Hidden Injury dialogue that makes my heart just stop beating

• ‘Whose blood is that?’
• 'Do you know how pale you look right now?’
• 'You’re burning up’
• 'You’re sick’
• 'You can barely keep your eyes open.. When was the last time you slept?’
• 'Take off your shirt. Don’t give me that look’
• 'What was that? You winced.’
• 'You’ve got to do better than that if you want to fool me’
• 'Walk then. Come on, walk towards me. I bet you can’t even take a step’
• 'You’re hurt’
• 'I know you’re hurt. And I’m tired of waiting for you to bring it up’
• 'You can trust me’ (Whumpee denies it) *Caretaker gives them a pat and leaves. The first aid kit sits in their place
• 'I knew it, you’re sick.’ 'Go away’
• 'I’m fine’
• 'Don’t give me that bullshit’
• 'We need to get you to a medic NOW’
• 'I just need to rest’
• Caretaker desperately shaking whumpee awake, calling their name over and over
• 'How could you let it get this bad?’
• 'I’m no use to you, injured’ 'You’re even less use if you’re dead’

EDIT: PLEASE TAG @whumpyourenemy IN YOUR WRITINGS IF YOU USE ANY OF THESE! I’D LOVE TO READ YOUR WORK

Hoist the sails! It’s the Seasickness Trope, me hearties

• The walkway on the water giving way as whumpee steps off of land, causing their knees to buckle slightly before they quickly correct themselves
• Always being near the edge of the ship and keeping a firm grip on the railing
• When whumpee has never been on water before but they lie when asked
• Their pale face speckled with cold sweat
• Dry, cracked lips
• Gulping constantly, even hiccupping a bit when they speak to another character and pounding on their chest to try to get rid of that sickfeeling
• The constant sway and creak of the boards beneath them, they cannot stand still without feeling lightheaded and dizzy
• Walking or stumbling at a diagonal while the world spins around them
• A headache forming, a bad one, with high pitched ringing
• The contents of their stomach rising with a sudden heave
• Sneaking away from the rest of the crew to rush to the toilet
• Reaching for the edge of the seat and vomiting into it
• It’s a lot and they cough miserably at the end before they let themselves fall back and lean against the wall gasping
• But the ground beneath them won’t stop moving, their head is pounding heavier with every throb
• Yet they drag themselves up, afraid of what the captain will say if they are missing from their post but when they stand, the vomit rises again and they collapse back down to throw up
• ^THIS CYCLE OF COLLAPSING AND TRYING TO GET BACK UP
• The captain finding whumpee as a pale, sweaty mess on the floor and instead of being unkind they place whumpee’s arm around their shoulders and help them up
• [Pirate ship with a found family vibe] The rest of the crew helping to make a brew that will cure whumpee’s seasickness and being so relieved to watch the colour return to their previously pale, sickly face

Dare I say

The only thing better than hurting a character so badly they faint, is waiting till they recover and enter confrontation (albeit bandaged, braced with a residual limp or stagger) before WHUMPING THEM AGAIN. IN THE SAME SPOT! LEAVING THEM MORE INJURED THEN THEY WERE BEFORE

And it’s not an argument without evidence:

• The flash of white bandages around a character’s abdomen that peek out from inside torn clothing and the scarlet blood that blooms through their bandages as a sharp object is brutally stabbed into them. Their weapon clatters onto the ground before they collapse beside it, writhing and screaming in agony.
• A character on crutches being pushed down stairs. The nauseating feeling of their injured leg crumpling under them as they fall, unable to do anything. The loud crash at the bottom, followed by heavy silence filled with the feeling of being so broken.
• After spending days in bed, restless with intense fever, a character’s fever finally breaks. They start to eat again and move around, slowly regaining their strength. But it’s not fast enough; too soon, the character is forced to traverse an extremely harsh environment on little rest. Eventually, they’re overcome by intense hot and cold flashes and blurring vision as they collapse to the ground, convulsing.

Little things in the hidden injury trope that give me life more than water does

• Tying something between their teeth to stop their cries from being heard while they treat themselves in the dark
• Bloodied bandages stuffed into the gap between the wall and the bed
• Whumpee wearing long sleeves/pants but their bandages still finding a way to peek out
• Blood running down their limb from inside their clothes and dripping onto the ground
• Bloody footprints
• Bloody handprints
• Faint bloodstains on the floor that whumpee can’t get off no matter how hard they scrub
• Whumpee limping as soon as the other person turns their back
• Dark undereyes from obv no sleep
• Those sexy beads of sweat and pale skin
• Leaning against wall/ furniture whenever they get the chance
• When a normally talkative character is quiet
• Controlling their breath while they try to complete normal tasks but then doubling over and gasping for air behind closed doors
• When they peel back the bandages to check their injury and it’s gotten worse
• Whumpee trying to bring it up with someone but then deciding against it when the other person starts talking about future plans
• Someone in the team feeling like there’s something wrong with whumpee but not knowing what so they don’t bring it up and then the GUILTthey feel afterwards holy
• Whumpee FINALLY fainting - behind closed doors and being found by someone later or just dropping to the ground while they’re with someone else
• I mean just imagine character A talking and thinking whumpee is beside them and whumpee just drops out of frame with a sigh and a thud
• Whumpee trying to tell the others that they’re fine and that they can handle it while they’re literally bleeding out on the ground
• Bonus! The scene afterwards when whumpee wakes up and their wounds are bound in those crisp white bandages instead of the bloodied, dirtied torn pieces of clothing they’d used before

NOTE: I’D LOVE TO BE TAGGED IF YOU WRITE OR CREATE ANYTHING INSPIRED BY THIS LIST

Tough love caretaker dialogue

• Don’t even think about trying to get up
• Why do you always insist you’ve got it covered when you so clearly don’t?
• Get your head out of your ass. You’re not strong enough to save us all on your own
• And where did that get you?
• I was going to have you punished for disobeying me but looks like they got to you first
• You were stupid enough to get hurt in the first place so you’re damn well not allowed to pass out now
• Quit your whining or I’ll shove the blade in further
• (yelling) Afraid I’d yell at you? Your punk-ass would rather die than get yelled at?
• Hey actually I do want your opinion on one thing- does it hurt more getting the blade shoved in (pulls blade out much to the painful surprise of whumpee) or out?
• (Upon seeing whumpee’s bandages drenched in blood) *Sighs. This wound is almost as stubborn as you are.
• You have to eat. Don’t make me beg you.
• Never show up in front of me like this again.

Scars. Just a post on scars.

• Little white scars. Ones that accumulate on the hands and forearms from a lifetime of sparring.
• Giant, jagged scars. They’re breathtaking if they cross the face or go through an eye, leaving permanent damage to sight or the movement of facial muscles. Or even on the leg, giving them a limp. Strong characters who are proud of their scars. But I melt at the mention of these scars being hidden by a character who is ashamed of them. A large scar that constantly hurts them and people they’ve known for years who have no clue of trauma that they carry.
• Angry red scars. Well, glorified cuts that won’t heal. I’d give this to a character who’s always getting a blade shoved beneath their jaw and refuses to get it looked at because ‘the other bastard was just trying to send a message’. Also to characters who are still inexperienced at combat and always get run across with the end of a blade. Blood wells up beneath the surface but the cut isn’t deep enough to break skin.
• Surgical scars. Typically quite neat and discrete so are a good segue to a backstory of traumatic injury. Most noticeable (and badass) on the scalp as the white, hairless scar stands out from darker hair. These are so good for giving backstory for frequent serious headaches or migraines and even for slightly odd whumpy behaviour such as fainting, feeling dizzy, nausea, memory loss, drowsiness, spacing out, mood swings, changes to personality
• Branding scars. Very few things are more traumatising to me in whump fics than branding and branding scars. The dehumanisation, the shame and the excruciating pain of the burning metal itself. And the symbol being a constant reminder of it all? It’s serotonin in the most sadistic way. But I’m all about putting a character through the worst of times then splurging on the comfort chapter before repeating it over again.
• Emotional scars. I know everyone has these, okay, I know. But a whumpee who needs a LOT of convincing that they are safe with caretaker to even talk about the smallest details about themselves is peak character design. I don’t make the rules.

I dare you to write your favourite oddly specific whump tropes

These are mine:

• Hidden injury
• A stubborn whumpee and a caretaker who’s angry at them for constantly risking their life
• Exhausted due to excessive use of magic (and fainting afterward)
• Trying to get up, then being immediately hit by dizziness and collapsing
• Limping or staggering (this ain’t even a trope but I’m obsessed with how whumpees are depicted as so vulnerable when they can barely keep themselves upright)

Tag a friend or five so they can add theirs!

Some accounts I absolutely adore and would love to hear from (hope you don’t mind):

@teheranb@the-baby-storyteller@silverthedreamergirl@secretlysheikah@s1utspeare@itsleighlove@misselko

Enemies to Lovers dialogues that are pure tension

• ‘We all have our vices. You’re mine’
• [While pointing two fingers] 'Bang’
• 'Have you ever considered that you’re just lucky?’
• 'Does it hurt? Just kidding, I don’t care’
• 'Skip the speech, Churchill. Just shoot me’
• 'I know you, better than anyone else.’
• 'Help yourself’
• 'Who are you without me? You’re nobody.’
• 'Princess, I could do this all day’
• 'Get up. Fight me the way I deserve’
• 'What do you want from me?’
• 'Oh you thought you could go die by someone else’s hand and I wouldn’t know? Well darling, you’ll die when I decide’
• 'Who gave you those bruises? Only a coward would hit like that’
• 'You’re distracted. Go pick a fight with the person you really have a problem with. I’m not your punching bag’
• 'How can I show you that I’m being serious?’
• 'I had nowhere else to go’
• 'Why are you helping me?’/'Shut up. I’m already regretting this’
• 'You’re not the only one that’s allowed to change’
• 'I thought you had no weaknesses’/ 'I’ve recently developed one inconvenient one’
• 'You’re a fool’
• 'I haven’t stopped thinking about you’

Dialogue that hurts and comforts

I love seeing dialogue that can be used in different ways. It’s so cool when it’s repeated, now with new meaning. As a reader, I feel a bit smart.

LIST

‘Get away from me’

• A yells, trying desperately to kick their attacker off of them.
• A cries, chest heaving as sobs wrack their bound body. 'I’m dangerous’

'Watch your step’

• B yanks A back by the arm, their foot about to cross into a place of danger
• Villain smirks as Hero stands on the other side of the room, traps separating them.

'Careful’

• As a threat. 'Watch your words or I’ll nail your tongue to the door’
• As concern. 'You’re still injured. If you must go then use me as a crutch’

'Get up’

• Villain challenges Hero who is gasping for air on the ground. 'I want a real fight’
• Caretaker crying over whumpee’s unresponsive form. 'Please get up’

'Can you hear me?’

• Communications crackle as Hero tries to radio into HQ
• Whumpee is fading and can hear Caretaker’s voice as if it is in the distance. Despite Caretaker shaking them, their eyes close and their body becomes limp.

'Here, let me’

• A is struggling to complete a task. Impatiently, B takes over.
• Whumpee tries to stitch up a wound themselves but their hands shake in fear and pain. Caretaker gently takes the needle and thread from their hands and hands them a bottle of alcohol instead.

'I can’t’

• Hero drops the dagger, shaking. 'I can’t. I can’t kill you’. Villain, tied up, huffs and retorts 'So what are you good for?’
• Tears run down caretaker’s face. 'I can’t leave you’. Whumpee smiles despite the pain and reaches up to cup Caretaker’s face, wiping their tears gently with their thumb.

'Where have you been hiding?’

• Whumper’s sinister call echoes as they search the woods near their property. With those wounds, whumpee couldn’t have gone far.
• A strokes hair out of B’s face as they lay beside each other. 'Where have you been hiding my whole life?’ they say softly.

AS ALWAYS, TAG ME @whumpyourenemy IN YOUR HURT/COMFORT WORKS IF YOU USE MY PROMPTS OR TAKE INSPIRATION. I’D LOVE TO READ AND SUPPORT!

I didn’t know this whump was a comedy

Classy (although cliche to most) examples of whump in comedies. I love them so much that even though the whump is minor it ends up being the most memorable part for me.

By trope:

Drunken misadventures

• Getting injured while incredibly drunk and not even knowing it. Then, upon waking the next morning, realising that something really hurts and it’s not just their hangover. Cue the awkward small talk about their heavily bandaged limb where someone asks about how it happened and they panic and come up with a crazy story that makes them sound like a hero
• Getting absolutely hammered and taking a stranger home. Yet the next morning, the stranger wakes up injured and blames them for it.

Reunited (and it does not feel good)

• Meeting a stranger while they’re both in sick bay (or urgent care). Bonus point if protagonist ended up there doing something embarrassing. They tell the stranger all about their embarrassing tale, since of course they’re never going to meet again. Cut to running into them later in life and they teasingly address protagonist by their injury (or a detail from their embarrassing moment).
• Protagonist gets into a heated argument with a stranger (be it road rage, they’re taking too long at the coffee shop), yet later they’re injured and find out that the stranger is their doctor
• Leaving after an argument only to get injured outside and then having to swallow their pride and call the other person to come get them

Impromptu mentor

• Professional (Athlete/ dancer/ musician..) gets injured before a big competition and ends up having to mentor their replacement

It hurts on rainy days

• Jokingly showing someone how their joint makes a fun clicking sound but the other person grabs them and tests it out. They cry out in pain, scolding the other person for twisting so hard but the other person just goes. ‘It’s broken’
• Trying to reason with others as their limb is being bandaged and casted and they’re told not to use it weeks. The dialogue is so chaotic - 'I’m fine’, 'It doesn’t even hurt’, 'Guys, come on, you’re joking right’, 'This is ridiculous’, 'I’m never telling you anything again’

Fool behaviour

• Any instance of dumb protagonist accidentally ramming into another person - be it a door, hitting them with their car, skating straight towards them while not knowing how to stop or steer away
• A clumsy protagonist that slips and panics, instinctively grabbing onto another person’s shirt. The shirt rips, causing the person to fall and blackout anyway

Good taste

• Character wears things for the sake of fashion rather than practicality:
• Thin clothing - they start sneezing and feeling feverish
• Tall heels - arguing with others that the heels are actually very comfortable despite how they look, then falling almost immediately and twisting their ankle
• Shoes with no grip - causing them to slip and fall hard on their bottom
• BONUS - if another character tries to help them but falls in the process too

Dialogue parallels *squeals in good character development

‘I don’t need anyone’

'I need you’

'Get out of my sight’

'Stay’

'I am never wrong about this’

'I was wrong. I was so wrong.’

'People like us don’t have the luxury of caring for others’

'Get behind me’

'I couldn’t care less how you spend your time’

'Where are you?’

'If you’re too slow, I’ll leave you behind’

'Get on my back, we’ve got to get you to a medic’

'You will never be one of us’

'On this oath, I pledge my loyalty to you; my leader (my love)’