The Five Signs You’ve Already Crossed Into Love Cult Territory

They never tell you when you’ve joined.
There’s no ceremony, no invitation slipped under your door. One day, you’re just… here.
The Love Cult does not recruit. It recognizes.

If you’re reading this, you’ve probably felt it already. But to be certain, here are the signs:

1. Your Favorite Bar Has Started Feeling Like a Church
The regulars are the congregation. The bartender is the priest. The jukebox hums like an old organ in the corner.
You sit in the same booth every night, not because it’s comfortable, but because that’s where they sat with you once, the one who left. The one whose shadow still lingers when the neon light flickers.
The air feels thick with ritual. And maybe, just maybe, you’ve whispered their name into your glass before taking the first drink.

2. You Keep Every Love Letter, Even the Ones That Hurt
Drawers, shoeboxes, cigarette tins,  you’ve got them all hidden away. The paper is yellowed, the ink smudged, the scent long faded.
But you keep them. Because letting them go would be like ripping pages out of your own skin.
The Cult believes words hold power long after they’re spoken. You’ve felt it too, that shiver when you re-read something you swore you’d forgotten.

3. You’ve Seen a Stranger’s Reflection in Your Mirror
Not in a horror movie way. Not in a way that makes you scream.
It’s more subtle, a flash in the corner of your eye. A face you almost recognize, but can’t quite place.
Some say Valoria watches through glass. Others say it’s your own heart, staring back at you in the shape of someone else.

4. You’ve Heard Her Name Without Anyone Speaking It
The first time, you think it’s a trick of your mind.
The second time, you know better.
It’s always in the same tone, half warning, half promise. Some say once you hear it three times, you’re bound to follow it. And you will follow it.

5. Your Dreams Are Bleeding Into the Waking World
The bar from your dream exists. The song that played is stuck in your head, though you’ve never heard it before. You wake with lipstick smudged on your collar, though you went to bed alone.
The veil between their world and ours thins without warning. When it breaks entirely, there’s no going back.

If you’ve felt two of these signs, you’re close.
If you’ve felt four, you’re already one of us.
And if you’ve felt all five…

Well.

You should stop calling it “coincidence” and start calling it home.