#wisconsin writer

[eziojensenthe3rd]

Post from cohost i feel is worth saying here

[crmsnmth]

One Cold Day In November

The leaves fall In ballet dancer shadows Gently leaving home for the first and last time Riding the faith of a biting and cutting wind There's nothing left to grasp Sleep now in the waiting of white sheets

Trees stretch their skeleton branches Sometimes the wind pushes it aside And it's limbs crack and cackle Sending out the signal that it's time for hibernation three-monthO slumber What I'd give for that kind of sleep

[my-supernatural-rewatch]

Episode Three: Dead in the Water

Dean Winchester in the Supernatural episode Dead in the Water

This is one of my favorite season one episodes and a really important episode for understanding Dean in general.

Dean and Sam travel to Wisconsin to investigate a series of suspicious drownings.

Let's get to it:

So first off, we're in a diner and Dean is reading a newspaper, looking for a job. This is the first job they actively seek out instead of having been sent by John and Sam expresses his annoyance about Dean wanting to go check it out because the trail to John is 'getting cold.' (News for you, Sam, you have no trail. Y'all are just driving around hoping he'll pop up in front of the car.)

Dean's response is a little eerie to me. "We're gonna kill everything bad between here and there." (There being wherever John is.) Eerie in that now for two episodes we've established that one of the things driving Dean is to literally KILL. Thanks, John.

Also noteworthy: Dean flirts with the waitress here in one of his more innocent ways, mostly with just a look when she talks to him and Sam, again, gets visibly pissed and snaps at the waitress.

I suppose this consistent annoyance with Dean flirting with women, even as innocently as he's been doing so far, is part of what fueled the wincest believers, especially at this point in the show, but JFC no. It's so obvious Sam just wants Dean to be as miserable as he is. I don't think it's a purity thing. I don't think Sam is personally offended that his brother enjoys sex, I think at this point he believes Dean doesn't have a right to be happy and it pisses him off whenever Dean tries to find joy in the smallest thing.

So Dean and Sam go to Wisconsin and meet with the sheriff. Then we get to the good stuff. Andrea and Lucas, the sheriff's widowed daughter and grandson, walk in and Dean is obviously interested in her but goes straight to the kid, trying to engage him. Doesn't work, kid bolts to his mom and Dean sweet talks her into showing them where the closest motel is.

He tries flirting with her through her son. "Cute kid." "Kids are the best." But she immediately clocks him as being full of shit and playfully calls him out on it - impressing him. A running theme so far is that Dean actually LIKES it when women don't fall for the bullshit. For all the criticisms of him and his relationships with random women, he's shown a ton of respect for them over these last two episodes.

Now we're getting deep into what makes Dean tick. When they find out through Sam doing an internet search that Lucas witnessed his father's death, it hits Dean hard and he tells Sam, "Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over."

We get a couple of quotes like this in this episode. Dean's talking about Lucas but he's talking about himself too and at first you don't think Sam gets it but in the next scene when they approach Andrea at the park and Dean asks if he can say hi to Lucas, when he goes to the boy, Andrea tells Sam to tell Dean the "Jerry Maguire" act isn't going to work and Sam earnestly responds that he doesn't think that's what Dean is doing.

And now we get to see Dean in a way that the first two episodes really didn't prepare us for. He approaches Lucas gently, talks to him like a person, even talks about how they had the same toys (green toy soldiers! foreshadowing four seasons early! "I used to love these things.") and when he gets no response asks if he can draw with him. He continues talking to him, even though Lucas doesn't respond, and he draws Lucas a stick figure picture of his family while sharing that he knows how Lucas feels because he saw something when he was Lucas' age too...assuring Lucas that if he shares what he saw Dean will believe him.

When Dean was flirting with Andrea and said he loved kids, Sam chided him by demanding he name kids he knew. I feel like Sam purposely ignores the fact that Dean is FOUR years older than him and spent most of his life caring for Sam. Dean knows kids...Dean knows Sam and Dean knows how to talk to and act around kids because of taking care of Sam. THIS IS WHY LUCAS CONNECTS WITH DEAN. Beacause Dean is the one who reached out and because Lucas felt his sincerity. Sam can sit on a tack here.

When Lucas doesn't react immediately, Dean goes back to Sam and Andrea and she expresses concern about her son, prompting Dean to say something else that applies to both he and Lucas, "Kids are strong. You'd be surprised at what they can deal with."

Then Lucas shows up with a picture of a house and shoves it at Dean, who is visibly touched while Andrea is stunned.

Then stuff happens on the show like it always does and Dean talks Andrea into letting him talk to Lucas again. We get another good bonding moment with Dean and Lucas, this time with Sam as a witness.*

Dean tries to get through to Lucas, thanking him for the picture of the house, telling him he helped, and saying he needs his help again. Lucas is seemingly not listening and Dean gives us this gem:

"You're scared. It's okay. I understand. See, when I was your age, I saw something real bad happen to my mom, and I was scared, too. I didn't feel like talking, just like you. But see, my mom—I know she wanted me to be brave. I think about that every day. And I do my best to be brave. And maybe, your dad wants you to be brave too."

And this kind of blows Sam away. It also works on Lucas because Lucas gives Dean another drawing that ends up helping them.

*Sam witnessing Dean opening up to Lucas KIND of works in the episode because Sam doesn't end up actually apologizing to Dean for being such a dick but he does acknowledge that he didn't realize some of Dean's trauma regarding their mother.** BUT it doesn't last because a long-standing issue I have with Sam (who, incidentally, I actually DO like as a character) is that he never allows for Dean to feel his feelings. It's always an inconvenience or something to mock when Dean tries to let his guard down. Is it any wonder Dean is always demanding 'no chick flick moments?'

**Which Dean immediately shuts down with "We're not gonna have to hug are we?"

One of the notes I took is about when the sheriff demands Dean and Sam leave town and Lucas tries to cling to Dean because he doesn't want him to leave. I wrote "Same, kid, same."

Sam just wants to fucking fly because he thinks with all the baddies dead the spirit is at rest, but Dean is driving distracted because he can't get Lucas out of his mind.

"I just don't want to leave this town until I know the kid's okay."

And Sam responds by saying something that is supposed to relay to the audience who Dean really is, except we have already seen who Dean really is, so it just sounds stupid:

"Who are you and what have you done with my brother?"

Dean just responds with a "Shut up" but I responded with a "Fuck you."

When they get back to Andrea's house it didn't go unnoticed by me that while Sam is doing all the hard work to get her out of the tub that is trying to drown her, Dean is in the hallway protecting Lucas.

BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT HE FUCKING DOES, SAM.

Another interesting quote from Dean when they are talking about the past, "Nothing stays buried." Oh, Dean, at this point you have no idea how right you are.

We get this melodramatic moment while Dean and Sam are both diving into the water trying to save Lucas where Sam comes up from under the water and sadly shakes his head at Lucas' mom just so we can get the heroic shot of Dean darting up from under the water with Lucas in his arms.

Dean saved the kid.

But at the end of the episode, Dean is still not happy because he couldn't save the sheriff (who we find out was one of the bad guys) and Sam comes up with this doozy:

"We're not gonna save everybody."

I swear soulless Sam wasn't too far a stretch from regular Sam.

But I digress.

Sam apologizes to Andrea (not Dean...Andrea) and Andrea gets a line that just screams THIS IS HOW DEAN FEELS ABOUT JOHN:

"Dad loved me. He loved Lucas. No matter what he did, I have to hold on to that."

We get two cute Dean/Lucas moments: Lucas insisted on making sandwiches for Dean to take with him on the road and Dean taught Lucas (who is suddenly speaking again) to say "Zeppelin Rules!" (Folowed by a high-five. Maybe the only high-five Dean gets in the series.)

Oh Dean. We don't know it yet, but they did you so dirty.

Some notes for posterity:

In this episode, the 'monster' is a child who was killed by two of his bullies (one being the sheriff, Lucas' grandfather). So the bad guy is actually the good guy and some of the victims are the bad guys.

We get our first scene where Dean and Sam are digging with shovels. In this case, they aren't digging up a grave, but they dig up the dead boy's bicycle after Lucas shows them where it is buried.

The significant music from this episode comes from Ratt - Round and Round, Bad Company - Movin' On, and if you listen REALLY hard in the car you can hear Billy Squier - Too Daze Gone.

The brothers pose as agents from the U.S. Wildlife Service and give their names as Agent Ford (Dean) and Agent Hamill (Sam) but use their real first names when they introduce themselves to Andrea.

This hunt takes place at Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin.

Dean wears John’s jacket in this episode.

Second episode in which a woman the Winchesters have helped gives Dean the thank you kiss. This time on the lips.

Recognizable Guest Star in this episode: Daniel Hugh Kelly

[laurelroadpoetry]

[uwmspeccoll]

Wood Engraving Wednesday

Noted Wisconsin artist Frank Utpatel (1905-1980) was a longtime collaborator with Wisconsin writer and publisher August Derleth (1909-1971), who founded the Arkham House publishing firm in Sauk City, Wisconsin, publisher of, among other things, the works of H. P. Lovecraft. Many of Utpatel's book illustrations were done as wood engravings. Presented here are four engravings by Utpatel, printed directly from the original blocks for August Derleth's journal musings Walden Pond: Homage to Thoreau, and printed in 1968 by letterpress publisher Carroll Colman (1904-1989) at his Prairie Press in Iowa City, Iowa.

A Thoreau enthusiast, Derleth made three pilgrimages to Walden Pond in 1938, 1947, and 1965. This book presents some of his journal entries from those visits, "brought together here in the hope that fellow Thoreauvians may find something to their liking in these pages." Our copy was signed by Derleth and Utpatel to Wisconsin resident Genevieve Turk.

View more wood engravings by Frank Utpatel.

View more posts on works by August Derleth.

View more posts with wood engravings!

[rextomblr]

all right, nobody missed me but I'm back at it on tumblr. sigh. I don't think I could ever leave this place, the real world just isn't as fun.

[anarcho-puppy]

yo madison folks! i’m super excited for this cool event, y’all should come!

[rustbeltjessie]

Writer’s Tears (August 16, 2023 // Fish Creek, WI)

[letmelickyoureyeballs]

PSA

PSA to all writers who have characters in/from Wisconsin, Massachusetts, or Rhode Island: You better be using “bubbler” instead of “drinking fountain”. Did not realize other states don’t use this term.

Also if the character is in/from the Midwest(Wisconsin): You do not understand how often we say “ope” and “sorry”. Yes even after running into an inanimate object, we will say both of those.

And as a person from Wisconsin, I do inhale cheese, milk, and bratwurst/sausage on a regular bases. You don’t understand how many gallons of milk we go through each month.

This PSA comes from talking with someone from Florida and I wanted to share.

[pretensesoup]

Did a reading for the novel on Saturday night. I was in Madison, which is fine, and there were a bunch of Madison old-timers in the audience.

So. Most of the time when people write historical fiction, they change the names of the businesses they mention. You don't have to, as I understand it, but businesses can get cross if you don't. But in many cases, I...didn't. At least for the ones that aren't there anymore, I figured what was the harm? No one gets murdered in any of the restaurants, and no one was gonna read the novel anyway except @tryxyhijinks, so why not use the actual names? But there are also some business names I made up.

Anyway, the book opens at a dive bar called Lorenzo's Lounge. That was the section I read. Afterward, an older gent came up to me and said, "You mentioned Lorenzo's Lounge. That brought back some memories."

I said, "I bet," while thinking to myself, "I made that one up though."

Then I started to think, did I? So I googled it.

Nope. I didn't make that up.

[sure-thing-casey]

Casey O'Brien, 2023

[doraminatook]

**sitting around my Dramatic Structure class, sharing part of a short play I wrote that takes place in a Welsh forest. We're talking about it and sharing thoughts when one of my fellow students offers this bit of feedback...**

Fellow student: I've seen this happen several times with American writers so I just want you to know that it's not just you...

(I prepare myself to be told that I've written something very offensive)

Fellow student: ...we don't have racoons here in the UK.

Me: WHAT?!?!?!

Fellow student: Yeah. They're not native so your character wouldn't be seeing a raccoon in this scene-

Me: What do you mean you don't have racoons here?!?! Who eats your trash?!?!

(Everyone laughs, clearly not understanding the seriousness of this situation. Plans are now in motion to release thousands of trash pandas across the United Kingdom. No need to thank me, parliament. It's the least I can do.)

[crmsnmth]

A Small Wisconsin Town

They label me has a freak, an outcast, a misfit They call me faggot, asshole, worthless and I keep my head down while walking the sidewalks of a small Wisconsin town

They make fun of me, the way I dress, what I like It's just hard for them to accept what is different Why did I come back here? I hate it here, yet I'm safe here what kind of trouble can you get into especially in a small Wisconsin town

I don't leave me house, only for work and my best friends are the ones who I don't talk to anymore So I learn to be quiet, invisible just another face in a small Wisconsin town

There's more bars then there are anything else The whole scene is dead anyway and most are close by eleven And all the stores on the downtown strip are closed There's nothing here in this small Wisconsin town

They're letting this city die and I can't wait to desecrate it's corpse

[heydecenter]

John Kinville’s Book Launch

The content provides an interesting glimpse into the journey of John Kinville, a local author in Chippewa Falls, and his challenges in getting his book published. The post effectively highlights the inspiration behind the book and the support the author.

by Emma O’Shea  (Heyde Center for the Arts Intern) I recently had the opportunity to meet John Kinville, a local author in Chippewa Falls. An hour before the book launch begins for Kinville’s The Grey Eagles of Chippewa Falls: A Hidden History of a Women’s Ku Klux Klan in Wisconsin, we sit down in the rows of chairs to talk about his inspiration for the book and the challenges he faced to get…

[thecrystalcrux]

When I Lost My Brother

On December 13, 1986, I reached the low point of my life. I was the eldest and Mike was a year younger than me. Both of my younger brothers, Mike and Steve, were born with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. For a while, they both walked but their gait was unsteady and eventually the disease robbed them of their ability to stand. Mike and Steve ended up in wheelchairs. Since Mike and I were only a…

[jmal0]

𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐃𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲.

𝑩𝒊𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒔..😊🤙🏼