Minerva Mag is seeking out geek girls from all parts of the country to talk to about their interests, and we recently hit the Midwest. After hearing rumors about her from the computer hacking community, we sat down with self-proclaimed geek girl Charlie Bradbury to talk about fandoms, videos games, and live action role-playing. Our poor interviewer might not have known what she was getting herself into.
MM: Hey, Charlie. How are you doing?
CB: I’m fine, how about yourself?
MM: Great! You know that our focus is women in geekery, so I figured I should start off by asking the obvious question: Why do you consider yourself a geek?
CB: I don’t normally give interviews, but I do consider myself a huge geek, so I’m really glad you decided to talk to me! When I was a kid, my mom used to read The Hobbit to me all the time. I still love it. She’s definitely to thank for introducing me to all the geeky things I love now.
MM: What are some of the other things you love?
CB: Well, I love Harry Potter and Star Wars. I collect figurines of both, and I actually have a tattoo of Princess Leia in a bikini that I got during Comic Con. I was drunk.
MM: Where is it? Can I see it?
CB: No. No, you cannot.
MM: You definitely seem to have all the right “likes” for a geek girl. Are there any other ways in which you consider yourself a geek?
CB: I’m also a computer hacker. I’m pretty good at it.
MM: How long have you been hacking?
CB: Well, when I was twelve years old, I hacked into a video game company’s server and stole a game called The Red Scare before it was finished. I got into a little trouble with the law over that… Whoops.
MM: Oh no! What can you tell me about the game?
CB: It was a first-person shooter where the player battles super-soldier vampires to save hospital patients. I reprogrammed it to reflect my own flamingly liberal politics and released it for free.
MM: Do you ever use your hacking powers for good, or just evil?
CB: Well, I wouldn’t call it evil… But I do use my powers for good! Sometimes, I make donations to charities with money from big companies.
MM: Also illegal, but I guess that’s pretty cool!
CB: Yeah, I’m actually kind of in hiding… My real name isn’t Charlie Bradbury. I took Charlene from a character in Stephen King’s Firestarter, and Bradbury from Ray Bradbury.
MM: Book nerd, huh? Very cool. I have here that you ran away to Australia? What can you tell me about that?
CB: Oh no, not Australia. Different Oz—the one with the witches and munchkins and yellow brick road.
MM: Wait, that place exists?
CB: It does. In a different dimension, I guess. One of the men of letters actually created it and split himself in two. His evil side is the so-called “Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”
MM: So, why did you come back to this dimension if Oz exists?
CB: I ended up splitting myself, too. My good side was terrified of my evil side and ran back here, but my evil side followed. I’m better now, though. I think I’ve had enough adventure, but knowing me, trouble is just gonna find me again. Like that time I was the Queen of Moondoor and that smoking hot fairy tried to kill all of my subjects.
MM: Moondoor? Is that another dimension, too?
CB: No, it’s a LARPing community. Live Action Role-Playing? I was their queen. I went there to try to escape the supernatural chaos surrounding my life. That didn’t work so well. But I got to make out with a fairy, so that kind of makes it okay?
MM: Are you…?
CB: A lesbian? Yes, I am. Guys suck.
MM: No, I was going to ask more about your mental state…
CB: Oh, you think I’m crazy?
MM: Fairies and Oz… I’m just not sure what to think about all of this. And did you say something about supernatural chaos surrounding your life?
CB: Did you ever read Carver Edlund’s Supernatural books?
MM: Oh yeah, I loved those books!
CB: Well, long story short, they’re not books. They’re real. Sam and Dean Winchester are like brothers to me. I love them to death, but they’re the cause of most of my
misery.
MM: Yeah, no, I’m definitely not following you.
CB: And this is why I never agree to do interviews…
Charlie Bradbury is a fictional character on the show Supernatural. She’s played by Felicia Day, who has starred in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, The Guild, and Dragon Age: Redemption. This Q&A has been completely fictional, much like the world of fanfiction Supernatural has sparked.
Images via screenshots from Supernatural