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David M. Briggs and Halberd Books

@halberdbooks.bsky.social

120 followers 140 following 440 posts

My name is David M. Briggs, but everybody calls me either Dave or Hal. I am a mid-30s Midwestern writer, designer, performer and enthusiast who is full of love and poetry and breakfast cereal. davidmbriggs.com

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David M. Briggs and Halberd Books @halberdbooks.bsky.social · 22h

RIGHT!!! OPINION!!!!!

David M. Briggs and Halberd Books @halberdbooks.bsky.social · 22h

Right Opinion!

David M. Briggs and Halberd Books @halberdbooks.bsky.social · 22h

right opinion.

Reposted by David M. Briggs and Halberd Books

David M. Briggs and Halberd Books @halberdbooks.bsky.social · Sep 3

I'm so happy with this incredible feature that Crispy Zine did on me! It is an honor, an absolute honor to be highlighted like this!

The cover of Crispy Zine, a publication dedicated to queer midwestern artists. it centers on paint brushes next to a tastefully risqué painting of a muscular man showing off his butt. Text reads "Crispy Zine" on the top and "A Protest Wrapped in a Love Letter" on the bottom.

A full two-page spread from Crispy Zine featuring poet David M. Briggs. There is a picture of Briggs petting one of his cats and a picture of Briggs performing one of her poems at a poetry slam. There is a pull quote from Briggs where they say "Penis! Penis! That's not even profanity! Cocks and cunts!" on one page. The facing page has the title "Loud. Messy. Necessary." and the words "Dive deeper into David's work". The full text of each page will be in the alt text for the next two images.

Interview with poet David M. Briggs. Text as follows.
Crispy Zine asks, You’ve been building this loud, messy, necessary body of work for two decades. What’s kept the fire alive all these years?

Briggs answers, The thing that has kept me writing for all these years is the same thing that made me start writing: a gnawing, ever-present feeling that I am not enough, but perhaps if I work hard enough, I can create something that justifies my existence and will give me the recognition that I have craved forever. The best thing about this is that there is no level of renown that will quiet it! I could be the most famous, most successful person in the entire world, and I would still feel like the work is never done. But in my quieter moments, more level, I recognize that this is something that I am good at, that I can do it well, and this is what I can and should give to the world, to my friends, to myself.

Crispy asks, Halberd Books Vol. 3 is described as “profane, humane, and slightly deranged.” Which of those three words feels most like home to you right now?

Briggs answers, I'm scared! I am so scared all the time, so I'm tempted to say deranged. But more than I am scared, I am tired, so I want to be humane. But more than that, I want to be human. And in order to be human, a writer has to separate herself both from fucking corpo nonsense and this fucking generative A.I. business. And you know what big corporations hate more than anything? Profanity. Google search turns off its A.I. summaries if you curse enough in your search terms. Algorithms punish the use of not just swears but other completely necessary words to describe the human experience, like kill and die and suicide and porn. So I have to be most at home in profane. If I stop myself from saying shit and fuck and cum and tits just because Mister Musk will shadowban me, how am I any better than McDonalds? Penis!!!!!! PENIS!!!!!!!! THAT'S NOT EVEN PROFANITY!!! COCKS AND CUNTS!!!!!!

Crispy asks, Your poems crack open everything from heartbreak to injustice to survival. How do you protect your own tenderness when you’re writing about pain?

Briggs answers, I don't protect my tenderness. I simply don't know how to be anything else. Even the anger is just a symptom of it.

Crispy asks, For those trying to build something weird, scrappy, honest, and durable like you have—what’s your advice?

Briggs answers, You have to do it for you. I know I've said a whole bunch of shit about recognition and renown, but none of that will mean anything if I am not creating something for me first and foremost. I write the kind of poetry I want to read. I make the kind of art I want to look at. Sure, I could get a lot more comments and kudos on AO3 if I write Destiel or Reylo, but I have no real interest in reading that. Now, a Henry-Wadsworth-Longfellow-style narrative poem about a minor antagonist from a spinoff of a relatively obscure browser game that describes a slow-burn enemies-to-rivals-to-wild-back-alley-transgender-fucking-one-night-stand-to-tattooing-your-poetry-on-each-other-type of romance? Now that is what I want to read. But nobody's gonna write it, so I guess I'll have to do it myself. The same is true for any of you. If you aren't interested in what you are making, if the product or the process doesn't bring you joy, you won't want to keep doing it. And I don't know about you, but I cannot for the life of me do anything I don't want to do.

Crispy asks, Can you talk about the tension between suffering and survival in your work—and why it feels urgent to name both?

When I was ten years old, I tried to kill myself. Afterwards, I promised myself that I would never die by my own hand. I've gotten real close to breaking that promise a whole bunch of times. But I have to keep going. I have to because my work isn't done. I have to because the people I'm scared of would be real fuckin happy if they didn't have to deal with me anymore.

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David M. Briggs and Halberd Books @halberdbooks.bsky.social · 22h

i need to read it 🥺

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P3RE:flect 🌙 In Production + Digital Sales OPEN @p3reflect.bsky.social · 11d

🌙 Production Update 🦋
Our sample deck has arrived, and we're excited to share a sneak peek of the tarot box, tarot cards, and tarot cloth 👀

Follow us for future production updates!
#persona3 #tarotdeck #zinepromos

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David M. Briggs and Halberd Books @halberdbooks.bsky.social · 23d

I am antifascist. I am queer and bi and trans and nonbinary. I lean Left because my morality is based in compassion for my fellow humans. I have so much love in my heart. I don't want others to suffer. I am neither dangerous nor a terrorist. I will not be silenced. I will not die by my own hand.

Reposted by David M. Briggs and Halberd Books

emily moonlight @threnody.bsky.social · Sep 9

hi, cis folks!

if you said you’d stand with trans people, we need you now.

the FY26 budget bill gets a vote by 9/30. the GOP wants to jam a ban on federal funding for ALL health services that provide trans care for ANY AGE.

we need you to call senators: reps.fyi

more info & script downthread.🧵

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · Sep 8

NEWS: House Appropriations Committee Republicans released their spending bill for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. The legislation would prohibit taxpayer dollars for any type of gender-affirming care for transgender people. This would include programs like Medicaid

SEC. 243. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to implement, administer, or enforce Executive Order 13988, entitled ‘‘Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation’’, published by the Executive Office of the President on January 25, 2021 (86 Fed. Reg. 7023).

SEC. 244. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used for any social, psychological, behavioral,or medical intervention performed for the purposes of in16 tentionally changing the body of an individual (including
by disrupting the body’s development, inhibiting its natural functions, or modifying its appearance) to no longer correspond to the individual’s biological sex.

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David M. Briggs and Halberd Books @halberdbooks.bsky.social · Sep 7

oh my GOODNESS

David M. Briggs and Halberd Books @halberdbooks.bsky.social · Sep 3

I'm so happy with this incredible feature that Crispy Zine did on me! It is an honor, an absolute honor to be highlighted like this!

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Reposted by David M. Briggs and Halberd Books

🩷💛 comms open! @yellowtrinity.bsky.social · Aug 31

maya + susato request from tumblr #aceattorney #thegreataceattorney

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オシカツ @oshikatsu.bsky.social · Sep 1

猛獣襲来

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Kelly Turnbull @coelasquid.bsky.social · Aug 31

Sometimes we’re unsatisfied with a thing we made because when it only existed in our head, we saw all the things it could have been and when it’s done we know all the things that it isn’t, but we can’t see the way it expands into a million new things when someone else unpacks it in their head. 🖊️🦑

Frustrated little dude gripping a pencil saying “how do I pack this down into something I can actually share?” While swirling rainbows labeled “INFINITE POTENTIAL” float around them.

Little dude frowns at a tiny grey box, exclaiming “all that work for THIS?!”

Little dude shoves the grey box into another little guy’s hands; Frowning, stomping off, and saying “Here you go, I made this, it sucks.”

Second little dude cracks open the box, swirling rainbows project out onto their face.

Second little dude stares in awe at all the swirling rainbows now floating around them.

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Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium @ptdefiancezoo.bsky.social · Aug 30

The summer I went wild 🐾💖☀️

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Evil Buntime 🔫🐇 @buntime.bsky.social · Aug 30

anyway here's the highlight from last night's stream. kind of want to actually complete a zooter with a timer. maybe tomorrow.

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𝕒𝕝 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕣 🌙✨ @deaddaves.bsky.social · Jul 18

can someone edit this photo so it looks like I'm holding the pointy building in the back

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aukives @aukives.bsky.social · Aug 29

パオうら

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Kelsey @kelpsey.com · Aug 28

IT IS MY BIRTHDAY

WE'RE PLAYING NEW KIRBY DLC

you're invited 🥳

twitch.tv/kelpsey

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David M. Briggs and Halberd Books @halberdbooks.bsky.social · Aug 27

INCREDIBLE

Reposted by David M. Briggs and Halberd Books

Evil Buntime 🔫🐇 @buntime.bsky.social · Aug 27

I don't have performance goals. I don't have development goals. I do not WANT TO develop at work. I show up, do my job, and go home. and if I don't get fired, then great.

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cozy milly 🥀 @mischiefmilly.bsky.social · Aug 25

i don't say it to guilt you but seriously, the ratio of Hits to Kudos to Comments is sad, y'all. it does not have to be a full in depth analysis of the work the author posted every time

just a "this was great, thank you for writing this" with your own additional flavor to it is more than enough

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cozy milly 🥀 @mischiefmilly.bsky.social · Aug 25

and if you have writers in your friend group, please take the extra care when you can to support and kudos and comment on their works

in a lot of cases, it's more difficult to get traction on socmedia with writing, and for some reason a lot of readers are allergic to leaving comments

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Marudyne @marudyne.bsky.social · Aug 25

Writing is truly a nightmare. Fic authors are too powerful

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GRIM/MIME @pantamonte.bsky.social · Aug 4

I dont "NETWORK", I do not "keep a consistent schedule", I don't try to make my art "stand out" on people's feeds. I POST MY ART. And if it flops, I DON'T CARE.

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