Absolutely diabolical of you to tag clint + dick in that whump ask game Right after i finished reading your magnum opus (winter quarters) (i haven't read your other fics yet but I'm RUINED) (will be comatose for the next 24hrs thinking abt that fic) 😭😭😭😭😭
anywya...... thoughts on 1, 2, and 6? :')
Hi! Yes happy to answer! (but to be fair it's not a very recent post)
What kind of whump is your favorite to write?
Gosh. Tough question. I’m not sure I have a favorite beyond ‘physical’ whump. And within that bucket, I’m an equal opportunity employer. I have: shot them, stabbed them, cut them, burned them, branded them, beaten them, whipped them, broken their bones, waterboarded them, given them traumatic brain injuries, dropped them, dropped things on them, raped them, starved them, temporarily blinded them, given them panic attacks, given them gangrene, blown them up, punctured their lungs, given them rope burns, electrocuted them, hit them with cars, wrapped them in barbed wire and nearly exsanguinated them, put them in stress positions, given them chronic medical conditions to deal with, and most recently I used a nail gun on them.
I prefer there to be more than one simple injury, so torture is kinda fun for that (I know—I’m going to hell). For me, it’s not so much about the pain inflicted as it’s about the resilience of the whumpee—this is the key!—the more BAMF and stoic they are about it the better (there will never be woobies in my fic!) And also, at the heart of my love of whump is SELF-SACRIFICE. Best. Trope. Ever. 🤤🤤🤤🤤
And always, always, there must be realistic recovery after, in terms of both difficulty and time.
2. What kind of whump is your least favorite to write (although you still do write it)?
Overall, probably emotional whump, but it works its way into a lot of my fic anyway, probably bc the physical and emotional go hand in hand so often. It’s not that I mind the emotion whump, per se, it’s just that I feel like it needs to be handled with a deft hand and I’m too impatient of a writer to want to do that. But I do if I must, though I’m rarely going to write strictly emotional whump without some sort of physical element.
On the physical side, non-con is not a trope I’m particularly drawn to (acknowledging, of course, there’s a large psychological/emotional element to it, too), though I suppose you can’t tell by looking at my catalogue bc I’ve got a few in there. I think each time I’ve written it, I’ve just gotten these flashes of ideas which arrived unbidden and which burned in my brain until I wrote them. But I never sit down and think, hmm, I want to write some non-con, who’s queued up for that, whereas I definitely sit down and think, hmm, I want to write some whump, how can I hurt him today?
6. What character or characters are your favorite to turn into caretakers in your writing?
Oh, yes, there must be caretakers who provide comfort with the hurt, and I do love a good bedside vigil!
In the MCU, it’s largely been Phil Coulson or Bucky Barnes, taking care of Clint. Both of them are just born to the job. Phil, bc I just see him as kind and compassionate, and Bucky bc he had all that experience taking care of puny!Steve.
In DC, it’s mostly Jason Todd taking care of Dick Grayson. That’s a perfect combination to me bc Dick just needs to be whumped and Jason is, on the surface, this kind of an asshole character, so finding his softer/caretaker side (always with a side of surliness, tho) is fun to work with. Sometime Bruce shows up, as well, but less as caretaker and more to just angst over an injured Dick. Somehow, I also keep having Bruce and Jason addressing the issues between them over Dick’s unconscious body on a hospital bed, lol.
Oh, oh, and whump on two of my favorite whumpees in the same fic (I’m talk to you Dick Grayson and Clint Barton) and they’ll be practically killing themselves (literally) trying to protect/take care of the other one.
Thanks for the questions @mlmelelemlm. It’s fun to think about and write these things down because I don’t typically articulate them in my head unless someone specifically asks.
Happy to answer more whump-related questions from this list here if anyone else wants to play.
