At around four in the morning on May 1, 2017, I was sent a magic cat. It did not fly through my half-open window, but appeared on my phone screen as ASCII text art: “Send this to 10 friends and you will ace your finals” read the words below its wand, conjuring clouds of asterisks, cedillas and commas. While the missive was obviously good-natured, perhaps even adorable, there was a touch of quiet malevolence in its implication. Would a refusal to reproduce the message result in academic failure? And what if the recipient of the text doesn’t have the requisite number of friends upon whom to inflict the curse further? This story is from Kinfolk Issue Forty-Two Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 47 Alice Sheppard On dance as a channel to commune with the body—even when it hurts. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Dr. Woo Meet the tattoo artist who's inked LA. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Walt Odets The author and clinical psychologist on why self-acceptance is the key to a gay man's well-being. Arts & Culture Fashion Issue 47 A Picture of Health Xiaopeng Yuan photographs the world’s weirdest wellness cures. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Chani Nicholas and Sonya Passi Inside the astrology company on a mission to prove workplace well-being is more than a corporate tagline. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Julia Bainbridge On the life-enhancing potential of not drinking alcohol.
Arts & Culture Issue 47 Alice Sheppard On dance as a channel to commune with the body—even when it hurts.
Arts & Culture Issue 47 Walt Odets The author and clinical psychologist on why self-acceptance is the key to a gay man's well-being.
Arts & Culture Fashion Issue 47 A Picture of Health Xiaopeng Yuan photographs the world’s weirdest wellness cures.
Arts & Culture Issue 47 Chani Nicholas and Sonya Passi Inside the astrology company on a mission to prove workplace well-being is more than a corporate tagline.
