His Wings Are Clipped, Hisfeet Are Tied...

his wings are clipped, his feet are tied...

i was kindly given permission to write Déomas Overbridge, my absolutely beloved whumpee of @much-ado-about-whumping (go read this masterlist of his excellent story)! thank you so much, friend! ❤️❤️❤️

(also, i have combined the prompts for the second and fifth day of this challenge for this fic!)

@whumptober day 2 / day 5 • nowhere to run / every whumpee’s needs • caged / running out of air

CW: EXPLICIT NONCON, captivity, intimate whumper, asphyxiation, threats of noncon body modification, claustrophobia, starvation mention, body image mention, choking, biting, dissociation, animal death mention (just being real generous with the tags y’all)

title insp. by maya angelou’s poem “caged bird”.

~

Déomas hasn’t felt this trapped in a while, even imprisoned as he is, because there is no struggle he can make, none at all, against this…this new brand of restraint, hutched within his own goddamn ribs. 

Keep reading

words to use in whump scenes (other than agony)

Blunt force

Ache

Throb

Dull

Pulse

Clench

Gasp

Crack

Beat

Slam

Crunch

Numb

Stabbing

Slice

Burn

Fire

Tear

Twist

Pry

Rip

Recoil

Cradle

Ooze

Pour

Gush

Shudder

Shaky

Gunshot

Crack

Pulse

Burrow

Blinding

Dull

Throb

Stretch

Spread

Cramp

Coil

Numb

Ache

Whipping

Slice

Crack

Tear

Rip

White-hot

Numb

Shock

Burn

Tazing

Shock

Burn

Fire

Jolt

Cramp

Paralyze

Tremble

Gasp

Douse

Stutter

Blinding

Broken/dislocated bones

Crunch

Crack

Slide

Tense

Freeze

Numb

Shock

Pull/push

Throb

Pulse

Spike

Whump fun fact!

(Again, from experience. Will differ for each person. Not a medical professional)

Scar tissue will HURT even after everything appears fully healed. Especially if the wound was deep. Even if the scar doesn’t inhibit mobility, gentle pressure or movement will make it ache. This can last from a few weeks, to years (I know some people who’s scars haven’t stopped aching decades after the incident) it could be lifelong depending on the injury (this only concerns physical pains not the added mental baggage)

So when writing characters in their recovery arc, even years down the line. Their scars may still pain them (they will never be the same as they were before, even fully healed. ‘Ownership’ fans, run with this as you like)

So, keys pressing into the hips and thighs when going about on errands (like house keys in the front pocket). Backpacks/satchels/bags pressing on shoulders. Belts or other restrictive types of clothing. (I have a friend that gets violently nauseous when even lightly brushing a patch of scar tissue)

The (physical) pain will last for years. Even after everything is healed. Nothing can really be done for it. Even if there is no damage to muscles or anything serious, just skin-damage; it is likely to prevent your character from moving properly, especially if the area covered is extensive (ie whip/lashes accros the back)

Another area for concern is joints, or areas where the skin moves a lot. So: knees, elbows, hips, shoulders, (ankles sometimes but that’s usually due to ligament damage) and definitely hands. Scar tissue lacks the elasticity of normal skin. So bending a joint against the scar tissue will make it ache (or make the skin feel tight and raw, depending on how fresh it is).

Pressure on scar tissue can also affect sleeping. Obviously, side sleepers will have trouble with pressure on their hip, thigh, ribs and shoulder. Back sleepers: back, butt, heels. Front sleepers: chest, shoulders, neck, front of pelvis)

That’s all I can think of for now, hope this helps! Happy hurting!

Not sure if this is necessarily the best source to ask, but after seeing your post on handcuffs: Of the restraints you've researched/tried out, which is the most effective at keeping someone immobile? Moreover, without causing serious damage? I imagine metal cuffs would be more injurious than rope, plastic ties or tape, but that might not always be true.

Well it depends partly on how ‘immobile’ you mean. Keeping someonecompletely still is pretty bad for their health in and of itself.

I also feel like I should include a general reminder that this iswriting advice. If I say something could be dangerous please don’t try it outon yourself or someone else.

I tend to approach restraints in terms of them all having differentrisks associated with them. Metal isn’t inherently more dangerous than plastic,it’s about how the restraint is constructed and what it’s used for.

And for obvious reasons I tend to know more about the ways modernrestraints are abused and misused than I do about the risks when something isused properly.

Plastic ties tighten easily. They can cut off circulation and that canfeed into tortures similar to finger-milking (hitting painful swellings in thehands caused by limiting circulation). They can also cause nerve damage bydigging into flesh for long periods, especially when they’re used in suspensiontortures and stress positions.

Rope can do exactly the same thing. But it tends to have more ‘give’ toit and it takes quite a bit more physical effort to cut off circulation withrope than with a plastic tie. It’s used less often nowadays so I’m actually notsure how likely nerve damage is with rope.

Metal restraints are more likely to cause broken bones. But I’ve hadmuch less problems with metal restraints cutting off circulation or causing generalpain. So long as they actually fit I’ve found them more comfortable.

I used to wear a pair of darby-style handcuffs as a bracelet. They’re heavy and that can make themuncomfortable in the long term (hours) but they’ve never left lasting welts theway plastic ties have or a numb tingling sensation the way rope has.

Generally speaking keeping people restrained in the longer term,anything over a handful of hours, is bad for their health in a variety of ways.

Being kept in an uncomfortable position where muscles are strained iswell- basically a stress position. It’s intensely painful and causes massivemuscle damage. The fluid release caused by the die off of muscle cells usuallyresults in visible swelling in the first 24 hours. After 48 hours it can leadto kidney failure.

Most long term restraint tortures allow a degree of movement becauseotherwise victims die.

Being kept immobile in a position where the muscles aren’t strained also kills. But it kills more slowly.

This bit is getting outside my area and into @scriptmedic’s so I’dsuggest consulting her for more detail. I’m thinking about bedsores (orpressure ulcers if you prefer), which develop when people don’t move much forlong periods. There are several different categories based on the severity,ranging from a sort of spongy blister to a deep open wound that reaches themuscle or bone.

Historically these meant a severely reduced life expectancy forparalysed people: medics literally didn’t realise they needed to be moved. Aquick search on bedsores came up with not only direct infection and sepsis, butinfections that spread into the bones and joints and a form of cancer ascomplications that could be lethal.

Which brings me to suggestions:

I’d say tailor the restraints in your story to what you want from thestory. The main questions to consider are how immobile the character needs tobe and for how long.

If keeping the character completely immobile is important then I thinkthe ‘safest’ option is probably a medical bed with 6 or 8 point restraints. Thisis a wheeled bed with tough fabric straps which secure someone in place. They’redesigned to reduce discomfort and the chance of injury and they keep peoplevery still.

There are also good reasons they’re used as a last resort.

Patients can experience friction burns, dislocated bones and broken bonesstruggling against either the application of restraints or the restraintsthemselves. Therehave also been cases of death in relatively short period of time from heartattacks. Keeping patients in such restraints for prolonged periods is notonly dehumanising but damaging to both their physical and mental health.

I don’t have exact time-frames for this. I’m aware that there have beencases of patients restrained in this fashion for a horrifically long period oftime who survived. But realistically…the kind of time frame these restraints aretypically used for is in the realm of hours not days.

If complete immobility is less important to the story but longer timeperiods are important I’d suggest using the sorts of restraints currentlycommon in China for restraint torture.

These are metal ratchetting cuff restraints with a chain between the cuffedhands and the legs. They allow the victim considerably more movement, they canwalk (but not run), handle objects and for the most part take care ofthemselves. They can’t straighten their back, the restraints keep them in anuncomfortable hunched position which causes general pain and discomfort.

But the degree of mobility and ability to relieve strained muscles meansthat unlike a stress position it doesn’t tend to kill.

Victimshave been kept like this for months at a time.

There are long term complications but less risk of sudden death. Longterm complications include chronic pain, weakened muscles, joint and muscularproblems, mobility problems and reduced fine motor control (in some cases dueto nerve damage in the hands caused by prolonged use of restraints.) These areproblems I’d expect to see after a month or more of constant use of these torturousrestraints.

Obviouslyvictims would also be affected by the general symptoms of torture.

Generally speaking there are also some things I’d advise avoiding inyour story if you don’t want the character to be injured.

Any restraint around the neck isdangerous.

Anything that tightens easily isdangerous; plasticties fall into this category and I’d suggest avoiding them in fiction andreality. Whether ropes fall into this category or not depends on the type ofknot.

Anything with a sharp edge isdangerous; metalcuffs can fall into this category but don’t always. Their edges can be rounded.Plastic ties almost always fall into this category.

A hangman’s knot is dangerous whatever part of the body it’sapplied too. It was designed to kill and unless you want the character dead orseriously injured it’s an unrealistic thing to use. If you’re interested in arealistic portrayal of injury from these knots and over 18 Sunstone by SSejic contains a pretty powerful scene of a serious injury in the BDSMcommunity.

I hope that helps. :)

Disclaimer

Here's some uhhh "fun?" info about how deeper wounds work (unfortunately based on experience bc I am so clumsy lol) for your whump writing knowledge.

TW: mention of wounds, stitches, somewhat detailed description of stitching procedure, scars

So when you get a deep cut that goes past the surface of the skin (ie. needing stitches) there are a few things that need to happen to help it heal correctly and without infection. Depending on what caused the laceration, you may need a tetanus shot if it was some sort of metal (even if it wasn't rusty metal, this is usually done to play it safe). Then, they'll have to numb the area, and let me tell you -NOT FUN. Remember that open wound? Yeah, they inject the local anesthetic directly into the wound. IN to it- not near it. So that's really not fun, and it's even worse if you're able to watch it happen because the area swells up from the medication. So very unpleasant. From there, honestly the worst part is usually over. The stitching itself is scary to watch (caretaker said not to look for a reason!), but the most that's usually felt is some pressure from the needle- IF it is numbed completely.

What's worse though- is if you DON'T get stitches when you need them. So after a deep laceration, there is generally a 24 hour window (maximum) to get it stitched. Usually it's ideal to be done within 4-6 hours of the injury. If this doesn't happen, the wound cannot be stitched because the body has already started healing the wound as it currently is, and won't be able to heal back together and close. So this means: much longer healing process (sometimes can be a month or more depending on the laceration), the wound should stay covered with gauze for most of the beginning of healing to prevent infection which is a bigger risk with an open wound. This will additionally create a different looking scar than a wound that was stitched. They can look similar, but are obviously wider and flatter than a stitched wound which can heal with a raised and much thinner scar. Sometimes you can also see scarring from where the stitches were too! I think that's kind of cool, though.

This is just what I remember from the situation and doctors, I am not a professional.

Have fun patching up your whumpees! Or ya know.. Not

Let's talk road-rash:

Road rash is painful and dangerous. Crashing at high speeds with little protection can cause light scratching, exposed muscle/bone, and even shave bone down. It can also destroy nerves surrounding the injury, and create deep scars.

Whumpee jumping out of a moving car to get away from Whumper

Whumper pushing whumpee out of a moving van while they're restrained

Whumpee fleeing on a motorcycle and crashing it

Whumper tying whumpee to the car and dragging them around

Caretaker cleaning asphalt, sand, rocks, from Whumpees wounds

Whumpee having to walk with bleeding cuts, trying to hitchhike/find caretaker