Fighting through the Pain

EMT | researcher of historical medicine | ask me about first aid!

[writerwhostayedupallnight]

Name five of your favorite whump tropes!

hidden injury/injury reveal

not realizing they're injured

field care

doubling over in pain

fever

Reblog with your five favorites!

@classicwhump, @99point9percentwhump, @crazylilkitty23

[classicwhump]

Go ahead, put me on the spot! Here's my list...

A Good Samaritan Caretaker finding and taking in a stranger whumpee. This also applies to found family.

Whumpee screaming in terror as caretaker holds them.

Caretaker/friend is forced to hurt/fight whumpee.

Whumpee limping/crawling to caretaker who is frantically trying to reach whumpee.

The Whumpee weak or dazed and just fading away (bonus points for frantic caretaker).

Bonus (because I hate choosing)

6. The quite moment where Caretaker is holding Whumpee after all the crying/screaming/wound care is over.

Passing this along...

@whumpyreader @mynightingalecomplex @uuuhshiny

[whumptious]

I like my whumpees active in their own care.

1. A is hurt but still protecting or patching up B before dealing with their own injuries.

2. A has to give medical instructions and/or emotional support so untrained/panicking B can help them.

3. Character is on their own and has to apply their own first aid and keep moving until they reach outside help.

4. Improvised medical equipment. Love it when a character has to macgyver their way through first aid, especially if they're doing all the improvising on themselves.

5. A hides an injury to avoid distracting B in the middle of a dangerous situation, tries to ignore the pain and act normal until they're safe and B's reaction won't endanger them. I like it whether they succeed or fail at hiding the injury.

[aceofwhump]

Sorry, this got really long. I just got reminded of an idea I had back in fucking middle school and thought you might appreciate it.

So I know that "villain turns up on hero's doorstep / in their apartment /etc. because they have "nowhere else to go"" is kind of a common trope, but I really really really want to see more of the reverse. A hero who is badly hurt, maybe even on the run from the organization they work(ed) for, and goes to the villain for shelter.

The villain is just chilling in their evil lair and their security system goes off. They get all dressed up in their regalia and go outside to face the threat, only to see the hero leaning against a tree / the wall / whatever, gripping their side, blood soaking through their uniform, face pale.

Or, alternatively, they look on the cameras and see nothing. Sighing, rolling their eyes about how they really need to fine-tune the settings so it stops alerting at animals, they go outside (potentially prepared to gain another snack for their pet) and instead see hero crumpled in a heap. (Bonus if the hero was flying into the villain's airspace and crash-landed / was zapped out of the sky by the villain's defenses.)

Maybe the villain's pet Creature perks up its nose and dives into the bushes. The villain runs after them, cursing, since "I thought you knew better than to chase squirrels!!" only to find their pet pawing at (or even attempting to gnaw on) the hero's body. (Dragging them by the cape like Krypto in Superman....)

Or maybe the hero lands on the balcony of the villain's Evil Penthouse in the city. Or stumbles up the drive of their looming mansion in the countryside.

Maybe the villain saw them approaching from a distance and disabled their security / called off their goons, preparing a trap. The door opens and they're ready to burst into an evil monologue as the hero walks in, but then the hero just... crumples.

Imagine the last thing the hero says as they lose consciousness is a quiet "You were right." The villain would ordinarily be gloating, but they can't seem to find any joy in that idea. After all, what's the point in changing someone's mind if they just die right away? No. There's no satisfaction there.

The vulnerability of delirium, too. Accidentally revealing top-secret plans, or letting on that their bosses/organization they work for have hurt them. Hero babbling "Don't take me back there, please!"

Maybe they were shot with some kind of anti-power poison (because of course the organization that collects super heroes would know how to stop them).

Imagine the "good guys" showing up at the villain's place and demanding they return their "kidnapped" operative. Offering a ransom. Villain listens to the recording and stares at the sleeping form on their bed, and wonders what the hero did to make their former employers want them so badly.

Villain defending their home (and the hero) with everything they had. Maybe hero shows up at the last minute to help them, too.

Maybe the hero wakes up with the villain's cat (or other pet creature) on their chest. Or they wake up alone in an unfamiliar place and go wandering, catching glimpses of the villain's private life until they finally come across the villain in another room. ("Finally. I was starting to wonder if I would have to feed you to the sharks." "Sharks? Aren't we in the middle of the city?" "That was a joke, hero.")

Maybe the villain's residence is a lot less impressive than the hero was expecting. Their "secret bunker" is little more than a couple of rooms.

The hero getting to see what the villain is like behind the mask. There are photos of their loved ones on the wall. ("What happened to them?" "What happened? Nothing. My mother was just here last Sunday for tea. My dad's dead though. Fucking lung cancer of all things. Man smoked a pack a day.") Their cat is a huge cuddle-bug, and the living room has more cat toys than people furniture. Their MASSIVE dog sleeps on the bed and licks your face. Their library is filled with romcoms. They have a huge collection of 80s music. There's an entire room full of arcade games. They collect abstract art. Their fridge is covered in travel magnets. They sing and dance (badly) while they cook. ("Yes, of course I cook for myself. You think I can afford to hire staff? In this economy?? Besides, what's to stop your precious Organization from sending plants? And I can't exactly put out an ad in the papers.")

Idk, I just think this is a critically underrated reversal of tropes here.

(sent by @memento-morri-writes bc I'm an idiot who made my writing-related blog a sideblog.)

*screaming crying throwing up* OH MY GOOOOOOD I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is amazing and I'm obsessed. Fuck every part of what you just wrote is perfection and itching this particular itch of mine so good. I love a good hero villain team up and I love when the villain is like the good guy in comparison and the good guys are shitheads. I love a hurt hero. I love it ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!! CRITICALLY UNDERRATED INDEED!!!!!!

[memento-morri-whumps]

Btw, I have a whump blog now. 👋 And I ended up posting a similar post (I honestly think I just copy-pasted the same notes doc that ended up in your askbox) to this on here a while after I sent this ask! (Absolutely no shade to you, I just was thinking about the themes again.)

[aceofwhump]

Oh hell yeah! nice!! Yeah I take FOREVER to answer my messages 😬 Sorry about that! But I freaking loved your ideas so much! I'll give your post a reblog too!!

[whumptious]

Ok that was wonderful! I have a follow up question (and obviously no rush with any of these).

How does modern survival intervention for internal bleeding work? If, say, I want to replicate it with magic or slightly different tech

Keeping in mind that my knowledge doesn't extend far beyond first aid, surgical intervention for internal bleeding is really just about finding and stopping the bleeding. It will very probably involve repairs too (stitching up damage to organs or whatever to prevent further bleeding) but it's an emergency operation with the main goal just being to Stop That Blood NOW.

The problem with internal bleeding is that you can't see where the blood is coming from. Surgery for internal bleeding tends to be a bit exploratory. You know the general area you need to access, but once you get inside, you have to actually locate what's bleeding. These days, a lot of operations for internal bleeding can be done with a probe into one of the major blood vessels near the bleed, which can seal off the damaged blood vessel when it reaches it. Previously, surgeons would open the area, suction out all the blood, and just poke around until they found the bleed. Then seal with one method or another (glue, stitches, cautery, etc). For any further details, you'd have to ask someone more knowledgeable about surgery.

[whumptious]

Second question: is there anything that can be done about internal bleeding without modern surgical equipment?

It really depends on how serious the internal bleeding is. Minor internal bleeds can stop on their own, clotting internally the same way blood clots to form a scab in a surface injury. In some cases (eg. an impact that causes small blood vessels to burst) the internal bleeding causes nothing worse than a bruise.

Internal bleeding in the limbs can often stop on its own. Have the patient lie flat, elevate the affected limb, and monitor them for hypovolemic shock. Depending on the injury, external pressure on the limb might be able to stop internal bleeding. Alternately, if you can clearly see where the bleeding is coming from (eg a massive, rapidly growing bruise or bulge of blood under the skin), you may also be able to stop the bleeding by making an incision to let the "bubble" of blood escape and then applying direct pressure to the now-revealed source of the bleeding.

Internal bleeding in the torso or head is more likely to require surgical intervention. Without that option, you pretty much just have to wait and hope it stops on its own. Keep the patient lying down, warm, with legs elevated, and monitor for shock. Don't give them anything to drink during this initial stage, but if you're able to provide a blood transfusion, extra blood in the system may be enough to keep them going until the bleeding stops.

If the bleeding is too severe to stop on its own, the patient will go into hypovolemic shock, with symptoms such as cold, numbness, shaking, headache, disorientation, and eventually loss of consciousness, before ultimately bleeding to death. Without access to surgery, there's not much you can do about it.

If the bleeding does stop on its own (whether in a limb or body injury), the patient will still be in serious condition. There will be intense pain, swelling, bruising, exhaustion, weakness, and intense thirst. Treat the patient the same way you would in any other case of severe blood loss. If possible, use a blood transfusion to restore blood volume. If not possible, give them as much hydration and electrolytes as you can. A salty broth is superior to plain water. Keep them lying down, warm, and comfortable to combat shock. Treat for pain as needed and keep an eye on the site of the internal injury, as you can still get a lot of complications just from having all that blood collected in the wrong place.

Blood in the lungs can cause pneumonia or other breathing complications. Blood in the chest cavity can crush the lungs or the heart (hemothorax). Blood in the abdominal cavity has a little more wiggle room, but it can still cause pressure injuries to organs. Blood collecting in a limb can create compartment syndrome. Any area of excessive pressure from the pooling blood can cut off blood circulation and cause tissues to start dying. Once your patient survives the initial bleeding, their body might be able to process and get rid of the misplaced blood, or you might need to consider further intervention to release the pressure.

[whumptious]

Hi! Is me! I’m gonna limit myself to one question per ask so hope this isn’t too much. Uh, first: if someone was, say, stabbed. After immediate first aid, when they’re not going to die any time, what would continued care and recovery time look like if it was done well but with no modern hospital equipment or medicine?

Since you said they're not going to die directly from the wound, I'm assuming they aren't bleeding internally, don't have holes in major organs, etc. In that case, the biggest risk with stab wounds tends to be infection. Germs get deep in there where it's hard to wash them out. So your number one priority is to keep this wound clean.

A lot of doctors actually won't stitch a puncture wound because stitches can seal bacteria into the wound and/or prevent the wound from draining properly. So if the surface area of the stab is relatively small (it's not gaping open and/or starting to bleed again every time you move), you're better off with just the pressure of a wrapped bandage to hold the wound more or less closed. Make sure to change bandages frequently and keep them as clean as possible. If sterile bandages aren't available, boil the bandages for at least 5 minutes and dry them in direct sunlight (hanging loose, not draped on a surface) before using them.

Clean the wound as thoroughly as possible when you change the bandages. If you have access to any kind of sterile rinse or antiseptic rinse, use that. If not, use hot soapy water; choose an antibacterial soap if you have one, and if not, choose one without any scents or perfumes added. Do NOT stick fingers, gauze, rags, etc. into the wound to try to clean it out. If you have a way to squirt slightly pressurized water into the wound (such as a bulb syringe or a water bottle with a pop-up mouth) you can use that to clean the wound more deeply. Rinse thoroughly after using soap. Dry the area around the wound and apply light pressure to the wound to remove any remaining water that seeps up, but don't try to dry out the inside of the wound. Some moisture is necessary for healing, and again, inserting any sort of gauze or rag into the wound is likely to do more harm than good.

Every time you change the bandages, look closely for signs of infection. There's likely to be some swelling and redness around the wound, but if those symptoms increase instead of decreasing, there might be an infection starting. You can also look for spreading size of the red/swollen patch, a darker red color, pus, increased discharge from the wound, or the wound starting to smell bad. The earlier you catch the infection, the better your chances of stopping it.

If an infection is just starting, cleaning the wound more frequently might be enough to stop it. Make sure to clean away any pus or loose infected material. If increased washing fails, finding an antiseptic becomes vital. Common first aid antiseptics tend to be harsh and can increase scarring, so they're not usually recommended for deeper/more serious injuries, but in this case we're assuming you don't have better options, so you can clean the wound using distilled alcohol (rubbing alcohol or high-proof spirits), hydrogen peroxide (3% solution is usually used for first aid), or iodine (also usually used in a solution of 1%-3% in an alcohol mixture).

If you can't find any modern antiseptics, a number of plants were used historically. Herbs such as garlic, rosemary, thyme, ginger, and cinnamon have antibacterial properties, but they tend to be more effective as preventatives than curatives. Still, it can't hurt to make an extremely strong tea with as many of those herbs as possible to help boost the immune system. Also make sure your patient stays hydrated and eats well to strengthen natural immunity.

As a last resort, you could also use a poultice made from any of the herbs listed above or from raw honey. Apply the poultice to the open edges of the wound but don't push it down into the wound. This is a historical technique with very questionable efficacy, but if you have no other options and an infection is getting worse, you can try it.

Recovery time depends on a lot of factors. A deeper wound takes longer to heal; so does a wound near a joint, since even small movements are likely to stretch or shift the damaged tissues. It'll take longer to heal if the patient can't rest consistently, doesn't get enough food, doesn't get enough hydration, or gets an infection. If we're assuming this wound is fairly significant, caused by a knife or similar dramatic mechanism of injury, you're looking at at least a week before the wound heals enough to let you regularly use the injured body part, several weeks if you're constantly on the move or get an infection, a month or longer before you can call it healed. Even then, there might be soreness, tenderness, or slight weakness of the surrounding muscles.

[aceofwhump]

Happy International Whump Day!!!!

On September 12, 1997 Daniel Jackson died for the first time (in the show lol) leading to a fanbase coining the term "whump" to describe their favorite archaeologist in pain.

Today our community has grown and expanded so much and I'm so happy to be a part of it!

Have a great day everyone and I hope you all enjoy some good whump today ❤

[yaboywillyshakes]

[its-a-pain-having-a-name]

Reference tag for writing

[heimeldat]

Useful writing facts I learned today:

1. At least one variety of anasthesia makes you realllly lightheaded and dizzy for about 20 seconds before the lights go out.

2. When you're waking up after, consciousness returns in odd bits and pieces. I do not remember asking for ginger ale. I remember tasting ginger ale and saying "ewwww what is this?" Then I remember tasting water and saying "did the cup change?" and they told me I asked for water to replace the ginger ale. During all this I kept telling them my throat hurt and trying to pull on my ears to make it better. Then I was apologizing for something (I think was convinced I'd been rude about the ginger ale?) and then the water was gone and I was having a whole conversation but apparently only woke up for real partway through.

3. Intubation makes your throat fucking HURT. I knew it would be sore, but wasn't expecting the same sensation you have with really bad strep, where swallowing feels like getting stabbed through the sides of your throat into your inner ears.

4. Whatever kind of IV pain med they gave me had no effect on my throat/ears. Interesting how it could be so focused. The surgical site didn't start hurting until 4 hours later but my throat tried to kill me in the meantime.

5. I actually thought they must not have given me IV meds like they said they did because I was in so much pain. WRONG. Stabby throat is child's play. Apparently my reaction to *actual* intense pain is trembling nonstop, breathing hard, clenching my fists really tight, and bouncing my legs if I'm in a chair. I can now accurately inflict this reaction on others.

6. Not so useful for research purposes but walgreens pharmacy is the worst it took them *seven hours* to fill a supposedly expedited prescription for a common pain med.

7. On that note i will soon know how to describe characters under the influence of an opioid 👍

8. Drugged Gale trying really hard to distract herself from pain apparently overshares medical information on the internet. I will be careful about this.

[heimeldat]

Hey whumpy friends, shall we share some Doctor Who specific whump prompts?

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[heimeldat]

For those who missed it yesterday, this exists now :D Come and join, you know you want to!

[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

[scriptmedic]

So so honored to get THREE separate mentions in this list! (I haven’t read the first few, but the first one sounds fascinating!)

To differentiate the last 3, which are mine:

10 BS Tropes: this is how not to piss off medical folks in storytelling. It is short, and it was free the last I checked.

Maim Your Characters: this is a guide to injury as a plot structure tool. As in, how and when do you make the most out of a good character thrashing, from a plot perspective?

Blood on the Page is the book that tells you how long a specific injury might take to heal, what the character would go through, and details about their treatment.

Also, if cash is an issue, most of Blood on the Page and Maim Your Characters is available in my blog archives if you can navigate the hellsite. (The #masterposts tag is your best bet). And 10 BS Tropes was free the last I checked!

(Since I’ve had people ask: I priced the books so that, last I checked, I earn equivalent royalties whether you buy paperbacks or digital.)

xoxo, Aunt Scripty

P.S.: While I no longer answer asks about specific scenarios or injuries, I’m happy to answer questions about the books themselves via DM or ask box. Including the “hey I want this but REALLY can’t afford it could you PDF me?” ones.

[drifting-knightjar]

OMFGOMFGOMFGOMFGOMFG AAAAAAHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHH AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AGSJCJGLAHAGDJDKAHSHFKDKAKAHQFDJFLGJAGAGFLFLSGAKFWKALAHDI WEB DKALAKHAGSJGPSLAHDKELH SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP HHHHHHHHHHHHFFDDFFFFFFFFDF AHHH AHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHH IM CRAZY IMCRAZY I'M LOSING MY MINDDDDDDDDDDD MY BOYSSSSSSS!!! THEY ARE SO RIDE OR DIE! FUCKING TREASON?? LAURENCE???? HELLO??????????? I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS MAN HE IS SOOOOOOOOOOO AAAAHHHHH

[frodolives]

how horatio hornblower looks in my mind's eye

[whumptious]

I just found my old EMT textbook and figured some people here would be delighted to have such a resource for giving their characters advanced first aid. (Or for understanding the USAmerican emergency health care system). It takes a few chapters to get to the really useful stuff, but I'll just post it all since there are a few good tidbits in the intro section.

So here's chapter 1: preparing to be an emt. A very general overview of requirements and responsibilities.

[freshbaked-bread]

dr who tv movie: uh oh i need to get an atomic clock or the master is gonna destroy the world! 😱😥

8th doctor audio stories:

[eightdoctor]

edas:

[squidlife-crisis]

[ashrowans]

1️⃣5️⃣🕔💙🧡

[feverdreamsanddelusions-deactiv]

we really need more ship whump. ocean whump. stuck on a boat. whumpee going outside at night because there's not really a reason they should be restrained. because all the can see around them is the pitch black ocean stretching into infinity