#interview whump

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.

they're so desperate for someone to know and to care about them that they couldn't give less of a shit if that someone turned out to be everyone.

oh anon your MIND. not only has this trope been considered but it has now been devoured and set up permanent residency in my brain.

interviewer caretaker is not something i'd ever thought of before but now i am obsessed. there's so many possibilities. everything you said and more.

whumpee has gone into the situation nervous already because it's an interview. they're going to be asked questions and put under scrutiny, but even if it's well-meaning this is a problem because whumpee has something to hide. and, whether they meant to or not, caretaker has found this thing out.

the relationship between whumpee and caretaker is so interesting here as well. they're acquaintances, they've just met, or they've done interviews together before, or they're aware of each other's careers in some way but have never spoken. this kind of "i don't know you, but i know of you" dynamic that provides enough of a baseline impression for caretaker to realise that whumpee is not acting the way that they normally would, and maybe they need to go somewhere without a camera.

an idea i had with this was a whumpee who is in an ongoing, steadily-worsening abuse situation, and a caretaker who has interviewed whumpee multiple times throughout this. each time caretaker has noticed something is a little different about whumpee from the last time they spoke. but it's small enough that they shake off their concern as a figment of their imagination. until that one interview when things are wrong and caretaker realises that those small things they were noticing were actually signs of something much bigger.

and what really gets me with this is the bit about the interview *becoming* private. because in doing that, the problem becomes public. or at least, more than just caretaker are made aware that there's an issue. and people know that caretaker was in the room and will then be pushing them for details. and whumpee has to weigh up whether they can trust caretaker to keep silent with how long they can go before their body gives out on them and they have no choice but to let caretaker see it all anyway.

also what does whumpee do next when they've 'recovered' (at least from the scene that's just happened, not their full trauma). caretaker has just seen something incredibly private, they're connected to the press, and whumpee has no actual power to keep them quiet. my brain immediately takes me to whumpee trying to offer caretaker the position of being a new whumper to stop them saying anything.

"i'll do what you want, just please don't tell anyone."

and caretaker, of course, is horrified. they promise to stay quiet, and then that's that.

(for context: caretaker finds out about whumper during an interview with a famous whumpee. they can't tell anyone about it, but sometime down the line they end up interviewing whumper)

there's a couple of ways this could play out:

whumper doesn't know that caretaker knows.

there's thinly veiled venom in every question caretaker asks. they don't want to push too hard in case either of them end up saying something that breaks whumpee's privacy, but caretaker wants to make it clear to whumper that i do not like you and you will not get away with this forever.

it's subtle, but noticeable enough for whumper to pick up on it and realise that caretaker does know something. and the moment that thought clicks in whumper's brain, the room suddenly becomes a very dangerous place to be in.

the potential for blackmail here is excellent. caretaker could say something and ruin whumper's reputation, but equally whumper could get caretaker obliterated. whumper is the famous one with the money and the resources and the following. caretaker is just someone asking questions. who are the fans more likely to believe? and whumper is not above hurting people to keep them quiet, caretaker knows that.

in the end, the best caretaker can do is phrase their questions in a way that is going to get whumper to slip up. whumper doesn't have to make a big mistake. just a small error that the fans will read into wayyyy too far and then subsequently put the pieces together without caretaker or whumpee having to say a word.

2. whumper knows caretaker knows, and they're proud of it.

they're smug. they're sitting in the chair answering questions totally normally, meanwhile their eyes and smile are sending a message only caretaker can understand. "ask about them, i dare you."

maybe whumper references whumpee in their answers. talking about how close they are, their quirks, how fun they are to work with. "caretaker, you've met whumpee. you know exactly what i mean." and caretaker has to laugh along like this is fine because they can't get mad. not here. not in front of everyone.

and afterwards. does caretaker go to find whumper or does whumper find caretaker? either way, someone's getting punched, threatened, and potentially roped into the most awful situation of their lives. if whumper directly threatens caretaker, caretaker might have the courage to speak up about whumper and out whumpee's secret because it's not just whumpee's problem anymore. but whumper could just as easily threaten to hurt whumpee more, and caretaker can't let that happen, even if whumpee is still basically a stranger to them.