#I can't do much currently but the least I can do is try to boost

[signedkoko]

Oo could I request romantic Vees with a reader who's this famous singer/idol in Hell? (Think, way more than Fizzarolli-level famous)

Valentino | Velvette | Vox [Romantic]

In which you are one of the most popular performance artists in all of hell. Reader is female.

Your name was more than just 'known'; it was plastered along buildings and chanted by millions

He was always scouting for personalities, following trends in people to see who he could drag down into his vicing grip

But you were untouchable, the first thing he couldn't command to their knees before him

Even so, if Val wanted to meet you, he could, and it was extremely new to the overlord to have to go out of his way to meet someone, but he felt it was worth it

He claims it was because you had possible talent, but those closest to him know he had a bit of a celebrity crush

Valentino is not one to be nervous; he would be direct when telling you that he wanted you, again and again, until you eventually granted him at least one night out, just the two of you

Once he has his chance, he'll pull out every stop just to hear you say that you'd like to see him again

He gets so distracted with you that he forgets the part about getting you into his company, eventually brushing it off by saying you 'didn't suit what he was looking for'

Avoiding being under his contract meant he could never command you, which meant he never had anything to be angry with you about

According to him, you were a role model for all the demons he owned

Famous stars require famous stylists, and who better than Velvette?

You'd actually reached out to her personally, since a lot of her work inspired your current stylists, and you wanted an upgrade for your tour of hell

Idol's like you were the exact thing people like Velvette dreamed of having in their portfolio, and she insisted on meeting you so she could see what you were looking for

In all her years, she'd never met an idol so genuine—most were snobbish, greedy, or just told her to 'do whatever'

You came in with photos of things you liked, hell, even fabrics you preferred, and a set list of what your songs would look like in order

She was already in love

You get her personal creations, and she insists on being the one to tailor you herself

" Only the best for the best, right? "

She can feel her bitchy attitude melt, and though she gets extremely bothered when anyone interrupts your sessions together, you ground her

It's not long before you two become official, and while she can't follow you into the deeper rings of hell, she will always be sure to watch your performances in the background while she works

She constantly calls you 'doll', because she's always dressing you up

Influences, aristocrats, idols—none of it was new to the king of social media

Everyone contacted him for their social management, or his team, at least

He didn't do much of the personal work himself; he had far too much on his plate, but he always checked on who was requesting his services

Mostly for the ego boost, knowing the image of so many self-proclaimed "stars'' relied on him

But there was also a list of people he wanted to work for, a list that brought his ego back down and told him he hadn't met his goals yet and had to try harder

You were at the very top

He'd seen a plethora of your performances recorded and reuploaded: best takes, most underrated performances, and unforgettable sets

But he'd never had the chance to see you live until he got a PR package regarding your newest album release

Him? It was certainly interesting to...no shot, you sent him hidden tickets for 'friends only'

He is not fangirling except maybe a bit; he's already cleared his schedule that evening so he can get there and making sure his outfit is cleaned up and ready

Your performance was out of this world, and he is beyond pleased when he is invited backstage to speak with you

There you were, taking off your earrings in your dressing room, smiling at him as if you were old friends

" How was the performance? I'm so glad you came. "

For a moment, hes almost worried you have the wrong person; he seems uncertain of what to say until you continue

" I heard you are hard to win over, so I figured I'd go all out before I ask if you'd consider running my new album compaigne? "

He acts cool, but when he gets home that evening, he is pumping his fist in the air and screaming

Author's Note - I was thinking lilith-level famous, you are THAT girl... Thank you for requesting! I went for a fem! reader because it was no specified

[ponett]

ive seen you post about doctor robotnik's ring racers occasionally on twitter and would like to hear your overall thoughts on the game

I'm enjoying it a lot! It plays well, has a ridiculous number of unlockable characters and tracks, and is generally just really polished. This would be impressive even for a paid indie kart racer that cost like $20-$30, but for a freeware fangame that's somehow built off of Doom? It's nuts. So much love and care went into this. I've been having a lot of fun playing through all the Grand Prix cups and clearing out the challenge board, which I've only completed 47% of it even with over 15 hours of playtime logged.

It's absolutely one of the most hardcore kart racers I've ever played, though, and that's gonna turn some people off. While playing solo even easy mode can be difficult, especially thanks to the rival system that gives one CPU buffs over the others. Anything below 150cc is a complete joke for me in Mario Kart, but even playing on the "normal" difficulty in Ring Racers (now renamed "intense" in the 2.2 patch) kicks my ass, and if you place poorly in a Grand Prix race it gives you a game over and makes you redo the race. I can't even imagine touching the higher difficulties at my current skill level.

This is compounded by how technical the game is and how many options are at your disposal. Spin dashing, tricks, fast drops, collecting and spending rings, an item roulette that can be manually stopped, a high risk high reward chargeable melee attack when you have negative rings, the ability to harass and be harassed by other racers while positioning yourself before the start of the race, gates that can only be passed through when you have a high level of boost, lots of items with different quirks that reward skilled play. And of course, perhaps most daunting of all to new players, there's the game's unique slope physics designed to mimic how they work in the 2D Sonic games, which will often require you to either spend rings for a small boost or stop and charge up a spin dash to get up a steep hill.

All of these add a lot of complexity to the game that can be pretty daunting early on, which is why it has an infamously long story-driven tutorial to introduce all of these mechanics. I'm not sure said tutorial actually does the best job introducing how those mechanics will actually be put to use in races, but I can't blame them for thinking the game needed it. (I do have to admit I am annoyed by the game's insistence upon framing everything via Sega Saturn inputs, though. I had to open the settings screen to figure out what buttons the tutorial actually wanted me to press.)

Some of these things have already been addressed in the first couple patches, of course. You can now exit the tutorial way earlier, some unlock requirements have been relaxed, there's an option to let the game automatically use your rings for you, easy mode has been made easier, a handful of problematic courses have been tweaked, etc. And I'm sure they'll continue to refine the game based on player feedback. But it's probably always going to be a fairly hardcore game. It's hard and has a high skill ceiling by design. Nintendo's never gonna make a super technical new Mario Kart for sickos - not on purpose, at least. They need it to be a pick-up-and-play party game that sells 70 million copies. But a freeware fangame not beholden to shareholders can experiment more and try to cater to that more hardcore crowd. Say what you will about Ring Racers, but it absolutely has a specific creative vision of its own beyond "Sonic Mario Kart," and I respect that even if the game sometimes frustrates me

[jhilsara]

I Can See You

Pt. 1/ Pt. 2/ Pt. 3/ Pt. 4/ Pt. 5/pt. 6/Pt. 7/Pt. 8/Pt. 9/ Pt. 10/

Pt. 11/ Pt.12/Pt.13/Pt. 14/Pt.15/Pt.16/Pt.17/END

It's over! I can't say thank you enough for joining me and my adventures with Hobie and Mariana. I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did. I really grew attached to MJ and Hobie as their story just blossomed before me. While this is the end of the main story, I'll probably have a couple of one shots here and there for them. I just love them so much. Anyway~ once again thank you so much for reading this silly little fic and if you made it this far, I truly appreciate you for reading :)

please leave a kudo on ao3 or a comment <3

~Several Months Later~

MJ is trying to push her way through a rampaging crowd. She’s fighting against the current, but she could care less. The adrenaline pumping through her as she tries to look above the sea of people.

The screaming in her ears is starting to get irritating though. She elbows past a much larger man and finally gets somewhere off to the side where she can get a good visual.

Through the settling dust she sees Spider-Man knocking around the Vulture in the air. She brings her camera up and tries to take a few quick shots before she starts filming. She was getting tired of trying to frame the best front-page photo’s for Spider-Man slander at the Daily Bugle… but none of her other coworkers were willing to get that close to any of the action. She did get hazard pay from it and she was going to milk the cow dry as long as they were paying her.

They didn’t need to know that she’s got a small advantage since her boyfriends the vigilante… at least she feels somewhat safe getting up close to his fights. Even if the so-called vigilante in question does scold her every single time.

She was starting to kind of like it, it was just proof that he cares, not that she’d ever tell Hobie that.

Once she get’s a good enough photo, well, better than what her other coworkers have made in the past. She brings out her phone to film.

This wasn’t for the Daily Bugle, it was for her own personal blogging website. If she was forced by the corporate overloads to make money by slandering her boyfriends name, she could at least run a little side gig that tells the truth.

If she got more website hits on her blog than then Daily Bugle’s she didn’t brag, but god did it boost her ego. Especially since Mr. Jameson was too dull to figure out she was running the blog on the side anyway.

He wasn’t the brightest crayon in the box.

She’s scanning her phone to zoom in on Spider-Man and the cocky bastard has the gal to look over to her and shoot a peace sign at the camera. She rolls her eyes.

“As you can see our vigilante isn’t taking this fight very seriously since he’s flirting with the camera… It’ll make a nice fan cam later though.” She says sarcastically as she follows the fight.

Hobie’s high above, fighting the Vulture in the air. That was the nice thing about the Vulture, nothing was close to her on the ground.

Not like the Lizard a few weeks ago who literally flooded the whole street. Her shoes were permanently damaged. Not to mention her sliding down the road like a poor excuse of a slip and slide. She did get some stellar photos and videos from that. Even if she almost fell down into the sewer.

Hobie had finally conceded to the fact she was going to be near his fights. By her volition or by her new job. He couldn’t escape it. So, he did the next best thing, he started to make her gear that she could at least use to help herself.

The first being a web shooter. It wasn’t set up exactly like his. It was discrete enough to look like a watch. It was mostly to stop her from falling, which is how she saved herself from falling into the sewer.

The month it took for her to figure it out and feel comfortable enough to use it was not fun. Hobie was trying to teach her how to swing her weight, but he was a stick in comparison to her. She’s seen what his webs can do, she knows they can hold her easily. It was trusting herself to not screw up the momentum that was scary. That and the fact she didn’t like swinging to begin with. Even if it was Hobie’s favorite, it certainly wasn’t hers. The actions gave her whiplash and made her nauseous.

She only used the web shooter when she absolutely had to. She was more than happy that today Hobie was flying through the sky. She could safely keep her feet on the ground.

The Vulture shots his metal feathers as an attack toward the swinging vigilante. Hobie swings too close toward her and it has MJ running from the projectiles hitting the ground.

She keeps her camera steady as she readjusts to follow the fight again, “The Vulture should really start learning how to aim if he’s going to resort to his feathers.” She comments as she keeps filming. “I mean, how often have they really hit Spider-Man?”

There’s no one really around her but a few reporters on the sides of the streets. Most of them keeping their distance far away. MJ was the only one willing to get this close to the action. Which is why her online blog was skyrocketing in popularity. She didn’t even think about making one until one day Mr. Jameson pissed her off. He was ranting and raving about how the Daily Bugle was the only news source worth listening too because of how good their images were of Spider-Man.

Or as he said, “That no good Spiderpunk running around and destroying our city!”

If she had to bullshit some article calling Hobie Spiderpunk one more time she was going to vomit in Mr. Jameson’s waste basket. It was such a playground taunt. He couldn’t even be more creative!

It also made her eye twitch that her boss was using her perfectly good photos to slander her boyfriend. Hobie didn’t care. In fact, he never looked at a single news source, the most he did was hijack the police scanners to aid him. Didn’t stop the fire burning under her though. If MJ was anything, she was loyal to a fault. So, what if it meant she got a little petty? It was all in good faith. She made her blog that night, as a counter protest to her boss. She never expected her ramblings and bad videos to explode overnight.

It was an added bonus that her boss had also caught wind of her blog and couldn’t do anything about it. He had demanded MJ pay closer attention when she was out, to try and figure out who ran the blog. The man clearly couldn’t put it together that it was her. Who else would get that close to Spider-Man’s fights? She didn’t even disguise her voice, but she made sure to never show her face.

Hobie just found it amusing if anything else. She had a decent following online and made sure her content was always free. If she was going to report on what was happening she wasn’t going to profit off of it. Unlike the Daily Bugle who hid their slanderous newspaper articles behind a paywall. She loved what she did, uncovering stories and being near the action. It gave her a rush like no other. Even if Hobie would wish she wouldn’t get so close.  

This was one of those moments she wished she wasn’t so close.

“Shit, shit, shit!” She’s running from falling building debris. The vulture had taken a large chunk off the old brick building to her left. She could hear the car alarms going off as the falling pieces were crushing the cars underneath. 

She feels arms wrap around her tightly and she stops struggling almost immediately. Looking up to see Hobie’s mask staring down at her. A heavy sigh leaving his mouth.

“You were doing so good this time. Outta way and everythin’.” He teases half-heartedly.

She rolls her eyes before shrugging, “To be fair, I didn’t expect the bird to throw such a hissy fit he’d take out the corner of the building.” She replies.

Hobie sighs and nods. He sets her down a good distance away. “He’s really bloody upset over somethin’… I couldn’t tell ya for the life of me. I tuned him out ages ago.” He turns to dash off and take care of the giant bird man.

“I’m wastin’ my breath, but don’t follow alright.” He tries to tell her. She just hums in acknowledgement and she rushing off right behind him.

She was almost like a shadow with her new job at the Daily Bugle. Always behind him. It still frightened him. Had the rage simmering underneath his the second she was too close to danger. That dread would probably never fully go away. It was just a matter of trusting each other. He’d come running to her if she needed him, and vice versa. The least her could do was arm her so she could defend herself. Not that she needed too much defending. She did explode the Goblin with their own bombs. He knew the dangers that came with being Spider-Man and she had taken them with so much grace and shouldered them with him. It was more than he could ask of anyone.

Yet there she was, next to him, like she was always meant to be.

She grabs a few more photos and is able to catch the end of the fight. Hobie having the Vulture wrapped up in his webs.

“Once again, our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man can be found protecting us! He’s a little cross with me right now so I won’t bug him. I am expecting some fan cams from this footage so don’t let me down!” She signs off her video and shuffles her belongings into her bag.

Hobie turns to see her and she waves in small acknowledgement before jogging off back to her office. He shakes his head but goes to handle the Vulture, knowing he’ll see her later anyway.

Mariana’s curled up on the couch, nursing a half cold tea, when the door gently opens and she hears him kicking off his combat boots.

“Long day?” she calls out to him sitting up to look over at him.

He gives a dry chuckle before walking over to kiss her forehead. “It was more than just the birdman today,” he sighs.

She frowns looking up at him, “Go take a hot shower, I’ll make you something.” She whispers holding his face.

He nods his head and presses another soft kiss to her cheek before walking to the bathroom.

She shakes her head and gets up with a full body stretch. She goes to grab the leftovers from the dinner she cooked earlier. She goes to warm it back up for him, it wasn’t too cold but definitely not as hot as when she originally cooked earlier. It won’t take very long so she starts on a drink too. She goes over to the kettle and starts making him a cup of tea, while also making herself a second cup. Pouring her lukewarm tea down the sink. She leans against the counter and waits for it to heat up.

She doesn’t hear Hobbie come behind her as he wraps his arms around her waist. Pressing his half naked body against hers. She leans her head back to look up at him.

“Ya know, this would be lovelier if you weren’t still slightly wet.” She teases him.

He groans and shoves his face into the crook of her neck. “Don’t care.” He murmurs placing a soft kiss to her shoulder.

She smiles softly and moves her hand to pat his cheek. She doesn’t stop her task of making them tea but it becomes a slightly more difficult task with one hand.

Hobie slowly starts swaying their bodies to an unheard tune in his head. She easily moves with him as she makes their mugs. The silence isn’t stifling, it’s more relaxing than anything. His weight on her is comforting and he places more soft kisses against her skin, moving from her shoulder up her neck, to her cheek, and finally to the corner of her lips.

She turns her head to follow him, chasing his lips with hers. She hums contently against him.

“I have to pour our tea Hobbie.” She whispers against his lips.

He presses another kiss, this one deeper and longer. “Can wait,” He grips her hips to make her turn fully to him. He presses his forehead against hers, closing his eyes.

Her hands snake up his arms and down his bare chest, touch feather light. He makes a deep groan in his throat. It has her chuckling softly.

One of his hands goes to grab both her hands, capturing them easily. His other hand moves from her waist to grip the counter behind her. His mouth moving down to her ear, “Watch it…” he whispers, “Don’t start something you can’t finish.” He presses a kiss under her ear.

She starts to squirm a bit, “Oh piss off!” She giggles her face heating up, “I’m not the one who walked in here half naked.”

He leans back and sighs dramatically. “I haven’t done the laundry in a minute luv.”

She rolls her eyes, “What you need is to just move in already.” She tries to say nonchalantly avoiding looking up at him.

He hums in thought, “Is that you officially asking me or joking?” He teases trying to make her look at him.

Her face grows redder, as she tries to wiggle away from him. He other hand releases hers and he blocks her in against the counter.  Leaning dangerously closer to her.

“I… I want you to move in, I mean you come here every night anyway, I just think it would be easier if-” she’s starting to ramble running over her words.

Hobie cuts her off with his mouth, kissing her once more. Pulling back to smile lazily at her furiously blushing face.

“I’m just teasin’. Course I’ll move in.” he tells him softly.

“Okay, perfect, cool…” she says quietly, eyes avoiding his.

“I’m keepin’ the house boat though. Don’t want to leave all my spider stuff here.” He says seriously.

She laughs with her chest, moving to wrap her arms around his neck. “I’m okay with that.”

He moves to grab her thighs, lifting her to wrap her legs around his waist. She makes a small noise before holding onto him tighter.

“Hobie! What about the tea, and your food!” She tries to scold him, but her laughter gives her away.

“It can wait, just want you right now.” He says walking them to her bedroom.

She leans forward, her small laughter being swallowed by his lips. They fall onto her bed together and her hands move to hold his jaw, deepening the kiss.

If someone told Mariana a year ago she’d be in a relationship with her cities vigilante she’d call them crazy. She’d also find it impossible that her path would have crossed with his to begin with.

She wouldn’t believe anything that’s happened to her this past year of knowing Hobie. She’s felt herself change for the better, becoming braver than ever. He’s everything she could ask for. Parts of her have healed in ways she never thought they could. The scares are still there, but they can fade with time. She doesn’t feel like a dog who’s been kicked one too many times anymore. She’s found her home in his heart. She knows he’ll protect it, like she protects his. It’s precious that she’s found this love and all she wants to do is nurture and grow it.

She loves him and she thinks she could forever.

Tag List: @missshelleyduvall

[allwormdiet]

Shell 4.1

As much as I wish Taylor could ride this high forever, unfortunately looks like it's back to school

Taylor. Honey. Dearheart. You keep being really complimentary about your bullies' physical looks, and this does not in any way undermine the hurt they've done to you or your resentment thereof, but it does muddy the waters a little bit as to whether resentment is the only thing you're feeling

The back-and-forth actually feels so refreshing compared to every previous interaction with the bullies, like. My god. Did Taylor just have to rob a bank to get the confidence she needs to not worry about these fuckers? I never thought that John Dillinger therapy would take off but maybe there's a future in that

Better the devil in plain sight than the devil you can't see at all.

John Dillinger therapy! This is what I'm talking about! Let's go Taylor, show that inner strength! Shed the burden!

I mean hell, maybe, or maybe this is an upturn where she finally gets sure enough in herself to get these jerks off her back forever. We'll see how it plays out, right?

The idle speculation on Mr. Quinlan is a little wild but well in keeping with my own experiences. Sometimes teachers just passively generate rumors around them.

This one stupid bit about John Dillinger therapy keeps paying off, this is great, real joke investment opportunity

Honestly Taylor I think you can feel bad about it while also living with it, I'm not gonna pretend to be some expert on morality or philosophy or whatever but I feel like you're allowed a certain number of felonies after enough suffering in your life

Technically not a career boost for the Undersiders, at least not as far as public renown, but making your enemies look like clowns is just as good if not better. Like yeah, those tools on the other side are getting their pay docked because of that bigass hole in the roof of the bank, and you're way richer from the same event

Expanding our understanding of the city a bit more, and honestly this sounds dope as fuck. I'd love to visit every once in a while and just soak in the culture, although not if it meant living in Brockton Bay. That seems. Bad.

Ugh, these kids

Honestly I'm not quite this hardcore but damn if it isn't a mood. I've yet to see proof of Rachel being wrong

Yeah I know she had her dogs attack Taylor, Taylor's an aspiring snitch, it's okay to maul a snitch

I think I knew this part already but honestly I'm more excited to have Rachel lore than anything

I wonder how much leniency can be provided for crimes that happen in the immediate aftermath or because of a trigger event. Maybe not a ton, or maybe enough to get away with murder. I'd be curious to learn more about that, if it ever comes up.

And uhh, yeah, that'd fucking get you dead bodies alright. Wonder if that's why she's so hardcore about the training, making sure that never happens again. Entirely for the dogs' benefit, or only mostly and then there's some part of her that thrives with that kind of control?

Alec you cheeky little shit, you're endearing yourself to me

Honestly Taylor, just try and breathe easy for a little bit, I don't think you've been able to do that in over a year. Take your time, enjoy your walk on the wild side.

Maybe I'm biased but I love these two interacting on their own, so I'm fully in favor of this plan Lisa

Well I'm sure if Lisa ever killed anybody they deserved it, or if nothing else she arranged circumstances so that they ended up deserving it after some mild provocation

it's fiiiiiiiiine

Current Thoughts

This story has such good slice of life, I want more of it every time and every time I get cut off before I'm satisfied. Is that on purpose? If that's on purpose Wildbow might be a more sinister intelligence than I'd thought.

School segment was so blissfully short and Taylor managed to fight Emma to a standstill so this is a huge improvement over every other second she's spent at school

If Rachel ever kills anyone on purpose they deserved it, and if Rachel ever kills anyone on accident it's okay bc everyone makes mistakes

Honestly I'd be willing to accept any of these kids as having a good reason to render someone cadaverrific. Brian and Lisa have good heads on their shoulders and at this point I'm starting to suspect that the lazy gamer thing Alec has going on is like, at least partially a front for a deeper personality, and he's trying to be shallow on purpose, so idk what that means for him being a killer but I somehow doubt he's a fucking Hannibal Lecter type when we're not looking

...Actually come to think on it the only two members the Protectorate has info on is Grue and Bitch, right? Tattletale is an unknown and Regent has almost nothing about him. I'd suspect Grue to be the second killer but I'm not sure if that's a red herring.

Find out eventually, I guess.

...I might have another chapter in me before sacking out for the night. We'll see.

[agaypanic]

Can you do a Benny weir fic where the reader is like a cupid or something and she had transferred to the gangs school to help people find their soulmates. Obviously the gang gets suspicious of her just like they pretty much do to everyone and spy on her. One day the gang sees her about to shoot a love arrow at someone and Benny tackles her but because of that he ends up falling in love with her. The gang and reader can't seem to figure out how to get him to leave her alone he's constantly clinging to her and kissing her cheek and resting his head on top of hers. In the end the gang figured out a solution but it didn't matter because they fell in love with each other anyways.

A Nudge (Benny Weir X Cupid!Reader)

Masterlist

Request Something!

Summary: As a descendant of Cupid, Y/n moved to Whitechapel to help people find and connect with their soulmates. The supernatural gang gets suspicious of the new girl. What happens when they catch her about to shoot a love arrow and Benny gets hit?

***

When the gang heard that there was a new girl in town, they immediately became suspicious. Whenever new people came to Whitechapel, it usually ended in the group finding out that they were some kind of supernatural villain and an exhausting fight. It was honestly getting old.

However, Y/n L/n, the new girl in town, didn’t know any of this. This is why she was so confused whenever she’d catch a group of teens hanging around her from a distance, borderline glaring at her with curiosity and suspicion. It made her even more aware of her surroundings. But sometimes, you get lost in the moment.

Y/n was currently at the park, leaning against a tree as she stared at a pair of friends. The two were interacting with a smile but, at the same time, seemed very bashful. Y/n knew why perfectly well. Being a descendant of Cupid, she knew all about romance and love. Her specialty is being able to spot soulmates.

That had been why she moved to Whitechapel in the first place. Being a descendant of a god came with some responsibilities. Hers was to go around giving people the little nudge they needed to be with the person their soul was connected to. Which was what Y/n was about to do.

She could see Jenny and Matt’s connection from miles away. They seemed to be at that stage of “we’re friends who both know we want each other, but we’re still too scared to act on it.” This is where Y/n came in, ready to shoot an arrow to give the two the boost of confidence they needed.

Unbeknownst to Y/n, who was drawing an arrow, a certain group of teenagers watched her from a small distance. They were surprised as she pulled back the arrow, none of them knowing what to do. Benny was the first to act. Not really thinking, he just started running.

One moment, Y/n was ready to help two lovebirds. The next, she was on the ground, bow and arrow knocked out of her grip with a body lying on her. She looked up to see dark green eyes and an expression that slowly went from panicked to lovey-dovey.

Shit.

Looking around, she saw that the tip of her arrow had hit the strange boy on their way down. While gently pushing him up and off of her, she saw his friend group run over to them.

“What did you do to him?” A small dark-haired boy asked somewhat venomously, pulling the lovestruck boy away from her, despite his light protest. Y/n went from worried to angry.

“What did I do to him? He tackled me!” She said, picking up her bow and arrow.

“Why do you even have that?” The boy asked, gesturing to her equipment. 

“I… like archery.” Y/n tried to lie. A blonde girl started getting closer to her, baring her teeth. Y/n noticed that her canines were more like fangs, realizing that she wasn’t the only non-human person in Whitechapel.

“Wanna try that again?” The blonde asked. A blonde boy and the other girl came behind her, also showing sharp teeth. Y/n took a deep breath, looking around to ensure no one was nearby. She noticed that Jenny and Matt had left, which pissed her off. But at the least, the group was now alone.

“Okay, the only reason I’m not dusting you with memory dust right now is because I know you’re not exactly human. At least most of you.” She glanced at the two dark-haired boys, one inching closer to her with a grin while the other tried holding him back. “I’m basically a however-many-great’s grandchild of Cupid. Hence, the bow and arrow. I was about to give two soulmates a nudge towards each other, which is my job, by the way, but someone tackled me and got hit instead.”

“So you hit Benny with a love arrow?” Y/n was somewhat surprised that her being a descendant of a god didn’t seem to phase them.

“It wasn’t intentional!” Y/n whined. She had no idea how to solve this problem.

“I wouldn’t even need a love arrow,” Benny said, grinning at the girl while finally breaking out of his friend’s grasp. “One look at her, and I was hooked.” He moved to stand next to her.

Y/n was a love professional of sorts. But she had never experienced it personally, being too busy with others’ relationships and moving around too much to ever really connect with someone. So Benny’s words quickly brought heat to her cheeks, which she tried to ignore.

“Is he gonna be like this forever?” The blonde boy asked, staring at Benny in confusion. Y/n sighed, frustrated at the situation.

“I don’t know!” She sensed Benny moving even closer to her, which she reluctantly allowed because of the circumstances. “I’ve never struck anyone I wasn’t supposed to hit before! My magic wears off when soulmates get to the stage of their connection that I was supposed to help them get to. I have no clue how long your friend’s gonna be like this.”

The group, besides Benny, looked stumped, having no idea how to proceed.

“Oh, it’s okay, Lovebug. It wasn’t your fault.” Benny put a comforting hand on Y/n’s shoulder. “You’ll figure something out. Or I can stay like this! I don’t mind.”

“We mind.” Benny’s friend group interjected.

“Come on, B.” The dark-haired boy held his hands out, trying to coax Benny towards him. “Let’s get you to my place.” Benny gasped, feeling giddy.

“Can Y/n come?” This confused the girl. She never remembered telling him her name. But she was brought out of her thoughts when Benny put his hands on her shoulders to pull her closer. “Please, E?”

Everyone contemplated the idea. She was still a stranger, but they don’t know what Benny would do if he was separated from the one he “loved.” The dark-haired vampire girl spoke.

“We might as well let her come with us, Ethan. She might be able to help us break whatever spell he’s under, and we can ask her more questions about why she’s here in the first place.” Y/n rolled her eyes. She was willing to try to help the group fix their friend, but being subjected to their interrogations on top of it seemed draining. But everyone looked at her expectantly, waiting for an answer.

“Please, come, Y/n.” Benny pouted, giving her puppy dog eyes. Y/n couldn’t help but soften a little at the sight. 

“Fine.”

***

Y/n felt weird, to say the least. She was sitting on Ethan’s couch with Benny cuddled up to her, surrounded by the rest of their friends. They looked between the two, waiting for something to happen.

“Well? Any ideas?” Ethan asked.

“No, this has never happened before.” Y/n groaned in frustration. Benny kissed her cheek, something he’d done regularly since they left the park, to try to comfort her. Y/n had weirdly grown fond of his affection, not really knowing why.

“Well, what usually happens when you shoot people?” Rory asked. Y/n cringed at his wording.

“That’s just gruesome, man.”

“Well, what do you call it then?”

“...I don’t really call it anything. I try to keep the whole cupid thing under wraps, so I don’t exactly have names for stuff.” Y/n smiled awkwardly before going back to Rory’s first question. “When I hit someone with an arrow, I’m giving them a little push toward their soulmate. If they don’t know each other yet, the nudge helps them meet. If they’re both too scared to make a move, what I do helps one of them make one.”

“So why is Benny all over you?”

“I dunno. Maybe his soulmate is too far, so my magic made him latch onto the first person he saw.”

“You don’t know who his soulmate is?” Erica asked. “I thought you were like a love god or something.”

“I’m not a love god; I’m in one’s lineage. I have powers, but they’re a bit limited. So no, I don’t know who Benny’s soulmate is. They have to be near each other for me to sense it.”

“I already know who my soulmate is.” All attention turned to Benny at his comment.

“Who, Benny?” Ethan asked adamantly.

“Y/n.” The girl could feel the lovey-dovey energy radiating off the boy as the group groaned at his answer. He cuddled further into her, and she allowed it by putting an arm around his shoulders. “Y/n is my soulmate. Y/n is my soulmate.” He goofily sang, smushing his cheek into her shoulder.

“If I knew how to undo this, I would. Believe me.” Y/n whispered, fighting the smile that tried to make its way to her face.

***

A week had passed, and they still had no idea how to reverse the effects of Y/n’s arrow. The girl spent more time with the supernatural group. For Benny’s sake, she would say. She didn’t want to admit it because of how often she would move around, but she grew a bit fond of the group and the antics they would get up to when they weren’t trying to solve their current problem.

Plus, it was amusing for her to watch Sarah and Ethan interact. Y/n could sense their feelings before she’d see them.

“Hey, N/n!” Benny’s cheerful voice sounded, coming closer to her. She lit up, especially when Benny kissed her cheek as a greeting.

“Hey, Bens.” Benny and Y/n had been spending a lot of time together because Benny just couldn’t seem to get enough of her. She was developing her own little crush but chose to keep it a secret. They still had no idea if Benny would stop feeling this way toward Y/n if they figured out a way to stop the effects of her magic.

“You okay?” He asked, analyzing her somewhat blank expression as she went off in thought. She shook them away, closing her locker.

“Yeah. Walk me to class?” Benny answered by taking her hand, enthusiastically swinging them back and forth as they walked to her English class. They talked about the hangout that the group had planned for tomorrow night, deciding they could walk to Ethan’s house by the time they reached Y/n’s class. They said goodbye to each other, and she went in to sit in her spot next to Ethan.

“How’s it going with Benny?” He asked, taking things out of his backpack. Y/n shrugged, doing the same.

“Fine. The effects are wearing off a bit, but not too much. I don’t really mind, though; I’ve gotten used to it.” Ethan nodded.

“What will happen if we can’t fix him?” The words stung a little, despite Y/n knowing what he meant. It sounded like he was saying that Benny liking her was a problem. “I mean, you move around a lot. How will that affect him?”

“I don’t know,” Y/n whispered, partially because the teacher was about to begin the lesson and partly because she felt she no longer wanted to talk.

***

The short conversation Y/n had with Ethan was stuck in her mind the next day. What if she had to leave and the magic hadn’t worn off? What if she stayed, and it did wear off? What if the time they’ve spent together would soon mean nothing?

There was a knock on Y/n’s front door, so she pushed the thoughts out of her mind. Slipping her shoes on, she opened the door to see the guy who seemed to constantly be on her mind.

“Ready?” Benny asked. Y/n nodded, and they left, making their way to Ethan’s house. The walk was peaceful, the air crisp and the leaves turning different shades of red and yellow.

“Are you okay?” Benny asked, squeezing Y/n’s hand to get her attention. “You’re being really quiet.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Y/n quickly nodded, but it didn’t convince Benny. “Just thinking about things.”

“What kind of things?”

“Just… things.”

“Are you thinking about how to make me stop liking you?” Y/n abruptly stopped from his question, making Benny stumble a little. He looked a little sad but kept a smile as he waited for her response.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not dumb, N/n. I know you guys are trying to figure out how to wear off your magic.” Benny’s eyes darted to the ground, kicking around stray pebbles and leaves. “Honestly, I don’t even think this is all because of the arrow. I remember that I still thought of you before it. I’d wonder about who you were and all the different ways I could try to become friends with you.”

Y/n didn’t say anything, so Benny continued.

“I mean, what if I’m acting like this because we’re actually soulmates like I think we are? You’ve only nudged people who you knew were soulmates. Is it really so hard to believe that we could be soulmates, and you just can’t see it because you’ve only seen other people with their soulmates? You literally have love powers; please don’t tell me that you’ve never thought there was even a possibility that you would have a soulmate like everyone else.”

Y/n sighed. A small part of her had always wondered if she had a soulmate of her own. It only amplified when she accidentally struck Benny, but she pushed the thoughts away, thinking it was because of the magic.

But honestly, what Benny said was making sense. As far as she knew, her magic gave people a nudge toward who they were meant to be with. They had never fully considered that her magic was just doing the same for her and Benny. They had never interacted before her arrow accidentally hit him. Possibly, the magic was amplified because his soulmate had love powers of sorts.

“Please, say something, Y/n,” Benny whispered, squeezing her hand again.

“Can I kiss you?” Benny hadn’t expected her to say that. But nonetheless, he nodded and moved closer to her, waiting for her to make the move. Y/n’s hand that wasn’t held in Benny’s moved up to cup his face. She took a deep breath before pressing her lips to his.

Benny’s breath hitched as he pulled her closer with his free hand. Y/n had never kissed anyone before, but she knew that if she had, this kiss would’ve felt entirely different than any she would’ve experienced. It was like new knowledge had flooded her brain, taking over all her senses.

He was her soulmate. And she was his.

The two broke apart, leaning their foreheads against each other. They were both deep in thought. Y/n realized she couldn’t leave town like she’d done in the past. Benny was here, and so were her new friends.

“I knew it.” Benny grinned. Y/n laughed, pecking him on the cheeks.

“You really did.”

They started to continue their adventure to Ethan’s house, closer than when they started. When they reached the house, Benny opened the door, and they walked in. They heard a commotion in the living room and curiously made their way through the hallway.

“Thank god you guys are here!” Ethan exclaimed, quieting everyone else down. “We finally figured it out. We just have to find out who Benny’s soulmate actually is. I bet there’s a spell in his book that could- Wait, what’s up with you guys?” He pointed at his two friends, who were very close together. Seeing it coming from Benny was normal now, but everyone was surprised that Y/n reciprocated the affection more than she usually would. The new couple smiled at each other before looking at their friends.

“We figured it out ourselves.” Y/n smiled. Benny grinned at her expression.

“It just took a little nudge.”

[alexanderlightweight]

I legit can't decide which amazing verse of yours I want to read more of currently so I'm gonna just do a little shortlist of themes for any that tickle your fancy, verse obviously is dealer's choice:

Legit anything that has Mirai being a badass in it.

The troublesome trio (Izzy, Jace, Clary) facing consequences

Alec realising more of the world loves him than he thought (could be Downworlders, could be Institute, anything)

The Fab Three (Magnor, Cat, Ragnor) up to shenanigans

I hope the new place is all set up and y'all are finally all settled in! Smushes to Nighshade.

we are settled in but i'm still unpacking for everyone so thats a bit slow.

Nightshade sends wiggles and cuddles!

okay so Magnus is mentioned heavily but this is the Fab Three (magnus is there in spirit) and it's in cider verse during the sequel it's a bit of insight because the first fic focused heavily on the problems alec was dealing with in the institute.

the sequel broadens out because alec's institute is stabilizing (except for the treason he's about to deal with) but he's got Mirai and is taking no shit so he's on a good path.

and so we start seeing more how the war and Magnus' actions are affecting those he cares about and how Magnus is dealing with valentine and how alec is working with him because honestly, they get more done together in a day than alec does with an entire clave retinue in a week.

this is kinda insight and also because imo it's why cat and ragnor were nearly completely absent season 1 (aka they were protecting magnus by not being targets and ragnor can't afford any interest in himself when he holds the secret keeping jocelyn unconscious)

<3 lumine

btw they are definitely having shenanigans and you learn about past antics

sequels name by saeth is: the choice of hope

-

Cat smiles at the fire message she’s still holding, fingers wreathed in magic delicately stamping out the gleaming cinders and preserving the piece of parchment so that it will withstand centuries to come.

Next to her, Ragnor is doing the same.

“Jem included the vows and the runes he was able to use,” Ragnor hums thoughtfully as he shuffles through the small file of notes that had discreetly been slipped to Tessa who then sent them to Cat who brought them to him. “It will add a magical boost to whichever of the rituals Magnus choses. I’ve narrowed it down to five that he can pick from.”

“If you were anyone else—” Cat teases, because it is true. If Ragnor and Cat were anyone else, then the liberties they’ve been taking with planning Magnus’ own consort ceremony without him would be considered scandalous. As it is, Magnus has left the planning to them because it is both safe and because he trusts them.

If they were anyone else, Ragnor and Cat wouldn’t be within a thought of this ceremony until it was ready to be witnessed.

“If he wants me to participate then he’s going to pick one of these five.” Ragnor crosses his arms over his chest with a huff, “I’m not getting bloody naked and romping on the meadow floor when Magnus is perfectly capable of gathering enough sex magic on his own without an entire orgy boosting him.”

Cat snorts, because he’s not wrong and from the small bits Magnus has had the time to share, she doubts he’s going to be willing to share quite that much of his nephilim husband with the Elders even without Ragnor putting his foot down.

“He won’t care what choices you give him,” she murmurs as she lets her fingers trace the penmanship of an old friend they now rarely see. It is a relief for all of them that despite eloping with a nephilim, Magnus had a friend and confidant there to take care of him and his boy. “At least this way, we won’t be trying to figure out a dual ceremony.”

“I would sooner kidnap them both and force an elopement than allow the clave and their minions to see how vulnerable Magnus is for his shadowhunter.” Ragnor gives anther sigh and then a softer smile crosses his face, “he looks happy. Content and healthy and this boy of his truly blesses us.”

Cat nods, because Magnus has become proactive in regards to his own safety in such a way that it’s stripped away the reckless anger he’s held since the Uprising. Magnus no longer wants to win at any cost, especially not if the cost involves himself. Magnus has a young, devoted husband who would be heartbroken and well, no one has ever denied or doubted the depth of Magnus’ protection regarding those he loves.

Magnus will not risk leaving his new husband vulnerable and alone, especially not one who is a shadowhunter. If something happened to Magnus, there is little doubt that the clave would do everything in their power to make an example of his husband for daring to marry a warlock, especially when the first ceremony was a nephilim one.

The knowledge and weight of that truth settles in Cat and Ragnor’s hearts with a deep relief. They cannot stay at Magnus’ side to protect him or ensure that he protects himself when their presence will only offer up more ways to target and hurt him.

Alec Lightwood is already in the spotlight of the coming war and he’s made it clear that his priority is Magnus’ safety, even to the detriment of his own position in nephilim society. He is a warrior. One who can and expects to stand by and fight at Magnus’ side. Guarding his back and his reputation and more importantly, his heart.

It’s a boon that Cat never thought she would be able to press as a balm to the worry she constantly feels for Magnus.

Aloe vera on a seething burn that soothes and cools and heals.

Meanwhile, Ragnor is frowning over seven different shades of warlock blue and Cat bites back a smile. Magnus will have no time to plan the ritual that will bond him to Alec as not only a spouse, but as a true consort of a High Warlock and an Elder, so Ragnor will take on that honor and Cat will help him when she has the time.

Well, she’ll come to Ragnor’s and watch him dither and fret while finally putting her feet up and taking a breathe and Ragnor will relax at the evidence that one of his dearest companions is safe and resting in his heavily protected home.

“He really is quite tall,” Cat frowns as she looks at the picture, “I think we should avoid anything too intricate. Magnus isn’t going to make it past the ritual and to the celebration if we don’t plan this carefully. He’ll complete the ritual and snatch his consort away to their bed if we don’t plan this right, and we need to plan this right. The Spiral isn’t aware yet that Magnus is bonding a nephilim, but you know they’re going to take this as an opportunity to see how sympathetic he is to warlocks in general, or if it’s only Magnus that’s an exception to his care.”

“You’d think they’d know by now that Magnus wouldn’t ever tie himself to someone who couldn’t respect and protect his people just as much as Magnus does.” Ragnor grumbles as he finally brings his choices down to a mere three pieces of fabric. “This one will bring out the gold in Magnus’ eyes, but this one will make his boy’s runes pop more.”

The third color he considers for a longer moment before he sneers and eradicates it from existence.

“Everyone is going to know he’s a nephilim. We don’t need to bring more attention to it. They’re already married by nephilim standards but we can add a few gold accents?”

“I suppose Magnus doesn’t have to wear platinum jewelry.” Ragnor wrinkles his nose, “oh dear, he’s going to want to go with abyssal metals, isn’t he? So he doesn’t clash with the gold.”

Cat can’t help her snort even as she takes the chilled glass of beer Ragnor has absently summoned and handed her. After the last few weeks, her favorite brew is a relief and refreshing in a way that Ragnor finds his tea.

“No one would ever believe that Magnus learned his fastidiousness and dedication to his fashion sense from you.” She teases and Ragnor takes the gentle mocking with a sniff.

“There is an art to being perceived.” Ragnor says — as he does every time this is brought up — “while we may not share the same flare or tastes, Magnus has ever been the most devoted and dedicated pupil. I’d say he’s far surpassed me in some ways,” here he chuckles fondly. “I am seen how I want to be and Magnus as he wishes to be. I’ll admit I was skeptical when he first created a persona for himself through how he dressed, but he’s long since grown into it and expanded it until it became the armor I hoped to protect him.”

Cat lets him have his memories as she summons several pictures that Magnus has sent her and enlarges them so she can better see the large hazel eyes and the soft expression full of adoration that she knows was directed at Magnus.

It’s a picture born from a memory after all.

“How much time do we need to allow between Valentine’s demise and announcing a date for the ceremony?”

Ragnor’s question makes her snort and then she laughs, unable to help it.

“We announce it at the same time? Depending on how involved they are with his death.”

“Oh, I do hope they manage to harvest Valentine’s heart—” Ragnor takes a sip of tea with a calm, happy smile, “one of my favorite rituals involves the heart of a mutual enemy. I’d love for Magnus and his hunter to be able to use it, all the blood makes it rather romantic.”

-

*my head canon is that ragnor is aro and therefore (like me) has a skewed sense on what romance is and because warlocks already have a skewed sense of romance... yeah. and he's who magnus went to for advice for a century or two before they realized that ragnor's understanding of romance was a little off even for warlocks. magnus doesn't care, his romantic inclinations may be different but ragnor was a good mentor and luckily alec is a shadowhunter, who have even worse understanding of romance

[dnalt-d2]

(Alright, it's long post time again, this time about the Admin Drama)

So we're hearing a lot about some behind-the-scenes drama, and unfortunately, it's making a lot of things make a lot more sense in retrospect

For example, the fact that French Creators have been consistently overlooked makes sense when you learn that there have apparently only been 2 French Admins on the team, with one of them being fired recently, and the other one being potentially removed from the whitelist for the server, for reasons that are likely not even true

Throughout big events, there's always been a sense that people weren't 100% sure what was going on, and if I'm being honest, I found that at least somewhat excusable at the time

This is a big project, bigger than any other Minecraft-Related project I know about, with over a dozen different content creators and at least 5 different languages. I can understand at least to a certain point, that trying to balance that many different storylines, and keep the overarching storyline intact, can be a challenge, that I doubt many people would have the sufficient experience to deal with properly, especially with all the other added hurdles of managing the language/culture barrier. I was willing to chalk it up to Growing Pains, that they were realizing the mistakes as they happened and would hopefully not repeat them in the future

(Basically, to me it felt like a DND Campaign, where each player does have the choice to make their own stories and character arcs in said Campaign. However, it's up to the DM's discretion on what they can use, since they still have to keep the overarching plot going. While they should try as hard as they can to include what makes each player happy, there might be a point that what the player wants to do isn't compatible with the current plan, and it's up to the DM whether or not they can actually do it)

However, to at least some extent, that is clearly not the case. It's been made very apparent that someone, likely multiple people on the Admin Team, is horribly mismanaging things that we aren't able to see fully. From manufacturing drama, to taking advantage of passionate people who simply love the project, to outright ignoring some of the Content Creators that are also keeping this project alive and therefore being actively detrimental to this communication-based project

As of now, I'm hearing that Quackity himself doesn't seem to have much to do with this directly. And once again, if that's true, I can understand it, at least a little. Running a project and participating in that project can be difficult, and be actively detrimental to their enjoyment. So to a certain point, I can understand not being SUPER heavily involved in every single thing behind-the-scenes and leaving some of it to other people. However, this is clearly not working. If he really didn't know much about what was going on, then he either needs to find someone he can actively trust to make sure this sort of thing doesn't continue, or take a much heavier role in the management to keep it from happening again

He's said before that he's been losing money because of QSMP but doesn't care because it's his passion project, and I would like to believe that. From what we've seen, he does actively love doing this, and seems to be really passionate about breaking down these communication barriers, and he has done a lot to that end. But it can't come at the expense of others, who are the backbone of these sorts of projects. I really hope he does something to take care of this, even it it means shutting down QSMP temporarily to do a complete overhaul of Admin Management

(I would also like to say that if Pomme's admin really gets permanently fired for all of this, I'll be actually seriously upset. She's put way too much time and effort into the server (FOR FREE, WE NOW KNOW) and has been playing alongside numerous CCs and boosting the enjoyment of them as well as the people watching them. Not to mention that she's now the ONLY French Admin at the moment that we know of, and not having ANY French Admins would be a serious problem)

I've loved QSMP almost since it started, and I would love to see it continue. But it can't be at the expense of peoples' health, mental health, and livelihoods. If people are doing work like this, they deserve to be compensated appropriately, and treated right. Otherwise, there isn't a point in this. Here's hoping that these problems can be properly addressed and resolved, and I hope everyone is alright during whatever happens next

[room-665]

tag 9 people you want to know better

tagged by @judyalvqrez 💖

last song: Balance Slays the Demon by Old Gods of Asgard. I set it as my phone alarm. Because of that it'll be the first song that plays when I connect my phone/spotify to my car speaker, so I'll usually let it play on repeat if it's a short drive and I don't feel like changing it.

favourite color: BLUE. Mostly soft blues or more towards the blue-green side like teal.

currently reading: House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski - still 😅 I think I'm about halfway now, but I had to take a break. Really good book, but I keep googling things and taking lots of notes in the margins. I'm going to pick it back up soon tho!

currently watching: Just started Sorjonen (Bordertown) and it's been really good! I also really like detective/crime drama shows. Plus it has Ilkka Villi 😍 I've also been rewatching Psych again.

last movie: Just watched Beetlejuice Beetlejuice last night! I really liked it. I think I'm going to rewatch the original movie today. After that I really want to watch Cuckoo.

sweet, spicy or savory: All of them - but if I have to choose then probably savory. I have to be in the right mood to pick sweet over the other two.

relationship status: In a relationship for the past 9.5 years and it somehow doesn't feel like that much time has passed. Time is weird.

current obsession: ALAN WAKE. I played the second game when it first came out, joked to a friend I would probably be obsessed with the game until at least January, now here we are and it's still going strong. I feel like I make new connections to something in the universe every time I replay. I just did a replay of AW1 and almost done with AW2 because my partner wanted to watch me play them.

tea or coffee: BOTH. I can't choose for this one! Coffee in the morning when I need that caffeine boost, green tea or black tea in the afternoon, and chamomile before bed. My parents have some bees too so I use the honey they give me to put in my teas and it's perfeccttt.

the last thing i googled: "tower of babel" I was talking to my partner over lunch about how I am learning some conversational Finnish (so far I can say Excuse me./ Do you speak English? / I speak English./ I am American./ I speak a little Finnish.) Was trying to make a joke about the tower of babel and had to google it to make sure I was remembering it right lol

tagging (with zero pressure!): I feel like most of my mutuals are mutuals with each other lol, so they have maybe been tagged previously. But - @ilkkawhat @variousblarghblanks @emmaswanned @daevguy @lostinthewoodsomewhere @autisticwriterblog @thedogtorwho @thelastdayalive

[magical-glimpse]

Hexing, evil eye and everything harms

So, I recently got hexed and talked about it, and I think this is a great time for me to talk about what hexes are and how to protect yourself from them, as a continuation of my two protection posts.

First, what is baneful magic ?

In the dictionary :

Baneful : Causing harm, ruin, or death; harmful. Portending harm; ominous. Having poisonous qualities; deadly; destructive; injurious; noxious; pernicious.

Usually, what people call baneful is actually super relative to culture, religions and individual practice. it can includes : hexes/curses/jinxes, love spells, domination spells, blood magic, binding, banishing etc. There is a lot of rhetoric from different people that try to keep people away from these spells. For example the rule of Three, which states that everything you put out comes back three times, is a Wiccan religious belief that is in no way applicable to all witches. Some people's views of "karma" or other "universal justice" ideas. I am personally of the opinion that, if your guide and your moral compass agree, there is nothing wrong with giving universal justice a little boost with a bit of a reasonably measured hex. But as a general thing, it should take place in an informed, cultivated practice and not just a "i'm mad at my ex so i'm gonna pick this random tiktok spell i saw and write his name on it". No. That is the best way to get yourself in trouble.

What is a hex ?

A hex is, at its core, someone sending negative or unwanted energy your way. We can commonly see a few types of hexes:

The Evil Eye, the most common, easiest one, that everyone probably got at one point in their life. At its core, the Evil Eye is about people wishing ill intent on you from seeing you succeed. As an example, I made eye contact with someone that was jealous of me while i was on stage and i almost tripped on a floor that had no reason to make me trip. It is usually considered to be easy solved by not showing your achievements you know are jealous, basic cleansing, throwing salt over your shoulder, using a talisman etc. I'm pretty sure most if every culture has a concept of evil eye so look into what you resonate with best (in the limits of what is open to you).

The Jinx: it's almost the cute version of an hex ? It's like causing a bit of a bad luck, like missing the bus, breaking your phone screen, missing an appointment etc. it tends to not last very long, a few hours or so.

The hex: it is both a general term and what people tend to do. It's the " can't keep one up with a new gf", "have constant bad breath", "flat tire", "might lose your job" one. it can wildly vary in intensity depending on your current protection, how close the target and practionner are and the nature of the spell. The Curse: This is when shit goes DOWN DOWN. Generational trauma typa shit, illnesses might pop up typa shit, divorce typa shit. To this day, I have never seen anyone being truly cursed. Usually the energy ends up being transformed into lessons for the descendants or the target after a while, and its goal it to point out specific toxic behaviors or issues rather than just cause chaos.

How to cast a hex ?

I am pretty sure i answered a ask about this once, my goal here is not exactly to give a recipe for all hexes but at least guidelines so you know how to start and where to look. Hexes, just like all spells, are about creating an energy and sending it. In this particular case, it is about creating "mud" and throwing it at someone. Here is the thing: you cannot throw mud without getting your hands dirty. How dirty your hands get depend on what you are throwing, if you are taking precautions and how much you are cleaning after. I know it gets told time and time again, but don't do a hex as your first spell if you dont have a good handle yet on protection and cleansing spells. The reason why they are recommended for beginners is because they are easy, don't typically explode in your face easily, and they are diverse, therefore allowing you to test out what you vibe with and don't. Also, they teach you necessary skills. Otherwise, it works as any other spell. If you do it with leeway for the universe (and you take precautions and cleanse) the cost for you will probably be energy, headache etc. If your goal is to specifically make a certain situation happen for someone, it will require a sacrifice on your part, that you may not have control over. I am currently being coached and taught about spellwork, so in a few months I might revisit this post and explain things differently and add more info.

How to know you have been hexed ?

If bad shit starts happening out of nowhere, it might be worth asking the question.

Here is a list of things I have experienced or have seen people experience from being hexed:

nightmares

sleep paralysis

bad luck

fire alarms going of at specific hours

people being unusually mean or intolerant to you

getting weird or scary visions (VISIONS, not hallucinations, if you are not intuitive this does not apply, if this is not already in your belief system this does not apply)

stuff falling, breaking, not working, getting lost etc

having difficulty reading, channeling

feeling blockages

getting sick, nauseous, getting a migraine, getting a crisis of an already existing illness

getting into arguments

protections and wards acting weird

pets acting weird

The thing is, any number of those things can happen for a hundred reasons that are not even remotely spiritual. If there is another possible explanation, check it first. I promise you it is a lot more likely than someone hexing you.

Okay, so now i know i got hexed what do i do ?

Congrats you got hexed.

Start by not panicking.

Even though it sounds scary, it is probably a lot easier to get rid of it than you think. You can start by checking my protection 101 and protection 102. Cleanse deeply yourself, your room and your spirit and add some protections. Once it is done, if you still feel negative energy around, you can try cleansing one more time, or it may mean your guides are inviting you to look into yourself and heal some parts of yourself that the hex brought out.

After you got hexed

This is the official point where you can start throwing hands with the person that sent you the spell. No, i'm kidding. Okay, maybe not. But yeah, it is a point where you restore your protections and can pat yourself on the back for succeeding at getting rid of an hex. Good job!

[classyfruit]

Hi ma'am, what environment works best for you to work in? Like time of day or specific place?

Hi and hello dear Anon, thanks for getting in touch with your question - I hope you're well! 🤗 Since your question might be interesting for everyone, I've taken some time to answer in depth. I hope it's useful for y'all!

🔽How I work best as a full-time artist🔽

Time/Schedule

I personally work best early in the day when my concentration and energy is at its highest.

Since I am prone to either ALWAYS work/draw or be exhausted from rushing myself, a good schedule is vital! Currently, I am in the process of figuring out a new, much more flexible schedule for myself, where certain days of the week are reserved for tasks with some flex days to switch things around if needed.

I like to start with admin tasks, which I find difficult, and work my way down until I can "just draw", which I find easiest.

Workplace/Set-Up

I work with a PC and drawing tablet set-up, so I am bound to my desk workplace-wise, but I would love to upgrade with a portable tablet so I can draw out in nature or in society.

I've surrounded my desk with things that inspire me: Plants, postcards, trinkets, you name it. This keeps my brain fresh and oftentimes gives me a boost to keep drawing.

My monitors are positioned high enough that I can see them well while sitting upright. Good posture is vital if you spend a lot of time working!

I now have my big Huion Kamvas tablet that has a display, so I need to remind myself to not be crouched over it all the time. I also pull up the artwork on my further-away monitor to check the overall composition and/or values, instead of drowning in details!

Health While Working

While drawing, music, documentaries or Let's Plays are vital to keep the overthinking at bay and to keep me in the flow!

WATER!! I can't stress enough how important it is to drink. Enough. Water. If I don't, that results in brain fog and art is no.

Sometimes I need to rest my eyes on something else than my WIP art - I usually keep my desktop wallpaper something calming and almost neutral (like a mist-covered lake or a mountain ridge) and just stare at it for a few moments.

I am mindful of my breaks, especially when drawing! I use a pomodoro timer to know when it's time for stretching my hands and for water breaks.

Snack breaks are also a good thing - I definitely recommend fruit (because of course!), nuts and dark chocolate. They help me stay energized without making me drowsy.

Process

I keep a very detailed To Do list to keep myself motivated and also to know where exactly in the art/project process I am. My brain can either be in admin mode or creative mode, not both.

If I feel blocked either artistically or energy wise, I try to do some personal sketches for at least ten minutes.

If I absolutely can't motivate myself to draw (due to energy levels or whatever reason), I honor that and see if I want to do something else, like learning Blender, learning more about the business side of the artist life - or maybe just take a breather and let myself be a human bean.

Some days, I like the challenge of sketching a new idea, some days I prefer the cozy and less creative task of doing outlines and shading of existing sketches. I now try to let myself do what I gravitate towards more and it pays off with me not feeling overwhelmed as easily. It's about just doing what you can most of the time.

When I'm done with a piece of artwork, I try my darndest to be very supportive and proud of myself. I take a longer break and return to look at the finished artwork, trying to name my favorite thing about it as well as something I can see needs more work.

Something I don't do YET but will do: Keeping a document with all the positive comments I receive. I think validation and acknowledgement are things that humans almost always enjoy and keeping a record of praise around is sure to motivate me at least a little.

And that's that! If any of you read to this point: Thank you very much, I hope you found my list useful! If you have any tips or tricks regarding drawing, staying motivated and in general doing a hecking survive as an arting individual, why not drop it in the comments for all to benefit from? Stay healthy and stay happy! Much love! 😊

[salendola]

These XP boosts on Duolingo make me angry. Here's why... The main goal of being on Duolingo is learning a language. That's why you're there. You can't make friends in Duolingo, (there's no real way to communicate with anyone else, other than praising them for their progress,) you can only see how you and your peers are doing on this week's leaderboard. That's where the trouble starts.

The leaderboard adds a supportive but als more competitive layer to the program. Of course, some folks thrive on competition. They love raking in those points and finishing at the top. Diamond League, I AM IN YOU! Or, you know, will soon be. Who knows? Miracles never cease. Okay, back to the leaderboard. The concept of it being a bit of a friendly, weekly competition between you and thirty-odd strangers can be a lot of fun... but then they added XP boosts.

The main issue with these boosts is the fact that they're only valid for 15 minutes (currently). This means that you're rewarded for finishing lessons as quickly as possible. The problem there, is that Duolingo (and language learning as a whole) is dependent on retaining what you learn. You can help this along by writing stuff down in a notebook. Hell, write it down repeatedly! Whatever works for you and helps you get the most out of the program! Thing is that when presented with a time limit, the learner may err on the side of competition and decide to just run through as much content as possible so they get the most out of the boost. See where the problem lies? The user learns less but may finish higher on the leaderboard, or may simply need to work harder to stay away from the demotion zone. Basically, the XP boost makes it more likely that people will do more lessons but ultimately learn less because the competitive aspect is given too much weight in Duolingo's functionality. Also, they may do the same amount of work they usually put in, only to be demoted for their trouble because the rest of the leaderboard is full of try-hards who hate to lose. I have to admit I lean towards the latter and these XP boosts bring out the worst in me.

So, while the XP boost is not a bad idea in essence, the current implementation is detrimental to the actual purpose of the program. To make it more useful, I'd suggest they do away with the timer. Say instead that the boost is valid for a number of lessons and you cannot get a new boost until the current one is spent (as it is now). This means the user won't be pressed for time, but can keep on learning at a pace that works best for them. However you feel about the leaderboard and what it adds to/subtracts from the language-learning experience, I hope we can at least agree that speed is NOT of the essence when learning a language; diligence and retaining what you learn are.

[thedragonagelesbian]

16, 21, 22 for any KC you want :)

yeee thank you!!!!

Mechanics & Story Asks

gonna answer for both kyr (aeon -> gold dragon leyline guardian witch + winter witch) & cyrus (angel -> legend, martyr paladin -> spelleater bloodrager + skald + thug) because. i can. and i love them.

16. How well do they play mechanically with their romance, if any? If not, which party member do they synchronize best with?

Kyr: The entire inception of Kyr's character came from the unique possibilities of a healerXdhampir ship afiopwjef I love that Sosiel has to stock an entire extra line of spells to keep Kyr alive, I love that Sosiel comes with selective channel feat so he doesn't hurt Kyr when he channels energy, I love touch of good/bit of luck for boosting spell attack rolls, I love fortune + cackle for Kyr supporting his off-tank bf... love it all!!

Cyrus: End-game Cyrus is almost scarily self-sufficient, but the early/mid game 'step into my healing aura you stupid fuck' energy with Daeran is IMPECCABLE. Love a reckless self-sacrificing tank and an annoyed selfish healer learning to care about others by taking care of him. One of my favorite mechanic-driven story moments I've had yet was the final Act 3 boss battle, when basically all Cyrus did was stand there and get utterly pummeled by Darrazand while Daeran frantically tried to keep him up, this immense and bloody sacrifice made on behalf of the crusade... and Galfrey turns around and strips Cyrus of his command. Delicious.

21. If the Knight-Commander could get a unique item, what would it be and what would it do?

I don't know if these are items that they would have, so much as they are items inspired by the characters.

Kyr: Frozen Will. This gelid amulet grants its wearer immunity to mind-affecting spells and conditions. Additionally, whenever the wearer casts a spell with the cold descriptor, there is a 10% chance that the spell (or spell slot used to cast it) will not be spent.

Cyrus: The Skald's Saber of Self-Reliance. This +5 good longsword grants its wielder the ability to cast dispel magic, greater on themself as a move action, targeting harmful effects. The ability can be used three times per day.

22. What is the Commander’s opinion of their mythic patrons/advisors - the Hand of the Inheritor, Aivu or the Desnan Adepts, Zacharias, the Aeon in the mirror, Hal, Yozz and Noticula, etc.?

Kyr: The aeon in the mirror is... unnerving. Absolute, unassailable, all-consuming. Every time Kyr stands before the mirror, he feels certain. Like this is everything that he is, has always been, but when he steps away again, he feels less sure. Especially discovering that he isn't allowed to use the aeon's temporal powers to undo his own immense suffering at the hands of his sire, he grows more disillusioned with it, its promises, and the sacrifices it demands in return.

His current feelings on Hal are also ambivalent. He wants to believe in the possibility of redemption, but hearing how Hal allowed Terendelev to hurt him, he can't help but think him a fool. Kyr is still trying to wrap his mind around the 'unconditional' part of the whole 'unconditional love, acceptance, and forgiveness' thing.

And he's utterly uninterested in and unaffected by "Melies". Which is a shame because now I have to make a whole new aeon to be tempted by corruption & fuck that archdevil. Smh.

Cyrus: Cyrus' initial admiration of the Hand of the Inheritor quickly escalated into something more in the Abyss. Defending his worth to Galfrey, providing refuge of the Nexus, always watching over him and checking in to make sure the demonic corruption wasn't getting to him... the Hand helped Cyrus feel safe, or at least as safe as he could be, in the Midnight Isles.

...So when Nocticula revealed that Areelu had planted the wound that gave Cyrus his mythic powers, and the Hand took it poorly, Cyrus was devastated. The reveal hit him hard too, given his myriad body & autonomy issues and his deep-seated fear of being a weapon wielded by someone else, and this person he cared about seeing him like that hurt even more.

So they fought about it. And then they had a very heavy makeout/holy handjob sess about it.

Cyrus was heartbroken when Baphomet took the Hand, all the more so when Iomedae told him that the Hand was praying to him constantly for salvation from his torture in the Ineluctable Prison. And he was horrified by what that torture had wrought, turning the Hand into an empty vessel for Baphomet's cruel will. Of course Cyrus saved his heart and returned it to him, and in my heart, the Hand returned to Drezen afterward to begin his recovery. With lots of gay fallen angel sex. That's a very important part of the recovery.

[a-colorless-fighter]

IMPORTANT UPDATE (PLEASE READ)

Hello readers, I know you were hoping this update would be a third chapter, and are wondering why I last updated in a LOOONG time, so I'm here to explain that.

PLEASE READ ALL THE WAY, I KNOW IT'S LONG BUT IT'S A VERY IMPORTANT UPDATE!!!

TW: Discussion of real, life-threatening injuries and death

Over two months ago, I woke up to my dad frantically trying to call me and my mom with a text saying "CODE RED! EVERYONE PICK UP YOUR PHONES NOW! AND ANSWER MY PHONE CALL!"

My mom's phone was dead and my younger brother's phone wasn't working, so we called my dad back on my phone, put him on speaker, and braced ourselves for terrible news.

We were informed that my older brother, whom I will call James (Not his real name), had a 6-minute seizure and is currently in an ambulance being sent to the hospital.

6 minutes is classified as a severe seizure.

It happened out of nowhere, he was just playing soccer with his buddies when suddenly he got the worst headache ever to the point of crying. He walked over to my dad and then suddenly started seizing.

We found out he had a knot of veins in the center of his brain that bursted.

He had a brain bleed, they had a tube in the top of his head to drain some of the blood, and they had to take out part of his skull to allow the swelling to not cause any more brain damage from pressure.

I don't want to get into too much detail about the two months he was in the hospital, but it was the scariest thing I've gone through.

I was constantly worried he was going to die.

And even if he would be alive in the end, there is a high chance he wouldn't be the same.

The reason this connects to why I was unable to work on this fanfic is because my fanfic is about that topic, it's about a character (Leo) having a brain injury, and not being the same person anymore.

Even simply thinking about this project put me in a depressive state.

The good news is that James is alive, He is ok. And you guys do not need to worry about him at all.

We had a lot of miracles happen and I am more than happy to say that he is still the brother I knew before this happened. He has recovered remarkably fast and well since he is young and healthy.

He is EXTREMELY lucky to ONLY have a few vision problems and just be a little weaker on his left side, he is taking PT (Physical therapy) and luckily the doctors said he won't get any worse, whether or not he will fully heal, we don't know.

But I don't care I don't care that he has vision problems and is weaker on his left side,

HE IS FUCKING ALIVE!!!

and that's all I care about.

If this happened to him literally ANY other time, he would have been dead. if he was in his room alone, he would have been dead, if it was nighttime, he would have been dead. But luckily he was in an area where a lot of people were watching him, and there were people there to help carry him to a safe place to wait for an ambulance.

I've had a LOT of time to hang out with him and mentally recover from what happened.

And I've decided... I still want to continue this Fanfiction.

It doesn't pain me to work on this at all anymore because I know my brother is ok. If anything, this work can be used as a way to vent my emotions from the incident. I can't change the fact this happened, but I can try to look on the bright side of it. I mean- Having this experience will probably make my writing better, at least for Leo's brother's side of the story. I understand how they feel on such a deep level and want to keep writing this because it's a healthy way to vent emotions.

I do want to take a moment and thank you for all of your guys' support. I read EVERY SINGLE COMMENT and it makes me SO happy to read about what you think of my work. I cannot express how much it boosts my motivation and mood when I read a new comment. I have a LOT planned for this series and I want to continue it and make it better than before!

Also, IDK if anyone noticed, but NAME CHANGE! I'm going by "UnknownStripes" now on AO3, (which is actually a reference to future events in this series *wink *wink...)

ALSO! EXCITING NEWS! I have been re-writing the previous two chapters! I noticed a LOT of mistakes and parts that frustrated me, so I will be re-writing them. The same stuff will play out, it's just going to be written better with some dialogue changes, plot-hole fixes, AND CHANGE THE FUCKING WEAPONS THE EPF USE TO TRY TO CAPTURE THE TURTLES LIKE WTF WAS I THINKING?!!!!???? WHY THE HELL ARE THEY USING ACTUAL FUCKING BULLETS TO TRY TO CAPTURE DONNIE AND LEO WHEN THEY WANT THEM ALIVE?!! HOW THE FUCK DO DONNIE AND LEO JUST GET FUCKING SHOT AND THEN BRUSH IT OFF LIKE ITS NOTHING LIKE- BRO- AHHHHHVBSDBVOSNONCOIWBVONKSZNV!!!!! So yeah, I'll be fixing that. But having them use tranquilizer darts would affect how I wanted the scene to play out so I've been stuck on that, but I FINALLY FOUND A PLOT-HOLE FILLER!! WHOOOOOO!!! So you'll just have to wait and see!!! I'm actually almost done re-writing the first two chapters! I worked on it a LOT BEFORE the incident with James went down. I just have a few more things to edit and then they will be ready to post! As for the third chapter... I am about 1/3 done. Idk when I'll be able to post it but I will be working on it a lot in my free time! You guys deserve it for having to wait so long, but I also want it to be good, so I ain't gonna rush it.

ALSO! I am an artist, You may have noticed the cover art I made and added to the first chapter. I'm happy to announce that I will be adding MORE ARTWORK to the chapters to help with visualization, and to give my lovely readers something pleasant to look at. I will also be posting the artwork much earlier on the Official ACF Tumblr, along with extra sketches that aren't going to be used in the actual chapters. I also want to give more frequent updates there too, plus I am open to asking questions and doing polls! So if you want to see any of that, GO FOLLOW THE TUMBLR PAGE! (AKA THIS TUMPLE PAGE IF YOU ARE READING THE TUMBLR VERSION OF THIS UPDATE)

I'll make an announcement like this when I post the re-written first two chapters,

Love you all SM! <3

-UnknownStripes

A Colorless Fighter - Chapter 4 - UnknownStripes - Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018) [Archive of Our Own]

[winterbirb]

My boyfriend and I have spent like an hour going through the tiger tag trying to decipher who it might be. Please take pity on us and let us know

I scrolled thru the tag and I wrote his name at least once, but since The Event I've been very careful not to. When a person represents a concept, their name stops being about its holder. This was already bad before The Event, but it's gotten much more pronounced.

Of course, Tiger was doomed from the start. He began his current career following a pre-written script put together by political scientists who ran surveys and found out that he was the person to play the part and boost morale. That's why the middle aged magical girl is in his tag, he was very much the one Chosen To Restore Hope To/Save The Country. And so he was instructed to act in a certain way in order to, from the beginning, represent a concept.

He was modeled after Stirlitz—a fictional character.

But I'll go over some of the themes in his tag, because I can't realistically expect anyone to get those.

The Dragon stuff is a reference to a play/movie, and also what 🐺 (one of the original script writers of his first iteration) and 🐱 (a major "opponent") have called him (because of the play/movie). He is not the dragon; the dragon can be influenced by multiple people and will not die when he does. He has trusted the wrong people with power (to influence the dragon. and the sentence does not change meaning)

Tiger bc: he's often represented as a tiger, especially in the Sinosphere fandom. In the realm of symbolism and abstract magic plots derived from the real world, I see him as an alley cat, cream-tabby patterned, trying to present himself as a tiger... originally helped by the illusionist 🐺 (who's not a wolf but a black cat) until 🐯 becomes insecure, in his presentation as a tiger and in 🐺's loyalty, and takes different measures. But most people don't see him as an alley cat at all. You probably don't, you probably just see the tiger.

Some things are just about his physical appearance. He's short, blond, and blue-eyed. People talk about his eyes a lot, probably because when he doesn't exist as a concept, he exists as an IRL movie character (still an abstract thing rather than a person).

Then there's the Magical Girl Middle Aged Man genre and posts about power and perception and whatnot. That's mostly explained, I think

I do tag him in posts abt being gay. Don't think about it too hard if it's a cognitohazard for you. I'll stand by it; he's really giving J Edgar Hoover.

Things like the Ianthe "posters of myself" post are also a reference to my abstracted world; tying in what I've already written about his performed vs real self, the heavily edited performed self is the one on those posters.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about who he is, because he's so ingrained as a Concept that the cognitive dissonance can even be painful when he's converted to a Person. It was even uncomfortable for me when I started reading about him (although that was soon transformed into the discomfort of reading something very interesting and not knowing who to tell it to).

Oh, one more hint:

[weepingpussywillowtree]

petty rant about the state of discourse around USA politics under the cut. I'm pretty sure this is a hot take so I'm prepared to delete later

this is very niche and petty but USA online leftists who think voting is bad and that if you can't find the most morally pure candidate that aligns with all of your values you shouldn't vote, or that voting is a waste of time and we should all just mutual aid and revolution more instead just seem incredibly short-sighted and terminally online to boot.

what mutual aid and revolution, I ask you??? Is it here in the room with us??? hate to break it to y'all, but the people who are actually out there volunteering or doing charity drives or whatever are mostly conservative christian grandmas and *gasp* the dreaded libs, at least from my experience in the northeastern USA. vermont, where my extended family lives, flooded this summer and guess who was out there wearing PPE and helping people recover their stuff, clean up, and distribute supplies?? my TERF ass mother and a bunch of other older white ladies. I'm sure there were other groups doing it too, but you know who wasn't out there?? my terminally online leftist cousin, who also lived in vermont but would rather post angry stuff that makes them look clever and cool all day than doing something boring like hand out essentials to people who had their homes destroyed by climate change.

also, an actual revolution would most likely just kill a lot of people and make the material conditions in this country worse, at least in the short term. y'all just sit inside and tweet and post discourse and be mad online and then get mad at other people for spending a few hours voting to try and at least stave off full blown authoritarian fascism in this country for another few years. you don't know that they aren't also organized in other ways. you are getting mad about something that takes less than one day every two years.

not to mention, the vast majority of your country is not nearly as left wing as you are. a third of americans are Christian nationalists or Christian nationalist sympathizers and that's about as right wing as it gets. you are living in an online bubble.

Idk what kind of history education y'all got, but the USA has been a warmongering genocidal shitstain for pretty much its entire history. not that what's currently happening isn't incredibly awful, inhumane, and disgusting. It absolutely is and we should try to do everything we can to help, including donating, boosting, protesting, and harassing the hell out of your representatives.. But this is far from the first time the USA has participated in and funded horrific acts of cruelty. and no, I am not saying "vote blue no matter who". especially when it comes to local elections, do a bit of fucking research and voting could actually affect your life for the better.

it's just frustrating when I feel like people can't have any nuance about this. voting is harm reduction, not moral posturing. even when I vote for obscure local candidates or for a third party candidate I usually disagree with them on at least one major issue. this is a problem that comes up with representative governments (and also the diversity of human opinion, to be quite frank. I promise you agree with your progressive friends on fewer issues than you think), but that's what we've got so maybe it'd be more productive for everyone if you stopped throwing a hissy fit about it.

[raindropsonwhiskers]

Hi there! I know that this is really out of the blue but im asking for a favor or some help w/ my cats current medical needs. Please if you have an extra time to boost/share it for us so that we could get some traction or it could reach more people, it would definitely help a ton! I understand if its not okay, Im so sorry for taking some of your time and I wish you to be safe and healthy always, xx.(Please considering answering my ask privately or probably hit me a msg if its fine! 😭🙏

This is far from the first time I've gotten one of these, and I'm feeling spiteful, so I'm going to walk through why this is almost certainly a scam, for anyone who isn't already aware of these.

This is the pinned post on the blog:

It was made at 1:17 AM EST today, Jan 31st. Based on the timing and phrasing of this post, the emergency happened last Tuesday, as the poster seems to be in Montana and thus made the post at 11:17 PM on Monday. The vet hospital (VSS West) and the group Shelter Friends do exist, though Shelter Friends seems to be exclusively a "shelter assistance and networking group whose purpose is to help homeless pets find rescue or adoption" (their website).

They claim their cat is being held until they can pay the bill (pictured at the top of the pinned post, ~1600 USD) in full. This is a red flag, since as far as I'm aware, no respectable institution does this. Additionally, the timeframe on pickup seems uncertain - it goes between "picking him up tomorrow" and "cleared to come home by the next couple of days".

No goal amount is listed, nor is there any sort of tracker. This is extremely strange, since almost every signal boost/mutual aid/etc post I see these days has the OP pretty much constantly updating how much they have left to go. Not being upfront about the amount needed, or how much they already have, is a decent red flag for a scam.

They say they haven't made a GoFundMe because it takes too long and takes a fee. However, VSS West's website says payment is due upon service (see screenshot). Therefor, they must have known about the price for at least 5 days (assuming wiggle room from last Tuesday to the time of the pinned post) and - more importantly - they should have already paid for the surgery.

But let's say they delayed the payment and... used their pet as collateral or something. Here is a screenshot from GoFundMe's website:

So the fee bit is bullshit, too.

Now that we know why the scenario is a whole bunting's worth of red flags, let's tackle the blog itself. The earliest post is from 1:08 AM EST, Jan 31, 2023. AKA today, 9 minutes before making the pinned post.

The URL directly references the cat, Tonka, so surely the blog was created to be about him. It can't be a sideblog - those can't send asks. It could be an alt account, but why make one just for your cat's health emergency and then reblog ATLA posts, posts about the new Mighty Nein animation, and some random aesthetic photos?

And this is just me being pedantic: the name in the header, Nicolai, doesn't match the Nicole used elsewhere. On the bill in the pinned post, the name Susan appears in the client field, just before the blacked out phone number.

But even assuming this person did genuinely decide to make a brand new blog on tumblr and try to crowdfund for their cat, there's a few more red flags around the message itself.

1) This blog has never once interacted with me before. Not shocking since it was made less than 24 hours ago, but still. Not even a follow before sending me a scam? Rude.

2) They ask that I reply privately or via DM. This is very suspicious and VERY convenient for a scammer, because it's harder to provide evidence of the scam when nobody else has seen your correspondence with them.

3) They asked a random niche Doctor Who blog to signal boost them. Of all the demographics, Doctor Who Extended Universe shitposting was the one some desperate person worried for their cat chose? Yeah, right.

All that being said, I hope this post helps people be more aware of these sorts of scams in the future. There are a lot of genuine posts looking for help with their pets, too - but those posts come from real people with established blogs, who aren't sending demanding asks to strangers, aren't trying to hide how much money they need/have already, and aren't trying to take advantage of people. Always do some due diligence before donating to a cause; the worst that can happen is you spend a little time looking through someone's blog and find that they're a real person.