#kawhump posts

[kawhump]

something I find I keep coming back to is like. a character trying to beg and bargain and slowly realizing that they have nothing. to bargain with. grasping for anything they can give in exchange for avoiding some fate that's just too much. "I'll do anything you want," "I'll be good," "anything but that," etc, none of those work because like. 'anything' is already on the table. I could do this to you, and you'd still do anything I want, because there are plenty of things I could do that you'd do anything to avoid.

the moment they realize this, and really comprehend that they don't even have the power to offer obedience. what they want fundamentally cannot mean anything. especially if it's a character that's used to having control, or used to striking deals, it's just SO fun.

the whumper just watching them flounder for any kind of leverage, watching it dawn on them that they're not an actor in this exchange, they're an object.

[kawhump]

okay lemme see if I can describe this in a way that's coherent because it lives in the back of my brain and will never go away. when whumpee is begging caretaker when they really don't have to, but you can really see why they think they do. when it's a conscious decision that whumpee is making, they have reason to believe this person, who they know, would do that.

and it's reasonable enough that caretaker understands almost immediately why they think that. and they get hit so hard with The Guilt.

it's about like, high stress situations tugging out the little interpersonal insecurities that they've been burying. they've always been worried that their friend will get sick of them and leave them behind, or they've always been uneasy that their spiteful friend has genuine, maybe even completely deserved resentments against them.

like. caretaker realizing like. my friend is scared of me. and they have reason to be. and perhaps more importantly, even thinking I would do something like that, they're still friends with me?? they're not angry???? they think they'd deserve it?????

[kawhump]

say what you will about magical healing, you gotta admit it's really good for letting you get away with giving a character wounds that they should absolutely not be able to survive. you have to work waayyyyyy harder to let a character survive seeing their insides in a world without magical healing