The Only Way To Stop Misinformation And Avoid Inadvertently Spreading Radical Rhetoric Is To Stop Sharing

The fall stoat is here!

If you'd like this baby as a print, it's part of the rewards of the month on my ko-fi (along with a sword bookmark)

I know so much of the pre-election messaging is like VOTE!!! VOTE!!! IF YOU DON’T VOTE YOU’RE A MONSTER!! and that can get tiring after so many elections. So I want to take a moment after this election to say: so many of you clearly did get out and vote, despite not always having the most inspiring options, and with SO much on the line 18-29 year olds specifically helped win some of the most important and impactful races across America. So from one of the many “just vote” scolds on the internet: thank you!!

Hey. Look at me. Please leave yourself a note somewhere you'll see it later that says "it is going to take years if not decades to get the United States government to the level of functionality it had in November of 2024." If we elect a democrat in 2028, we are not going to be up and running by 2032.

Please make sure you have a reminder in your phone reminding you to not look at 2028/32/36 Democratic candidates and say "why are they not promising/delivering Cool Shit?" because you are going to understand that to get Cool Shit we must have competent people running a decently funded government, and we are not going to have that.

We are not getting UBI. We are not getting single payer healthcare. We are not getting free college or free preschool. We are not redistributing wealth on a large scale. We are not getting free internet. We are not getting ranked choice voting.

If we are lucky, we are going to get an IRS that can collect taxes, qualified schoolteachers, research grants, Social Security, and a government that thinks maybe it should be a priority for people around the worlds to not have AIDS, malaria or TB.

If you consider yourself self-aware but only acknowledge the things you need to change and not the things you do really well, you aren't self-aware you're just being mean to yourself.

counsellingwithnic on ig

You've been carrying a lot lately. I'm proud of you for enduring, but remember you don't have to carry it all alone. It's okay to ask for help.

literally though if you feel like your life is slipping through your fingers and every day goes too fast… try doing hard things, not just taking the easy route, like reading and making art and exercising and cooking a meal from scratch and journaling, doing these things without distraction, without being absorbed on a screen… the time will stretch and you’ll be reminded that life is long and beautiful if you make it so.

I think it needs to become common knowledge that "inability to read social cues" can show up as overcompensating.

You don't know how much misbehaviour is allowed, so you become the perfect child who never tests rules.

You don't know if someone is irritated with you, so you'll be extra generous and self-effacing.

You don't know how much is expected of you at work so you'll kill yourself in a minimum-wage job and not notice that nobody else is working like this.

"Hardworking and quiet" should be as much of an autism red flag as "ignores rules and doesn't know when to stop talking". Or why don't we just start using words to communicate so i can stop tracking everybody's eyebrow twitches, that would be great.

Attempting to get my students to fucking come to class

when i was a kid, a new family moved into our neighborhood. my parents wanted to welcome them, so my dad made a bowl of salsa and went over with my mom to introduce themselves. the husband of the new family was very excited when he got the salsa—he was a professional chef and as such no one ever made food for him because they always assumed he’d think it was bad, just because he was a good cook.

the moral of the story: give your artist friends art! give your writing friends writing! and give your chef friends food! even if they’re “better” at it than you. i can assure you that they’ll love it regardless because it came from you.