this kids cartoon sure could use some body horror

Artist, Musician, and Pinch Hitter sign-ups are open! Beta Reader sign-ups continue

Closing June 7, 11:59 p.m. CDT.

Sign up here

After you fill out the form, a message will display a link to the Discord server. Joining the server is required. If this link doesn't work, send an ask to the blog or DM a mod (@kinglazrus, @bibliophilea, @strawberrycamel, @underforeversgrace)

What is a Big Bang?

It’s a collaborative event that takes place over several months, where authors write a fic, and artists and musicians are paired with authors to create art based on those fics. Everything is posted during the last week, creating the big bang of content for which the event is named.

Authors have been toiling away since March, and it's time for artists and musicians to join us!

What do artists and musicians need to know?

You can only sign up as either an artist or a musician, not both

All are welcome regardless of skill level.

All works must follow the art and music guidelines in our info doc.

AI generated content is not allowed.

Joining the Discord server is mandatory.

The Phandom has survived in spite of all this, and Butch Hartman, and it's actively a part of why it still embraces all the 'darker' sides, because we learned.

Everyone who supported her left, after one too many arguments over it all.

Every time I see an anti-shipper, I raise my eyebrows. Because it didn't, with this woman, start with queer pairings - for her it started with adult/child pairings, and others. But it very quickly became -No, we can't let the kids ship Dash/Danny! We can't let them even *contemplate* Paulina/Sam! No, Danielle isn't trans, why would you think that?? We have to protect the kids, or else they'll think being queer is okay!

(Under the cut for length)

But one thing I also love, that I feel like I don't see very often in whump fic, is people writing about the recovery process, the unglamorous, difficult, after-the-fact details of having sustained serious injuries and living to tell the tale. Sometimes there will be a brief scene at the end of the fic where we are assured that, yes, the character made it to the hospital and survived, and is now surrounded by concerned friends-- particularly when the story veers more into hurt/comfort territory--but that's not really what I'm talking about. What I want is stories where the treatment and recovery are front and center, the medical details are realistic and the injuries are treated with the appropriate gravity, where the process is long and hard and has pitfalls and obstacles and above all takes time.

I think a large part of my desire for fics where the recovery is more centered than the actual moment of "hurt" stems from being aromantic and asexual and preferring gen stories, but still craving moments of intimacy in fiction and thus looking for it in less conventional places. Caretaking--or being taken care of--can be great sources of intimacy in stories where sex is off the table, for one reason or another. Needless to say, it's been an obvious lacuna. People do still write it, but not as often as I'd like to see, and that's always struck me as strange.

On the other hand, my wife has never been as into whump as me. She never hated it, but didn't seek it out or write it very often and had to be in the right mood for it (and to some degree still does). But lately she's been getting much more into exploring it in her writing because it offers her an opportunity to write characters experiencing similar things to her as she's dealt with the challenges of becoming disabled and largely housebound and reliant on me for certain caretaking tasks. And as a result we've sort of gravitated towards some similar kinds of stories, where recovery and caretaking are just as if not more important than fucking that character up in the first place.

Anyway. It's lead me to think more actively about that gap I've noticed as a life-long whump reader, where the recovery doesn't really matter and the stories are mostly just about the moment of "hurt" and maybe a dramatic rescue at the end. And I won't pretend it's all ableism, but I really do think that some of the reason fandom is allergic to writing true, messy, real caretaking and recovery is rooted in liking the aesthetics of disability (the angst! the drama!) without really caring much about the reality of it. It's the same reason action heroes get knocked unconscious all the time without concussions, why sci-fi and fantasy prosthetics so often seamlessly replace lost limbs, and why everyone in fiction eventually recovers from injuries and illness (except for when they die). There's no room for the unglamorous in-between, where someone ends up permanently affected by what happened to them and where "hurt" has life-long consequences.

I guess that's all to say--I wish fandom were as enthusiastic about the disability narrative potential in whump. Even in instances where people do make incredible recoveries from horrible injuries (which I've seen firsthand with friends!), a brush with serious injury is at the very least a brush with short-term disability, and more likely than not will have effects for the rest of someone's life. That can be interesting, and even intimate if you want it to be, too.

That's bad enough!!!!!!!! But the entire idea of needing permission from state authorities to access anything labeled mature by our friendly AI overlords is some fucking Boll shit. Die Gedenken Sind Frie baby. This is all a reaction to people getting uppity about their lowly lowly rights and is being propped up by the same bad actors tht have made life unlivable. Fuck that shit.

"Well it's only being rolled out in Brazil and UK" Yeah, to start. "Well they're being forced to do this by laws." YOu know it's always really funny when these tech giants (Or whatever you call owning tumblr dot com) get really antsy about laws considering they pick and choose which ones they abide by.

Performance Guidelines (30/31)

"Dude, what gives?" Eric slams shoulder first into the locker next to his and he flinches.  "Jesus Christ," he mutters, rubbing a hand down his arm to soothe away the cold sweat trying to prickle up from his skin.  "You said you were gonna get on last night and then totally ditched!"  He swings his locker door closed, latching it softly. "Sorry. I fell asleep." At least he did around 4 AM. 

These are the prompts for the 2026 Disabled Whump & Hurt/Comfort writing challenge, a 30-day challenge running from May 1-May 31, 2026 (works may be written in advance but should only be posted on/after May 1). The FAQ Page is here and the AO3 parent collection is here (check it for this year's subcollection).

Below the read more are the content and posting rules for this challenge. The prompts are divided by themes, but can be mixed up or taken out of order or only a few at a time. See rules for more information.

Remember to tag your works #disabledwhc2026 !

PROMPT LIST

LIVING WITH IT Established disability

1. Hurt: Targeted vulnerability | Stigma and discrimination | New or worsened symptoms

2. Comfort: Not backing down | Confidence | Friendship between disabled people

The Long Haul

3. Hurt: White-knuckling | Fatigue | “Not this again”

4. Comfort: Solidarity | Planning ahead | Stress tolerance

Acquired disability

5. Hurt: "You'll never come back from this" | Mystery condition | Self-injury

6. Comfort: Adjustment period | New strengths | Learning from others' experience

Recovery

7. Hurt: Manipulative "care" | Painful recovery | Failed treatment

8. Comfort: Reaching out unexpectedly | Rest | Emotional support

Adaptation

9. Hurt: Frustration | Progressive conditions | Stubborn

10. Comfort: Inventiveness/creativity | New aid | Practice makes perfect

PAIN AND PERIL Environmental

11. Hurt: Re-injured | Situational trigger | Deprivation/neglect

12. Comfort: Hiding place | Saving yourself | Tearful reunion

Sensory

13. Hurt: Acute symptoms | Overwhelmed | Sensory trigger

14. Comfort: Calming strategies | Breathe through it | Getting away

Trapped

15. Hurt: Stress position | Deliberate exacerbation | Failed escape

16. Comfort: Just in time | Out of harm's way | Field medicine

Medical

17. Hurt: Contraindicated | Emergency intervention | Malpractice

18. Comfort: Welcome visitor | Place to rest | New treatment

Breaking Point

19. Hurt: Over the limit | In denial | Breakdown

20. Comfort: Confession | The universe will catch you | Non-linear recovery

EMOTIONAL HURT Loss

21. Hurt: Unfair choice | Without support | "There's no way to fix this"

22. Comfort: Space to grieve | Safety net | Moving forward

Autonomy

23. Hurt: Infantilized | Denied control | “Let me decide for myself!”

24. Comfort: Self-advocacy | Major decision | Self-assurance

Psychological Effects

25. Hurt: Self-blame | Complex effects | Mental fatigue

26. Comfort: Coping strategies | | Post-traumatic resilience

Stoicism

27. Hurt: Masking | Minimization| Warped tolerance

28. Comfort: Respecting privacy | Breathing room | “I trust you”

Intimacy

29. Hurt: Touch | Alienation | Misunderstanding

30. Comfort: Unconditional love* | Trustworthy | Offering without pressure

31. Free day

*Any kind; platonic, romantic, spiritual, sexual.. have at it.

Rules below the cut:

Performance Guidelines (29/31)

"RDD nine, hit." Noah says.  The EVO screeches, his hooked arms slamming into the asphalt. His strangely segmented body ripples with fury.  Bug-like EVOs are always the hardest to look at. Even before this, Noah wasn't much of a praying mantis guy. Creepy crawlies in general—eugh. 

Performance Guidelines (28/31)

It's been 01:23:32:18 since everything went to shit. By his calculations, he has roughly 04:17:05 of functionality left before his more critical systems start shutting down.  He presses a palm against the wall. It's cool even through his glove, and he'd do anything to sag into it and close his eyes for a bit… His eyelids drag down and down— —No. No. He can't. He rifles through his systems, actively rotting to delirium, to pull the image of the team—Six—asleep and not waking up.