whumpmas in july day 2: favorite whump tropes
oh boy, i was looking forward to this one! 😍😍😍
i obviously adore stoic whumpees who feel they cannot show their pain or distress. i love ✨ misunderstandings ✨ but not the stupid kind, the sort where the conflict is believable and the hurt stems from past traumas (i.e. a dubious ally turning traitor or a whumpee believing their caretaker is their owner). i also love something i call “social whump”, being when a character is heavily ostracized or outcast, often mistreated, by their group or social setting. emotional whump is a big one for me, especially angst that revolves around low self worth and dehumanization.
i love begging: pathetic begging, kneeling, sobbing, pleading, bargaining, fawning, hysteria, terror, the whole nine yards. all begging is good (especially when it’s quiet and desperate) but begging that’s big and heartbreaking is always a massive favorite. especially if they cry. gimme all the weeping certainty of horrors.
noncon whump is also a favorite of mine, again, particularly if it’s institutional in some way (like the bbu with Romantics). noncon whump as a “casual” feature of the world the whumpee lives in, something almost unremarkable, in a way, but that’s another layer of horror. noncon whump is also great as a horrifying punishment, especially if it’s a “beat-down” style of punishment, gang-assault as an act of breaking the whumpee or punishing them for some big infraction. the subtle awfulness of casual sexual hurt, whatever the nature of the whumpee, is very good when done well.
when it comes to physical punishment, i really love tropes in fantasy whump that hurt a specific group (i.e. silver hurting werewolves or sunlight hurting vampires). i also love ritualized or systemic punishment, such as whippings or pillories or denial of necessities like food or medicine. stuff that emphasizes power, control and dehumanization. punishment that centers on showing a whumpee their “place”.
i love team dynamics, whether that be a loving assemblage of caretakers for a lone whumpee, a band of whumpees forging a bond through suffering, or a cruel or apathetic clique excluding a member. i love cold and calculating whumpers with a lot of self-righteous justification for their actions (but brutal heavy-handed schoolyard bullies are fun too). i love patient, quiet caretakers often burdened by their own responsibilities or hurts and also sunshiny sweethearts who see the best in everyone.
i love long-term imprisonment, institutionalized slavery (bbu, gladiator, fantasy, you name it), and a lot of hurt from the top down, rigid stratification and hierarchy meant to coerce and punish.
that’s all i can think of now but i am sure there are more i have missed! 💖💖💖 have a very merry @whumpmasinjuly!
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