#(except bailey. that one was actually originally intended. a lot. it grew but still)

[wolfeyedwitch]

13?

13. Have you ever felt insecure because you enjoy whump? How did you overcome that insecurity?

I actually haven't dealt with any insecurity in.... actually, I'ma take that back and give some background first.

I got to whump from fanfiction from hurt/comfort. I noticed that a lot of the fics I read on Ao3 that had fantastic hurt/comfort were tagged as "(fandom character) whump", and from there I looked up what that was. And then I was hooked. I started with fandom stuff, with whump and hurt/comfort being major tags I searched through in my fandom of choice at the moment.

Then it came to Whumptober 2021. I was originally going to write in a fandom, but it just wasn't coming together. I had started looking at some whump tags and writing prompts on tumblr and seeing a lot of hero/villain stuff that I enjoyed, so I got the idea that I could just... make it original characters rather than a fandom. Nothing in the rules said it had to be fanfic.

I had a fantastic response to my writing and ended up reading a ton of original whump works that October, and I've been here ever since.

As to the insecurity? Yes... somewhat. I started with what I'd call chai spice vanilla latte style whump: not vanilla per se, but definitely not hard core. No gore, no nsfwhump, no bad endings. And having a lot of other people enjoying the fanfics I was reading with the "whump the cinnamon roll" trope really took away any strong feelings of insecurity there.

The insecurity came up when I started writing original works and projecting onto my characters. That gave me some pause. I actually ended up talking with my therapist about it, and she basically said, "Hey, wonderful coping mechanism! I'm happy for you!"

Because I could give these characters the kind of devoted, attentive caretakers that I wish I had. I gave these characters my problems, and people noticed that they were problems. The emotional hurt was validated in these stories. The things that are too often overlooked or glossed over IRL were examined in depth and given weight that I wish my problems were given.

And even though I prefer happy endings in my writing, that's not to say that sad/bad/unhappy endings aren't their own form of catharsis! You don't need to justify your enjoyment to anyone. So go forth and enjoy, whump enthusiasts!