#unethical uses of magic

[christiwhitson]

The little bitch would’ve set me up to be burnt at the stake and then danced on my ashes. And all to gain the attention of a handsome man who hadn’t given her the time of day. Apparently, being belted for ‘loose behavior’ in front of a hundred witnesses hadn’t been enough to set her on a better course.

Lifting my wand, I held her gaze and murmured, “Legilimens.”

As a general rule, I preferred not to use legilimency if I could avoid it. Entering another’s mind was a distasteful violation of privacy unless one had been invited to do so. But sometimes it was the most effective way to assess a situation, and I had to know just how deep her delusion went before I could determine how to fix it. I searched her memories and found Jamie’s face in more of them than I’d have liked, from the first time she’d seen him as a child when he himself had been a teenager to the more recent memories over the past week. But there was only one in which he was actually looking at her. And that one moment--no longer than a single heartbeat--had been inflated to ridiculous proportions until the girl had convinced herself that he was in love with her.

Ending the spell, I leaned closer and allowed the hint of a smirk to cross my features.

“You’re right, you know,” I whispered. “I am a witch. Just not the kind you think I am.”

Tears of fright streamed down Laoghaire’s cheeks, and I rolled my eyes.

“Relax, you stupid girl. I’m not going to hurt you, despite what you were planning to do to me. I’m just going to… adjust your perspectives a bit.”

[shadowmaat]

Uhh... No?

There are a lot of cozy-type fantasy books out these days. I enjoy low-stakes stuff, and recently I've been indulging in a lot of "murder mystery with magic" stories. There's a bit of a sameness to them, but that's kinda baked into the mystery genre and isn't actually a problem. If anything, it's a comfort because you know how things are going to go. Usually.

I picked up a freebie book for my kobo. This one slotted into the "magic is a secret" vein of urban fantasy, so the witch in question is in the closet, so to speak. It was a mostly standard set-up; the witch's best friend dies in Mysterious Circumstances and the witch is the prime suspect because the sheriff has always been suspicious of her. Naturally the witch is going to work to clear her name and find the real killer.

As bog-standard as that premise is, it still felt a bit... off? Or at least not aligning the way I expected. I figured it was a me-thing and kept reading. If the witch's motives seemed more selfish than altruistic, well, maybe I was just reading it wrong.

One of the powers the witch has it to be able to touch someone and glean some surface impressions. She used that ability on the sheriff to get an idea of what was "wrong" about her friend's death, and she used it again on a reporter to get the name of her friend's former workplace. The first one I could understand since the sheriff is hostile and suspicious, but the second one I wondered why she didn't simply ask. It wasn't as if it was any kind of secret, and it's probably something she could have learned for herself with a bit of digging, but shortcut, I guess.

I was willing to go along with it until the victim's mother showed up, mentioning that an autopsy was going to be performed later that afternoon (this being four days after the actual murder). By this point results had come back on the "health tonic" (potion) that the witch had given her BFF; the one that had been found clutched in her poor, dead hand. The results showed it to be nontoxic and not the cause of death. This means the witch was no longer a suspect. Not that it was going to slow down her investigation. It never does in these kind of mysteries, although usually it's because the protag wants the killer brought to justice.

I guess technically that was the case here as well, but the way the author chose to handle/word things made it feel more... selfish. Sure, the protag wanted to find the killer, but she was also determined to learn all the secrets her friend had been keeping from her. Which, sure, would probably help her find the killer, but it just felt off. I think part of the problem I was having at that point was that most of what I'd seen the protag doing was very... self-serving? In addition to gleaning stuff from unsuspecting people, she'd also given another person a spelled cup of cocoa to make her more willing to discuss things she otherwise might not mention. Which, again, felt like something she could have accomplished just by talking.

The feel of the book was getting weirder. The protag had no qualms about the things she was doing, and maybe if it had stayed at that level of "iffy but not outright objectionable" I could have shrugged it off. Except then it crossed an unforgivable line.

Autopsies are important. They can give us a lot of information about how a person died. They may not be perfect, but they set a good baseline and are important in murder cases. Our protag, unfortunately, decided that an autopsy wasn't good enough and that she needed access to the body herself in order to glean whatever handwavy magic stuff could tell her about how and why her friend had died. And she had to do this before the coroner got a chance to examine the body.

She calls up the receptionist at the coroner's office, uses magic to determine the poor woman's "secret desire," and then uses that to put a whammy on her, giving her the irresistible urge to leave work without notice and rush off to fulfill that urge (in this case it was ice cream from the rival town miles away).

That's when I stopped reading and deleted the book off my kobo. Not just because she hexed an unsuspecting and unwilling innocent, but because that was her default method. She didn't hesitate, didn't question if this was really an ethical use of magic, and didn't try anything more mundane to get past the receptionist. She full-on altered a woman's mind to get the result she wanted. What the everloving fuck were you thinking, author?

So yeah. There aren't many hard and fast rules regarding the use of magic in fiction, but I'm pretty sure "do no harm" is the biggest one. Unless you're the bad guy.

[mmelolabelle]

me @ sauron after watching him fumble galadriel in 4K AGAIN

[azaleastobloom]

I’m joining war on HC!False on the side of HC!False

[fogwitchoftheevermore]

sorry i’m so fucking normal about hivemind!decem being basically confirmed with the latest installment. do you ever think about how legundo’s greatest want in this prison is a friend. do you ever think about how the one request that he ever made of decem was that he not be alone next time. do you ever think about the noble saying she worries about him forgetting himself and the fact that he collects the “unique” (pink sheep) to try and have a friend in these worlds because it’s all he’s got. do you think about the noble saying she could make him thousands of his most desired companions. do you think about the fact that they want their brother back. cause i do. i sure do.

[magilv]

anyway stares at ferelden & skyhold being cold places n rotates alim in thick & furred robes n dresses,,

[whumpcateyes]

Whumptober day 7 - Only for emergencies(“It’s us or them”)

I drew a thing for day 6, so im still good on days, yippee!!

Summary: making a desperate escape, Cassidy has James use his clairvoyance

cw: Nausea, dissociation, injury(mostly to knees) if there's anything else please let me know

CLUNK!! Cassidy swung her bat again. It connected with someone’s chest. She was panting by now, but she grabbed James’ arm and dragged him down the hall. “Goddamnit, man! Move!!”

He stumbled, that same blank expression on his face. She yanked him forward, “You wanna fucking live, right??!!”

“Y-yeah…” His voice was hoarse and he blinked rapidly, trying to pull himself together. 

Cassidy shoved him to the ground as a bolt of energy whipped overhead. “Son of a-“

She turned to its origin, another security officer was charging them from down the hallway. They were yelling something, the words didn’t matter, only the magical energy that twisted around them as they cast another bolt at her. She caught it with her bat and charged them, letting it fill the runes carved all over the weapon’s surface, though it still jolted her for a moment, sending a static-like shock into her hands. She winced and kept running, angling the bat so that the ice rune was facing the officer as she swung it into their legs. They tried to dodge her, but the rune activated and an icicle spiked from the wood, piercing the officer’s knee. They cried out and collapsed with a satisfying CRUNCH!!!

James cried out behind her, covering his ears. Cassidy didn’t wait for the call officer to recover their wits and attack again. She sprinted back towards him, grabbing his shoulder and forcing him back to his feet. They ran through the next door, the cramped halls opened up into the main warehouse. Shouting and alarms echoed in the space, only dampened by the shelves of various random goods that Cassidy didn’t stop to examine.

She could feel the exertion catching up to her. She was sweating hard and breathing harder, James looked like he was about to pass out. They needed to hide. She weaved through rows of shelves until the security lost her, then clambered over a pile of boxes, pulling James into a little hollow that could hide them. She knelt, pulling him down with her and slapped a hand over his mouth before he could say anything. He nodded, getting the message and she let go.

Footsteps pounded by, they held their breath. They passed into the next aisle. For the moment, no one knew where they were. Cassidy tried to make a plan, they were surrounded on all sides and it was only a matter of time before the security noticed their prey’s footsteps were absent from the cacophony. There were too many for Cassidy to fight off. She was good, but also they’d gotten lucky that no one had pulled a gun yet, she had a feeling that wouldn’t last. They needed a big distraction, something to draw everyone away. She was awful at aerial runes and verbal incantation was a no go right now, not like she was good at that either. James was good at aerial, but he wasn’t in any state to cast. Even if he had any energy to use, his hands were trembling too much to use as a focus.

She cursed under breath, wishing Mel was here. They were the only person(well, half-person) she knew that could cast magic at a distance, something to do with their deity heritage. She looked at James, he was half-deity as well so he had some kind of special ability.

She got up to his ear and whispered, “Remind me, what’s your freak-magic?”

It took him a few seconds to respond, struggling to process her words. It was hard to hear his rasp over the din, “cl-clairvoyance… -ish… I can… see or- or know… stuff… that I- I shouldn’t be able to…” he trailed off.

“Fuck.” She tapped on her thigh, trying to come up with something to use that for, “I was hoping you’d have the same shit as Mel.”

“sorry….” He looked genuinely apologetic, she flicked his forehead.

“Shut up with that. I need you to help me out here.”

Clairvoyance would be incredible to use, but that entirely depended on their reaction time to avoid getting caught and James wasn’t in any state to stay on top of a well armed security force. They needed to even the field in some way. “Can you see where the security is, or find us a way out?”

He shut his eyes tightly, then a soft glow started flickering under his eyelids as he focused. Cassidy had seen something similar with him before, his eyes sometimes glowed when there was danger he didn’t know about. But the light was weak now, and it seemed to take all his focus. He reopened his eyes, breathing a little heavier from effort, “I… I can- but…”

She cut him off, a plan coming to mind, “Could you see them if the warehouse was obscured?”

“M-Maybe…?”

“Okay. I have an idea. I flood the place with as much fog as I can, then you keep us away from the bastards and lead us to an exit-“

He grabbed one of her shoulders, though his grip was so weak it was kind of pathetic. “I don’t know- I don’t think I can… it….” He tried to think of a description of the sensation of seeing outside of his body, that weightless, numb feeling that started to nauseate him after only a few seconds. Especially when he had to move or talk at the same time, “I wouldn’t… I- I couldn’t keep up…”

She caught the desperate look he had, “We don’t have much of a choice- it’s that or I die and you get caught…”

He shook his head, trying to get across how impossible it would be, “…I’d have to k-keep m-my eyes closed…. I…”

A shout echoed through the warehouse, “They’re here somewhere! Start checking the shelves!”

Cassidy grabbed his shoulders and shook him a little, “All you have to do is direct me. I’ll keep us moving, so you can keep your eyes closed, but we have to go now.”

She pulled a black marker from her pocket without waiting for his response. There wasn’t any time left to convince him. She started drawing the overlapping circles and symbols to force the water vapor to weigh itself down into fog. It was already stupidly humid, so she hoped it would be enough. When she was done, she slapped a hand in the center, focusing as much magic as she could into the rune, the ink started to flake and separate, replacing itself with pure energy.

The air started to cool and drops of water started beading on the metal shelves, condensating and running down. You could almost feel the air sink, and fog started pooling around their feet. The shouting got louder and more frantic as people started noticing the fog. Cassidy kept pushing until it was as thick and tall as she could get it, a wall of white that towered overhead. She could barely see James less than a foot in front of her. He was shivering and had his jaw set to stop his teeth from chattering. His eyes were shut, and that slight glow had returned. She stripped off her hoodie and handed it over to him, he jumped in surprise and stared at her, then muttered a quiet “thanks…” and slipped it on over the ratty tank top he’d been forced to have on for the past few weeks. Despite his height, the sweater was massive on him.

He pulled the hood over his head and tightened the strings until most of his face was obscured. He looked stupid, but Cassidy suppressed her urge to say anything.

She grabbed his hand and her bat, then aimed her leg to kick over a box and run, “You ready?”

“N-no… but… there’s no one in this row right now… we sh-should go left-”

“Great!” She kicked the box as hard as she could then sprinted out into the aisle, James followed along, using his free hand to cover his eyes even more. 

“How far?” She hoped he would understand the question.

He bit back the lightheadedness as best he could, “r-right at the next intersection-“

She ran harder, angling right as soon as the turn came into view. James stumbled, then yelped, “Two of them!! B-Behind!”

Cassidy heard the crackle of energy and flattened them against a shelf, a bolt shot past, inches from her nose. She swung her bat in their direction, filling the ice rune once more and launching a small volley of hail back at them. She heard a few pieces connect and kept running.

James switched between holding his breath and panting, trying desperately to keep his footing while sight switched rapidly around the warehouse, focusing on every noise and relating that to the floor plan in his head. “L-Left! Now!” 

Cassidy veered left, dragging them down a different row. Footsteps passed by through the fog, she was unsure how many. She was pretty sure they were almost to the wall before he told her to go right. Then a series of rapid turns until she was sure they were going in circles, but she put that out of her mind, trusting James to find them a path. She was the workhorse, she was the warrior, the machine to take them where they needed. 

“GET TO ANOTHER ASILE- NOW!!”

They weren’t at an intersection, but Cassidy could hear the panic in his voice. She half dove, half rolled into a shelf, throwing them both through a shelf. They tumbled out the other side just as a hail of gunshots tore through where they were moments ago. James gagged and covered his mouth, then pointed to the left with a shaky hand, “SW-SWING!!”

Cassidy swung as hard as she could, not bothering to stand, no time to charge a rune. Her bat connected with something and it collapsed with a scream. She was running at the thing before it hit the ground, almost tripping over the guard’s broken leg. “Jump!”

James leapt over the fallen guard, though his legs gave out when he landed, forcing Cassidy to catch him under arms and started dragging. She felt her phone buzz in her pocket, theoretically, the signal that Leena had arrived with the car. She couldn’t check to make sure.

“I- I can’t!” James tried to get his footing, but he was moving too slow, too out of breath to keep up. 

“It’s fine!!” Cassidy growled and all but threw him over her shoulder, barely slowing down. He was lighter than she thought, which was especially considering he had been skin and bones before he’d been taken. He yelped again and grabbed her t-shirt as tight as he could, trying to refocus on the warehouse layout and push down the spots that were dancing in his eyes.

“Right!!”

Her shoulder clipped the corner of a shelf and she stumbled for a moment. More rapid directions, then he had her swing again, clobbering another guard, but not before a high speed jet of water cut a gash into her hand. She winced away, dropping the bat with a clatter.

There was no time to go back for it. They were almost there. Three more turns, before James told her to go straight until they hit the double doors. She bolted into the blinding daylight, slamming into the doors and flinging them open. Leena’s convertible was idling a hundred feet away, but they made it. Bullets and spells riddled the doors and they all had to duck as she stepped on the gas, roaring through the field and making the sharped u-turn possible. 

James slid down into the footwell, covering his mouth with both hands. Cassidy flopped on the seats, trying and failing to catch her breath. Leena didn’t bother saying hello, just sped along until they hit the road.

Eventually Cassidy could breathe enough to speak, “Where’s Mel?”

Leena’s voice was tight, “Busy. Check your texts.”

[melonisopod]

"Marcille is blaspheming the Almighty Christian God with her evil Black Magic!" there is zero mention of any gods in Dungeon Meshi, everyone who expresses shock at her actions never brings up religion as a reason for why her actions are unethical.

Marcille is a mad scientist committing medical malpractice in a desperate attempt to save her lover. She's grafting dragon meat onto Falin's skeleton which turned her into an unbalanced chimera hybrid with a mouth too small to feed its body. She rapid-heals her friends without anesthetic and later admits healing magic has been used in torture techniques.

Marcille is a mad scientist. She's a gay Dr. Frankenstein. She's like if Gregory House were Italian.

[musclesandhammering]

This is my favorite little detail from that movie cause there’s just so much wrong with it.

First of all, Loki absolutely is a witch. Idk why he said he wasn’t, but like.. by any definition you use he most certainly is. If it means a magic user who dresses goth? Check. If it means someone who was raised by other witches? Check. If it means someone who uses unorthodox magic? Check. If it means someone who does spells and stuff? Check. If it means a magic user who’s female? Well, he’s genderfluid so check there too. (Ooh but what if it is a female magic user & Loki was annoyed cause Thor was misgendering him? Unlikely but still.)

But also like… none of the other asgardian magic users we see wear all black? And Thor’s own mom is a witch so why would he be using that as a (teasing) insult? Do witches always see into the future? Why is loki so defensive about it? I still have so many questions.

But why does Thor think witches wear black suits? Or is he just referring to it being all black? Are black-clad magic-users a thing in Asgard? Or is he going off the stereotypical Midgardian witch look?

[ad-caelestia]

❌ Curse Correspondences ❌

Crystals:

Agate - for use on a target who has entered a space uninvited, i.e. someone breaking into your home or vehicle

Alexandrite - causes obsession and delusions

Amethyst - causes sensitivity and self-destruction

Astrophyllite - causes those who have died at the hands of another to torment the target from the grave

Diamond - causes blindness, confusion, and disorientation

Diopside - lowers inhibitions and causes secrets to be revealed

Emerald - causes greed, selfishness, and isolation

Flint - causes conflicts

Garnet - leeches energy from a target

Kunzite - induces vulnerability 

Kyanite - used to infiltrate a target’s mind

Meteorite - used as a catalyst in baneful magic

Obsidian - used for general aggressive magic

Onyx - causes nightmares and mental torment, and is used to break up relationships

Opal - used to store negative energy, and then to be given to a target

Ruby - used to focus your intent on a target

Colors:

Black - law, justice, manifestation, sorrow

Red - force, energy, confrontation, jealousy, anger

Greenish Yellow - strife, discord, illness, conflict, jealousy, greed

Magenta - catalyst

Botanicals:

Ague Weed - confusion 

Angelica Root - misery, strife, distress, discord

Asafoetida - drives enemies away

Bayberry - depression

Bindweed - binding

Blackberry Root - distress

Black Salt - misery, strife, distress, discord

Bladderwrack - illness

Bloodroot - substitute for blood

Blueberry - confusion, strife

Boneset - distress, confusion

Cayenne Pepper - anxiety

Chicory - discord

Chili Powder - discord, misery, strife

Cinquefoil - discomfort

Clove - stopping gossip

Cramp Bark - pain, illness

Dogbane - deception

Dragon’s Blood - destruction, strife, misery

Hemlock - discord, sadness

Henbane - illness, discord, melancholy

Jezebel Root - wickedness, ending relationships, punishing unfaithful lovers

Knot Weed - binding

Lemon - sourness, bitterness

Lemon Verbena - a boost of power, ending relationships

Lime - sourness, bitterness

Lobelia - discord

Mace - misery, strife

Mandrake - misery, strife

Mistletoe - isolation, confusion

Mullein - spirit work, nightmares

Mustard Seed - strife, discord

Myrrh - a boost of power

Nightshade (Belladonna) - discord, illness

Onion - strife

Patchouli - illness

Poke Root - confusion, discord

Poppy Seed - discord

Rue - misery

Safflower - destruction

Spanish Moss - bad luck

Slippery Elm - ending relationships

Stinging Nettle - jealousy, envy, discomfort

Sumac - bad luck

Tobacco - a substitute for any baneful herb

Tormentil - distress, harm, discord

Vetiver - silence

Wormwood (Absinthe) - misery, strife

Yew - spirit work

Yohimbe Bark - impotency

Planets:

Mars - power, force, energy, war, conflict, jealousy

Saturn - law, justice, chaos, revenge

Neptune - confusion, illusion, chaos

Pluto - death, mystery, crisis

Lunar Phases:

Waning - binding, banishing

Dark - destruction, banishing, justice

Black - power, manifestation

Taglocks:

Drawings

Photos

The target’s name written on paper

The target’s signature

An item that belongs to the target

Other Ingredients:

Cigarette butts

Broken glass

Razorblades 

Vinegar

Lemon/lime juice

Alcohol

Bones

Needles

Nails

Thorns

Shark teeth

Catfish spines

Murex seashells

Flying Devil Oil

Dead insects

Black sand

Charcoal

Disclaimer: I do not condone the unethical practice of collecting or harvesting animal parts, or forcefully obtaining taglocks. This is just a list of theoretical correspondences and I am not responsible for the actions of others.

© 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺 𝙰𝙳-𝙲𝙰𝙴𝙻𝙴𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙰

[milkyhoneybee]

Unethical magic friend who uses you to solve their problems without asking you or considering your comfort

They ran out of milk for their morning coffee? They snap their fingers and suddenly your tits are massive and leaking milk. They take what they need and don't bother changing you back until they remember hours or days later, even if you try to remind them they just wave you off saying 'sure, sure, I just need to finish working out this summoning circle' and get distracted again

Sometimes they read something in a book that gets them horny or there's something they couldn't figure out, or they just pass someone in the market who takes their fancy, so guess who's helping them recreate it? You lose track of the amount of times you've been turned into the current object of their desires-- you don't even remember what your original hair colour was at this point, though you think you're mostly the same as you were when they change you back... but, enough subtle differences over time can build up...

Not to mention the times you've ended up with tentacles or horns or fangs or a foot long tongue, genitals of every configuration, or been transformed into slime and used just for their pleasure, or, more humiliatingly, been used in some test or experiment, or used to get spell ingredients

You would leave, you think, even if it didn't usually feel so good you lose control of yourself, but you didn't realise how binding a mage's "friendship bracelets" were when you first accepted it when you became friends, and now even if you do go anywhere, they can summon you back without trouble

They just conjure you some souvenir or some kind of 'treat' if you complain, and you feel your cheeks flush with the patronising nature of it. None of your complaints are ever taken seriously

Sometimes they'll summon a demon or other creature either for information or for some task, and you've ended up being used as payment or to placate them. You start drooling and going weak at the knees whenever you smell succubus milk or incubus cum from the amount of times you've been exposed to it already-- you're honestly worried it'll become an addiction before too long...

The one time you tried to sabotage one of your friends spells, hoping they'd get a taste of their own medicine, and while at first it was satisfying seeing their look of panic when the magic went awry, it didn't last long...

When you looked at their spell book and saw they were trying to create an armour spell as strong as dragon scales, you figured out just what your interference had caused, watching those glistening sapphire scales spread along their growing, shifting limbs, long claws growing in, a tail stretching out behind them, horns and wings starting to form

Unfortunately, your friend was still conscious enough to realise it was you that had caused the issue, and they had no qualms about 'punishing' you for it

Increasingly they grew larger and stronger than you, long maw full of sharp fangs and a wicked tongue grinning as they pinned you down under one paw. The tongue that shoved itself inside you was larger than some of the cocks you'd taken before, making you squeal and writhe, body shaking when the edge of claws sent little trickles of blood down your thighs and sides. They pressed you down harder into the floor, growling like a thunderstorm and started fucking their tongue into you. Suddenly, their haunches were over your face, their serpentine body much more flexible and longer than their human one, and your eyes widened at the sight of the cock hanging heavy and flushed, pushing past the split of scales between their legs

Even trying to keep your mouth closed didn't save you, your draconic friend simply smothering you with their cock until you were forced to take a breath, and after letting you get a little air, they took the opportunity to ram their cock straight down your throat. You can't fight back at all as they fill you from both ends, feeling like a toy being hollowed out

Their cock is covered in ridges and the slick confines of your throat drag against them in a way that, from what you can still manage to piece together due to the lack of consistent air, must feel good. They even get their tail wrapped around your throat, making your watering eyes roll up as they tighten their hold

You pass out, of course

Thankfully, they must have pulled out before the lack of air completely did you in (though you have no way to tell, perhaps they could still cast necromantic magic in dragon form?) but you come to in fits and starts, finally piecing enough of yourself together when you're being held in both of their front paws, your hole stretched and leaking around their cock as they bounce you up and down its length

From the way your belly sloshes, and how sticky your legs are (not to mention the rest of you, you assume), you can guess they've already cum in you a few times while you were out cold

When the draconic mage finally finishes with you, you're left slumped over, face half laying in a puddle of cum and you don't think you'll ever not smell like it or if you'll ever taste anything else again. You don't know if you can even talk any more from having your throat so thoroughly fucked. Not to mention if your holes will recover after being stretched out and absolutely ruined on that massive dragon cock...

Of course, leaving them a dragon doesn't seem like a good idea for anyone. Once you get enough energy and brain cells to rub together, and manage to clean up a bit, you get herded over to their spell book. They eventually nudge you and manage to gesture, growl, and, at times, roughly manipulate you, until you can brew a potion to change them back

Once they're back on two legs? 'Well, that was fun, wasn't it?'

[bitchesgetriches]

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The Dark Magic of Financial Horcruxes: How and Why to Diversify Your Assets 

Make more money through side hustles

When it comes to side hustles, we have traditionally advocated caution. The last thing you want to do is burn out in pursuit of a second income stream. But with enough wits and fortitude, a side hustle could help you increase your income by leaps and bounds.

Romanticizing the Side Hustle: When 1 Job Isn’t Enough

Season 2, Episode 9: “I Use My Free Time to Volunteer. Should I Focus on Making Money Instead?”

Stop Undervaluing Your Freelance Work, You Darling Fool

Freelancer, Protect Thyself�� With a Fair Contract 

Season 4, Episode 10: “I’m a Freelance Artist. How Do I Price My Work Fairly Without Losing Clients?”

Ask the Bitches: My Boss Won’t Give Me a Contract and I’m Freaking Out 

“Independent Contractor” My Ass: How to Stop Wage Theft Through Worker Misclassification 

Becoming a Millennial Entrepreneur (In the Midst of a Pandemic) With Katelyn Magnuson 

11 Awful Mistakes I Made as a Self-employed Freelancer, and How You Can Avoid Them

The Magic of Unclaimed Property: How I Made $1,900 in 10 Minutes by Being a Disorganized Mess

I Am a Craigslist Samurai and so Can You: How to Sell Used Stuff Online

What to do when you make more money

Once you increase your income, you might find yourself… not quite bored, but finding you have a little more bandwidth to handle the stuff that matters. It can be a jarring transition! Here are our thoughts on the matter.

Season 3, Episode 7: “I’m Finished With the Basic Shit. What Are the Advanced Financial Steps That Only Rich People Know?” 

Season 3, Episode 4: “The More Money I Save, the More I’m Scared To Lose It. Can I Break the Cycle of Financial Anxiety?” 

How to Avoid Lifestyle Inflation … and When to Embrace It

Ask the Bitches: I Know How to Struggle and Fight, but I Don’t Know How to Succeed

Update: I Know How to Struggle and Fight, but I Don’t Know How to Succeed 

The FIRE Movement, Explained 

I Was Happy to Marry a Poor Man. Then Things Changed.

I Have Become the Rich Relative I Always Wanted 

Believing in Miracles: A Conversation with Chris Dane Owens on Money, Creativity, and Self-Funding Art 

I Now Make More Money Than My Husband, and It’s Great for Our Marriage 

Season 2, Episode 1: “I’m Financially Stable, but My Friends Aren’t. The Guilt Is Crushing!”

The Resignation Checklist: 25 Sneaky Ways To Bleed Your Employer Dry Before Quitting

Advocate for systemic change

We don’t endorse an attitude of “I got mine.” So once you increase your income, there are lots of ways to use your newfound financial breathing room for good! Lift as you climb, my friend. Here are a few ways to do so:

Wallet Activism: Using Your Money for Good with Author Tanja Hester 

Woke at Work: How to Inject Your Values into Your Boring, Lame-Ass Job 

Raising the Minimum Wage Would Make All Our Lives Better

Post a Salary Range in the Job Description, You Fucking Cowards

1 Easy Way All Allies Can Help Close the Gender and Racial Pay Gap

The Truth About Unions: What Has Organized Labor Done for You? 

How To Support a Labor Strike with 3 Simple Steps

Everything in moderation

One last thing, my lambs: don’t crush your spirit while chasing the goal of a higher income. Working hard is hard work. If you find these tactics are leaving you exhausted and demoralized, you might be on the road to burnout. And that road leads nowhere good!

That’s why we just released our glorious new Burnout Workshop. Click the button below to take a peek!

Get the Burnout Workshop Here!

[its-your-mind]

Say what you wanna about the legacy of vox machina across exandria, but fucking NOBODY is haunting the narrative like Percival “I made the world’s first gun (with help from a demon (and then the idea was taken and copied by an unethical scientist who sold the plans and spread the invention worldwide, leading to artillery-based warfare))” Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski “my family’s estate is the sole-exporter of an extremely rare substance with untold magic-enhancing power (and when control of our home was taken from us by force that powerful substance made it into the hands of dangerously unethical magic users determined to use it to increase their own considerable magical power (and also to experiment on young and impressionable mages to attempt to increase their power artificially))” de Rolo III

[writers-potion]

Ethics, Conflicts and Secrecy of Magic in Your Novel

Ethics

Modern day magician would consider it unethical to use magic to harm others, but in history, curses and destructive magic was big business.

Some magicians would consider it unethical to interfere with a person's free will, while others might not

Some will never work under the influence of a substance (drug, alcohol), while for others it may be common

How a magician practice magic can vary depending on their principle profession (if they have a day job). A social worker and a drug dealer will have every different ideas about what magic should and should not do.

Make your magician morally gray. What are the consequences?

Challenge your magicians ethical standards. Would they still stick to the same rules even if their family/friend/livelihood is in danger?

Villainous Ethics

"never torture someone on Thursdays"

"perform harmful spells only when the moon is full"

"don't interfere with someones free will...unless the client pays in gold."

"never hurt an animal."

"never hurt someone over the age of seventy" (come before their birthday, please!)

"never attack another magician" (go for his wife instead)

"never harm a virgin"

etc., etc. just have fun with loopholes and loose interpretations of the rules you give your magicians.

The Wiccan Rede

The most widely followed principle is: "An it harm none, do what ye will", which is the Wiccan Rede. There are contentions about what this might actually entail.

This principle is an old one, one that was passed down orally before it was recorded. This means that "an" can be many things - it may be "because" or "since" or "if" or just gibberish.

You can have your magician character interprete this age-old rule in their own way, doing things that border between right and wrong.

Secrecy

In periods like the Middle Ages, magic was strictly banned and anyone who practices it (or is accused of doing so) prosecuted. The execution method varied: hanged, burned at the stake, etc.

Religious magic is problematic if it is not the predominant religion of the region or state.

Your character may be from a group of people who have been conquered or historically persecuted for a long time.

Languages in which the magic is conducted can be banned/outlawed.

If your magicians only work in secret:

Think of ways they use to hide their identities

Raise the stakes - what happens if they are discovered?

What if the magician thinks they're acting in secret but everyone actually knows?

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[1ore]

the problem with me is i will make up a joke npc for gw2 rp with @soulfullofold and then a day later he will have lore. anyway this is Vax Madmaxim, he does unethical science and got drowned in a vat of dragon blood by Bingus Ruinbringer. the dragon blood fixed him, though

"mad scientist"-type who is taking a systems ecology lens to everything, from steam machines to magical constructs to biological organisms. unsatisfied with conventional engineering, he starts dabbling in dragon magic to construct biomechanical monsters. (see: I failed bioethics)  

contracted in secret by Bangar Ruinburger to figure out how to control an Elder Dragon. Vax came up with the idea of tapping Jormag's blood, initially as an experiment in manipulating Jorms (a la contriving weapons out of Kralkatorrik's blood.) Later, of course, this is used to convert the Dominion to Frost Legion en masse when things start going south.  

caused an international incident during Legion-Dominion peace negotiations, which involved a gladiatorial tourney, two Pact Commanders, a hydra made of Searing crystals, and highly confidential Dominion blood magic.

Vax was thus detained and, for his failures, dunked in the vat of jormag juice that he had helped create. Bunkbed Ruinbringer evidently didn't need a way to control Jormag anymore, and Vax had greatly overestimated how indispensable he was.  

Jorms later drags him out of the tub and uses his half-dead body to set a trap for the Commanders, by turning him into a shambling blood-bomb (see: jormag bloodbag.) Given that this is the second worst thing that's happened to him since the worst day of his life, he isn't a very cooperative dragon thrall. He'd also developed some sort of nemesis-rapport with the Commanders by this point. As his last act, he warns them away, just before violently retching dragon viscera all over the floor.  

He was supposed to die-- Jorms was done with him-- but my man saw himself being turned into a disposable vessel of primordial goop and said "oh so im pupating? guess i'll metamorphose." I don't think that was Jormag's doing. I think he Just Did That. (see: change of heart)  

the newly eclosed Icebrood Vax offers himself to the Pact as a weapon against Jormag, repurposing his earlier research for more benevolent purposes. (see: staying positive)  

uhhh what else. nominally Iron Legion and functionally a gladium, but like hell is he going to let them take his name away. his allegiance is to unethical science first and whoever is willing to pay him to do unethical science second.  

Has kind of always been a piece of work, but became a bigger piece of work when he lost the "mad" warband under mysterious circumstances. Incidentally, this is when he started making frankenstein chimeras. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

   

he Has A Sensitive Side

[valtsv]

the only reason i don't have magic powers is because i would use it to cast the most unethical fucked up spells