#laken asks

[ashintheairlikesnow]

Ooo Laken's comment makes me very curious about how they would have reacted in Chris' situation, maybe wandering around town after a fight with their dad and getting picked up by WRU at the same age, then training and Branch, then Nat and Jake's safehouse, then- maybe the same college or would things have been different beforehand? I'd like to believe a certain redheaded ray of sunshine would have come into their life at some point.

Laken would have been hell on bare feet through the entire process. It would have taken a LOT of drugging to keep them calm enough to even go through training, they would have been stubborn in ways Chris just wasn't, fundamentally, capable of being - although Chris lasted much longer in solitary than Laken would have, once he shattered he couldn't hold any of himself together. Laken would be a little better at breaking early but breaking less thoroughly, if that makes sense.

They would have been constantly trying to escape Oliver and probably sent back for refurb, or actually managed to run away successfully and more or less found themself on Jake and Nat's doorstep out of sheer good luck later on.

[codnasties]

Omfg 😩 I want to thank the anons who introduces those cheater ghost videos because holy shittttt, now it’s making me want to join on that series..

https://x.com/heliishporn/status/1755628835263955166?s=46&t=WOdkpgQ21mhbpNfBSPinJw

https://x.com/kinulta/status/1844209997330383309?s=46&t=WOdkpgQ21mhbpNfBSPinJw

Ghost 👻 who broke his promise of not cheating again after the gangbang sessions with his wife’s bridesmaids, fucking his wife’s maid of honour (her best friend) during the wedding night because his missus gotten too drunk and didn’t perform her wifey duties.. too bad he used up all the condoms last night and didn’t buy more.. when 9 months later comes, his missus shouldn’t be happy when she gets ask to be the godmother to her best friend’s baby 👀

(Yep ghost 👻 is definitely the baby daddy.)

more cheater!ghost pt.2 👻 (🌽 link)

after that night, simon had pledged to never cheat again. because even if it may seem like not, he's a man with values, and he was now married and had vowed his loyalty to a single woman, his wife. but those values lasted so little... that same night he was already saying a big 'fuck you' to all the stuff he had pledged.

as beautiful and lovley the wedding and reception had been, his now wife was way too drunk. and drunkness equals no consent. so no sex on his wedding night. but ghost's horny ass was going to get the wifey duties that his actual wife wasn't performing that night somewhere else.

he had pictured himself in that wedding suite slowly undressing his missus, peeling that white dress off her body. instead, he had harshly laken off the maid of honour's dress, hungry kissing replacing what he had envisioned.

but lord was he going to enjoy that night, he devoured that girl, passionalety kissing her, eating her out as if it were his last meal and fucking her roughly and deeply. too bad all the condoms had been used the night before, but he had promissed to pull out. keyword 'promissed'. because once he was inside the girl he couldn't handle how good she felt and ended up breeding her - multiple times at that -.

yes, breeding. because 9 month later ghost's wife became godmother to a baby that suspiciously looks too much like him.

[whumpsday]

Kane & Jim #55: Feeding

Chronological masterlist / Writing order masterlist

content: recovery, vampire whumpee, whumper turned whumpee, whumpee turned caretaker

happy 2 year anniversary to kane & jim~! hard to believe it's been 2 whole years since i started writing...

wrote while listening to melodies of refresh by tenno gabni

-

Kane woke and looked to the door. Just like every morning the past week, it was a normal door. No silver. No lock.

He changed and washed his face, creeping upstairs with the hesitancy of someone who knew he wasn’t allowed, despite knowing full-well that he was: Jim had made that clear. He felt too quiet, his ankles free of chains.

It was early morning, early enough that the sun hadn’t risen yet–that terrifying tell-tale glow didn’t shine from behind the curtains. Jim wouldn’t be awake for hours, resting upstairs while Kane slunk around in the dark, in his own house.

Kane couldn’t fathom how much trust that must have required. He still couldn’t believe he’d earned that much.

The fact that Jim was still feeding him his own blood was a miracle in itself. He’d given a time limit of one month. One month for Kane to get used to freedom, to going out on his own, traversing society like a normal person after years as a prisoner. An adjustment period, Jim had called it, his mercies never-ending in the face of Kane’s fear of running to and from the border on his own.

There was no way Kane could ever repay it, not in a thousand years. But he at least had to try.

He turned the knob on the stove. It was something familiar, having owned a stove himself for heating up the contents of blood-packs in his time before he came to own Jim. Human stoves, like their food itself, were more complicated: four burners instead of one, all with dials offering various degrees besides just ‘on’ or ‘off’.

And it was something he hadn’t done since before.

The circle of flames flickered to life, blue and hot and threatening.

He quickly turned it back off, luckily managing to control his strength and not break the delicate knob.

Deep breaths, Jim had said, more times than Kane could count now. Look at me. You’re okay. No one’s gonna hurt you. You’re safe here, remember?

Kane took a deep breath in, playing Jim’s soothing affirmations through his head, exhaling slowly. That’s it, there you go, the memory of Jim’s voice encouraged. You’re alright. No hurting.

After a few more of those, he turned the burner on again. The flames flicked back to life, and Kane watched them silently.

-

Jim woke, shook off the nerves, and marked another day off his calendar. Seven days down, twenty-one more to go, and then no one will take his blood ever again.

He could stop it now, if he wanted to. He knew he could. Kane hung on his every word like he was some kind of divine prophet. But once he stops, Kane has to start getting blood from vampire territory, and he’d have to talk to his parents to get the money to buy it… and it was too obvious he wasn’t ready.

Jim knew that feeling, going from years of captivity and isolation to suddenly being a person again. He knew how hard it was, even with support. There was no reason for Kane to have to rush into it immediately. The guy could barely go outside at night on his own he was so afraid, and he was a vampire. No, a month’s time would do him well.

Still. He couldn’t help but count the days until it was over.

As he stepped into his slippers and headed downstairs, he stopped in his tracks, hearing someone futzing around in the kitchen.

It was going to take Jim a while to get used to that, Kane roaming freely in his house. At night, even. He knew he could ask Kane to leave once he finds his bearings, but… despite the deep-seated terror, he knew he was safer with Kane here than without. Kane brought Laken home, after all. If any vampire came for him, Kane would save him, too. At least, he hoped so.

He continued down. “Kane?”

“Good morning!” came the cheery reply. That set Jim’s nerves at ease, at least. Right. Kane was friendly, now.

“Morning. You sleep okay?” Jim asked. As he made his way through the living room toward the kitchen, he noticed a distinctly… delicious smell. That couldn’t be right.

“Better! And you?” Kane appeared in the doorway, a big, fanged grin lighting up his face. It was a sight Jim had already long gotten used to by now, one that brought him pride instead of fear.

He shrugged. “You win some, you lose some. Hey, are you, uh… cooking?”

Kane held out a hand. “I am! Please come sit?”

Now he was smiling, too. “Haha, okay.”

Jim took his hand and let Kane lead him to the kitchen table, where a plate full of blueberry pancakes sat. They looked a bit off–undercooked, a little torn up–but the fact that they were there at all was astounding.

He sat down. “How did you even do this? You don’t cook.”

“I watched you,” Kane admitted sheepishly. “In the mornings. I really wanted to make you something, and I didn’t want to waste food by just guessing and doing it wrong, so I started paying close attention, and this seemed like the easiest thing to copy… are they okay?”

“Well, let’s see!” Jim cut into one– definitely undercooked. It oozed out around his knife, but Liz’s failed attempts at cooking had given him ample practice in this field. He popped it in his mouth without a care. “It’s great, Kane. Especially for your first time ever cooking anything. Thank you.”

Kane brightened up even further at the praise, sitting in the chair adjacent. “I know it’s not the same at all, but I wanted to feed you too, somehow. Like you feed me. I was wondering… if you could teach me to cook?”

“You don’t have to–”

“I want to,” Kane insisted. “I really, really do. But I don’t want to impose! I can always ask Laken.”

Jim cut away the less-done bits of the pancake he was working on, scooping up another bite. “Alright, if you’re really sure. Yeah, I can teach you. Doesn’t human food smell, like, really bad to vampires, though? Like it’s rotten or whatever?”

“I’ll manage.” Kane bore no obvious worry of the issue. Clearly, a bad smell was not something that registered to him as a concern any longer. “Thank you.”

It wasn’t until Jim had finished his breakfast and was about to get up that Kane spoke again, the smile fading from his face. “There was something else, actually.”

“Oh?” Jim put his plate and utensils back down.

Kane got down from his seat to kneel on the floor.

“Kane, buddy,” Jim said softly, sliding into that placating tone he always used when trying to calm the vampire down from one of his panics, “You don’t have to do that.”

“I know. It’s– it’s to show respect. Please.” As Kane looked up at him with those intense red eyes, Jim could see no fear at all.

“Well, okay then, I guess. What’s up?” he asked.

“I want to thank you. For everything,” Kane spoke carefully, as though each word was precious. Rehearsed. “For taking me away from the hunters. For not hurting me, even though you could have, even though you had every reason to. For helping me calm down when I panic. For feeding me, your own blood, even though it’s so hard for you, just so I wouldn’t starve. For giving me clothes and bedding and music and happiness again. You gave me my life back, but I owe you so much more than just my life. Because without you, I wasn’t dead, I was– I was there. And you saved me.”

Tears welled up in Kane’s eyes as he stared up reverent, overcome with emotion. “And I was thinking about all the times I’ve apologized to you, I was too afraid to do it right. I was just– I really was sorry, I’ve been sorry for a long, long time, but in those moments, I’ve always just been focused on not being hurt… but you would never hurt me. I see that now. Jim, I am so, truly sorry for hurting you. For every single time I hurt you, big and small, for those five years and since, I am so, so sorry. I was unimaginably cruel to you, and no one deserves that, but especially not you. I know that back then I told you the opposite, but I was wrong. You deserve to be happy! And I took that from you.”

Kane placed a hand over his heart. “And I swear to you, I will make it my life’s mission to give you back that happiness. I am loyal to you, Jim. Forever.”

He put his hand down. “That–that’s all. Thank you for listening.”

Jim sat in silence for a moment, absorbing it all. Wasn’t this why he’d originally taken Kane in? Wasn’t that the excuse he’d used– he wanted Kane fear-free enough to have an actual discussion about back then, without him devolving into a terrified, sobbing mess? He could do that, now. How long had he been waiting to hear Kane admit that he hadn’t deserved it after all? Fifteen years?

Oh, he was so unprepared for this conversation. He needed all kinds of psyching-up before they could have that talk.

“You don’t have to say anything,” Kane added quietly. “I just wanted you to know.”

“Right. Yeah,” Jim said, snapping out of it. Just because Kane was ready didn’t mean it had to be now. It could be any time, when he was ready, too. “That’s… wow. Hey, it’s okay,” he tried, far more comfortable comforting Kane than the other way around. He grabbed a tissue, handing it to him. “I mean, not the–not what you did. I mean it’s okay now. Um, thanks, is what I mean, I guess. For really apologizing.”

Kane wiped his eyes. “It’s the absolute least I could do. Everything I have is something you’ve given to me. Nothing hurts anymore.”

“Good.” His sincerity brought a smile to Jim’s face. “You know, maybe cooking isn’t the best idea if you’re afraid of burns? It’s not gonna happen every time, but even I get myself once in a while. Just thought I should warn you.”

“You give me blood,” Kane pointed out. He didn’t elaborate. He didn’t need to. “Plus, you’ll be there. Right?”

“Yeah. I’ll be there.” Jim patted him on the shoulder.

Kane smiled back up at him. “Then I’ll be okay.”

-

taglist in reblogs

[melien]

CORNELIA ARCHER’S BC (attempt 2.0...)

I announced this BC almost three years ago but overestimated myself with the ambition and just wasn't in a good place mentally in the following months (to put it mildly), but now I feel like I've missed projects like this a lot and am still vibing with the idea of this BC. Also my ts3 is running so much better now, which was one of the initial reasons for cancellation, but now it's a lot easier for me, woo!

Before it got cancelled, I've got a few contestants. I think some of them were given for public download since, but it's really not a problem for me, I can still use them. Right now I'm thinking of still using the same contestants and maybe accepting a few more. I also asked a few people on discord who said it's fine to use the same sims.

In case someone would like to join and make a contestant, let me know under this post or in an ask! The catch of the BC is that the contestant should be based on a song/album (of any artist), as Cornelia herself is very Taylor Swift inspired and is a Lover girlie, actually made on the singer's 30th birthday in 2019 as a tribute sim (she and the winner may even appear in the Lover gen of my swiftacy if I get there hehe) (yes I'm an absolutely hopeless swiftie, all of my saves have some inspo from her) (and what about it).

I don't know how many sims I would accept (11 would be perfect... I'd dress her as one of the eras for every episode). But it would be fine for me if I got less than that, realistically the simblr climate isn't the same as back when BCs were more popular, I guess.

Contestants:

@vintageplumbobs - Lucy Starr

@poisonfireleafs - Laura Oak

@dragonplumbobs - Carson Lake

@cloudberry-sims - Aella Wonders

@tosimornottosim - Ivalace Goldchild

@arogaba - Sara Nix

@berriespunches - Lara Mooney

@blurrypxls

@bellakenobi - Lilian Pendragon

@kithlien - Laken Dahl

Rules:

Your sim must be YA vanilla or banilla.

All genders are welcome. Cornelia is pansexual.

Occults allowed (except ghosts)

No Irresistible trait, please.

CC is allowed, though don’t go overboard with it. I mostly use Chazy/Poisonfireleafs hair retextures, and I may change makeup and eyebrows to similar ones because I like keeping everything in my style, unless it’s something that makes the sim unique and is a part of them.

No custom sliders, please.

I have all the packs. You may set all outfits for your sim so they can match their color scheme, but it’s fine if you can’t.

Private download, but it's okay if you decide to make it public (to those who already made it public, don't stress).

Please write a bio for your sim. It doesn’t have to be long, just basics of their personality.

The most important aspect of this BC: it’s not a regular one, it’s a music-inspired BC. Therefore, your sim must be inspired by a certain song, music video, artist, or music album - it could be whatever you wish! (absolutely no pressure if you can't think of anything and would just want to make a regular sim, but I just thought it would be a fun prompt)

The deadline for making a sim is September 30 (flexible). The faster I get all the sims, the better, but no pressure!

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Erin Reed at Erin In The Morning:

On Wednesday evening, Kamala Harris sat down for an interview with Brett Baier on Fox News. It will likely be remembered as one of the most hostile interviews she has faced since her presidential run began. The interview occurred amid Trump's escalating anti-transgender advertisements, which have totaled $20 million. Many expected the interview to include questions targeting transgender rights, especially as two prominent Democratic candidates have responded to the ads by adopting Republican talking points—moves widely seen as a betrayal of their LGBTQ+ constituents.

Harris, however, took a different approach. She reaffirmed her commitment to following the law, which requires that transgender inmates receive medically necessary care, which includes gender affirming care. When pressed further, she pushed back, comparing Trump's disproportionate spending on this issue to his lack of focus on the larger issues affecting the American people. In the lead-up to the question, the interview began with 10 minutes focused on immigration. During this segment, Harris was repeatedly interrupted. It quickly became clear that the interview would be adversarial, as Baier pressed her for an apology regarding the death of Laken Riley, a figure Republicans have used to promote anti-immigration stances. The two also clashed over the exact number of immigrants crossing the border, Walz’s stance on immigration, and Trump’s decision to kill a border bill. Then, in the second question of the interview, Baier pivoted to the topic of anti-trans advertisements. “Many viewers, especially here in Pennsylvania, are inundated with commercials and ads. They just want it to stop because it’s in every commercial. Many of them add noise, but a few break through. This particular one from the Trump campaign has gotten a lot of attention,” Baier said, before playing an anti-trans advertisement from the Trump campaign about inmate access to gender-affirming care.

Following the ad, Baier asked, “Are you still in support of using taxpayer dollars to transition to another gender?” Harris responded, “I will follow the law, and it’s a law that Donald Trump actually followed… these surgeries are available to, on a medical necessity basis, people in the federal prison system.” When asked if she would continue to advocate for using taxpayer dollars, Harris responded, “He spent $20 million on those ads, trying to create a sense of fear in the voters because he actually has no plan in this election that is about focusing on the needs of the American people. $20 million on that ad, on an issue that, as it relates to the biggest issues that affect the American people, is really quite remote.” Baier quickly moved on, a markedly different result from other instances where Democrats have been pressed on transgender questions.

[...] Harris' approach was notably different. She did not back down from supporting medically necessary care for transgender inmates. She then pivoted to emphasize the lack of salience the issue has—a key finding in many polls on transgender rights. Polls consistently show that people rank transgender issues near the bottom of their list of concerns and believe the government should stay out of such matters. In fact, many voters feel motivated to oppose politicians who often target transgender people. In just two minutes, during a hostile interview with a Fox News host, Harris shut down the line of questioning, despite Republicans spending over $80 million in key races on such advertising. She did so without ceding ground, unlike Brown and Allred.

Appearing on Fox “News”’s Special Report last night, Kamala Harris shut down Bret Baier’s badgering about her support of gender-affirming care for trans prisoners by reaffirming support for gender-affirming care for prisoners just like her opponent (silently) did during his term in office.

From the 10.16.2024 edition of FNC's Special Report With Bret Baier:

See Also:

The Advocate: Harris explains that Trump also backed gender-affirming care for prisoners during Fox News interview

LGBTQ Nation: Kamala Harris points out that Trump supported gender-affirming care for inmates in Fox interview

[im-just-a-mississippi-girl]

Birthday Surprise

Pairing: Nick Jackson x female!reader

Category: Fluff

Word count: 815

Summary: Nick spends all week secretly planning and preparing for his love’s surprise birthday party.

Warnings: None

A/N: Hope you had the best birthday @katries 🎉 Love you bunches!! 🫶🏻🩵💜

Masterlist

Taglist

Moodboard is made by me specifically for @katries 🥰

All week long Nick was on a mission. His mission? To throw the best surprise birthday party for his talented and gorgeous girlfriend. Despite having been together for such a short period of time, Nick wanted to go all out, to show her he cared and how much he loves her. Nick casually asked about what her preference of cake was at the end of last week. He wanted to be prepared ahead of time so he could make sure everything was perfect. He called up all her friends and some of his as well.

He asked for a few of her friends to get her out of the house for the day so he could decorate. About an hour into it Nick realized he needed help if he wanted to get this done on time. So called up the one person he could always count on — his brother Matt.

The two brothers worked together in hanging a banner and streamers. “Something’s missing.” Nick stated as he took in their progress. He went through his mental check list. Banner? Check. Streamers? Check. Balloons? Nick’s eyes darted around the room. No balloons. “The balloons are missing. Did you get them on your way here like I asked?” Nick spun on his heel to face Matt.

“Yes, Nick. I got the cake too.” Matt rolled his eyes. Matt wasn’t really that annoyed, he just liked giving Nick a hard time and what better way than stressing him out?

Nick froze. The cake! The most important part of a birthday party! How could he have forgotten? Thank God for Matt’s thinking because Nick’s was everywhere all at once. “Thanks. I can’t believe I forgot.” Nick mentally kicked himself for almost ruining the party. The party he was dead set on making perfect because his girl deserved perfection. To him, she was perfection.

“Don’t mention it.” Matt shrugged. “I’ll grab the balloons from the car. The cake is the fridge.” Matt called as he exited the living room and went out the front door.

Let’s have a look at this cake. Nick opened the fridge and there sat the cake on the middle shelf in a pink box with a clear plastic window to view the top of the cake. Nick set the cake on the kitchen island across from the fridge. Perfect.

Matt helped Nick place clusters of balloons in various places around the living room and move a few pieces of furniture around to accommodate for the guests.

The boys took a step back, admiring their work. The room looked ready for a party and the timing couldn’t have been any better. The doorbell rang indicating the first guest had arrived. “Thanks for helping me, Matt. It means a lot.” Nick thanked his brother once again, his hand on the doorknob.

Matt waved off the compliment. “It’s what brothers are for. Plus she’s a cool girl and makes you happy, and as mushy as it sounds, that’s all I want for you.”

Nick smiled at that and opened the door. A small group of her friends had arrived, gifts in hand. “Hey girls, come on in. The gifts can go on the kitchen island next to the cake.” He stepped aside and let them enter.

Soon the whole living room and part of the kitchen was filled with people and gifts. A text from Nick’s phone caught his attention.

From: Laken

On our way back. She’s getting suspicious.

Nick quickly got everyone’s attention and gave them go ahead to hide. He flicked the lights off and minutes later a car pulled in the driveway. He was beyond glad he remembered to have the guest follow the driveway on around behind the house to park. He could hear her asking about why the lights were off and getting the response that maybe he forgot to pay the light bill. Laughter followed and he couldn’t help but quietly laugh too, shaking his head.

Keys jingled outside the door, then the keys turned and unlocked the door. It opened and suddenly the lights were flicked on. “SURPRISE!!!” The whole room erupted with cheers and confetti fell from confetti poppers.

All the running around and pretending to forget her birthday was worth it when Nick saw that reaction, shock mixed with disbelief and overwhelming happiness. “Did you really think I’d forget my girl’s birthday?” Nick teased, wrapping her up in a tight embrace followed by a tender kiss. “Let’s party birthday girl! There’s a cake over there just waiting for you to make a wish and blow out the candles.”

Nick was pleased with himself as he watched the love of his life eat cake, dance, and open gifts. The only thoughts crossing his mind was how in this world was he going top this party next year but most importantly, how they would celebrate later, just the two of them.

General Taglist: @legit9thlunaticwarrior @plentyoffandoms-deactivated2024 @1dluver13xx @sunshinevirus @wwenhlimagines @crowleysqueenofhell @jackson-nickthedate @omg-im-such-a-masochist @kmc1989

Nick Jackson Taglist: @mrsmatt @morgan-bucks @rubyred1980 @breezyvk @writtingrose @jennifuz @writtingelite @katries @siriuslyblackonback

[not-a-space-alien]

K&J x MMSS 4: Valen & Jim Part 9

Part nine of the fourth crossover with @whumpsday!

Sorry I've been slow getting these out--I've been suffering some writer's block due to some personal stuff I've got going on IRL. I'll admit that I'll probably be putting a liiiitle less effort into polishing the crossover fics from hereon out, but we got a lot of enthusiasm for them so I'm going to keep them coming even if they're a bit messy! There's still a lot of fun stuff in there imo :)

Also this ch is pretty long just because I couldn't find a good place for a chapter break!

K&J masterlist

MMSS masterlist

K&J x MMSS crossover masterlist

To be added to the taglist, contact @whumpsday

Warnings: Capture, dehumanization, nonconsentual bondage/restraint, gag/muzzle, mentions of rape and torture

In this chapter: Valen's fear of getting hatecrimed creeps towards plausibility, but even moving doesn't save Valen from an unexpected nightmare. Luckily this time, he has people looking for him.

***

It's unheard of for anyone to escape vampire territory after years of captivity, and a pretty big shock that another vampire helped him do it. Though it doesn't garner quite the response an inspirational solo escape story might, it's still an incredible tale of something really unusual and an unlikely alliance between humans and vampires, and the media eats it up. Jim does do several interviews about it, wearing the turtlenecks that have recently become his regular wear.

He's purposely vague about Valen, knowing that he doesn't want to be in the limelight. He doesn't even mention him by name. He doesn't mention Kane or any other vampire by name either, worried about Kane being able to find him somehow if he got access to human media. He's given a writer permission to write a book about his experience. She's not pushy like a lot of other journalists, and is intent on getting it right.

Life goes on. Jim helps Valen collect mushrooms. He goes vegetarian. Liz is back to patrolling. Liz makes Jim try therapy, but his preferred method of dealing with it is thinking about it as little as possible, so he drops it fairly early on. Talking with the writer is already pushing it.

Reporters will sometimes come to their house.  Valen is thrown into anxious spirals every time, terrified there’s going to be an incident.  But the visits die down over the first half a year. Jim doesn't reveal that Valen is living with him, but it's figured out anyway. People who know Liz and see her change from constant anger and depression to actually having some life back in her are grateful to Valen.  But many people who don't know Jim and Liz are more hostile: this is an area where a lot of people have been affected by vampire attacks, to boot. They're getting left angry notes.

Valen goes out with Jim during the day, since Jim is still nervous about leaving the house at night.  Valen is also nervous about leaving the house, so he doesn’t go to human stores or anything.  He either asks Jim to get him things, or goes back to vampire territory and just nervously looks over his shoulder for anyone from the Kithrara estate.

He goes out to get mushrooms, though. He keeps working on his project.  He avoids the media, unless someone contacts him directly and is really polite.  If humans approach him, he's very polite and doesn't dodge them, but he does excuse himself before too long.  He's not antisocial, but he is shy.  He likes spending time with Laken, Liz, and Jim, and will socialize with people they deem safe.

One day, Jim and Valen are getting ready to go gather mushrooms while Liz is fast asleep. It's getting hotter out now in the summer. Jim tosses Valen the keys to his car, since Valen is already ready to go. "Hey, can you start the AC running so we don't cook in there while I finish getting dressed? If you're cool with that."

"Sure thing, Jim, dear."  He secures his mask to his face, doublechecking that he's completely covered, and heads out, approaching the car in the driveway to unlock it and turn it on.

A man and woman are chatting idly while walking their dog on the other side of the street. When Valen comes out, the man hands the leash to the woman and encourages her to go home, crossing the street and approaching while she leaves.

"Hey!" he calls, looking pissed-off. "It's bad enough there's a vampire in our neighborhood being supervised, now you're out in broad daylight on your own?!"

Valen stops in his tracks and starts to back away.  "I apologize, sir, I'm not doing anything nefarious.  My-my associate is coming out shortly."

"Yeah, yeah, you saved the Lieberman kid. Well guess what, he's not the only one who lives here! You're scaring my wife, my kids won't play outside anymore!" He pushes Valen.

Valen stumbles back, scrambling back towards the house.  "I-I assure you I pose no threat to your family, sir, I've done n-nothing to pose a threat to them."

"You're a fucking vampire! You being here is a threat! Thought the hunters were supposed to protect us!"

Jim comes downstairs shortly, pushing the door open. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Keep that thing on a leash." The man spits and walks off.

"F-fuck off!" Jim shouts, but it loses its impact since the man is already leaving and Jim's voice always wavers when saying anything defiant. He runs to Valen, hugging him. "Are you okay?"

Valen's face is downcast, eyes on the ground.  "Um...Yes, I'm not, I wasn't in any physical danger..."  He sounds extremely disheartened.  "That man said his wife and children are afraid of me.  I-I wanted to say he should let me speak to them, so they could see there's no danger, but I doubt that would have been very well received."

"That's not the kind of okay I mean." Jim sighs. "I've been kinda... thinking. That maybe we should move or something. Somewhere more secluded, where you wouldn't have to worry about shit like that. Not too far away from Liz obviously, but y'know. How would you feel about that?"

Valen rubs his arm.  "That's probably for the best...but it feels bad they won't even give me a chance.  Is there really nothing I can do to win them over?"

"Prolly some people, but not all. Some people are always gonna have their heads in the sand." Jim wonders if his parents would've approved of him and Valen. He's pretty sure they would- Valen brought him back, after all, and they were wonderful loving people, but he can't know for sure. They hated vampires. He doesn't even know for sure if they'd approve of him being gay. He never got a chance to ask.

"You don't need that asshole's approval. I was thinking we could wait 'til the book comes out, Mindy said it'll only be a few more months. And then we could use money from that to find a place. Or we could use some of the stuff you took from Priscus, if you wanted to do it sooner, but that's your call."

Valen still seems downcast.  He wants to try and show everyone who he really is, but there is no way to do it without putting himself at risk and making everyone even more uncomfortable.

They end up buying the house and moving sooner rather than later, when Jim finds Valen crying over the latest hatemail he's received one too many times.  When he starts being too afraid to leave the house even at night, that's how he knows it's time to go.

Moving is easy with Valen's superior strength and Liz's truck.  The house isn't huge, but it's nice and cozy, and it has a basement with no windows.  Valen doesn't expect Jim to want to be down there at all, but it's nice to know it's an option if Valen ever wants to rest somewhere where there's no chance the sun can get him.

***

Their life there is cozy, until one day Valen doesn't come home.

Jim freaks out fast. Valen doesn't ever just not come home. And when Jim didn't come home, it was the worst thing that ever happened to him- even though it led to meeting Valen, one of the best.

He calls Liz first, of course. She has connections with other hunters, and the first thing he wants to rule out is that Valen's been killed. The worst-case scenario, and unfortunately, what he thinks is the most likely one. He can't stop crying. He wants to go to Liz, but he doesn't. He has to be home if Valen comes back.

Liz calls around, asking if anyone in various branches have seen a vampire matching Valen's description in the last day. The last two days. The last three days. She ends up on the phone with the director of a branch a day-trip away, who finally confirms that Valen has been seen. And he's alive. He's been captured, and he's being... experimented on for weapons testing.

Liz informs the director who Valen is, and politely asks to please let them pick Valen up today.

"I'm sympathetic to your story, but are you quite sure this merits release?" the director asks her.  "Live capture of vampires is quite a difficult feat."

Liz's heart pounds. There's no way she's leaving Valen there, but it would be a lot easier if he'd hand him over. "He's never hurt a human in his life. The opposite, he's actively saved a human from capture. He's accompanied me or my partner on hunts on a few occasions, when one of us was out of commission. He's working on synthesizing artificial blood vampires can live off of out of mushrooms. Hell, he's an innocent person. Those should all... merit release, right?" She's trying really hard not to blow up on him.

The director puts her on hold.  Then, a few minutes later, he asks if he can call her back, because he needs to discuss it with some other people in the branch.

"Yeah, of course. I'll- I'll be here. Please call back."

Liz calls Jim immediately- she doesn't stay on the line long, giving a quick summary and a location, wanting to keep the line open for when the director calls. Jim is on his way the second Liz gives him the info, gathering two blood packs and a spare change of full-coverage clothes and a mask in case Valen's own have been compromised. He needs to get there right now. He needs to save Valen.

He doesn't know whether he'll get there to people willing to give Valen back, or hostile hunters refusing to. He can't stop crying, hasn't been able to stop crying for days, but now it's making driving harder. Despite it, he goes as fast as he can.

The director calls back a while later--an annoyingly, stupidly long time later--and he says that he's talked to some people from Liz's branch of the hunter's guild.  There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that Valen is not dangerous--but there are also testimonies from neighbors who lived in concern for their safety for quite a long time, and the director says that he has an obligation to protect the innocent people whose safety he has been entrusted with and can find no strong basis on which to support the release of this vampire.  He does say that Liz is free to appeal, which would start the process of gathering a committee to draft a resolution outlining under what circumstances a vampire can be released, since this is such a rare issue and there is no precedent for how to handle it.

Liz wants to pull her hair out. "Valen doesn't- he hasn't been neighbors with those people for years. He moved away when the concerns were initially raised. He keeps away from humans. But, yeah," Her voice breaks. This is the second time someone she loves has been kidnapped. "I wanna start an appeal. Can you at least just... not hurt him? He hasn't done anything. Please."

The director puts her on hold again.  Then when he comes back:  "I've phoned the hunter's base where he is and told them not to start any new experiments.  Thank you for your patience through this irregular situation."

"Thank you." She doesn't want to thank the bastard who approved Valen's torture, but being cordial to this man is now the most important thing. "Um, one more thing. My brother, he and Valen are, obviously close. He's kind of already on his way. Can you at least let him see Valen?"

The director hems and haws.  "I suppose that should be all right, as long as it's supervised."

"Thank you. Please keep me updated."

Jim arrives a few hours later. The things he brought are stuffed in his backpack, and he knocks hard and fast on the door until someone opens it. His eyes are red and puffy. When someone opens it, he cries, "Please don't hurt Valen! Please, he didn't do anything, please let him go!" before the other person can get a word in.

The person who answers is a gruff-looking woman with spiked hair.  She opens the door, is yelled at for a few seconds, and then looks bewildered.  "Wha-  Who are you?"

"My name's Jim Lieberman. Please. He didn't do anything, please let him go." Jim begs. "I swear to god, Valen is the kindest, most harmless person on earth, human or vampire. Please."

She huffs.  "Ah, shit.  Okay.  All right."  She opens the door and lets Jim in.  "Lex!" she calls into the building.  Her leg is in a boot, and she drags it across the floor into the next room, where another woman with bandages over her nose is sitting on a couch.  "Lex, I knew something was up with that fucking vampire.  Listen to what this guy is saying."

"I'm Jim Lieberman, Valen, the, the vampire you- kidnapped-" He's on the verge of tears, again. "He saved me. And he's never hurt anyone, ever. Please, you can't just- this is supposed to be what hunters are against. Kidnapping random innocent people. Please, where is he?"

Lex's face falls.  "Oh my god.  Okay."  She stands up and comes over.  "I'm sorry, Jim, we--We thought something was strange, so we brought him back alive, but then Nick wormed his way into the situation.  Has anyone talked to the director about this?"

"Fuck the director," Ari says.  "I'm making an executive decision of fuck the director."  She walks to the basement door with an unsteady gait and turns the knob, opening the door.  "He's downstairs."  Through the now-open door, Jim can hear Valen sobbing miserably and wordlessly calling out hysterically.

Jim runs down the stairs and straight to the horrible fucking cage with the love of his life inside. "Valen!" he sobs, tears spilling over again. "It's, it's gonna be okay, I'm here, I've gotcha."

Valen's tear-stained face breaks into an expression of relief at seeing Jim, and he sticks his hands through the bars as far as they'll go before the chains stop him. He is topless, wearing a muzzle, and already covered in burn marks.

There's a man at a desk catty-corner to the cage with the hysterical vampire inside of it. He looks up, irritated, as Jim enters. "And what do you think you're doing?"

Jim takes Valen's hands in his, holding them tight. "I'm taking him home. You- you need to let him go. Please." He takes a shuddering breath and repeats his story that worked on the hunters upstairs. "My name is Jim Lieberman. This is Valen, the vampire who saved me from spending my life as a bloodbag." He's so much more than that. "He's never hurt anyone. You're torturing an innocent person. Please fucking let him out of this thing."

"This creature is capable of killing me with a word. I think it will be staying right where it is."

Valen lets out a pitiful whine and tugs on Jim's hand.

There's a clomping sound on the stairs, and Ari appears coming down. "You're so full of shit, Nick. You're not even the one who got your ass beat bringing that thing here. We didn't take him here for you to play with, we wanted answers, and you're done dodging the issue."

Nick looks stormy.

Jim keeps holding Valen's hands. "He's not a thing or an it! Stop treating him like he's not a person! Of, of course he fought back, Valen wouldn't hurt a fly even if someone was screaming in his face, you were kidnapping him! Wouldn't you fight back? If you were him?" He looks up at the spiky-haired woman tearily. "Please help. Please let me take him home. Please, I love him."

Ari sighs and rubs her temples. "All right, I've spent the last two days sitting upstairs trying to decide how I feel about this situation, and this raving lunatic showing up here rabid about this vampire being innocent is enough to push me off the fence. Nick, give him the keys."

"I beg your pardon," Nick says, eyes narrowed.

"Give him the keys, let him take the vampire home."

"You have no authority to tell me to do that," Nick says hotly.

"Oh! You're right. Sorry." She unholsters her revolver and points it at him. "How about now?"

Nick narrows his eyes. "You wouldn't dare."

Lex makes a "cut it out" motion across her neck to Nick, but Ari has already pulled the trigger and put a slug in the floor inches away from Nick's foot with a huge BANG, causing him to jump.

Jim screams and flinches hard when the gun goes off, eyes wide. He's not as terrified as Valen, but he's still terrified.

"The keys," Ari says brusquely.

Jaw set with hatred, Nick comes over and hands a keyring to Jim. He takes the keys from Nick and shakily unlocks the cage, reaching in and pulling Valen out.

"I've got you. I've got you. It's okay, we're gonna go home." He goes to take the muzzle off.

"Do me a favor and take that off after you get outta here," Ari says. "I'm sure this guy is safe for you, but he's none too pleased with us." She reholsters her gun and moves between Jim and Nick, staring Nick down.

Lex comes over and helps Jim lift Valen out of the coffin. "I'm sorry," she says tearfully. "This was a huge mistake, I shouldn't have let this happen."

Valen shakily stands between them on wobbly legs, tears streaming down his face

"I at least need to take the cuffs off so he can get dressed, it's still light out." Jim protests, holding Valen close. "What- what did you do with his clothes? I brought an extra change, but..." But you're fucking monsters. Even Kane didn't strip me.

Jim sniffles. "Valen's the gentlest soul on the face of the planet." He doesn't know if even Valen might be pushed to his limit by this and fight, but he wouldn't blame him if he did.

"Absolutely not," Nick says. "Throw a blanket over him or something. That's a safety hazard."

"Shut up, Nick," Ari snarls. "The keys for the cuffs are on that keyring too. Unlock him if you want." She pointedly does not answer the question of where his clothes went.

"I'm sorry," Lex says. "I didn't realize how messed up this was. Here, let me help you get them off."

Jim takes the hint that they've destroyed his clothes. Even Valen's cute plague doctor mask. He similarly avoids responding with anything meaningful to Lex's apology- it's not okay. None of this is okay. A teary "Yeah." is all he says to her.

He takes the cuffs off with Lex, swings his backpack around, and takes out the change of clothes he brought. "Here, lemme help you get dressed. You're gonna be alright. Goin' home." Jim maneuvers Valen into the clothes until every inch of him is covered, putting the mask on over the muzzle. "Brought some blood packs, too. You can take that thing off and drink in the car. Won't even be- won't even be light for long."

Valen allows himself to be manhandled in Jim's hands, safely bundled up back up, covered, armored, eyes glazed over and distant, barely responding.

"I really don't know what the director will have to say about this," Nick says maliciously.

A growl rips from Valen's throat, and he suddenly comes to life, ripping the mask off, hands fumbling with the straps of the muzzle.

"Shit," Ari says, and Lex backs away nervously.

Valen repels all the hands on him and rips the muzzle off with an animalistic snarl. Then he does something Jim has never seen him do before: he uses persuasion.

"Tell them what you did to me last night," he barks at Nick, eyes aflame, face crunched with his fangs bared.

Nick's gaze goes soft and distant, hypnotized. "I raped you."

"See what the director has to say about that," Valen snarls, and he grabs Jim's wrist and drags him up the stairs.

Jim cries out in anguish at the confession, horrified. He wants to go right back down there and sock the guy, but getting Valen as far away from here as possible as fast as possible is more important. "You f-fucking piece of shit! I'll kill you!" he screams back downstairs Valen drags him out, sobbing.

He hands Valen the backpack. "I'm sorry, I'm s-so sorry it took me this long to find you. Fuck, I can't imagine- why would they do this?" It's not a real question. It feels like the universe is determined to have as much horrible bullshit as possible happen to him and the people he cares about. I don't know how Liz can believe in a loving god in this world.

Ari, it sounds like, is way ahead of Jim, because she also shouts "You fucking what?" And as they rush out and away from the scene, the sound of fists meeting face sounds out loud and clear from downstairs, accompanied by more enraged shouting.

Valen's enraged mask falls as soon as he's upstairs, and he lets go of Jim's hand, sagging against the wall and bursting into tears. He slides down to his knees, strapping his mask back on with fumbling hands.

Footsteps from behind them as the sound of Nick getting the shit beat out of him downstairs continues. Lex comes up, also in tears. "I didn't know he did that," she cries. "I'm so, so sorry. I had no idea he would do that."

Jim goes to stand protectively in front of Valen. Now that he has the damn muzzle off, they're safe. He doesn't need to hold back. "No, when you kidnapped him to torture him, you had no idea you were handing him directly over to a rapist! That makes it all fucking okay!" Jim yells at her. "What's wrong with you?!"

Lex shrinks back. "I didn't --it's compli--I'm sorry," she finally settles on. "I didn't--I thought he was, like, like--come on, you know what vampires are capable of, you know most of them are monsters!"

"Get- get away from us." Jim sobs. "You've done enough. Valen's not the monster here. You're the ones torturing people in an- in an evil lab."

Lex looks like she wants to defend herself, but before she can do so, Valen snaps,"Go back downstairs."

Lex's eyes go distant and she impassively turns and goes down the stairs.

Valen clings to Jim's knees. "Can we please go home now, Jim? Please?"

Jim's glad Valen can just use persuasion to make their exit smooth, even if the distant look he remembers from Kane's party still gives him the creeps. "Yeah, we're going home. Goin' home right now."

Jim helps Valen up and to the car, opening the passenger side door and ushering him in. "There's blood in the backpack, if you can get it under the mask. Here, actually." Jim takes off his flannel and hands that to Valen, too. "You can make a little tent if you don't wanna wait for sunset. We're going home. I'm taking you home. Not gonna let anyone hurt you ever again."

He gets in the driver's seat and pulls onto the road.

"Thank you, Jim. Th-thank you." Valen takes the flannel and curls up on the floor on the passenger's side, jamming himself underneath the glovebox and using the flannel as a blanket to cover himself. "I'm, I'm very grateful you thought to bring food, but I don't think I can eat anything right now."

"Yeah." Jim wipes his eyes as he drives, but more tears keep coming. "I thought, thought you were dead. That you might be dead. Liz's been calling all the hunter branches looking for you. I left as soon as we knew where you were. It's over now. He's not gonna get away with what he did t'you. I'm so sorry, Vale. W-what do you wanna do first, when we get home?" He hopes thinking about nice things like sleep in our own bed or take a bath might help him feel better. Grounded. Knowing he got out.

Valen sobs. "C-call Liz, I suppose. I was just walking, Jim, th-they didn't even give me a chance to talk, I know that's smartest for them so I didn't just use persuasion, but, but they didn't even give me a chance, Jim."

"They're awful." Jim agrees. "They're fucking awful. You're a damn teddy bear. You've never been a threat to anyone. I can't believe they just- they just took you."

He never wanted Valen to feel this way. What it feels like to get taken. And on top of that, the burns, and if that wasn't bad enough, the rape. As if Valen wasn't traumatized enough already, he can't be safe from it in vampire or human territory.

"We're gonna go home, and I'll treat your injuries, and you'll get all cleaned up and into some nice soft pajamas, and you'll be safe and sound." he promises.

Valen trembles on the floor of the car.  He's never felt this threatened by humans before.  Hunters, a little.  The bad neighbors, the potential for an angry mob to form--yes.  But he's never been so thoroughly terrorized by humans that any human feels like a threat.  He's...a little scared of Jim, somehow, inconceivably.  This must have been how Jim felt when Valen had saved him from Kane.

When they get home, Valen wordlessly goes down into the sunless basement, curling up underneath the stairs, still crying.

Jim calls Liz and lets her know what happened, and she immediately goes to come over. Jim puts the untouched blood packs back in the fridge, grabs a big fluffy blanket, and goes to the basement he seldom enters.

"Knock knock." he says softly. "Liz is coming over. She's gonna stay over a bit, make sure you're nice and protected." Since they weren't exactly supposed to take Valen. "Can I come down?"

Valen lets out a strangulated sob.  "Can--can you just give me a few minutes?  Can you maybe come back in twenty minutes?  Can you--can you lock the door and come back later?"

Jim is fucking heartbroken by how scared and miserable Valen sounds. "Course, whatever you want. Blanket incoming." He tosses the blanket over the side of the stairs. "I'll knock in twenty minutes, and if you don't want me down then either, it's okay. Lemme know if you need anything." His lip wobbles. He wishes he could take all the pain away, but he can't. "I love you." he says before he goes.

Valen just sits there, thinking about Jim, replaying in his mind the few days when they first met.  Valen saving Jim, comforting him.  The fact that the door is locked makes him feel secure--no one can get him.

He gradually starts to come down, and then he starts to want Jim.  He slowly gets to his feet and drags himself up the stairs the next time Jim knocks and opens the door.

He walks straight into Jim's arms, plonking his face in Jim's shoulder, sniffling.  "Thank you, Jim," he says, voice muffled.  "I love you too."

Jim holds Valen close, rubbing his back. "You will always be safe here." he promises. "I can't make the world less fucked up, but I can promise you'll always be safe in this house." Valen's made him feel safe for years. He's determined to do the same. "Liz'll be over in like, ten minutes. You want me to get some cream for your burns? Or you wanna just leave it to heal?"

Valen sniffles.  "Yes, please.  I would like it if you rubbed the burn cream on me.  I would like to see Liz.  Thank you."  He accompanies Jim to the bathroom.

Jim goes to take Valen's clothes off so he can see the injuries, but hesitates. "Can I see?"

Valen whimpers.  How had he not thought this far ahead?  This is Jim.  Jim is safe.  Jim has never been anything but safe.  But...it's going to take a while for this to wear off.  "I-I changed my mind, I don't want the cream that bad, I want to keep my clothes on.  Please don't take them off, I want to keep them on."

"Then they're staying on." Jim agrees. "Do you wanna put it on yourself?" But there are burns on his back, they'd be difficult to reach. "Or- if, if it makes you feel safer, you could hypnotize me and have me do it." It's Valen. He trusts Valen enough for that. "Or we can just forget about it and go wrap you up in a burrito on the couch."

Valen shakes his head.  The thought of using persuasion on Jim for anything but the most dire circumstances repulses him.  "Let's just leave them.  I would.  Would like to be a burrito."

"Then a burrito you'll be." Jim leads Valen back to the living room and bundles him up all nice and cozy, sitting right by his side.

Liz arrives shortly, bursting through the door and rushing over. "Valen!" she wails, hugging him. "I'm so glad you're okay!" She thought it was going to be another someone she loves is taken away forever situation.

Valen hugs her back.  "I'm so glad you were able to f-find me, Liz, thank you so much."  He hiccups between words.  "I-I don't know what I would have done w-without you."

Without us you never would have been in human territory in the first place. "Well, you got us. You got us for as long as we live. I'm your own personal bodyguard for the next few days, 'til we're sure everything's settled down. I don't think anyone's gonna come after you, but if anyone does, the great thing about silver bullets is they work even better on humans."

Valen clings to Liz and Jim both a lot over the next few days.  They get word that Nick has been fired, apparently at the pushing of the two women who had met them at the compound, who reported to the director what they'd found out when Valen had used persuasion on Nick.  Those two hunters also try to contact Valen--they eventually get word to Jim that they want to talk to Valen to apologize, but Valen says he doesn't want to talk to them, and tells Jim not to give them their number.

Valen still doesn't eat for a few days, and only breaks his fast when Jim and Liz finally force him to sit down and eat something.  It's a long, long time before Valen works up the courage to go outside again, and the only time he does it by himself is at night, when he has to make his weekly trip back to vampire territory to buy blood.  He continues to work on his project--at one point, the formula is far enough along that he can cut down on his trips to load up on blood to once a month.

The work is slowed down by Valen's newfound fear of leaving the house that Jim had promised is safe. But it is safe, safe and secure and still more than he ever thought he could have.

***

@barebarb

@cc1010foxy

@emcscared-whumps

@gt-daboss

@hurtpluscomfort

@jakersdaboss

@lolrpop

@melancholy-in-the-morning

@pigeonwhumps

@secretwhumplair

@some-thrilling-heroics

@t0rture-me

@thecyrulik

@thejinglingcourtjester

@vehan-tikkun-olam-and-stuff

@whuarri

@whump-cravings

@whump-my-heart-away

@whumpycries

@wolfeyedwitch

@whump-addict

@why-not-ask-me-a-better-question

[heca-teaa]

1, 5 and 12 for your Knight-Commanders!

AHH haiiiii thanks for the ask!!

1. Do they think they’ll make it out alive?

Rivers was at first mourning the fact she cannot catch a break, unsure of herself and her ability to lead, keep her companions and army alive, and keep herself alive(ish), but eventually becomes a bit more optimistic.

Laken is a (almost annoying) source of constant, never ending hope, so she thinks everything will be okay in the end no matter what happens.

Yulai knows she’s coming out alive, come hell or high water. She’s survived this much— a stupid war/demon wound isn’t going to phase her.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

5. Do they have a family, if so, what kind? Do they miss them? Do they have hope to see them again?

Strap in

SOOOOOO

Laken and Rivers are related! Laken is River’s great-niece.

But here’s specifics!

Laken has her whole family in the Kenabres area! Her father is a high ranking… soldier… I am unsure what to put him rank wise but he’s up there. She also has her mom, 5 other sisters, grandma and grandpa, and eventually Rivers.

Laken is lucky enough to have her dad with her as kind of an advisor during the campaign, but she really hopes to be able to be with the whole family again.

Rivers doesn’t actually know that her family is in Mendev at all, believing her kin is still in Ustalav, where the family originated from. I imagine she’d eventually get to see them all again though and meet the new additions. So I think she’d also hope to spend time with them and get settled back into being part of the family.

Yulai, I felt bad she didn’t get a doodle little tree so I just drew her and her mom when she was a lil baby :))

Yulai and her mom are Tian-Xia natives. Yulai had a rough background, she and a lot of the members of her village being trapped into slavery. They were smuggled into the Inner Sea Region, which is how she ended up in the area. Her mother was killed by their slavers, so Yulai doesn’t have any family left. Despite her being fairly cold towards most people, she sometimes tries to make connections with other kitsune, like Nenio or Konomi. She doesn’t get very far with Nenio but she and Konomi get along.

PHEW I did it

There

Some backstory + family for you! Onto the nexttttt

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

12: What’s their alignment and why? How to they feel about it? Do they change alignment at one point?

Rivers is Lawful Good! She believes the law/rules should be upheld but also should benefit the people that are under said laws. Rivers doesn’t change her alignment, being fairly steadfast in her ideals.

Laken is Chaotic Good! She wants to make her world a better place while also having fun doing it. So she’s a little chaotic in her decision making and actions, but she means well and has good intentions. She also doesn’t change alignment.

Yulai is Lawful Evil! Like Rivers, she wants things to be upheld to a standard— her standard. She doesn’t mind doing whatever she needs to do in order to get her way and run things the way she sees fit. Yulai has moments of empathy or remorse (usually accompanied by the spirit of her mother) that cause her to lean a bit, but it’s usually right back to her usual self.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

WaHhh I did it thank you guys for forcing me to finally talk about my bbs!! If something doesn’t make total sense or I have some mistakes/run on sentences I’m srry, it’s late and I’m vry excited/nervous about sharing my stories hehe

Feel free to drop me questions too if you’re curious— now yall got me yappin 🫶 I’m still writing up my masterpost + drawing everything for it so they’ll also have bgs there!

[the-eternal-quest-for-balance]

Greene, though expressing uncertainty, highlighted drastic changes in Johnson’s actions that she finds inexplicable. “I have no idea. I can’t comprehend what radically changes a man,” she responded.

Greene added:

“I mean, if we break down the the second part of basically an omnibus. Let’s break that down. So Mike Johnson is pro-life. And the second part of the omnibus, just less than two weeks ago, he funded full-term abortion clinics, full-term abortion clinics. He funded the trans agenda on children. I mean, how does that even happen from a Christian conservative Republican speaker? He did nothing for the southern border and did nothing to secure the border. And this comes on the heels of Laken Riley being brutally murdered. This came on the heels of a video that was running on loop on social media, where illegal aliens had rushed our border, ran over Texas National Guard, ran over Border Patrol agents in order to invade our country. These were military-age men, by the way. He did nothing to secure our border. It’s the number one issue in the world. He completely changed who he was, funded the FBI, gave them a brand new building, fully funded the Department of Justice that is persecuting everyone on the right and actually targeting a presidential candidate for election this year. Literally trying to put him in jail for the rest of his life. We don’t know who Mike Johnson is anymore.”

I for one want to ask, how else do you explain his actions ?????????

[ashintheairlikesnow]

Damn I guess Laken dropped the ball on showing Chris Stardew Valley

Laken probably saw him get REAL WEIRD once hearing someone talk about playing a game and wisely chose not to bring any up after that, although they didn't know why.

[gaiahypothesims]

272

Isidore- Aww see? Look here, its Jonah and Laken selling lemonade. I forgot about that.

Evelyn- They're precious. What happened?

Ashley- Puberty.

Evelyn- Ashley! I asked you to make yourself useful.

Ashley- I am! I told you that I was doing something! I found your files of old videos. Maybe Mrs. McLelland would want to see some videos of the party? Or there seems to be a very large amount of video's of Jonah trying on different outfits.

Evelyn- <laughs> Oh yeah, he used to say he wasn't one hundred percent sure on an outfit unless it also looked good on video.

Jonah- I don't think we need to see those.

Isidore- Oh of course not sweetheart. If it makes you uncomfortable we don't have to. I'd love to see the video of the party, can you send it to me?

Jonah- You can watch that if you want, I just don't think we need to watch anything with me changing clothes in it.

Isidore- Oh no, we won't watch those.

Evelyn- They wouldn't be very interesting anyways. Just a lot of talking about the clothes, the feel of the fabric, maybe some lunging. <chuckles> Put the party video on Ash.

***I just noticed that Jonah's scar is gone here... lol lets pretend its still there. Just excuse the laziness. I had to start a new save JUST to get the game working again and it has already crashed twice. So suspend your belief... again please. For the love of god. I want to keep going but the game has been such an asshole since I moved it to my new rig.

[89845aaa]

Illegal,

There, that wasn’t so hard

[whumpsday]

Kane & Jim #53: Healing Right

Chronological masterlist / Writing order masterlist

content: recovery, (past) vampire whumper, broken bones, past loss of bodily autonomy, offscreen surgery, emotional whump

Whumpmas in July Day 18: Ache

back to this guy :)

-

Jim rubbed at the bump on his arm where the bone didn't heal quite right, staring at himself in the bathroom mirror. The bone on his forearm went at an angle, up and up, before suddenly dropping off where it met misaligned with the rest of it going to his elbow. Bones, they'd told him there were two, but it was easier to just think of it as one.

It hurt, but it wasn't a bad hurt. Jim knew bad hurt. It was a dull ache he'd gotten used to over the past two years. It didn't hurt like the snap when Kane cracked Jim's arm open with his bare hands anymore, and he had pain meds now anyway. He'd tried to get on some stronger ones, but Liz had told him it wasn't a good idea, that he'd get hooked. Jim wasn't very good at disagreeing with people anymore, so he just took her word for it.

But he'd get some now for sure. Even Liz said it was okay this time. Because he had to get his arm re-broken.

Every day as the operation got closer, the dread grew more and more. He knew it wouldn't be like the first time. He'd be conked out, and he'd be allowed pain meds, real pain meds. It wasn't a punishment, and if all went well, his arm would be fixed. No reminder of Kane every time he looked at it. Probably no dull ache. It was even his own choice.

They couldn't fix the scar on his neck, neither the mark or the pain, so this was the best he could do to scrub off any lasting reminders Kane had left on his body. Liz's friend Laken had suggested a tattoo to cover it, but the idea of a needle going into his neck was so horrifying that the thought made him want to throw up.

But he could do this, at least. Even if breaking his arm again would be scary, he needed to claw his body back for himself. He needed to know it was his again, not Kane's. No matter how much it would hurt.

“I don’t belong to anyone. My body is mine. I’m out," Jim whispered to his reflection. Afraid to say it any louder, like Kane would be able to hear and swiftly correct him.

He got dressed, hiding his neck and arm under a turtleneck. He'd started dressing in them every day, though he knew he would need to take it off for the surgery. One more thing to dread about it, but he told himself it was worth it.

"You ready?" Liz asked as he came downstairs.

Jim shrugged. "As I'll ever be, I guess."

-

The operation was a success. If there was anything at all to thank Kane for, it would be that he'd made a relatively clean break.

Jim's arm hurt like hell when he woke, but he knew it wasn't as bad as it would be without the meds. He had a cast this time, and a real sling, not one he had to make himself. His friends kept wanting to sign the cast, but something about it made him wildly uncomfortable in a way he couldn't explain.

He knew the old him would have jumped at the chance to have all his friends sign it. Probably would have given out points for who could draw the best doodle. He was practically a social butterfly when he was nineteen, before Kane got to him, but now it just seemed like he kept finding more and more disconnects with his old friends. They had jobs and babies and memories of the past five years together, and all he had were Kane and panic attacks.

Even though his friends kept reaching out and inviting him to stuff, he was too neurotic to act like his old self. It felt like putting on an act, it felt wrong. And being his real self was even worse: he didn't want to talk about it. He didn't want them to know.

His cast remained unmarked.

-

He woke with a scream a week after his surgery, his arm exploding with pain, far worse than it'd been during his recovery.

Jim looked around wildly, but couldn't see the source of the pain in the dark of his room. He sobbed, clutching his arm protectively to his chest. He'd been so badly-behaved lately that he couldn't even pinpoint what it was he was being punished for.

He flinched back into the headboard with a whimper as the door flew open. "Please don't," he begged, trembling.

"It's okay, it's just me," Liz soothed. She sat down next to him. "Nightmare again?"

"No, I don't- I don't think so?" Jim struggled to catch himself back up to reality, but with the haze of sleep leaving his mind and Liz's presence grounding him, he came to the conclusion it wasn't a punishment at all. "I hit my arm in my sleep," he realized. "Sorry for waking you. Didn't mean to."

"You're all good," Liz assured him. "I wasn't even asleep. Getting myself back on schedule for when I go back to work."

Jim's stomach turned at the thought, even though it was no surprise. "What if something happens to you?"

"Someone's gotta protect people from 'em. Plus, I know we live in the cheapest place in the country, but I've gotta get back to work," she pointed out.

"There's other jobs. I'll get one again too, once I'm better. You could just... not go back." As much as Jim hated living by the border, the fact that it was so cheap to live here at least gave them some leeway. At least they didn't have to worry about rent, even though selling the house was nearly impossible if they ever wanted to move.

Liz patted him on the back. "Not for me, there isn't. It'll be okay. I won't be alone, and I've been doing this for years with no issues."

"What about that?" Jim pointed to the scars on her face, faded claw-marks running dangerously close to her throat.

"That barely even counts. You should've seen the other guy. Dead, for what it's worth. Most vampires won't even fight us, they just decide it's not worth the trouble and run back home. It's gonna be fine." She gave him a quick hug. "You gonna be okay to go back to bed?"

"Yeah. Just... be safe. I can't lose you again," Jim said quietly.

Liz gave him a sad smile. "I know how you feel. I'll be as safe as I can. Just go back to sleep."

True to his disobedient streak, Jim couldn't manage to fall back asleep, mind racing with fear. Liz getting taken by vampires, subjected to the same hell as him, or having her mind stolen from her entirely. Kane showing back up to steal him away in the night while Liz is off fighting other vampires, arriving home too late to help. Jim reached a shaking hand under his pillow and took his stake- a real one this time- and held it close as he sobbed, trying to be quiet and not disturb Liz again.

He could only hope his arm would heal better than he was.

-

i'll be putting out two one-shots next! one about a fairy whumpee on friday, and one about an alien whumpee on monday. after that, more Jim in Distress!

event: @whumpmasinjuly

taglist in reblog!

[cr1meslunkscene]

Laken , He.him , Gay Man , Autistic + Bpd .

other stuff

horror movie enjoyer

buckethead fan

dog person

ask for more about me

[enjoyerofsoup]

fuck it i’m making an about me post

yo, i’m laken, he/him, 22, gay/queer

some of my interests: garfield, vinesauce, jrwi, jerma, loz (especially botw and totk), mcr, stardew valley, katamari, animals and bugs, fungi/mushrooms, horror

i haven’t posted a lot of art here but it’ll generally be tagged as “my art,” and personal posts are tagged as “word soup”

i try to tag cws for basic stuff, typically bugs and gore/body horror, but feel free to ask me about tagging anything specific!

if you read this, thanks for stoppin by!

[teacup-captor]

For the ask game, could you answer number 26?

Omg tysm xD

"26. O.C.s are fond of blaming things on the government. What is their personal idea of what that actually means?" (interpreted as "what is your OCs idea of what blaming the government actually means")

I'm just going to answer for my Downfall of Romeos OCs because they're my babies and I love them

Laken (he/him): Instead of admitting something is your fault, blaming the government because of something they've inconvenienced you with, which does on some level make it their fault

Firefly (he/him): Depends! For like, cops or leaders, it'd be blaming the government for "making" them do horrible things, for civil people it'd be saying that like, the government is why they're protesting bc it's fucked up

Joy (she/they): Not being willing to own up to your own mistakes and rather blaming it on someone else

Cammy (he/him): Rightfully doubting a fucked-up system

Seth (he/him): Not taking the blame when you don't have to

Magic (they/them): Depends, really. Either using excuses to be mean or rightfully pointing out an unjust system

Rosie (she/her): Defying the word of our goddess Oxzyz, claiming you're above her and just all-in-all being an ass??? The government is in control because they KNOW what's up.