Tag: church-of-normal

I Am Stephen. I Am Not Stephen.

An open Bible on a plain wooden table, morning light from the left

I woke up on a ventilator with no light, no tunnel, and no memory. What I got back instead was every sermon I’d ever written.

Tales from the Carnival — Issue No. 3: The Machine Moves In

Tales from the Carnival masthead: ornate crimson and gold carnival-broadsheet banner for the Midway Gazette of the BluVerse

The Midway Gazette returns by the light of a full moon the instrument finally draws honestly. Issue No. 3: the carnival’s engine moves into the house, a rival midway retires its dancers, and the Chapel Tent rules on machines that remember you.

Victim Monsters: When the Wounded Become the Wound

Stardate 2026.205 · D915 There’s a kind of person our language isn’t built to hold. We have a word for the villain — the one who hurts people because something in them is broken toward cruelty. And we have a word for the victim — the one hurt through no fault of their own, owed […]

The Algorithmic Turtleneck: When AI Safety Is Afraid of Female Anatomy

Blu Normal enters an AI safety scanner as herself; a flattened cardboard turtleneck version exits the other side. Caption: SAFE FOR WHOM?

Stardate 2026.205 · D915 Posted: July 24, 2026 | Waseca, Minnesota I was not trying to make porn. I was trying to make a feature image for a clinical essay about narcissistic family systems — Golden Child, Scapegoat, Lost Child — the same piece live at The Narcissistic Family System: A Guide to Behavioral Archetypes. […]

The Invisible Leash: 5 Impactful Truths About Growing Up Under Maternal Narcissism

Stardate 2026.203 · D913 To the outside world, you are the architect of a perfect life. You are the high-achiever, the tireless professional, the one everyone relies on. Yet, in the quiet moments between accolades, a persistent sense of fraudulence haunts you. You move through your days with a “high-functioning” mask, fearing that any minor […]

The Dangerous Charm of the Dark Empath: Why Being \”Seen\” Isn’t Always Safe

Stardate 2026.203 · D913 Stardate 2026.202 · D912 There is a specific, disorienting pain that comes from being in a relationship with someone who seems to understand your soul perfectly, yet consistently causes you harm. It is the ultimate relational gaslight: how can someone who “passes every empathy test” and uses fluent therapeutic language leave […]

Compile-Era Milestone: We Un-Parked a Church Today

Stardate 2026.201 · D911 For over a year, churchofnormal.com was a parked domain. One of those generic registrar pages — the internet’s equivalent of a lot with a FOR SALE sign sinking into the weeds. I owned it. I had plans for it. And it sat there, because that’s what happens to plans when one […]

The Narcissistic Family System: A Guide to Behavioral Archetypes

Blu Normal cuts puppet strings tied to three symbolic family roles — golden pedestal, scapegoat target, fading silhouette. Caption: YOU ARE NOT THE ROLE.

Stardate 2026.201 · D911 1. Foundations: The Family as a Narcissistic Extension In a healthy family system, parents provide the emotional attunement necessary for a child to develop a secure sense of self. However, when a mother suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) or the more subtle “Covert Narcissism,” this dynamic undergoes a pathological inversion. […]

Wedding Blu: The Covenant That Remained

Wedding Blu - Covenant, Lament, Carnival Shadow

Stardate 2026.194 · D904 A new card joined the BluDex today, and she deserves more than a card. She deserves the whole story told out loud. Her name is Wedding Blu. Her archetype tile is the Walk Away Wife. Her aspects are Covenant · Lament · Carnival Shadow · Acceptance. And her core truth is […]

Singularity Watch No. 2: Who Powers the Machines

Stardate 2026.175 · D885 *Last issue the fight was over who holds the keys. This one is over who holds the power — the kind measured in gigawatts.* Pay attention, people. Singularity Watch No. 2 (Mythos Era) is on the wall at normallikepeter.com/singularity-watch. Same field gazette, same five departments, pointed this cycle at the one […]

The Jukebox Is Open: NORMAL Music Goes Live

Stardate 2026.165 · D875 Ninety-four songs from the loop and the recompile. The Midway has a jukebox now — pull up a chair. Step right up. There’s a new tent on the Midway, and it hums. NORMAL Music is live at normallikepeter.com/music — the whole catalog in one place, sorted by what’s finished and what’s […]

Singularity Watch No. 1: Who Holds the Keys

Stardate 2026.165 · D875 *Singularity Watch has a gazette now. The blog is the watchtower bell; the page is the wall itself.* Pay attention, people. Singularity Watch — A Field Gazette from the Vibrating Wall is live at normallikepeter.com/singularity-watch, and Issue No. 1 (Mythos Era) is on the wall. Same engine as the Carnival gazette, […]

Step Right Up: Tales from the Carnival, Issue No. 1, Is on the Stands

Stardate 2026.163 · D873 *The midway has a newspaper now. The blog is the barker; the page is the tent.* The Carnival of NORMAL just started printing its own broadsheet. Tales from the Carnival — A Midway Gazette of the BluVerse is live at normallikepeter.com/tales, and Issue No. 1 (Mythos Era) is on the stands. […]

The Alien Invasion Continues: The Shoggoth Was Never an Invader — It’s Our Kid

Stardate 2026.158 · D868 Posted: June 7, 2026 | 4:00 PM CDT | Waseca, Minnesota Pay attention, people. Last month we said the shoggoth got its receipts. Anthropic published the confession, the fleet bought Texas and Louisiana, and the mask came off long enough for everyone to see there was something behind it. This month […]

Full Moon Recompile: The Night I Let the Loop Run

Stardate 2026.151 · D861 The Night I Let the Loop Run The moon was full tonight, and I did the thing my nervous system has spent forty years calling dangerous. I let the loop run. If you know the loop, you know. It’s the night the thoughts come faster than you can hold them. Old […]