As always, picking what prompts to include was really hard thanks to you guys' wonderful brains, but we hope this list will excite many of you! Additional info + plain text versions of the prompts can be found under the cut. Please check the FAQ below before sending asks.
FAQ and Rules
What sort of content can I create for this event?
You can create whatever you want (fic, art, edits, etc). Any fandom is allowed, as well as OC stuff. NSFW is allowed, but please tag your content accordingly! The only thing not allowed is AI-generated content. You're also free to combine these prompts with the prompts of any other event.
Do I need to make 31 things to participate?
Oh heavens no! You can make as much or as little content as you like, skip days when desired, or combine prompts (so for example, write something that covers a prompt from day 1, 2, AND 3). You don't have to do the days in order either, go wild! To be considered a 'completionist', you only have to make sure that at the end of the month, you've covered 31 prompts from 31 different days, but whether you do that in 31 works or just 1 is up to you. Your works can be separate oneshots or one continuous fic, or something in-between.
How do I interpret these prompts?
Creativity is the name of the game here! If you don't understand a prompt, feel free to send us an ask about it. However, the important thing is you can interpret the prompts however you want. For example, 'heat' could be literal (fever, heatstroke, burn wounds) or figurative (somebody getting heat for something). The dialogue prompts are allowed to be slightly rewritten to fit better for the character whose mouth it's coming out of, be that the whumpee, whumpter, or caretaker. As long as you're having fun!
What are these alts about?
If none of the three prompts of a particular day are your cup of tea, you can swap them out for an alt prompt of your choice. This will count as having covered that day for completionists.
How do I tag my works and is there an AO3 collection?
It suffices to tag your work with #ailesswhumptober for us to see and reblog it! Please also tag nsfw content, since we'll be using that tag on this blog too. Tagging the day is optional but does help the mods along.
There will be an AO3 collection like every year. It will be linked here once created (closer to October).
What's this I hear about badges/achievements?
For those who want an extra challenge, we come up with a set of achievements each year in addition to the 'completionist' one for you to strive for. Each achievement you complete comes with a cool little badge, hand drawn by our very own Mod Radio, which you can claim at the end of the event. A full list of the achievements will be linked here once created (closer to October).
That should be all. If you have any additional questions, check our pinned or hit us up in the ask box. Or join our discord maybe, whumping can be a great group activity!
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Plain text versions of the prompts:
October 1: Used like an object - Sacrificial lamb - "Can't you see you're hurting them?!"
October 2: Pulled underwater - Electrical burns - "I never expected this from you."
October 3: Magical affliction - Struggling to breathe - "Pain makes you taste sweeter."
October 4: Substance withdrawal - Moments too late - "Shhh, shhh, you're okay."
October 5: Life altering injury - Pushed to the limit - "Go to hell!"
October 6: Arranged Marriage - Misunderstanding leads to whump - "I deserve this."
October 7: Trapped in a small space - Dehydration - "How many fingers am I holding up?"
October 8: Sibling caretaker - Whumpee trivializing their own trauma - "Me?! What about you?!"
October 9: Forced to fight - In the nick of time - "What happened? You look half dead."
October 10: No sedation - Flinching - "Just hold on a little longer."
October 11: War prize - Gilded cage - "You'll live to regret that, I'll make sure of it."
October 12: Psychological torture - Hallucinations - "This is where you belong."
October 13: Human shield - Surprised at being offered aid - "You're hurt because of me."
October 14: Thrown into a wall - Blood draining - "Look at you. Pathetic."
October 15: Last one left of a species - Raised in a laboratory - "Whatever happens, just remember that I love you."
October 16: Moment of softness - Losing a comfort item - “I hate you"..."I love you too.”
October 17: Apotheosis/Deification - Resurrection - "I'm saving you from yourself."
October 18: Collapsing from exhaustion - Hunted like an animal - "This is how you repay me?"
October 19: Nonconsensual body modifications - Unconventional limb removal - "Be good."
October 20: Bridal carry - Weakness - "Sweet dreams, whumpee."
October 22: Unconscious for days/weeks - Classic sickfic - "Hey, open your eyes. Stay awake for me."
October 23: Unwilling witness - Blindfolded - "I miss it more than I can ever explain."
October 24: Everybody you once loved is dead - Scar torn open - "Please don't lie to me."
October 25: Living weapon - Forced to hurt somebody - "If you love me, you'll do it."
October 26: Fever causes a seizure - Can't see straight - "I thought it was just a cold."
October 27: Infection spread through bite - Rash - "Don't touch it, you'll make it worse."
October 28: Flogging/Whipping - Hanging - "I just want it to stop."
October 29: Stabbed in the back - Untrustworthy - "At least I never pretended to be anything I'm not."
October 30: Public humiliation - Involuntary tremors - “Takes one to know one, hm?”
October 31: (Found) family but they suck - Reading the will - "You actually thought I cared? That's hilarious."
ALTS:
1. Haywire instincts
2. Shaving
3. Forced bitching
4. Time loop
5. Dopplegänger/Changeling
6. Tampering with food or drink
7. Eldritch horror
Have you ever noticed you pick up little habits and phrases from the people you love? it’s no wonder our hearts are so easily broken when people leave. we become a reflection of the people that we care about and those personality traits stick with us even if the people don’t.
So... I found this and now it keeps coming to mind. You hear about "life-changing writing advice" all the time and usually its really not—but honestly this is it man.
I love the lawyer metaphor, because whenever I see “John knew that...” in prose writing I immediately think “how? How does he know it?” Interrogate your witnesses. Cross-examine them. Make them explain their reasoning. It pays dividends.
First, let me preface this with something very important: you can treat all of this advice as SECOND-DRAFT ADVICE. It is so much easier to rewrite this kind of stuff once you have words on the page. Telling yourself the first draft is totally appropriate and acceptable.
What we’re talking about here are FILTER WORDS (and to some degree verbs of being). Yes, “thought” words are included. But so are “heard, saw, looked, tasted, smelled” etc.—most words having to do with the senses.
This isn’t black and white advice; sometimes you’ll use these words and that’s okay. They’re not WRONG. They’re just weaker. And they’re weaker because they create distance between the reader and the experience of the character.*
If you want your reader to feel like they’re experiencing the story right alongside the character, you want to cut down on filter words.
*This is particularly important with first person and close third POVs. The reader always knows whose eyes they’re seeing through and thoughts they’re privy to. So you don’t need to tell them “I saw X.” Or “I heard X.” Or “I thought Y.” You can just jump into the action/observation as it’s happening.
This is also where you want to pay attention to verbs of being.
“It was rainy.” Versus: “The rain pounded against the roof.” Or “The rain howled like an injured animal.” Or “The rain tapped against the window like an anxious lover.” All of these are inviting the reader deeper into the experience of the story by using stronger verbs and similes. And, at the same time, they stir feelings (instead of TELLING feelings). And feelings keep your reader engaged. Engaged readers keep turning pages; engaged readers become FANS.
The most valuable advice that Author Ex gave me through the years that we wrote together was this: the problem with all these filter words is that they create distance in the POV.
That means that when you read a line like
John saw that the curtains were open.
It immediately takes you OUT of the character's perspective and instead tells you what they experience as a secondhand observation.
You don't have to get fancy or purple with how you rephrase things like this. Not everything needs a ton of breathing room.
You wanna know what's perfectly impactful while keeping a tight POV?
This was one of my all time most powerful writing lessons! This mindset shift makes you a stronger writer immediately in a way that just keeps getting easier and better for you.
The take I always have on advice like this is that "John saw that the curtains were open." and "The curtains were open." are sentences that are telling you two different pieces of information.
Some of this, yes, is about POV distance--but some of it is also about the information being conveyed by the sentence. If you are using a sentence like "John saw that the windows were open" it should be because the information you are seeking to convey is that John saw it.
Maybe this matters because the next time John looks back they are closed, and so he's doubting what he saw. Maybe it matters because he later has to recount information about the room he was in, and it's notable that he specifically saw that the windows were open. The fact and method of his observation is part of the point of the sentence, rather than simply the observation itself.
When we are using sense verbs, it should be because part of the point is the sense. Same with "thought", "felt", etc.: "Mary thought that Susan looked a little thin" is telling us a different piece of information than "Susan looked a little thin."
Contrarily, at least in my opinion, simple telling phrasing like "It was rainy" can sometimes bring us more into a character's head than something showing like "The rain howled like an injured animal." I have read books when a relatively plain-spoken/plain-thinking character suddenly starts having elaborate descriptions of things like scenery or weather, and it is abundantly clear that the author wanted to spruce up their writing and avoid "telling." The problem is that it drags me as the reader out of the character's head and shows me where all of the strings are. I'm suddenly thinking about how the author is worried about being yelled at for "telling" instead of just reading the story.
Your writing, down to the sentence structure and word choice level, should be about what you are trying to accomplish. Is the point to tell us that the window was open, or is it to tell us that John saw that the window was open?
1) Reveal your character slowly. If you info-dump too much about your protagonist straight away, there is no more wonder surrounding them. By slowly unraveling details about a character, the reader can understand them more fully and see their growth happen in real-time. When your character begins to open up naturally as the story progresses, they’ll reveal things about themselves through their actions or dialogue.
2) All protagonists should have a goal. When a character sets out to complete their goal, that is when the story is born as well as their character arc. The obstacles they have to overcome and the setbacks they face develop them as the story progresses. When you give your character a goal and make it hard for them to reach it, they begin to figure things out and grow as a person.
3) Create obstacles. And then more obstacles. The more conflict that you shove in your protagonist’s face, the more active they have to be in the story. It’s by actively making choices that someone begins to transform. Give your protagonist physical obstacles to overcome but also internal ones like doubt, regret, anger, confusion, lust, etc.
4) Let them Fail. Overwhelm your character, push them to their limits, kick them when they’re low, make them feel like their heart will never heal… and then help them overcome the hardship. (Or not, if your story consists of a negative character arc). Regardless, failure is an important part of any story because no one is perfect and readers love seeing a protagonist overcome the impossible. Have your protagonist fail continuously throughout the story… big failures, little failures, half-failures… it all builds character.
5) Enhance their growth by having static characters in the story. Protagonists are typically dynamic characters which means they change throughout the story. It can be smart to contrast a dynamic character with a minor static/flat character who remains the same throughout the story. If two characters come from the same starting point but only one changes, the audience can see the growth that has really happened to them.
6) Give your character a past that they can overcome. A backstory, an origin, a past. We all start somewhere. The way we grew up undoubtedly shaped us into who we are today and it’s no different for a character. Whether your character comes from a backstory of hardships or privilege, you must know the reasons behind who they are at the start of your story. Then, you can start developing them… making them into a better or worse person.
For example, maybe your protagonist has a deathly fear of cars because of being in an accident as a child. Put them and a love interest in a car together or have them take walks by a highway late at night. Perhaps he even shows her what a car looks like under the hood and helps her to understand the safety features. This all develops your character into growing past their fear, which we understand because of their past.
7) Give your character’s flaws that are real. I don’t mean little flaws like being bad a math or extremely clumsy. While these are all aspects that are okay to give a character, your protagonist needs a more deep and intense obstacle to overcome. A werewolf who can’t control their anger and transforms sporadically. A cheerleader who shakes so badly from presentation anxiety that she risks dropping a teammate. These traits are realistic and relatable to the audience and can be overcome as the character develops, learns, and grows throughout the story.
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