#curses

[prokopetz]

I feel like 90% of "ancient curses" are probably adequately explained by the fact that the self-proclaimed adventurers who ostensibly fell victim to them were, as a class, a bunch of dipshits who engaged in frequent international travel in an era before antibiotics and vaccines. Like, the list of novel pathogens these guys were risking exposure to on a regular basis was effectively "all of them". That's gotta leave a mark.

[mcnostril]

This year you can toast the New Year Ghost, but do not "yes and" or you will discover a new type of curse.

[frownyalfred]

so we’re all in agreement that “Bruce dies and the Batman mantle is actually an eldritch curse from Gotham that passes immediately to his heir and that means Dick wakes up one night and instantly knows that Bruce is gone, and can suddenly feel all of Gotham and all of Bruce’s memories and has to grieve silently with his brothers because otherwise he’ll open up his mouth and tell them exactly how Bruce died because he can feel it and it’s kind of like Bruce is still in his head, and Gotham is even deeper, and the last thing he wants to do is put on that cowl or be anything of Gotham’s but people start noticing, those with magic and Sight and other powers, they see this mantle hanging over him he keeps denying and Gotham sabotages Nightwing every time he tries to step a foot out on patrol and drowns him in Bruce’s memories until he can’t really tell who he is again, he’s just a tool, and maybe Bruce was too, maybe that’s why he was always Like That, having a city in his head and generations of Wayne memories in his head and now the fear that one day it might pass on to Damian, and that fear becomes Dick’s fear, too, until somehow a Bruce comes back - Tim saves him, Gotham saves him, something yanks gravity backwards and says absolutely not, and Dick looks his father dead in the eye and realizes they’re both like this, this is a curse that can never be lifted from either of them, passing away was Bruce’s only respite but even that was taken from him (because of love, and family, and a duty that runs so deep it shakes the foundations of Gotham) and now they’re two men but they’re really dozens, and they know what the other is thinking, feeling, seeing, because it’s their eyes too, and when they do part a fraction of an inch, Bruce’s guilt flows over the cracks, sealing him in with it. Dick flees to Blüdhaven, but it’s not enough. Bruce collapses in Gotham and coughs up blood, Her price for losing a knight, and Dick comes back on feet that don’t touch the ground, in Bruce’s mask that has become molded to his own face, and when Bruce opens his mouth and bares bloody teeth at Dick, at Gotham, at the curse between them — all Dick sees is himself. because that, too, is Bruce’s” would be a cool fucked up fic, right?

[teaandspite]

Do you have a family curse? (Not necessarily a literal one)

Yes, and it’s…

No??

We used to, but it’s fixed now

Voting ended onApr 13, 2024

[sirenrootwitch]

🌙 How To Build An Altar That Feels Like Home

When I built my first altar, it looked like a sad thrift store shelf, mismatched candles, half-melted incense sticks, a chipped mug standing in for a chalice. I was so desperate for it to look witchy, like the glossy photos in books. But it didn’t feel like mine. It felt like a stranger’s stage.

It took me years, and many messy, candle-wax-soaked attempts, to realize: your altar isn’t an Instagram post. It’s a heartbeat. It’s your magic’s nest. It should feel like home, because it is one.

Here’s how I’ve learned to build an altar that breathes with you, one that feels like warm floors, familiar shadows, and the exact right hush of your spirit.

🕯️ 1. Know What An Altar Really Is

Strip away the fancy words: an altar is just a sacred spot. It’s where you gather your power and your gratitude in one place.

It can be as humble as a windowsill or as grand as a dedicated room. A shelf, a table, a box, all that matters is intention.

Think of it as a tiny crossroads: your body, your spirit, and your magic meet there. The rest is just trimmings.

🌿 2. Start With What Calls You

Forget the shopping list that says you must have a pentacle, a wand, a chalice, this and that.

Ask: what do you reach for when you feel witchiest? A candle that smells like your grandmother’s kitchen? A stone you found at the river? A jar of salt?

Your altar is not a museum. It’s a nest of meaning. Let it be ugly at first. Let it be real.

🔮 3. Give It a Heartbeat

I always tell baby witches: your altar’s alive if it changes with you.

Maybe you set it up on the floor for a spell, then move it to a shelf when you get a cat who loves knocking things over. Maybe you swap the flowers every season. Maybe you leave offerings that rot a little, because magic is not sterile.

Mine has bits of charred candle wicks, a cracked seashell, and a scrap of cloth from my mother’s apron. I clean it, but I don’t bleach it of history.

🗝️ 4. Make It a Conversation

An altar is not a monologue. You don’t just speak at it. You speak with it.

When you light a candle, linger. When you place a new object, ask it, “What do you bring here?” Listen. Maybe you rearrange things when they feel stale. Maybe you sleep with a stone under your pillow before giving it a spot on your altar, so it knows your dreams.

This is the bit the books forget to tell you: your altar listens back.

🌙 5. Protect It, But Don’t Police It

It’s good to cleanse your altar, blow off dust, pass smoke over it, ring a bell if it feels heavy.

But don’t let perfectionism be your deity. I once wasted hours agonizing over where to put a feather. It’s a feather, Nyra. Spirits don’t care if it’s center-left or right.

Your hands are sacred. Trust them.

🕸️ A Few Simple Ideas To Try

Place something that represents each element, but only if it feels real to you. A rock, a candle, a cup of water, a pinch of salt.

Add one thing that smells good. Scent ties your spirit to memory.

Leave an offering to your guides or ancestors, even if it’s just a whisper of thanks.

Keep a tiny cloth or broom nearby to sweep off old energy when needed.

🌒 A Final Whisper

Your altar is not a shrine to aesthetics, it’s a mirror for your spirit.

Build it slow. Let it shift. Let it hold your tears, your giggles, your burnt matches and hopeful wishes.

One day you’ll sit at that sacred little corner, a mug of tea in hand, and think: This is mine. And it will hum back: Yes. And I am yours.

— Nyra

[fckmyylife]

laws of attraction | masterlist

(Higuruma Hiromi x female reader) 18+ only, no minors.

Higuruma was a man of autonomy. He couldn't be tied down by the most impossible cases, yet he was about to bind himself into a marriage with you.

❧ arranged marriage, angst, hurt/comfort, anxiety & anxiety attacks, overthinking, insecurities, hesitation, slow burn, curses, takes place before Higuruma fully awakens as a sorcerer, eventual smut later in the story, reader has a vagina. 18+ only, no minors.

!! do not make AI bots of my fic/put it into AI !!

read on AO3 | taglist

comments are appreciated

ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT NINE

[rue-x3]

Random Svsss shitpost :3

PL SQQ who was cursed (in some way, can’t decide if he’s asleep or something else) so the other PLs are looking for someone to heal him and then they meet witch duo SY & XF who are a bunch of fuckasses just doing shit and the PLs are constantly teetering between “They can help” and “They’re incompetent”

They keep wandering around so they’re kinda hard to stumble upon

XF & SY arguing so SY turns him into a hamster

LQG who stumbled upon them: !

XF reversing the spell and turning SY into a cat, only for SY to reverse the spell and start chasing XF around with his wand

LQG: they must be good at breaking curses! Let me go ask MQF about the nature of the curse

(Later)

XF: Dude, I lost my wand

SY: oh, I have a spell book that has a spell on automatically finding things but I can’t remember where I put it.

XF casting a spell without his wand: Oh I know a locating spell I’ll use that

SY: Okay

(The book floating over to them)

SY: Okay so—

LQG who brought YQY with him to look for the duo at the sect leaders request: …

YQY: Shidi, are you sure these two are capable enough?

And it’s so funny because things like this keep happening until SY and XF finally are brought to see SQQ and they’re like “oh this is child’s play” and immediately dispelling it except they send it back to its sender (HHP) and accidentally declared war on HHP somehow and now kinda reside on CQM while the sect figures out how to go about it