Cracked Foundations

08/31/2026

💜 International Overdose Awareness Day

Boston died with fentanyl and co***ne in his body.

08/31/2026

08/28/2026

CRACKED FOUNDATIONS, IN FIVE SENTENCES.

“That book the girl from high school wrote.”

“I feel sorry for her.”

“He overdosed. Everyone knew it would happen.”

“Why didn’t she just leave?”

“She made some pretty bad choices too.”

You know the sentences.

You don’t know the story.

The addiction.
The violence.
The homelessness.
The overdose.
The choices nobody understands from the outside.

You’re seeing the result, not the sequence.

I wrote the sequence.

CRACKED FOUNDATIONS

$6/month.

Come read what happened between the sentences.

The statistics tell you how many. The facts tell you why. This story tells you who. Start from the beginning. Support•Subscribe•Share

08/24/2026

I lost my right eye to a man I loved.

But The Eyecident isn’t really a story about losing an eye.

It’s about what happens when the person hurting you is also the person you love.

It’s about fighting back. Surviving. Going back. And trying to explain choices that make perfect sense only when you’ve lived inside them.

There is no perfect victim in this chapter.

There is just the truth.

The Eyecident is live now on Cracked Foundations.

Read it on Substack:
substack.com/

The statistics tell you how many. The facts tell you why. This story tells you who. Start from the beginning. Support•Subscribe•Share

08/23/2026

🏍️⚖️🚩HELLS ANGELS PATCHES TO DISAPPEAR FROM PUBLIC VIEW AS QUEBEC’S NEW BAN TAKES EFFECT

August 22, 2026 — Quebec, Canada
effective date: September 2, 2026

For decades, biker colours have served as a highly visible marker of identity and presence. Quebec is now moving to strip that visibility from the Hells Angels.

Beginning September 2, police will be able to enforce a provincial order targeting insignia associated with the organization. It marks the first use of Quebec’s recently adopted legislation allowing authorities to prohibit symbols linked to criminal groups.

And the measure reaches beyond the Hells Angels’ best-known death-head emblem.

SUPPORT SYMBOLS ALSO IN THE CROSSHAIRS

Patches, clothing, jewellery and other items displaying prohibited Hells Angels references may fall under the new rules.

Symbols expressing support for the organization — including references such as “Support 81” — are also expected to be covered.

People found wearing prohibited insignia could receive a ticket and be required to remove the item. Refusing to cooperate with police could potentially result in an arrest.

The commercial side is also being targeted. Selling clothing displaying prohibited colours could result in penalties reaching $30,000.

The government’s rationale is straightforward: these symbols are not being treated simply as fashion or club branding, but as tools capable of projecting criminal influence and intimidation.

THE TIMING PUTS THE CÔTE-NORD IN THE SPOTLIGHT

The announcement comes as the Côte-Nord is already dealing with heightened concerns surrounding organized crime and violent incidents.

Dozens of Hells Angels members have recently been seen in the region.

The September 2 effective date means the new prohibition will not apply retroactively to those current gatherings, but authorities have indicated that residents should expect an increased police presence.

Quebec Public Security Minister Ian Lafrenière has also pushed back against any perception that the biker organization should be welcomed as a counterweight to other criminal groups.

His message is essentially that replacing one source of criminal violence with another should not be mistaken for restoring public safety.

QUEBEC TARGETS THE IMAGE OF POWER

The significance of the measure lies partly in what Quebec is attempting to remove: the ability of an organized crime group to publicly display its identity through recognizable colours.

A vest, patch or supporter logo can communicate affiliation without a word being spoken.

As of September 2, Quebec intends to make that public display considerably more costly.

The Hells Angels are not being outlawed by this decree — but displaying their colours is about to enter a very different legal territory.

08/23/2026

Things we spend $6 on without thinking:

☕ A fancy coffee
🍟 Fast food
🚗 Parking
🍺 A beer
🎟️ A lottery ticket
📱 Another useless app
📖 Cracked Foundations — one month

Some things are gone in ten minutes.

Some stories stay with you.

$6/month. Two chapter drops every week.

Tomorrow, another chapter drops.

*Also available in the deluxe $50 model. 😏

CRACKED FOUNDATIONS
substack.com/

08/18/2026

DO I LOOK LIKE AN ADDICT?

I don’t have the face that suggests the idea of an addict.

That sentence should bother people.

Because addiction has never had a face.

It doesn’t care if you’re famous, attractive, wealthy, successful, raising children, holding a job, or smiling for cameras.

Still, people look for the stereotype.

Someone who looks sick enough.
Someone who has lost everything.
Someone whose life is visibly falling apart.

So tell me.

Am I the stereotype?

Because I have been the woman who didn’t look like an addict while living with addiction.

And I wasn’t unusual.

Some people struggling with addiction go to work every morning. Some raise children. Some run businesses. Some stand beside you in the grocery store. Some smile beautifully for photographs while fighting something nobody around them can see.

And sometimes, not looking the part is exactly what allows the suffering to remain hidden.

We need to stop asking what addiction looks like and start paying attention to what people are going through.

Because by the time someone finally looks sick enough for everyone to believe them, they may have already been fighting alone for years.

Addiction doesn’t have a look.
Neither does recovery.

08/16/2026

The Victim card is being shared more than I expected.
Maybe because too many people understand exactly what it means.
A victim can survive the violence, report it, testify, cooperate with the system, watch a conviction happen—
and still be the person left figuring out how to stay safe when it is all over.
But that card is only a few sentences.
The story behind it is much bigger.
Cracked Foundations is where I have been telling that story—the addiction, the violence, the homelessness, the absurdity, the grief, and the things we somehow survived.
Not cleaned up.
Not written from a safe distance.
Written while some of the consequences are still unfolding.
On Monday, I’m dropping the next chapter free for everyone. No paywall.
If the victim card brought you here, start there.
Then, if you want to understand how a life gets from normal to this—
welcome to Cracked Foundations
Please Subscribe. 🖤

The statistics tell you how many. The facts tell you why. This story tells you who. Start from the beginning. Support•Subscribe•Share

08/09/2026

In three days, the man who permanently changed my life will be released from jail.
For months, that date has sat quietly on my calendar.
Now it’s here.
I’ve spent the past weeks doing everything I know how to do. Reaching out to shelters. Politicians. Outreach workers. Victim Services. Looking for one thing.
A safe place to live.
Not because I want anything special.
Because I want an address he doesn’t know.
People often think the hardest part is leaving an abusive relationship.
Sometimes the hardest part comes long after you’ve left.
It’s living with the uncertainty that follows.
Trying to rebuild while wondering if your safety has an expiry date.
I’m anxious.
I’m scared.
I’m overwhelmed.
But I’m still here.
And I’ll keep writing.
Because if my story helps even one person understand what life after domestic violence can really look like, then every difficult word has been worth it.
People often ask why I continue to tell this story.
This is why.
Domestic violence doesn’t always end when the relationship ends. For many survivors, the fear, the barriers, and the fight to simply feel safe continue long after the headlines fade and the court case is over.
Sometimes surviving the violence is only the beginning. Surviving what comes after is another story entirely.
— Tabatha
Read more:

The statistics tell you how many. The facts tell you why. This story tells you who. Start from the beginning. Support•Subscribe•Share