You’re not supposed to ask questions in the military, especially not one designed like the Brotherhood.)

ANYWAY. Tl;dr: Danse is kind of shitty to a couple ghouls, but for the most part treats them as fairly as anyone else, I suspect this is because of the overall Brotherhood influence; the Brotherhood is shitty to ghouls at large because reasons.

* Allegedly, the Midwest Brotherhood of Steel (based in Chicago) recruits ghouls and mutants. This branch is the result of a BoS group that crashlanded in the area, and hard up for recruits, they developed a far more open recruiting policy. These guys are from Fallout Tactics, another game which I have not played.

[thedeaditeslayer]

The Cool Side of My Pillow Interview: A Trip Inside the Mind of Bruce Campbell.

When you mention the name Bruce Campbell, the first thing that readily springs to most people’s minds is the boomstick toting, chainsaw-wielding final guy of the Evil Dead franchise, Ash Williams. However, for some of his fans, he will be forever linked with the Harvard educated, resourceful bounty hunter, Brisco County, Jr. Then, of course, there will be those devotees of Burn Notice that will be quick to let you know that Sam Axe, the ex-Navy Seal with a love of Mojitos and Tommy Bahama shirts is their guy because we all know, “Chuck Finley is forever.” For those of you that have never had the pleasure of watching the inventive spy show, Chuck was Sam’s alias that he would use as a cover on certain operations. The mere fact that Bruce Campbell is a part of three vastly different fandoms says quite a bit about his ability as an actor as well as his likeability quotient.

A headliner on the convention circuit for years, the minute he is announced as a guest, tickets go flying out the door and venues sell out. Campbell understands what the people want and he is more than willing to give it to them which is why most promoters clamor to book him. His Q & A sessions are legendary and audiences love the way he sarcastically banters with them. In addition to being an accomplished actor, director and producer, Bruce is also a New York Times bestselling author with four books under his belt. If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor, Hail to the Chin: Further Confessions of a B-Movie Actor, Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way and his soon to be released, The Cool Side of My Pillow.

His latest book is a collection of essays or as he would say, “rants.” This venture is unlike any of the previous mentioned titles and perhaps his most personal effort to date. In a sense, you get to take a trip inside Campbell’s mind. He expresses his feelings and opinions on a variety of topics from current events and social media to his code of ethics. I was fortunate enough to chat with Bruce about The Cool Side of My Pillow, and his future projects. After reading his book, you come away with the knowledge of how genuine and thoughtful he is which is refreshing in this day and age.

Diabolique: What I like so much about The Cool Side of My Pillow is your honesty. Your writing style makes the reader feel as if they are having an intimate conversation with you. You don’t hold anything back. There are certain aspects in the book which made me feel a tad uncomfortable because you shared some information that was deeply personal, in my mind. I don’t know if I would have included some of the things that you did.

BC: Oh, sure. You always have to decide where you stop. Where is the line? For me, it depends on the type of book. It depends on the type of subject matter. Every project is different.

Diabolique: Were some of the subjects you tackled cathartic for you?

BC: I don’t normally do that sort of stuff. I’m happy to share if I feel something is useful. In the chapter, “What Are You On?” I’m not ragging on people who have habits. I have habits that was the point. There are very few people that just go through their daily life without jacking themselves up, knocking themselves down, knocking themselves out, you know? So, its kind of amazing. The human condition fascinates me.

Diabolique: “A Little Effort Goes a Long Way” is one of my favorite segments. A tale of hard work, ingenuity and perseverance. Which is key to succeeding in the entertainment industry. Where does your drive come from? Some people can pinpoint it to relatives, a mentor…

BC: I do attribute some of it to the Detroit metro area. A lot of my buddies worked on the line, they worked in the factories, it was a great summer job that paid really good money. In Detroit, it was weird. There weren’t a lot of discussions about hopes and dreams. But I could see things happen incrementally that encouraged us. My grandfather worked for ALCOA Aluminum for over 40 years. Would he want to do that job? Was it his favorite job? He wouldn’t even know; it was his only job. He had that job for his whole adult life. My dad wanted to be a painter. I call him a “go betweener” because he didn’t do exactly what he wanted to do but he didn’t do what he didn’t want to do. He got into advertising because it was sort of creative but it wasn’t creative enough so he got into community theater which was more creative. That filled a very strong niche for him and so he kind of straddled the line and then I came along. He allowed me to pretty much do whatever the hell I wanted to do in whatever industry I wanted. He was the first investor in Evil Dead. So, I benefited from the transition of ONLY having drive. Meaning, you just go to work, it doesn’t matter what the job is. The next generation is, “Well, the job kinda matters.” My generation is, “The job matters a hundred percent,” because it determines what you’ve decided to do with your life. So, I am grateful for having enough drive but grateful for being injected with enough freedom of thought to then do my own thing. Partly the drive is the Midwest because you put a tie on, put your sport coat on and you go to work. Get your briefcase, shine your shoes and off you go.

Diabolique: Do you think it is important if you want to be in the arts to have a benefactor? Not necessarily monetarily but someone who encourages you like your dad?

BC: Well, my mom did sort of amateur writing so she was sympathetic at least to that side of the arts. She liked that creative side. My dad was way more interested in acting. So, I saw him in plays and stuff. I definitely benefitted because I had a sensibility that was similar to my dad. My two older brothers could give a shit about acting. They never touched it. I think my dad saw, “Hey, the young guy likes acting just like me.” That was probably an advantage.

Diabolique: Another thing about that particular section that is fascinating to note is your resourcefulness. The anecdote that you recount about having to come up with a way to deliver newspapers in a horrendous snowstorm and the lengths that you went to just to do your job is inspiring. I feel like that isn’t something that would be done by the younger generation, these days.

BC: We were pre-slackers and again, this isn’t to sound like a crabby, old guy on a hill shouting down about the great old days, at that time there were no other options. Our boss dropped off these papers at the top of a hill. That was as far as his van could go. He dumped the whole thing on me and my brother. We delivered them together (the resolution involved Bruce donning hockey skates and a toboggan). So, we thought okay. There was no option of saying, “Dude, I can’t do it. They’re just not going to get their papers today.” That would be the current response. You would wait until the roads were plowed, like that night, and then you would get your damn paper the next day and you’d end up getting two papers. It wasn’t an option. There was nothing in my upbringing that said, you can tell your boss, no. Now, if I thought it would have been very dangerous or life threatening, I probably would have said, no but short of that, there was a slightly different mentality in the air. You did what you were fucking told, for the most part which is a little bit different now.

Diabolique: “The Princess Di Factor” was a thought-provoking chapter because you talk about the click-baiting, disinformation and too much information that occurs on social media. Some of your peers have their PR reps handle their feeds but you are very present in yours. Do you think someone who is interested in getting into show business has to obtain “influencer” status?

BC: I think there is certainly pressure to do it. The old actors when they were doing a film could get away with telling the local studio, “By the way, I don’t do social media.” They say, “I’ve never done it. I don’t have a Twitter feed. I’m not starting now.” They can get away with it. But a younger thespian has a website and at least two or three social media platforms. I think its important to get a distinction of what are using them for? Facebook is all mercenary. Whenever I post, its just for a link to get tickets. I just do that to keep the account warm but I won’t add to it. That one is really inflammatory. They are finally starting to take the misinformation down. It should just be illegal. The stats are mind boggling. Something like 65% of the people who refuse to do social distancing and stuff like that get their information from YouTube. Its not news sources. Its like the Wild West. I think it needs to be settled. I would introduce journalistic standards and practices where by if you tell a little white lie, you get yanked and if you get fact checked and the facts say you’re wrong, that gets yanked.

Diabolique: At the beginning of your book, you discuss the toll of COVID-19 isolation and changes to the convention and motion picture industries. After presenting the Ashland Independent Film Festival awards virtually, do you think conventions might go that route in the future? San Diego Comic Con has gone entirely online which is surprising. Galaxy Con is another.

BC: If we don’t straighten this out, yeah. Sports are going to be weird for a while. Large venues are just going to be strange. How are you going to figure out the San Diego Comic Con? How are they going to make people feel comfortable jamming 125,000 people over a four-day period into that convention center which is already elbow to elbow and unhealthy? I don’t know. I’ve talked to promoters about a bunch of different things. I’m doing a Drive-In tour. Also, some theaters have opened up again so I am going to encourage and reward that so I have added five theater dates for later this summer: Austin, Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City and San Antonio. I’m getting back out on the road. This is not a tour year at all but when I heard that drive-ins were making a comeback, I thought let me be part of that. Some of them are struggling to open and I want to help. I’m tired of being on the sidelines. I want to get back into it. Drive-ins are perfect. You’ve got your distance. I can go up to cars and hassle them and there’s no problem. I can shine my flashlight in the cars, see if people are having sex, there’s a lot of fun stuff we can do. I want to be the first guy they meet when they come into the place to park. I want to be the guy that parks everybody. It’s time. Everyone wants to feel normal again. Eat the meatloaf sandwich. Going to the drive-in is the oldest meatloaf sandwich you could ever eat. Bring the hooch. Hide it under the seat. Bring a cooler, bring your reefer…

Diabolique: In The Cool Side of My Pillow, you mentioned that you were going to attend San Diego Comic Con, New York Comic Con and the 2020 Electronics Expo which were all canceled due to the pandemic. Were you going to promote the Evil Dead game?

BC: That’s what I was going to do. That’s what I was going to those conventions for.

Diabolique: What’s the status on it?

BC: I have been looking at and approving a bunch of new stuff. They are full-fledged, full bore into it. I think they are talking 2021 for an actual release. Its rolling along, looking great. It got delayed because of the nightmare of video games. Platforms change and evolve. You look at somebody else’s games and go, “Shit! We have to change everything now.” We have to stay current. I have to finish doing the voice work.

Diabolique: I know you are aware of all the rumors surrounding potential work in the future. You even mentioned in your book that you had a few offers. Is there a possibility that you might show up in Doctor Strange 2 and Mall Rats 2?

BC: The Kevin Smith thing could happen if it all winds up together but we haven’t had serious conversations about it. For Dr. Strange, everyone is at the mercy of what Marvel is going to do and this backlog of movies they’re going to do now. So, I think it won’t be until 2021. Marvel has to figure this all out. They have to figure out what movies they are going to do next, what movies they are going to delay, what movies they are going to shit can, what movies they are going to advance and speed up…the marketplace is ever fluid.

Diabolique: Do you have a release date in mind for The Cool Side of My Pillow?

BC: I have to say summer. We’re blasting away. We’re finishing graphics and photos and all that. We’re doing some legal crap. I’m starting a publishing company too. Tartan Media is going to release it. It will be my Campbell clan logo. It will be just to put things out. Movies, TV shows, whatever. That’s the new shingle.

Diabolique: Is there anything else on the horizon?

BC: Because the book isn’t going through Simon & Schuster, they’ll kind of have to find it where they find it. I’ll tweet about it. It will hopefully be available later this summer through Audible. I am going to do the audio book myself within the next two weeks because I want the e-book and the audiobook to come out at the same time. That way it gives you a choice. I want this to be a summer read.

Diabolique: Any updates on Bruce vs Frankenstein?

BC:  With Bruce vs Frankenstein, I talked with Mike Richardson, who is my partner on this and we’re going to start with a graphic novel. So, I am going to adapt the screenplay. We’re going to put that out first so people in the industry can get a better sense of it. Mike has been selling a lot of projects to Netflix and he said that’s kind of the way to go with his material and fantasy stuff so he suggested we do that first. We’ll get a great artist, sell it in comic book form, people can totally see it and as a director, its kind of like doing storyboards. It’s a tremendous amount of extra prep that I can do just by going through it because I actually have to think about pages, panels and descriptions. It’s a format that’s not my normal format. Screenplay format, I can fart, I got that down. This is different with the way it looks on the page so it will be a very interesting translation process.

Diabolique: Are you doing any projects outside of Tartan Media?

BC: There’s this movie, 18 ½. It’s directed by Dan Mirvish. He’s with Slamdance. The story is about the missing minutes of the Nixon tapes and what happened to those minutes. Originally, I got hired to play a character in the movie and I couldn’t do it for a number of reasons and then the guy came back and asked if I would play Nixon.

Diabolique: So, the audience will just hear you?

BC: Yes. Apparently, it’s this 18-minute-long fight scene where you will hear Nixon in the background. Ted Raimi comes into play Alexander Haig and Jon Cryer is playing Haldeman. We did all these sessions over Zoom and we each recorded them separately (saying this in Nixon’s voice) having our conversations. They will put it all together and put it in the background.

Diabolique: Anything new to report on Evil Dead?  

BC: The official name is Evil Dead Rise. We’re getting a new draft in. I don’t think anything will happen until 2021. Full bore ahead, we’re very excited about it. A whole, new ballgame. No more cabin in the woods.