GooseWhumps

For @arecaceae175

Fic: Radio Silence Ch.1 (Fan Joy July Day 3)

Ace, I always enjoy reading your fics! And it seems like it's been a long time since I drew fanart from your fic. For this Fan Joy July, I read your fics again and I immediately "caught" the picture of this fic, I like the tense atmosphere you wrote about.

Thank you for sharing your great work! I always support you!

The ground disappeared from beneath him, and Four felt his stomach roll as his body was forcibly moved, cradled against another’s body. He couldn’t hold back a groan as pain shot through his gut, whiting out the edges of what little sense of awareness he had left. Something had gone horribly wrong. 

Shining silver and golden armor took up most of his vision, and Four recognized his own shield being held up by a strong and steady hand. After a moment, he finally took notice of the person’s face, staring down at him with a single eye shining in worry. It flickered across his face and down at his abdomen, and it took Four far too long to get his brain and tongue to work in tandem.

“Time?”

The older hero let out a short breath of relief. “You’ll be alright,” Time was quick to assure him. Perhaps a little too quick. “I’ve got you, just hold on.” 

That was a tall order to give, considering Four felt as though his very being was unravelling thread by thread. Something was slipping through his fingers, both figuratively and literally. When he’d fallen, the arrow had been knocked in place and torn a gash in his abdomen. The arrowhead did nothing to stop the blood flowing from the wound, and his hand held against it did nothing to help stop it.

Time swore, face contorting into a near snarl as the arrows continued to pound against his shield. Four may have heard one or two ping against his armor, but he could hardly tell one sense from the next. Time jostled him slightly, the movement bringing the pain back to the forefront of his mind. “Listen to me!” It took all of his energy just to force himself to focus on Time. “I need you to put pressure on that, smithy!”

“I…” Four tried to flex his fingers, to press down, to do something, but his body wouldn’t listen. His control was already slipping away, awareness beginning to dull despite the urgency of the situation. “Time,” he breathed, taking a moment to process the man’s hardened expression turning back to him. “Time, I can’t—”

“None of that.” His voice was low. It rumbled like thunder, warning of a storm brewing deep from within. It drew him back ever so slightly from where he’d slipped further than he thought, and Four found enough focus to meet his gaze fully. “None of that! You will survive this.” 

Another arrow struck against his shield, breaking through the wood. The arrowhead poked through a mere inch from Time’s hand. The old man readjusted his position, cradling him closer to his body, and the shield was blocked from Four’s view. “Look at me.” 

What in the world, I can't believe how great this was, what an honor to have inspired this😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️❤️

Aw, thanks sm <3 This is the last one lol hope you and your friend enjoy!

Collapse Aftermath - Leader Whump

He tried to stay upright. He really did, but the second Leader's knees buckled any effort to grip onto composure was lost.

"Whoa, hey-"

A quiet groan was the most objection Leader managed at the arms locking around him, flaring the wound in his side.

Colourful exclamations of panic from his teammate morphed into something distant as he slumped against the other, short breaths the only thing to be heard above the heavy heartbeat- not his own, thudding against his ear.

Heavy limbs of no use to him, Leader could only shudder as Teammate lowered him to the floor, the painstaking care doing nothing for the torn skin that screamed in protest until the ceiling above finally flooded his vision.

"...ear me?"

His eyelids drooped beneath the harsh fluorescent tubes glaring down, a distinct chill settling around him as his head lulled to the side.

"Shit, shit! Hey- Can you hear me?"

Leader mustered some vague groan, frantic tapping against his cheek tugging back on his thread of consciousness. He failed to bite back his half-strangled cry, no warning coming before the firm pressure pushed into his side.

"Fuck! Why didn't you say something?" Teammate's wide eyes flickered from their captain's wound to his paling face.

".. 'thought I had it h.. handled," he gritted out, biting back another wince.

"This- this is not handled boss!"

Dark spots blotted the face looming above him in and out of focus, nothing but Leader's choked breaths occupying the space between the pair. "Yeah.." he whispered, eyes threatening to fall closed.

"No, no. Come on Leader, eyes on me," Teammate encouraged, shaky voice accompanied by incessant tapping resuming on the side of Leader's face.

Sluggishly swiping at it only yielded his own hand caught in Teammate's, guided down toward his side.

"Just keep that there, okay?" They carefully laid his palm across the soaked material, drawing a shaky breath. "I'll get help just- just stay there."

Leader's glazed eyes followed Teammate as they scrambled to their feet.

"I'll be right back. Right back," they promised, giving their captain's limp form a final glance before sprinting out the door, rushed footsteps fading down the hallway.

I was going to say “cage-free” up there too but then I realized that’s not always the case…

Anyway. Here’s the thing, folks. It could just be the blogs I happen to follow, but I’ve noted a fairly recent trend of people lumping torture fic in with whump fic, or using the terms interchangeably. Specifically, I’ve seen posts implying that there needs to be a “whumper” character hurting a “whumpee” for a fic to be considered whump (and while this isn’t inherently torture, most of how it’s interpreted as prompts and fics tends to be).

I just wanted to set the record straight. There is no need whatsoever for one character to purposefully/personally hurt another character in whump. That’s just limited thinking. Heck, the only thing “required” for a whump fic is a situation in which one character accepts their vulnerability in a situation (and, arguably, overcomes it with or without help), which usually involves an injury or illness. *Old man voice* back in my day, “whumper” was a term exclusively used for a person who enjoyed consuming/creating whump content. 

Can torture be a part of the injury or the cause of the vulnerability? Sure! Is is required? Absolutely not! In fact, I’d argue that torture is only a very small segment of the whump world, and similarly, the presence of torture does not a inherently a whump fic make. (Straight up non-whump torture fic exists, and that’s fine to use/enjoy as it’s own tag/separate category!)

So, what other situations can you use to create whump without using a “whumper” or torture?

Accidental

Falls- tumbling off a cliff and breaking a bone

Burns- saving another character from a fire and ending up with their own injuries

Bites/stings- sticking their hand somewhere to accomplish a mission, ending up envenomated

Poison- accidentally eating something not meant for eating/surviving an assassination attempt

Friendly fire- character ends up accidentally shooting his friend

Lost- hungry, tired, cut off from all communication or resources

Environmental

Storms- whumpee gets hit with flying debris

Floods- whumpee gets swept away from friends and injured

Lightning- whumpee gets struck by lightning

Cold- falling into an icy lake or being stranded in the cold with no way to warm up

Heat- dehydration, heatstroke, hyponatremia from needing to do hard work in the heat

Collapsed building- getting trapped when a building collapses

Low-resource setting- something that would be perfectly treatable is now possibly deadly due to not having the right equipment/medication

Violent

Active shooter- whumpee catches a stray bullet and has to wait for the building to be cleared to get help

Bombing- getting caught up in a blast, losing hearing or vision, catching shrapnel

War- high stress, bullets, bombs, desperate people, getting trapped behind enemy lines without help

Bank hostage situation- busman’s holiday-type situation where the whumpee just happens to end up trapped and needing rescue without being the target- possibly injured, ill, or slated to be killed

Emotional

Fear- specific phobia or just plain situational fear

Another characters death- mourning, grief, disbelief

Mental illness- specifically ones that mess with the ability to regulate emotion

Could I interest you in a sleepy AND injured Four? >:3

awwweee!! Thank you @insane-twilight-fan and Anon for these requests💙💙 I friggen loooove this duo, especially if it's Legend getting whumped >:3

CW! Blood/coughing up blood