whump

plural whumps

1. countableinformalA soft thumping sound.
2. slanguncountablelifestyleA genre of fan fiction in which a character endures injury, torture, or other forms of physical and mental suffering.

   By embracing dark genres of slash such as ‘squick’ and ‘whump’, the art of mythagowood purposely skirts parameters of taste and acceptability.

   2014, Joseph Brennan, “'Fandom is full of pearl clutching old ladies': Nonnies in the online slash closet”, in International Journal of Cultural Studies, volume 17, number 4, page 365

   2 more examples

   Narrative devices shared by Hannibal and fanfiction include “whump,” the vivid abuse and torture of a character, a popular convention across certain types of fanfiction: Graham is knocked out, shot, stabbed, gutted, sawed open, and subjected to induced seizures.

   2018, Naja Later, “Quality Television (TV) Eats Itself: The TV-Auteur and the Promoted Fanboy”, in Quarterly Review of Film and Video, volume 35, number 6, page 540

   However, further research with a larger sample and encompassing more fandoms would be necessary to confirm this potential explanation of this trend and to explore the impact of other factors, such as assigning characters a physical and/or mental disability or illness for the purpose of whump or hurt/comfort stories.

   2019 April, Adrienne E. Raw, “Normalizing Disability: Tagging and Disability Identity Construction through Marvel Cinematic Universe Fanfiction”, in Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, volume 8, number 2, pages 202–203

present singular third person whumps · participle present whumping · participle past whumped · past whumped

1. informaltransitiveTo strike something with a whump.
2. To make a soft thumping sound.

   […] the sound of sheets drying on a line a windy day: whumping, whushing.

   1963, Eugene Keenan Garber, M'Ginnis, page 261