#ziptalks

i feel like an often overlooked downside to 10-episode seasons and the death of the "monster of the week" format is that we get way less whump variety nowadays. used to be that there'd be dozens of opportunities for your fave to get punched or kidnapped or hypnotized or what have you. these days if it doesn't fit into the main plot, it just doesn't happen. this is a tragedy. we should be protesting.

i see your "traumatized character finally getting a good night's sleep in their loved one's arms" and i raise you "traumatized character freaking the fuck out when they wake up in their loved one's arms because why are they restrained why is someone else in their bed where are they and now their loved one has to comfort them"

to this day i can't quite explain what it is about the kidnapping/long-term captivity trope that fascinates me. maybe it's just the microcosm of one person having nearly godlike power over your life and struggling to fight back against it, escape from it, and/or be rescued from it. something like that.

i really like the idea of two people meeting in captivity - filthy, hair overgrown, wearing whatever their captors have provided them - and then, long after the rescue, getting to meet again when they're all clean and groomed and both of them going, oh. so that's how you look normally.

whumpee who's defiant in a sniveling way. they cry, they scream, they curl into an unmoving ball whenever they're able. but when they're given a direct command? an opportunity for relief? they never, ever take it.

ethical vampire trapped in an abusive relationship with the human who's agreed to be their bloodbag. "you're a monster. no one else will ever love you. you need me to survive. i could just abandon you, i'm actually doing you a favor here."

okay so what you'll wanna do is, you're gonna wanna put your character through The Horrors. then, as long as everything goes according to plan, after that you're gonna hit 'em with The Agonies. and then, if they're still kickin' after that, you should for sure give 'em some Ailments. characters love havin' some Ailments.