“Uh,,, I Don’t Think Your Ankle Is Supposed To Bend That Way,,,”

Aesthetic: Curling Up

It is an instinctive reaction - for survival, to protect the weakest organs, but also for safety, that childish belief that burying your head in your knees will make you safe.

It won’t.

In the middle of a beating, giving up on fighting and curling up into a ball in panic and waiting it out.

As a response to pain, withdrawing from the situation, and curling up until they can breathe again, until the pain is no longer overwhelming.

As a fearful flinch, drawing back and curling away - from either the enemy or from a friend, memory writing over the present.

As a coping mechanism, curling to get away from the situation, to block it out, until the only thing they can hear is their own heartbeat.

Whump+Found Family

When the weakest one gets injured, and they all hover around them like mama hens, desperately trying to take care of them.

When the STRONGEST one gets injured, and they all flail around, trying to figure out how to take care of the one who always takes care of them.

When one character doesn’t realize they’ve been accepted into the family/think of themselves as outsides, until they get hurt and everyone takes shifts watching over them and taking care of them.

The Revenge for hurting one of their family.

Group cuddles after horrible days, where they all just pile up together in front of the couch.

One taking punishment for the whole group.

“Who did this to you?”

The recovery room being packed too tightly with people who love the whumpee and are worried.

Working together to carry the injured one.

“Why did you save me?” “That’s what family does.”

When one of them loses their voice, and the others have to try to guess what they mean.

Crying together.

The whole group just wrecking havoc in order to rescue their kidnapped teammate.

fuck it. be creative even if you never really *make* anything. write out plot synopses of stories and then move on. design OCs you'll never use. make mood boards and concept art and don't do anything with them. life's too short to forget everything that inspired you and creation doesn't have to be "complete" to be worth the time you put into it.

Something I enjoy: Person not used to being carried gets carried

One of my favourite rare/underused whump tropes??

Locked in a freezer.

Especially those kind of ice chests?? Like freezer boxes?? Only just big enough for someone to fit in, not much room to move at all.

Someone beaten and shoved into one of those. The bad guy either locks it or shoves something heavy on top. Our character jolts their back into the lid, realising with horror that it won’t budge. Maybe they’re manhandled in, bound and gagged, praying for their friends to find them.

Or one of those walk in freezers in stock rooms?? Our character is moving some boxes around when whatever’s propping the door open shifts and the door swings closed, locked. Or perhaps our character is fighting our bad guy, who shoves them in and locks the door, making eye contact through the little window before leaving. Or maybe our characters friend or co-worker closes the automatically locking door, without realising someones in there.

Maybe I’ll go on about it another time but I think the concept is pretty niche, I never really see it

Shouting and protesting, character A is roughly held back as they’re forced to watch character B get hurt

[gets in with you]

[gets in my little clown car]

me: wow this character is really hot

me: i wonder what they would look like beaten up and bruised and shackled and with a head injury and confused and scared and helpless

Whump without a whumper

What happened to regular old whump? Here are some scenarios for prompts I kinda miss

Sickfics. Someone with pneumonia or a stomach flu. Give me glazed eyes and chills and being weak from not being able to keep anything down. Their caretaker being run into the ground trying to take care of them.

Injured by a nameless assailant. Shot from afar by rebels, mugged in the night, hurt in a hit in run. The struggling walk or run back to their loved ones and catching them when they can’t stay upright anymore. Being put to bed and finally feeling safe.

Clumsiness and random accidents. Falling down the stairs, fainting in the shower bc of exhaustion after a trying day (combo these with illness for mega bonus points), someone else falling on them.

Being hurt by a tough loved one who gets surprised or has traumatic flashbacks. Trying to hide it, being found out. The guilt!! The black eyes! Please.

Chronic illness or mental illness. I’m not trying to trivialize these - a lot of the great fics I’ve read seem to come from people who let out their own experiences on characters. Putting up with it, being strong but breaking down, trying to hide it, bad days.

Emotional h/c. Loneliness, guilt, bad memories being brought up at inopportune times and having to hide it until they have a second to breathe. Caretaker trying to comfort them once they realize, feeling guilty for not realizing, and eventually breaking through to them. Making a little progress that gives us hope.

Caught in bad weather. Hypothermia, heat exhaustion, deserts and rain and snowstorms. Complaining and being ignored until they faint.

Give me it all. Not that I don’t love torture fics (that sounds straight up sadistic) but I long for the simpler times. The magic writers made out of the everyday, that still tug at your heartstrings.

Okay but manhandling??

Getting forced roughly to their knees ((perhaps with a gun pointed at their face))

Getting roughed up as a threat ((and their friends/caretaker finding out))

Slammed against a wall

Arms twisted painfully behind their back

A hand harshly covering their mouth

An arm wrapped around their neck, back flush against their captor

Grabbed by the hair

Grabbed around the midsection and lifted as they struggle

Grabbed by their shirt collar and pinned against a wall

Yeah,,, manhandling very good