A Bit of Silliness, Because I'm Bored

[kriadydragon]

Top Eleven ways to Annoy a Whumper

1. Best whump evah! And the OC took it. :(....
2. Magical/technology induced torture that the moment it ends, the character is perfectly fine. No injuries, no psychological trauma, no internal damage from stress. Wow, it's like the whump never even happened! ^^;
3. Magical/technology induced super fast healing. Wow. It's like the whump never even happened - -;
4. Okay, here comes the hurt the author's been building up to for several chapters now...! No, wait, here comes rescue instead. :S
5. What do you mean it was all a dream?
6. My favorite character fought hordes of bad guys and all he got was a lousy twisted ankle.
7. Two months later...
8. He was bruised, bleeding, half-drowned, stabbed, his fingers were hanging on by a thread, his eye was missing, he was hungry, and thirsty, but he was upright and otherwise seemed fine **;
9. Apparently, it only takes about a week to two weeks to completely recover from everything.
10. Stabbed, whipped, shot at, dunked in a filthy river but it's the other character dying from infection because he got a paper cut ;P
11. Yeeeaaah, you do remember he's suffering from blood loss, spinal trauma and a missing leg so should he really be up and running around like that only a day later?

Comments

[angelwings9.livejournal.com]

funny!! :)

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

:D

(Your icon makes me smile. I miss SGA!!!!!)

[novembersga.livejournal.com]

I miss SGA

Ditto...big time!

[radioshack84.livejournal.com]

Haha! I love it! (And unfortunately I think I've experienced every one of these.) Magic and technology are great, but I always cringe when I encounter a perfectly-whumpable vampire or a character like Nathan in Haven because I know the good whump is going to be seriously lacking. *sigh* Ah, the rough life of a whumper. ;)

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

but I always cringe when I encounter a perfectly-whumpable vampire or a character like Nathan in Haven because I know the good whump is going to be seriously lacking.

Oh my word yes! So much wasted whumping material! I'm into Merlin right now, which has magic, and authors are always having Merlin heal himself with magic. Even though it's canon that he's terrible at healing with magic!

[novembersga.livejournal.com]

Yes. Sadly I can relate to each and every one of these. Ahhhhh! So much opportunity just gone.......... :p

Character is beaten nearly to death, shot, both legs broken and 'literally' in the next sentence is running down the hall judo-flipping the bad guy with not a mark on him - not even bruises. Not even a little heroic staggering?

Oh well.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

I've said it before but I'll say it again that I think SGA has spoiled us in terms of awesome whumpage. The fandom I'm into now is just killing me, because I've hit this sort of whumping void - especially where my favorite character is concerned - and it's driving me crazy. He either doesn't get whumped or if he does it isn't anything serious or he's "magically healed."

[imbecamiel.livejournal.com]

LOL! Oh yes. SO much yes.

I tend to find it especially stark - and annoying - when a story does appear to be setting everything up for a certain angsty scenario, everything's building up, it's so dramatic and perfect and... then nothing happens. Rescue's here, never mind, the end, fooled ya! And I mean, really. Yes, some uncertainty over whether a dramatic threat will actually be carried through is a natural and good part of stories. (After all, I don't actually want my favorite heroes getting killed, however likely that outcome may appear.) But it just gets so blatantly anticlimactic and rushed sometimes that my reaction to the cavalry arriving is "Um... yay? I guess? You guys could've really stopped for coffee on the way, though. I mean, great dedication and all, but you're a bit ahead of schedule. Don't you know that you're supposed to show up at the Last Possible Second?" XD

That, and the awesome, dramatic whump scenario going to the OC. Even worse, the ridiculous Mary Sue love interest OC. Oh yes, the hero you love may seem to be gravely wounded in the start - but all that immediately ceases to be a concern when The Lady Is In Distress! And then the rest of the story's about how wonderful and mistreated the poor, beautiful, spunky little thing is... when I could not possibly care less, and am actively cheering for her to die. Because then at least the DRAAAMA could move over to camaraderie between the actual canon characters comforting the hero over the loss of the Love Of His Life. Even if she was stupid and annoying. /disgruntled

ETA: Forgot to add that I HATE the "Oh, but it was just magic/sciency stuff, and now that it's over he's totally 100% again instantly!" scenarios with a passion. I tend to truly loathe dream/hallucination scenarios for the same reason. It just... doesn't matter, in the end. My favorite parts of stories tend to be the character's friends finding out, being righteously angry at the bad guys, and the proceeding to the wonderful "c" side of the h/c. But if it's a dream, or something similar, all that's just... poof. It's all over now, doesn't matter, and even if they find out there's generally no real, satisfying comfort to be had because it's kind of like, "Oh. You had a bad dream? I'm... sorry?" But in the end it's kind of... all in the character's head, really, and not a big deal unless you want to turn it into a bigger psychological issue like PTSD or something. And stories with primarily psychological, with little to no physical, problems to heal from tend to be... pretty hit-or-miss for me.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

"Um... yay? I guess? You guys could've really stopped for coffee on the way, though. I mean, great dedication and all, but you're a bit ahead of schedule. Don't you know that you're supposed to show up at the Last Possible Second?" XD

Hee-hee! So true :D There's a story I'm reading that keeps doing just what you mentioned. Just when I thought the hero was about to get whumped, nothing happened because he was saved at the last minute, and the story keeps doing this! Every time I think there's going to be some yummy whump, it never happens, but what's worse is that the scenarios were perfect for some great whump and I'm left wondering "why did the author even bother with them?"

And I know people have all these theories about why no one likes Mary Sues but I stand firmly by the belief that it's simply a matter of OCs getting in the way of the canon characters; that people read for the canon characters, not for the OC. I've read stories with Mary Sues and Gary Stus and they were both irritating, most especially when they kept taking all the "good" stuff from the canon characters.

I think another I forgot to mention but it a major pet peeve of mine is when you're lead to believe that the one being whumped is your favorite character, only for them to turn out to... not be you favorite character. I've complained about this before and how horribly jarring it is. Jarring and so monumentally disappointing you have to read twenty non-misleading whump fic just to make up for it :/

[karri-kln1671.livejournal.com]

I've read stories with Mary Sues and Gary Stus and they were both irritating, most especially when they kept taking all the "good" stuff from the canon characters.

I think that's the very definition of a Mary Sue/Gary Stu. If they're not taking all the good stuff from the canon characters, then they're just an OC instead of a Mary Sue/Gary Stu.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Yeah but some feel it's a matter of OCs being hated on because they're female, since most Sues are female and Marty Stus tend to be rather rare. But I think it's just a matter of "wrong place, wrong time" - that is, because Mary Sues are the ones who are most prevalent it comes across as Sues being hated on simply because they're female (and that's not to say that isn't always the case, but I think the majority of the time it's mostly a matter of an OC - male or female - getting in the way, no matter the gender).

[semirose.livejournal.com]

I think another I forgot to mention but it a major pet peeve of mine is when you're lead to believe that the one being whumped is your favorite character, only for them to turn out to... not be you favorite character. I've complained about this before and how horribly jarring it is. Jarring and so monumentally disappointing you have to read twenty non-misleading whump fic just to make up for it :/

ohmigosh this forever. I will honestly skip ahead and skim to see who the whumpee is when it's ambiguous since that disappointment is awful and there's all that time wasted.

(sorry for stranger butting in, loved the list! everything is so true!)

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

I will honestly skip ahead and skim to see who the whumpee is when it's ambiguous since that disappointment is awful and there's all that time wasted.

Yes! Oh my word, I hate it when I end up wasting so much time on a story that pretty much ends up shafting you for the sake of a twist. These days - unless I know the author well - I'll usually wait until a story is finished and, yes, skip ahead to the end. In part because most stories don't get finished but also in part because what it says on the tin isn't necessarily what you're going to get.

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

((((NODS)))))
sadly all true................
but your presentation is a hoot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>;-)

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Thank you :D

[sgafan.livejournal.com]

*giggle snort* though I am guilty of one of those 11 things... ha! ;) *cringes* It was in my earlier writing days.. honest! :P

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Heh, I think it's safe to say we've all been guilty of at least one of the above. I know I have been ;)

[sgafan.livejournal.com]

LOL yes! but its still funny, and interesting to notice the ones that each of us are "meh" about and the ones that really make us cringe... and how that's different from person to person. :)