#whump discussion

[whump-a-saurus]

we all know the “vampire whumper” or the “vampire whumpee” tropes, but we never think about the Werewolf whumper/whumpee’s.

PLEASE GOD THINK OF THE WEREWOLVES

- werewolf whumpee = pet whump??? them being called a “tamed beast”?? collars???? yes please!!

- werewolf whumper = animalistic rage?? batting whumpee around like a toy because they’re strong and powerful and they can do whatever they want?? absolutely!!

[rabbitdrabbles]

whumperflies are such an interesting phenomenon like wdym I get a tingly feeling in my stomach from seeing fictional characters getting beat up and disemboweled and bleeding out and dying

[whumpy-gems]

Inspired by @maccreadysbaby post, which can be found here

[whumperofworlds]

Team whump is kinda interesting honestly.

How powerful can a whumper be if they managed to capture the entire team? Like what tactics/plans did they do to catch them all? (Haha Pokemon reference). A team usually stayed strong when they worked together, but when they were defeated and caught in one fell swoop? Nice.

Not only that, but the dynamics for a team was something cool to think about! What would happen when their Leader was sick/injured/captured? Was there a second in command to handle the team? Or would they panic and run around without their strong and reliable Leader?

...I might take off team whump on my "not interested" list NGL. I've been liking it more and more lately, haha.

[lektricwhump]

whump and horror

it’s that time of year; halloween is almost here! so of course i’m using it as an excuse to combine my two favorite genres with an informal (very short) little list of horror movies i find have whumpy scenes. light spoilers ahead. ⚠️ check doesthedogdie and unconsentingmedia.org for information on content warnings. many of these films deal with heavy topics. list under the cut.

near dark (1987): vampires! in the desert! lots of blood and murder and vamp shenanigans, with a healthy dose of a man being very sickly and people catching on fire

brain damage (1988): when the addiction metaphor is queer-coded. main character is sweaty and sickly and miserable a whole lot

28 days later (2003): sooo much whump in this zombie movie, of all places. a couple hospital scenes, drugging, beating, very good stuff. the low quality camera really adds to the vibe

wolf creek (2005): nasty little outback slasher. drugging, restraints, stabbing, the whole shebang.

wolf creek 2 (2013): a sequel to the above. basically the entire part where mick taylor has his victim du jour held captive. really really delicious psychological whump and gross gory things done to hands.

i’m sick so that’s all the energy i have for this but feel free to add more!!

[syncopein3d]

Women in Whumpable Work

So, relevant to the topic of this whump post, I imagine there might be a few readers whose experience of women in security professions comes entirely from media. If that's the case, you might suppose that this is an entirely male occupation. There are a few reasons for this representation here in 2024, and I am going to tell you what I think they are. I'm not an academic, my degrees are from 2004 and in Biology and Chemistry and I work in an art/tech profession; this is just an opinion from a blogger in a small fic genre.

So with that disclaimer, I think an important, and probably the main reason, is that security guards in media are usually there to demonstrate the seriousness of a threat by getting hurt. Sometimes we don't even see them alive, just as bloody shreds or as decorations for a monster lair. In the case of my whump writing, they're there to get knocked out and dragged behind a pillar by a thief dressed like a ninja.

Sometimes that's a patronizing and antiquated "women can't be guards" thing, but I don't think it's just that. For one thing, my own dear sibling was working as a night guard when she was in college 20 years ago. Women in security are perhaps more likely to be sturdy butches than femmes, and movies mostly hate butches if they recognize that they exist, but even boomers should by this point have encountered women as cops, construction, security, and other hazardous professions.

I think part of it is that the way to increasing gender parity, there seems to be a stage where women can't be shown to be hurt or fail because they've always been shown ONLY failing. ONLY as victims. Women therefore have to be badass girlbosses who can barely be stalled by an obstacle before their glorious victory (and queer people have to be virtuous martyrs to compensate for old portrayals as gross perverts, but that's another topic). Maybe eventually we can get to an Amanda Waller or an entire female cast of Dungeon Meshi, but those aren't the majority examples in American pop culture right now. That's still at the Marvels in a lot of cases, where rep has to be good and powerful to be valid and female villains tend to also be of a very specific type who has snapped from trauma (also a topic for another day).

So, obviously that concept doesn't go well with the entire genre of whump, where we demonstrate that we like characters by hurting them, either as an end in itself or so that they can be cared for. I get that. I'm very uncomfortable seeing female whumpees in certain subgenres, especially the ones that hew closest to real life. But the thing is, I'm also a woman, kind of. At least, that's where I started from, and I'll probably never be out as fluid or agender to anyone irl but one sibling. And I want to see rep of all kinds for all genders, not just the women as badass winners or the men as victims and everyone else as simply absent. That means that sometimes I'm also going to write women as soldiers getting shot and peasants getting attacked by vampires and security guards getting tranked. I'm going to write enbies as villains, as chronically ill, as afab or amab. I don't see this as a problem. I see it as wanting to write more characters.

Obviously I'm not telling anyone to not write men if they like men and this is their fetish. I'm aroace irl, and I feel only a mild preference toward any given gender visually, so I don't exactly have a genetically engineered laboratory mutant in that fight. I'm just saying, consider why you pick your whumpees and how while you decide what's fun for you.

[princessallura052]

Straight Whump

Hello! Are you a fanfic writer or an artist? Are you a lover of whump as we call hurt/comfort, angst and all the dark, horrific stuff? And more importantly, are you a fan of heterosexual/heteroromantic ships and tired of seeing LGBTQ+ stuff running everywhere? If so, this server is the one for you. We are still gay, lesbian and bisexual friendly and you will not be rejected if you support it, however we are anti-transgenderism, so no girls feeling like boys and boys feeling like girls, going to keep that blunt here. This server just literally started five minutes ago so we don't have much but you can help make it better, just in time for whumptober. But if you like keeping it het (I'm ace but like hetace so asexuals welcome too!), this server will be your slice of heaven.

Please come in and join! If you are a tech wiz, I may ask you for help too

EDIT: To pro-LGBTQ+ people, if you continue to be nasty, there is a block button. I am not coming on your servers and posts to be nasty to you nor interrupting your safe space. So for anyone who wants to lecture me on being homophobic or transphobic, I will block you.

[whumpitisthen]

is it strange that i genuinely kinda wanna be an irl whumpee? like im aroace so its not like That, but like being kidnapped and held captive sounds almost comforting to me for some reason and i always imagine myself as the whumpee in my whump scenarios. dunno what this means about me but i saw ur reblog and it got me thinking lol sorry if this is weird

Well if it is considered strange it's no more strange than me wanting to be an irl whumper so 🤝 you may come by my inconspicuous black car and get tied up and thrown in a trunk any day you wish i will take such good care of you i promise my basement is very damp and miserable and my thoughts about you are mean and evil only <3 for no particular reason i must ask are you more of an impersonal whumper or a carewhumper kinda guy.

But also no it's not strange you're not alone and im not alone i guarantee so many people are into whump in the same way you are. in fact, there's almost definitely more irl whumpees than whumpers out there if poll results i keep seeing are anything to go by and also. I heard kinks aren't explicitly sexual all the time? Which is a strange ass thing to comprehend for me bc then. The fuck is a kink. Just something that people like? That is strange? Bc then stuff like asmr and whump are absolutely kinks no questions asked no discourse needed. People can be sexually into those too, but it's always explicitly said that they aren't Always sexual, so like? And while i am also ace i have come to the conclusion that whump to me may be a kink too, even if it is absolutely not sexual to me ever. I like it, it is considered a strange thing to like, i even get physical reactions to it if it hits just right and i can't tell the difference between that and "actual kinks". All that is to say, dont be too pressed about it darling this is tumblr you are a clown just like the rest of us jingling foolishly across the floor of this circus (affectionate)

[withdrawingramen]

your reactions when you stumble across your whump content in things you want to discard

before i continue, just a warning that this poll will discuss topics such as anxiety, trauma, coping mechanism and things linked to it it's funny that i'm writing this as i write another whump drabble, but anyway so i was just cleaning up my room and came across quite a few of my high school books which were full of whump sketches/art & drawing, and my 1st thought was that nobody should be seeing this. i was going to discard all of them as they were occupying too much space in my cupboard, and i couldn't bear the thought of even a tiny fraction of any of my whump content being seen. i immediately started tearing off the pages & cutting and tearing them into bits to the point where i was thinking 'i need to burn this shit'. in short it made me really fucking anxious. typically, i use whump as a coping mechanism against my trauma, and absolutely nobody knows about it. it's a very personal thing & i assume it is for many of the other whump community members too, because to be fair, to outsiders whump is a very absurd & terrifying concept. so i'm thinking, am i the only one who's had these thoughts & reactions? otherwise, how do you react to the thought of your whump media getting out when you come across them?

personally i think it's just that innate fear that society & people we love will start to view us differently because our way of coping is unconventional. what do yall think abt it

[quins-whump-stuff]

I used to love YA dystopias and certain types of horror. I was fascinated by all the horrible things that could, almost certainly would, happen to the protagonist.

Living in a horrible world where their entire life would be controlled by the authoritarian regime. Controlling their body, their mind, etc.

So it's no wonder I'm a fan of whump. Replace the authoritarian regime with a single person, or maybe a group of people, or maybe you don't replace the authoritarian regime at all, and it's whump. With one major difference (at least usually, off the top of my head The Hunger Games is an exception): the Awful Thing doesn't happen to the protagonist. They get SO close but escape it happening, and then the authoritarian regime is defeated.

I like whump so much more because the Awful Thing happens and then we get to see the aftermath of it. We see the reactions in the moment, and often the healing afterwards. We see so many more details of the Awful Thing. It's just so much more interesting.

And sometimes we have sad endings. Sometimes the whumpee can't escape, and that's the end. The YA dystopias always seem to end happy and it's just not as impactful if there's not a genuine risk of things going poorly.

I think that these two aspects are what differentiates mediocre dystopias (which btw I do often still enjoy, just not as much) from the good ones. Bad things can happen, and it's almost refreshing to see that in fiction without depicting it in a nihilistic way.

I don't really have a good conclusion to this, but it's interesting to think about

[whump-a-saurus]

i feel like i never see enough cult whump on tumblr, even though it’s like so perfect for ruining ocs lives

like,

1. multiple whumpee’s, which means more trauma (sharing is caring). some people don’t like to write multiple whumpee’s and that’s ok, but think about it this way, the more whumpee’s you make, the more characters you have to kill off

2. have you ever READ the things that cults do to their victims?? it’s SO fucked up. the brainwashing, the shaming, the guilt.

3. potential religion theming. and god, do i LOVE writing religious trauma. i love the “obsession and devotion even though it’s destroying them” shit so much.

4. who doesn’t love a good charismatic whumper?? who’s gaslighting and manipulating every single person they talk too. they got everyone wrapped around their finger.

i would write this myself but i’m actually really bad at writing so i’m not going too, but if i inspired anyone please tag me. i’m desperate.

[whumpdoyoumean]

Turns out, unsurprisingly, that lack of follow-up/care is a pretty universally hated thing! Since we have now established that it is the Worst, I'm curious what other whump sin people really can't stand-- before the writers have the chance to fade to black, put in a time jump, or otherwise forget the whump ever happened.

[weirdstrangeandawful]

TW: discussion of disability in whump, use of identity-first language (not being discussed or anything but better to be safe)

I’ve seen a decent amount of discussion around disability in whump and I wanted to add my piece because I actually feel differently than a lot of people apparently. I have multiple diagnosed and also as-yet-unidentified disabilities so this is only based on my own experiences.

Fair warning: this will be a fairly long post

First of all, it’s important to note that anything that affects someone’s ability to function to a significant degree — whether it’s diagnosed, undiagnosed, or undiagnosable — is a disability. If you feel differently, I suggest you take a hard look at why you are gatekeeping/encouraging ableism (no shame, we all have our pasts but we have to move forward in a better direction). Whump as a genre by definition involves affecting a character’s ability to function by means of causing them physical or psychological pain so it’s pretty much impossible to avoid disability in this genre.

And not only can it not be avoided but characters, like real people, should be allowed to grieve their loss. Grief is inevitable and nothing to be ashamed of. Treating it as something shameful and as a choice belittles the pain that disabled people actually feel and the severity of the condition. I’ve seen a lot of people say that they don’t like seeing characters acting like their condition is the worst thing that’s ever happened to them and that’s a valid standpoint and I understand if someone doesn’t want to read that but I don’t think it shouldn’t be written about at all. I’ll use myself as an example:

I was born unable to process auditory stimulus properly (i.e. I can’t hear well) and yeah, it’s not awful for me because I’ve lived this way all my life and of course it’s stressful but I am still able to be proud of my identity. But if someone (fictional or otherwise) loses their hearing in an accident, yeah it might in fact be that worst thing that ever happened to them and that is equally valid and they are just as much of a disabled person as I am!

In essence: a single character’s disability should have no more bearing on the disabled community than any one real member of the disabled community has and it is perfectly valid for them to react differently to a disability than many real people would.

As a footnote I will throw in one exception: non-disabled people or people with a different disability should be careful not to spread misinformation. Doing your research is great but we need to remember that often (and I daresay usually) doctors and medical researchers are way too prone to generalisations to give any helpful information especially on the internet (—sincerely someone who has seen 14+ different health professionals and remains largely undiagnosed)

[whump-side]

Am I the only one who watches first aid demonstration videos just to imagine whump scenarios?

You gotta ask the community to know that haha

[whumpy-bi]

I hope I'm not being rude but who is whumpee the caretaker and whumper who are they and what do they look like if you don't mind answering

Ahh well it’s generally meant to be up to interpretation, I want everyone to decide who fills each role as they read. And the characters I personally know envision changes from story to story. But I do envision Star Wars characters in a lot of my scenarios, lmao, because that’s where I primarily shift to!