#these give me whumperflies just reading them

[lucienvanitasabysslll]

i feel like panic attacks/common whump scenarios are similar to smut in that once you actually experience them they become a lot less romanticized in your writing

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

how do you feel about whump where a whumper removes one (or more) of a whumpee's senses? and I don't mean like sensory deprivation, I mean like permanently blinding or deafening them, cutting out their tongue, ect.

personally i enjoy whump with a happy ending where the whumpee can recover, but i definitely also enjoy this type where it is possible for the whumpee to partially recover and live a happy life, but their life and how they experience and interact with the world is also fundamentally changed as a result of their experiences, so they'll never be the person they once were.

anyway, hearing your thoughts on this would be cool!

tw: description of (fictional) violence

100/10 would recommend. I feel like you read my mind and pry into my deepest secret because this is actually one of my most favorite whump tropes that literally gives me whumperflies every time. it’s also the scenario I fantasize about every night as my cute little bedtime story.

listen, I’m okay with whump stories in which whumpee fully recovers (although it does bug me a little whenever a character just walks it off like nothing happened after they were injured), but if I have to choose, I’ll always go with the ones in which whumpee is permanently maimed. this doesn’t mean they have to be miserable for the rest of their life though. I just want them to have something permanent, whether it be scars or disabilities, to remind them of what happened, while they can still be happy after being rescued and nursed back to health (but with that permanent damage that was done to them).

whumpee having nerve damage which results in their constant twitching from years of being electrocuted by whumper? nice.

whumpee not being able to walk without canes because of what whumper did to them? lovely.

whumpee losing their hearing in one ear or being blind in one eye after the beating they took? delicious.

whumpee having to see that scar around their neck, which they got from the time whumper slit their throat, every time they look at the mirror? very good.

you know, just something that’ll remind whumpee and everybody of what happened to them. they’re free now, yes, but the constant reminder is there. love it.

I wish we saw more of this trope in whump media.

[short-form-whump]

Hi, I just want to say that everytime your writing crosses my feed it actually makes me so happy because i see your name and the traditional paragraph form and I just know i am about to read something that gets my heart pounding and racing and leaves me wanting to shake the characters because you make them so real and tangible in such a short amount of space and drives me absolutely feral and I just wanted to let you know that your writing doesn’t leave my brain until a while after i read it because I’m always thinking: “how did it come to that?” Or “what happens next?”

It really is something magical and I love reading your writing :)

I don’t get many DM’s or asks, and when I post something it’s usually a lonely exercise in the effort of trying my best then moving on. My reactions to my own writing immediately upon posting it ranges from thinking something was a probably a total stinker to defensively thinking that at least it gave me whumperflies, then it’s quickly out of my hands and I try not to dwell.

One of the rare asks I have gotten was about why I opt to write in walls of text, and it made me reflect on how it’s a way of applying pressure on myself to make something dense but digestible, long but with an end in sight. It might present as unwelcoming but is truly done out of sheer reverence for anyone who will take on that wall that it should be worth their time.

To the anon I’ll just say “no u” to giving the magical feeling - I will keep respecting your time and am utterly humbled by your outreach. I’m glad you found some to be non-stinkers.

[flowery-whump]

consider institutionalized living weapon whump. mmmm. I will now explain this autism fueled hyperfixation that has been going on and off for me in the last 3-5 years

content warnings (all fictional): general whump stuff, child abuse, child soldiers, living weapon whump (kinda), conditioning, discussion of genshin impact (since I'm not tagging this post as genshin in fear of normal genshin likers on tumblr stumbling onto whump and not knowing what it is, therefore whump likers who dislike genshin and have the tags blocked would still view this (maybe. idk how tag filtering works)), multiple whumpers/carewhumpers, multiple whumpees, fantasy whump, briefly mentioned eating disorder

OKAY so back at like 2020 or 2021 I was ACTIVE in the genshin rp scene and one of my friends made a fatui oc that, due to being the only survivor of a snow blizzard, was adopted into the fatui and raised to be a soldier! also this was before inazuma's release so shoutout to [unnamed bc we fell out of touch so I don't know if they'd like to be named] for predicting the house of the hearth!

anyways their oc was not only an absolute BANGER, but also sparked what I now realize was whumperflies in 14 yo me! so I copied it with my own oc. also had the stellar idea to think that if [friend's oc] was integrated, why not make it a whole program? badabim badaboom fatui orphanage. I shit you not the first thing I came up with is that the rejects get sent to dottore

uhhhh as stuff came out and someone leaked a fatui orphanage then the secret shrine maiden quest came out I TWEAKED. my oc got updates. leaks about lyney (and lynette) being from the hoth(house of the hearth) brought me back after I'd gotten bored. I desperately held myself back from telling everyone their surnames. I listened to their leaked voicelines. I read their stories.

it was not as bad as I envisioned in my head. fym arlecchino saved them!! white knight white knight!!! fym they're not sleeper agents!!!! fym freminet has a job he enjoys that is in no way related to the fatui?!!?!!! free time and healthy hobbies on my extremely fanonized interpretation of a fictional orphanage we previously only had teeny tiny crumbs about?!?!?!!!;1!?!

arlecchino releasing made me fully give up on the vision I'd originally had on the hoth. I generally do actually like the canon hoth, but I was super attached to this whole miniature concept I'd invented and shared with so many people.

so I'm making my own child soldier orphanage!!!

CONSIDER CHILD SOLDIERS IN WHUMP. WITH CONDITIONING. consider telling children that have nowhere else to go (and whumper KNOWS they have nowhere else to go) they can either join the military or continue whatever they were doing. consider training and conditioning them. consider reminding them where they'd be, had carewhumper not taken them in. consider "letting them off easy" via punishment, or threatening to put them to other use.

consider teaching those children happy lies of doing good, and shattering that reality when they dare be ungrateful and try to run away. consider always making the expectations on them clear. consider the bonds these children will form both with each other and carewhumpers. parental whump my beloved. consider living weapon whumpee that isn't an on-field combatant. consider living weapon whumpee who's allowed to be a person as a reward.

consider living weapon whumpee who was previously rescued from a different kind of whumper and is just perfect for molding into a killing machine. consider orphans children willingly volunteering for the military because the program is well known. consider generations upon generations of this where previous whumpees retire to work in the same orphanage so that they'll never have to move out, prolonging the cycle of violence with promises of family. and that family isn't even false, just conditional.

whumpee who was rescued from a vampire thrall trade and is constantly reminded where they would've been had carewhumpers not been so generous as to rehabilitate them. ungrateful little thing, always reacting so slow, cowering from the vampires the carewhumpers have taken in as if they're the same one, either hoarding food or immediately wolfing it down.

whumpee who was abandoned as a child and came in to a place they knew they'd be accepted, but gradually realized the danger behind it and tried escaping. they were brought back and thoroughly disciplined. it's obvious that they're using a facade once one simply reads their file or asks them, but that doesn't matter so long as they're obedient.

a whumpee turned carewhumper that sees nothing wrong with what they're doing. they were raised this way, and though it was very scary, so is life in general. they certainly wouldn't have survived in this world without this orphanage, and much less by being coddled. the children brought here have all had difficult experiences that have scarred them, they can't be treated like normal kids.

that's all the ocs I have thought up for it rn soz

yeah!! will also be in a typical high fantasy setting because I prefer it a whole lot more.

I'm honestly unsure of what to call this thing. I can't really go with the house of the hearth. at some point I internally called it erysimum institute because I read destroyer and the name beldam institute just sounds rlly catchy. also erysimums symbolize faith in unfortunate situations which I think fits perfectly. but the loneliness/shyness part of wallflowers (a prominent type of erysimum) is a little less fitting.

I'll definitely change the name because I want it to be as original as it can be!! probably to some kind of flower meaning rebirth or smt but idk.

p.s: it would have art!!!

[whumpty-dumpty-doo]

Whumpmas in July 2024 - Day 7 - Post a link to your favorite whump fic of all time!

This post is part of my participation in the 2024 @whumpmasinjuly event!

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Ah, it's hard to pick a favorite! Here are a few that I really enjoyed:

Gallery AU (Keith and Shiro from VLD fanfic) by @trytofocus - Keith is a prisoner in a secret, highly prestigious gallery where subjects are displayed in all manners of artful bondage for the entertainment of rich patrons. Shiro is one such patron. And he isn't nice. (Be warned that this fic is 18+, as it contains adult elements and themes, and is NSFW) Why I love it: God, the mental images are SO GOOD. The way that Keith is treated as a living, breathing, unwilling art piece... the emotions, the way things are described, the care and reverence taken in tying him up and putting him on display, the way that Shiro appreciates him, the attitude that Keith gives... It's so freaking good, and it gives me crazy whumperflies. I wish there was more!

Death Valley (also on AO3) by @ashintheairlikesnow - In 2003, Finn Schneider left Germany for a month-long planned trip around the United States. Somewhere around Death Valley, he disappeared. But he wasn't alone. (Be warned that this fic is 18+, as it contains noncon, murder, and is NSFW) Why I love it: This was the second whump fic that I ever read, and it was integral in getting me into the whumpsphere! I feel SO SO SO bad for Finn, what he goes through, and how he is in his future. It's one of those stories that makes me go "OH NO BB LET ME FIX IT FOR YOU ;A;" but this poor guy has seen and been through far too much. It's brutal. Even the flash forward has me on the edge of my seat and only wanting the best for him. I hope this poor man finds love, joy, and peace.

Brother's Keeper by @darkthingshappen - Ben Adkins' life changes forever when his brother Jake fails to pay what is owed to some powerful men. Will he be able to survive his harrowing experience and return to his family? (Be warned that this fic is 18+, as it contains explicit noncon and is NSFW) Why I love it: Phew, this one is intense! It's one of those fics that made me go "OH DAMN." a lot. I actually had to read this one out of order a bit because (spoilers) thereʻs a recovery arc... followed by a recapture arc. I had to save some of the recovery arc to read when things got too tough and I needed some joy for the characters, because GEEZ. Poor Ben!! Poor Jake! Poor Andrei! Volkov and his guys are sick SOBs and just merciless. Itʻs so whumpy. I had to skip a chapter or two due to some of my own personal squicks, but other than that, if youʻre looking for some guys having a super bad time, this is a great fic for that!

King of The Road by @darkthingshappen - George and Danny find themselves in the hands of a very sick and twisted trucker. What will happen to them as his newest victims? (Be warned that this is fic 18+, as it contains explicit noncon and is NSFW) Why I love it: The trucker is horrible!! An absolutely evil vile terrible sick guy!!! I have to know what happens to George and Danny! Thereʻs not much of the fic yet, but Iʻm frothing at the mouth waiting for more. The brutality is so whumperiffic, and I already desperately want to save them, so you know things are on a good track!

Secrecy by @doomeddestination - A young spy is captured by a mysterious man known only as Shepard. (Be warned that this fic is 18+, as it contains explicit noncon and is NSFW) Why I love it: Calico is such a great writer, and her dedication to her stories and characters is INSANE. This story was the first one of hers that I read, and it introduced me to Ander, who is another character that I simply wish to wrap in a blanket and give tea to and take care of forever. This poor guy just needs a break. Shepard is awful, and the suspense in the story is so great. Thereʻs a whole multitude of AUs and stories that contain these characters as well, so lots of stuff to check out! ... ... ... If Ander never gets to canonically see his mom again, I will riot in the streets. LET A GOOD THING HAPPEN TO HIM.

The Mountain Man by @darkthingshappen - A kidnapper has his sights on a hockey player and sets a plan into motion to get him into his clutches. Why I love it: Getting into the head of the whumper as he stalked and planed his capture was so cool. I loved the confusion and delirium that the hockey player showed, especially when things started to get scary. I think this story was meant to be a one-shot, but Iʻd gladly dig into more of it if it got continued!

Hazel's story by @starrywhump - A group of college students is kidnapped by a sadistic whumper who has no qualms about torturing them. Why I love it: This was the FIRST whump fic I ever found and read! I wouldnʻt be in the community now if not for this fic. I have no idea how I stumbled across it, but Iʻm so glad I did, because it introduced me to whump lingo, whump blogs, and this whole crazy world. I love the characters, the whumper is creepy and intimate, and some of what she does is just nasty and brutal. I donʻt know what happened to the author (the blog hasnʻt been updated in like three years), but I hope that theyʻre happy and doing well wherever they are. I love the fic, and would love to read more if they ever decided to continue!

There are so so so many other great fics out there, but these are just the few that come to mind off the top of my head! Any other fans of these stories out there? :O

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Tags: @whumpmasinjuly-archive

[coldresolve]

Please engage with this anon ask in good faith. I know I'm almost repeating what another anon said but I'm giving my own opinion on this topic, and hopefully in a more concise way.

I personally think you're clashing with the whump community or being ignored by people who follow you on the torture apologia post due to a difference in how whump is seen by you and your audience.

For exemple, I don't know your instance on people who write rape erotica, stalking erotica, or kidnapping erotica. People who write this stuff to exclusively jack off are not writing it as a realistic portrayal of these topics, nor do I think they're rape, stalking or kidnapping apologists for writing the way they do. Hell, visit the yandere erotica side of Tumblr and you'll see that.

It's engaging in bad faith and not engaging with the genre properly to read this kind of writing and then accuse them of being apologists. 

Now the whump community, as someone who has been here regularly in the last few years, feels in it's majority as a non sexual torture porn community. With that I mean they write whump in the same way one would write a torture erotic scenario, except in a non sexual way. If you see how people talk about whumperflies you will see it's true. I'm not the first to point this out. 

I would say 30% of the community writes whump as a serious deep dive into torture and it's effects, 60% as a non sexual "kink" way, and 10% as actual kink. Engaging with this 60% of the community that writes almost to “jack off” in a way (and the 10% that writes it as an actual kink) and expect them to write what they do the way you, a serious thriller writer, does, it's almost like going at people who write dark, fucked up and unrealistic erotica and holding them to the same standards as realistic romance. It's just not how it works and it's engaging with the work in bad faith. 

Unless you also think the people who write that sort of fucked up erotica should also stop and only write it realistically. Then my bad, I don't agree but I hope you have a nice day and find people who agree. Because I don't think you will find them with the people you're trying to reach and you will keep getting frustrated because you're not being heard.

I don't think I will change your opinion due to you being dead set on it, but I hope you at least give it a thought instead of just saying "don't engage with my content if you don't agree" while also asking yourself why you're being ignored.

the very first sentence of your ask seems to accuse me of taking all your buddies in bad faith, and as a guy who famously can’t spot the blatant irony in a move like that, i guess i’ll just take it seriously. after all, some people are reading what i’m saying right now with the notion in the back of their heads that i might be deliberately dishonest or unreasonable, and i’ve barely even started talking yet. so thanks

it’s not that i don’t engage in good faith or aren’t willing to change my opinion if i’m presented with a genuinely better viewpoint, it’s that people who disagree with me just tend to have such shit non-arguments, so goddamn consistently, i’ve started being able to predict the bullshit before it even registers as conscious thought to them – and then they keep fucking proving me right. you included, not to muddy the waters or anything cough, payback

being kinda mean about it is not the same as misconstruing someone’s position, for the record. so with that in mind, here’s 2100 words of, genuinely, good faith arguments mixed with the occasional jabs of a guy who refuses to infantilize people over how little they’ve thought things through. 

i know i literally just insulted your intelligence - which was in response to you sewing doubt about my credibility, idk if i mentioned that part – sarcasm aside though, the bar is genuinely set so low here, and you are one of the few people who seem to at least know how to construct something that looks like a proper criticism. your formatting is terrible, please don't do 3 paragraph breaks in a row all the time. it's got some structure issues, you repeat yourself a bit, and go on tangents that aren’t quite connected to anything, but, with that said, all the necessary elements of an argument are in there. credit where its due, and all that

to prove to you that i’m responding to you in good faith, im gonna start out by giving you the strongest interpretation of the core of your argument as i can, in my own words, so you know exactly what i’m responding to. you called your version concise, prepare for something concise-r. and let me know if i misunderstood anything.

by criticizing whump writing for the use of torture apologia, i am ignoring the conventions (aka the set expectations between writer and reader) set by whump as a genre.

a core convention of whump as a genre is that it is not meant to reflect reality.

therefore, my criticism of whump writing is not applicable.

the rape kink subgenre of erotica features rape apologism. (i know you mentioned a bunch but let's just stick to the rape kink for the sake of brevity)

a core convention of the rape kink subgenre is that it is not meant to reflect reality.

since i criticise the whump community for torture apologia under the same premises, i must also be critical of rape kink content.

now for the acknowledgement of common ground: i agree with points 4 and 5.

moving on. i’m gonna start upfront by addressing a part of your ask that i didn’t mention above, which is the similarity you drew between the physical response to reading whump (“whumperflies”) and the physical response to reading kink (sexual pleasure). not to burst your bubble right off the gate, but the reason i didn’t include it as part of your argument is that it literally means nothing. any genre of fiction can do this. music does it. eating tasty food does it. a roller coaster ride does it. having sex does it. i don’t know why people treat this like some kind of valid argument in and of itself, what you’re describing here is the release of endorphins. this is enjoying things 101, welcome to the human experience, it’s not all bad.

on to my response to your actual argument, which is where things take a turn: i don’t believe that “whump” can be classified as a genre.

the following fucking 1000 words - no im not kidding, im on good faith behavior here - are fundamentally tedious. it goes into some literary theory and some longwinded explanations as to why i hold this opinion, and also lays out my views on the rape kink stuff. skip to the red part for my conclusions if you’re not interested in the nitty gritty.

the term “genre” is hard to pin down, and you’ll find different definitions of it online. i think you, anon, would agree that a core part of a genre is that it’s a category of media that has specific socially developed conventions, which is another way to say that writers expect their readers to approach their work in certain ways, and readers in turn expect the work itself to feature certain components. for the latter, this can mean things like tone/mood, subject matter, motifs, composition, conflict type, writing style, or what have you. a genre is defined by the many different expectations, or conventions, that we have for it. convention is a fancy word for "an agreement about how this thing is usually done".

let’s take mystery fiction as an illustrative example, because the mystery genre is pretty straightforward. a mystery writer expects the following things in their reader: curiosity and a desire to know more, attentiveness, a willingness to ask questions, and to be skeptical of the information that is given. in turn, the reader expects certain things from mystery fiction, especially the following sequence: an event occurs, the protagonist wants to find out whodunit, the mystery is unraveled little by little as the protagonist looks for clues and gathers evidence, until it is finally solved with a big reveal in the climax of the story. the central driving factor within every mystery is the protagonist’s aim to find out what happened and why. this is inherent to mystery fiction. you cannot write mystery without it.

this is just to give you a solid grasp of what these conventions usually look like. now, uh. i’m sex repulsed, so please excuse my lack of familiarity with this next bit.

the genre of erotica has the following conventions: something sexy is gonna happen, and i think that sums it up. the most important expectations tied to erotica, i would argue, are actually held by the author, towards the reader. being fully aware that the sexiness of things is exaggerated for the sake of atmosphere, erotica authors expect their readers to understand that their work might not always reflect what reality will be like, and that it serves the sole purpose of a sexual fantasy. in the case of kink/fetish content surrounding rape, this expectation increases exponentially – so much so, that just to be absolutely sure everybody’s on the same page, a lot of these writers go out of their way to remind their readers out-of-text, all the goddamn time, plastering disclaimers all the fuck over their writing and bios, that their writing does not reflect reality, that no, your typical rape victim isn't secretly into it, that consent is always mandatory, etc.

it is my strongly held passionate belief that this is ok lol. erotica is not for me but i have nothing against people with rape kinks, like you're implying. it’s about the very, very strong nature of the conventions associated with this genre of content, which is evidenced most clearly by the many serious discussions about rape and rape apologism that happen out-of-text in these communities, that makes me pretty confident that they’re fully aware that they’re engaging in fantasy. just so we’re clear on that.

while we’re on that topic: no such discussions happen in the whump community in regards to real life torture or torture apologia, at least i’ve never seen it happen. and i find it more than a little bit sussy that ive gotten this many asks over the last few days asking me if brainwashing is real or not. this staggering lack of awareness about what torture can and can't do should be concerning to people, but for some reason, it is not. your overall approach to the subject of torture hasn't given me the impression that you guys can tell fact from fiction, that you are even aware of where reality ends and where the fantasy begins. but i digress.

you can see solid proof that whump is not a “genre” just by going through the community tags here on tumblr. the genres that people use and engage with through fandom here vary from superhero movies to medical dramas, historical fiction, action thrillers, horror, musicals, anime, fantasy, etc. the list goes on and on. and i get that genres can overlap, and that you want to counter right now that someone writing “fantasy whump” is a combination of two genres, but… then there’s all those gif blogs. and what do we do about those? this type of fandom whump doesn’t create content in this one unifying “whump genre” – it pulls content from a wide breadth of genres and staples that same exact label on it, whump.

here's what that means: emotional or physical distress.

that’s not a genre. it’s a subject matter.

and it includes all the so-called “subgenres” too, by the way, from the hurt/comfort (drama, action, often romance) to pure torture porn (thriller/suspense/horror) to more in-depth explorations of trauma and recovery (psychological realism) to pet whump (ffffucking magical realism) to sickfics (drama, medical drama, often romance). the expectations you have as a writer and as a reader, the socially determined conventions, are fundamentally inconsistent among all of these different genres. its why you guys kept fighting – im assuming you still do, its been a while since i checked – over what the fuck “whump” even means.

if you as a reader approach a recovery arc in the same way you do the torture porn, both of which are whump, you’re going to get bored very quickly, because your expectations and the expectations set by the author are incompatible. you're expecting something quick-paced and intense, something extreme and graphic. instead you're met with a much slower pace, a subtler form of character exploration. the dialogue is more subdued. the writing style is different. the scene structure is different, the story beats are different. there’s an attention to inner conflict, to symbolism and metaphor, to long sequences of dialogues and silences between characters which just aren’t there in the torture porn. the tonal shift alone should give it away easily. this is because these two things come from different genres. the subject matter - emotional or physical distress - is the only common thread here.

homicide is a subject matter, and how it is portrayed and explored depends on the genre it inhabits. a homicide in mystery fiction sets up a mystery, some puzzle to solve. homicide in slashers is extreme and gory, over-the-top, served for shock value. homicide in psychological fiction isn’t sensationalized in the same way – it’s grim, somber, something you have to think about. depictions of homicide in comedy or parodies tend to serve as gallows humor. in action – well, those are the bad guys, they fall over, and that’s about that.

homicide as a subject matter serves vastly different purposes across genres, and because of that, it can't set up any expectations in the reader, other than the somebody-gets-murdered part. it doesn't have a convention as to how it will be presented or portrayed, what the mood is going to be, which part of it you're supposed to be paying attention to as an audience member. subject matters have no conventions. they are just "the thing you are portraying."

and this is also true for emotional or physical distress. your only expectation is this: someone feels emotional or physical distress. that's about all you're gonna know about a work from reading the word whump alone - the rest comes from the genre it inhabits. whump itself is just not a literary genre.

the first point of your argument hinges on the idea that whump follows a specific set of social conventions. i disagree with that, for the reasons i hope ive managed to lay out well here. whump has no conventions, because it is not a genre.

and if you think im wrong about this – plot twist, that doesn’t even actually matter. i made you read all of this shit for nothing. this was all just an excuse for me to trick you all into my needless literary theory nerd shit, get got

see, the second point of your argument hinges on the idea that a fundamental convention set by whump as a “genre” is that it is not meant to reflect reality. but you provided me with an interesting statistic, and while i recognize that you literally just pulled it out of your own ass as a way to give yourself a vague air of empiricism, i just want you to keep in mind that you yourself brought this up. 

I would say 30% of the whump community writes whump as a serious deep dive into torture and it's effects, ...

do you see why i think people keep accidentally proving me right? this “serious deep dive into torture and its effects” by a staggering third of whump writers, according to you, sounds an awful lot like they are aiming for realism – something that should not be possible within the conventions of this “genre”. what the fuck, huh.

i’m just guessing here, so take this whole paragraph with a grain of salt, but this reads to me like someone who made that convention absolutely the fuck up as a last minute resort to absolve themself from the criticism of apologia, specifically, because they saw this convention work for rape erotica. which is why y’all bring that particular subgenre up so much in this discussion. but because you don’t actually view this “it’s not meant to reflect reality” convention as fundamental to whump in any capacity, in the same way it is with rape erotica, well. it just slips out, yknow.

not to mention that thing i said about you guys not even being able to distinguish fact from fiction in regards to torture, regardless of the many, many posts yall make about "realism in whump" - which also kinda dulls your point. but whatever anon, you made my argument better than i could’ve

your third point hinged on the validity of the first two, which i’d like to think i’ve demonstrated, in good faith, at the very least are based on questionable premises - one by me, and one by yourself. the sixth point is null and void for the same reasons.

alas, i have to conclude that your writing is not absolved of my criticism quite yet. A for effort tho. at least i had fun with it

[whumpalicious08]

Hey, so your posts have been drifting onto my feed via some people I'm following and left me curious. Would you please give some context as to what "whump" is?

Thank you in advance

Hello! I suppose it must be ... strange to see whump posts without the appropriate whump context. I got you, don't worry.

I'd define Whump as a more extreme and specialised sub-genre of hurt/comfort writing. A "Whumpee" is the one having pain inflicted onto them, and a "Whumper" is the one doing the inflicting. A "caretaker" is what it sounds like; a character who (usually) assists the Whumpee.

The pain can be physical, emotional, sexual; it depends on the writer's preferred whump style. For example, my blog is predominated by Hired Gun!Whumpees.

But whump is a lot more than an individual's definition. Usually a lot of writers have been consuming whump in media from a young age, without even realising.

My first experience was with an episode of BBC's Merlin, where the MC is threatened with torture. My most memorable experience was with Gale from that one whipping scene in Catching Fire.

I remember feeling a sort of nervous anticipation in my stomach, something the community has termed "whumperflies". I still get them when I write and read today, and so do many whump writers.

I'm yapping a lot just in case you think you may be one of us. Because I want to tell you something that nobody really told me when I was starting out.

It's okay to like whump. It's not sadistic, or inhumane.

Whump writing acknowledges pain and hardship. This acknowledgement is invaluable. When Whumpee hurts, I hurt, and so do hundreds of readers along with us.

That's what whump is about for me. A community's acknowledgement that you're struggling, and the freedom to personify your troubles in Whumper.

[sorrowful-hyacinth]

Who Is Sorrow?

Hey! I'm the gracious host of this blog and I do hope that you've found some enjoyment out of anything I've created or shared. As always, I promise I don't bite very hard if you decide to ask anything :)

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Background

I am 20 years old, pronouns She/Her, and I've been in the whump community since at least 2018 on tumblr. Although, I've been invested in men being traumatized and tormented for god knows how long. I always felt whumperflies whenever I saw a scene of someone restrained or begging, just being hurt in general. Even as far back as me watching Disney movies when I was younger. I just didn't know what the feeling was at the time. I always thought I was a little weird or maybe disturbed for feeling this way, but then I discovered Tumblr and the word Whump which just summed up everything for me. I still don't talk about Whump in my personal life yet, but I'm hoping that I get the courage to one day.

I'm also currently in college pursing a bachelors degree, which is why I have random periods of absences due to school work. I love to draw, always have. I'm still improving, but I do it for fun and it's one of my ways to give back to the whump community.

Favorite Tropes

The list is growing weekly, but I'll try to keep it short and use umbrella terms.

Begging

Torture

Held at Weapon Point

Threats//Tormenting//Distress

Giant/Tiny

Immortal/Non-Human whump

Whumper turned Whumpee//Carewhumper// Whumpee Revenge

Pet Whump (sometimes)

Hurt/Comfort//Hurt/No Comfort

Stickler for happy endings or no endings

Fear Play

Kidnapping//Held Captive//Interrogated//Ransom

Non-con//Intimate Whumper (Adults)

Box Boy Universe

Squicks

Non-con body modifications

When I say this, I'm referring to castrations, permanent limb amputation (unless necessary), just unnecessary part removals. Unless they get replaced with a prosthetic, or there's just no way around it, I get queasy just thinking about it.

Underage sexually related whump

If it's a memory or past incident that is important to the character and story, then I understand. If it's the main focus of the story and happens repeatedly with the intention of reminding you that it’s minor SA, then it’s hard to read.

Unresolved misunderstandings

If you leave two characters with a misunderstanding and they never interact again, or when they do it's not the same because of the topic. I get so much anxiety and second hand embarrassment that I cringe myself out of reading the rest of the story.

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Notes

I do not support any and all forms of abuse, trauma, or the exploitation of phobias, that I've listed, in real life. I stand by keeping them fictional, and only seeing them in a fictional manner. I do not connect these topics to real people or myself. If anything even remotely related to any of these topics is happening to you in real life, please seek help and don't misunderstand my intentions behind posting related content. It's purely fictional. Keep it fictional.

[dresden-syndrome]

What about 14, 16, and 20?

Thanks for asking :3

14. Favorite emotional whump trope?

Hopeless defiance.

Nothing emotional gives me as many whumperflies as a helpless, powerless, doomed to whatever-he's-about-to-endure whumpee fighting and resisting the whumpers as hard as they can🥰 being absolutely aware there's nothing they can do to avoid it🥰 no mercy, no escape, no way to stop the whump from happening🥰 their very soul, very existence is absolutely unable to accept their fate and let it happen🥰 fighting to their last breath despite knowing they can't win🥰🥰🥰

Just. Hopeless. Defiance😭

16. Underrated trope?

Another underrated trope I'm madly in love with? TROPHY WHUMPEES. Whumpees captured by/for the winning side rulers in a war, conquest or uprising as a pretty trophy from the conquered land. Paraded and displayed as a symbol of the whumper's power. Chained or leashed under whumper's seat. Humiliated, dominated, broken. Turned from a defender of their people's freedom into the enemy warlord's personal pet.

20. Favorite whumpee & caretaker relationship?

Well, if I read about caretakers or had them for my boys... Caretakers, not carewhumpers or fellow whumpees comforting each other... Then, I guess, doctor/patient or guard/prisoner. I dunno. 😂

[whumblr]

aaa ok u were one of the first whump blogs I found and one of my faves to this dayy >> I lurked for a while (like over a year ab?) then followed recently jus wanted to let you kno your work is v much appreciated. You go for a specific feeling with many of your pieces and accomplish that. It resonates. Fear has distinct versions (?) imo nd I feel like you differentiate well between them, whether it be anxiety, dread, or terror. Personally, i think those aren’t always synonymous, which may seem obvious/redundant to say but whatever,, it takes skill to portray that. Sometimes its just an uncomfortable feeling you’re able to achieve with your writing (in a good way, like within context of the piece) that I don’t get from a lot of other writing that’s going for the same vibe. I wish I could explain it better,,, but tldr >> I come back to ur works all the time lol and I’ve never gotten to express how much I like them,, that’s all <3

Oh, gosh, do you mind if I read this a few times over <3 Thank you so much, that's quite a compliment! I'll be coming to this some time as well ^^

I just really love writing fear. I'm 1000 words deep in a drabble rn and I haven't even touched on the torture yet :3 There's so much to explore in fear and it gives me the best whumperflies. A well placed threat, lambs being led to their slaughter torture, promised pain. All good. I always hope I don't repeat too much and try to make every piece unique in a sense and I just hope it works.

But thanks so much. I have to admit I always wonder how certain writings land with readers so this is nice ^^

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

Some other tag game

I was tagged by @galaxywhump and I see questions I haven't seen before 👀

Favorite Video Game?

You know, I usually answer this with Oblivion, and I'll probably do again this time. The base game has lots of things that are very important to me - free char generations, free movement, a world to explore, magic and swords, and whatever isn't there can easily be modded in. If only it was more stable than my mood.

With around 16k hours, the game I have spent most time in is easily Guild Wars 2. There's just always something to work on, and the movement is unmatched for me (and the combat decent, too).

In regular intervals, it draws me back to Pokémon as well, usually between gen 2 and 5, and the game that matches my aesthetic the most, despite not having played it all that much, would probably be Pillars of Eternity.

Favorite Video Game Character?

Huh. I don't know. Most games I play do not have a fully fledged protagonist - it's make your own OC kinda games. Give me a guy (gender neutral) with a sad backstory and I'm all over them, but usually that doesn't end happily :(

*wipes one tear away thinking of Trahearne, Aloth and Martin*

Favorite Movie or TV Series?

I'm really not big into watching stuff. I've grown out of most things I watched years ago.

Favorite Movie or TV Series character?

Doesn't really exist.

Hobbies:

Scrolling on Tumblr, dying on Guild Wars, reading, writing, buying things for crafts which I don't end up doing, playing video games, modding video games, collecting things in the right rainbow colors.

Obsessions:

Scrolling on Tumblr, dying on Guild Wars, reading, writing, buying things for crafts which I don't end up doing, playing video games, modding video games, collecting things in the right rainbow colors.

Favorite genre/type of background music for whump daydreams?

I cannot have music when I want to daydream. For writing, it's either something instrumental, or a list with songs I am so familiar with, my brain doesn't need to pay attention to (gotta drown out The Noise).

What is your favorite whump trope?

I don't think there's one that really works on its own, or always. I'd say torture, but without the angst, I don't give a fuck about the gory details. I'd say restraints, but as soon as we slip into kink, I'm out. I'd say permanent injuries/lasting consequences, but if I put it like that, it sounds weird. I'd say hopelessness and giving up, but without something physical, I don't enjoy it as much.

What is your favorite whump pairing?

Whoever I am currently writing, obviously /s

(Or not /s.)

I do like Caretaker x Whumpee pairings, but a QPR is the dream.

What was (one of) the first time you experienced whumperflies?

No idea.

My question: What's your favorite whump scene from a piece of media?

Not again 😅 I spent 6 weeks thinking about the question and answered it with "no".

And add your own question: What's a book you would recommend, whump or not?

I'm gonna tag (feel free to ignore as always) @starlit-hopes-and-dreams @suspicious-pools-of-blood @imaginativemind29new and anyone else who wants to play.

[lifblogs]

Tagged by: @evilwriter37

Favorite video game?

The Sims 4.

Favorite video game character?

No idea. Probably my dad’s video game OC blorbos.

Favorite movie or TV series?

Movies

The Lord of the Rings

The Avengers

Megamind

Kung Fu Panda 2

How to Train Your Dragon

Star Wars

Harry Potter (no one @ me)

If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power (yes, I’m counting this)

TV Series

The 100 (in it for the whump, and some ships, only ever watch it up to the end of season 6)

Supernatural

Teen Wolf

Doctor Who

Rebels

The Clone Wars

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Lucifer

Never Have I Ever

Avatar: The Last Airbender

The Legend of Korra

Trollhunters

Race to the Edge

Game of Thrones (season 8 doesn’t exist, okay?)

Reign

Favorite movie or TV series character?

I’m on a Frodo Baggins kick right now, but am still obsessed with a ton of other characters.

Hobbies:

Thanks to injuries, COVID stealing my singing voice 3 years ago, and my clarinet being broken my hobbies have definitely diminished. Right now it’s basically just reading, and watching shows and movies, maybe a smidge of writing. Does getting obsessive and anxious about the internet/social media count as a hobby?

Obsessions:

Sam Winchester, Star Wars, Supernatural, The Lord of the Rings, Never Have I Ever. Background obsessions are everywhere, like Doctor Who, Teen Wolf. Mention it and I’ll be talking for hours.

Favorite genre/type of background music for whump daydreams?

Cinematic alternative.

What is your favorite whump trope?

Captivity! Once read the second half of a book in a day because the main character got captured.

What is your favorite whump pairing?

S

A

M

I

F

E

R

Sorry, had to write it like that because I’m so excited.

What was (one of) the first time(s) you experienced whumperflies?

The first was probably either while reading the Gone series by Michael Grant, or watching Teen Wolf. I vividly remember some of my first whumperflies being from watching season 7 of Supernatural and realizing what Lucifer had done to Sam in the Cage. Now ANY of their scenes give me whumperflies.

What’s your favorite whump scene from a piece of media?

Episode 3x18 “Riddled” from Teen Wolf. Everything with Stiles in that episode!! I have watched this over and over again just to see Stiles missing and getting tortured in his sleep. His SCREAMS. I’d recognize them anywhere. He’s getting hypothermia, and there’s a fucking steel jaw trap on his leg!!!

GIFS INCLUDED

What’s a book you would recommend, whump or not?

Hmm, this is tough because I read so much. Probably the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas because of it being epic fantasy with most of the last book being battles, and there is definitely a lot of whump.

What’s your favorite whump fic?

Some of them are definitely my own. Sorry. But damn, can we praise Infernal Fascination? Would get a link, but you know, AO3 is going through it.

Added Question: Who is your favorite author?

Damn, too hard. Time to list a few:

Brandon Sanderson

J. R. R. Tolkien

Robert Jordan

Sarah J. Maas

Michael Grant

R. F. Kuang, apparently, since I have all her books

Jennifer L. Armentrout

Kristen Britain

Rick Riordan

Jim Butcher

And add your own question:

What is your favorite whumpy book?

Not sure who to tag. Maybe @suncaptor would be interested in this?

[whumpbug]

Hello, Bug! I hope you are doing okay :)

Just wanted to ask, is it okay to sent you writing requests? Because I really like your style of writing and wanted to read more of your stories!

- anon with whumperflies

hello anon! yes, you can send me requests! i really cant promise that they'll be done quickly but id love to see them! thank you so much for the kind words too!! i never thought id be able to give someone else whumperflies haha! thank you again and i look foward to seeing whatever you send!! 〔´∇｀〕

[painsandconfusion]

Damn, I just read your tutorial on how to write and describe things, and I love it! I'm not a native English speaker, although I speak fluently etc. Just never really read literature, so these things are really helpful for writing! But one question, do you also write in first person? Because that's how I've always done it. Not from whumpee's perspective (although could be interesting, I want to give it a try once), but usually whumper's/whumper-caretaker's (haha I love fusing them ;) ) Only thing is, the description of how my whumpee feels is hard when i write in first person... maybe you have some tips for that too? I've been tryin to make my writing more interesting and tumblr has already helped a lot, with your posts as one of the main inspirations! :)

Oh thank goodness you liked it - I've been trembling with imposter syndrome since I hit post askdfkk-

I haven't written first person too much - though the novel I'm working on does have that? But honestly, I do it much the same, just change the subject word. It makes things seem a smidgen more personal, but I truly think the base of the writing should be much the same.

Third person:

He couldn’t stand the running. Not anymore. It’s so fucking hard to be brave when you never know when the next shoe will drop. He had too much to run from. Too much of everything. Too many people he’d pissed off. Far too many looking for him. Too many who would peel his skin off his body one strip at a time and force it down his throat just to make a point.

First person:

I couldn’t stand the running. Not anymore. It’s so fucking hard to be brave when you never know when the next shoe will drop. I'd had too much to run from. Too much of everything. Too many people I've pissed off. Far too many looking for me. Too many who would peel my skin off his body one strip at a time and force it down my throat just to make a point.

It adds a little more urgency. Like it's a dialogue happening in the oc's head. I'd lean more toward that then there's internal struggle vs using third person when there's external struggle.

So my whumpees who are hurt by whumpers? Thirdd person.

My novel with the man manipulated by hallucinations? First person.

The writing stays the same as far as I can tell.

I feel like I'm rambling.

Hhhhhhhh hope that helped? Love you, you whumperfly-packed-bio-haver, you. <3

.

[example paragraph snatched from this scene bc I didn't feel like writing something new]

[its-my-whump]

Whumpmas in July in yet another bloody poem

I'm sitting on this one for weeks now, just being on tenderhooks, repeatedly changing bits and pieces.

I need to give a really big "Thanks" to @scribbelle for encouraging me. Your ask, probabaly, wasn't a big deal for you, but it gave me the courage to keep on rhyming. Okay, that sounds kind of wrong, but I believe, you know what I intended to say. :-) Thank you!

This is for all, who finally found a place, where they can feel like being themselves:

See, actually, it is "Whumpmas in July".

For me, it's where the whumperflies fly.

So nice, we're sharing this special kind of blood thirst.

But wait! We needed to introduce ourselves first.

We listed these special words and what makes our obcession tick.

Shared, if we want them punished with a whip or a stick.

On just another day, our whumpees got deprived or needed some bandages.

But no matter, what happens to them, it's never enough, I guess.

We shared and asked about, whatever gives us these whumperflies.

What have to be done or endured, to make our whumpees scream so nice.

A detailed discription, of how they have to suffer and why it's making us mad.

Just shared with y'all, that we love it, when they are aching so gorgeously bad!

We created, buried, searched and rescued them,

but it's all self-serving. We just want to do it again!

It doesn't matter, if the whumpee is human, a vampire or a king.

If they are defiant or compliant. In common they all have one thing.

Doesn't matter, if they scream, cry, trash, or are making a fuss.

Let's be reasonable, their only purpose is to suffer for us.

We asked, posted, reblogged and made new friends.

So nice, our poor whumpees shiver under all these diligent hands.

If you read or write, if you post or just observe silently,

I think, it's a life-changing bliss to be part of this community.

But now, this heardache is reserved for our crying whumpee.

Please do, read, write, paint, watch, what ever makes you feel free.

There's just one last request. Please make sure, you're favorit whumpees don't die.

But do care and occasionally let the rest, so we can see them at the very latest in next July.

@whumpmasinjuly-archive

wij masterlist

[appalachianapologies]

Okay semi-late post but things happened in the past week. Too many things, actually, and I wanted to give a bit of an explanation (I know I don’t have to, this is purely my choice to do so.)

content warning for guns, shooting, death

A week ago on Wednesday (10/5/22), my worst fear since middle school came true, and I was in a campus shooting. It almost feels selfish to put it that way because I was safe, I was fine, and I am completely physically unharmed.

But that doesn’t really takeaway from what happened. There was a campus shooting, a professor died, and I was almost in the wrong place at the wrong time. While walking to class I happened to walk past about half a dozen police officers running into a building. I didn’t know what was happening but I texted my mom and I said “something’s happening in one of the research buildings.”

I wouldn’t know until about fifteen minutes later what actually happened.

And honestly I don’t want to talk about it so I’m just going to leave it there. Campus shooting, I’m fine, but a professor is fucking dead.

And nothing really happened afterward. Professors were able to choose whether or not to resume classes on Thursday, and the majority did. On Friday, everything was back to normal. I still had my exams this week, I still had my classes, and nothing was even acknowledged in my classes, except for my one non-STEM class.

I’ve pretty much broken down in tears every single day at least once since Wednesday, but the entire University is just back to normal again. Flowers were left outside the building where it happened but now they’re wilted and someone threw them away and now everything is just. Normal.

I don’t really feel normal, though.

And I’ve been struggling to read fics that have previous brought me comfort in the past because they’re whump fics. There’s this awful swell of guilt in my chest because I have this physical reaction to whump, whumperflies, that I can’t control. And it feels so, so, wrong now.

So.

I know I’ll get over it eventually. Traumatic things happen, and people get through it. But this past week has felt like literal hell. I’m scared, I’ve cried every single day, and I can’t really find enjoyment in the stories that would ordinarily help.

I’ve been forced to study through this without a day to process, because I guess midterm week doesn’t wait for anyone. I can’t sleep, I can’t think, and after hours of feeling fine and back to normal I’ll just lose my breath and break down and cry like it hasn’t been a full week.

I’m slowly trying to get back into the groove of things and go back to normal, but I think it’s going to take some time. I have pre-written whumptober fics which I’ll be posting, and I do genuinely hope you all like them because what’s happening with me shouldn’t effect that.

It’s just- yeah. Slow going.

I love you all.

And hey, if you have any happy stories, happy memories, pet pictures, I’d love to hear and see them.