A much darker post. CW: Abandonment and allusions to suicide. For any of my friends who see this, worry not for me, this is not a cry for help. I'm doing pretty great, and I'm not going anywhere. nacustis.substack.com/p/suburban-g...

I TOLD YOU! I was calling it "Hot Winter" two years ago! I'm a trend setter! A trend setter!

Congress has decided to claw back previously approved funding for public media. This decision hurts people in communities across the country, but it has only strengthened our resolve to keep Americans informed and connected. (1/2)

When a network lays off one of America’s greatest satirists, it’s not because he failed. It’s because he succeeded too loudly.

The first time Charlie Chaplin used his voice in a film, he wielded it to forcefully condemn the rising forces of fascism around the globe. Will we listen to his words today?

Kind of like how conservatives are pissed about Captain America and Wolfenstein. Y'all, you could've stuck with the whitewashed corporate evil and most of the world would've been none the wiser. Nobody forced you into those Nazi caricatures.

I was wondering earlier why so many people seem to get taken in by obvious political ploys. My theory right now is that politics generally becomes simpler if you stop listening to what they're saying and pay more attention to what they've done in the past and who they are as people.

I got some script notes today and it's totally fine.

I'll take "'Businesses' I'd create if I won the lottery" for $500. Along with more dedicated "third places" with low-cost space and board game rentals, and crafting studios where people can teach classes or just vibe while they do their thing in a shared space.

Grab an apple and walk around the house eating it, totally normal. Get a second one and do it again? Sure, the first didn't do the job. But sit down at the table with four apples on your plate, then eat them one at a time? Apparently that's "psychopath behavior."

I always told myself that if I had a kid I'd never not answer any of his questions. I didn't know the kinds of repetitive, "come on, you know the answer already" questions I'd get from my 5-year-old.

I got yelled at on this website today and somehow did not write a story for a magazine about how I'm reorienting my entire political orientation to piss off the people who got mad at me, in fact I learned I was being a bit of a butthead and, despite disagreeing, listened to their concerns, AMA

Want something to do that will keep your hands busy while listening or speaking? Want a way to stim without looking like you're not listening? Want just enough mental engagement to shut down the urge to multitask? Want people to approach you and show you their passions? Introducing: Knitting.

A fresh one, hot off the proverbial presses. Lighter on the horror, heavier on the symbolism and emotion. This one means a lot to me. Everyone needs a witch friend. Enjoy #SuburbanGothic: Labyrinths. open.substack.com/pub/nacustis...

Congress, Now More Than Ever, We Need Your Cowardice

🧵 because I can spell "brevity" but not define it. Brainwashing is scary because it can take a sane person and make them insane, or a friendly person and make them hostile, or a whole person and make them broken, on a fundamental level. Even worse to me is when those things are baked in to start

I've never seen someone so succinctly sum up the underlying beliefs of my interaction with the Divine. Not a single point of disagreement from me.

I think the primary thing that's driven my leftward progress has been the continual discovery of the thorough insidiousness with which our society and culture have been intentionally shaped to crush human souls into compliant workers and breeding stock for the enrichment of the owning class.

this is why we call them nazis. they're not cartoon villains, they are people who do this. then they go home and sleep fine and come back to work do they can do it to another family

This might be the absolute greatest reply we have ever received. Thank you, Cookie Monster 📕🍪💙

Why they are sold as toys, we cannot fathom. #SuburbanGothic: Someone Had to Warn Them open.substack.com/pub/nacustis...

Keep your flames burning. open.substack.com/pub/nacustis...

Me on weekends.

It looks like someone has hacked a crosswalk button in Palo Alto to deliver at least two different messages in the voice of Elon Musk. (They are not complimentary)

wife: how was guarding the two paths today, honey? guard: [looking away] fine wife: did something happen? guard: [tearing up] no wife: would the other guard tell me something happened?

You are allowed to take up the space that you require to exist. That is the minimum. You are allowed to take up more beyond. Your presence and your voice matters.

Pretty much true.

This has been a good reminder to me that this isn't just a group of people "doing their job for a bad leader." These people are actively, gleefully evil and fascistic. I'd be shocked if anyone had received orders from "on high" to do this. I'd bet the brownshirts did it of their own accord.

Use these Words well. #SuburbanGothic: Words of Power open.substack.com/pub/nacustis...

My friend took me to see Katacombs, Dave Hause, and @frankturner.bsky.social in Richmond on Tuesday. It was my first ever non-Christian concert if you don't count Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I've got some thoughts and feelings about it that I want to share. It was an emotional experience for me.

Elmo must be defended at all costs.

Another. This one was written a while after Curse. Both Curse and Death Rite have special meaning to me. Curse is about suffering and beginning to heal; Death Rite is about reclaiming your power. #SuburbanGothic: Death Rite nacustis.substack.com/p/suburban-g...

I lied. One more, this one far longer. #SuburbanGothic: Curse. nacustis.substack.com/p/suburban-g...

One more for now. #SuburbanGothic: Shadows of Love nacustis.substack.com/p/suburban-g...

Another: One of the very few attempts I have made at poetry. #SuburbanGothic: Cloaked in Anonymity open.substack.com/pub/nacustis...

Slowly uploading all of these to the Substack. I give you one of my earliest and shortest pieces: #SuburbanGothic: Passengers. open.substack.com/pub/nacustis...

The older my son gets, the more heavily my parental duty weighs upon me, as I realize just how easily his mind is molded by my words and actions. And the older he gets, the more furious I become at those (mostly religious teachers) who held similar duties in my childhood and failed to uphold them.

In the 90s, I genuinely thought the Internet would cure loneliness. But it turns out that for me anyway the Internet addresses loneliness the way alcohol addresses anxiety.

I hope everyone knows that it's very easy for any social content platform, including Bluesky, to be a misery machine and that if you aren't intentional about it, they will absolutely decrease the positive impact you have on the world while making you less happy.

An old one I'm sharing here: #SuburbanGothic: Glyphs nacustis.substack.com/p/suburban-g...

🫠

“We are at a moment right now where people are asking themselves why can’t the Democratic Party defend this assault on democracy . . . and I would submit to you that if you can’t draw the line at genocide, you probably can’t draw the line at democracy.” - Ta-Nehisi Coates

One thing I didn’t understand about having kids is I assumed, like adults, when they get tired they’d get sleepy and then go to sleep. But kids don’t get sleepy when they get tired, they just get increasing less pleasant to be around until you force them to go to sleep.

EXACTLY.

“Hank, why are you spending so much time defending the freaking /minecraft movie?/“ Actually, I’m not defending anything, I am attacking the practice of dumping buckets of jaded misery on moments of goofy joy and I will absolutely die on that hill.

Should last us about two months.

Being a parent is mostly asking your spouse if it’s okay to open the new bag of snacks or if they’re for the kids