Introduction Post
Name: Blaine Ashan Valentine Gender/Pronouns: Cisgender man, he/him/his Date of Birth: September 21, 1997 Place of Birth: Santa Monica, California, United States Current Location: Barton Point, Maine, United States Positive Traits: Ambitious, Charismatic, Intelligent Negative Traits: Insensitive, Resentful, Specious
Blaine, the only child of George and Sanduni Valentine, was born and raised in Santa Monica, California. George and Sandy met and fell in love at UCLA School of Law. While George went on to focus his practice in corporate law, Sandy found her niche in family law, specifically facilitating adoptions. The Valentines were a perfect, happy family until Blaine's fourth birthday, when Sandy had her first stroke. Though the stroke didn't kill her, she was never the same afterwards, turning into a shell of who she once was.
During her first hospital stay, it was discovered that she had a brain tumor. Once Sandy was well enough to return home, she had to drastically cut back her work hours to attend occupational and physical therapy. When she wasn't at work or therapy, she was lashing out at her husband and son. George took on an increased workload, not only to make up for their loss of income, but also to avoid Sandy's outbursts. Blaine’s demeanor dramatically changed after Sandy's first stroke, but George didn't seem to notice and Sandy didn't seem to care. The once cheerful, vibrant boy became bitter and irritable.
The Valentines went through a slew of nannies over the years since Sandy couldn't handle Blaine on her own and George wasn't around enough to offer any assistance. They couldn't keep any around for very long, as Blaine always found a way to make them quit. The Valentines all became masters at putting on facades so that the outside world was none the wiser to their inner turmoil, not even Blaine's extended family. While he often spent time with his other relatives growing up and was particularly close with his paternal grandmother and cousin, Natalie, their love wasn't enough to save him.
Over the years, Sandy's physical health deteriorated, and she passed away from complications from a second stroke when Blaine was thirteen. Shortly after Sandy's death, George had moved on with another woman, Paula, who he married within two years of dating. Before he knew it, he was living with a strange woman and her teen daughter, Emilia. Paula and Emilia wanted to be a happy blended family. While Blaine wanted none of this, he tolerated them to keep the peace, as there now was peace in his home for the first time in a decade. However, the damage of his childhood was irreparable.
Blaine's emotions have been dulled since he was young, and with each trauma that struck him, his positive emotions became duller and duller. He spent his formative years perfecting the art of mimicking the emotions that he lost the ability to earnestly feel all those years ago, so nobody truly knows what goes on in his mind. The face that Blaine shows the world is that of a bright, charismatic young man. He is good at charming people and making friends, but all of these relationships are surface level. He doesn't keep people around unless he thinks associating with them can benefit him in some way, and when he's no longer benefitted, he discards them with ease. There are only a few people Blaine truly cares about, and he is fiercely loyal to those people.
Not knowing what else to do with his life career-wise, Blaine went to law school. He graduated from his parents' alma mater at the top of his class and passed the California bar exam on his first try. He got a job working in the realm of intellectual property and contracts straight out of school, but the work bored him to pieces. He stuck the job out, thinking he could rise through the ranks, but he just ended up in a dead-end position for two and a half years. He wasn't planning on leaving California as abruptly as he did, but his perpetual boredom (and unwillingness to pay back gambling debts he accrued) lead him to book a one-way flight to "visit" Natalie in Barton Point, Maine, in April 2025. He's now working for a law firm doing paralegal work while awaiting the results of the Maine bar exam. He's not in an ideal position, but he thinks a fresh start would be good for him.
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