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3 years ago

I feel like gore fits under whump. Like whump is sometimes sickness or natural injury and more about the story and character reactions whereas gore/guro is more focused on the description and actual injury. But I think there's a lot of overlap.

Thank you for answering!

I’ve gotten a few mixed responses, but I find them all to be informative. The way I am now understanding it, I believe that it might break down like this:

Whump - A general term used in fandoms to describe tropes involving emotional, physical, and/or mental suffering between fictional characters.

Whump can involve anything from minor injuries to amputations and other extreme situations similar to topics explored in Gore/Guro fiction. However, today this is not the norm in whump and it can interfere with many people’s limits, referred to as a “squick.”

Whump fiction often has an emphasis on character dynamics and there are terms to refer to the person being injured (whumpee) and the person who injures them (whumper) or the person who takes care of them (caretaker).

For this reason, whump can also be an umbrella term for another trope found in fan fiction/creative fiction: h/c (hurt/comfort.)

Whump also seems to explore a lot hospital and medical topics.

Gore/Guro related works - Fictional artworks and writings involving mostly physical pain and injuries.

Like whump, there are many different sub categories for Gore/Guro. These range from depictions of characters covered in bruises, surface wounds, and bandages to the more extreme stuff involving, but not limited to, torture, vore, and death (and sometimes even after death.)

This kind of fiction can also dwell into the emotional and mental aspects, usually when depicted as a narrative piece of work such as a comic.

Gore/Guro fiction explores topics that are impossible and lethal solely for the purpose of extending the physical and emotional tolls of the characters.

Angst - Unlike Whump and Gore/Guro fiction, angst is a term specific for the emotional and mental turmoils a character may have to go through when facing challenging situations.

Angst can be found in topics explored in whump and Gore/Guro fiction, however.

Conclusions:

There is a lot of overlap between whump and gore/guro fiction. They also seem to overlap with another trope called angst because of the extreme situations characters have to go through.

Whump may be thought of as a huge umbrella term and guro/gore can possibly be a subcategory of whump fiction.


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