Welcome to character hell

I create OC's for various fandoms. Some are whumpees and some are caretakers. Sometimes it switches up. Take a seat and prepare for a whumpy ride!

[painsandconfusion]

Favorite restraints?

Cloth / silk wraps

Barbed wire

Good ol' standard rope

Chains

Shackles

Wire

Handcuffs

Magic

Manual restraint (someone else holding them down)

Other?

Voting ended onJan 12

[whumpwithocs]

I read restraints as restaurants. You know what, dyslexia? Sure, I'll eat at all these, thanks.

[comfortingcatharsis]

Delirium or fever or concussion or exhaustion playing havoc with a character's sense of time so that the flow of events gets a bit slippery and they have no conception of the length of time passing- the companion tending to them steps out for just long enough to brew a cup of tea or fetch another blanket and returns to a character sure they've been abandoned, left to fend for themself, drowning in loneliness-

[possessable]

Hello i'm a normal person here's some stuff i drew to illustrate different traits different "person getting controlled" tropes can have

edit: obligatory possession shorthand code link because people seem to be using this like the possession code but just. without the code part

edit: DO NOT BE HORNY ON MY POST 💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥

[whumpwithocs]

Me while creating a Mary Sue just to make them a crying, sniveling mess.

[yet-another-heathen]

On conditioned whumpees...

Y'know, I think one of the things that people get wrong with conditioned whumpees is their rules. Specifically, when a whumpee was in long term captivity/training and they later get released or escape.

Most people write them as latching onto a caretaker or new whumper, and begging for new rules so they know they're doing something right. A new set of laws to live by, a new framework to behave to.

And that's... not really how conditioning works.

Conditioning means automatic reactions. Your body doing something that was trained into you without consulting your brain first.

There is no decision making. There is no choice. The trigger hits, and you are immediately performing the correct action regardless of anything else.

You're told to kneel? Your knees have already hit the ground. You're supposed to be standing in one part of the house when a certain noise is made? You've launched into movement before you even realize what you heard.

These rules are woven into the fabric of your body. And they are insurmountable. The conditioning overrides emotion, internal conflict, hesitation, beliefs, wants... everything.

Your whumpee may very well hate what is being done to them, and after the moment has passed they're cursing themself and their whumper. They're still a person on the inside. And that person is still very much alive. Most of the time, they will have some level of awareness that what's being done to them is wrong. They'll be angry. They'll be hurt. And they will hate that there is nothing they can do about it.

But the next time that trigger occurs, the response still hits them exactly the same.

So now take your whumpee out of that situation. They ran away, were rescued, were sold. They got out. Now they're with new people, a new caretaker, a new whumper. Or they're on their own and trying to make their own way in the world.

But those conditioned responses are still there.

There's no turning them off. You don't just replace them with new rules. They are in your every fibre. They have been built into the very framework of who you are.

The next time someone says the word "kneel", your knees are on the ground again. No matter where you are, or who you're with. The response happens before you can stop it. If they don't know why, everyone looks at you like you're insane. And you feel like you are.

Deconditioning is an agonizing process that takes more effort than I can even begin to describe to someone who's never experienced it.

Every time they hit that trigger, that response will still be there. Over, and over, and over, and over.

Breaking those rules down takes YEARS. And it is a constant effort that the whumpee has to choose to undergo every single time. Progress is measured milimeter by milimeter. You're told to kneel, and you kneel. You're told to kneel, and your mind catches up with the fact that you already did it— but a little sooner than it did before. Then a split second sooner. Then as you're doing it. Then you feel the impulse just before your knees hit the ground. Then you have a split-second of resistance before you go down. On and on and on and on, inching toward progress despite the fact that you're fighting with all your might. And that progress is anything but linear.

You don't just start obeying new rules. You don't latch on to your caretaker's new way of doing things and drop everything that you were conditioned to do before. These rules don't just get replaced.

Conditioning is not a belief system. It's a flinch response. Programmed deeper than the instincts you were born with.

You can be ordered not to obey the old command, and moments later when the trigger comes, you will anyway. Because in conditioning, the action comes before the choice.

These rules, these laws of your existence, come above everything else. And if your new whumper wants to replace them, they are going to have to beat the new rules into you so often and so severely that the pain becomes stronger than the old conditioning. At which point, the newly desired response will very, very slowly start to take over.

You're not swapping out new rules. You're layering new, worse conditioning on top of the old. And your brain will spend time stuck in that split-second between both responses before one finally grows stronger than the other. And even then, the change will not happen quickly.

That is what your conditioned whumpee is up against. That is what makes it such a horrible—HORRIBLE— and powerful tool.

[macgyvermedical]

Writing Pain: Pt 1- What it is and How it Works

After slogging through all my Whump Challenge posts, I thought you all deserved something nice. So here is the first of a 2-part series on pain. Enjoy!

Basics:

Pain is an unpleasant physical and emotional sensation caused by actual or perceived tissue damage. Under normal circumstances, pain indicates some kind of tissue damage. This damage can be from an injury, an infection, or a disease like arthritis. Very simply, when tissue is damaged, cells release certain chemicals. When the concentrations of these chemicals get high enough, nerve endings send a signal to the brain, which is interpreted as pain. Painkillers work by either blocking the formation of the chemicals, blocking how they interact with the nerve endings, or by blocking the transmission of the nerve impulses to the brain.

Pain Scale (intensity):

In healthcare settings, pain can be measured on a scale of 0-10. On this scale, 0 means no pain, and 10 means either the worst pain the patient has ever felt, or the worst pain the patient can imagine. Quantifying this for fiction purposes isn’t always easy, but think about it like this:

Pain score of 1: “Pain Threshold.” Where pain first begins to be felt. Barely noticeable and very easily ignored. Character likely would not express discomfort and may change positions, but not much more.

Pain score of 2: Character may voice discomfort, but may still not do anything about it.

Pain score of 3: “Pain Tolerance.” Pain becomes difficult to ignore and character finally begins to seek some form of relief.

Pain score of 4-5: Pain becomes nearly impossible to ignore completely, pain symptoms of tense muscles and a change in respiratory pattern develops. Irritability, nausea, and a change in vitals likely.

Pain score of 6-7: Pain is debilitating. Difficulty concentrating occurs, fine movements like writing are significantly impaired. Muscles are tense and hands are balled into fists.

Pain score of 8-9: Sleep is impossible, and pain is completely debilitating. Very difficult to read, think, speak or focus on anything that isn’t the pain. Change in vitals very pronounced.

Pain score of 10: Unconsciousness immanent. Worst pain character has ever felt. Incapable of thought, movement, or speech.

Pain is a very subjective, individual experience. One person’s 2 might be another person’s 6. Notice up there where it says “pain threshold” and “pain tolerance”? Pain threshold is basically how bad the pain needs to be to be felt at all. It’s the “1” on the pain scale. Pain tolerance is where the pain needs to be for the person to want to do something about it. It’s usually about a “3” on the pain scale.

Pain tolerance is different for everyone, and changes based on life experience (are they used to dealing with pain?), fatigue (being tired or chronically sleep-deprived may make pain feel worse), and emotional situation (being scared or sad may make pain feel worse). People’s perception of, and need of treatment for, the same pain may change day-to-day, or as they gather more experience.

Pain on this scale is also self-reported. People may exaggerate or minimize pain when reporting it depending on life experience (some people may be used to only getting treatment if they rate their pain at 10/10, and so routinely exaggerate in order to be taken seriously), culture (some cultures highly value stoicism, and may under-report pain so as not to appear weak), or religion (some religious groups view pain as penance, and so may under-report pain to avoid treatment). This is something to think about when building a character.

Describing Pain (quality):

Pain, while a universal concept, is not a universal feeling. Pain quality is what the patient reports the pain as “feeling like.” Different manifestations of pain can mean different things (see the list below for examples). Depending on the location or the reason for the pain, it can feel different. Here are some ways pain can be described/experienced (examples of related injury/illness in parentheses):

Achy (body aches from illness)

Crampy (gastrointestinal illness, menstrual cramps, heat cramps)

Crushing (heart attack, sometimes asthma attack)

Dull (injury to internal organs, bruises)

Piercing (pain from a surgical incision, some pain from loss of blood flow (ischemia))

Pounding (headache)

Sharp (pain from a surgical incision)

Sore (overuse, muscle injury)

Tender (bruises, soft tissue injury, musculoskeletal injury)

Tight (swelling (skin feels tight), asthma (air passages feel tight))

Throbbing (localized infection, soft tissue injury, swelling)

Any one of these and many others can manifest at any intensity.

Non-Verbal Signs of Pain and Pain Signature (newly added to post):

Writing for a character who doesn’t like to admit to being in pain? Rest assured, you still have something to write about. Non-verbal signs of pain obviously become very difficult to hide as pain increases, but even small amounts of pain may result in non-verbal expression of pain. Non-verbal signs of pain could be great for tipping other characters or audience off to pain.

Non-verbal signs of pain include:

Facial grimacing (especially the little crinkle between the eyebrows)

Increase in respiratory rate, heart rate, and blood pressure

Decrease in blood oxygen saturation (from breath holding)

Guarding of painful area

Decrease in physical activity and energy level

Loss of interest in surroundings

Difficulty keeping attention on task, may miss information

Restlessness

Constant shifting in position

Change in appetite

Repetitive movements, such as crinkling paper, wrapping fabric around hands, rubbing feet against bed

A “pain signature” is a person’s unique but consistent combination of the above signs. Even people who try to hide their pain often display a pain signature, though they may attempt to write it off (decrease in energy can sometimes be compensated for and change in appetite and restlessness can be caused by a lot of different things). If you know your character will be in pain, it might be a good idea to include their pain signature as part of character planning. 

R E F E R E N C E S

Craven, R. F., & Hirnle, C. J. (2009). Fundamentals of nursing: Human health and function. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Lippincott, W. &. (2013). Brunner and suddarth’s textbook of medical -surgical nursing 12th ed. nursing diagnosis, .. Place of publication not identified: Wolters Kluwer Health.

Stay Tuned for Pt 2: How to Get Rid of It

[painsandconfusion]

Fuk, you’re incredible- this is such good into-

[bebx]

"undoing this character's death would take away his sacrifice and character arc" girl I don't give a shit. I'm bringing him back through the power of ao3 fix-it fics and there's nothing you can do to stop me x

[macgyvermedical]

Writing Pain: Pt 2- How to Control It

(Read Writing Pain: Pt 1- What it is and How it Works)

Disclaimer: Due to the nature of this post, I will repeat that anything you find on this blog is for informational and writing purposes only. Using this information for anything other than that voids the warranty. I take no responsibility for your use of this information. Read at your own risk.

Let’s start by saying that controlling pain is a pretty big deal- and it’s not always done well, in fiction or in real life. Which is a shame, because multiple studies have concluded that patients with well-controlled acute pain have shorter hospital stays, fewer complications, and a lower rate of chronic pain afterwards than those whose pain is poorly controlled.

Some negative effects of poorly controlled pain include:

Increase in heart rate and blood pressure (which, in addition to increasing risks of stroke and heart attack and increasing the amount of energy expended during the healing process (which is then not available for, well, actual healing), can make bleeding more difficult to control- ask me about my top surgery adventure sometime).

Decrease in movement- no one wants to move while they’re in pain. This includes breathing deeply. Exclusively shallow breathing increases the risk of pneumonia and a kind of collapsed lung called atelectasis, where the small, air-filled sacs of the lung become blocked and can no longer open. This can lead to low oxygen saturation.

Anxiety- either related to movement (person expects worse pain on movement, begins to fear movement), or in general, which further worsens pain (see part one).

Decreased food consumption- who’s thinking about eating during severe pain and accompanying nausea? Causing less energy to be available for healing. 

Suppressed immune function- so an even higher possibility of infection.

Muscle spasms- caused by extreme muscle rigidity (see part one).

Longer healing times- because of all of the above.

Depending on where you’re taking your story, some of these may be what you want to happen. Some things that are barriers to providing pain control include:

Fear of addiction/relapse or dependence on opioids

Fear of loss of control related to opioids

Fear of overdose (hey, they’re already not breathing really well, if we give them this, they might stop breathing altogether…)

Inaccessibility- the person cannot access pain control methods, either because of cost or location

Inability to administer- no one is trained to do certain pain control methods

Side effects of available painkillers are too severe

Pain Control Modalities:

MEDICATIONS:

Pain medications are typically classified as opioid or non-opioid. Drugs used with painkillers to increase their ability to decrease pain are called adjuncts.

Opioid pain medications include morphine, oxycodone, codeine, meperidine, methadone, fentanyl and hydromorphone. Opioids are either made from the opium poppy plant (more specifically called opiates), or are synthetic molecules that are similarly shaped to opium. They work by inhibiting receptors of pain signals in the brain. They are very useful for severe pain, especially surgical pain and pain related to injury.

(Doses on this chart represent similar amounts of analgesia between drugs. Oral means by mouth, parenteral means injected or absorbed.)

Opioids are not available without a prescription, and worldwide distribution of these medications is, unfortunately, pretty horrible. While developed countries have these drugs widely available (and usually very cheaply so), it is estimated that approximately 83% of the world’s population has no access to them (click here to learn prices/availability in specific countries). In many developing countries, costs for these medications may also be extremely prohibitive.

Side effects for opioids include confusion, sedation, hallucinations, euphoria (and, actually, dysphoria), decreased breathing rate, headache, constipation, nausea, vomiting, low blood pressure, and itching. Tolerance, or needing more of the drug over time to get the same effect, is common with opioids. In long-term use, withdrawal is possible. In people who are predisposed, opioids may also pose a risk for addiction.

Non-Opioid painkillers include things like ibuprofen, aspirin, acetaminophen, naproxen, ketamine, adjuncts, and local anesthetics.

Some non-opioids, including ibuprofen, aspirin, naproxen, and acetaminophen, work by blocking the production of chemicals that signal pain in tissue (see part one). Not as much of the chemicals are produced, so not as many signals are sent to the brain, and less pain is felt. These are usually effective for mild to moderate pain (but may be better for headache pain than opioids), but have a “ceiling effect” or a dose beyond which pain control does not improve. Many of these have side effects of bleeding (particularly in the stomach), nausea/vomiting, and rash. Many of these are available over the counter (OTC).

Ketamine works by blocking pain signals in the spinal cord. Many people either think of ketamine as a horse tranquilizer, general anesthetic, or recreational drug, but it is very usable (albeit underused in developed countries) as a painkiller at low doses. It works well for moderate to severe pain and carries fewer side effects than opioids (it may work better in trauma (injury) pain than IV morphine). And is more available worldwide (though still requires a prescription). Side effects it does carry at painkiller doses (which are below recreational and anesthetic doses) include inflammation at injection site, salivation, and insomnia. Tolerance does not occur for about 5-7 months of continuous use. Ketamine can be given in both oral, IM and IV forms.

Adjunct painkillers are drugs take advantage of the fact that a lot of pain has to do with factors other than tissue injury, including exhaustion, strong emotion, nausea, and dehydration, which can make otherwise tolerable pain intolerable. Adjunct drugs do not necessarily decrease pain on their own, but that decrease other symptoms that make pain feel worse. Used with painkillers, they can greatly increase pain control. These include:

Anti-anxiety drugs (for when anxiety is driving up pain)

Muscle relaxant drugs (for when pain is caused by muscle spasms)

Anti-nausea drugs (for when nausea is driving up pain)

IV hydration (to better hydration status)

Anti-seizure drugs (these work well as an adjunct in headache pain by decreasing nerve activity in the brain)

Sedative drugs (for comfort/amnesia during painful procedures)

Combinations of opioid and non-opioid painkillers decrease the amount of any one drug needed for pain control (blocks some pain in tissue, so opioids have to do less work). Pairing acetaminophen with an NSAID like ibuprofen, aspirin or naproxen can also provide better pain control than one drug on its own.

Regional anesthetic nerve blocks- Regional anesthetic blocks inject local anesthetic drugs around a nerve, which stops it from being able to send pain signals. Requires equipment, local anesthetic and training. If there is severe pain, but is is only in one part of the body (broken leg or hand, for example), this is an alternative to full-body medication. These must be done by a physician or other specially trained provider, are typically done under ultrasound guidance, and can last up to two days depending on the anesthetic given and dose. If no ultrasound machine is available, skilled providers can still perform this procedure, but it may be more difficult to correctly place the anesthetic. Other sensation and movement in the area blocked may also be impaired. Good for procedural pain control.

NOTE: There is a public understanding that opioids “just work better at pain control in all areas.” This is not necessarily the case. While they do work well for many types of pain, especially severe pain that other medications can’t work for, they also have prohibitive side effects, and may be less effective than other methods for things like kidney stones, muscle spasm/cramp-related pain, and headaches. In fact, several emergency departments have recently gone entirely (or nearly entirely) opioid free, and had similar, if not better, rates of pain control and patient satisfaction using a combination of non-opioid pain medication, ketamine, adjucts, and anesthetic block procedures.

NON-MEDICATION

RICE- Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate. Very simple, and can greatly reduce pain and inflammation. Usually used in combination with a painkiller, but can be somewhat effective on its own. If ice is unavailable, using a towel soaked in cool water can provide cooling through evaporation. Compression can be achieved with ace wrap or really anything you can wrap around the injury (your characters should be on the lookout for color changes (white or purple), decreased sensation, and decreased movement below the injury, or additional pain near the injury, and if you want something worse to happen in your story, a complication from this is compartment syndrome). RICE is especially useful for musculoskeletal injuries and soft tissue injuries producing swelling.

Heat or Cold- Heat can relax muscles and improve blood flow to areas. Cold decreases inflammation and slows the movement of pain signals in nerve fibers. These do not completely stop pain, but may help relieve associated symptoms, which will help with pain control.

Bracing/Splinting/Slinging/Casting- immobilization, especially for short periods or times when characters must move to stay alive, helps keep pain from spiking with movement. Changing a person’s position can help with pain as well.

Distraction- Strong focus on something other than pain can decrease how strongly the pain is felt for periods of time. TV, music, doing work that requires intense concentration, or trying to recall a series of (pleasant) memories in detail can shift focus away from pain and make it a lot more tolerable. This works best for mild or moderate pain, or for severe pain with another form of painkiller. Children in pain tend to use this modality automatically. Pleasant touch like massage can also be distracting enough to decrease pain.

Guided imagery/relaxation techniques: These decrease anxiety (which, again, helps decrease how badly pain is felt), and provide some distraction as well.

Placebo Analgesia- People laugh about this one, but there is genuine evidence to suggest that placebo drugs and procedures may be a good tool for pain control in some people. Placebos are procedures or chemicals like starch or vitamin b12 that should not work to help a condition, but that psychologically do have a positive effect on that condition. If the right expectations are created for the “drug”  or “procedure” working (“this drug is really helpful in _____ pain. It will also have ____ and _____ effect”), the brain releases chemicals to meet that expectation. Changes in brain chemistry have been repeatedly noted with placebo use in pain control, depression, migraines, irritable bowel syndrome, and ADHD.

In placebo pain control, the brain releases endogenous (naturally occurring) opioids in response to expectations that the person is getting a painkiller, which chemically reduces the interpretation of pain signals. This unfortunately involves some level of deception, and doesn’t work for everyone, but it was worth mentioning because it can work.

Hypnosis- Hey, if you write whump like I write whump, your characters get desperate pretty quickly. If your characters have nothing else, this might be worth a try to them, and you as a writer can decide whether or not it works for your characters. Because there is such a negative public understanding of the technique, hypnosis works best in a pain control capacity if the person does not know its hypnosis. A provider can describe it as a relaxation technique or distraction technique in order to gain compliance.

Steps for pain-control hypnosis:

Ask that the person focus just on the practitioner’s words. Speak warmly but firmly.

Ask the person to focus on their feet, and imagine them getting heavy and warm. Spend time on this one. Like a whole minute. Make sure those feet are really heavy.

Ask the person to work their way up the body, asking each body part individually, making their whole body feel warm and heavy as they go. This takes some time, go slowly.

Once that’s done and the whole body is warm and heavy, their breathing should even out. If not, start back at step one.

Once breathing is even, ask the person to slow their breathing.

Suggest that the person imagine themself in a pleasant place, feeling no pain, and give a quest or story to act out in that place. Provide an amount of time they should be there for.

Bring the person out of it by telling them to wake up at the count of ten, then count to ten.

The person would not be particularly helpful during this, but if it worked for them, their pain would be manageable. R E F E R E N C E S

Hinkle, J., & Cheever, K. (2014). Brunner & Suddarth’s textbook of medical-surgical nursing (13th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Iserson, K. V. (2012). Improvised medicine: Providing care in extreme environments. New York: McGraw-Hill Medical.

Morton, P. G. (2009). Critical care nursing: A holistic approach. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

[painsandconfusion]

This is INCREDBILE

Bless you

I bow to you

I send you a muffin basket and give you head pats

This is so well done??

[whumpismyjam-blog]

When the whumper ties the whumpee’s hands high above their head so they are all stretched out. And then the whumper can invade their personal space with no obstacles. When the whumper strokes the whumpee’s chin and they can barely move away because they are stuck, so they just grit their teeth and look away. It’s just great.

[whumporama]

The whump that comes with this that isn’t even physical pain. The vulnerability of it all. Especially if it’s a Whumpee who prides themselves on their fighting skills, their ability to defend themselves. Who can’t do anything now as Whumper touches them, wherever they want.

It’s not even a painful touch, or a bad touch in any other situation. But Whumpee can’t stop it and the torment coming from that is so huge.

[whumptober]

WHUMPTOBER 2024: PROMPTS LIST

Welcome to Whumptober 2024 — Seventh Time's a Charm!

Please make sure to read the Event Info and FAQ below carefully, as most of your questions will be answered there already. For everything else, you are welcome to come to our ask box or ask questions in our Discord server here.

This year’s AO3 Collection can be found here.

This year's playlist can be found here.

And the Anatomy of a Whumptober Prompt post can be found here.

We’re very excited to see the community come together for another year of Whumptober! Go wild with the prompts, and support your fellow creators - we wish you all the fun!

Best of luck and happy whumping,

Mods Vanne, Yenn, Kitty and Surro

(Text versions of the prompts, as well as event information, rules and FAQ are posted below the cut!)

Whumptober 2024 Prompt List

No. 1: RACE AGAINST THE CLOCK

Search Party | Panic Attack | "If only we could hold on.” (Icysami x Renegaderr, Strangers.)

No. 2: TRUST ISSUES

Amusement Park | Role Reversal | “You got away with the crime while the knife's in my back.” (Charlotte Sands, Rollercoaster)

No. 3: SET UP FOR FAILURE

Fingerprints | Wrongfully Arrested | "I warned you."

No. 4: HALLUCINATIONS

Hypnosis | Sensory Deprivation | “You're still alive in my head.” (Billy Lockett, More)

No. 5: SUNBURN

Healing Salve | Heatstroke | "If my pain will stretch that far." (Lottery Winners, Burning House)

No. 6: NOT REALISING THEY'RE INJURED

Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms | Healed Wrong | "It's not my blood."

No. 7: ONLY FOR EMERGENCIES

Unconventional Weapon | Magic with a Cost | "It's us or them."

No. 8: SLEEP DEPRIVATION

Isolation Chamber | Forced to Stay Awake | "Leave the lights on." (Coldplay, Midnight)

No. 9: OBSESSION

Broken Window | Bruises | “Frame me up on the wall, just to keep me out of trouble.” (Fall Out Boy, Irresistible)

No. 10: BLOW TO THE HEAD

Slurred Words | Passing Out from Pain | "I can't think straight."

No. 11: SEEING DOUBLE

Convenience Store | Loneliness | “Leave no trace behind, like you don't even exist.” (Taylor Swift, Illicit Affairs)

No. 12: STARVATION

Underground Caverns | Cannibalism | "Just a little more."

No. 13: TEAM AS A FAMILY

Familial Curse | Multiple Whumpees | "Death will do us part." (Set It Off, Partner's In Crime)

No. 14: LEFT FOR DEAD

Hunting Gear | Blackmail | “Because I want you to know what it feels like to be haunted” (tiLLie, kooL aiD mAn)

No. 15: CHILDHOOD TRAUMA

Painful Hug | Moment of Clarity | "I did good, right?"

No. 16: NECROSIS

Swamp | Wound Cleaning | "No, I can't feel anything."

No. 17: NOWHERE ELSE TO GO

Ruined Map | Shipwrecked | "We had a good run."

No. 18: REVENGE

Unreliable Narrator | Loss of Identity | “I see what's mine and take it.” (Panic! at the Disco, Emperor's New Clothes)

No. 19: BLOOD TRAIL

Abandoned Cabin | One Way Out | "Is there anybody alive out there?" (Bruce Springsteen, Radio Nowhere)

No. 20: EMOTIONAL ANGST

Shoulder to Cry On | Giving Permission to Die | "It's not your fault."

No. 21: BODY HORROR

Body Horror | Tattoo Gun | Spirit Possession | “Let the bedsheet soak up the tears.” (Apparat feat. Soap & Skin, Goodbye)

No. 22: BLEEDING THROUGH BANDAGES

Tourniquet | Reopening Wounds | "Oh that's not good."

No. 23: FORCED CHOICE

Public Display | Broken Pedestal | "I'm doing this for you."

No. 24: RADIATION POISONING

Collapsed Building | Equipment Failure | “I never knew daylight could be so violent.” (Florence + The Machine, No Light, No Light)

No. 25: SURGERY

Stitches | Being Monitored | "It's for your own good."

No. 26: NIGHTMARES

Breakfast Table | Parting Words of Regret | “I'm haunted by the lies that I have loved, the actions I have hated.” (Poe, Haunted)

No. 27: VOICELESS

Laboratory | Muzzled | “I have no mouth and I must scream.”

No. 28: DENIAL

CCTV | Exposure | "They caught me red handed."

No. 29: FATIGUE

Labyrinth | Burnout | "Who said you could rest?"

No. 30: RECOVERY

Hospital Bed | Holding Back Tears | "What have I done?"

No. 31: ASKING FOR HELP

Therapy | Making Amends | "I'm alive, I'm just not well." (Elliot Lee, Alive, Not Well.)

Alternatives List:

Body Swap

Communication Barrier

Finding Old Messages

Forgotten

Friendly Fire

Motion Sickness

No-Holds-Barred Beatdown

Regret

Secrets Revealed

Shivering

Survivor's Guilt

Time Loop

Used As Bait

Venom

Vermin

Event Info & Rules

WHUMPTOBER is a month-long, prompt-based creation challenge (think: Inktober, but whumpier). There are 31 official themes this year - one for each day of the month - which can be used, skipped, or combined in any way you’d like. They are meant to serve as inspiration without being taken literally (e.g. you don’t have to include the exact wording of prompts into your work). Feel free to run rampant on interpretation. For example, if the prompt is “flame", you could create something with reference to a candle/campfire, your character could have suffered a burn, or the flame could be a reference to an ‘old flame’ - an old relationship. It’s truly down to you!

In total, there are 4 prompts for each day. These are optional suggestions and can be used in conjunction with the theme, or as options/alternatives.  We want to give everyone as much creative freedom as possible, as well as increase event accessibility for folks with triggers and squicks. There is also a list of 15 alternative prompts that can be subbed in for any day, again to give participants as much creative freedom as possible.

Creators can PRODUCE work in any media they choose, including but not limited to: writing, visual artwork, photo/video/audio edits, paper crafts and elaborate recommendation lists (not just a list of links). Creators can PARTICIPATE as much or as little as they want (i.e. you don’t have to do ALL the prompts if you don’t want to) and prompts can be used in any order. They are also free to use even after the event ends.

When uploading Whumptober content to your blog, be sure to tag it with:

#whumptober2024 …..(the event tag)

#no.1, #no.2, #no.3, …..(theme number)

#bruises, #stabbing, …..(the theme or specific prompt you chose)

#altprompt …..(if you use an altprompt, tag the post with the number of the prompt you replace)

#fandom or #OC, …..(ironman, original content, oc, etc.)

#medium …..(gifs, fic, podcast, art, etc.)

#teeth, #etc …..(trigger warnings & any additional tags. Keep in mind not to add “tw” in front but only use the word/trigger itself)

#nsfwhump …..(only for nsfw content)

#your own tags go here

PLEASE BE DILIGENT WITH YOUR TAGGING. Only properly tagged posts are considered for archiving on the official @whumptober-archive blog. They must be tagged in the order above. An elaborate post about our tagging system can be found [here]

Unfortunately, due to the sheer number of participants in recent years, we cannot guarantee your work will be archived. A random selection of properly tagged posts from all genres will be reblogged each day.

Whumpers who produce content for 31 total theme days are considered event completionists and will be tagged in a masterpost at the end of the month. A form will be published at the beginning of November asking you to tell us if you completed. This is based on trust and we will not check this.

Frequently Asked Questions

Please read this before you send an ask!

TIMELINE

July: Trope voting form released. Late August: Prompt list is released for at least four weeks of preparation time. Tropes cannot be posted earlier than August 25th because of Moderator obligations in real life. (But, you know, go ahead and start writing/drawing, and add the themes in later, if you want!) September: Do as much or as little on your works as you want. You can prepare everything in advance or let September go by with vibes and start working in October. It’s up to you. October 1st: Challenge begins! A storm of whump breaks upon us all! During this time, some posts will be reblogged to the whumptober archive blog. We open the yearly AO3 collection for posting (optional). November 1st: The challenge is officially over! Completionist form opens for those who want to be included in the hall-of-fame. Early November: We release completionist and participant badges, solicit feedback, and post a hall-of-fame list of completionists by the 10th.

PARTICIPATION AND COMPLETION

Q: What counts as participation? Create or continue at least one work inspired by one of this year’s prompts. Q: What counts as completion? Creating work(s) inspired by at least one prompt from each day (or alts), for a total of 31 unique prompts. Q: Do I need to create 31 works? No. You can, if you want. Or you can create one work that you add to every day with a new prompt. Or several works that combine prompts. You can also update an existing work by adding new material with the current prompts. Q: Do I need to post my works somewhere to be a completionist or a participant? No. Q: How do you know I actually completed the challenge? We’ll take your word for it! Q: Do I have to finish my work(s) to be a completionist? No, you can post WIPs. And you’re not obligated to finish them in October, but if you want it to count towards being a completionist, you must have completed 31 prompts by the end of the month. So for example, if you’re writing a long fic and you fit 31 different prompts into the writing you did in October, it’s okay if that fic isn’t finished by the time October ends, you’ll still be a completionist. Q: Is co-writing/illustrating allowed? Yes, absolutely, and it would count towards being a completionist for both/all of you. Q: Is there a min/max limit on word count for written works? No. Q: Is there a min/max limit of quality for art? No. Q: Do I have to do something each day to be a completionist? No. You can skip days whenever you want, and as long as 31 daily prompts (or alts) are in your works done in October, you can be a completionist. For example, if you wrote a 1000-word ficlet that covers prompts in days 2, 3, and 17, you can check all three days off your list even though it’s only one work. Q: Is this challenge just for fics? No! Artworks, GIFsets, headcannons, rec lists, poetry, moodboards, or any other creative work is encouraged. Q: Can I combine Whumptober with other creation challenges? Absolutely, as long as the other challenges allow it too.

PROMPTS

Q: How do the prompts work? There are FOUR prompts per day: a theme and three ideas. You can use one, two, three, or all four prompts for each day. If you don’t like any of the daily prompts, you can substitute one of the ALT prompts instead. Q: How strictly/literally should we interpret the prompts? As literally or as figuratively as you want. For example, if the theme is WATER, that could mean drowning, waterboarding, raining, swimming, take place underwater, be lost at sea, construct a metaphor about a character’s mood that changes like a flowing river, crying, or whatever else you can think of that fits that theme. Q: Can I combine prompts? Is there a limit on how many? No limit and combine as many as you’d like. If you create a work that checks off multiple prompts, that work will count for a fill of multiple prompts. You need to address 31 different prompts to be an official completionist, but you don’t have to produce 31 separate works.

WORKS

Q: What’s whump? Hurting a character, whether that’s physically, emotionally, intellectually, psychologically, or any other way you can think of. Comfort afterwards is optional. Angst is emotional whump, so it counts. Q: How do I know if it’s whumpy enough? If your character is just mildly inconvenienced, it probably needs more whump. However, no participant has to prove whumpiness to the mods. Whatever you write is up to you. Q: What kind of characters can I create for? Anything. Generic “whumpee,” OC, PC, NPC, major characters, minor characters, or whatever you want. There are no limits. Q: Does it have to take place in a specific fandom? No, you can create works for your own worlds or for fandoms or for both. You can also create more generic or pan-fandom works. You can do cross-overs or use OCs, whatever you want. Q: Can I create AI-created works? We will not reblog or promote any works we know to be generative AI-created. Q: Is there anything we’re not allowed to write? As long as it contains whump and is based on our prompts, it’s fine. Please courtesy tag your works if you post them so people who follow the #whumptober2024 tag can filter according to their preferences. Q: What about sex, minor characters, and potentially disturbing content? You can create whatever works are legal in your country and post them accordingly. Please courtesy tag anything you think might be objectionable if you post to Tumblr so people who follow the #whumptober2024 tag can filter according to their preferences.

POSTING

Q: Where can I post my work? Post where and how you want. You don’t even have to (cross)post it to Tumblr. Just keep in mind if it’s not on Tumblr we will not be able to add it to the blog archive. There is an AO3 archive for Whumptober 2024, as well as the parent collection for works completed outside of the event. Q: Can I start posting early? You can, but this is an October event and wouldn’t it be more fun with everyone doing it at the same time? We won’t be reblogging any work predating October 1st. Q: Can I post late? Yes. For the sake of our hardworking Post Fairies, only a day’s themes will be reblogged to @whumptober-archive each day of October. But you can post whenever. Some of us are still working on and posting Whumptober fics from years ago. Q: Do I have to use your tags? Only on Tumblr and only if you want us to reblog your work on @whumptober-archive. Q: How do I have my works reblogged to the archive? Properly tagged posts will be reblogged to @whumptober-archive. If you want the official archive blog to reblog you, post on Tumblr and tag correctly (see this FAQ link for more info on tagging). Please note not all posts will be reblogged each day. Q: Can we @ you? For questions and comments, of course. We’ll be getting a flood of notifications, so if you really want us to see something send an ask. Q: Can I cross post on other blogs? Yes, multiple platforms and blogs are perfectly acceptable, as long as they allow cross-posting (to us). You can also post different works to different accounts under different names, without posting them everywhere at once. If you post some works under your main and others under an alt blog, that’s fine for completionist purposes. Q: Can I upload/repost my Whumptober content to other social media platforms? Of course! We’ve created an AO3 Collection to archive any fics posted there, which can be found here. The blog is the official archive, so please respect the personal boundaries of any whumpers in your social circle (don’t out anyone as a participant who would prefer not to be outed).

Most importantly, have fun, create, and enjoy all the whump posted this October!

[teine-mallaichte]

We need to expand our use of dilirium within the whump community I think.

When people see the prompt "dilirium" or "dilirious" in a whump event most jump to fever, illness, infection. And that's fine. That's valid. But there is SO MUCH MORE to dilirium.

Delirium is a complex psychological state that can indeed be triggered by illness and fever, but it can also result from a wide array of other causes. It’s a state where cognition and coherence deteriorate, where reality may start to frey at the edges leaving the whumpee confused, disorientated, maybe unable to even distinguish reality.

You can drive a character into a dilirious state without any external factors. A characters cognition and coherence can be picked to the brink by so many things.

1. Extreme Sleep Deprivation: this is a favourite of mine. A whumpee kept awake for days on end, their cognitive functions begin to deteriorate, the boundary between wakefulness and sleep blurs, leading to fractured and disjointed thought processes. The mind starts to struggle to maintain coherence, resulting in hallucinations and a profound disorientation.

2. Substance Withdrawal: Not one I've explored much, but can totally count. The body and mind in chaos, craving what they can no longer have. The physical symptoms can be brutal, but the psychological torment can drive them into a state of delirium, where reality becomes a shifting, unreliable landscape.

3. Psychological Torture: Another one I tend to gravitate to. Intense psychological manipulation, sensory deprivation or overwhelm can also drive the mind into delirium. Continuous gaslighting, isolation, or exposure to disturbing stimuli can erode a characters grasp on reality, leading to a state where they can no longer distinguish between truth and illusion.

4. Emotional Trauma: this a mental breakdown. Severe emotional trauma pushing a whumpee into a to their mental limits. The overwhelming stress and fear fracturing their mind, causing confusion, disorientation, dissociation, hallucinations as their psyche tries to protect itself and struggles to make sweetheart if what's happened/happening.

5. Overwhelming Physical Pain: Pain, just pain, if relentless and severe enough, can lead to delirium. A whumpee in constant, excruciating pain might find their mind breaking under the strain, leading to confusion, disorientation, and a detachment from reality.

6. Fever: and just because it can't really be left of the list, fever. Infections, illness, etc. But did you know there is more than one kind of dilirium? Yes there is the sick whumpee who is too weak too most and admits all their insecurities and secrets in a slurred disjointed major. But there is also the type of dilirium where the character becomes energetic, erratic behavior, pacing incessantly and speaking rapidly, refusing to rest. Frustrating and worrying for those trying to help.

And this is just the ones of the top of my head. There's so much potential here! And yes this is a very self indulgent and selfish post that I wrote while writing a fic where I am inducing dilirium in a character through acute stress and an identity crisis 😅 but in short - I want to see more varied portrayals of dilirium in whump.

[the-duchess-of-domination]

I SAW A POST OF AUGUST 2024 WHUMP PROMPTS AND I FORGOT TO LIKE IT BEFORE CLOSING TUMBLR

HAS ANYONE SEEN IT OR KNOW ABOUT IT, IT WAS LIKE RED AND ORANGE

-🎀

tummy ache community, do your thing!!

[whumpwithocs]

AUGUSTOFWHUMP ’24

A new whump event/challenge set in August, run by @painonthebrain! Write-up of prompts & rules under the cut! AUGUSTOFWHUMP PROMPTS: Day

Is it this one?

[whumpwithocs]

Free Guy spoiler!!!

I've seen a lot of robot/android whump and this movie did something so well. It lasted for a fraction of a second so I don't think it fully counts. Anyway, the moment is when Millie goes back in after the reset. She runs up to Guy and... he's back to his original self. He doesn't remember her, he's not the same as he was when she left, and that split second of her realization awakened my eyes to the possibilities. Gonna be obsessed with this idea for a few days.

[whumpwithocs]

Elara and Alec

Had a really weird dream last night and wrote the beginning to a story from it. This is the rough draft, I only did a spellcheck so grammatical errors haven't been fixed yet.

Words ~ 1300

Elara was walking down the street, heading home from her job as a counselor. Argo, her loyal German shepherd trotting by her side, when a man brushed past her. She paused for a moment, caught by surprise with the fear she felt coming from him. It only took a moment before she took off down the street after him, her hero instincts kicking in. She reached out, trying to send soothing emotions over him. He paused, looking down at her and she was caught off guard by his intense expression. She didn't see anything after glancing around for whatever danger he'd been running from.

“Come with me,” she urged, pulling him into a nearby store. He followed reluctantly to duck behind a shelf. His frame was much larger than hers and now that she got a better look at him, he seemed exhausted. Deep circles hung from his deep blue eyes, his face framed by long hair that had been neglected for some time. Argo watched him closely as he'd been trained and the man eyed him warily.

“It's okay,” Elara said softly, moving her hand. Argo sat down, ears still perked. “What's your name?” She asked. The man shook his head, his fear bubbling up again. Elara nodded. “Do you know sign language?” The man glanced up as the bell on the door rang. It didn't appear to be who he was running from as he had no other reaction. What am I doing? She thought to herself. Here she was with a strange man, a very strong man by the looks of him.

“Argo, guard,” she said, gesturing to the man. Argo only hesitated for a moment before dutifully taking a stance next to the stranger. “He'll walk beside you. If anyone tries anything, he'll attack,” Elara explained. The man's emotions mixed into curiosity and gratefulness. With that, Elara led him out of the shop and towards her house. “I'm an empath,” Elara explained. “I can feel your emotions. That's how I know you're in trouble. You don't have to come with me, but I think you should.”

To her relief, he nodded. Smiling gently, she unlocked the door and led him inside. She wondered for a moment what she should do first. He clearly needed a shower and some clean clothes but he was probably hungry too. Deciding quickly, she led him upstairs.

“I'll make some food while you get cleaned up. Here's a towel and I have some clothes from the community center I'm supposed to bring to the clothes bank. They won't mind me giving them to you.” She told him. He hesitantly took the pile from her hands. “You can stay as long as you need.”

Leaving him to it, Elara made her way to the kitchen, her footsteps nearly silent on the linoleum floor. Her fridge was nearly bare, reminding her that she needed to go grocery shopping soon, although her thoughts were on the stranger upstairs. Argo paced at the kitchen door, clearly uncomfortable with a stranger in the house.

“It'll be okay,” Elara told him. “Just for a few days until we figure out where he came from.” Argo didn't seem satisfied with the explanation, his pacing increasing. Sighing, Elara put some pasta in a pot to boil. “Look at me, jumping right back into being a hero,” she mused to herself.

It had been years since she'd been involved in the world of heroes and villains. Even though she'd been warned not to, she couldn't stop helping those in need around her. Besides, it wasn't like she couldn't take care of herself and one man wouldn't compromise her witness protection.

Elara sensed rather than heard the man approach. She glanced over at him with a smile. Argo stopped his pacing and walked up to him, tail wagging. Elara glanced at him, relieved that Argo had finally made up his mind. Pouring out the boiling water, Elara poured some sauce over the noodles.

“I'm sorry I don't have more. Usually I like garlic bread but I need to go grocery shopping.”

The man looked at her, smiling for the first time since they met. She filled her own plate before giving him the spoon, an invitation to help himself. In her years of social work, she had learned the importance fostering independence even in the smallest acts. Even now, he looked unsure of himself, hesitantly spooning a small amount onto his plate. As they ate, Elara noted how the man sat, straight-backed, arms properly by his sides. It was a contrast to the informal settings she'd become used to. It must have to do with his background. She wondered who he was and how he'd come to be. He noticed her staring and she flushed with embarrassment, looking back down at her own plate.

“I'm sorry,” she admonished. She stood to refill their drinks. To her surprise, he held up his hand to stop her. “Is something wrong?” Concern coloring her voice.

He shook his head, standing to grab the water pitcher. With care, he refilled their drinks before sitting back down.

“Thank you,” she said, taking a sip to emphasize her appreciation. He gave another smile and she vowed she'd do whatever it took to see it more often.

After dinner she cleared the plates away and the man once again took initiative to help. He scrubbed the dishes as she dried them and put them away.

“I appreciate your help, but I don't want you to think you have to. You are a guest here,” she said. He shrugged, although his focus on the dishes intensified. She watched him for a moment, wondering how he was going to communicate. Despite her attempts earlier, it was obvious the man didn't know sign language. “Can you read and write?” She asked. He looked up, surprised at the question. After a moment of hesitation, he nodded and she rummaged through a drawer looking for a pad and pencil. He dried his hand and took the pencil, looking at it. For a moment, Elara thought he wouldn't but then he wrote, “My name is Alec.”

“Alec,” Elara said softly. “It's nice to meet you.”

A mixture of relief and gratitude flowed through Alec and Elara smiled. His fear wasn't completely gone but for now it had settled. Curiosity flowed through her and she couldn't help but ask, “What were you running from?”

Alec's hand shook this time as he wrote slowly. She watched the words form on the page, horror and ice filling her.

“My owner.”

She couldn't believe the words on the page. It felt as though she'd been slapped. Owner? The word echoed in her mind. Her mouth opened but she closed it again as she thought about what to say. She looked back up to Alec, his eyes haunted. She could feel him closing off from his emotions, it was a reaction many had to traumatic pasts. Her resolve only strengthened to help him.

“I won't let them find you,” she said. “I promise, Argo and I will protect you.”

Alec started to write furiously now. Elara was surprised at the change in his composure. Up until now, he'd been withdrawn and formal. She glanced down at the words forming on the page. Shaking her head at his vehement refusal, she touched his hand. He jerked back, away from the touch and Elara let him retreat.

“Alec, I'm a tough girl. Believe me. I have some horrors in my past that I've escaped. I can help with yours. Besides, you're not some property to be reclaimed. You're a human being with thoughts and wants and needs,” She kept her voice low but determined.

After that, Alec put the pencil down and refused to take it again. Understanding his want of privacy, Elara let him go. She pulled out some blankets and transformed her couch into a bed.

“You can stay here for the night. Argo needs to go out before bedtime. I'll be in the backyard and you can come get me if you need anything, okay?” She waited for him to nod before turning away. Argo jumped up from his bed, tail wagging as she walked away.

[hollowgast1]

took a quiz!

[whumpwithocs]

Not what I was expecting but I'll take it

[whumpwithocs]

Once again I was in the hospital (I'm fine now I'm more angry than anything) but this time I had to convince them I was having severe pain. The nurse straight up said you don't look like you're in that much pain. Ma'am I've been having chronic pain for 8 years. I mask without meaning to. Anyway, it's another idea for whump writing. Someone who is desperately trying to get help but they don't look injured or hurt. Someone who is so used to having to hide it that they cannot show it when they need to.

[whumpwithocs]

If I die someone delete my search history