Quick note: Feel free to let me know if I made any spelling or grammar mistakes, missed a trigger warning, or something about my writing/formatting causes issues with screenreaders or photosensitivity! If you want to know what happens in a chapter but it has a squick/trigger you don't want to read you can always DM me or send an ask for a summary free of that trigger or squick!
Works marked as complete are still open for asks!
Jane’s Pets: Jane has been 12 for far, far too long, and the only thing that staves off the boredom is tormenting her human pets. On hiatus (incomplete)
Season one (complete)
Season two (complete)
Season three (complete)
Season four (incomplete)
Bonus content
Escaping is just half the battle: Ema and Tom are far from perfect, but they’re doing their best in the aftermath of Ema's captivity (complete)
Fixing Tracy: Molly wants more than anything to nurse some poor, vulnerable, traumatized, broken person back to health, and Tracy is the perfect candidate. Tracy disagrees. On hiatus (incomplete)
Misc
One/two/threeshots
Whump prompts (If you use one of my prompts I’d love to be tagged!!)
Raising Yourself (Incomplete)
Reblogged ask games
I also have a ko-fi as a virtual tip jar- I certainly don't expect anything of it, and my content related to this account will always be free, but I figured it doesn't hurt to give people the option!
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Whumpee who has severe memory loss issues after the torture they endured and whumper who delights in retelling in graphic detail everything they did to whumpee so they can’t even have the respite of being able to forget
Whumpee wasn't sure exactly what it was. It could have been the blow to the head, or the time they spent unconscious, or just their brain rebelling against the pure, unrelenting terror of it all.
Whatever the reason, the fact was that Whumpee didn't remember a thing of what had happened with Whumper. They had a few snippets, flashes of feeling -- pain, fear, helplessness -- but as far as the actual events went, there was almost nothing.
They thought Whumper might be mad. They weren't.
"Oh, Whumpee." Whumper's voice was practically a coo. "Don't you worry. I remember every second. Why don't I catch you up?"
And the launched into the story, describing every way they touched, they hit, they hurt Whumpee. Whumpee clapped their hands over their ears, not wanting to hear it, not wanting it to be true, but Whumpe easiliy pried them away.
"Uh uh. You should know this. You see this one?" Whumper yanked up Whumpee's sleeve to reveal a particularly nasty bruise. "That's where you started crying. Didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would. Do you want to know what you told me next?"
And on. And on. And on. The images bloomed in Whumpee's mind against their will, forming a twisted image of themselves, helpless and desperate and degraded.
By the time it was over, Whumpee felt hollow. Whumper could see it from the look in their eyes.
"Don't worry, Whumps. We don't do this again." Whumper gave a shark-like grin and a wink. "Next time I'll make sure to record it."
Aaaah i love Autonomy so much! I reread it like 4 times since you posted it already, I adore Astra so much! She is such a natural when it comes to persuasion! She is so kind, so gentle! And Buck! How old is he, exactly? 50? I love older whumpees so much, but I also adore guys who can handle things and are practical even despite their traumatic experiences. He's so brave! Giving up everything for Astra, ready to be captured again, and Astra doing what she did to protect him! Aaah!!!!
yay thank you so much!!! it's the thing i'm most proud of in a long time :) been wanting to write this forever
buck is around 50 yeah! i don't have a specific age in mind, but you have it right on the money, had literally described his age as "late 40s to early 50s" earlier to a friend today lol
astra and buck are a great duo in hardship, their strengths compliment each other's weaknesses! astra flounders with long-term, more "everyday" hardship such as her terrible parents or the bullies at school, being an isolated, closeted trans teen who can't see a happy future for herself. she needs that support system she finds in buck, his practicality and long-term planning. buck on the other hand is terrible with short-term, high-stress situations, he freezes up like a deer in headlights when in danger, has a weapon he can't even use because he's too terrified to make a move, folds and starts just begging for a lesser-evil alternative to the worst without even trying to fight back. while astra is able to keep a cool head and be a badass and stand up for herself and her friend, focus on what she needs to do right now to get out of the situation. they are both caretakers to the other's whumpee. they are a found family <3
content: vampire whumpers, captivity, dehumanization, torture, mind control, starvation, kinda-cannibalism?, vomit, homophobia, heavily implied offscreen sexual assault, flashbacks, vampire caretaker, comfort, recovery, transphobia / transmisogyny against a teen, offscreen bullying of a teen, parental abuse of a teen, eye gore
set in the same universe as kane & jim, with new characters, several decades later and hundreds and hundreds of miles away. been wanting to write some oneshots in this universe.
-
It wasn’t like Astra had gone looking for anything in the woods. If anything, it was the opposite, she’d just wanted to get as far from home and school as possible, find as much nothing as she could until it all looked the same and she had the excuse of getting lost to stay out even later. As long as she got home before sunrise, it wasn’t a problem.
But sunrise was getting closer, and it wasn’t just an excuse anymore. She really didn’t know where she was.
She’d heard stories of vampires who stayed out too long. People said it was the worst pain imaginable. People said it was like being burned alive. A guy at school said that if you were lost outside during the day, you couldn’t see, and you’d be that much more hopeless finding your way out. So it would go on for hours and hours until dusk fell and someone found you. But if you were lost, no one would find you even then, and there wouldn’t be time to heal before it started all over. Then he shined a flashlight on his girlfriend, and she screamed and hit him in the arm while he laughed.
Astra wasn’t laughing. All she had were a t-shirt and jeans, and the tree cover wasn’t thick, and wouldn't block the sun’s menacing rays during the day. She rushed through scores of identical trees in the direction she thought might be home, until–
She stumbled into a campsite, kind of. There was no clearing, like you’d usually find, just a bunch of stuff crammed between trees in a pathless part of the middle of the woods. But there was a tent. All the terror rushed out of her, the relief flooding in so fast her legs almost gave out. There was a man there, presumably having a meal before bed: she could smell the blood from here, and a lot of it.
“H-hello?” she called nervously. “I’m sorry, I’m a little lost…?”
The man whirled around, eyes wild and most certainly not the telltale red of a vampire’s. He was empty-handed, but not for long, quickly pulling a wooden stake from his pocket and wielding it out to her with shaking hands.
***
The vampires were far stronger than he could ever hope to be. They looked almost like normal college boys, the same as him, but they weren’t. Even with the most minimal effort, each one of them possessed a grip like solid iron, leaving him unable to struggle away no matter how much he tried. Pulsing music compounded the ache in his head, every beat of his heart making it worse and worse, almost as bad as the wounds themselves.
Another one bit into him, eliciting a weak cry and even weaker flailing. His neck was already littered with bite marks, everywhere from his chin to his collarbone full of them. One of them had bitten into his collarbone itself, breaking it easily, his laugh muffled by a mouthful of flesh as his meal screamed and screamed and screamed.
The vampire dropped him carelessly on the floor after, and he couldn’t even get up this time, trying to crawl away. One of them grabbed him by the leg and dragged him to the middle of the room, mid-conversation with someone else, just to give him more distance to cover. The vampire didn’t even look at him.
He’d lost too much blood. He collapsed there, heart working overtime to supply his body with the essentials to survive with the little the vampires had left him.
“Please,” he croaked. “You’re gonna kill me!”
***
No meal to be seen. That was him she’d been smelling. A human. A fully awake one, mind not lost to years of hypnosis. She’d never even seen a regular one before, not in real life.
Well, she definitely had shelter now.
“Um, hi, Mr. Human,” she said awkwardly, putting her hands up in peace. Would she have to use persuasion on him? She’d never done it before. “Do you know if that tent is sunproof? I’m–I’m lost, and it’s almost morning.”
The human was panting almost as hard as she was, and he hadn’t been the one running through the woods. He was probably terrified. He didn’t make a move with the stake, probably because he realized just as much as she did that she could stop him in his tracks with a word if he tried.
His voice came out hoarse and raspy, like it was the first time he’d raised his voice in years. “What do you want?” he demanded. “The tent? I give you the tent and you leave me alone?”
“I’d like it if you stopped pointing a stake at me?” Astra tried for ‘gentle’, like she was talking to a scared, hissing cat. It was just strange that the cat in question was a middle-aged man.
The human dropped the stake in defeat. “I can’t kill a kid,” he muttered. “Shit. Shit.” To her horror, the man began to cry, openly weeping in front of her.
“No no no, it’s okay, don’t cry!” Astra assured him hastily, taking a step… sideways, reluctant to get any further from the tent. She could see fang marks embedded in his neck, two distinctive dots gleaming in the moonlight. And, fainter but still there, more bite scars surrounding it, like his old owner had taken a while deciding on a spot. Maybe that was why he was scared. “I won’t bite you! It’s okay, really! I already fed tonight anyway, and only the packaged stuff! Is that what you’re afraid of?”
The human wiped his tears. “You’re gonna tell people I’m here. Or just take me back yourself. Twenty-five goddamn years being so careful–” He cut himself off with a sob.
“I won’t!” She insisted again. “I ran away, too! I mean, just for one night. But I still kind of get it. I just wanna stay in your tent until sunset. Honest.”
“Hmph.” The man looked her over, unamused. “What are you, fourteen?”
“Sixteen!” she corrected indignantly.
“Teenage boys can’t keep a secret.” The human started mumbling to himself again. “Maybe if I have enough time to relocate… no, vamps’re too fast and I’m on foot…”
Bile rose in Astra’s throat at the descriptor. Not that it was anything new.
It occurred to her then that this human was the only person in the world she could say anything to without any consequences at all. He had no one to tell. He didn’t even know who she was. And he had absolutely zero power to ruin her life with it.
“I’ll prove it,” she countered, a rare confidence making its way through her racing heart. “I’ll tell you my secret, too. That way you’ll know I have incentive not to let anyone find you. Because no one can know.”
That seemed to calm the human down a little. “I’m listening.”
“I’m a girl. My name is Astra.”
It was the first time she’d ever said it out loud. She thought the words might catch in her throat, but they leaped out in a rush instead.
“...Buck,” he introduced himself. “I, uh, don’t know much about that kind of stuff, but I’m sure you know yourself better than I would. You really won’t tell anyone, kid?”
He didn’t even care. He didn’t freak out. He didn’t mock her. He didn’t yell at her to man up. He just… accepted it at face value. Accepted her.
He had more important things to worry about, she guessed.
“I’m good at keeping secrets,” Astra promised.
For the first time, it looked like he actually believed her. “Okay. Okay.” He plopped himself down on the forest floor next to a half-disintegrated cardboard box, taking a deep, shaky breath. “Okay. Guess that explains it. Boys are assholes.”
***
“Dude, I think it’s actually working. I, like, feel it!” one of the vampires enthused, Buck’s blood dripping down his chin.
“You’re just imagining things. I don’t feel anything. Here, drink more.” Another one brought the bottle to Buck’s lips.
“Nnno, don’wanna,” he slurred, but the vampire forced it in his mouth and tipped his head back, and if he didn’t drink, he’d choke, or they’d just hypnotize him and make him do it anyway. He gulped it down, glug after glug after glug, the grip on his hair keeping his head firmly in place beneath the unlabeled bottle.
He’d been drunk before, back before he was kidnapped by vampires, but this was different. There was something else in this, and even the vampires didn’t seem to know or care what it was. He felt like time was slowing down, keeping him trapped in this moment forever.
He coughed and sputtered when the bottle finally pulled away. “N’more,” he pleaded, sobbing as he was bitten into again.
***
Buck gestured to the tent. “I assume it’s sunproof. Took it from one of you, after all.”
There were more scars, Astra realized looking down at him, just barely peeking out of his ratty shirt. They almost looked like parts of letters. Was that normal for humans? Some cultural thing they did to mark themselves? She’d heard of the human art of tattoos, but these didn’t look like drawings, they looked like scars.
Buck quickly pulled his jacket closed when he noticed her gaze, and she looked away, embarrassed. “Thank you,” she said, even though she was going to go in the tent whether he let her or not.
“You can use the bedding. I don’t sleep during the day, I just got up. Just don’t rip it or anything. You have no idea how hard it is to get that stuff.” He rummaged through the box and pulled out a can of dog food, peeling it open and digging in with his fingers.
Astra pulled the blanket around herself, settling into the tent, but she left the flap open for now. The sun wasn’t out yet. “Humans can eat that too?” she asked, crinkling her nose at the smell.
“Yup. This human eats whatever’s edible, and most of what you all leave out’s this stuff,” he said around a mouthful. “Doesn’t really bother me anymore. I’d kill for some vampire in town to leave some fresh fruit out on their porch or something, but I’ll take what I can get. Pretty sure I’ve got scurvy, though.”
“What’s scurvy?”
“Human disease from not eating right. Makes my old wounds hurt.” Buck rubbed his neck with a wince. “Or maybe I’m just getting old.”
Astra twiddled her fingers. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just go live with a vampire? Not that I’ll tell anyone! Still won’t! Just… wouldn’t it be easier?”
***
The persuasion lifted, and with it, the order to ‘hold still’ that kept him motionless and pliant as the vampires used his skin as their graffiti board.
He gasped as his mind came back to him all at once, another scream tearing from his already-raw throat right after. A new spot stung with fresh wounds, the vampire’s razor-sharp, claw-like nails having crudely carved his name into his flesh, deep enough to scar.
“I’m gonna try with my fangs,” another boasted.
“You’re gonna fuck it up, dumbass. Then your fuckup will be on its skin forever.”
“I’m not gonna fuck it up. Lemme at it.”
Buck thrashed, vision tunneling. “No, no, no! Stop!”
“Can someone else make it hold still this time? I’m tired of it.”
“Yeah, I’ve got it. Hey, human. Hold still.”
His mind went blank of anything else but following the order. Every ounce of his being, dedicated entirely to holding perfectly rigid. He felt something hurting him, splitting his skin open, and a little nudge in the back of his mind said something wasn’t right. But he didn’t care, not right now. He was to hold still.
His ability to think snapped back into place, and he wailed, trying helplessly to fly off the table. A superhumanly strong hand pushed his bleeding chest down until he was flat again, then licked the blood off his hand.
One of them laughed. “I told you you’d fuck it up.”
***
“No.” Buck said flatly. “It wouldn’t.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“Nothing for a kid like you to worry about. Just get your rest and go back home.” He finished his meal and slung an empty backpack over his shoulder. “I gotta go scavenging.”
Go back home. She didn’t want to anymore, not now that the threat of the sun had been vanquished. It was better here.
“You’re leaving?” The thought of being out here all alone during the day was suddenly dawning on her as terrifying again, even with the tent. What if she got attacked by a wolf, or a bear, or something? A human would be no help against either one, but for some reason, it felt infinitely more scary without him.
Buck looked from her, to the box, and back. He sighed, putting the backpack down again where he’d picked it up from. “Nah, I’ve got enough to last me. You sleep, I’ll keep watch. Not gonna leave you out here alone, alright? You’ve got my back, I’ve got yours.” The sky starting to lighten, he grabbed the zipper to the tent. “Good morning, Astra.”
She felt like she might cry.
“Good morning,” she said softly, the tent closing her safely inside.
***
It was only a few nights later when Astra returned. She knew the way this time, had paid attention to the directions Buck gave to get her back home.
“Buck?” she called.
A gasp came from inside the tent. Though he was holding his stake when he opened the tent, he dropped it once he saw her. “Jesus, kid, you scared me half to death. Why the hell are you here!?”
“Sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean to wake you, it’s just, I can’t come during the day, you know,” she swung a plastic bag off her shoulder, “And I brought gifts? To say thank you. Plus because I made you miss out on a day of scavenging. Did you know there’s whole stores just for selling human stuff? Guess people who have humans need to get human food somewhere.”
***
They were getting bored of him, Buck could tell. He didn’t even struggle anymore. He’d never struggle again. He didn’t realize how much worse it could get.
There was no food in the house. Not for him, anyway. He had to keep begging them to buy it for him, and they were getting more and more annoyed with him each time he asked. As if it was a chore they could put off. Like he was nagging them about leaving dishes in the sink.
He chewed on a leather belt someone had left on the floor next to the couch his ankle chain was bound to, but just because it came from the same animal as a hamburger didn’t make it any more edible.
Someone had left a half-drunk package of human blood out.
Every single night, he’d see most of his owners drinking those. He’d have been dead his first week if they all drank from him every day. His mouth watered at the sight of it, even knowing the people it came from were hypnotized out of their minds, trapped in a factory farm.
But it was food, wasn’t it? Wasn’t he food, too?
He took the package in his hands, turning it over experimentally, then squeezed some out into his mouth. It tasted horrible, but he kept going until the whole package was gone, desperate for something, anything, to fill his stomach.
Minutes later, he was vomiting all over the floor like a stupid dog that stole chocolate.
***
“...Gifts, huh? Can’t turn that down. What’cha got?” Buck had his hand over his heart, but Astra could still hear it racing, pumping fresh blood even faster.
But this wasn’t about her. The idea of fresh blood, once enticing, had sort of… lost its appeal since she met Buck. He was too much of a person. Way more than anyone had made it seem like humans were.
Astra presented it proudly. “Fruit! Like you said you were missing! They had a few different kinds, and I didn’t really know them, so I just got a bunch?”
Buck’s eyes widened. “Oh my god. Holy shit.” He pulled a red one out–an apple, she remembered it was called–and bit in. It was white on the inside. It smelled disgusting to her, but the human was quickly devouring it. “Thank you!” he said between bites.
Astra set the bag down, beaming. “There’s more, too! There’s one called an orange, like the color, it’s supposed to be really good for scurvy. I got a bunch of those.”
“This is seriously the best thing that’s happened to me in years. Thank you. Here, hold on.” He finished off the apple, spitting seeds into his hand and pocketing them before rummaging through his box. What he pulled out was a baggie full of money, mostly loose change with a few bills in there, but it was a lot of change. No telling how much. “Here, for your trouble. Been collecting this whenever I see it, figured maybe bribery as a backup plan to the stake if I ever get caught? But that probably wouldn’t work. It’s better off with you.” He placed it in her hands.
It was stolen money, but there was no telling who it belonged to, and it was probably such a small amount from each person that it didn’t matter, right?
“Wow! Okay! Thanks!” She stuffed it in the front pocket of her hoodie. “Can I stay and hang out?”
Buck looked up at the moon, then back at her, eyes narrowing. “It’s early. You got school?”
The smile dropped right off her face. “You know about school?”
“Yeah. I know about school.” He rolled his eyes. “Humans have school too, you know. Come back after and I’ll help you with your homework, how about that?”
“...I hate school,” she admitted. “Everyone’s jerks there. They make fun of me for being gay. Which I’m not even! But explaining why would only make it way worse, so.”
***
“You can really make it tell you anything. It’s like a truth serum!” one of the vampires explained.
“Oh, oh, oh, I’ve got one. Hey, human, answer the question. You gay?”
“Yes,” Buck answered robotically.
His mind was released to a chorus of laughter from the vampires surrounding him, and his face flushed hot. He willed it not to. All the vampires saw when he blushed was the blood under his skin, and it always made them take more, but he couldn’t control it.
But his mind wasn’t his for long. “Answer the question!” another commanded, all other thoughts chased out of his head. “You a viiiirgin?” the vampire taunted, sing-song.
“Yes,” came his answer.
He came back to himself again, laughter roaring. This time, it sounded… dangerous. Everything was dangerous here, but this was different. Something was very, very wrong.
“Hey, what if we make it–”
***
Suddenly, Buck grabbed himself by the head, face scrunched up in pain.
“Buck?” Astra stepped forward. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine!” he snapped, too quickly to be anywhere close to believable. He opened his eyes, exhaling slowly through his teeth. “I’m fine. Sorry. My head’s fucked up from vampire brain magic from… a long time ago. That’s all.”
His hand fell from his head. “Back to what we were talking about. That sucks and I know what it’s like. Screw it, not gonna tell you to subject yourself to that. Just bring your textbooks next time and we’ll do it ourselves. I finished high school once upon a time, I’ll tutor you. How different could vampire high school be?”
“Really? Just like that?” It felt like every single other person in her life was blaming her for it. If she didn’t go to school, her parents yelled at her. If she did go to school, it was even worse. “You don’t care?”
“Yeah, I care about people messing with my girl.” He huffed. “Now, tell me about your classes.”
***
Astra came by most nights after that, usually after school. If anything, she started attending more often than she was before, even though Buck had said she didn’t have to.
She had a reason to go now. She had to graduate so she could get a decent job, because for the first time in a long time, she had something she really cared about.
Buck almost never asked for anything, and she could tell he was ashamed whenever he did, only ever asking for the bare essentials when he absolutely had to. Medicine. Food that wouldn’t make him sick. It was no way to live, and she wished she could do more to help him. She couldn’t even get him to human territory, too far away to travel in a single night, without someone surely noticing her missing and coming after her–and that would be the end for Buck. It was too risky, at least for now. She’d already gotten screamed at after that one day spent hiding from the sun in the tent.
But going to school was a little more okay now. It wasn’t her whole world anymore, and every time someone said something shitty, she knew she had a friend she could talk shit about them with. She knew that right after school, she could run into the woods where no one she knew could find her, to the one place she could be Astra. The one place where if she showed up with bruises or worse, someone actually cared, fretting over her to the point of crying. Even if she would heal by tomorrow, free of the long-lasting injuries and scars a human would suffer. Maybe it was a human thing. Maybe it was just Buck.
Maybe it was because he knew what it was like, and worse. It quickly became clear that something much worse had happened to Buck than just persuasion. Only once, she saw him without his jacket on, and there were names carved into his skin. But he refused to talk about it, always saying “That’s not something you need to worry about” whenever she caught him fighting back tears with his head in his hands, and she didn’t press.
But she still worried about it.
***
It was the most distressed she’d run through the woods since the night they met. Tears blurred her vision and she rammed through bushes and tree branches, uncaring as they scraped against her legs and arms. When she got to Buck’s camp, she ran straight into Buck, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing as if he could do anything to make this all go away if she just hung on tight enough.
“Whoa!” he stumbled, nearly falling, just barely managing to catch his step. He hugged her back, letting her sob into his shoulder for a minute, but when he spoke next, his voice was pained: “Kiddo, you’re kinda hurting me.”
“Shit, shit, shit, sorry!” Her arms flew back, letting him wheeze in a full breath. It was easy to forget how fragile humans were, even after months of hanging out with Buck, but especially now, when she could hardly think straight.
“It’s okay, here.” He hugged one arm around her shoulders and led her to sit on a log. “I’m okay, you’re okay, I’ve got you. What’s got you so worked up? Kids at school being assholes again?”
She shook her head, arms crossed in her lap as she fought to keep the crying under control so she could speak. “My p-parents found out I was lying about going to study with friends after school.”
The color drained from Buck’s face, panic filling his eyes. He looked like he might vomit. “They’re not–”
“I didn’t tell them about you, they’re not coming to get you, don’t worry,” she assured him quickly. “I… distracted them. I told them I’m a girl. Figured they’d freak out enough about that and make their own conclusions about where I was going, and they probably wouldn’t guess the woods. They didn’t take it well.”
“Oh,” Buck patted her shoulder. “I’m sorry, kid. That’s gotta suck. You deserve so much better than that.”
“I mean, yeah, it does, but that was the plan. That’s not the problem. They wanna send me to boarding school. It’s an all-boys boarding school in the middle of nowhere and I won’t be able to see you anymore and I won’t be able to even leave! It’s just school forever and you can’t escape!”
***
Buck ran and ran and ran, chest heaving as he tried to put as much distance as he could between himself and that horrible house.
He couldn’t outrun them, that he knew. They were faster than he could ever hope to be, and if they caught him, they’d be much more careful about where they left the key. This was his only chance, making himself hard to find.
He was half-starved and covered in wounds, but even as his lungs burned and his legs begged for relief, he ran. Every instinct in him said to avoid the woods, the trees providing cover from the precious sun that offered him protection for a few more fleeting hours, but he’d be a sitting duck when night fell. He needed somewhere to hide.
He broke into the treeline.
***
“Astra. Listen to me.” His stare was intense now, and he grabbed her by both shoulders. “There is always a way out. You’re free right now. Did they even do any research about this place!? Do they even know if it’s safe? They’re just picking a place to send you to hurt you the most? Sick fucks. You can get away. If you don’t feel safe, get away now. Forget about me, just get somewhere safe–”
“I can’t forget about you! I need you! I can’t do this alone!” she cried.
Buck opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. The emotion drained from his eyes, his hands falling from her shoulders.
“Buck?” she asked uncertainly. “What’s wrong? Are you having another one of your–”
“Oh, is that its name?”
She practically choked on the sound of her father’s voice.
“Dad!? You can’t be here!” But there he was, following the trail of broken branches she’d left behind.
Stupid. She’d been stupid and careless and now her only friend’s life was over because of it.
Astra jumped to her feet, putting herself between Buck and her dad, arms out protectively in front of his helpless, mindless form.
“I can’t, can I? Well, while we’re making a list, how about I add something you can’t do,” he spat. “You can’t skip school to run off into the woods to befriend a diseased stray human who teaches my son to act out by trying to become a transsexual!”
“I’m not even skipping school anymore, and that has nothing to do with him!” Astra protested. This couldn’t be happening. No, no, no. “Let go of him!”
“I will not. This has gone on long enough. You are coming home, now, and we are getting this business sorted for good. Get moving.” He pointed a firm hand back in the direction they came, crimson eyes bright with fury. He glanced at Buck. “You too. I’m sure it won’t be too hard to find your owner.”
In a trance, Buck started walking to his doom.
“No!” she grabbed him by the wrist, stopping him in his tracks. Her teary eyes locked on Buck’s dead ones.
Astra had never done this. She’d never expected to. But she didn’t expect that her father had much more experience than she did, either. And she knew Buck’s mind better by far.
“Buck, listen to me,” she whispered. “Please just listen to me.”
She felt something click, like she was flexing a muscle she’d never used before, and suddenly, she just knew what to do. She repeated it, not begging this time, intense and commanding.
“Listen to me.”
Buck didn’t look any less dead-eyed, but something changed. She could feel the absolute control she had over him, like he was another extension of her, as easily piloted as her own arm.
She let go.
Buck resurfaced, in control of his own mind and body once again. Instantly, he drew the stake he always kept in his back pocket, wielding it out shakily at her father, yet too frozen with fear to make a move, just like he did on the night they met.
Her dad rolled his eyes. “Fine, lead the human yourself if you insist. But you’re coming with me whether you like it or not.”
Buck couldn’t do it and Astra knew it. There was no chance. Even if she could free him from persuasion, he’d just gotten hurt from a hug and he could barely hold a stake, let alone use it.
“Wait, Dad, please,” she begged. “Okay, you win. I’ll come home, I’ll go to school every night, even that boarding school if you want, I’ll–I’ll give up the girl thing, I’ll be the perfect son, whatever you want. Just please leave him alone. He’s not doing anything, just leave him!”
***
Even after years, even in the bright midday sun where no vampire could get him, Buck shook like a leaf in the wind every time he went out to scavenge. He walked up and down deserted suburban streets, a small part of him always half-expecting a vampire to jump out, lock him in that iron grip once again, the little freedom he had snatched away.
It was all he could think about as he studied the vehicle parked on the lawn. He’d never seen any kind of vehicle here before, vampires could run just as fast as one, most didn’t bother with them. But this looked like a moving van of sorts, so it made sense. Hard to carry all your furniture even with enormous strength and speed.
There were no keys. He could try hotwiring it, he’d never done it himself before, but he’d seen one of his brothers do it. It was his only chance to ever get home, probably.
But human territory was so far from here, that even if he managed to do it, he’d be driving through day and night on no sleep. And if he failed? It wouldn’t take long to put together that it wasn’t a vampire that had tried to steal a van in broad daylight.
Nothing was worth the risk of being caught and sent back there. Not even if he had to live the rest of his life in the woods alone.
He left the van untouched.
***
Buck dropped the stake, letting the piece of wood fall to the forest floor. “Astra, wait, don’t. You don’t need to do that.” He stepped forward, eyes wild with terror and voice strained. “Sir. I’ll do what you want, persuasion or not. Just, wouldn’t it make more sense to keep me for yourself than to go through all the trouble of finding my owners? It’s been nearly thirty years, they’ve surely moved on by now. You don’t need to give me back to them. I can provide fresh blood! F-finder’s keepers, right?” He forced a smile, tears streaming down his face.
“Astra,” her father scoffed. The name almost felt tainted, the way he said it. “I’ll consider it, but the both of you are on very, very thin ice.” He looked to her, barking a name she’d hoped Buck would never hear. “You’re still going to that school, you are certainly not becoming a girl, this is not a bargaining chip, you do not have a choice. Now move.”
Something broke in her. Like a rubber band stretched so far for so long, it finally snaps.
Astra took the stake from the ground, wielding it in Buck’s place. Her hand did not tremble as she glared at her father.
“No.”
“Astra!” Buck hiss-whispered, but she knew he didn’t understand. He was too poisoned by fear.
She held firm. “Leave. Us. Alone. Or else.”
“Where did I go so wrong in raising you?” her father lamented. “Fine. If this is the extreme you want to take this to, I’ll put you in your place myself.”
“No!” Buck cried. Astra pushed him, and he landed on the mossy ground several feet away, safely out of the way of what she knew was about to happen.
And in this matter, she knew for certain she was more skilled.
Her father lunged at her, but she dodged easily. He wasn’t even as fast as the guys at school.
She came at him from behind, raising the stake and plunging it down, piercing his eye. An easier target than the heart, and if she could get both, it’d leave him just as helpless to follow them or even escape the woods at all.
“Is this what you wanted!? Huh!? Is this manning up enough for you!?” she shrieked, going in for a second stab.
He screamed and whipped around, trying to claw at her, but she made contact first. She grabbed him by the face, sunk her claws in, and pulled, taking out his other eye with a gush of blood.
“You ungrateful child! You’re going to regret this!” he howled, curled up and clutching his half-torn-off face.
She could kill him right now, if she wanted.
“I’m going and you can’t stop me. Goodbye, Dad. Don’t look for me.” She stuck the bloody stake in the front pocket of her hoodie–she was already soaked in blood anyway.
Astra crouched at Buck’s side, still lying bewildered on the ground where he’d landed. “Let’s go,” she encouraged softly, holding a hand out. “We’re going to human territory. You’ll be safe there, and I’ll stay with you.”
Buck took her hand, snapping out of it, back to his practical self as he stood. “We’ll need the tent for you during the daytime. And food–just a couple days’ worth. I have some containers we can fill with water on the way. You can drink my blood.”
“Are you su–”
“Yes,” Buck answered without hesitation, hastily breaking down the tent. “It’s okay. I want to. You’re not going hungry on my watch, kid.”
Astra nodded. Once Buck had everything they needed in his arms, she scooped him into hers, strong enough to carry their whole life to safety.
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Sibling rivalry only works on the page if both siblings secretly think the other one got the easier version of their childhood. Nobody thinks they won. Write both of them convinced they lost, and suddenly the fighting makes sense.
on the topic of disabled characters, though, i think a LOT of artists give characters mobility aids that their character wouldn't actually benefit from using.
i'm sort of having a mild brain fog moment rn so i can't fully articulate what i'm on about, but i think a lot of able-bodied artists view things like canes and crutches as interchangeable. and they often don't know enough about the wide range of mobility aids to make an informed decision about what their character might actually use based on their disability
i also think that aids like walkers and rollators are sort of viewed as "cringe" on some level, and many people view them to be "just for old people," so many artists will opt for giving a character who has full-body pain and fatigue a cane (which, in many cases, can potentially WORSEN full-body pain) instead. and a lot of people don't realize that most wheelchair users are able to walk, so they don't consider it an option for characters with chronic pain
idk it's kind of frustrating. i've genuinely never, ever seen a character that uses a rollator before. not once. i cannot name a single one. i know of multiple ocs who are described to have full-body pain, dizziness, and fatigue that are drawn as cane users and are never shown with wheelchairs or walkers, though
it's also sort of sad? i've been diagnosed since i was twelve years old, and i only heard of rollators LAST YEAR. and that was only because i saw one irl and immediately asked what it was. i wonder how many disabled people out there don't even know it's an option solely because they're completely underrepresented online and in media
if you're a creative with a disabled oc, PLEASEEE check out this link. it's a very nice and detailed guide for telling which mobility aids suit someone's needs best. it's incredibly important to make the right choice for your character! mobility aids tell you a LOT about someone's lived experience. picking the right one will communicate to your audience #1 what your character goes through #2 that you UNDERSTAND what your character goes through!
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power imbalance in institutional whump my fucking beloved. the fact that whumpee will always forever rely on caretaker's kindness - that if caretaker suddenly hurt them there's nothing anyone could or would do for them.
Whumpee who doesn't recognize Caretaker or the fact that they're being rescued
Whumpee cowers in the corner of the room, whispering soft pleas to themself. Caretaker slowly inches closer, dropping their weapon to the floor to try and appear less intimidating.
"Hey... Whumpee. It's me. It's Caretaker." Their voice is soft, trying their best to be comforting. They haven't seen Whumpee in years.
Whumpee's head snaps up when they hear Caretaker's name. They recognize that name...
"N-no! No, please... Please don't hurt Caretaker! I-I'll do anything. Don't hurt them."
Whumpee doesn't recognize Caretaker themself, but they recognize their name. That was the person they loved. They won't let anyone hurt Caretaker.
Hands down, Lady Whumpees. Which is like, general, I know, but unfortunately niche. Like, yeah, I don't mind wet cat guys and all that, but there's just... so many. So much media is whumped guys that trying to find good whumped ladies is hard to find. Either there's very little content or they're very 1 dimensional or 2 dimensional in character. Very little variety. Or when there is variety, people are scared to whump them too much because it'll be seen as "inherently bad", whatever "bad" may mean.
I like my sad ladies, spitting mad ladies, emotional complex ladies, etc. I need to recreate my bookmarks on this blog, but my favorite lady whumpees recently have been
@whumpologyy Vienna (girl after my own heart ❤️)
@whumpyourdamnpears Dani and Sarah (so different both of them, but love them equally ❤️)
@another-whump-sideblog Tracy (she's so much fun, lol ❤️)
@melpomenelamusa Fidi and Neli (I've had these two for X days and I would die for them ❤️)
And of course my own OCs, lol
(There are others, but my brain has been dying of this damn heat and I am already fried; it's barely the beginning of summer, too 😭🫠)
Sometimes, whumpee secretly resents being rescued. They'd finally adapted, come to terms with everything and gotten good at living within the constraints whumper set. Now they have to do it all over again, with everyone insisting that this is better for them. And this time, they're expected to be grateful for it.
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One of the biggest “whump awakenings” I guess you could call it came from a book I read as a kid where the main character was accused of a crime and declared a “wolf’s head” which was described to mean he was no longer considered human, he could be killed or harmed or anything by anyone and they would face no consequences. So in a lot of things I write, that’s a concept I think about a lot. It’s not that a character is being actively hunted, it’s that there’s nothing protecting them. The only thing keeping them safe is someone else’s decision to do so.
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