Gratuitous Pain

some tiny details that tickle the whump senses

• dark circles, bloodshot eyes

• falling asleep fully clothed, possibly with jacket and shoes still on, legs/feet hanging off the foot of the bed or sprawled half-on half-off a couch

• the “oh shit, i’m gonna faint/nevermind i’m good” face (and aborted grab for nearest solid object or person)

• a character losing their footing for a moment on rough terrain. someone reaching out to grab them so they don’t fall and they both hold on for a hot second

• closing their eyes and leaning into a gentle touch

• shaky hands, shaky voice

• falling asleep at their desk at work/tucked away in an odd place

• doing things that are out of character & having others start to notice: losing their cool, being extra chipper or extra quiet, jumpy

• zoning out

• someone getting between them and whoever they’re having a heated exchange with, gently pushing them back with a hand against their chest or shoulder

Content: restraints, classic tied-to-a-chair vibe, defiant/scared whumpee

The shock as captive realizes their hands are bound.

The flinch-like jerk against the bonds.

And another, harder jerk, just to make sure they felt that right. Shit, they did.

Panic rising, tendons standing out on their neck as they try to subtly look around for their captor, or maybe some way of escape

Wondering if screaming will do any good. Too choked up to try.

Leaning forward angrily when their captor shows up

slowly gaining whumpee’s trust even while they are spitting and fighting

in the beginning all caretaker can do is leave food, water and comfort items in whumpee’s room (instead of directly handing them over). whumpee never moves while caretaker is inside, but hours later the stuff left for them is gone

consistently working with whumpee, even when they lash out and hurt caretaker

even though whumpee is technically very independent, they have no idea how to operate in this environment

figuring out whumpee’s triggers and working on desensitising them

struggling to understand what exactly whumpee needs sometimes, but doing their best anyway

giving whumpee space until whumpee explicitly asks for closeness

the first time whumpee initiates contact, caretaker freezes as not accidentally scare them off

keeping whumpee inside for their own safety, even when whumpee actively tries to leave… until whumpee succeeds once and freezes in fear before coming back inside voluntarily

even after whumpee warms up to caretaker, they still dislike and avoid most other people

whumpees who feel so deeply indebted to the people who have cared for them during their illness/injury recovery period, whumpees who basically bring their caretaker the equivalent of a dead bird or mouse from a cat, trying to convey to the caretaker how grateful they are for the help and support they've received.

whumpees who spend hours shopping for a gift or writing a letter to caretaker, trying to put into symbolic form the depth of the love and appreciation they feel for them.

tired in the way that even the brightest colours feel grey. every movement feels heavy yet numb and weightless at the same time. they sit on the floor as they wait for their food to boil on the stove because they don't have the energy to stand up, and in the shower they just let the water wash over them because it takes too much effort to deal with soap.

i’m talking internal bleeding. bleeding out. impalement. severe head trauma. comas. bad hypothermia. injuries that aren’t getting better, and just lead to whumpee growing more pale and weak by the day as caretaker strokes their hair and feeds them.

injuries that make caretaker and the whumpee both think “oh shit, this could be the end.” even if they don’t say it.

slowly gaining whumpee’s trust even while they are spitting and fighting

in the beginning all caretaker can do is leave food, water and comfort items in whumpee’s room (instead of directly handing them over). whumpee never moves while caretaker is inside, but hours later the stuff left for them is gone

consistently working with whumpee, even when they lash out and hurt caretaker

even though whumpee is technically very independent, they have no idea how to operate in this environment

figuring out whumpee’s triggers and working on desensitising them

struggling to understand what exactly whumpee needs sometimes, but doing their best anyway

giving whumpee space until whumpee explicitly asks for closeness

the first time whumpee initiates contact, caretaker freezes as not accidentally scare them off

keeping whumpee inside for their own safety, even when whumpee actively tries to leave… until whumpee succeeds once and freezes in fear before coming back inside voluntarily

even after whumpee warms up to caretaker, they still dislike and avoid most other people

Wanted to write a little more of Whumpee’s situation after his rescue.

To read the rest- go here!

Cw: heavy on medwhump , restraints , injury , delirious Whumpee

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Caretaker silently watched Whumpee’s breath, his shallow, forced inhales expanding his concave chest. His delicate face was sunken and badly bruised underneath the plastic mask covering his mouth and nose. Whumpee’s eyes were shut and still. His cheeks were stained with dried tears and blood from his wounds. It looked as if he hadn’t rested in weeks.

Caretaker adjusted the heated blanket over Whumpee’s cold body, taking great care not to touch him too suddenly or harshly. He looked so fragile, a stark contrast from Whumpee’s normally lithe, muscular figure. He was a ribby, broken shell of what he was.

Occasionally Whumpee would stir, flinching and furrowing his eyebrows. Caretaker stroked Whumpee’s hair gently, assuring him that everything was okay.

Caretaker knew that everything wasn’t okay.

Whumpee’s lungs rattled every time his ribcage compressed with a pained exhale. Leader hadn’t been able to stop the large bleeding wound across his torso, redressing his bandages too frequently for comfort. He wasn’t lucid, and would panic any time he was moved or tended to.

Whumpee had tried a handful of times to rip himself free from the tubing and wires attached to his body and no amount of assurance or comfort seemed to be able to calm him. Whumpee was somewhere else during these episodes.

He’d fight against Leader and Caretaker, flailing his broken limbs with a strength he shouldn’t still have. To prevent Whumpee from hurting himself, Leader was forced to tie his hands to his bed. He lied there now, arms held still at his sides as he slept.

Caretaker hated seeing him like this.

Thinking about what Whumpee had endured made him sick to his stomach. Whumpee was not weak, and would frequently come home from missions injured. It was just part of the job he’d say, and he always brushed it off with a smile.

This was different.

Caretaker sighed, leaning back in his chair and resting his eyes shut. The rhythmic beeping of Whumpee’s heart monitor becoming white noise, lulling Caretaker to a half-sleep.

He was startled awake to Whumpee coughing, a deep, gurgling cough. It persisted, Whumpee’s face turning a scarlet red and his monitor alarming like a siren. Caretaker jumped, pulling Whumpee to sitting. Whumpee continued to hack, finally gasping for breath while Caretaker held him upright.

The inside of Whumpee’s mask was splattered with crimson droplets. Whumpee was trembling in Caretaker’s arms, and he could still hear that awful crackling from Whumpee’s chest.

His eyes were drooped open, the pupils completely blown out so wide that Caretaker could hardly see the color of his irises.

Whumpee groaned, pulling against his restraints and arching against Caretaker. Caretaker gently laid him back down, removing his mask to wipe it clean.

Caretaker caught himself staring at Whumpee’s face. His sharp canines showed behind his agape mouth, a sickening whistle escaping with each breath. His fragile, pale skin now also marked from the mask.

Caretaker slipped the oxygen back over Whumpee’s head, adjusting it to be as comfortable as possible. Whumpee’s diluted eyes flitted to meet Caretaker’s, and Caretaker held his breath.

“M-mh,” Whumpee groaned. “M - going t- die.”

His voice was a faint, stuttering whisper, and he was hardly conscious. Still, Caretaker felt every word like a knife to his chest.

That was a statement, not a question.

“No man, I’m not gonna let that happen!” Caretaker smiled at Whumpee, stroking his ear softly. “No way. You’re gonna be just fine. Trust me.”

He very well may not be. Whumpee, even while delirious, wasn’t stupid.

Caretaker vowed that they wouldn’t hold a second funeral for Whumpee; that his rescue meant something. That Whumpee would live to see their homeland again. That he’d live to be by Caretaker, like he was before, and that what they had wasn’t stolen by Whumper.

cuff on the wrist, bolted to the floor.

think about. it limits how far Whumpee can move, either away from Whumper or towards freedom. if it's bolted in the center of a large room, Whumpee can't even rest against a wall.

Hi! I hope I'm not too late to help! Full disclaimer, I'm not a psychologist--this is half personal experience and half ideas clinking around upstairs. Here's what came to mind first.

--

When one's purpose is to please others, there are a lot of dimensions you can go for, depending on who the "others" may be:

Those prone to anger require understanding, a well-behaved scapegoat, and someone who will, under no circumstances, stir the pot. Here you'll get a whumpee who will freeze up any possible move of irritation, ask for punishment to relieve another's stress, or maintain a demeanor that protects peace at all times (happiness, invisibility, humility, apology)

If the "others" are anxious, Whumpee may grow very good at soothing, grounding, distraction, et cetera. This will leave them stuck in the mindset of a caretaker, and may prevent them from reaching out for help themself.

Logical characters make Whumpee run through plans, organize different outcomes, and analyze situations. Whumpee's mask for these folks will be a soundboard. They are a fantastic listener and very encouraging. This can be exhausting if they can't turn it off.

Whumpee's job is to receive all the emotions in the vicinity and tailor responses to make everyone happy. Think of it like wearing different masks. They will be grounding to dissociated captives, soothing to anxious ones, and the perfect punching bag for an upset whumper.

When recovering, these masks don't disappear. Their whole purpose was to fix things. Here's a few ideas:

Without the masks, who is Whumpee? Do they know what they want? Do they know who they are? How much are their reactions and thoughts a trauma response? Here you have an identity crisis.

Caretakers who aren't predictable or the best at their job will ruin Whumpee. Especially if Caretaker knows what Whumpee is trying to do, and it upsets them. Whumpee could make a tired Caretaker coffee, who then explodes. "Why don't you do anything for yourself?!"

Later in recovery, they may harden around that amicability as a defense mechanism. If they don't want to be a doormat, they need to be mean. This can cause problems with the people around them, especially if they're trying to adjust to their new life via jobs or school.

The mental state of a people pleaser is a complicated one. Don't be afraid to make contradictions. Don't shy away from jagged edges.

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AN: I hope this one came out well. I think this one might be pretty good

First Part - Previous - Next - Master Post

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Millo looked around Luna's room and fell in love with it. Her room had light strings going across the ceiling, all with clips attached, upon which hung papers. These papers were either marked with highly complex glyphs, combinations of runes he itched to translate, and some purely decorative pieces with countless designs upon them.

someone being told to use [name] instead of a title and the name just... becomes the title. Yes, Name. Thank you, Name. Sorry, Name. It doesn't mean anything to them.

Someone with good intentions, shocked at what they're seeing and whumper's delightfulness in humiliating whumpee for them. yes, do show them how obedient your pet is.

assumptions. especially ones that cause massive misunderstanding. whumpee spending weeks in fear bc they assumed something and caretaker another. surprise! you're not dying anytime soon.

"[order] or I'll make you" (and it'll be 1838392 times worse) (:

tests. "they'll never know" except they do because it was a test and you failed. suffer.

panic over minor incidents (i.e. the beloved broken glass.)

terrified whumpee still trying to protect their new friend.

whumper bemused as they listen to whumpee's reasons to not [blank] them right now. it's happening anyway but the babbling is always fun.

scrambling away as someone slowly walks behind. so cute.

whumpee being given options and begging. they'll choose but they still beg.

the exact same torture happening every day until whumpee slowly breaks. and then it continues anyway.