I also kind of wish we had literally any other terminology for whump because, as you said, it’s really hard for me to take those words seriously. Whump sounds like a Mario enemy, like a Thwomp variant. I personally need to sort of replace the words in my head when I read prompts with things like Victim and Aggressor.
It was very hard for us to take them seriously at first, honestly. It took a few days of reading and especially writing in the community using the terms for them to feel ‘normal’ and not silly.
I think one of the reasons that the terms whump/whumper/whumpee ARE so popular is because they’re disassociated from terms for real life violence.
Someone, for instance, if they came across a post of whump post out of context which used the term “victim” instetea of “whumpee” could draw some very grim and die conclusions.
“I love watching whumpees bleed out on the floor while calling for help but no one comes.”
vs
“I love watching victims bleep out on the floor while calling for help but no one comes.”
If I say “victim”, its ambiguous if I’m talking about a serious real life topic. If I say “whumpee” its obvious I’m talking about fiction.
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