#“what are you reading” “nothing” (text post from a stranger on the internet venting their suicidal thoughts)

[abeluser]

I really can't open tumblr in public

[megumitski]

hello these are the bnha fics i’ve read so far and i just made this to track them for myself. favorites are marked with a 💥! more bakudeku plus tododeku and other ships under the cut.

bakudeku

💥 Bluebird - EtherealBeing (53k)

Dialing a wrong number was no unusual occurrence. Everyone did it once in a while, and Katsuki was well aware of that fact.

However, possessing this knowledge made it no less aggravating for him to discover — a full two minutes into his rant about his day — that he’d been venting his frustrations to a complete stranger. As if that wasn't enough, said stranger was also inexplicably determined to hear his story to its end.

Let’s Be Alone Together - lalazee (3k)

Prompt: Deku being aggressively forward in his pursuit of Bakugou, and how that big oaf would react to someone else actually making the first move.

“Are you going to spend your entire life wishing you’d kissed me or are you gonna grow some balls and fucking do it?”

Bell Pepper - ticklishivories (7k)

Midoriya knew they wouldn’t talk about it. He was right. But he never thought it’d happen again.

spilling over every side - failbender (6k)

No good deed goes unpunished, not when there's a crazy lady with a complex and Lust Quirk parading around the city. By now, Katsuki should probably be used to things blowing up in his face.

be loved - bonnia (5k)

They sit there, in the darkness of the common room, about a few centimeters between them, but miles apart. Somehow, the quiet is companionable. More than it has been in many years. Katsuki knows he’s responsible for the rift between them, and he knows even more that it can’t only be Deku who attempts to mend it.

“Hey,” he says, after a while, and Deku turns to him in question, but Katsuki refuses to look his way. “Touch me again.”

(or: the kidnapping incident leaves bakugou traumatised about being touched on the back of his neck, and midoriya decides to take matters into his own hands)

Leftovers - brichibi (6k)

“Did you two make up?”

That. That’s why that fight felt like it was worth it, even if, technically, Izuku can’t answer her. Have they made up? Is this making up?

He actually doesn’t know.

[Or: the house arrest fic where it is, somehow, more awkward to talk through feelings than it is to fight]

lust-drunk - theboykingofhell (8k)

The one where Bakugou tries not to lose his mind to lust, and Midoriya is the useless gay who does nothing to help that matter at all.

💥 Quiet Rapture - lalazee (261k) - inc.

That A/B/O fic where cocky Alpha Bakugou falls in mate-love at first scent, while Midoriya is just a poor bookstore-owning Omega who got his nose punched in is a kid and can't smell a damn thing. Also known as: That time an Alpha had to use his actual personality to woo his mate instead of relying on his scent.

💥 A Demolition Boy & his Cryptid BF - kewltie (8k)

Bakugou of the Demolition Squad is famous for running one of the most popular Youtube channels on the web that regularly blow shit up and jumped off a perfectly good building for shit and giggles. He's also famous for his Cryptid BF™, never appearing on camera except for a few bodyshots and all information on him is kept locked up tighter than Fort Knox, therefore drawing all sort of attention and curiosity toward his mysterious boyfriend.

Deku from Deku Explains is a hopeless chatterbox who is known for uploading 20-30 minutes video that talked about his favorite shows and comics and have one of the most devoted following on Youtube. He also can't seem to shut up about his boyfriend Kacchan, who regularly make his presence on the channel as a disembodied voice.

They should theoretically have nothing in common except a shared platform to host their content and an army of fans with an endless curiosity and devotion to their Youtubers. Vidcon is where we lay our scene and the internet is about to get a rude wake up call.

What The Fuck Did You Just Call Me? - reading_raindrop (8k)

“A-ah B-Bakugou! You dropped some pencils!”

Katsuki stiffened. Kirishima and Kaminari froze. Basically, everyone within earshot stopped what they were doing to look at Izuku like he sprouted a second head. What did he just call him? “What the fuck did you just say to me?”

Katsuki whipped his head towards Izuku with his signature death glare as he stood up from where he picked up the fallen supplies.

“U-um I said you dropped some pencils! I think this eraser might be yours to-”

“No. What the fuck did you just call me?”

Izuku starts calling him Bakugou and it pisses the explosive teen off a lot more than he thought it would

💥 take care - Chrome (2k)

There are words to say stay safe, I’ll miss you, I love you, but Kacchan has always preferred to leave things unspoken. Izuku isn’t much with languages, but he thinks he’s figured out this one.

---

“Emotional constipation manifested as over-the-top housewifery?” Mina asks. Before Izuku can say that is not what he meant at all, she nods. “Yeah, I can see it.”

Just Look At Me - Colourcubify (52k) - dnf

Midoriya is completely happy with his life. Nope, not one single regret in his twenty-seven years. He especially doesn't regret running into his old childhood friend/bully after almost ten years, nor does he regret spilling coffee all over his very expensive looking suit. How nice it will be to die with no regrets. ~~~~ AKA the sugar daddy AU I meant to be a one shot, that turned into a full fledged story.

A Nest for the Best - Camellia_Sinensis (1k)

Deku’s been nesting and asking everyone in 1-A for pieces of clothing for his horde. Everyone, that is, except Katsuki. Cue the jealousy.

unforgiving - i_write_emotion (19k)

Deku is hit with a quirk that takes away his ability to forgive, and Bakugou’s world comes crashing down. Quirkless!Deku. Pro-hero!Bakugou.

@ Deku WRONG CHAT - katyastark (16k) - inc.

Deku: THE LENGTHS I WOULD GO TO JUST LICK THE SWEAT OFF HIS ABS hnnnnnghhh

Deku: or! like! It doesn’t even have to be his abs! It could be anywhere else! I’m not picky!

Pinky: excuse me what

ChargeDolt: OMG

Uravity: @Deku WRONG CHAT

I love you. I’m completely and utterly in love with you. Please don’t get married. - InkspillsNotebook (6k)

Ta-Da!!!! I hope you all enjoy the finished product!!! I'm sorry (not sorry) I broke a lot of you when I first posted this to tumblr!!

Procrastination - capncapk (5k)

But it is still surprising to see his more-than-friend-but-also-lover-he-guesses in his office seeking attention though Izuku already turned him down.

Usually he'll get a text of 'wyd?' followed by a time and place if Izuku responds with a confirmation, and silence if he's busy.

Or slammed into the wall in the agency's shower for a quickie if no one was around, which despite his anxiety, he often acquiesces to.

While You Were Sleeping - Belkacaramelka (71k)

The one where quirkless fanboy Midoriya Izuku rescues Pro Hero Todoroki Shouto, gets mistaken as his fiancé while he is in a coma, and gets caught up in the most unlikely fake engagement... until his childhood enemy and Todoroki's classmate Bakugou Katsuki tries to catch him out, and they both end up discovering a lot more about each other than they'd expected.

Quirkless AU based on the film; endgame BakuDeku. -- Katsuki didn’t know when the change had happened: how he had gone from asking why Todoroki chose Deku of all people, to wondering why it was Todoroki that Deku chose. Troublesome Deku, who cooed like an idiot at cats, tripped at a random catcall and sang badly. Who, despite everything, proved that it wasn’t the quirk that defined a person. Deku, who was too much, not his, and undeniably off limits to begin with.

briar roses (and hundred years of sleep) - vannral (16k)

In complete honesty, no one who knows the Class 3-A should be surprised anymore. Izuku is asleep.

In which Izuku is hit by a ‘Sleeping Beauty’ Quirk, Class 3-A tries to find his True Love and get them to kiss him, and Katsuki’s very angry about it all.

Yes, They’re All Safe - teaandtumblr (5k)

Villains have entered UA grounds and are disposed of just as quickly, but that doesn't mean a headcount of the students doesn't need to be done. Toshinori would admit, he wasn't quite prepared for what he found in Bakugou Katsuki's room.

💥 all choked up - spicyrabbit (5k)

Bakugou Katsuki had a habit of turning away from the heard. At 16, he does this by coming to terms with wanting, desperately, to see his childhood friend cry.

💥 May I take your order, dipshit? - supercrunch (6k)

So, like, maybe Bakugou wasn’t really the best choice for this whole pizza delivery shindig.

(Midoriya in love, Bakugou in denial, and way, way too much cheese.

A BakuDeku romance in thirty minutes or less. )

blooms every hour - dynamighttiddy (7k)

“It’s you, okay?!” Deku screams. “It’s you. And I know you’ll never love me back, so -” Deku wipes his eyes and straightens. “So just leave it.”

-----

Deku has hanahaki, and Katsuki doesn't know how to save him.

all choked up - dynamighttiddy (7k)

“Deku, what the fuck are you doing?!”

Izuku asks Kacchan to help him train blackwhip. Things don't exactly go according to plan.

A Fight To The Death - iknewaman (10k)

Izuku isn’t competitive by nature, but when the blond, cocky asshole from the other table’s team gets involved he suddenly becomes hellbent on winning.

Rival Pub Quiz AU

💥 Like the Moon - osakakitty (15k)

Katsuki Bakugo is having constant, erotic dreams about Izuku Midoriya. He isn’t sure why, but they won’t go away. In order to make them stop, he needs to figure out what Izuku Midoriya means to him.

Canon-verse story in which Bakugo is confused about his feelings for Midoriya, and doesn’t know what he wants. Besides a good night’s sleep.

💥 We Wear Chains on the Weekend - surveycorpsjean (35k)

Well, in a day of revelations, it turns out that Izuku isn't as vanilla as Katsuki previously thought. Unfortunately, that fascinating discovery is overshadowed by Izuku's dumbassery, because he has zero concept of aftercare.

"Don't go to anyone else," Katsuki says, because screw it. He can do a better job anyways.

Or; Katsuki finds Izuku on a bad drop.

take me out to dinner first - dynamighttiddy (3k)

“Kacchan,” Deku chides. “What’s going on?”

Katsuki takes a deep breath.

He trusts Deku with his life. He can trust him with this, too.

“Have sex with me.”

-----

Katsuki Bakugou is one of the only virgins left in class 3-A - and with graduation just around the corner, he's desperate to change that.

💥 that ultra kind of love - dynamighttiddy (11k)

“So, uh,” Kirishima starts. “Was that your first kiss?” he whispers, almost sheepish. Katsuki’s stomach drops, and he freezes. Memories of green eyes and freckles and soft lips flash behind his eyelids. “Yeah,” he lies easily. “That was my first kiss.”

-----

In which Bakugou pretends Kirishima is his first kiss, amongst other things.

to the moon and back - kewltie (1k)

"He gets stupid when he's drunk," Katsuki seethes in his seat as he watches Izuku croon love notes into Uraraka's throat. He’d never met a worst lightweight then Deku, who become some kind of demented affectionate monster.

💥 Bridges - supercrunch (18k)

Yaomomo sighs. “We’ve got a little bit of a situation, Bakugou. Ashi—uhm, somebody might have accidentally signed you up for that modelling gig.”

Katsuki holds up a hand. "So what you’re telling me here," he says, "is that you told Calvin Klein I would model for them. In my underwear.”

Ashido sinks behind a desk to hide. “Yes.”

(The thing is, they really do need the money. And Katsuki's technically the leader of this bunch of morons, so he finds himself taking the job even though his pride will never recover. And even though nobody thought to tell him that he'd be working with his ex-boyfriend. You know, the cute freckled guy from high school who went and broke his heart.

So, yeah. This whole situation kind of sucks.)

Crescendo - supercrunch - inc. (4k)

(Izuku's band is on their way to the top of the charts. But the real star, he thinks, is the drummer.)

Guilty Kiss - osakakitty (1k)

He could feel Midoriya's eyes on him. Even though he knew it was wrong, Bakugo still wet his lips in anticipation.

(Canon-verse) A short story about making out in a closet. It's messy, but so is their relationship.

💥 Surfaces - surveycorpsjean (25k)

Katsuki has a new girlfriend, but something isn't right.

As impossible as it is, Izuku can't help but wonder what it'd be like to be called Katsuki's girl.

Classical conditioning - supercrunch (8k)

(or: how to trick a boy into going out with you.)

Alright. Maybe his idiot friends had a point, Katsuki thinks as he shoulders open the front door. His mother’s in the living room drinking coffee. Katsuki kicks off his shoes and stomps over. “Am I charming?” he demands, blocking the TV.

Mitsuki pats his cheek. “Oh, hon. Not at all.”

💥 Dance Bunny - EllaBesmirched (17k)

Katsuki Bakugou spends most week nights by himself, sitting in a corner at his local strip club and passing time until he feels tired enough to sleep. Work leaves him stressed and the new city he moved to a year ago is just different enough that he can't sleep at night and can't seem to get comfortable no matter where he is.

When he finally changes up his schedule and decides to head to the club on a Saturday night, he is instantly infatuated with a part-time dancer who can do things with his body that Katsuki didn't even know were possible. The dancer calls himself Bunny. By the second lap dance, Katsuki realizes he is in trouble.

but the entrails are the best part! - supercrunch (15k)

The boy straightens up. He’s about half a head shorter than Katsuki, face soft and youthful and sweet. He turns to look at him properly. His dark hair shines in the dying light, basket of blooms looped over one arm and mouth quirked into a tiny half-smile. The sun hits his face and makes his eyes a bright greeny-gold, just like emeralds.

Katsuki likes emeralds.

“Pretty,” he says, reaching out and picking the stranger up around the middle. He’s surprisingly heavy, although Katsuki doesn’t mind. “I like you. Come see my nest.”

The boy hits him.

He’s stronger than he looks, turns out. Katsuki drops him and falls onto his back, pain blooming across his face. Birds sing. The sky’s a lovely shade of orange, clouds floating lazily by. The boy scarpers. He leaves his basket of flowers behind, footsteps thumping on the ground and fading away as he escapes.

The sun sets. Katsuki, lying flat on his back with a bloody nose, decides he’s just fallen in love.

tododeku

(You Know You’re Really) Cute - ladyhoneydarlinglove (2k)

Kirishima poses the question, who’s the cutest boy in Class 1-A? The answers kind of surprise everyone, especially Midoriya.

Everything Except - Pouler (28k)

"In retrospect, Midoriya probably should’ve realized the moment they were enveloped in a glittering pink cloud that something was about to go Very Wrong."

After an encounter with a unique villain threatens to change the nature of their partnership, Midoriya must find a way to get things back to normal between him and Todoroki. That is, if he's certain that getting 'back to normal' is what he really wants...

count your blessings, not your flaws - PitViperOfDoom (7k)

Midoriya Izuku has never been asked out, confessed to, or flirted with, except as a joke.

Riddles in the Heart - PitViperOfDoom (19k)

The law is clear: whoever correctly answers three riddles will marry the prince, while all who fail are to be executed. The people live in fear as more challengers try and fail, and the throne grows bloodier with every passing year. But a young prince, nameless and in exile from his home, believes there may be more to this brutal challenge than meets the eye.

Of course, there's only one way to find out: ring the gong, and take the trial.

Late bloomer - Nohaljiachi (10k)

That’s why when they’ve found themselves face to face on the ring of the sport festival once more, for the third time ever since they’ve met each other, and Izuku smiled at him, eager and challenging, self-confident but never full of himself, Shouto blinked, dazed and shocked, in realizing just how blindingly beautiful his best friend was. The way Izuku’s white shirt clung on his muscles, the little peek of his collar bone and the hard lines of his pecs visible under it, the way his thighs curved and filled the school gym uniform.

‘Oh, fuck—‘ Shouto thought, his head spinning, feeling like he just got run over by a freight train. ‘Shit. He’s- hot?’

Burn and Breathe - PitViperOfDoom (11k)

Soulmates are connected through pain, and some bonds have more to share than others. Todoroki Shouto wishes he could reject his soulmate. Midoriya wants nothing more than to protect his own.

one string, fit for a bow - furihatachlookie (5k)

There was no magical moment that played a part in Midoriya's realization that he liked Todoroki. The thin red string that greeted him every time he looked down at his hand was an obvious factor, yes, but it wasn't love at first sight either.

It sorta just... happened over time.

fire and feelings - kagshina (8k)

“Uh…” he starts, eyes widening. “Your finger’s on fire.”

Todoroki’s face scrunches together, confused, and then he looks down, noticing the flame. Midoriya watches as shock flashes across Todoroki’s face, and then horror, and then finally settles on embarrassment as he puts out the flame.

“Shit,” Todoroki mumbles, and Midoriya’s lip curves upward.

bakutododeku 

💥 Fire in the Mountains - EllaBesmirched (168k)

“I’ll do it.”

Enji froze, fingers curling into a fist at his side, and didn’t turn around.

Shouto froze too, feeling his own eyes widen in shock at the words that had come out of his mouth, at the fact that he had actually stood up, followed his father out of the room, and dashed after him all just to say… he’d do it? He would do it? Him. Shouto Todoroki. He would--

Enji finally turned around and fixed Shouto with an expression so scathing, Shouto had to fight to keep his chin raised. “You’ll marry the Barbarian King.”

Shouto blinked. “Yes.”

The Ballad of Love and Hate - EllaBesmirched (6k)

After eight painfully long years, Katsuki finally has Izuku back. He's determined to keep him this time, and to do that, he knows there are some things he has to say.

(mis)matched - ethydium (12k)

Midoriya doesn't hate the idea of finding one's soulmate, even though he had long since given up on finding his own. And then Bakugou and Todoroki match, and while he's happy for them, his heart breaks from all the unsaid things he feels for them.

Or:

Midoriya pines and suffers his way to his own happy ending.

pillowed by love - ethydium (21k)

As a prank, Uraraka gets Midoriya a body pillow (dakimakura) with the image of Bakugou printed on it. Then another one with Todoroki's picture. Chaos ensues.

other

For who could learn to love a beast? - supercrunch (4k) - bakutodo

Bakugou takes a deep breath and steps out into the living room, eyes automatically adjusting to the change in light. There’s a boy hanging up his coat in the hall. He’s handsome, albeit in an annoying way, hair dyed two colours to match his heterochromia and skin pale and perfect and smooth. He looks expensive. “Bakugou.”

“That’s me,” Bakugou says. “You’re younger than I expected.”

“I’m older than I look.”

(Deku was right, damn him. Pretty boys are Bakugou's type.)

Want it All - surveycorpsjean (29k) - kiribakutododeku

“Hey, so..." Eijirou grins. "Can we ask you guys a question?"

Frankendick and the Great Acid Fiasco - EllaBesmirched (11k) - shiggyxdabi

Dabi had been intending to spend a very nice Saturday getting stoned and plotting murder, thank you very much, but when a trio of UA brats on enough L to kill a Beatle accidentally dose him and two other unsuspecting homicidal maniacs, Dabi has to change his plans a bit. Apparently no else around here knows how to trip balls and fucking enjoy it.

The Twitter - EllaBesmirched (8k) - tododenki

Shouto never really intended for anyone to find his secret Twitter account. He certainly didn't intend for Kaminari to see Shouto's thirst tweets about him. Luckily, Kaminari doesn't seem to mind.

pray you catch me - supercrunch (4k)

Katsuki pushes her shirt up to kiss her stomach. It’s silly, how it makes her heart flutter, how Izuku’s whispered I love you threatens to make her cry all over again. They’re unwrapping her from her clothes. They won’t let her hide, she thinks numbly. Won’t let her curl in on herself like she’s something dirty, Katsuki’s hands tugging off her underwear so she’s naked and exposed between them. “I,” she says breathlessly. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be crying. I’m just being dumb.”

Izuku shushes her. Another tear trickles down her cheek and into her ear. He kisses it away, humming, brushing her bangs off her forehead so he can press his mouth between her brows. “You have every right to be upset. We’ll deal with him later. For now just let us take care of you.”

“She’ll get the message once you stop talking and fuck her,” Katsuki says, slipping his fingers into her. She clenches around him and shudders. “Gonna eat you out ‘til you forget how to move. Now put that fucking motor mouth to good use, Deku.”

[ntamain]

Is my (24F) neighbour (27F) into me or is she just being friendly? How do I know if she's gay?

another gay gem from the r/relationship reddit

Update:

Image ID under the cut, please let me know if I did it wrong!

[Image ID: four screenshots of a post from the relationship subreddit by tumblr user nta-main. The title reads “Is my (24F) neighbour (27F) into me or is she just being friendly? How do I know if she’s gay?”

The text reads “Update post is now locked, I cant believe so many people were interested in us!! Thank you again for your support, comments and messages.

Hi all, I can't believe I'm asking for advice from a bunch of strangers on the internet but I don't really have anyone I can talk to about this. Sorry for the incoming essay but I guess I need to give history. I bought my first house in September last year, It was an odd time but everything just fell into place. It's quite a small village and everyone is really friendly so I got to know my neighbours soon after moving in - yes, socially distanced. Then I met my over-the-road neighbour, let's call her Elle. I can't describe it but it's the first time I've ever met someone and been lost for words and my heart was racing and just thought "omg", y'know?? So after I blushed my way through a welcome to the village type convo we only saw each other for a wave and hello for a few days.

To help kinda settle in I had my dog (Bea) with me for the first few weeks. During this time there was a massive increase in dog thefts in a nearby town, not just from gardens but literally wrestled away from people. If I'd have been working (furloughed off and on since March) then I would've taken Bea back to mum's but since I was home with her all day she stayed. So the local police advised to not walk dogs alone but we go out twice a day, a 10k run in the morning and a few miles walk in the evening. So obvs this scares me, but at the same time she is honestly a pain in the arse and gets upset if she doesn't go for a run and needs to be tired out so I'm kind of stuck at this point. Then along comes Elle. She knocked on the door and offered to come with us as she'd seen Bea and me in the evenings and everything kind of spiralled from there. I told her about my morning runs but she didn't really bite so I thought nothing of it. Then a few days later I bumped into her on a run, so she started joining us on those too.

A few months later and we are spending more and more time together everyday. It has now progressed to a run early morning, afternoon coffee, dinner most evenings and then the evening walk. It just seemed to happen without me really noticing. I didn't read into things that much as I don't want to get my hopes up and ruin anything until another neighbour commented about how much time we spend together and how "it's nice to see you young gals getting on" and winked. She actually winked at me. I asked her what she meant but she just laughed and said "you know what I mean". So now I'm looking back on things and wondering if she could like me too?

Here's some reasons why she might like me:

I went running along the same route at the same time for nearly 2 weeks before I happened to run into her a few days after I told her this?

I make her a coffee every afternoon (Elle is WFH) and take it over in her fave mug. She says I make good coffee but I'm pretty sure I saw a fancy coffee machine the first time I went round (it's not there now?).

Elle carried on running and walking with me even after Bea went home. I told her she was going back to mum's and she said well "I'll have to make another excuse to join you" and then we just carried on everyday.

She has tried really hard to bond with Bea. Bea is a very anxious dog and is scared of everyone except me and mum. Elle bought special treats to give her everyday and has been so amazing with her and never tried to force anything. When I asked her she said "it's important to me that she likes me and is comfortable". Bea actually fell asleep between us on the sofa yesterday and It just makes my heart skip a beat guys.

She invited me to the zoom quiz she does with her friends every fortnight or so and they were all like "oh so this is who we've heard so much about "

We realised we had become each other's support bubble. Elle asked if I was meeting anyone else and I said no, she said she was glad she had me all to herself (!!)

We gave each other quite personal xmas presents. Like, it actually made me tear up it meant so much to me. And she bought stuff for Bea!!

Reasons why she might not like me:

All the reasons above, but that she's just doing them because she's a fucking great person and we're friends?

It might sound dumb but idk I need your help guys. She is the just the most incredible person I have ever met and I really really like her but if she isn't gay or doesn't feel the same I don't want to lose her friendship as she has become such a huge part of my life. I genuinely have no experience with these kind of things as I went to quite a strict all girls school, so it's not as if there were any relationships around me as a teen and then I went to a very small uni (8 of us on my course). I guess another reason is that I've struggled with anxiety and depression for the past 10 years, as well as my weight and working on my self confidence, but I can say that right now I am the happiest and healthiest (both mentally and physically) I have ever been. I've only just really become comfortable with the fact that I'm gay and I have never really told anyone in real life, but I don't think people would be too surprised lol. I don't have any close friends as no one stuck around when I was really struggling with my MH a few years ago so I can't discuss this with anyone irl.

So I need your advice : how do I find out if she is gay? And no, I don't have the confidence to just ask!! What if she says no and I ruin everything? She has never mentioned anything about past relationships and I'm pretty tactless so not sure how I could naturally slip it into the convo. Like, "hey tell me have you ever had a girlfriend? Do you want one now?" Lol. And how can I make a move without really making a move so I don't ruin things??

tl;dr : Don't know whether my neighbour is gay and into me or is just really friendly. How can I make a move without ruining our friendship?

Edit: Ok guys, thank you so so much for all your support and encouragement. You've all given me a lot to think about. I think I'm going to casually slip some gay stuff into conversation and see how she reacts. Then bring up the neighbours comment like some of you suggested, seeing as tho the neighbour was heavily implying that we're gay. I'll do it tonight otherwise I'll talk myself out of it again. I will post an update to let you know what happens (eek). If you never hear from me again assume it went badly and I am consoling myself with cake and watching brokeback mountain in floods of tears.

Hi reddit, yes it's me the useless lesbian. First off I want to thank you all for your support, encouragement and advice - and the undeserved awards! I never expected this many of you to take the time to comment and that so many of you were rooting for us.

So I had the plan to drop these gay hints into convo like you guys suggested but honestly it all went out the window. Elle was kinda stressed friday after a shitty work zoom and just needed to vent so it wasnt the right time to start anything. Though I guess I must have been a bit off thanks to spending all day overthinking things on here, as Elle turned up Saturday morning rambling about stressing me out and apologised (!!) for ruining dinner. Obvs I said "what are you talking about you can talk to me about anything", and she said "anything?" and I said "anything" back. And guys the tension was unreal, staring at each other and hoping our lesbian mind reading powers would kick in.

Then there was some loud noise like a car backfiring or something and the moment went. So I went to make coffee and then Elle asked me why I was a bit quiet the night before and I said something about overthinking stuff and she said "what stuff" and idk you guys I wasnt prepared to be put on the spot my casual gay pop culture references were useless in this moment. My mind just went completely blank and I forgot every single thing you guys suggested and my heart was pounding and I just blurted out you know I like you, right?.

...And then she kissed me. Kissed me. We straight up just snogged in the kitchen and it was fucking great. So...you were right. You were all fucking right. She's gay, she likes me and has been trying to drop hints for nearly 5 months. sigh

We were both just too scared to make a move or ruin anything. Turns out she's been burned by straight girls in the past, so she's pretty wary and was hoping I'd straight up say I'm a lesbian so she'd know for sure - maybe the I'm a lesbian wall hanging would've been a good idea after all? Her friends have been helping her drop hints, she showed me the group chat and guys their suggestions ranged from flirting more to just turning up in a trenchcoat and nothing else lol. Also, the winking neighbour has been making comments to her as well, so shout out to her for trying to make this happen too.

So no cake and cry watching brokeback mountain, just 5 months of dating to catch up on. As for worrying about how our current schedule could be more date like during lockdown, you were right it's kinda irrelevant when you've essentially been dating the whole time. Though we never made it to our morning run yesterday, in fact we didn't leave the house at all, ha.

Thank you guys for giving me hope, even if all your suggestions completely disappeared in the moment. Maybe I'll show her the post later and ask if any of the suggestions would have worked.

tl;dr: she's gay, into me and I'm an idiot”

End image ID]

[youarejesting]

My fics in 2020

I am proud of this year. I worked hard until the end. 2020 was my year of finishing my stories. I have done so much and next year I want to do more. So keep an eye out Jester will take over.

Fandom(s): BTS, mentions of NCT, BLACKPINK, MONSTA X.

Networks:@btscreatorscorner @castlebangtan

Total Fics: 34

Total chapters: 404

Total Words: 565,587 Total vids and fake subs: 13 

Best and Worst Title?

Best: ‘Music is the spark that sets my soul on fire’ and its sequel ‘Dance is the celebration of the flame’

Worst: The Check Up

Best and Worst first line?

Best: Yoongi never understood why people would say one's blood is important. (Mania)

Worst: It all started in Mykonos. (Steal my sunshine)

Best and Worst ending line?

Best: “I got you this pretty dress” Seokjin grinned showing you the dress before hugging you and giving your forehead a kiss, “Let’s go burn it” (Me & the ghost in number 23)

Worst: But all you got was a sharp-toothed smile. (Pandemonium)

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than, or about what was expected?

I think I wrote what I expected, but I think I could have definitely finished more. Which is a bit upsetting.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year? 

I don’t have limitations to my writing so nothing is deemed unpredictable.

I am however generally surprised by my love of throwing in twists and also gore, I love gore.

What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

Wild space: it is strange because I am not particularly a fan of space and scifi, but I am really into writing world building things and having the ability to create a whole planet was amazing.

Most popular story? 

Tumblr:

Seoulmates

Femme

Quarantine

AO3: 

Quarantine

BTS365

Love Listening

Story most underappreciated by the universe? 

Tiny Tan: Limited Edition

Story that could have been better? 

All

Sexiest story?

 Love Listening

Saddest story? 

 Me & the ghost in number 23

Fluffiest story? 

Mall Santa

Most fun story? 

BTS Among Us 

Hardest story to write? 

Kisaeng

Daylight (i'm still writing it haha)

Easiest/most fun story to write? 

Light it up

What story took the longest?

365 lol took all year

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them? 

The biggest risk I took all year was posting my work. Living life on the edge.

What are your fic writing goals for next year? 

To double my writing

Fics that you wrote in 2020:

BTS365: 365 mini stories ✓ fluff, comedy, angst, romance, mature, action, adventure, smut. This has it all. Find your birthday and read your story. I wanted to give something unique to people.

Quarantine: 100 Chapters ✓ Something to accompany you while you are alone during quarantine and the pandemic. I was lonely and I figured so was everyone else. So, I decided to have BTS help us all go on an adventure that didn’t focus on the covid virus but on some other aspects around it.

Femme: 50 Chapters ✓ A futuristic world where women are rare. This was an indulgement fic that gave circumstances for the reader to be in a polyamorous relationship with the boys and live a glamorous life. Ending was a bit rushed.

Seoulmates: 29 (ongoing) Each member of BTS has a unique soulmate bond. I love the idea of this, another indulgent fic but you aren’t alone with the boys you have friends and you can play different parts.

Witching: 11 Chapter ✓ When your brother goes missing trying to find them gets you in a turf war between two covens. This fic was actually a way for me to vent for a project I wanted to complete but the project is so big that I wrote this instead.

Herb: 2 Parts ✓ mature, smut. Jimin claims he has everything you need, he doesn’t disappoint. I came across this idea within the 365’s and extended it because I liked the idea so much. Jimin has everything from casseroles to scarfes, cat food to cell phone chargers and the reader just wants to be loved and relieve stress.

Limited Edition: 10 Chapters ✓ BTS boys are sold as limited edition figurines. This was originally me venting about not having any merch and then became a daydream that what if the merch came alive. And the story was born.

BTS Among Us: 7 Chapters ✓ gore, action, adventure, scifi, angst, death of main characters. This one was so funny for me, I had my friend pick a colour and that was the imposter from the start. I was amazed that no one figured it out in the end. I want to play again soon.

Light it up: 13 Chapters ✓ fluff, comedy, angst, romance, mature, action, adventure. This was inspired by the dynamite trailer, I loved it so much that I began writing, I had no clear direction but as I wrote it started to shape and someone said it was like stranger things and I credited Stranger things cause it did indeed have a similar premise and I don’t want to pretend I came up with something that has already been done.

Love listening: 2 Parts ✓ SMUT, comedy, fluff, angst, romance, mature. This was inspired by a strange video that came up on the internet, I was searching for BTS misheard lyrics and the video I clicked had some funny ones but after that the next suggested video was bts moans and auto play was on and well this fic was born.

Me & the ghost in Number 23: 11 ✓ fluff, comedy, scifi, supernatural, romance, angst, mature, smut, death of main character. This was inspired by many of the ghost text au’s I had read but many of them were like the show oh my ghost where the main ghost character isn’t actually dead just in a coma and I thought the opposite way instead of them waking up, I wanted things to shape the other way. This one was so difficult to write and I cried a lot due to the loneliness Jimin was facing and the mourning from Yoongi.

Hope in the sheets: 4 chapters (so far) fluff, comedy, smut, adventure, slice of life, romance, angst, mature, growing up. This one is a fic that targets my childish desires. I have grown up so much and this fic is a visual representation of that. 

Asks: 77 (ongoing) where the bts boys answer the readers questions and concerns.

Reactions: 15 (ongoing) 

Prompts: 18 (ongoing)

One shots:

Kisaeng: This was a reverse fic project, the idea that instead of Mulan pretending to be a man and going off to war, it was BTS dressing as women to stay home from war. I loved writing about fictional history. 

Steal my Sunshine: This was a summer project. I wanted to write something that felt like a very bad spy movie, like Mellissa Mccarthy and Mr Bean-esque. I formed this one and it made me laugh the whole time writing it.

Blue Side: This was talking to myself about being sad and admitting that I could be sad but I should learn to split the happy and sad into two worlds and limit my time in them both, it was about equal balance and finding the good in the sad and the sad in the good. I don’t know how hard to explain.

Temptation: I had fun writing but it is pure SMUT. not even good SMUT.

Pandemonium: This was really fun. The premise is dark and the ending is left ambiguous, in the original, Namjoon kills the reader but I left it open so you can imagine them continuing their relationship or not.

Mall santa: A fluffy christmas piece. A secret santa I wrote that I felt needed to be soft and quirky and have just all the hallmark moments.

Mad: This one is finished, but I have it published privately at the moment waiting to unveil it as it is well SMUTTY. I don’t know what it is about Taehyung but he is always so dark and I guess that's what people find appealing. I had this idea from a 365prompt and well I had to write it.

One wish: This was a birthday fic that I wrote for a friend. I wanted people to read it on their birthdays or imagine their birthdays and themselves in this position if they made the same wish.

The Check Up: I wrote for this for a friend going through a personal procedure, they were nervous so I took their bias and made something I hoped they could think about while in the procedure and I even explained the steps and what might happen over the next few days hoping the whole thing wouldn’t seem as scary because technically her mind had already been through it when reading the story.

Sparks of the heart: Robots developing human feeling. It was a cute universe and Yoongi’s story will be a series within 2021.

Dance machine 3000

Digital Art

Electronic Tonic

Circuit chef

Random Access Memory

Kookies Trojans and Malware

Feel Better: Another fic written for a author who was sick, I wanted them to endulge in some escapism whilst they were sick.

Music is the spark that sets my soul on fire & Dance is the celebration of the flame: These two were requests that I loved dearly.

Horror movies: Cheesy damsel in distress meets boys will be boys.

I will wait (somesay): This song wouldn’t get out of my head so I had to write it.

Wild Space: When I wanted to write a hybrid AU but I already have a hybrid AU being edited. So hybrid werewolves meets space.

The Bomb: This one is compete and ready to post I had to talk myself out of writing this as a series but I love the story line. I love the end.

Lost Boys: This has been stuck in my head since i had a dream about it and I finally wrote it into the new year. I hope you like it.

Mania: Not my favourite work, love ABO universe I just haven’t got an actually story line so it is on hold.

Incaceration: The story that never was, I really need to get around to this one.

Tagging: @moccahobi I know you wanted to tag me... but I am finished so I am tagging you.

[violetsystems]

#personal

This week has had its up and downs.  The downs seem to be a symptom of the real world these days.  I don’t get very much validation at all that I’m ever on the right track.  At least it would appear that way.  It’s hard to know sometimes how to proceed in life when nobody encourages you.  Being a leader grows out of this I’ve found.  You have to push ahead and do the things you feel deep down.  Sometimes if you are unfocused those things are twisted and destructive.  Sometimes when you have your shit together, it’s banal and routine.  But all validation gives you most of the time is the calm to proceed into the unknown.  Part of my job at work is to see feedback scores of the work down by the people I manage.  I am blessed with a lot of talented people on my team.  I see clear indicators of their performance in numbers.  I tend to fade into the background all the time.  There’s never any clear indication that I even exist sometimes.  This has its ups and downs for sure.  But I find this continues outside of work.  I was on the phone with my landlord because there was a building wide sewage problem.  It turns out somebody flushed something down the toilet they shouldn’t have.  After listening to my landlord vent about what they might do if it happens again, they paused.  It was the first time I’ve ever been called a good tenant.  It wasn’t gushing or fake.  It was just an acknowledgement.  Some sort of validation that I’m at least ok with the space that I occupy.  This city has a habit of projecting you need a right to share the air we collectively breathe sometimes.  And it never has the guts to say it to your face.  I find real validation is sometimes painfully awkward.  It’s a vulnerable state in which someone acknowledges you stand apart from the bullshit.  “Don’t fuck it up” you can hear them say.  People have a hard time trusting people.  And then again people would rather take risks than be alone in their thoughts and decisions.  I’m an only child.  Being alone has always been a reflex for me.  All the way up to the conversations I have with myself out loud.  They’re similar to conversations I write on the internet.  Some people read them. Other people make fun of them.  Some people glaze over the weekly wall of text.  Other people know I’m sharing my thoughts like a journal with people I care about.  That I care enough to explain myself instead of hiding it from the world.  An open book to a certain extent that nobody wants to read.  The cover is all they need to know.  People whisper about me behind my back like I’m some ancient tome.  The necronomicon most likely.  To strangers I’m a thug or a witch.  No one ever tells me how they really feel about me.  I’m expected to read into all of  it like an extreme psyops campaign in a William Gibson book.  Then again nobody ever asks me questions.  When the veil truly cracks every once and awhile I feel people open up just a little.  Show me how they really feel about me.  It’s not written on a deed or certificate.  I can’t wave it around like a trophy.  But it’s a knowing for sure.  Knowing I’ll be ok despite everything.  Knowing I have a little bit of stability that I believe in.  Everybody else doesn’t even believe I exist much less care.  When you don’t score on the meter at all do you even matter?  

Self love is a tough thing.  Self love requires self validation and self confidence.  If you really love yourself you will try to be honest with yourself.  It’s hard to strike the balance between fairness and discipline for some people.  I had some rough years before these.  People have probably read about them.  The last three years haven’t been rough in the same ways.  I’ve been rebuilding myself slowly into a different person.  One that maybe resembles the person I was ten years ago minus the soul searching.  My head is shaved again.  I’m far more in shape than I have ever been.  I’m also way older.  There’s realities to be fair of who I am that I face every day.  And then there’s the realities people place on me without my consent.  What people think I should be.  What people think I am good for.  What people think matters to me or will work out in my best interest without telling me.  There’s a lot of information I’ve accrued over the years by almost making some horrible mistakes.  I bounced back mostly because I’ve always been fairly cautious and measured.  I’m also notoriously hard on myself.  Also extremely patient with others for the record.  I’ve humored so much in the last couple of years its mind numbing.  But knowing when you don’t have the luxury to heal from all the hurt is part of that self love.  And my withdrawal from a lot of things has mostly been about identifying toxic situations.  They might not be toxic for other people.  Society these days normalizes some horrible shit.  It only gets worse.  It never rewards you for being a good person.  I know this because I can’t be anything but a good person.  And I’ve largely become this shadow person who everybody is scared to admit is genuine and a really nice person.  So every once and awhile when your landlord confirms that you are valued as a tenant it cracks.  I walk around this city largely ignored and judged like everybody else.  And then here and there the Easter eggs appear. There’s so subtle these days that reading too far into them will drive you crazy.  What does it all mean?  I’m such a highly valued and loved person but nobody can say it to my face.  They have to flash it like an ad and make me read into everything.  Do I really matter?  Am I good enough to be loved by another person?  Maybe they’re just fucking with me?  Maybe it’s all some sick joke.  Maybe I care and maybe I don’t.  Maybe none of it really matters because nobody loves me how I should be loved?  Other than me.  Which is a crossroads you need to get to in order to be loved.  You have to love yourself enough to know the direction you want to move forward towards.  What’s the right course of action.  Will I miss out on large portions of my life.  I can look back five to ten years now and shake my head in disbelief.  All the things I done don’t matter to anyone.  They care more about catching a cold or being seen talking to the wrong person.  It can make a person think they’re no good.  And I will tell you if you believe this about yourself then you have already lost.  You do matter despite being invisible.  Only you can know how much.  And only you can make yourself better.  And the world needs that most right now even if it won’t admit it.

If I am to survive in the post truth wasteland of America I need to love myself. And sometimes decisions I make to distance myself have very real world intelligence attached.  People often forget what clip I have been living my life at.  To remind people intimidates them.  “Who the fuck do you think you are?”  I’ve challenged a lot fo people.  I confront things often.  I don’t often push or break things.  I just walk away when they’re not working.  I float through walls and jump over boundaries.  And then I wall myself off behind closed doors that I rent without an agreement.  I live by the skin of my teeth with no love or comfort other than feral animals I shelter.  I’m some walking myth to people who is already half dead.  Phased in between the real and the astral like some fallen angel.  And then there’s the actual me following a bleak cycle week after week.  A lot of this is just the reality of Chicago winter.  I’ve survived an ungodly amount of winters out here alone.  I know the drill.  Just like I know how to spot a cop.  It’s pretty easy when they start shopping at the same stores as you.  Whatever accountability I live with is a curse.  But I see things for how they really are.  The truth as it appears to me isn’t always in my favor. And leading sometimes becomes more about accepting the value of safety in your decisions.  I lead a pretty boring life at times.  And yet I can’t avoid the shadows.  I don’t know what I mean to some people.  I don’t know that I care anymore.  I dream that I mean something more to others.  There are people I believe to understand that.  That’s a validation that comes from trust.  Trusting people comes through faith.  Having faith in the world after all I have been through is hard.  Love isn’t easy either.  But it is the hardest to love yourself.  Too little and you will wither and die.  Too much and you will do the same probably.  Balance seems like nothing.  Flows like water.  Doesn’t really have a score attached to it.  Tell me how I am doing?  I fill out feedback scores all the time for people when I shop.  I had a really nice interaction with the sportswear store copping this sweatshirt.  Sometimes knowing what real encouragement looks like comes from nurturing that in yourself.  If you know how to love yourself in an honest way maybe you can nurture honest and genuine reactions and emotions from others.  That’s a lot about knowing how to read people.  But it comes from listening to your heart.  My heart these days tells me nothing has changed.  I’m still in the same apartment as I’ve ever been.  I’m still going to take a ride on my bike and vote in Chinatown.  And I still really love and care about you.  I can’t tell you how much.  Can’t put a score on it.  Can’t even attach a name to it for public record.  But just remember it matters to me.  So much so that I’m not going to change a thing about it.  Besides voting for Bernie.  <3 Tim 

[malachitelibrary]

Master FAQ (Post version for mobile)

This will also be tagged as #FAQ so it is always available for mobile users. This includes every single FAQ question ever that I have. Read this post before sending in any questions, as I will not respond if it is answered here. 

Can I ask you a question? 

Maybe. Did you read the ENTIRE FAQ first? 

But I don’t have time/energy to read the entire FAQ that you used your free time/energy to write and provided for free on tumblr!

Then I don’t have time to help you. 

Do you have a masterpost with all of your resources?

Yes, right here.

Uhmmmm a lot of this sounds fake :/

>me

>caring about what complete strangers on the internet think

>kek.jpg

Do you announce when your readings are open again, and where?

I make a post announcing when they are back open again, and additionally update my services page. These are generally found in the tag #update or #status.

Is (X magic thing) safe?

Nothing is ever truly safe. Though you can reduce potential troubles by being cautious, open-minded, and by using your brain.

How can I improve X magic skill/How do I git gud?

Do it. Do it a lot, at least 30 times. Yes, counting does help. While aid such as meditation, enchantments, etc may make skills easier to learn, they still don't replace actually doing the work. Also, read up on the concept of deliberate practice, and try to use it.

Ah, you know a (insert species name)/have a (insert species name) companion! Does that mean you know (insert specific name like Malek, Arghradan, etc)?

No?? That would be like going "Hey you're a human?? Do you know someone named Azir?" Just because I know one (1) spirit doesn't mean I or my spirit knows every single member of their species.

Can I rant/vent to you?

Are you someone that has spoken with me regularly several times over the course of at least a few weeks, and are therefore a friend I have a personal connection with?

>If YES, go ahead.

>If NO, don’t. Why are you trying to rant to a total stranger on the internet????? I am not your friend nor your therapist. It would be far more in your benefit if you made friends you could rant to or saw a therapist about what’s bothering you. 

I had a weird dream! (Insert long story). What does it mean?

Dreams and symbolism in them are highly, highly personal. There is no way for me to know what certain symbols mean to you, you must decide for yourself. You can use Google for help though.

I think I’m seeing signs! (Insert long story) Do you think it’s a sign? And what does it mean?

Signs are also highly personal. There is no way for me to know what a sign means to you. Use your own discernment in determining if something is a sign.

This spirit was scary! Is it a demon (as in the actual spirit species demon and not demon as in ‘evil spirit’)?

“This spirit was scary/malicious/hurt my feelings” is not a legitimate reason to jump to the conclusion that the spirit you encountered is of the demonic species.

I’m having issues with a malicious spirit. (Insert long story). What should I do? 

Banish, cleanse and protect. The answer will always boil down to this. 

I do not have beginner resources on my blog (besides the FAQ) so you will have to look elsewhere for those. There are many beginner-friendly blogs on tumblr but I am not one of them. 

What blogs do you recommend for beginners/what blogs are beginner-friendly, then?

spiritconnect, spiritvexer, urbanspellcraft, delicate-flower-here, stormbornwitch (weather/storm magic), nightkunoichi (dragons and dragon magic), mothmaam (sea and general magic), hecaatia, orriculum, blackbearmagic

What are some blogs with intermediate/advanced content?

Yours truly ;Vc, duskenpath, daemonwitch, hecaatia, cawofthewitch, baalat-ov, tinyrosemarysparrows

Why don’t you write beginner posts??

I don’t fucking want to.

I don’t want like writing unoriginal shit that has been regurgitated by everyone else.

They’re literally e v e r y w h e r e, like 99% of magic blogs are beginner oriented/friendly, and if someone complains that they have trouble finding beginner posts then that means they really aren’t looking hard enough

As the about says, this blog is not oriented towards beginners

What does UPG/SPG/VPG mean?

UPG: “Unverified Personal Gnosis”. Magical knowledge of a single person with little to no backing in widely accepted lore considered cannon. Very common for entities that are unrecorded in lore, such as Lowborn Demons.

SPG: “Shared Personal Gnosis”: Magical knowledge that is shared between many people, but still has no backing in widely accepted lore. Again, common for unrecorded entities.

VPG: “Verified Personal Gnosis”: Magical knowledge that is shared but also backed time and time again in lore. These are the closest things to “truth” you will get.  Example: Juno is a Roman Goddess who ruled over mothers, marriage, and money of the state. Example 2: European fae usually have bad reactions to metal.

Note 1: Some people use “gnosis” as meaning SOOOOPER special knowledge that fundamentally changes your entire craft/perception. Others mean it as general magical knowledge, like I did above.  

Note 2:  Just because something is in a book doesn’t mean it’s automatically verified. Most books are simply UPG/SPG that someone wrote down. Time + very high amounts of SPG are what lead to something becoming VPG.

Note 3: Just because something is UPG, doesn’t mean it’s inherently false.

How do I get started in (magic, spirit work, energy work, witchcraft, etc)?

Research, find out what you like, then do it to find out if you like it. If you like it, keep doing it. I’m not going to answer broad questions like this because the answer will always be the same.

What do you use for bibliomancy/random quotes divination?

I use this.

How did you remember your past lives?

I remembered by doing a gigantic past life reading (about 30 cards), meditating on them a bit, and then doing activities similar to the ones in my memories. Because one past life played video games, playing video games in this life helped bring up a ton of memories. I call “doing things similar to things in that life” the “association” method.

What should you do with food offerings to spirits? Do I have to wait for it to spoil before I can dispose of the offering?

Usually just let it sit around for 5-20 minutes, as long as its enough time for the spirit to eat the energies. You definitely don’t have to wait for it to spoil.

Some people dump it onto the dirt/bury it (called a libation I believe?), some eat it (some spirits are okay with that and others are not tho, so u best ask), some just throw it out.

Can you tell me about/do you know anything about (insert demon name)?

Unless they are Prince Gaap or Duke Crocell, assume that I know very little about them. If you want to ask about Gaap or Crocell, please use their names and not their numbers.

If they aren’t Gaap/Crocell, I don’t know anything off of the top of my head as I have never worked with them. I recommend reading excerpts from:

The Pseudomonarchia Daemonum by Johann Weyer

Lesser Key of Solomon

Dictionnaire Infernal  

From the Luciferian Goetia by Michael Ford (2007)

From Daemonolatry Goetia by S. Connolly (2010)

The first three can be found online for free rather easily and are considered “free” sources as far as I know since they’re old texts. The last two you can find on amazon; I do not recommend pirating modern books because 1) you can’t complain how few good magical books there are and then not support the authors, 2) book curses.

You are still free to send in questions like this, however, expect this passage Copy+Pasted maybe with some recommendations of other sources.

What's a book curse?

A book that is cursed, usually to prevent plagiarism or the wrong people/people not given permission from reading it.

Do you work with Lucifer/can you tell me about Lucifer/etc?

No I do not work with Lucifer, and I do not have any plans to. Please do not ask me about Lucifer as I do not work with them.

Is god real/Do they really judge people/other god related questions?

That is something you should answer for yourself.

My personal take:

There are 2394832094839204 angels saying god is real so yeah there might be someone up there.

Saying you will go to hell is fearmongering that is common in many religions

If everyone who didn’t believe in god went to hell, most of this earth’s previous population would be there, and all spirits unrelated to god (such as most fae, most werewolves etc) would also be there.

Do not ask me questions related to god, I am no expert, I do not work with or follow him. Questions I deem too relevant to this will just be deleted.

Are all demons evil?

Are all humans evil? Are all angels good?

How do I practice magic secretly/in my own house without being found out?

I refuse to give advice on this since it’s illegal to give “religious advice” to minors without parental permission in the United States. Sorry, since I use this blog to make money on the side a bit, I would rather not have ways for potential lawsuits open. 

What demons are good for beginners?

Lowborns, because for the most part they are exactly like us but even nicer in their daily lives. Other than that there is no way to gauge what is good for a “beginner”, as “beginners” vary a lot in what they feel ready for/what they think they may be able to handle.

However, I advise against Goetics (demons from the Ars Goetia/Lesser Key of Solomon) as many have a bad reputation for becoming manipulative/abusive, as in A MUCH HIGHER RATE THAN WITH ANY OTHER KIND OF ENTITIES. Also, Gaap and Crocell have straight up told me that they do not enjoy beginners.

How do I start work with demons?

1) Pick what kind of demon you want to work with, there’s tons of companion shops who can match you with safER ones. If you reaallly want to work with Hellborns that badly, try for hellborns that live in the above-ground version of Hell: the above-ground Hell is much, MUCH nicer than the underground portions (where many of the Goetic demons reside) . MoonSpiritBoutique is the only companion shop I can recommend and still have a clean conscience.

2) talk to them and chill with them

What other blogs do you recommend for those looking to work with demons?

daemonwitch is super cool, cloversinthecornfield , and serraphire also know a bit!

What blogs do you recommend on working with angels?

seraphickalmagick (the person has moved blogs, but their old informational posts are still up!), serapphire, waywardfrog, have a few informational posts!

I do not know if the following have info posts but: @baalat-ov has a few posts about them from a variety of perspectives, @seraphsweetie , @spiritadvice, @void-and-stardust , @melancholyprophet,  @angelusmisericordiae, and @nobodyandheartless

@atheliel, @confusedsmolangel, @dreamingofangelicflight, @azriaphale, @zxdkiel are some angel kin I’ve seen floating around, and @quietdawnflock is an angelic group chat I have heard of.

Do you accept reading swaps, versus paying?

I accept reading swaps, but not from those who consider themselves a beginner on their tool/not confident of their accuracy. Quality for quality.

Protection FAQ

Why is magic protection so highly recommended for magic users? What is the point? And what can they realistically do for you?

It can help protect you if a spell you cast backfires for any reason.

It can help protect you from other magic-users’ curses.

It can help protect you from spirits, which notice people who use magic much more than non-magic people.

It can help protect you from mundane issues, such as dissuade car crashes, creeps, etc.

Note that I say HELP protect because while protection magic can decrease the likeliness of unwanted scenarios, it is almost never a 100% guarantee for safety.

When do I need to protect?

It is HIGHLY recommended to have protections at all times, no matter what sort of magical work you are doing. Protection magic rarely if ever backfires, and can protect you from your own spells backfiring and other things.

For spirit work, you ALWAYS need to have protections up. Because of course, bad spirits, yadda yadda.

For energy work (especially healing), you ALWAYS need to have protections up. Because maybe a person’s energy is toxic/incompatible to you for whatever reason. Also someone you’re healing may be carrying a parasite, which can just jump from the person you are healing to you, if you do not have protections.

For any sort of magical work, it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. As again, it protects from others’ curses, and can protect you from your own spells backfiring.

What exactly am I protecting? (house/self/other) What can I protect/protect against?

You could attempt to protect everything and anything, against anything and everything. However, casting a protection spell for everyone is just not realistic.

Some common things to protect are (NOT LIMITED TO THIS LIST):

Yourself (Against magical harm, against physical danger,against illness)

Your home (Against robbery, against fires/other damage)

Your pets (against physical/magical harm)

Your car (against car crashes, against your own clumsiness)

What is a ward? What is shielding?

I define a ward as a protective wall of energy. It can be over your house, over a room, anything, including yourself. Though some people call wards on their person “shielding”.

How do I set up magic protections? (Including wards).

How to make a ward through visualization: Imagine a protective wall of energy made out of whatever elements you want. So fire, water, void, whatever.

How to make a ward/other magical protections with materials:

1. Light the incense/candle, lay the satchet of herbs out, whatever

2. Say something/hold a thought in your mind that hints at protective intent. Example: As I light this candle, it forms a protective ring around me/my space.

3. You are protected.

More Detail: What are wards and how do you make them? by @spiritvexer

How to make protections with sigils:

1. Draw something that symbolizes protection to you.

2. Charge it.

3. You are protected.

What resources do YOU have on magical protections/staying safe magically?

Ward Types and Components

Top Ward Mistakes I

Top Ward Mistakes II

How to Identify and Deal With an Unruly Spirit

Others’ resources on magical protections?

NOT my resources, all resources have been credited .

Harry Potter Inspired Ward Incantations by @diasdreams​

What are wards and how do you make them? by @spiritvexer

What are the best ways to protect yourself when trying to communicate with spirits?  @spiritvexer​

If you want your ORIGINAL protection post featured in this FAQ, just send it to me and I can add it in!

So I’ve come across something that got through my best wards…

Banish it.

Is relying on banishment ok if I don’t want to protect?

I mean, I guess. You’re probably going to do a LOT of banishing though, since anything can waltz right in. Might be a good way to practice for the more daring, but not recommended.

I cannot find a protection spell that works for my situation.

Write your own, and/or keep looking.

I have heard protection can keep out good spirits, is that true?

It can be true, if your protections are not selective enough. Selectivity is the ability of a protection to differentiate between good and bad; so you must create a ward with decent selectivity. To do this, I recommend having a list of EVERYTHING that you specifically allow through your wards, and everything you can think of that you do not want coming through your wards. Then, create your wards with that list in mind.

This will not be an issue for wards/other protections with good selectivity.

I don’t want to protect because I…

Don’t even ask that.

When do I know it’s time to upgrade my protections?

If, DESPITE your protections:

entities are breaking in often

You are hit by curses/other mal-intent

When healing others, you keep picking up their negative energy/parasites

You feel like it.

You want to.

Note that the reasons to upgrade your protections are not limited to this list.

How do I protect an apartment when I have no access to land to bury a witch jar?

Keep the jar in your house. You do not need to bury a jar to protect your living space.

ALSO, burying a jar is LITTERING. Bury it in something biodegradable instead, like a coconut, big leaf for example. Make sure what is in the coconut/leaf/etc is biodegradable as well.

This will be updated every once in a while maybe. Again, please check this FAQ before you ask me any questions concerning this, please ^-^ I won’t respond if the question is already answered here.

Energy Work FAQ:

What does energy feel like?

It just…feels like energy. Energy, in a way, is a catch-all term. There really isn’t a way to describe the whole of energy; sure, you can describe parts of it, like the texture, color, or scent.

Does everything have energy? Even inanimate things like paper, crystal?

Yes everything has energy- science says so too because you know, potential and kinetic energy- though that’s not the only parts of energy you can sense.

Are there any energies that are better for beginners to start with while sensing?

I wouldn’t say so, I believe it’s best to do it wherever and whenever you can. There’s no place or energies that are better than any other to sense

How do I sense energy?

This is the tl;dr version but honestly there is not much more to sensing energy than this. It is genuinely simple

1. Ask yourself, “What does the energy of (insert thing here) feel like?”

2. Use your gut/intuition and pay attention to whatever comes to mind.

3. Practice.

How do I send energy?

This is the tl;dr version but honestly there is not much more to sending energy than this. It is genuinely simple. You do not need to be able to see energy with your physical eyes or third eye to be able to send energy.

1. Focus on your target or a representation of your target.

2. Imagine energy flowing from you/your energy source to your target. You do not need to be able to see energy with your physical eyes or third eye to be able to send energy.

Do I need to see energy with my physical eyes or third eye to be able to sense or send energy?

You do not need to be able to see energy with your physical eyes or third eye to be able to send or sense energy.

What kind of exercises can I do to strengthen my energy sensing skills? How can I practice?

Basically just try to sense energy everywhere; try to feel the energy of a certain object, try to feel the energy of a certain room. Then describe it; and try to be specific in your descriptions. At first you might just be like “the room feels nice”, but as you keep trying to grind for detail it will turn into “the room feels nice because of the plant energies and generally calm and warm emotions of the owner of this bedroom”. So basically just try and practice anywhere, everywhere! You don’t need any specific tools/items to do this which is why u can practice anywhere.

But how do I know I’m right? How can I verify that’s what the actual energies are and not something I’m just thinking is there because I want it to be?

Your gut, practice, and possibly input by other people/spirits. There’s no way to scientifically/empirically verify that whatever you sensed was right. You’re just going to have to be confident in yourself.

What is grounding? When should I ground? And how do I ground?

Grounding is an energetic exercise that can help balance and cleanse your own energies. This is only one version of “grounding”; grounding is sometimes used as a catch-all term to bring yourself back to reality, out of magical feelings. You can ground before/after a magical working, and whenever you want.

1. Sit or lie down somewhere

2. Imagine roots extending from your back down into the ground

3. Imagine those roots absorbing energy from the ground and giving it to you, and/or have a second root branch that gives your negative/unnecessary energy back to the earth.

4. Do as long as you want.

A few Not-Energetic Exercise forms of grounding, to bring you back to reality, are:

Eating food

Going for a walk outside

Playing video games

Talking to others about mundane topics

It is not limited to these few, these are just a few examples. Anything where yu are focusing on the mundane/physical reality an be considered the not-energetic exercise form of grounding.

What is centering? When should I center? How do I center?

Centering is the act of gathering your lost/scattered energy. It can also be used to raise/store energy for a magical working. Center whenever you want and/or before a magical working.

1. Focus on yourself

2. Imagine glowing bits of your lost/scattered energy flowing back into yourself.

HEALING FAQ:

Can healing magic replace going to the doctor/psychiatrist?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NO. No. Absolutely not. The origins/cause of physical/mental issues are mundane 99.9999% of the time, and thus should be treated with mundane treatments first. Even if you believe the cause is spiritual/magical in nature, it could never hurt to get yourself checked out through a mundane method.

Do I need to be born with the ability to heal?

No??? Not at all.

Do you have to have a certain personality to be able to heal?

Not at all, no.

Can some people heal easier than others?

Yes, the ones that practice healing more will have an easier time performing healings.

How do I become a healer?

1. Want to heal stuff.

2. Go cast healing spells/do healing energy work.

How long do I have to practice healing before I can consider myself a healer?

There is no minimum length of time you have to practice healing. You could call yourself a healer as soon as you cast your first healing spell. In my opinion, it is more about the intent/willingness to heal others that makes you a healer, than the length of time.

Can I do healings on animals?

Yep!

Can I do healings on myself?

Yes, absolutely. When you get a bruise, does someone have to swoop in and heal it? No, your body repairs itself. Same applies to magic; you are perfectly capable of healing yourself magically.

Is it safe to try healing someone else?

Yes, as long as use your own caution, common sense, and communicate with the healing recipient, it will be. For minimum safety guidelines I suggest you ward and cleanse beforehand (yourself and the person you are healing/have them cleanse themself), and cleanse yourself again afterwards.

Can you heal spirits/entities?

Yes, though energy bodies will vary more than on Earth, so you will have to be more cautious.

Will it be alright to be a healer if I have issues myself?

As long as those issues don’t interfere with the actual sending of healing energy, and you cleanse yourself before and afterwards and ward , you should be fine.

What resources do you have on healing/healing-related energy work?

Energy Work FAQ

Jelly’s Energy System Notes: Introduction

Types of Energetic Blockages/Anomalies

Healing: Communicating With Points

How to Read an Energy System

Types of Energy Reading

Detecting and Dealing with Energy Parasites

What types of energies are used in healing?

You can use whatever energies you want. Some people use white light, others like one of the four traditional elements (water, earth, fire, air); all types of energies can be used for healing. However, I recommend asking the recipient what types of energies work best with them, and what energies do not , or harm them. Energies that work best with the recipient are absorbed more easily and thus can usually heal more effectively. Energies that they do not work well with, however, can actually do harm, thus defeating the point of the healing.

What preparations should be done before healing?

These are not 100% necessary, but I highly recommend them for maximum safety: Cleanse whomever you’re cleaning/have them cleanse themself, cleanse yourself, ward yourself/your connections/link against possible parasites/the recipient’s negative energy. You may also want to gather energy, possibly through grounding and/or centering beforehand. Again, none of these are strict requirements but everything in the first sentence is highly recommended for maximum safety and ease of healing process.

How can you find beings to practice healing on?

Ask your friends/people you know well

Offer your healing services on tumblr. And do ask that people leave reviews, so that you are able to learn.

Ask your spirit guides/guardians/companions if you could practice healing on them.

Heal yourself.

What are some simple ways to practice healing?

Heal yourself after a hard day at work/school.

Heal yourself after watching a show/movie or reading a book that had a sad scene and made you cry.

Do a healing on yourself at regular intervals, maybe once a week, or once a month.

How can I get better at healing?

Practice, actually do the healing.

Ask your spirits/entities/guides/guardians if they could help teach you healing.

Ask people you know that do healing, for tips on how to git gud at healing.

Ask for feedback/reviews when you perform healings.

What healers do you know on tumblr?

I know @duskenpath and @spiritvexer offer healing services, however check if their services are open before asking them for a healing.

There is also myself, though I do not heal for free.

Anyone who would like to get the word out about their healing services is free to IM me so I can edit them in!

What do you know about Reiki?

I know that it is a type of healing energy work, using the energy of the Universe. It was founded by Usui, and you need an attunement to be able to send reiki energy. I do not use Reiki so I am no expert on it, however Duskenpath has resources on it and offers reiki healing (though check that her healing services are open first).

Can healing magic replace going to the doctor/psychiatrist?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NO. No. Absolutely not. The origins/cause of physical/mental issues are mundane 99.9999% of the time, and thus should be treated with mundane treatments first. Even if you believe the cause is spiritual/magical in nature, it could never hurt to get yourself checked out through a mundane method.

How does healing physical ailments versus mental versus emotional ailments work?

Physical ailments: The person should REALLY REALLY go to the doctor first. If the origin is mundane in nature, healing magic will be absolutely ineffective unless the person is already receiving physical treatment for their physical issue. For physical ailments, healing magic can do nothing but cover up the symptoms until the person receives mundane treatment for their mundane physical issue.

Physical ailments are tied to the physical body first and foremost, and the energetic system second, IF they actually show up in the energetic system. That’s right- a physical ailment might not even show up in someone’s energy system because of that fact. This is why I stress so, so hard to go to the doctor for physical ailments.

While miracles are possible, they are few and far between, hence the term, “miracles”. If you want to use magic for physical healing, rather than trying to put healing energies on the physical wound, it would be more effective to cast spells that encourage going to the doctor, such as summoning a trip to the doctor, or a spell to make the trip to the doc smoother/more effective. Of course, be sure to actually schedule an appointment and go.

Mental: Same as above, please go to the doctor/psychiatrist first if the issue is severe. Many mental illnesses are due to chemical imbalances in the brain, and thus cannot be effectively treated with magic alone.

Emotional: Again if your issue is severe, please please go to a doctor/psychiatrist first. However, being slightly more often non-physical in origin, these issues are more likely to show up in someone’s energetic system. An emotional issue can show up in nearly all points or energetic flowpaths.

Astrally, is it possible to use healing to replace lost limbs?

Yes, though that is rather advanced healing magic, and will take some time if you want to learn healing that far.

Astral FAQ

These are Frequently Asked Questions I get about astral. Please check this guide before asking me questions concerning astralling! This will be updated regularly, as I receive more questions.

What is the astral?

Note that this is MY definition: I consider the astral to be absolutely everything; our plane of existence, spirits’ planes of existence, pop culture realms, etc. The astral is everywhere and everything.

How does astral travel work?

When you travel, a small portion of your consciousness leaves your body.

This consciousness manifests as its own body on the astral, or it could “awaken” in an astral body you already have. In travel, you do not see/hear/feel/think as clearly as you do during projection, simply because only a portion of your consciousness has left your body.

What is astral travel versus astral projection versus OBE?

Note, again, these are MY definitions:

In astral travel, a PORTION of your consciousness leaves your body and is able to explore other realms.

In Astral Projection, nearly your entire consciousness leaves your body. Astral projection is much harder to achieve than travel. This is the “gold standard” of astral travel, where you see/hear/feel/think with complete or almost complete clarity.

In an OBE, Out-of-Body-Experience, your consciousness FULLY leave your body. As of right now, I do not believe this is possible without a near-death experience, or actual death.

What are some ways to astral travel?

Meditate.

Guided meditations

Trance

Have a spirit you know and trust “pull” you into the astral.

(Visualization) Imagine a door. Imagine/focus on what is on the other side of the door. Walk through it.

(Visualization) Imagine an X (pool, mirror, etc). Imagine/focus on what is on the other side of X. Walk through it.

Lucid Dreaming

“Splitting”: Imagine a copy of yourself hovering above you. Notice your consciousness in your own body, then “jump” your consciousness into that copy of yourself floating above you. Proceed to go where you want.  

What are some ways to astral project?

Just….keep practicing astral travel, maybe try new methods. I highly recommend reading Astral Dynamics by Robert Bruce, I have literally NEVER EVER found a more comprehensive, extremely informative, and yet still beginner-friendly and not overly complex guide to astral travel/projection.

Differentiating “true astral” from imagination?

True Astral:

will always have external interactions that are not in your own head; entities talking/living their own lives whether your imagination/consciousness directs them to or not. Entities moving independently of your will.

Spirits (good or bad) being able to follow you back home, to your physical body and interact with you there

Unexpected/Unpredictable occurrences happen

You get injured and it may hurt your astral body and maybe feel it a little physically too. Injury damages your magical abilities/astral abilities

Your astral body can die and you won’t be able to access “true astral” until you regenerate.

You can meet other humans consciously. As in, you can text your friend and meetup on the astral together, and talk about it IRL afterwards.

Imagination:

You are in full control of everything.

What you expect to happen, will happen

Entities are like puppets or dolls; they don’t move around unless you imagine them doing so, and if/when they interact with you, it’s things you expected them to say

You will not tire, or will tire extremely slowly.

You die/get extremely hurt and nothing happens. You can regenerate at will/heal whenever and wherever you want.

You talk to your friend, then you talk to them later IRL and they have no idea what you talked about.

Why do people always imagine common fantasy stuff when astralling? Don’t you think astral and what happens there is just your imagination and happens in your head? I mean strangely all the people who talk about astral experiences describe common fantasy stuff. I’d say if astral was real it would contain a lot of stuff people can’t even imagine, and yet everyone describes dragons, elfs, etc, that which their mind already knows, nothing out of ordinary. Isn’t this suspicious?

One reason people generally imagine common fantasy is stuff is because that’s what most people care about, and thus go to. It’s hard to care about a species that humanity has never even encountered before, isn’t it? Also, how can you visit the realm of something you have never even heard of/can’t imagine before? Astral travel needs knowledge of where you will go to, so it’s pretty hard (and probably super dangerous) to just say “take me somewhere beyond my imagination.”

There’s also the problem of perception: during astralling, the mind usually replaces things you don’t know with things you do know of, to use less energy while astralling. While you can force your brain to show “the truth”, the more the thing you are trying to look at is beyond your imagination, the more energy and effort it will take to see “the truth”.

How do you do astral laundry?

Note: Not limited to this list.

Have a companion you’re comfortable with seeing you nude do your laundry for you.

Astral travel two feet away from your earth self, take your astral clothes off, put them in your washer/dryer (with your astral self or earth self), physically run the washer/dryer (you can wash other clothes with it). Take your clothes out, travel again and put your clothes back on.

Destroy your clothes and remake clean ones.

How do past lives affect current astral shenanigans?

You might appear as one of your past life forms/bodies. Spirits from your past lives could also attempt to find you on the astral (whether malicious or friendly, so always be cautious).

How to meet spirits on the astral?

Tl;dr:

1. Be able to astral and able to distinguish between astralling/imagination.

2. Go somewhere with spirits.

How to safely meet spirits on the astral?

There is no 100% guarantee of safety when astralling.

Some suggestions are:

Have spirit guides/guardians/protective companions take you somewhere safe

Actually know where you are going and who you want to meet

How do you keep possibly malicious spirits/entities/beings from following you back home?

This is what wards in your living space/where you are when you astral are for. Wards can fuddle your energy signature from being found by spirits you don’t want to find you.

Make sure you “come back” correctly; that you walked back through your imagined door, imagined yourself falling back into your physical body, whatever.

Do a centering exercise, which will help you “pull back in” trace amounts of energy you left where you went when astralling. Do make sure your wards are up first, to make sure nothing follows the “pull” back to your physical body. If you don’t know what centering is/how to do it, check the “energy work” section of my FAQ/my energy work FAQ post.

Manners/social etiquette/social skills in the astral?

Obviously those will vary a LOT based on where you go. I literally can’t write a comprehensive guide as the astral is home to a limitless number of cultures.

But some things to keep in mind are:

Don’t fight every single thing you see ever. Don’t try and provoke fights with every single thing ever. Retribution is a thing and the majority of spirits have the advantage when fighting in the astral.

Just because something looks scary doesn’t mean it’s out to get you.

Observe the culture, maybe talk with some of the nicer (and not trickster) locals who can tell you the Do’s and Don’ts of their culture.

Heeeeeeey people keep talking about different places in the astral and are they alternate locations all on the same plane or are there alternate astral planes with alternate inhabitants?

There are alternate astral planes with their own inhabitants, and alternate locations on the same plane.

Example of the former: We are on earth. Heaven exists on its own plane of the universe.

Example of the latter: We are on Earth. An alternate location on our plane of existence would be Venus.

Is it possible for entities/other people to drag you into the astral (forcefully or not)?

Absolutely, both people and entities can bring you to the astral. And they can do it forcefully or consensually (consensually obviously takes a lot less energy).

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Anyone who wants to is free to copy/paste this FAQ and use it on their blog, full permission given. It’s not like most of the answers on here are original/haven’t been regurgitated a billion times by the magic community lmaoooo

[lost-in-minutiae]

Project 2 – The Sequel

I feel like I should preface this paper with a disclaimer. I can safely say that I am considerably older than my classmates. Hopefully, I won’t sound like I am the grumpy old lady on the corner telling the kids to get off my lawn. In my lifetime I have seen so many incredible things. We have technological capabilities today that were unheard of outside of science fiction when I was born.  But did it make our lives better? Yes, and no.

As Gee stated in Chapter 3, literacy doesn’t equate to intelligence. It is completely possible to possess the ability to read and write and still be ridiculously ignorant. Plato’s Republic omitted poets. I understand his point of view. Placed in modernity, what would he have said about Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter?

We are a literate nation. I am on Facebook and Twitter. When it comes to posting on Facebook, I am prolific. I first joined to keep in touch with my far-flung family. I don’t do Farmville, Words with Friends, Bingo, or any of the other games. But I do follow a couple dozen authors. I’m also as susceptible to cute kid (or cat) videos as the next person. For the last couple of years, my page has been peppered with angry political memes as well.

What I’ve seen – and personally admit to – is that social media hasn’t brought us closer. It hasn’t made us smarter. It hasn’t made us kinder. Quite the opposite. It has tribalized us, dumbed us down, made us angrier. The latter is especially true if we are on a platform that allows us anonymity.

McLuhan quoted General David Sarnoff as saying: “We are too prone to make technological instruments the scapegoats for the sins of those who wield them. The products of modern science are not in themselves good or bad” I agree. This is an all-too-human way of rejecting any semblance of personal responsibility for how we behave.

Facebook doesn’t make us say ugly things to each other, insult total strangers, or send death threats to assault victims. On some level, that is who we really are. Facebook just gives us a means to express it – however inappropriately. If this wasn’t who we really were, Facebook would contain nothing but cute puppy pictures, videos of small children, and memes with positive affirmations.

McLuhan states “The electric technology is within the gates, and we are numb, deaf, blind, and mute about its encounter with the Gutenberg technology, on and through which the American way of life was formed.” I couldn’t agree more.

A trip on public transportation will show that almost every rider has some form of technology in their hand. They’re either on their phones watching a video, listening to music, reading an e-book, or texting friends, family, or the office. Some are on laptops or tablets. Few are engaged with one another. When we go to a restaurant with family, our grandchildren must be admonished to put away their devices. My youngest son texts me from the next room.

Our society has become trivialized. Many of the same people who don’t realize that Flint, Michigan still doesn’t have a reliable source of potable water can name all of Kim and Kanye’s children. An awful lot of people can’t name their Congressional representatives, but they could probably tell you which celebrity just got out of rehab. That’s not new. Americans have always been enamored with the rich and famous. Plato would probably point to this as concrete evidence of societal failure. Maybe failure is a little harsh but jaundiced wouldn’t be wrong.

Conversely, social media also allows us to participate in each other’s lives instantaneously. People have built friendships, found lost children, solved crimes. We have signed petitions, organized rallies, and written to our legislators. We have shared our pain, our joy, our achievements, and our failures.

Literacy is not a requirement to show compassion. It won’t automatically make us happier, richer, or better. You can read a book to grow a garden or build a bomb. Literacy is a tool. Like all tools, it can be used to break something just as easily as it can mend. It’s all in how you use it.

I have no simple solutions. I do have several observations. It begins with me. It begins with you. Actively listening to someone with whom we disagree may show we want mostly the same things.  We just differ in how those things should be achieved.

Sometimes people just want to be heard. Several years ago, I brought in a candy dish and placed it on my desk to share. Dozens of people stop by my desk each week. Some just come for a mint (York Peppermint Patties). Others come to vent. Everything said is confidential. I don’t share unless I’m asked. It’s been remarkably transformative. Not just for my co-workers, but for me as well. Every problem doesn’t require our opinion.

A kind word can change someone’s whole day. It can also set an example for others. I’ve noticed when one bus rider wishes the bus driver a good day, others follow suit. Many years ago, I hit hard times. I was a single mom living and working at Motel 6. A $1 tip lifted my spirits. When my circumstances improved, I made a point to tip service workers and include a kind word. Some days that means I fake it until I feel it.

That’s not to say I’m a paragon of virtue. I am just as likely to ‘argue with idiots on the internet.’ I can get caught up in things I’m passionate about and forget my manners. While I make it a personal goal to say nothing online I wouldn’t say to someone’s face, I sometimes find it’s a hard rule to follow.  But I promise not to give up on me. I encourage others not to give up either.