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Give meeeeeee

Ladies in distress. Bound and gagged. Tortured. Hurt in general.

Ladies being whumped FTW!

Reblog if you have ladies being whumped! 👀

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A Ballad is Never Performed by its Writer

Anyone want Tav/Karlach angst? No? Too bad! TW for grief, death, SH, suicidal implications, and gore.

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It had been a very long time since Karlach had set foot on Faerun. It had been a longer time since she was dead. It still shocked her to look at her reflection in infernal obsidian and see gray hair. She had lost her other horn, and the fiery planes of her skin were more scars than flesh. Yet, it was those same cat-slit eyes, burning bright from inside like a candle in a bushel, that reminded her of who she was.

They had written poetry about it, called it exactly that: a candle in a bushel. A torch held against an empty night sky. A fireplace burning from behind a cabin window. A sunrise behind a curtain, drawn the night prior just before the passion began. Karlach couldn't stop laughing loud as an engine when they had told her that, but they had just smiled at her, knowing.

Karlach took the dagger into her hand and pulled at the strands of bangs that came between the two irregular nubs on her forehead. She tried so, so hard to be careful, like they would've wanted. They were always so poised, so delicate, every motion with a purpose. Yet, the moment the dagger split a few strands of her gray hair, Karlach lost it. She yanked her hair straight and began to cut it every which way, treating her mane like an animal carcass rather than a masterpiece. At a certain point, the dagger became obsolete, as she simply tore her hair out of her scalp, with the full force her muscles would allow. Blood dribbled from the removed hair follicles, and it wasn't until the blood tinged her lips did Karlach stop. She looked again at her reflection in the obsidian, and then stared beyond it.

What had taken her other horn? A devil, but in Avernus, that's like saying that she woke up that morning. Karlach hadn't even noticed losing that horn when it happened, now that she thought about it. She only realized it had happened when they came up to Karlach with it hollowed out. Karlach hadn't even realized it had been her horn until they told her, and then Karlach had recoiled.

"What sick joke is this, soldier?" she had asked. They beamed at her, put the tip of the horn to their lips, and blew. An awful, noxious noise came from it, wheezing and hollow, and so high pitched it hurt the ears. Karlach chuckled, but only because of how hard they were blowing into it. Their lavender skin burned pink, their cheeks puffed out with all the air they tried to force through the horn, eyes bugged out. Then, their fake eye rolled out, and Karlach cackled. She was still giggling as they crawled their way across the cracked ground, looking for the eye. As Karlach helped put it back, they had pulled her in for a kiss. Steam from her engine rolled out when their lips broke, and she watched them stay long enough to breath it in, with a smile.

Karlach's hair was a right mess now. Scraggly and awful and uneven. She took a deep breath, the air running around her engine as it kicked up more heat. Then, she tried again, careful to cut the hair she'd miss as close to the scalp as the rest. Then, she heated the blade to cauterize some of the wounds she had created on her head.

When it had first happened, she had considered taking a needle and poking in a new tattoo with their name, but for what? Nothing would make up for how, every morning from here on, she'd never wake up to the words "Good morning beautiful". How'd she'd never get to sit down after a long day of traveling through the Hells, fighting what may, to listen to their song. How, from now on, every time she met a devil that didn't want to flay her alive at first sight, she would never be able to twist its words around as well as they had. How she was stuck from here on, twisting tongues instead. You would think, after all these years together, she would've picked up some tricks from them. As she examined the self-inflicted wounds on her head, she felt like nothing had changed at all. That she was still that girl from how many years ago, freshly lost in Zariel's army. She was so very small.

It's pretty hard to preserve a corpse in Avernus, but Karlach refused to bury them here. They had said they had never had a home until her, but she always knew that if she had died first, they would've gone back to Faerun in a heartbeat. Anyone would've. So she slung their decaying body over her shoulder, and put one foot in front of the other, and marched like she was a girl again. Like she was Zariel's little plaything again rather than the woman who had thwarted the archdevil time and time again.

They had asked to write a ballad about her, about her challenges, and she had declined.

"Why not? You're amazing. You know how many kids would be inspired to hear of the handsome woman who spurned an archdevil and lived to tell the tale? Who made a life in Avernus, where no life can grow, but her love can?" they had said.

"I... I don't know, I just think there's better heroes, yeah? Besides, how is it gonna get to the kids who need it most? If you perform it here, we'll get teared apart by spine devils before the last line," Karlach had said.

"A ballad is never performed by its writer," they had responded, and then had turned to other things, like a 18th way to cook lemure.

Karlach's stomach churned as she checked their effects. She knew they were a bit of a hoarder, kept all sorts of weird shit just in case. It was just from how they grew up, she knew. When you grow up with nothing like they did, everything matters. But, even though they were dead, and she knew they'd be okay with it, Karlach couldn't help but feel like she was disrespecting the dead by looking through their shit. Even if it was nominally for something that would preserve the body. Instead, she found their journal, with every single free space written in and drawn in. They had only ever had the one, even though they could afford a new one. Karlach knew very well that old habits died hard. She thought about opening it, reading through it, and even flipped the cover... but she couldn't get herself to do it. She shoved the book back into their pack, and replaced their body onto her shoulder, before forging on.

How long had it been until Wyll had found her. How long had it been since she stopped carrying them and started carrying a corpse dressed in their clothes. All that matters is that she had trying to cook imp over a lava lake when Wyll had crawled up next to her, and sat down. If she had been getting old, he was getting ancient. How he had even managed to drag himself here was beyond her. His locs were almost shock white, and no amount of fancy living as a Duke could cover up the scars and horns he wore with pride.

"I heard about... them," Wyll said. Silence, and the sizzling of the lava lake.

"I'm sorry, for your loss, Karlach," Wyll said, "I know they were important to you. They were important to all of us, but they were especially important to you."

"Important doesn't even begin to describe it," Karlach muttered.

"I know, I know," Wyll said, "What you two had was... beyond this world. Beyond words. I think even they knew that. How... did they go?"

Karlach sighed. It had been long enough that she could think about it, just a moment, just long enough to explain, without crying like a big baby.

"A pit fiend got them. We had heard of a rumor about a devil that could... fix me. I begged them not to go, but... they went anyway. Snuck their way through the mansion where the devil supposedly lived, and... I don't know what happened, actually. I just know that when I finally found them, a dead pit fiend was holding them with their throat ripped out, all bloody like. I think the last thing they did was kill it, or something. I hope," Karlach said.

"I'm sure they did, Karlach. They never went down without a fight, much like someone else I know," Wyll said. He reached an arm around Karlach's shoulder and hugged her fiercely, but she could barely care to give the leeway to let him.

"I fought good, didn't I," Karlach said.

"You are fighting hard," Wyll said.

"Ever the optimist, Blade?" Karlach smirked.

"I am. I believe the best in people, and usually, they pull through," Wyll said. Karlach didn't say anything for a long time. In the distance, the lava lake lapped against blood-stained cliffs, and Karlach could smell the fighting from here. Once, it would've filled her belly with a fire, and revved her engine alive all over. Now, all Karlach felt was hollow.

"I think I'm done fighting, Wyll," Karlach said, "I wanna bury them in Faerun, and then..."

She trailed off, and what she meant hung in the air between them like smoke. It stung her eyes just the same.

"I understand. Do... you want me to invite everyone?" Wyll asked.

"Sure, why not?" Karlach shrugged, "Whatever will make you feel better, I guess."

"It might be some time," Wyll said, "If you can't wait-"

"I can wait. I have all the time in the world. They gave me that," Karlach said. Wyll stared at Karlach, brows knitted and eyes big and soft. Karlach looked away, and said, "Don't look at me like that or you're gonna lose your other eye."

Wyll nodded, "Understood, Karlach," and then stood. He stumbled, and Karlach suddenly found herself helping him back to the portal where he came through in. From the glimpse of his room back in Wyrm's Rock, it was pragmatically beautiful, decorated with ultra-accurate maps of the Sword Coast, luxurious bedding slumped onto the floor in front of the bed like a nest. Not even the Blade of Frontiers, the Blade of Avernus, the new Duke Ravengard, could sleep well it seemed.

So Karlach waited, their corpse in her arms. By that point, she struggled to have the energy to move around much, so she stayed fixed around the lake. Staying put was a bad idea in Avernus, but ideas were just ideas when you had nothing to live for anymore. Somewhere deep inside her, Karlach wanted to live for them, despite them being dead. But Karlach only had so much fire in her, and she could only stoke it for so long. Somehow, someday, it would die, and she'd be cold once again. Why not today, by their side.

Wyll came for her, eventually. He had set up a funerary pyre, on a cliff near Waukeen's Rest. As Karlach stepped through, the first thing that took her aback was all the colors in the sunset, as it mixed with the death knell of an inferno. She stepped through, and hands reached out to squeeze her shoulder, and words whispered into her ear to comfort her. Wyll really had brought everyone, at least, everyone who could be there in person. Then, the engine in her chest choked, and pain began to snake into her lungs. She only had so long here.

She kept going, nodding at the guests, until she had managed to put Tav on the pyre. The half-drow's skeleton took to the magic fire immediately, and whittled away into ash, which blew on the wind. Someone was singing. Maybe it was Karlach. Maybe it was Tav. She didn't know. All she knew was that the heat in her chest was getting bigger, eating her from the inside out, cooking her organs. She turned around, gave everyone a weak smile, and said, "Hi guys. It was good to see you. I suggest you take a few steps back."

Then, Karlach found herself climbing up onto the pyre, taking the skeleton in her arms like it was a normal morning long ago, and embraced it. The funerary pyre took her before her engine did, as one final fuck-you to the powers-that-tried.

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Whumptober Day 22 - Bleeding Through Bandages

Hoo boy, there's a lot of delay between initial posting and official posting here! Since you're here, please check out our dear fiance's rendition of a cover for this - linked here. This is technically the cameo of an AU - Solo Run AU, specifically, in which Mirabelle has to go through things alone. Just don't look at the "contains" tags too hard. There's spoilers in there.

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cover for @mantisgodsdomain ' s fic "Held Together With Hope and Medical Twine". It's a normal fic for a normal au. :)

Bonus version

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Whumptober Day 4 - Forgotten (REPLACEMENT PROMPT)

Back at it again. For proper reading experience, please read this while being screamed at by one to five 3-4-week-old kittens. We're borrowing Jay from @zombiebugbites - she's from the Everlasting Primordia AU, and giving us a lovely opportunity to bring up fun aspects of The House Is Established's universe that won't come up organically in normal AU posting! Very exciting.

Ink smeared on the word count lettering a bit, but it's fine, nothing's perfect. We will now go try and finish the Day 2 fill so we can finally dedicate our Carousel pen to something else and/or work on Day 5. See you... soon.

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Whumptober Day 3 - Set Up For Failure

We reread the first Percy Jackson book for this. Some parts of it have aged spectacularly poorly, unfortunately. Thankfully, we can chuck a whole bunch of Cool Fun Mythology That Definitely Means Nothing At This. The changes list

Main references for this illustration are this terracotta lid from the MET, this vase fragment also from the MET, and the style of porcelain art we can only describe as "stereotypical american white-and-blue porcelain".

Also, since we forgot to list it on our first post: the anatomy of one of these prompt pages. The top half (approximately) of the page is day, prompt name, word count, and an illustration that relates to the work (sometimes very abstractly). The bottom segments are, in order:

Fandom, and AU if applicable Characters included, with POV character(s) marked The "contains" segment - a tag list, by any other format Summary

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Whumptober Day 1 - Search Party

We researched West Virginian gun laws and hunting seasons for this one. Based on our estimates of the approximate time of year that Arc 1 of Amnesty takes place in, Pigeon and Pete would have been toting around guns around a month away from any time that it would be legal to use them.

We spent some time trying to pinpoint exact districts for this, and then realized that this is only one day out of thirty-one and it probably isn't as relevant as we were picturing, so we stopped doing that. If someone else here lives in West Virginia and cares about that, our excuse is that we do not live in West Virginia, or in America, and we also do not presently have a hunting permit or game permit of any kind. We also cannot legally use a gun right now. We can skin and flesh a pelt if needed, though. Call us up for for amateur taxidermy and butchering services and we'll see what we can do.

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Hello, dear viewers. Whumptober is just around the corner, and with that, the chance to post things on the internet that vaguely foreshadow what we have planned. For the things filled out, we already have plans - for those that aren't... well, you and us will both have to see, we suppose.

Day 1 - Search Party - The Adventure Zone: Amnesty Day 2 - Role Reversal - Bug Fables Day 3 - Set Up For Failure - Percy Jackson and the Olympians Day 4 - Day 5 - Sunburn - Bug Fables Day 6 - Healed Wrong - Bug Fables Day 7 - Magic with a Cost - Bug Fables Day 8 - Day 9 - Day 10 - "I can't think straight" - In Stars and Time Day 11 - Day 12 - Cannibalism - In Stars And Time(/???) Day 13 - "Death will do us part" - Rain World Day 14 - Day 15 - Childhood Trauma - Bug Fables Day 16 - Wound Cleaning - Bug Fables Day 17 - Day 18 - Loss Of Identity - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Day 19 - Day 20 - Shoulder To Cry On - Bug Fables (?) Day 21 - Body Horror - In Stars and Time Day 22 - Day 23 - Forced Choice - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Day 24 - Radiation Poisoning - Bug Fables Day 25 - Surgery - Rain World Day 26 - Day 27 - Voiceless - In Stars and Time/Hollow Knight Day 28 - Day 29 - Day 30 - Day 31 - Asking For Help - In Stars and Time/???

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Whumptober Plots And Plans are being machinated. Please stand by.

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An issue with a lot of whump and injury writing guides is that they also tend to assume that the characters are always able-bodied but like.

It's been proven over and over again that people with chronic pain have higher tolerances for everyday pain, including things that would leave other people crying or screaming. When you experience dizziness, body aches, chills, etc as just your baseline, those things aren't a good indicator that you're injured or bleeding. Even mild concussions are very hard to notice when you have chronic headaches/migraines (speaking from experience).

And those are just the experiences of general chronic pain, not even more severe and debilitating conditions that can completely warp someone's relationship to their body and their brain's way of processing pain.

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Finally, we release Dissolving Chilchuck Tims In Acid to the public. AU where Chilchuck is eaten by dragon, written for Day 26 of Febuwhump (Last Words) and freshly edited for posting after spending several months sitting around with everything complete except for a few bridging sentences in the last handful of paragraphs. We're fairly proud of it, and because of that, we are putting the following in a new paragraph! Just for emphasis!

For the love of whatever god you pray to, please mind the tags on this one. We're killing this guy very fucking dead.

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Hollow Knight crossover (it is 90% hollow knight because that's the perspective) time. From our Febuwhump fills that we didn't put up for an ungodly long time.

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In Plato's theory of epistemology, anamnesis (/ˌænæmˈniːsɪs/; Ancient Greek: ἀνάμνησις) refers to the recollection of innate knowledge acquired before birth. The concept posits the claim that learning involves the act of rediscovering knowledge from within oneself.

In other news, we are continuing to post our Febuwhump fic to AO3, finally. This one isn't even Leif's Request spoilers.

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Continuing with our beta-ing and posting of Febuwhump fics. This time, Day 7 - Suffering In Silence, or In Which The Knight Gets Their Ass Kicked By NKG Repeatedly And They Hate It So Fucking Much.

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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!

[secret-bug-pain-blog]

Finally we return to the ring. Tonight's chapter contains: more blood, more death, and more murder. We'll probably be long asleep by the time that anyone leaves a comment of any sort, but we'll receive it eventually regardless. Thank you for your time and patience, and goodnight.