#Midwest-Great Lakes Area

[thorsenmark]

Only Wanting Fresh Air (Indiana Dunes National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While walking along the shores of Lake Michigan in Indiana Dunes National Park with a view looking to the northwest on an overcast afternoon. In composing this image, I decided to use some of the dunes nearby and create a more layered approach with the shoreline and then waves coming in across Lake Michigan.

[ramblingeekette]

One thing that seems uniquely Wiscosin is how hyped everyone gets in the spring when the sturgeon spawning run starts. Like everyone flocks to specific points along the main rivers to watch these funky lake dinosaurs get it on.

[rotzaprachim]

some smaller bookstores, presses, and museum shops to browse and know about! Most support smaller presses, diverse authors and authors in translation, or fund museums and arts research)

(disclaimer: the only three I’ve personally used are the Yiddish book center, native books, and izzun books! Reccomend all three. Also roughly *U.S. centric & anglophone if people have others from around the world please feel free to add on

birchbark books - Louise Erdrich’s book shop, many indigenous and First Nations books of a wide variety of genres including children’s books, literature, nonfiction, sustainability and foodways, language revitalization, Great Lakes area focus (https://birchbarkbooks.com/)

American Swedish institute museum store - range of Scandinavian and Scandinavian-American/midwestern literature, including modern literature in translation, historical documents, knitters guides, cookbooks, children’s books https://shop.asimn.org/collections/books-1

Native books - Hawai’i based bookstore with a focus on native Hawaiian literature, scholarly works about Hawai’i, the pacific, and decolonial theory, ‘ōlelo Hawai’i, and children’s books Collections | Native Books (nativebookshawaii.org)

the Yiddish book center - sales arm of the national Yiddish book center, books on Yiddish learning, books translated from Yiddish, as well as broader selection of books on Jewish history, literature, culture, and coooking https://shop.yiddishbookcenter.org/

ayin press - independent press with a small but growing selection of modern judaica https://shop.ayinpress.org/collections/all?_gl=1kkj2oo_gaMTk4NDI3Mzc1Mi4xNzE1Mzk5ODk3_ga_VSERRBBT6X*MTcxNTM5OTg5Ny4xLjEuMTcxNTM5OTk0NC4wLjAuMA..

Izzun books - printers of modern progressive AND masorti/trad-egal leaning siddurim including a gorgeous egalitarian Sephardic siddur with full Hebrew, English translation, and transliteration

tenement center museum -https://shop.tenement.org/product-category/books/page/11/ range of books on a dizzying range of subjects mostly united by New York City, including the history literature cookbooks and cultures of Black, Jewish, Italian, Puerto Rican, First Nations, and Irish communities

restless books - nonprofit, independent small press focused on books on translation, inter and multicultural exchange, and books by immigrant writers from around the world. Particularly excellent range of translated Latin American literature https://restlessbooks.org/

olniansky press - modern Yiddish language press based in Sweden, translators and publishers esp of modern Yiddish children’s literature https://www.etsy.com/shop/OlnianskyBooks

https://yiddishchildrensbooks.com/ - kinder lokshen, Yiddish children’s books (not so many at the moment but a very cute one about a puffin from faroese!)

inhabit books - Inuit-owned publishing company in Nunavut with an “aim to preserve and promote the stories, knowledge, and talent of Inuit and Northern Canada.” Particularly gorgeous range of children’s books, many available in Inuktitut, English, French, or bilingual editions https://inhabitbooks.com/collections/inhabit-media-books-1

rust belt books - for your Midwest and rust belt bookish needs! Leaning towards academic and progressive political tomes but there are some cookbooks devoted to the art of the Midwest cookie table as well https://beltpublishing.com/

[wiisagi-maiingan]

It's snowed twice here. Twice. I live in the midwest, right next to the Great Lakes. We should be BURIED in snow right now and my area has just gotten light dustings and one snowfall heavy enough to create a tiny snowman that was melted by the next day.

It's January and there's barely visible frost on the ground. What the fuck.

[ominousvibez]

Okay I'm still thinking about the Amity Park in Ohio thing so here's my proposal for this idea:

Reasons That Amity Park Should Be in Ohio (By Someone Who's Lived In Ohio For 2+ Years)

#1 It's Definitely A Great Lake State

Amity Park has never been stated to be officially in one specific state, just vaguely central United States, possibly somewhere around the Great Lakes area. That specific area is often referenced by other characters in the show. Urban Jungle shows Undergrowth's roots stretching out from this general area, and the Lake Eerie mentioned in the show might just literally be Lake Erie.

Of course it's kinda cartoony and I honestly have no idea if those mountains in the bottom right corner are meant to be the Appalachia area or not but it vaugely looks like the Great Lakes area

Because of this screenshot, I think most of the fandom headcanons Amity Park to be somewhere in Illinois, possibly close to Chicago, but we can basically point at any Great Lakes state and say "yeah that fits".

For my non-American friends, it's this general area of America (specifically Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio)

But I'd also like to say that cartoons do have a tendency to fudge some details about geography (or completely change the states a la Steven Universe) so the map might not be 100% accurate. But with the map, it could technically be any Great Lakes State, so why not OHIO?

Which btw I'm going to be counting as a Midwest state for this analysis. Some people can argue it isn't, but from my experience living here in Ohio there are a lot of Midwestern tendencies. It's more like Ohio is the border state between the Eastern states and the Midwest, so it gets a mix of both.

B*tch H*rtman (as much as we don't like to talk about him) was also born in Michigan, which is a state in the Midwest, so some of Amity Park could be based (consciously or not) on the towns he grew up in there. But because of him I'm ruling out Michigan the state as a whole and Wisconsin for states Amity Park could be in.

#2 It Takes Four Days To Get To Wisconsin, Apparently?

In Season 1, Episode 7, when they travel to Vlad's mansion in Wisconsin, Jazz says it will take "four days" to get from Amity Park to Vlad's Mansion (Somewhere in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin, basically). The geography is a little off for every midwestern/Great Lakes state except maybe New York if you're gonna count that but Amity Park does not feel like it'd be in New York state.

Ohio is the furthest Midwest Great Lakes state from Wisconsin. Case closed there. Of course, it doesn't take four days to get from Ohio to Wisconsin. It can roughly vary from 10 to 15 hours, depending on route options (such as avoiding highways and stuff), but still.

It's a road trip, so it makes more sense that they'd take longer to get there-- plus realistically people don't tend to drive 10 hours on a road trip, they probably stopped through the trip and spent the night in their RV.

#3 They Got Beaches?

Amity Park does exist near a body of water. It isn't clear if it's a lake, river, or ocean in the show. It could be a lake. There's also the area in Frightmare, where Nocturne literally takes up space in some sort of port building/factory that gives the audience the assumption that it's on a pier/port. So they're really next to a body of water.

There is also the summer camp that Danny and his friends attend in Claw of the Wild which is said to be on Lake "Eerie". Which could easily just be Lake Erie, the lake that Ohio is on.

Also Camp Skull and Crossbones?? What an iconic camp name. You could say the name is pretty,,,,,, camp (ba dum tss).

#4 Ohio's Just Like... Very Haunted

Ohio has kinda become a meme recently. Not just one specific part of Ohio, but the entire state. The memes are mostly good fun-- like how the state is mostly just corn -- but I think some of the ~vibes~ of Ohio just fit right.

Like, there's no definite way to say which U.S. State is the most haunted (I think either the New England area or maybe Louisiana could take the #1 spot) but Ohio is definitely something else. Of course, we have the baby bridges and the haunted penitentiaries like Ohio State Penitentiary, but there are some interesting places that could be played with, too.

For one, there's an entire abandoned town called Helltown, Ohio, where rumors are cultists perform Satantic rituals, mutant creatures roaming the city created by an oil spill, and even a giant snake? There's also a place literally called the Gateway to Hell, too, which is right behind a Tim Horton's (oddly fitting).

Bobby Mackey's is also in Ohio! If you've ever seen Buzzfeed Unsolved, you know what I'm talking about.

There are also less hell-related spooky things in Ohio. Like, Lake Erie has its own Monster! We call her Bessie. Danny could definitely befriend Bessie!!!

#5 It'd Be Funny

It'd be funny for Amity Park to be in Ohio. The Most Haunted Place in America to be in Ohio is just kinda funny. With how "cursed" of a reputation Ohio seems to have in a larger cultural context, doesn't it kinda just fit?

TLDR:

Ohio is a very cursed state, has a lot of supernatural lore to it, and I think Amity Park would fit in both thematically and almost geographically. Of course, other Midwestern States like Illinois do fit the bill, too, in this argument. But I am a firm "Amity Park is in Ohio" supporter.

[dimity-lawn]

I don't know how to best arrange this poll, because once you get past the 5 basic regions of the 48 contiguous states that everyone can agree on, it seems that everyone wants to draw different boundaries and set different criteria to classify the different regions.

For the sake of staying on the same page, please refer to the map below before answering.

As always, feel free to elaborate and/or answer at any time in the notes*, even if you’ve missed the poll.

If any of you feel like including your state or other area, you can include that in the notes*, but I don’t expect anyone to actually do so.

*Or, I suppose you could message me if you don’t want everyone to know , or send an anonymous ask if for some reason you want to do that but don’t want to say who you are, but I’m guessing that at that point you simply wouldn’t bother.

[legofemme]

Zoology/enviro internships are like heres everything you need. We are 100000 miles away. No we will not pay you.

Finds an internship willing to accept me. Fulfills all the boxes i need for my career. 30-40 hour work weeks... i live 2 hours away. Unpaid. Hell on earth

[clove-pinks]

Is there anything about your new location (the terrain, the local culture, the physical sites, etc) that has given you a new perspective on regional events of the War of 1812?

This a wonderful ask, thank you! I have been mulling over how to answer it all day! This ended up getting so long I put it behind a cut (I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THIS).

The Maumee River, as seen from Fort Meigs Historic Site.

One thing new in my life is a heightened awareness of important rivers facilitating the movement of trade, supplies, and settlement. Particularly in the Old Northwest/current Midwest of the USA: regions that I grew up perceiving as a land-locked "flyover country."

Like, to give one example, I had a vague idea that there was a city called Fort Wayne, Indiana, but I thought it was just in the middle of a cornfield for no reason(?). But actually it's at the confluence of the St. Joseph, St. Marys, and Maumee Rivers, leading to the Great Lakes! The strategically important location is why General Anthony Wayne—that guy again—built the original fortification in 1794. I am downriver of all of this, connected to many inland waterways.

I also have a keen sense of living in the Great Black Swamp, despite how dramatically the land has been transformed by deforestation and drainage. There are the terrifying drainage ditches everywhere (the locals seem less perturbed by them), and many other signs of the natural state of the terrain—the swamp is just barely at bay. My coworkers have said "Black Swamp" unprompted in our conversations; I've seen it mentioned in local Facebook groups talking about the need for back-up sump pumps. The idea that people of northwest Ohio have no sense of history and are unaware of the Great Black Swamp isn't true at all.

I look at the pools of water that form in every hollow and think of the words of Alfred Lorrain, marching to Fort Meigs:

We had frequently to pass through what was called, in the provincialism of the frontiers, "swales"—standing ponds—through which the troops and packhorses which had preceded us had made a trail of shattered ice. Those swales were often a quarter of a mile long. They were, moreover, very unequal in their soundings. In common they were not more than half-leg deep; but sometimes, at a moment when we were not expecting it, we suddenly sank down to our cartridge-boxes.

Swale is a new word in my vocabulary, and now I see them everywhere!

Culturally, I think there is a great appreciation of history here: a very positive difference from the Chicagoland area. Even if the average local is probably not deeply into it, they have a consciousness of major historical events that have shaped their region and take pride in it. It's a lot more like New England that way.

Because of my focus on the War of 1812, I notice the absence of Indigenous people and voices—absent from historical accounts and from the demographics of Perrysburg and its environs today. I can't single out Ohio as being a uniquely violent settler-colonial state when this is ALL of the United States; but it hits different when I have this much greater familiarity with who was forcibly removed from this land, and how. The same US military leaders who fought in the War of 1812 were behind the (very much related) campaign for the removal of Native Americans from newly acquired territories, including the infamous Trail of Tears.

Once again, it's probably hypocritical for me to notice this so much, when I literally grew up on Wampanoag land where King Philip's War was fought, but here I am. Suddenly aware of General Wayne's name on everything, etc.

General Wayne's spurs in the Fort Meigs Museum. Not pictured: the can of Maumee Bay Brewing Co. Fallen Timbers Ale that I am currently drinking.

I haven't had the chance to explore physical sites with historical significance beyond Fort Meigs and Fallen Timbers. I know I will get to the ruins of Fort Miamis soon, and I really want to explore a lot of wetlands in local parks and nature preserves (that will double as birdwatching excursions). I am always thinking about what this place looked like 200 years ago, and what I can see today that might still look familiar to a person from that time.

I had a great trip to the National Museum of the Great Lakes today, which is closer than I thought! Local maritime museums are also on my agenda, even if they're not specifically War of 1812-related.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Now that Kamala Harris is our de facto nominee, she still needs to pick a running mate to complete the ticket. I mentioned in my previous post that my endorsement for Harris’s running mate will be on this entry. Here are some of the picks under consideration: Roy Cooper, Andy Beshear, Mark Kelly, Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro, and Tim Walz. [...] My pick for Kamala Harris’s running mate will be… Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Why Walz? He is from Minnesota, a state that is Democratic-favored but not fully safe, and could help in the critical Upper Midwest/Great Lakes wall. Walz has signed multiple progressive bills into law in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, especially after the Dems got the trifecta. Prior to becoming Governor, Walz served as a Congressman in an area of the state that was trending away from the Democratic Party in most of that district, thus he can communicate to swingy and former Democratic areas well. Walz has a progressive outlook with a moderate temperament, which would be an asset. Whoever Harris’s VP pick is, let’s unite to elect her and her VP pick to the Presidency come this fall!

My latest in Substack: I unveil my preferred choice to be Kamala Harris's Vice President: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Read the full post on Substack.

[rabbitcruiser]

National Prairie Day

National Prairie Day, on June 3 this year, celebrates the beauty and ecological value of this often-overlooked ecosystem. Spanning more than a dozen American states and several Canadian provinces, the North American prairie is a vast grassland that offers more biodiversity and beauty than most people realize. With their endless, gently rolling plains and highly productive soils, prairies have been a valued location for farming and ranching for thousands of years. Today, only 1% of tallgrass prairie in the United States remains untouched by farming or development. National Prairie Day promotes the appreciation and conservation of America’s native prairies.

History of National Prairie Day

The United States is home to a dazzling array of geographies and environments. Some, like the towering redwoods of California or the majestic cascades of Niagara Falls, enjoy worldwide reputations as media darlings and tourist hotspots. Other ecosystems, like the humble prairie that covers much of the interior United States, receive fewer accolades but play crucially important roles in the development of the nation.

Defined as a flat grassland with a temperate climate and derived from the French for ‘meadow,’ ‘prairie’ has become almost synonymous with the expansion of the American frontier. Flanked by the Great Lakes and the grandiose Rocky Mountains, the North American prairie extends across 15% of the continent’s land area. Other examples of similar grasslands around the world include the pampas in Argentina, the Central Asian steppes, and the llanos of Venezuela.

There’s more to the prairie than meets the eye. In fact, tall grass prairies host the most biodiversity in the Midwest and provide a home for dozens of rare species of animals and plants, including bison, antelope, elk, wolves, and bears.

Native prairies face extinction as more and more land is converted to agricultural and ranching use. Due to its rich, fertile soil, prairie land is prized for agricultural use. Around the world, almost three-quarters of agricultural regions are located in grassland areas. With only 1% of tallgrass prairie in the U.S. remaining untouched, the American tallgrass prairie is now one of the most endangered ecosystems on the planet. The Missouri Prairie Foundation launched National Prairie Day in 2016 to raise awareness and appreciation for the nation’s grasslands. The organization seeks to protect and restore native grasslands by promoting responsible stewardship, supporting acquisition initiatives, and providing public education and outreach.

National Prairie Day timeline

6000 B.C. The Prairie Forms

The North American prairie forms roughly 8,000 years ago when receding glaciers give way to fertile sediment.

1800s The American Prairie Decimated

Throughout the 19th century, farmers and ranchers, excited about the rich potential of prairie soil, convert almost all of the American prairie to farmland and grazing land.

Early 1930s The Dust Bowl

The combination of years of mismanagement, the stock market crash, and drought conditions come to a head as thousands of families in Oklahoma, Texas, and other parts of the Midwest lose everything when their farms fail, driving them to California and elsewhere to seek work in more fertile fields.

2016 First National Prairie Day

The Missouri Prairie Foundation launches the National Prairie Day campaign to promote awareness and conservation of the vanishing ecosystem.

National Prairie Day FAQs

Why don't prairies have any trees?

The environment of the prairie, with its flat terrain, regular droughts, and frequent fires, is uniquely suited to grasses that don’t require a lot of rainfall or deep soil to thrive.

Why are prairies important?

The prairie provides an irreplaceable home for hundreds of plant and animal species, as well as exceedingly fertile soil for human agriculture and ranching. Prairie destruction has had catastrophic effects, like the Dust Bowl that decimated American farms in the 1930s. Prairies also contribute to the conservation of groundwater.

Why did the Dust Bowl happen?

The Dust Bowl disaster that swept the U.S. and Canada in the 1930s had several natural and man-made causes, including severe drought and a failure to properly manage farmland and conserve precious topsoil. A series of intense dust storms wiped out agriculture, eroded the soil, and left the land unable to produce crops.

National Prairie Day Activities

Learn about the prairie

Donate to a conservation group

Plan a visit to a famous prairie

Do a little research to learn about this important American ecosystem and the role it has played in the cultural and economic development of our country.

If you're concerned about the loss of the American prairie, donate to a grasslands conservation group to support their work.

Do you live near a prairie? Try finding the grassland nearest you and plan a visit.

5 Interesting Facts About Prairies

‘Prairie schooners’

Dogtown

Where the buffalo roam

Carbon hero

Rising from the ashes

During the 1800s, when Americans embarked on the long journey westward, their covered wagons were often referred to as ‘prairie schooners.’

Prairie dogs live in vast networks of underground burrows called ‘towns,’ which can cover hundreds of acres and house thousands of prairie dogs with complex social relationships.

When Europeans first arrived in North America, up to 60 million bison roamed the plains — by 1885, there were fewer than 600.

Prairies can help fight climate change — one acre of intact prairie can absorb about one ton of carbon each year.

On the prairie, wildfires can actually be a healthy thing — with more than 75% of their biomass underground, prairie plants are uniquely suited to surviving and thriving after a fire.

Why We Love National Prairie Day

The prairie often gets overlooked

Native grasslands are critically endangered

It reminds us of the diversity of America's ecosystems

It's not often we remember to celebrate grasslands, yet the prairie plays an important role in America's cultural past and environmental future.

With only 1% of America's native prairie remaining, it's more urgent than ever to conserve and protect this vital resource.

The United States has more environmental variety than almost any other country on earth. Celebrating each unique ecosystem reminds us to appreciate and protect all the beauty our country has to offer.

Source

[stpansy]

v sincere question but in ur edxperience do a lot of ppl from the midwest like fob? i feel like i see a lotta ppl from that area on here/twitter posting about the fall out men and also like the great lakes

honestly yeah! i'm from appalachia originally and i've lived in the part of OH that heavily blends the midwest with appalachia most of my life but people really love fob here and their shows are insane even when they're just festivals--the first time i ever saw them was bunbury music fest in cincinnati in 2019 where they were headlining and literally every person i talked to was just there for them. not to mention on a household basis they're still very popular. they're very beloved by us over here, like even amongst ohioans it's kinda like. well those are our guys<3

[thorsenmark]

A Morning Stroll Along the Shores of Lake Michigan in Indiana Dunes National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the west while taking in views and walking along the shoreline of Lake Michigan in the Mount Baldy area of Indiana Dunes National Park.

[tomorrowusa]

One book I’d like to read before the year is over is The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration by Jake Bittle.

He appeared in this podcast episode with FiveThirtyEight’s Galen Druke.

Climate change has already been the cause of some internal migration inside the US. We should expect that to accelerate as the century progresses. It will be almost the reverse of the late 20th/early 21st century migration to the sunbelt and coastal areas. 

While no part of the US is completely immune to the effects of climate change, the Great Lakes region and Upper Midwest are likely to fare somewhat better than other parts of the country.

Cities in the Great Lakes area are already beginning to think through the effects of a surging population.

Except for the New Madrid fault in southeastern Missouri, the Midwest is not subject to major earthquakes; volcanoes and tsunamis are unknown there.  Once people around the US rethink the overall benefits of living in the region, sustainable growth may become one of the most acute issues in the area. 

[midwestbramble]

The Cicada Moon

The moon in August is usually named the Sturgeon moon, due to the sturgeon returning to the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain at this time; an important food staple for Native Americans living in those areas back in the day (sturgeon are now rare due to overfishing). For me, however, I do not live in either of these areas. I may be in the Upper Midwest but I’m on the opposite side of the Mississippi.

My practice is bioregional, meaning it focuses on the land where I am. For me, this time of year is abundant with the song of the cicadas. In fact you can start to hear them around the summer solstice, however, it is only during this moon cycle that you see the nymphites and the shed skins. So this is what I have renamed the August moon cycle in my practice.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Content:

Full Moon in Aquarius

Working with Cicadas

Putting it All Together

Conclusion

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Full Moon in Aquarius

The full moon, astrologically, gives insight into how you can work on your new moon goals moving forward. The sign and where that falls into your natal chart can give even more insight. For me, this Aquarius moon is conjunct my Saturn which can lead to depression and pessimism, and in my fourth house it may relate to my upbringing. So I’ll know to get out my teas and coping skills that help combat those feelings getting out of hand.

The full moon in Aquarius is a good time for friendships and DOING. It’s time to shed our insecurities and put ourselves out there. What goals did you set at the new moon that require you getting out of your shell?

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Working with Cicadas

Several cultures have folklore surrounding cicadas. They burrow into the ground for up to 17 years (depending on the species), and then sing high in the trees during mating season, when they also shed their exoskeletons. These harmless bugs are making themselves known, even as I type this I can hear them singing.

In my practice, cicadas bring up messages from the dead. If you listen closely, their songs hold wisdom. These are messengers who can act as a psychopomp. The full moon during the cicada moon cycle, I let their songs guide me into the underworld and/or seek guidance for a problem I’m going through. In return, when I see one on the pavement I guide it back to the grass where it can either find a tree or burrow back into the ground. If I find a shed skin, it gets a place of honor on my altar.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Putting it All Together

The cicada full moon isn’t always in Aquarius. This year may be a good time to have the cicada help you shed insecurities you’re going through. If I find a shed skin, this may be used in any workings to that end. The songs the cicada sings is putting itself out there to find a mate, you may not be looking for a romantic partner but you can use the songs in workings to bolster your own confidence.

For me, this would definitely help with a goal I’m working toward this moon cycle. I will also be letting them lead me back to my ancestors so I may ask for their guidance as it’s a topic they would be familiar with.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Conclusion

Sometimes full moons can become monotonous if you’re always doing the same things. Looking to the energies the land and the stars are pointing us toward can give us more inspiration for our practice. I hope this gave you some inspiration if you were looking for some or you at least enjoyed the read. Have a wonderful full moon!

References and further reading:

“Cicada Folklore, or Why We Don’t Mind Billions of Burrowing Bugs at Once” from Folklife Magazine

“Supermoon in August 2024: First of the Year” from Farmers Almanac <- has information on different names for the August moon

[the-chosen-none]

As a former Michigander, I strongly believe the state would make a great location for Fallout because of the Great Lakes, it’s close ties to Canada (which would allow for more exploration of the in-universe annexation of Canada) and its unique vibes of rural gothic spookiness mixed with Rust Belt industrialization, and since there’s been so little mention of the state in lore, here’s some ideas of my own:

Parts of the state that connect most closely to Canada (such as Port Huron and Detroit) would have logically become highly militarized zones before the Great War, leaving behind a lot of resources for people to fight each other to get their hands on afterwards. I imagine that a lot of people of Canadian descent would have been persecuted in some way before the war, but it would most likely cool off in the many decades afterwards. There would probably be a parody of Tim Horton’s somewhere.

As for Detroit, because of the aforementioned closeness to Canada, the factories there probably would’ve manufactured all kinds of weapons, tech, besides cars. Expect to see roving gangs wearing hockey gear like how the Legion wears football gear. There’s also definitely a Henry Ford analogue who could’ve been a contemporary of Mr. House.

Since cars are the state’s Thing, it probably has the highest amount of working cars outside of the NCR, and fights over fuel are FIERCE. Boat travel would be a lot more common, and a way for people to escape the state by traveling somewhere else along the Great Lakes.

The Midwest is said to be a dust bowl beset by tornadoes, and that probably affects Michigan, too, mostly in the South, while after the war the Upper Peninsula suddenly becomes a lot more of a desirable location, but the Mackinaw Bridge could have been destroyed before or during the war, making travel there a lot more difficult.

Some Lakes could have been more affected by radiation than others and create some terrifying mutant fish. Have you ever seen a sturgeon? Imagine one much bigger and with a taste for human blood.

Very topical jokes about lead in Flint’s water (I’m from Flint, I can make that joke. There’s a great restaurant there called Tia Helita’s you should check out if you’re ever in the area).

Mackinac Island becomes home to a cult of fanatical Luddites who reject all modern technology.

Winter is still fucking cold.

That’s all I got for now, anyone else familiar with Michigan can make their own suggestions.

[astriiformes]

Minnesota is surprisingly left for a red state are they akso pro choice too

I definitely wouldn't describe Minnesota as a red state! I know people make the assumption sometimes given what much of the rest of the Midwest is like (including many of our immediate neighbors -- although I'd be remiss not to point out the many people striving to make it otherwise in all of them, particularly some of the hard-fought battles being slowly won in Wisconsin -- you go guys, and I know you can do it). But MN has other cultural influences like a long solid labor history and a large immigrant population that mean it's actually been a Democratic stronghold for a long time. We have the longest streak of voting blue in presidential elections of any state in the US!

Things do get much redder as you leave the Twin Cities metro area, though that's really the trend in any state. But for perspective, over half the state's population lives in the metro, so when you take into account that there are at least a few other blue clusters in the state (Duluth, a Great Lakes shipping town on Lake Superior with a long labor union history and that currently has a nonbinary representative in the MN House comes to mind!), we really are more of a blue state, or at least a very blueish-purple one. Right now our state Democrats (the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party) control the House, Senate, and Governor's office, which is the reason they've been getting so much good legislation passed. And while our national House reps are split half and half (though some of our Democratic reps are particularly progressive) both our Senators are Democrats.

I wouldn't oversell how blue we are, there are certain parts of state politics that are narrower and go back and forth a bit more than in some of the really "safe" blue states. But at the same time, after living here for a while, I really do think the flip side of that is that our Democratic politicians are somewhat more genuine about what they do, which ends up balancing certain things out. Hence the current legislative session where they're pushing through everything they can in remarkably quick succession!

To answer your question though -- yes, Minnesota is also a pretty pro-choice state. Our state House recently passed a bill that would limit the release of reproductive healthcare information, essentially protecting people from other states who come here for reproductive care. The bill is expected to pass in the Senate and be signed by the governor as well. Our governor and lieutenant governor have both been fairly outspoken about protecting reproductive and abortion rights in the state. Earlier this year the governer also signed into law the Protecting Reproductive Options (PRO) Act to explicitly protect and codify abortion rights here.

I hope some of that's useful information! Minnesota politics are definitely not what I expected when I moved here -- in my time living in the state I've had the opportunity to vote for one of the most progressive reps in the US Congress (Ilhan Omar) and been consistently impressed by how seriously our state takes things like voting rights and state welfare programs. There's a lot of really incredible political activism happening here and it's moving to be a part of -- especially since I know we're becoming even more of an important sanctuary state for people from other places in the Midwest. The northern Great Lakes states (thinking about MN, WI, and MI in particular) are all sort of interesting beasts politically and I'm grateful to have learned more about some of the strong Democratic and labor history in the region in my time here.

Ending with a terrible joke, but -- we have over 10,000 lakes, of course we're blue!