Whumpee refers to the one who is injured. Although this term has been around since at least 1998, it has grown to the point that it is usually the term woobies when referring to the purpose of whump. A great question and a topic of much debate – one of the questions of the Whump Challenge (www.tumblr.com/search/whumpchallenge) was: «How would you explain Whump to someone who doesn`t know him?» Whump definitely looks like the usual genre/comfort of fanfiction, so similar in fact that many of us still aren`t 100% about the actual difference. It`s unclear when the first Whump blog appeared on Tumblr, but some of the first blogs surfaced in the 2010s. It is believed that the emergence of the Whump community on Tumblr was at least partly the result of the barred and bold controversies at LiveJournal in May and June 2007. This signaled a shift in LJ`s fandom to other social platforms. The term whump has become a term that encompasses wounded convenience; perhaps because of the way Tumblr`s tagging system handles slashes. While some communities and fandoms use whump as a synonym for injury/comfort, it is still recognized that whump refers to darker, more extreme scenarios. And there are still Whump Fics who have very little or no consolation at the end of the story. The term comes from fanfiction to describe stories in which characters are put in painful situations. Both mentally and physically. This can range from an occasional sickfic (a fanfic where a character is sick) to a literally tortured character. This falls into the / comfort category, but they are not exactly the same if you want to be technical.
When you look at fanfiction sites like fanfiction.net or archiveofourown.org, they have tags before their stories so readers know what they`re getting into. It`s the same idea as tumblr tags, warnings, descriptions, and often small parts of the author`s personality. Tags or description usually have [insert character name here]whump to indicate which character is whumped. The term is believed to have come from Fanfiction.net`s Stargate:SG-1 fandom, which claims to have coined the phrase «Danny Whumping». Danny Whumping was a «popular term for the practice of physically and psychologically abusing one`s favorite character in fanfiction and comforting him.» [1] Whump also moved on to the original characters. OC stories are much more popular on sites like tumblr than on a fanfiction site. I have OCs like June and Sky, but I mostly create invites, which basically consist of writing prompts that were only given to the Whump community. «The way I`ve always thought of this is that `Whump` is a cuter, trendier way to say `pain/comfort.`» Well, why people write and have fun, that`s a whole other Pandora`s box. If you try to explain this to someone who doesn`t like wimp, you`ll almost certainly look like a psychopath. If anyone is interested, I can do another article explaining why I personally think people like to write and read whump. In other cases, fandom-specific Whump tags may be used. Like in the Prodigal Son fandom, where their tags on AO3 and Tumblr are Malcolm Bright Whump or Malcolm Bright Needs A Hug.
«If you`re a Whumper, then you find it especially appealing when a hero (usually male) is in distress (usually physical), like wounded, sick, captured, etc. – basically anything that makes them vulnerable.» Stargate has a large contingent of m/c writers and a special category of Dannywhumpers. where it is a fandom-specific term for the practice of physically and psychologically abusing one`s favorite character in fanfiction and then offering him comfort. Daniel was the character that a lot of fans liked the most, which meant he was the one they hurt the most and then comforted by another character [one of the fan favorites was Jack O`Neill]. Danny Whumping was extremely popular, especially in genetic fiction. There is a Daniel Jackson Whumping Society and the Whumpalicious Archaeologist page[3] is dedicated to Danny Whumping`s fanfic and videos. For a list of Danny whumping recs, see lorien_79`s Daniel whump FF-List. [4] An important point, however, is that the Whump community may enjoy hurting characters, but there`s a huge line in the sand that we never cross. We would never, ever, hurt a real person. There`s a big difference between enjoying the hustle and bustle of characters and fantasizing about real people. No matter how much someone wants a fictional character to be real, we all know they`re not.
The Whump community can easily get a bad rap, but it`s important to just about everyone that people who don`t «understand» it at least understand that it`s all fiction. We are not psychopaths who want to harm real people, actors, writers or anything. This is extremely important. So the «official» definition comes with a bit of history. Prodigal Son: Malcolm whump by Tumblr user Freethebastard (2020) I recently came across the term «Whump» (I`ve read this kind of fics before, but apparently there`s a word for it!) and it`s basically a fanfic term used to refer to physical/mental/etc. To describe the abuse of a character that usually consists of three roles: the Whumpee, the Whumper and the janitor. The Whumpee serves as the abused character, the Whumpee is the one who commits the abuse and the janitor is the one who takes care of the Whumpee after the abuse. These roles can be merged and the guardian cannot exist at all. (Answer below if you want me to explain more details :)) Meanwhile, the term whumping has spread to several other fandoms that like to hurt their Woobies. «What I think falls under the notion of `whump` is; A character who is injured, even seriously injured.
Whump is basically focused on Whump and nothing else. Some fans also postulate that the term Whump is more likely to be used on certain platforms; namely Tumblr. With fans on LJ and fiction writers on Ao3 who often use the hurt convenience to label their works. It`s also more common in some fandoms. There is therefore no clearly defined difference between hump comfort and injured comfort. Instead, the term used to describe whumpy fiction may depend on the fandom fiction for which and/or the social media platform used by the fandom. [8] I hope some of this made sense and/or answered your question. Feel free to message me again if you still have questions or want me to make this post about why I think people write and whump appreciate. For me, it`s less about the pain and more about what happens next between the «Whumpee» and the janitor.
I like the warm, fuzzy sensations of stuffed animals that are evoked because it usually lacks a sexual element. Like, yes, there is love and maybe sexual attraction, but as the «Whumpee» is currently suffering, a sexual relationship takes a back seat, just for the sake of proximity/intimacy. The term whump (or whumping) usually refers to a form of pain/comfort that is severely injured and often found in genetic histories. The exact definition varies and has evolved over time. Essentially, Whump involves taking a canon character and putting them in physically painful or psychologically harmful scenarios. Often this character is a fan favorite and can sometimes be called Woobie. The term janitor is used to refer to the character who takes care of the whumpee when it is injured. [9] This appears to be a more recent term, with its first uses dating back to 2017. When I am asked if victims of violence are more on the job than the average person, I actually have no idea or enough information to take that view. Although, when I asked questions on another platform, many approached me and told me that their more specific preferences on whump reflected events that actually happened to them. Their experiences are not as bloody as some fictions, but essentially, they found it easier to relate to the character and even more satisfying to see how that character is treated after the abuse.