No Rest for the Whumped

she/her | 18+ | psychology student in the daytime, whump writer at night

[bump-of-whump]

Ref Recs for Whump Writers

Violence: A Writer’s Guide:  This is not about writing technique. It is an introduction to the world of violence. To the parts that people don’t understand. The parts that books and movies get wrong. Not just the mechanics, but how people who live in a violent world think and feel about what they do and what they see done.

Hurting Your Characters: HURTING YOUR CHARACTERS discusses the immediate effect of trauma on the body, its physiologic response, including the types of nerve fibers and the sensations they convey, and how injuries feel to the character. This book also presents a simplified overview of the expected recovery times for the injuries discussed in young, otherwise healthy individuals.

Body Trauma: A writer’s guide to wounds and injuries. Body Trauma explains what happens to body organs and bones maimed by accident or intent and the small window of opportunity for emergency treatment. Research what happens in a hospital operating room and the personnel who initiate treatment. Use these facts to bring added realism to your stories and novels.

10 B.S. Medical Tropes that Need to Die TODAY…and What to Do Instead: Written by a paramedic and writer with a decade of experience, 10 BS Medical Tropes covers exactly that: clichéd and inaccurate tropes that not only ruin books, they have the potential to hurt real people in the real world. 

Maim Your Characters: How Injuries Work in Fiction: Increase Realism. Raise the Stakes. Tell Better Stories. Maim Your Characters is the definitive guide to using wounds and injuries to their greatest effect in your story. Learn not only the six critical parts of an injury plot, but more importantly, how to make sure that the injury you’re inflicting matters. 

Blood on the Page: This handy resource is a must-have guide for writers whose characters live on the edge of danger. If you like easy-to-follow tools, expert opinions from someone with firsthand knowledge, and you don’t mind a bit of fictional bodily harm, then you’ll love Samantha Keel’s invaluable handbook

[lucy-likes-whump]

Whumpees who have no one to blame but themselves.

Whumpees who went after the villain alone and ended up captured.

Whumpees who fell for the whumper's bait and made themselves the bad guy in the publics eye.

Whumpees who drastically overestimated their abilities and are now paying for it in blood.

Whumpees who put themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time because they kept making the wrongest possible decisions.

In their darkest hours they don't even dare to hope for rescue. Slowly they stop fighting back.

And in the back of their mind the question steadily rises: maybe I do deserve this?

[sickfictropes]

imagine whumpee is captured and taken hostage with their teammate, but whumpee is already sick and/or injured. whumpee is always the one with the plan, but they're too out of it to think clearly. teammate now has to comfort whumpee, take care of them while their condition deteriorates, watch helplessly as they get worse and worse knowing there's nothing they can do about it, AND come up with a way to save themselves.

[lucy-likes-whump]

Getting captured while already injured is suuuuch a good trope

[lucy-likes-whump]

A whump trope that has potential to be really funny but also extremely devastating:

whumper and whumpee being thrown into a situation where they cannot reveal their relationship/power dynamic and are forced to pretend that everything is normal.

Some possible examples:

A bounty hunter whumper and their caught bounty whumpee get discovered by the guard and arrested for something basically meaningless. But since whumpee is a wanted criminal and bounty hunting is illegal, they both cannot reveal who they are or what their situation is.

Just yesterday, villain captured hero and beat them within an inch of their life. Hero managed to escape and dragged themselves to their civilian job the next day. To both of their surprise, the new coworker turns out to be villain (this requires that they recognize each other in their civilian identities).

Living weapon and their handler are out on a mission, when the organization that sent them out gets overthrown and the remaining agents hunted down. Handler will want to keep living weapon as a bodyguard and resource and living weapon is dependent on their handler to not accidentally reveal themselves to the public who hates all that they have done.

There's so many more possibilities, go and have fun!! If you already know a story with a trope like that or are creating one of your own, let me know!

[lucy-likes-whump]

let your whumpees have lasting cognitive damage!

I feel like most of whump post-rescue focuses on the physical scars and specifically psychological trauma (which are very important to explore as well!), but cognitive damage is an underutilized topic.

Depending on the whump (beatings, isolation, oxygen deprivation, electric shocks, even magic) there can be a lot of different consequences to the brain and its functions. I'll list some examples.

Brain fog and slower processing speed.

Thinking is becoming so much more difficult and energy consuming. Before the whump, character had lightning fast reflexes, could spot patterns and connections in seconds and could adapt to any situation. Now every task takes twice as long and they feel utterly exhausted at the end of it. Maybe some more complicated tasks have simply become impossible.

Losing the ability to read and/or write.

They used to spend hours reading, writing, journaling. Now the letters have just become incoherent shapes, constantly blurring and losing meaning. One day someone asks character to write down their name and with tears in their eyes they have to discover that they're simply not able to.

Memory loss, both retrograde and anterograde.

Before the whump, character's memory was a source of pride for them. No matter if it was faces, random facts or important dates. Now all of that is lost. Familiar faces wiped and all wisdom of important topics lost (retrograde amnesia). At the same time, character is slowly realizing that retaining new information after their rescue is also not as effective as it used to be. They met someone new just yesterday, how is it possible that they can't remember their name or anything of their conversation (anterograde amnesia)?

Previous abilities disappearing.

Different brain areas are important for different talents. Maybe character was a math genius before, had exceptional balance and body control or could compose music like no other. But during the whump, that specific part of their brain got damaged and now they are unable to do what gave their life meaning and what made them so unique.

All of those usually go along with heavy self-doubt and an identity crisis. Character will probably get frustrated at failing something that used to take no effort at all. Maybe they will lose their sense of identity as abilities that used to define them are stripped away.

But most people in real life also become more resilient and adapt to their new circumstances (often simply out of necessity). They will find creative ways to deal with the challenges in their lives and build a new sense of self.

[trialbytorment]

A vampire hunter gets bitten by and turned into a vampire on the job. Oops, well they knew the risks. All vampires, no matter how 'human' they start off still trying to act, all devolve into utterly feral, dangerous monsters eventually. They were taught this. It's time to accept their fate at the stake, for the good of the world. Except... the guild/ they work for has decided something. maybe because there are the first hunter to be turned in this particularly manner, in this convenient way, or some other plot-convenient reason, but they tell the newly turned vampire that they can continue working for them. Not like they did before as a hunter in the field, of course. They've left the possibility of continuing that route behind the moment the fangs slid through their neck and the first wave of bloodlust itched up their throat. But... perhaps they'll be useful as an example to teach students the trade of vampire hunting at vampire hunter academy or wherever aspiring hunters first learn the skills to capture and kill those bloodsucking monsters terrorizing the Earth. Their willing cooperation will lead to miles better results than using feral, undocile vamps as part of hands-on training for beginners. Imagine taking a starting class on vampire hunting and the instructor is introducing all the tools used and inviting you to practice securing a muzzle onto a real vampire. And the vampire itself is obediently standing still while also coaxing you and congratulating you and even offering tips as you slowly lock the muzzle over their face and making sure their fangs are completely barred in, not that they're trying to bite you right now. Of course, they're still chained in these classes just in case and they're still not a person anymore, this is just the organization's way of letting them do a little final good for the world in their short unlife before they eventually predictably fall down the slippery slope of bloodlust and need to be destroyed. They should be grateful for this second chance! And they are! Even when none of their former coworkers look at them normally anymore, or when they're treated as a tamed pet in the classes despite being told they're still technically an employee, or when their boss tells them that they're going to be used in teaching classes on how to put silver muzzles on vamps now, the kind that burns their skin upon contact, or that they're gonna be used in a demonstration on how long a vamp can stand being in the sun for, or how to defang one, or the limit of stabbing one before they're unable to heal immediately. The kind that's a kind of torture now, but of course they're still going to agree. Because, of course they should be grateful for any chance to continue advancing the noble cause - being part of teaching the next monster-hunting generation - even after they're now a ravenous monster themselves, and refusing any of these charitable opportunities is just proving they are indeed now too far gone, too consumed by the selfish slavering beast who no longer cares about their once human ideals, and they need to be killed for good because they're just like all the rest now.

[lucy-likes-whump]

#this is such a unique vampire whump prompt I love it

#also knowing that all of the new students could have been their colleagues or apprentices and now they only see the mc as a practice punching bag

[bloodiedbriars]

royal whumpee after losing their power

forced to become a concubine for the new ruler

using their skills of diplomacy and using words as weapons to try and bargain for better conditions. once whumper realises this, whumpee is beaten harder than ever before.

forced to dress in a mockery of their former royal clothes: cheap royal costumes, maybe from an outdated era

or forced to dress in rags from the beginning

or forced to dress degradingly revealing, kept on a chain by the throne for all to see

traded to a hostile kingdom as part of a peace treaty

the symbols of whumpee's power being repurposed to humiliate them (eg. their scepter being used as a cane to strike them, a crown repurposed to a collar, …)

pushed to their knees before the throne, head pressed to the floor by a hand in their hair, insults hissed into their ear

public punishments

paraded before their former peers and enemies, now degraded to something worth barely more than a stray mutt

a former subject using the opportunity to degrade and humiliate whumpee

a devoted knight, still loyal, taking care of whumpee in secret and protecting them when their treatment goes too far

[marsbar121]

I need avian whumpees, I need more traumatized winged people in media so I gave some ideas:

-Wing clipping, it's a great torture method as avians cherish their wings more than themselves. Even if clipped wings will grow back, the mental pain lasts significantly longer and sometimes never leaves. Incorrect clipping is also great as it can permanently ruin whumpees wings.

-Wings can also get tied up as a punishment for disobeying, it can be with metal bands or torn rope that digs into their wings. It's even better if the whumper can grab onto the bindings and drag the whumpee.

-Whumpees being used as living trophies, to the whumper they are just an exotic bird. A status of power and/or wealth. Whumpee follows in whumper's shadow like a pet, they could be in a cage, gagged/muzzled or on a leash.

-I love whumpees being locked in rooms or basements but I also love whumpers who treat the whumpee well, like a rich yet corrupt person pampering an exotic pet. It could be a manipulative thing or just because they see whumpee as a pet to be pampered.

-Forceful preening, to avians preening can only be done by close family, partners or extremely close friends, meaning whumper doing it completely destroys their dignity and crosses their boundaries significantly. The whumpee can either sit there and let it happen or fight back tooth and nail to get whumper away from their wings.

-Whumpees being locked in rooms with mirrors on every wall since (as far as I'm aware) birds get stressed at seeing their reflection all the time.

-Whumpees not actually having living quarters and instead live in a bird cage, even better if it's connected to a chain and hangs off the ground. Leaving whumpees only option to sit defeatedly on the ground.

-Whumper manipulating whumpee by constantly commenting on how 'perfect' and 'adorable' they are, I feel like whumper wouldn't take them too seriously as they just see whumpee as a bird, not a person.

[lucy-likes-whump]

Hear me out, an extremely powerful whumpee...

but they have one fatal flaw. A weakness.

Maybe it's another person they would give up anything for, just to keep them save.

Or it's a magic spell/artifact, forced on them through a trap, that binds their powers and maybe even their will.

It could be something unique to whumpee, specifically tailored to subdue them, or just a common thing that's still painfully effective.

Whumper could be the only one to hold the control over whumpee, deciding when, how and why they're allowed to unleash their powers. And never able to direct it towards their master.

Whumpee is just to desperate, how could they have all this power sleeping within them and be so powerless at the same time? They, a supernatural being, several thousand years old, subjected to the will of a sadistic mortal with just too much magic knowledge? What use are all the skills they honed so carefully, if they are never allowed to use them for selfprotection?

[chiswhumpcorner]

Whumpees who are not innocent.

Whumpees who have done Very Bad Shit.

Whumpees who know they have done Very Bad Shit.

Whumpees who don't feel guilty for (most of) it. They were doing what they could to survive.

Whumpees who don't want to be told it wasn't their fault. They need to believe they made choices. They need to believe they had some kind of agency.

Whumpees who'd rather be seen as a monster than a victim.

[whumpy-bi]

“Now…we both know you have certain abilities, Whumpee. I just need you to tell me how they work…and you won’t get hurt. Sound like a plan?”

[mysticalwhump]

thinking about whumpees who were taken because they’re useful

they can make something no one else can. could be a map, could be a spell, the possibilities are endless...

they’re a walking dictionary for something niche. maybe they’re the only one in the world who can translate a lost book, or they understand a certain kind of tech better then anyone who took them

they have something physical that makes them appealing. maybe they have a rare blood type or immunity to something that makes them a perfect specimen

they're particularly entertaining. maybe they can sing, dance, narrate... other things. plenty of opportunities :)

maybe they're just leverage, plain and simple. all they need is to stay with whumper and they'll be kept alive.

with that in mind, how does whumper treat them?

are they oh so careful? do they try to avoid letting whumpee know they can’t leave? do they treat them like royalty, providing them with food, a bed, all the comforts they could ask for?

are they perhaps a bit less careful, reminding whumpee they’re expendable (even if they’re not)? where can whumper hurt them so whumpee can still do what they were taken for?

do they keep them wherever its convenient with no regard for their comfort? maybe they simply forget about whumpee when they're not needed... oh no :)

does whumpee give whumpee the resources they need, or are they forced to work with limited supplies and make a product up to whumpers standards or face the consequences?

drop ideas/suggestions/responses anywhere! i stalk reblogs and my message box so chances are i'll reply (full of joy)

[lucy-likes-whump]

When a whumpee has been living as a captive under cruel conditions but they are still as gentle as always... And they treat others in the same position with nothing but care and protectiveness instead of taking their pain out on them... No matter how much torture they have to endure, they never get corrupted by hate...

Idk that just does something to me...

[paingoes]

dehumanization tropes i love

-not allowed on furniture. remain standing or kneel on the floor, no sitting

-not allowed to make eye contact 

-being silenced immediately every time they try to speak 

-casual manhandling, being dragged alone because they’re not trusted to move by themselves 

-casual, nonconsensual touch. randomly pulling them closer, absently playing with hair, manually adjusting their posture

-giving orders without explanation 

-giving orders they know are arbitrary, just to exercise power

-talking about them like they aren’t even in the room 

-authorizing other people to monitor and control them

-being kept in restraints 24/7, with movement restricted even further in their downtime 

-degrading their natural behaviors and reflexes. stare is creepy, smile is ugly, flinching is disrespectful, etc…

-putting down their hobbies/interests

-ascribing ill intent to all their actions and assuming the worst from them

[whumphours]

Whump Aesthetics: Collars

they're so possessive. a declaration. you're mine.

a whumper gently tugging on the whumpee's collar - a warning? a way to pull them closer? a reminder?

thick leather. cold metal. spiked. with a little dog tag. with a cute charm. inscribed with their name. attached to a chain - locking them to a wall? in the whumper's hand? tugging them around?

grabbing the whumpee by the collar. lifting them to their feet? pressing them against a wall? just holding it, reminding them that they could pull on it any time?

pulling the whumpee from behind and choking them with the collar

a constant sensation around the whumpee's neck - do they ever get used to it? do they ever get used to having it off?

yeah <3

[lucy-likes-whump]

whumper who is way too casual about it and whumpee who is more perplexed than terrified because what?? just happened???

[lucy-likes-whump]

The concept of the sacrificial character losing all their courage in the moment of truth... They thought they made their peace and would go with grace, saving everyone...

But when they step towards their fate, all the fear and panic slams back into them. All the late nights hyperventilating and crying, all the terrifying thoughts stuck in their head. They never left.

Nothing could have ever prepared them to willingly lay down their life... And now the tears are running and they are hysterically trying to get back, they want to live, to stay alive, they don't want to die! No heroic last words or a gentle smile, only fear fear fear and the deepest urge to stay in this world. They are clinging to life, even if it means forsaking everyone else.

And their companion's heart breaks into a million pieces with every new sob, but they know that there's a duty to fulfill...