Magic is Real. And It's a Total Pain in the Ass.
(Or: The User Manual for a Reality You Didn't Know You Were In)
Look, let's get this over with.
My name is Nathaniel Verone. In 1997, when I was 28, the universe decided it would be hilarious to make me the "True Mage." There was no ceremony, no cool sword, no wise old mentor. It was more like getting saddled with a cosmic debt collector's case files. Since then, I've been the guy who has to deal with the things that slip through the cracks of reality.
For a long time, I kept my head down. It was easier. But now, the internet exists. Every influencer with a ring light and a crystal collection thinks they’ve cracked the code. They haven't. They're passing around magical advice that's the equivalent of a "Cinnamon Challenge" for the soul. They’re going to get themselves, or worse, someone else, cosmically deleted.
So, consider this my resignation from silence. My reluctant attempt to write the user manual for reality that nobody else will. This isn't going to be "love and light." It won't be ancient wisdom whispered on the wind. It's going to be the truth, delivered with all the cynicism and sarcasm a guy who remembers dial-up modems can muster.
Here’s the deal.
The Always Free Newsletters
Subscribe for free. You get the warnings, the myth-busting, the "don't stick a fork in the cosmic socket" advice. I'll tell you why that sigil you found online is horse shit that summons existential dread, and why cleansing your space has less to do with sage and more to do with having the sheer audacity to tell a lingering entity to piss off. It's the stuff everyone should probably know to avoid accidentally turning their apartment into a low-grade poltergeist-themed timeshare.
Blunt, no-BS takes on common occult topics.
Sarcastic breakdowns of magical trends.
Stories from the "early days" (the 90s were weird, man).
The bare-minimum knowledge to keep you from becoming a supernatural cautionary tale.
The Gritty Details: Access to posts detailing rituals and theories that are genuinely effective and therefore genuinely dangerous. This is the stuff with all the warning labels.
"From the Files": De-anonymized stories and lessons from my actual "work" since '97. The screw-ups, the close calls, and the things that actually worked.
The Commiseration Corner: A private chat/forum for subscribers. A place to ask the real questions and not get a boilerplate "trust the universe" answer. I'll drop in. I won't hold your hand.
The Full Archive: You get everything. The whole messy, cynical, hopefully useful pile of notes I've been forced to compile over the last three decades.
So, if you want shiny, happy magic, go buy a crystal.
If you want the truth from a guy who's been stuck on the front lines since The X-Files was popular, you know what to do.
