Red Carpet Whump

here ye shall find:

anything within the public eye & media industries

behind the scenes whump

sports & professional athlete whump

lots and lots of passing out on the red carpet

asks with more ideas are very welcome and would make me very happy. my only rule is that all prompts must not be about anyone real. when i say "famous/celebrity whumpee", i mean a fictional character. no rpf please! other than that, ask away.

I've had a solid prompt idea in my head for a bit now that I don't know if I'm ever gonna use, but I like it so someone else can have it.

I think it works for both a band setting and a sports team setting. Basically, the idea is that there's this important performance/game with a lot of stakes for A and B (maybe a talent scout is there, maybe they're nominated for something, or maybe it's just a venue they've always dreamed of playing at). And maybe they get all excited that they're finally making it together, like they've always dreamed of.

Except then A becomes basically unreachable just hours before the performance/game. Not at the venue, not answering calls, nothing. This could be because they got seriously injured, or got kidnapped/carjacked/trapped somewhere. Either way works.

And then maybe A becomes filled with panic because they HAVE to make it to this event. It's not just important to them, but to B, and they can't let B down! Meanwhile, B is frantic with worry, because A wouldn't just flake on them. They know them too well to think that. But the show/game is about to start, so they must begrudgingly go on with a substitute (bonus points if B has an argument with a manager or even another bandmate/teammate about this).

And then maybe A turns up too late, and just apologizes over and over again to B, while B is noticing their friend's bruises and tries to reassure them, "I'm not mad. I'm just worried. Please just tell me what happened to you. Are you okay?"

OBSESSED WITH THIS thank you and welcome to the blog.

This could work for so many things. Sports, bands, award shows, interviews, theatre, competitions of any kind really. Anywhere that Whumpee is important, but still replaceable if it really came down to it.

And that knowledge that they are replaceable is going to sink in really fast when Whumpee realises they're not going to make it there in time. They've worked their whole life for this, literally put their all into it, and now they're never going to have their moment because they're stuck. It's their own fault, too. If they'd just gone with everyone else like they should have instead of stopping to do their own thing for just a minute...

I absolutely love Character A (Whumpee) and B only being focused on each other. A's total panic about potentially not being there and by extension letting B down could even be enough of a distraction to get them through whatever injuries they sustain in the meantime. They're so focused on getting to B that they don't realise how bad things are until B makes them sit down because "You really don't look good."

Which is when it hits Whumpee that they really don't feel good, and whether they got to the event on time or not is now irrelevant because they're going to have to be replaced anyway. They can't go on like this. Physical injury aside, they're in too much mental shock.

They fully expect B to be angry with them. Why wouldn't they be? They've both worked really hard to be here, B especially, and now Whumpee's fucked it up for all of them. But instead, B gets really mad at... their manager? What the hell?

Whumpee's sitting there, dazed, in pain, and confused, while B loses their absolute shit at their boss because "I told you something was wrong. We should have gone looking for them, but no. You only care about your stupid fucking [event]."

Which is when both of them realise that their industry might be a little more manipulative than they thought. Of course, they knew on some level that they were always just products of a show. But this is the first time they've actually been treated that way. Their manager shrugs and tells them the event comes first because there are thousands of people waiting out there for a show, so they're going to fucking get one. Anything else can be dealt with later. So B is forced to go on with Whumpee's replacement and pretend like everything is fine.

OR: Whumpee arrives just in time for the event, literally seconds away from not making it, so no one has time to give them a proper check over because why would they be injured? They were just stuck in traffic, right? Of course, B notices just before they go out in front of the crowds, but there's not time to do anything about it before they're being watched by everyone, and now Whumpee has to get through the game/performance without letting on that they've just been through something incredibly shocking and painful.

(Also, thinking about the substitute coming off the stage/pitch after the greatest unexpected debut of their life, and having that high immediately squashed when they see the state their teammate is in. It took Whumpee going through that for Substitute to get their debut. Something about that feels hard to celebrate.

"Yeah, Whumpee and I were just mucking around on set/at the afterparty/wherever, and then I [hurt Whumpee in some way]."

And it's so obvious that what Whumper did wasn't an accident or some harmless messing around, but they say it so casually that it's obvious abusive behaviour must be normal for them and something they think they can get away with.

This is genuinely one of my favourite tropes of all time so buckle up folks this post is gonna be a long one:

First we have the contents of the "funny" story. How quickly do people realise it's not actually funny at all?

Were the interviewer and Whumpee's co-stars laughing along at first, only for one too many questions to be asked, prompting Whumpee to drop the detail that suddenly turned it very very sinister.

Or was it obvious right off the bat that Whumpee's experiences were deeply fucked up? And now nobody's sure how to react, equally shocked by the story and how Whumpee seems to have no idea at all that it isn't normal.

Third option: it reads as a very normal story but has undertones of not being quite right. The verbal edition of a smile not quite reaching someone's eyes. Or on its own it's amusing, but if you do the research and slot it in with the context of the rest of Whumpee's life, it becomes very dark indeed.

Then we have the reactions of people in the room:

Interviewer realises immediately that what Whumpee is sharing is very personal and tries to redirect the conversation tactfully while trying to not Make It A Thing.

Interviewer realises they've stumbled on a story that's going to get them a huge amount of views and coverage, so they keep asking questions and exploiting Whumpee's vulnerable story (whether Whumpee recognises it as one or not) until Whumpee realises what they've said.

Whumpee's co-stars being shocked and saddened that their friend thinks this is just a normal, fun memory rather than something incredibly traumatic, and also wondering how on earth they never noticed this about Whumpee before.

Whumpee's co-star cutting them off before they can say too much because they know Whumpee has a habit of brushing off traumatic and personal things as casual and they don't want Whumpee to reveal something personal that they might regret later.

Silent, hesitant looks between the camera crew. "Should we keep recording this? This feels personal."

Immediately acknowledging that "Hey, this is super fucked up. You know that, right? It's important to me that you know that."

Or waiting until the interview is over and pulling Whumpee aside. "You know, if you ever need to talk, I'm here, alright?" and Whumpee smiles, confused, because they still think it's fine.

Then what happens after the interview:

Was it live? How much of it can be cropped out to preserve Whumpee's privacy if they realise they actually don't want that story out there?

People on the internet start talking about it immediately. Some of them find it funny, others think Whumpee is lying, some recognise the story for what it really is: absolutely horrifying.

Either Whumpee or someone close to Whumpee who was present for the interview asks for it not to be aired, and now the interviewing team have excellent leverage over Whumpee if they ever wanted to blackmail them in the future.

Whumpee gets taken aside by someone on their team and asked if they're okay. Do they want therapy? Do they need help of any kind? Are they safe now? And Whumpee has no idea what they mean until it's explained that "What you said was really... not good."

Another thing I really like with this is when Whumpee is just given a reputation of "that one celebrity with absolutely insane lore." Everyone gets excited to hear the shit they have to say in interviews because it's awful but they tell it in such a way that it's brilliant, and there's so much of it that surely it can't all be true. The fans just hear the stories and forget that they're actual memories that someone has to live with.

obsessive fan notices something is up with celeb whumpee - bruises that weren't properly concealed, fear/dissociation in their eyes during interviews, missing events, etc. they're worried about their favorite celeb and start digging deeper and deeper into whumpee's situation only to discover whumpee is being abused in some way.

so naturally, obsessive fan takes it upon themselves to rescue whumpee. but will they become a genuine caretaker to whumpee, or will their obsessive love for whumpee overtake everything else, turning them into the next whumper?

bonus if whumpee is in such a bad state when obsessive fan finds them that they need to stay with the fan for a while to recover

I've never considered an obsessive fan taking on a caretaker role before. I'd love it if the idea to 'rescue' Whumpee was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing. Fan gets a job as a steward for an event Whumpee is attending. They know Whumpee is being abused and is likely injured, clocks that they are about to pass out, takes Whumpee somewhere private so there aren't cameras around when it happens, and realise that they can't let Whumpee go back out there.

Whumpee needs medical attention. They keep denying it because nobody's allowed to know what's being done to them, and the ones that do know are handed NDAs and forced not to say anything. But Fan is insistent. They've got a friend who knows first aid. That's better than nothing.

"Fine, if you won't go to a hospital, then at least come with me. It'll be private, but Whumper won't be able to follow you."

"How do you...?" Whumpee starts. Fan mentally kicks themself. Way to not look like a stalker, dropping the fact they not only know Whumpee is hurt, but who's been hurting them too.

"Nevermind. Just come with me. Please?"

Reluctantly, Whumpee goes with Fan. Fan remembers a little too late about the ridiculous amount of merch and memorabilia they own with Whumpee's face on (life-sized cardboard cutout included), but Whumpee's too out of it to pay it much mind. To be honest, they've seen weirder, anyway.

Fan's friend gives them a basic patching-up, supplied with weird facts about Whumpee's health that Whumpee isn't sure they knew themself. It's nowhere near what Whumpee needs, but it's something. They're stable. Now Fan just has to decide what to do next.

They can't just let Whumpee go, can they? Hand them straight back to their abusers for things to get even worse. No, that's not an option. But Fan can't keep them, either. For starters, Whumpee is a human being, and they are technically strangers. But also, Whumpee is famous. People have probably already reported them missing. It's not like Whumpee can just escape and blend into society to recover in a quiet life. So either things stay secret and get worse like Whumpee insists, or Fan makes it public. They have the evidence from years of obsessively following Whumpee's media presence.

celebrity whumpee with severe body dysmorphia/self-esteem issues getting an experimental surgery to give them the "perfect" body... only for the surgery to go AWFULLY wrong and leave them in a ton of pain and possibly permanently disabled and disfigured

whumpee is constantly harassed and mocked for their new appearance and criticized for "endorsing" harmful surgery to their fans, with many of their former fans deserting them

not to mention how expensive and time-consuming recovery for such a thing would be, and that whumpee wouldn't be able to create/play/perform/work/etc. while recovering

(my character is a singer-songwriter, but this could work with any kind of celeb whumpee tbh)

i absolutely love it when celebrity whumpees are criticised for endorsing 'harmful' shit that's completely out of their control. they're under so much scrutiny all the time, all their struggles are chalked up to being "the price of fame" and met with no help, and when whumpee tries to fix things themself and it goes wrong, nobody is on their side because nobody ever cared.

and the amount of blame people will put on whumpee for this. any time a disability or chronic condition is seen as preventable or caused by one's own actions, basic human decency goes out the window. whumpee can't talk about their pain or even express it in any way without being hit with "well you shouldn't have done that to yourself then" and "whose fault is that?" from all sides.

when the game is over, everyone's commenting on whumpee's sloppy performance. their lack of awareness on the field, lazy passes, slow pace, and how rude they were when they skipped shaking hands with the other team to get straight off the pitch.

which is when they collapse. or throw up. maybe even have a seizure. whatever it is, they're clearly not well. only a small section of fans can see it from their position in the stadium, but people talk, and suddenly everyone's re-evaluating the game footage, zooming in on whumpee and trying to see if there were any signs of illness).

Hear me out, Whumpee is apart of a girl group/boy band and the group is learning a choreo. Whumpee repeatedly makes mistakes and gets yelled at for it by Whumper. Eventually Whumper gets completely fed up and snaps physically harming whumpee right in front of all their group mates who can't say anything about it

Bonus points if Whumpee is excluded from group activities for the time being and their group mates are forced to create excuses for their absence.

(is this anything 💔)

no this is fun. this is really fun. consider: whumper has been abusing whumpee privately for a while. hurting them, manipulating them, blackmailing, whatever. the other members of the group have no idea, and if they notice whumpee spending a little extra time with whumper... well, it's not their place to ask questions.

the abuse starts off small and subtle, but grows until whumpee is injured and in pain nearly every day, barely able to hide it, and whumper is getting tired of them because it's not fun anymore. whumpee isn't bouncing back and pretending everything's fine like they used to. it's becoming harder to keep it a secret, and whumpee's performance is declining rapidly.

then they're rehearsing. it's simple choreo, really. stuff that should be easy for professionals like them, but whumpee is struggling. they're exhausted from their sleep being interrupted by pain and nightmares, trying to move on injuries that really need to be rested, and unable to focus because their mind is just full of fog.

whumpee's brought back to attention when whumper slaps them across the face. whumper's shouting: "i'm giving you basic fucking instructions. if you can't follow them, i'll replace you."

eventually whumper calms down. whumpee can feel the shock radiating from the rest of the group. they're surprised, but at the same time, it wasn't entirely unexpected. whumper was disciplined and efficient, not nice. this was bound to happen eventually. and all of them realise pretty quickly that if they want to stay on whumper's good side, then they have to keep their mouths shut.

In fact, they're feeling a hell of a lot worse than the actor they're stepping in for. But they can't say no because otherwise the show will be cancelled, and even if they do say something they're met with a dismissive "just go on and see how it goes."

We casually talk about trading a human based on what? Vibes?

But imagine a Whumpee who knows they can be traded at any time for any reason, and they might find out right before a game or something

oh this has some wonderful blackmailing potential. whumper is some superior person working for whumpee's sports team. they want whumpee to keep quiet about what's happening behind closed doors. they also have secrets about whumpee that, if released, would be easy grounds for getting whumpee traded to another team. and maybe whumpee wants to go somewhere else, but not if it means those private things become public when it's revealed why they were disposed of. so whumpee keeps their mouth shut and endures whatever whumper is doing to them, and, in turn, whumper keeps their mouth shut too.

another idea is that the entire sports league is riddled with corrupt and awful people, so whumper uses trading whumpee as a threat. "oh, you don't like it here? i could always send you somewhere else. then you'd see how nice we are."

or perhaps being traded was a punishment to whumpee for speaking out about something. abuse they went through, related to their sport or not, that is taboo in some way, and their current team don't want to be associated with it so off whumpee goes. hopefully their new team is a little more supportive, but whumpee can't be sure.

or it's simply that whumpee has finally found a home with their current team. they've got friends, a safe space, routine, safety, a family. but now they're terrified of putting even a hair across the line because what if one day management decides they're not wanted anymore and shuffles whumpee off to another team where they'll have to rebuild all of that from scratch?

lots of love

they used to really like their work but they discovered something and whumper noticed and it's not going well for whumpee. working on applications they don't approve of, forced to work unreasonable hours, interviews with the media or investors where whumper made them a script and it's really just Not True. whumper getting irrationally angry about them not getting results (even tho that's not How Science Works.). constantly thanking their team and/or boss (whumper) for the opportunity and the support and everything.

oh also whumper threatening them with Bad Things if they don't get those Grants.

i've never thought of this before but i like it a lot.

where my mind immediately jumped to was whumper getting so frustrated with whumpee not producing the desired results that they start making whumpee part of the experiment.

"you're not trying hard enough, whumpee. you're not giving enough."

so whumper turns whumpee into their lab rat and human test subject, and suddenly they're making major developments. their findings could genuinely change the world.

and, of course, whumper wouldn't want to steal whumpee's spotlight. they let whumpee do all the interviews. watch whumpee stumble over the right words and try not to panic as the reporters ask "how did you figure this out?". laugh as whumpee runs out of generic answers and just starts lying to avoid revealing what's actually happening in the lab, because they're scared of what whumper will do to them if they talk.

(even moreso, they're scared of what science might do to other people if whumpee talks. because what's happening to them is inhumane, but also the benefits for everyone else... well, maybe they could sacrifice a few to help the many?)

whumper watching an interview or reading posts to whumpee. mocking. "you're so brave, aren't you. so strong"

yes yes yes yes yes. this is something i do so often with my celebrity ocs. there's so many ways to go about it, but my favourite is when the advocacy is very personal to whumpee, but it looks completely performative because it's not safe for them to admit they've been through what they're talking about. especially if the abuse situation is ongoing.

because whumpee is rich and famous, it seems really shallow to talk about this as if they can understand. because there's more than just empathy in the way they speak. it's like they have experience with it, but they don't. they can't. so people take it as whumpee speaking over "actual survivors" or downplaying what it's really like to live with trauma because "they played a character with PTSD in a movie and now they think they know what it's like??? what the fuck???"

and whumper's involvement oh my goddddd. letting whumpee go out there and make all these speeches and raise all this awareness to put an end to the horrific things they talk about, then laughing because when the cameras are turned off and whumpee and whumper are alone, it's clear whumpee's words are entirely empty.

"you're so brave in front of the cameras, telling people you want to help them. so brave, and so full of shit," whumper laughs. whumpee flinches. "go on, stand up to me like you stand up for them. put a stop to it."