#self rescue

Uninitiated

Stranger.

Why are you crying?

I remember you briefly, but…

Where did you go?

Is there something you need from me now?

Well, I don’t remember any scars.

Even though I never had the chance to analyze your shell— to know if you had ever cracked at all.

I understand falling.

I still have wounds I cried over, months ago.

A fall I felt for years finally came to a crash.

I was at the lowest, but I knew I could get back up on my own.

I did.

Have you ever fallen before?

You don’t have to answer right away.

I know you hear me.

I know no one had ever asked you

what it costs to stay standing.

But you mistook balance for strength, right?

Still learning where these tears come from?

Disappointment, you may have felt.

Brief Loss.

Sadness that passes through.

But you don’t know impact—

collision.

Not the kind of fall that teaches you where your bones are, or forces you to become both injured and the one who lifts.

Stranger,

I remind you,

When I fell fast,

trusting you beneath me,

I didn’t know

you had never tested your arms

under real weight.

You crying now, doesn’t make you cruel.

Just uninitiated.

Of course :D !

Self Rescue

CW: Hopelessness, Violence, Captivity, Blood, Injuries, Death Mention, Creepy Whumper

Whumpee stifled their own yelp by biting down even harder against the torn piece of sleeve. They thumbed gauze down into the squirting bullet wound, which seared and pulsated with pain. It traveled up their leg causing them to kick and squirm against the dirt. They needed to do anything except letting whumper mind them, and that included not leaving behind a blood trail to follow.

Whumpee got an infection from their haphazard self care, now they must face Caretaker's wrath.

"We'll come get you." Caretaker had promised. Whumpee wasn't having it. They longer they stayed here... They may not recover, they needed out now. Escaping might end up in death, but staying and letting whumper all over them again and again just to certify live- Whumpee had to take the odds of freedom.

Robot crawled through the broken window, sprawling out across the abandoned factory's floor, their cybernetic fluid pooling out underneath them as the impact loosened the very haphazard patch keeping them alive. They released a robotic whir mimicking the cry of a human, as they fumbled to get it back on. Once successful all their energy had been spent. They went into low battery sleep not knowing whether or not they'd be back to life.

Whumpee didn't have to listen to caretaker. They wanted to do things themselves- No, they needed to do things themselves. That's all that went through mind before their weakened legs left them lying on floor in middle of their apartment. Unable to get up, their shame created tearful eyes.

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/Sesshoumaru, Miroku/Sango (InuYasha) Characters: Higurashi Kagome, Sesshoumaru (InuYasha), Sango (InuYasha), Miroku (InuYasha), InuYasha (InuYasha) Additional Tags: Marriage, Fluff, Flirting, Devotion, writing challenge, hanakotoba matsuri Series: Part 1 of Hanakotoba Matsuri - A Kagome Event 2025 Summary:

In her latest sit-rip, Knitting Cult Lady talks about the latest Duggar scandal, and how that TV series normalized IBLP and that kind of fundamentalism for a lot of people, and how that's led to the current state.

So what can you do to save those kids and yourself?

Many of these are indirect, but they are all actionable.

1) If you see/reasonably suspect something, say something. If you are a mandatory reporter, report. Don't give any benefit of the doubt. Stay current with your training. If you are not a mandatory reporter, if something "bings" your radar? Report. (And your local public librarian can help you find out who/where/how to report.)

2) Push for real sex ed in schools. Not that abstinence only BS. Show up at the school board meetings -- keep these fuckers from taking control and victimizing all the kids.

3) Push for inclusive curriculum in schools and protections for LGBTQ+ kids. See above.

4) Find and support organizations that help homeless youth, ex: Safe Place. Many kids fleeing abusive/culty-households have no safe place go to but the streets. Help them have a softer landing. KCL had a family member to take her in, but many kids are turned out in their clothing and have no place to go.

5) Listen to what your kids say about their friends/kids in the neighborhood and find ways to let the kids know that it can be different, and you can help guide them to resources. If your family is sucked into one of these cults, find ways to let the kids know that they can call you 24-7, knock on your door, etc.

6) Push back against unrestricted homeschooling. Insist upon state-approved curriculum, proctored testing, home visits (this means a mandatory reporter will come into the homeschool). Push back against allowing public money to fund religious instruction.

7) Support your local public library. Show up for keeping diverse books on the shelves. Show up for the free programming.

8) Insist on financial literacy as part of the public school curriculum, push for it to include teaching about financial abuse.

9) Vote with your dollars and deplatform these sorts of people as much as possible -- as fun as it is to watch trashy reality TV? DON'T.

10) Vote in every election you can -- city, county, state, and national. Don't let these fuckers into any position of power. Keep them out of your library board, your school board, the board of regents, not just the city/county counsel and the legislature.

11) Be kind to kids being raised in a cult. They are taught you are the scary bad guy, and when you are short/snarky with them, it reinforces it. When those Mormon Missionary Youth show up at your door, be polite but firm that you are not going to convert, but if you feel comfortable, ask if they need a drink of water, a toilet, a phone call to friend?