The Joe Hills Difference

"Good Joe probably has been in and out of jail" (archived from Tumblr)

2026-04-09T20:51:14Z

Transcription of Joe and Cleo's conversation from the March 11th crafts stream. The first half was originally transcribed by openbagtwo, the rest is mine. Context: Joe had just done an impression of himself from when he worked as a database / systems admin.

Joe: (quoting a chatter) “Corporate Joe is terrifying.” You know, that’s the thing though, any kind of multiverse setting... I struggle watching almost any multiverse thing because, just, the horror of encountering slightly different versions of myself. Like, I’m so close to completely off the rails that I’m just like, ninety percent of these would be the Joker, and then the rest would be like, Poison Ivy. (Joe starts laughing.) It’s not great.

Cleo: So you think you’re just evil in another world. Alternate universe Joe is evil.

Joe: Well, I don’t think Poison Ivy is evil. I think she’s an eco-terrorist who has very strong convictions.

Cleo: Hmm… So what you’re saying is that in a different universe, (chuckling) you could be an eco-terrorist.

Joe: I mean, I really think that… we’ve talked about this, like with the Evil Wels or Evil X, what does the Evil Joe look like? I feel like Evil Joe is too self-absorbed making videos to go out there and pour sugar into the gas tanks of logging company machinery. Like, I think that I’m the one who’s too lazy to be Good Joe. I think that Good Joe probably has been in and out of jail.

Cleo: It’s a statement. It is a statement.

Joe: Yeah. I think I play it too safe! But, you know, I do what I want, y’know… (trails off) Which I think is maybe an apathetic form of evil, in some way. Like, I dunno.

Cleo: It’s a statement. I’m not sure if it’s accurate, but y’know, I guess we’ll see.

Joe: Yeah… I mean, so like, I was at this book reading, or not, like a panel with the author for this book the other day. And it’s a memoir of one of my professors at Vanderbilt. And this lady sitting next to me was like eighty years old. And she’s like, “Oh, what brings you to this?”

Joe: And I’m like, “Oh, well” – it’s a posthumous memoir, so the author’s actually passed away before it was published, but, I was like, “Rev. Lawson was one of my professors at college and so y’know, I wanted to come here from his son and see, y’know, what the author— the co-author has to say about the book, so I’m excited about that”.

Joe: And she’s just like, “Oh man, Rev. Lawson’s the best, I was part of his congregation when they arrested all of us for protesting (Cleo starts laughing) the methodist assembly not allowing gay people in the ministry. And it’s the only time I’ve been arrested, but if you’re gonna get arrested, you get arrested with James Lawson!”

Joe: And I’m like yeah, that’s… this is the sort of eighty-year-old lady i want to sit next to at a book something— panel thing. (Joe chuckles.)

Cleo: That’s fair.

Joe: I dunno, I’m just saying, like, some of the most influential people in this town have not been afraid to be disruptive at personal threat to their safety and whatnot and I have not been that brave (chuckles), so I dunno. I’m just saying.

Cleo: Mhm, thats fair.

Joe: Like— y’know, maybe I’m just around people who are more aggressively good than I am that I am hesitant to, y’know, label myself that way if that makes sense. At best I’m probably Neutral Joe. (Joe chuckles again.)

Cleo: I mean, it’s a statement that you don’t think you’re the good version of yourself.

Joe: I think the good version of myself would work harder toward helping people in justice. I feel like I do okay.

Cleo: Mhm.

Joe: But I have not dedicated my life to the improvement of society. So... and like I said, maybe it’s just because I have been in a city where people who have done that, like James Lawson and Bernard Lafayette, like, are around, or at least they were until recently – the two guys I’ve just mentioned have passed away recently – but like y’know, so I just might have a higher standard for what is good.

Cleo: Potentially, yeah.

Joe: Yes. So I might be… I’m being pedantic, probably.

Cleo: (in mock disbelief) You?!

Joe: I know!

Cleo: Joe is pedantic?! Huh! Live and learn! Oof!

After a few seconds of silence, Joe starts humming a tune.

Joe: Mokole [chatter] says, “Never judge myself by others’ standards”. No, I’m judging myself by my standards!

Cleo: I think that’s the problem. That is the problem.

Joe: (at the same time) …what part of that was unclear. My standards are different from other people’s! And I think… (Joe goes silent.)

Cleo: Yes?

Joe: Yeah. I’m agreeing with you that I shouldn’t judge myself by other people’s standards because I’m already not doing that. Cleo made it clear my standards are not other people’s. And I’m happy about that, so, I dunno what to tell you about that.

Cleo giggles.

Originally posted on Tumblr on 2026-03-11. I'm still procrastinating on setting up the rest of this community but at least this is another repost :p

comments

They don't even have a ZombieCleo anymore :( (s11e23)

2026-03-22T22:40:56Z

Posted by: incorrecthorse

Cub: First in the queue to choose if he wants to have a zombie nautilus or not is Joe.

Joe: Well, you know, I have a ZombieCleo and that went pretty well...

Cleo: No you don't! You don't have me.

Joe: ...So I'll give the zombie nautilus a try.

Cleo: That's... No! (Cleo keeps protesting, then starts laughing.)

Joe: Oh, no! I don't even have a ZombieCleo anymore. I better get that nautilus before everything's gone...

comments

Cubfan's interview with Joe in The Hermitcraft Hotseat (archived from Tumblr)

2026-03-19T17:19:50Z

Posted by: incorrecthorse

Cub: First question, Joe, how many holms could you fit in the area of the Hermitcraft Holmdell?

Joe: Wow. I would probably say about four hundred.

Cub: If you could speak to the stone you mined to make this area, what would you tell it?

Joe: (in a reassuring whisper) It's okay. You're Etho's problem now.

Cub: What exhibit here did you enjoy making the most?

Joe: I really liked making the library. It's really weird and kind of silly, but I don't know, feels right.

Cub: This is a bit of a personal question, Joe, but how has your passion for inventory management influenced this season?

Joe: Well, it's shown viewers that my passions often lead me into places that are (starts chuckling) not great, and I should probably learn to temper those.

Cub: If a giant yeti showed up here, what would your first action be?

Joe: I would probably try to ski away very quickly.

Cub: Now, if Permit Master was held at your base, what would be the first task you gave participants?

Joe: Oh my gosh, that is such a good one. Well, it would have to be the prize task because that's always how that goes. And I would say, bring in the thing. Bring in your possession that fits least amongst your other possessions.

Cub: And final question, Joe, what is the Joe Hills difference?

Joe: The Joe Hills difference isn't something that can be described. I know this because the only time I've ever had a tarot reading, I asked them that. They're like, “You need to bring a question to the table.” I'm like, “Sure, what's the Joe Hills difference?” And boy, they were all over the place. So, I mean, if a professional diviner who — I mean, that's not really their day job, I think they teach AIs how to program? — but if somebody who owns a deck of tarot cards couldn't figure it out, how could I be expected to answer, you know?

from The Hermitcraft Hotseat (ft. everyone) by cubfan135

originally posted on Tumblr from 2025-10-02 to 2025-10-08

comments

Welcome!

2026-03-17T22:20:32Z

Posted by: incorrecthorse

welcome to the joe hills difference community! it's very unfinished right now, so i'm not advertising it anywhere yet. i will add rules and tags and probably an introductions post here a bit later, this post is just stating my intention to do that in case anyone finds it before i'm ready

to-do list:

finish this welcoming post + guidelines
make an introductions post (maybe)
either come up with an icon for the community or make a post asking for icon ideas (prediction: the cute joe will somehow stay anyway)
figure out if i'm missing anything???
make a posting tutorial post for adding images/videos at least, probably with links to other tutorials

WIP!!! probably will change things later

Welcome to The Joe Hills Difference, a fancommunity dedicated to Joe Hills from Nashville, Tennessee!

If you have any questions or suggestions, e.g. for new tags or community style changes, feel free to comment on this post or PM me.

Posting Guidelines

Explicit things are allowed as long as they're marked appropriately and the explicit content is put under a cut with a content warning. [TODO: add relevant faq links]
When liveblogging (discussing a stream at the same time it's happening live), only make one post per stream, the rest should go into the comments.
When making long posts, use cut tags after a few paragraphs. Also put big images under cuts.
Feel free to repost/crosspost things you've posted on other sites.

Related Communities

hermitcraft - a community for Hermitcraft fans and everything Hermitcraft-related

Tutorials

(might will replace this with a separate post for newcomers?)

Adding images and videos to your posts (WIP)
Posts for newcomers from Tumblr in the newcomers community

comments