#mod's whumptober posts

[aceofwhump]

Whumptober 2024 - No. 1: RACE AGAINST THE CLOCK

Hawaii Five-0 1x12 "Hana 'a'a Makehewa" McGarrett discovers that the man who killed his father is still alive and threatening to kill Chin Ho with a bomb unless his ransom demand is met.

@whumptober

[whumptober]

This blog has just hit 10,000 followers!

Who knew we had such a large community of whumpers!?

As this blog has continued to grow over the years, we owe it to the whump-erful collection of writers, gif makers, artists, poets, song writers, discord members, posting fairies, and everyone else who has helped whumptober be as successful as it is today.

We especially wouldn’t be here without the amazing creativity and dedication of past mods Kat, Jo, Marie, Pan and Claire!

So, as we’re about to begin the seventh whumptober, all we have to say is: THANK YOU!

We hope everyone has fun sharing and enjoying each others works as much as we enjoy seeing them!

Here’s to many more years of hurting our blorbos.

Mods Yenn, Kitty, Vanne and Surro <3

[shitty-mh-aus]

Not an ask but I hope you have a good day

Thank you nonny I have had a very good day

[sicktember]

💚 Congratulations Friends! 

As of this moment, the 2024 Archive of Our Own Collection has 505 fics with 171 different fandom tags! We are so excited to see it! If you’ve not had the opportunity to look at this year’s collection, we hope you’ll take the time to go through it soon. There is so much variety that you’re sure to find something you love.

💚 A few reminders!

While this will be the last year @obsessionoftheday and @yes-i-am-happyaspie will be running Sicktemeber, the event will go on without us! Be on the lookout for a post introducing your new Sicktember mod for 2025!

We will continue accepting Sicktember 2024 submissions (including master lists!)  until October 7th. We will queue them up to post until we run out. 

The 2024 AO3 collection will remain open until August of 2025.

💚 If you’re interested in even more sickfic fun:

There is a new all-fandom sickfic event being hosted in February 2025. This is perfect for keeping the sickfic inspiration going all year long! You can check out their blog at @feveruary. 

There is also an all-fandom event that takes place from August through November called Cozytober. Many of their prompts work super well with sickfics. You can find more information on their AO3 collection page, here.

@whumptober @fictober-event and @flufftober are starting today! With a little creativity, I bet you could squeeze some sweet hurt/comfort sickfics out of a few of their prompts as well.

Lastly, @medwhumpmay has said that if there’s enough interest they would host another event in May 2025. So if that sounds like your jam, be sure to let them know!

Once again, thank you all for your participation! Past, Present, and Future! We hope you’ll all show the same amount of support and enthusiasm to the new mod as you have with us. 

2024 Prompts List [Link to Post]

Event FAQ Text Post [Link to Post]

Sicktember 2024 AO3 Collection [Link]

Announcements [Link to #Event Notice]

Meet Your New Mod [Link to Post]

[ailesswhumptober]

Hi. I definitely felt refreshed reading your hard stance and information on ai in your pinned, but irrelevant to that, I only found your blog today and I feel like I missed something with AI and whumptober. Can I learn about that? I hope my language makes sense.

In the late summer of 2023, an anonymous user asked the Whumptober blog if AI-generated content would be allowed for the event. This anon did not come from any of us, nor do we know who originally send this ask, but one of us did see Whumptober's response which kickstarted this entire thing.

Whumptober responded that they would not be disallowing AI because they "do not want to police how other people create things" and "didn't want to exclude anybody" but that they would "discourage" AI-generated content "because it feels like cheating" (all direct quotes).

Myself, the other mods, and several more people, were very disappointed in this stance. several of us started replying to the post and got into a back-and-forth with the Whumptober mods about why AI-generated content is harmful and bad. These posts and replies have since been mostly deleted by the Whumptober blog, nor do we want to rehash the entire thing, but some of the stances that Whumptober took that really rubbed us wrong were (again with direct quotes):

"AI-generated content is not art theft". When pointed out that these sorts of applications very much scrape content without consent, Whumptober claimed that it's the AI that steals then, not the person who uses the AI. They also claimed that since the AI already scraped the content, you "might as well use it", that defending against AI scraping is "going down on an already burning hill" and that "if you don't want your content scraped/stolen, just don't post it online". We found these very concerning statements from an event made by and for creators.

"AI-generated content is a fandom issue and nobody in the real world is harmed by it". This is, obviously, factually incorrect. When we pointed out real creators in many creative industries are being hit hard because of AI-generation, they said "that's capitalism's fault, not AI-generation" (???) and they also told us to "touch grass".

"These sort of AIs are an accessibility tool for the disabled, so disliking them is ableism". Again, this is incorrect. They tried to liken it to predictive text or spell check. We pointed out that there's a vast difference between those machine learning tools and actually generative AI that subsides on scraped content. We said disabled people (many of whom were involved in the back-and-forth) are sick of being used as a strawman by tech bros. They then said "real disabled people probably feel differently" which was a slap in the face, and honestly the thing that still is the most horrible to me about this whole thing.

This is the point where Whumptober started to block a bunch of us and delete asks/replies. They made a post that falsely made it seem like we were harassing and bullying them for saying that they "couldn't check every single entry for AI-generated content". We pointed out multiple times that we absolutely did not expect them to, since we're very aware that with the size of the Whumptober event, it would be impossible. We'd just like them to say 'AI-generated content is not allowed and it's art theft' but apparently they didn't want to.

After this one of the mods DMed me and asked me to send them some resources on why AI-generated content and scraping AI is bad, so they could educate themselves. We spent several minutes collecting sources (some linked in our pinned). They said the Whumptober mods would read them, and then come to a standpoint. But then within less than a minute of us sending the links, they deleted the remaining posts involved in the debate, and just told us they were sticking to their standpoint that "We will not police how people create things, we'll just discourage people by not reblogging it". They also added to their pinned that they won't ever respond to any asks about AI-generated content again. So that was that.

Somewhere during the argument, the Whumptober mods told us that if we disliked their stance so much, we should just make our own event. So we did.

(Edit to add: regardless on if whumptober does change their policy, we never received any sort of acknowledgement or apology of the above and we will keep running this event for whoever wants to.)

[return-to-twisted-wonderland]

Can anyone see any posts from my other blog in the twisted wonderland tag?

Have I been sent to shadow jail?

Uh.... Am I shadowbanned?

Or is tumblr being weird, cause suddenly I see "Some replies have been hidden, blocked, or removed" but it's on my own stuff, from my page?

I honestly don't know. Cause my other blog is visible, but i have no idea about this one....

[accursedkaleeshi]

Welcome back to Kaleesh Week! New hub blog this year: me, Accursed :)

Posting early to give time to the try-hards & the busy! Entries will not be reblogged until the week begins. Details under the cut!

What is Kaleesh Week?

Kaleesh Week is a week dedicated to the small but thriving subset of the Star Wars fandom that loves General Grievous and his people, the Kaleesh. Similar to much more well-known fandom celebrations such as Smaugust, Mermay, or Whumptober, Kaleesh Week can pertain to any medium of choice. Taking advantage of the fact that canon doesn't look over here to do whatever we want!

What are the rules?

The rules are simple, but should be followed to ensure the happiness of all participants and make my job as archivist easier!

Tag your stuff meant for the week with #kaleeshweek24 or #kaleeshweek2024 ! Tag @accursedkaleeshi additionally if you don't want me to miss it. I will be reblogging all the goods to my blog this year! (we still love TB, F in the chat. they aren't dead)

Any type of creation is allowed, whether art, fanfiction, gifs, videos, or anything else. As long as it's Kaleesh-related, there's no problem

Remember to properly tag all triggers

It isn't strictly necessary to follow along every day, this is meant to be fun! Post whenever you like, whether that's all seven days or just one. You can also post anytime after the week if you'd like

Alternate prompts can be used to mix and match in any way you'd like with the standard prompts, so go crazy

And last but not least, have fun!

What are the prompts, and what's the deal with alternate prompts?

The two lists of prompts a day are there to give any participants more freedom with whatever they'd like to create. The days are more of a guideline, as mentioned above. Go crazy, or for those of us with busy lives, freak it sensitive style in wild space. If you post only one thing of any effort whenever you can? You're participating fam! I will be reblogging your tagged posts when the week begins & beyond. pm me with any questions!

Prompts:

Color

Tusks

Tradition

Many

Food!

Fast

Nest

Alternate Prompts:

White

Teeth

Tech

One

Food?

Slow

Trees

Bonus Wildcard Prompt to swap with: Kaleeshi Hatsune Miku lol

I'd like to join the General Grievous Discord server! Where do I sign up?

If you'd like to come hang out with us at the Kaleeaboos server, simply PM me! We have all sorts of fun stuff going on, and a pretty chill vibe. I'm one of the mods there along with some other big names in the Grievous fandom. Come hang with us!

And finally, good luck, and have fun!

[foundfamilywhump]

serious word of warning about a server that's been making the rounds

i've debated about making this post a lot, for a lot of reasons. i'm concerned about making it as a trans person and as a relatively new blog, though i've been involved in the whump community for years. i hope you'll hear me out and i'm not looking forward to whatever backlash may come my way, should anyone actually pay attention to this at all.

the short version is: the whump discord server 'whump lovers collaborate' (@/whumplovers-collaborate) is unsafe and hostile to trans people and the server owner will not take action to shut down transphobia, nor will she allow her mod team to do so. i am certain this would apply to other bigotries as well. i know this because i am trans, and when i called out some disgustingly transphobic commentary being made by a member of the server i was blamed for causing drama, essentially, and there was a rule added to the server not to talk about 'controversial topics' or get into arguments, and that was all that was done.

the much longer version is under the cut. i just can't sit on this anymore after seeing that the server got advertised in the whumptober server (to no fault of the whumptober mods who didn't know about any of this, they're fine) and also seeing hundreds of notes on posts broadcasting it. this server is unsafe for trans people and the server owner is actively enabling bigots. given the whump community has a bit of a transphobia problem in some places, i wanted to make sure no trans person or ally was unwittingly walking into that without warning. i'd appreciate it if you would spread the word as well, to keep trans community members and allies safe.

so, here's what happened:

i was in the whump lovers collaborate server for a while earlier this year. in february, a member of the server started spouting off some extremely transphobic rhetoric, including talking about inherent biological differences between men and women, that women are inherently and unchangeably weaker than men, that men have a 'biological instinct' to protect women, and other things. (there was also some bizarre commentary about how abuse or assault committed against men was inherently less upsetting, and often funny to witness because of this).

seeing this and being unwilling, as both a trans person and someone who believes it is important to not let bigotry go unchallenged, i stepped in and called out these statements for being both factually untrue and steeped in both misogyny and transphobia. this person and i went around and around in circles as he asked 'genuine questions' which were just thinly veiled excuses to continue needling me on the subject. eventually, i shut it down by saying that this was not the appropriate venue for a transphobic cis person to get educated about the nuance of the trans experience and trans issues, but what he was saying was transphobic and he needed to stop now that he'd been told that.

throughout this interaction, mods were emoji-reacting and responding to other things. at no point did any mod step in to help me or shut down the transphobia or at all intervene in what was happening. after i shut things down for good, one of the mods said 'thanks for keeping everything respectful' which was a truly laughable thing to have said in that situation.

after this, the server owner made an announcement that said, among a few other things about Not Fighting: "Friendly reminder that we are all here because of what we have in common, our love of writing We are not here to debate controversial issues Or say harmful opinions If you cannot hold a conversation without being civil and without escalating conflict, back away from the channel, and cool down All involved in a conflict are responsible for turning a chill space sour No matter how right you think you are (I’m not saying no mention of controversial things is allowed per se, I’m saying be civil, if that means avoiding controversial topics, avoid away)"

this is not an appropriate response to one person espousing blatant transphobia (among other disgusting views) and being called on it. a rule was added that if a mod or the server owner asked you to change the subject from a topic, you had to do so immediately and there should be no more discussion of it 'by any of the participants'. no rule was present to begin with making clear that bigotry was not tolerated, nor was one added.

subsequently, the server owner made it clear she had no interest in protecting marginalized community members, and that she blamed me for what happened because i refused to allow rampant transphobia to proceed unchecked.

when either asked by other server members about what happened or when asking server members who left why they left (which is a weird thing to do on its own) the server owner responded by essentially throwing a fit and asking what she was supposed to do? kick the transphobe out? she whined about how the person saying something should be done about the transphobe was assuming that she hadn't already done anything.

(she also said that she hadn't done anything. the person was not warned, muted, banned, there were no consequences. but she whined about the assumption that she hadn't done anything about it.)

she also said that it wasn't just the transphobe's fault. "[transphobe] was not the only one at fault there in that others contributed to the conflict by engaging them, drawing out more of their unpleasant opinions. If I punished [problem person] alone, the others might think that they were in the right" that is a direct quote from the server owner. i was clearly the person she was speaking about, and she refused to enforce consequences on the transphobe because that might lead to me thinking that it was okay to call out transphobia and protect myself and other trans people in that space.

when i spoke to a few of the other mods about what happened, the response was disappointing, to put it mildly. the mod team had apparently tried to argue with her and get her to enforce a no bigotry policy but she was afraid of causing arguments and didn't want to deal with conflict, and so refused to do so. this is not acceptable behaviour for someone who is in charge of such a large space. you cannot be this conflict-averse and also run a server of hundreds of people, especially if the outcome is protecting bigots.

the mods i spoke to also got defensive and upset when i pointed out that by not expressing disagreement with the owner's actions and by throwing up their hands and saying 'oh well, nothing we can do!' they were also tacitly endorsing transphobia and a community that protects transphobes at the expense of trans people. they were unwilling to do anything in the moment, and failed to do anything after the fact either.

i have screenshots and proof of all of these events, but i didn't add them here bc i didn't want to make this even longer. please feel free to contact me directly if you would like any further information or to see proof of what i have mentioned here.

in short:

please do not join this server. you will not be protected there, as the server owner cares more about making it as big and as popular as possible than she does about keeping her server bigot-free. please do not promote this server or allow this server to be promoted in your own spaces either. please do your part to keep trans people in the whump community safe.

[goodomenscalendar]

What is this? | Submit your own event or tag us! | Be sure to click through to the original post for the latest updates! Last edited: October 12th.

Ending Events

Good Omens Holiday Exchange | Prompt Claims close Oct 4th

The Good Omens Holiday Exchange has operated every holiday season since 2005, so by now it's something we consider a fandom institution-- and you could be a part of it this year! Sign-ups are closed, but you can still claim a prompt to fill for someone else! - @goexchange-mods - Claims List -

GOAD Fall Ball Kink Thrall | 18+ | Sign-ups close Oct 31st

Autumnal kink roulette split into two sections. One 'edge' event taking place over a month of writing or drawing. One 'heat' sprint style event weekly on the sub (over the posting period). Prompts sent out November 1st! - @goodomensafterdark - Reddit -

Good Omens Fairy Tale Bang | Posting continues!

This is a Good Omens Mini Bang themed entirely around Fairy Tales! Writing your own or adapting a favorite! All versions of all Fairy Tales and Mythology are welcome! Featuring both SFW and NSFW content. - @fairytalegobang - AO3 Collection -

DIWS: Silver Screen Bang | Posting continues!

The Good Omens Silver Screen Bang brings writers and artists together to retell a movie through a Good Omens lens! AUs and fusions welcome! Featuring both SFW and NSFW content. - @do-it-with-style-events - Twitter - AO3 Collection -

Good Omens Theater Bang | Posting continues!

A Good Omens bang dedicated to theatrical plays and musicals! Featuring both SFW and NSFW content. - @gomens-theatre-bang - AO3 Collection -

Ongoing Events

Chill Omenstober | Runs all month!

A chill list of Good Omens themed October prompts filled with lots of break days. Feel free to use with any form of art! Good luck and have fun! - Prompt List -

Ineffable Kinktober | Runs all month!

A month-long prompt list full of truly Ineffable kinks! This isn't a challenge, do as many or as few as you are inspired to! - Prompt List - Twitter - AO3 Collection -

Inktober | Runs all month!

Classic Inktober: make a drawing in ink, and post it! Inktober is about growing and improving and forming positive habits, so the more you’re consistent the better. - Prompt List - Twitter - Reddit -

Whumptober | Runs all month!

Whumptober is a month-long, prompt-based creation challenge (think: Inktober, but whumpier). There are 31 official themes this year - one for each day of the month - which can be used, skipped, or combined in any way you’d like! - @whumptober - AO3 Collection -

Upcoming Events

Thwarting Wiles Zine: Vol 2 | 18+ | Applications open Oct 5th

A bottom!Crowley Good Omens zine. This is an 18+ zine, so no minors will be accepted. - @thwartingwileszine - Twitter -

Ineffably Grey Zine | Pre-orders open Oct 18th

From the Grand Opening in 1898 to modern times, follow this Demon and his Angel on their adventures, and the routines that surely follow at a table for two for An Evening At the Ritz! All proceeds donated to The National Center for Transgender Equality. - @ineffablygrey - Twitter - Instagram - BigCartel -

The Ineffable Society: Langhorne, PA Meetup | October 19th

A free-to-attend Good Omens fandom meetup in the States. Just outside Philadelphia, PA. All ages welcome; under 18 must attend with guardian. Masks required in our Event spaces—help keep your fellow fans safe! - @theineffablesociety - Twitter -

Good Omens Spooky Bang | Posting begins Oct 28th

A spooky Good Omens bang to kick off the autumn season! Whether it's Aziraphale pumpkin-picking, a pumpkin spice latte coffee shop AU, or Hell hosting a Halloween bash, you're invited to the Spooky Bang! Featuring both SFW and NSFW content. - @spooky-bang-good-omens -

Ineffable Secret Angel Event | Sign-ups TBD

When you register for the event, you will be randomly assigned to another participant, who will not know they have been assigned to you. You will then create fanart or write a fanfiction for this person, which you will present to them as a winter gift! Join the Good Omens Reference Library Server to participate! - Info Post - Discord Server -

On The Horizon

Keep an eye out for these works-in-progress in the coming months!

Good Omens Frames | @gomensframes Good Omens Monster Bangers Bang | @gomonsterbangersbang

[starkerfestivals]

StarkerFestivals Announcements & Upcoming Events

Hello everyone!! it's mid-September which means SF's Summer Bingo is almost at it's end... or is it?!

We've decided to extend the summer bingo until the end of the year so that's another extra 3 months to get your prompts in or join us and get a card if you haven't already 🥳🎉

Updated Info: StarkerFestivals Bingo 2024

Please refer to this post for signups and rules: Link

Dates: Current - Dec 31, 2024

Tags: #SFSummerBingo24

Upcoming Events:

SF will be doing a two month Kinktober, Flufftober, and Whumptober.

Find more info on SF Kinktober here! (18+)

Find more info on SF Flufftober here!

Find more info on SF Whumptober here!

Other Announcements/Info:

For SF, we're still dedicated to planning events for our Starker fandom! However, we're considering different options in terms of the length and frequency of our events.

For summer bingo, we're currently exploring how the extended time will go but possibly in the future, we may keep bingo open year round and do it in sessions per year. (This is still up in the air and details will be decided upon at a later date.)

For other events, we're thinking of longer events possibly last 2-3 months or for a season with a few minor events here and there when mods are interested in doing so.

All this is because as a smaller fandom, we don't want to stress our awesome creators with a barrage of constant events 😔

Of course, opinions, suggestions, and questions are welcomed! Feel free to send in an ask or DM any of the mods ( @graceful-starker @the-mad-starker @starkersparks @papermacherainbow )

[sharada-n]

It's been almost a year but the thing that still gets me most about the official whumptober mods is their shitty little "we allow AI for our event but we discourage it 🥺" in the FAQ as if they didn't say a bunch of untrue and ableist shit when asked about AI last year, said that AI art isn't theft and if you don't want your content scraped you should just stop writing/drawing forever, and one of their mods runs a blog that proudly and openly reblogs/posts AI art

'discourage' my ass.

[whumptober]

WHUMPTOBER 2024: PROMPTS LIST

Welcome to Whumptober 2024 — Seventh Time's a Charm!

Please make sure to read the Event Info and FAQ below carefully, as most of your questions will be answered there already. For everything else, you are welcome to come to our ask box or ask questions in our Discord server here.

This year’s AO3 Collection can be found here.

This year's playlist can be found here.

The 'Anatomy of a Whumptober Prompt' post can be found here.

And our 'Resources for Writing Sensitive Topics' post is here.

We’re very excited to see the community come together for another year of Whumptober! Go wild with the prompts, and support your fellow creators - we wish you all the fun!

Best of luck and happy whumping,

Mods Vanne, Yenn, Kitty and Surro

(Text versions of the prompts, as well as event information, rules and FAQ are posted below the cut!)

Whumptober 2024 Prompt List

No. 1: RACE AGAINST THE CLOCK

Search Party | Panic Attack | "If only we could hold on.” (Icysami x Renegaderr, Strangers.)

No. 2: TRUST ISSUES

Amusement Park | Role Reversal | “You got away with the crime while the knife's in my back.” (Charlotte Sands, Rollercoaster)

No. 3: SET UP FOR FAILURE

Fingerprints | Wrongfully Arrested | "I warned you."

No. 4: HALLUCINATIONS

Hypnosis | Sensory Deprivation | “You're still alive in my head.” (Billy Lockett, More)

No. 5: SUNBURN

Healing Salve | Heatstroke | "If my pain will stretch that far." (Lottery Winners, Burning House)

No. 6: NOT REALISING THEY'RE INJURED

Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms | Healed Wrong | "It's not my blood."

No. 7: ONLY FOR EMERGENCIES

Unconventional Weapon | Magic with a Cost | "It's us or them."

No. 8: SLEEP DEPRIVATION

Isolation Chamber | Forced to Stay Awake | "Leave the lights on." (Coldplay, Midnight)

No. 9: OBSESSION

Broken Window | Bruises | “Frame me up on the wall, just to keep me out of trouble.” (Fall Out Boy, Irresistible)

No. 10: BLOW TO THE HEAD

Slurred Words | Passing Out from Pain | "I can't think straight."

No. 11: SEEING DOUBLE

Convenience Store | Loneliness | “Leave no trace behind, like you don't even exist.” (Taylor Swift, Illicit Affairs)

No. 12: STARVATION

Underground Caverns | Cannibalism | "Just a little more."

No. 13: TEAM AS A FAMILY

Familial Curse | Multiple Whumpees | "Death will do us part." (Set It Off, Partner's In Crime)

No. 14: LEFT FOR DEAD

Hunting Gear | Blackmail | “Because I want you to know what it feels like to be haunted” (tiLLie, kooL aiD mAn)

No. 15: CHILDHOOD TRAUMA

Painful Hug | Moment of Clarity | "I did good, right?"

No. 16: NECROSIS

Swamp | Wound Cleaning | "No, I can't feel anything."

No. 17: NOWHERE ELSE TO GO

Ruined Map | Shipwrecked | "We had a good run."

No. 18: REVENGE

Unreliable Narrator | Loss of Identity | “I see what's mine and take it.” (Panic! at the Disco, Emperor's New Clothes)

No. 19: BLOOD TRAIL

Abandoned Cabin | One Way Out | "Is there anybody alive out there?" (Bruce Springsteen, Radio Nowhere)

No. 20: EMOTIONAL ANGST

Shoulder to Cry On | Giving Permission to Die | "It's not your fault."

No. 21: BODY HORROR

Body Horror | Tattoo Gun | Spirit Possession | “Let the bedsheet soak up the tears.” (Apparat feat. Soap & Skin, Goodbye)

No. 22: BLEEDING THROUGH BANDAGES

Tourniquet | Reopening Wounds | "Oh that's not good."

No. 23: FORCED CHOICE

Public Display | Broken Pedestal | "I'm doing this for you."

No. 24: RADIATION POISONING

Collapsed Building | Equipment Failure | “I never knew daylight could be so violent.” (Florence + The Machine, No Light, No Light)

No. 25: SURGERY

Stitches | Being Monitored | "It's for your own good."

No. 26: NIGHTMARES

Breakfast Table | Parting Words of Regret | “I'm haunted by the lies that I have loved, the actions I have hated.” (Poe, Haunted)

No. 27: VOICELESS

Laboratory | Muzzled | “I have no mouth and I must scream.”

No. 28: DENIAL

CCTV | Exposure | "They caught me red handed."

No. 29: FATIGUE

Labyrinth | Burnout | "Who said you could rest?"

No. 30: RECOVERY

Hospital Bed | Holding Back Tears | "What have I done?"

No. 31: ASKING FOR HELP

Therapy | Making Amends | "I'm alive, I'm just not well." (Elliot Lee, Alive, Not Well.)

Alternatives List:

Body Swap

Communication Barrier

Finding Old Messages

Forgotten

Friendly Fire

Motion Sickness

No-Holds-Barred Beatdown

Regret

Secrets Revealed

Shivering

Survivor's Guilt

Time Loop

Used As Bait

Venom

Vermin

Event Info & Rules

WHUMPTOBER is a month-long, prompt-based creation challenge (think: Inktober, but whumpier). There are 31 official themes this year - one for each day of the month - which can be used, skipped, or combined in any way you’d like. They are meant to serve as inspiration without being taken literally (e.g. you don’t have to include the exact wording of prompts into your work). Feel free to run rampant on interpretation. For example, if the prompt is “flame", you could create something with reference to a candle/campfire, your character could have suffered a burn, or the flame could be a reference to an ‘old flame’ - an old relationship. It’s truly down to you!

In total, there are 4 prompts for each day. These are optional suggestions and can be used in conjunction with the theme, or as options/alternatives.�� We want to give everyone as much creative freedom as possible, as well as increase event accessibility for folks with triggers and squicks. There is also a list of 15 alternative prompts that can be subbed in for any day, again to give participants as much creative freedom as possible.

Creators can PRODUCE work in any media they choose, including but not limited to: writing, visual artwork, photo/video/audio edits, paper crafts and elaborate recommendation lists (not just a list of links). Creators can PARTICIPATE as much or as little as they want (i.e. you don’t have to do ALL the prompts if you don’t want to) and prompts can be used in any order. They are also free to use even after the event ends.

When uploading Whumptober content to your blog, be sure to tag it with:

#whumptober2024 …..(the event tag)

#no.1, #no.2, #no.3, …..(theme number)

#bruises, #stabbing, …..(the theme or specific prompt you chose)

#altprompt …..(if you use an altprompt, tag the post with the number of the prompt you replace)

#fandom or #OC, …..(ironman, original content, oc, etc.)

#medium …..(gifs, fic, podcast, art, etc.)

#teeth, #etc …..(trigger warnings & any additional tags. Keep in mind not to add “tw” in front but only use the word/trigger itself)

#nsfwhump …..(only for nsfw content)

#your own tags go here

PLEASE BE DILIGENT WITH YOUR TAGGING. Only properly tagged posts are considered for archiving on the official @whumptober-archive blog. They must be tagged in the order above. An elaborate post about our tagging system can be found [here]

Unfortunately, due to the sheer number of participants in recent years, we cannot guarantee your work will be archived. A random selection of properly tagged posts from all genres will be reblogged each day.

Whumpers who produce content for 31 total theme days are considered event completionists and will be tagged in a masterpost at the end of the month. A form will be published at the beginning of November asking you to tell us if you completed. This is based on trust and we will not check this.

Frequently Asked Questions

Please read this before you send an ask!

TIMELINE

July: Trope voting form released. Late August: Prompt list is released for at least four weeks of preparation time. Tropes cannot be posted earlier than August 25th because of Moderator obligations in real life. (But, you know, go ahead and start writing/drawing, and add the themes in later, if you want!) September: Do as much or as little on your works as you want. You can prepare everything in advance or let September go by with vibes and start working in October. It’s up to you. October 1st: Challenge begins! A storm of whump breaks upon us all! During this time, some posts will be reblogged to the whumptober archive blog. We open the yearly AO3 collection for posting (optional). November 1st: The challenge is officially over! Completionist form opens for those who want to be included in the hall-of-fame. Early November: We release completionist and participant badges, solicit feedback, and post a hall-of-fame list of completionists by the 10th.

PARTICIPATION AND COMPLETION

Q: What counts as participation? Create or continue at least one work inspired by one of this year’s prompts. Q: What counts as completion? Creating work(s) inspired by at least one prompt from each day (or alts), for a total of 31 unique prompts. Q: Do I need to create 31 works? No. You can, if you want. Or you can create one work that you add to every day with a new prompt. Or several works that combine prompts. You can also update an existing work by adding new material with the current prompts. Q: Do I need to post my works somewhere to be a completionist or a participant? No. Q: How do you know I actually completed the challenge? We’ll take your word for it! Q: Do I have to finish my work(s) to be a completionist? No, you can post WIPs. And you’re not obligated to finish them in October, but if you want it to count towards being a completionist, you must have completed 31 prompts by the end of the month. So for example, if you’re writing a long fic and you fit 31 different prompts into the writing you did in October, it’s okay if that fic isn’t finished by the time October ends, you’ll still be a completionist. Q: Is co-writing/illustrating allowed? Yes, absolutely, and it would count towards being a completionist for both/all of you. Q: Is there a min/max limit on word count for written works? No. Q: Is there a min/max limit of quality for art? No. Q: Do I have to do something each day to be a completionist? No. You can skip days whenever you want, and as long as 31 daily prompts (or alts) are in your works done in October, you can be a completionist. For example, if you wrote a 1000-word ficlet that covers prompts in days 2, 3, and 17, you can check all three days off your list even though it’s only one work. Q: Is this challenge just for fics? No! Artworks, GIFsets, headcannons, rec lists, poetry, moodboards, or any other creative work is encouraged. Q: Can I combine Whumptober with other creation challenges? Absolutely, as long as the other challenges allow it too.

PROMPTS

Q: How do the prompts work? There are FOUR prompts per day: a theme and three ideas. You can use one, two, three, or all four prompts for each day. If you don’t like any of the daily prompts, you can substitute one of the ALT prompts instead. Q: How strictly/literally should we interpret the prompts? As literally or as figuratively as you want. For example, if the theme is WATER, that could mean drowning, waterboarding, raining, swimming, take place underwater, be lost at sea, construct a metaphor about a character’s mood that changes like a flowing river, crying, or whatever else you can think of that fits that theme. Q: Can I combine prompts? Is there a limit on how many? No limit and combine as many as you’d like. If you create a work that checks off multiple prompts, that work will count for a fill of multiple prompts. You need to address 31 different prompts to be an official completionist, but you don’t have to produce 31 separate works.

WORKS

Q: What’s whump? Hurting a character, whether that’s physically, emotionally, intellectually, psychologically, or any other way you can think of. Comfort afterwards is optional. Angst is emotional whump, so it counts. Q: How do I know if it’s whumpy enough? If your character is just mildly inconvenienced, it probably needs more whump. However, no participant has to prove whumpiness to the mods. Whatever you write is up to you. Q: What kind of characters can I create for? Anything. Generic “whumpee,” OC, PC, NPC, major characters, minor characters, or whatever you want. There are no limits. Q: Does it have to take place in a specific fandom? No, you can create works for your own worlds or for fandoms or for both. You can also create more generic or pan-fandom works. You can do cross-overs or use OCs, whatever you want. Q: Can I create AI-created works? We will not reblog or promote any works we know to be generative AI-created. Q: Is there anything we’re not allowed to write? As long as it contains whump and is based on our prompts, it’s fine. Please courtesy tag your works if you post them so people who follow the #whumptober2024 tag can filter according to their preferences. Q: What about sex, minor characters, and potentially disturbing content? You can create whatever works are legal in your country and post them accordingly. Please courtesy tag anything you think might be objectionable if you post to Tumblr so people who follow the #whumptober2024 tag can filter according to their preferences.

POSTING

Q: Where can I post my work? Post where and how you want. You don’t even have to (cross)post it to Tumblr. Just keep in mind if it’s not on Tumblr we will not be able to add it to the blog archive. There is an AO3 archive for Whumptober 2024, as well as the parent collection for works completed outside of the event. Q: Can I start posting early? You can, but this is an October event and wouldn’t it be more fun with everyone doing it at the same time? We won’t be reblogging any work predating October 1st. Q: Can I post late? Yes. For the sake of our hardworking Post Fairies, only a day’s themes will be reblogged to @whumptober-archive each day of October. But you can post whenever. Some of us are still working on and posting Whumptober fics from years ago. Q: Do I have to use your tags? Only on Tumblr and only if you want us to reblog your work on @whumptober-archive. Q: How do I have my works reblogged to the archive? Properly tagged posts will be reblogged to @whumptober-archive. If you want the official archive blog to reblog you, post on Tumblr and tag correctly (see this FAQ link for more info on tagging). Please note not all posts will be reblogged each day. Q: Can we @ you? For questions and comments, of course. We’ll be getting a flood of notifications, so if you really want us to see something send an ask. Q: Can I cross post on other blogs? Yes, multiple platforms and blogs are perfectly acceptable, as long as they allow cross-posting (to us). You can also post different works to different accounts under different names, without posting them everywhere at once. If you post some works under your main and others under an alt blog, that’s fine for completionist purposes. Q: Can I upload/repost my Whumptober content to other social media platforms? Of course! We’ve created an AO3 Collection to archive any fics posted there, which can be found here. The blog is the official archive, so please respect the personal boundaries of any whumpers in your social circle (don’t out anyone as a participant who would prefer not to be outed).

Most importantly, have fun, create, and enjoy all the whump posted this October!

[thedragonagebigbang]

Bang Creator Interview: Tumblr: @vivispec | AO3: Vivispec

The Collaboration period has begun! In these quiet months before works are due, we want to foster a sense of excitement, camaraderie, and celebration among our participants. To that end, all participants were given the option of a formal interview by our mod, Dema, or an informal “ask-game” survey. We hope you enjoy getting to know our phenomenal creators as much as we have!

Top 10 Reasons You Should Actually Contact The Ex Whose Life You Ruined– Number 1 Will Shock You!

Vivi and Dema talk OCs, Whumptober, and how to write while driving

Dema: Good morning! It is I, Dema, here for our interview.

Vivi: Good morning!

Dema: Since this is a fandom event I'd like to start there! How long have you been involved in the Dragon Age fandom? What drew you to it?

Vivi: I've been into Dragon Age since Origins came out-- I actually have fanfic I wrote for it when I was 12 on my Grandmother's computer, it's very bad-- but I didn't actually start getting involved in the fandom until much more recently. I'm kind of a fandom lurker in general, and didn't start posting fanfic or really engaging in the fandom until about 2022.

As for what drew me to it, the series has held a special place in my heart for a very long time, but playing Inquisition for the first time in 2020 kinda broke my brain (affectionate). I went into a Solasmance blind and have never been the same since

Dema: Oh, I too have the Solasmance hooks in me, I understand. Does that make DA:O and DA:I roughly tied for your favorite? Or do you have a strong favorite?

Vivi: This question is honestly the bane of my existence, because I have so much trouble choosing. DA:O definitely has more nostalgia, but DA:I is the one I engage with and write about the most. I think, if I had to choose at gunpoint, I'd actually say DA:2 is my favorite, but that's by the thinnest and blurriest margin.

Dema: Haha, yes. It's a bit of a "choose your favorite child" question. I will not hold you at gunpoint.

Vivi: Much appreciated.

Dema: Is it Solas in particular that inspires you to write in the DA:I timeline the most?

Vivi: He's definitely a contributing factor, and what started me down that road, but I think my love for writing DA:I is mostly tied to my Inquisitor, actually. She's maybe one of my favorite OCs I've ever made.

Dema: DA is such a great sandbox for OCs. Tell me about your Inquisitor! What makes her a favorite?

Vivi: Her name is Viera'vun, a Dalish hunter. She's a pathfinder more than anything else, incredibly observant, and very down-to-earth once she's settled in as Herald. I love figuring out how a Dalish elf with no exposure to this world she's been suddenly thrust into would react, and how she would keep herself safe-- in Viera's case, she becomes really good at picking up on the little things and using them to her advantage, and standing her ground. One of my favorite things about her is actually the dynamic she has with her hunting partner, Iloniyn-- they're platonic soulmates, one of my favorite tropes to write, and having him there as her rock once he joins her at Skyhold definitely gives her stable footing as she tackles becoming the Inquisitor.

Dema: She sounds lovely, and I can see how those themes would provide a lot of creative inspiration! Dalish Inquisitors in particular have such an interesting dynamic. How do Viera'vun and Iloniyn navigate the religious affiliations of the Inquisition?

Vivi: Viera uses it to her advantage, as best that she can. She doesn't believe in it of course and isn't shy to say so, but when holding her tongue and letting others make their own assumptions would help her out, she's not opposed to begrudgingly doing so. I think the biggest thing is that she knows how, historically, elves have been treated by the Chantry, and that she likely won't be immune to being killed or erased by them. Still, as long as she's around and has power, she's going to use it for her and her people.

Dema: Oh, she sounds so savvy! I love her already. Since we've been discussing OCs, especially in the context of the Dragon Age universe, I'm curious how you go about creating them. For example, was Viera an in-game Inquisitor? Or did you make her specifically for writing with? And was she typical of your process?

Vivi: In general, my OCs start in-game. Even Iloniyn was originally an alt Inquisitor that I fell in love with, and wanted to use in writing! When I replay roleplaying games with some element of character creation, I tend to give my PCs a gimmick so they don't all play the same-- Iloniyn's whole shtick was he didn't want to be there and was very vocal about it, and one of my Warden's always chooses the lie option if it's available to her. Viera was my first playthrough of the game so she didn't have a gimmick. I let the game shape who she was as I played it and tweaked it in post, adding more backstory and personality once I knew the general arc of the story, and where she was going to end up. Then, I did what I do with all of my OCs to flesh them out: drop them into increasingly terrible situations to figure out how they tick! She got the worst of it, I did Whumptober the year I started writing her. 31 days of horror for that poor lady

Dema: Hey, the meat grinder tells us what they're made of!

Vivi: Exactly! You get it.

Dema: Were those mostly one-shots?

Vivi: Yes they were! 60k worth of one-shots. Most were about her, but she definitely wasn't the only one. I even dipped my toes into Ancient Elvhenan for that event, it was a lot of fun filling those prompts!

Dema: Oh wow, 60k in 31 days! So you are no stranger to writing a lot of words in a set timeframe.

Vivi: No stranger at all, though I don't think I have that sort of stamina any longer. Still not entirely sure how I did it. I've done three other Big Bangs since as well, finishing four pieces across them.

Dema: What keeps you coming back to Bangs?

Vivi: I wouldn't finish pieces otherwise. I'm a notorious WIP collector, so having incentive to finish my pieces is always nice. Plus, I love getting to work alongside artists, and see how they interpret what I write! Collaborations make it all feel so much more official.

Dema: Having only participated in Bangs as an artist, I'm so impressed and inspired by the dedication you have to the challenge. It's a big number!

Vivi: Aw thank you, on the opposite side of the event I'm always impressed by the artists and their illustrations! It's amazing what we both are able to do in the timeframe given, thank you for your service.

Dema: I love it! From the artist's perspective, it's an interesting way to engage with a fic as a prompt, and the inspiration comes from the story and the collaborative effort. As a writer, is there anything in particular you're drawing inspiration from as you develop your idea for a long fic like this? Without being too specific about this idea, of course.

Vivi: Honestly, ideas just kinda hit me during my morning commute, while I stare aimlessly at the road ahead of me. Because of that, I tend to record myself talking in the car, despite the fact that I probably look like I've lost it just a little bit. Just talking through my thoughts on where my OCs and the companion characters are or what they're doing during specific times generally gives me a lot to think and write about, but mostly I pull my inspiration from their interpersonal relationships. That is what this series is built off of, and what I love about it!

Dema: I think that is a brilliant strategy. In the last minutes, and just for fun: can you come up with a click-bait title for your fic? Without giving anything major away, of course.

Vivi: Top 10 Reasons You Should Actually Contact The Ex Whose Life You Ruined-- Number 1 Will Shock You!

Dema: HAHA, Perfect. Thank you so much for your time, Vivi!

Vivi: Thank you! This was a lot of fun.

[whumpsday]

my unhinged rant about the whumptober discourse, below the readmore for the benefit of ppl who dont wanna see that crap. im just gonna go insane if i don't say this somewhere bc i feel like i'm losing my mind

this drama is genuinely so mind-blowingly stupid it's unreal, and it's been bothering me so much that i just HAVE to talk about it or i'm gonna go insane, if for no other reason than to get it out of my system. i honestly never expected the whump community to go on the kind of bad-faith tirade that's taking place.

disclaimer right here that i do not support AI scraping creative works without permission (like chatgpt and a whole host of AI art programs do) or these AI-generated works being passed off as legitimate creative works. obviously that stuff is bad, and literally everyone on all sides of this agrees it's bad. i used chatgpt exactly once one week after it came out, before i knew how shit it was, and haven't touched AI stuff since. because it steals from creators and it sucks.

now:

saying "whumptober supports/allows AI" when their official policy says plain as day:

"we are not changing our stance from last year’s decision"

"we will not amplify or include AI works in our reblogs of the event."

"we discourage the use of AI within Whumptober, it feels like cheating, and we feel like it isn’t in the spirit of the event."

is bonkers! whumptober is a prompt list, there is nothing TO the event other than being included in the reblogs. they literally cannot stop people from doing whatever they want with the prompts.

someone could go out and enact every single prompt in real life on a creativity-fueled serial killing spree and the whumptober mods couldn't do shit about it. it's not like it's a contest you submit to. it's a prompt list! someone could take every single prompt from the AI-less whumptober prompt list, feed it into chatgpt right now, and post them as entries. and the mods of THAT wouldn't be able to stop them either. because it's a prompt list.

the AI-less event have also made just... blatantly false claims, like that grammarly isn't AI. grammarly IS AI and they openly advertise this. hell, this is grammarly's front page right now:

and this is a statement from grammarly about how its products work:

its spellchecker / grammarchecker is AI-based! claiming it's not AI is just... lying. saying "this is an AI-less event" and then just saying any AI that you want to include doesn't count as AI is ludicrous.

and you know what? whumptober actually pointed this out. they said they don't want to ban AI-based assistive tools (like grammarly) for accessibility reasons. this post has several great points:

"AI is used for the predictive text and spellchecker that's running while I type this reply."

"Accessibility tools rely on AI." this is true and here's an article about it, though the article is a little too pro-AI in general for my tastes, there's nuances to this stuff. it's used for captioning, translation, image identification, and more. not usually the same kind of AI that's used for stuff like chatgpt. THERE ARE DIFFERENT KINDS!

"But we can't stop that, nor can we undo damage already done, and banning AI use (especially since we can't enforce it) is an empty stand on a hill that's already burning, at least in our view of things."

and people were UP IN ARMS over this post! their notes were full of hate, even though it's all true! just straight lying and saying that predictive text isn't AI (it is), that AI isn't used for accessibility tools (it is), that whumptober can somehow enforce an anti-AI policy (they can't because it's a prompt list).

in effect, both whumptobers have the EXACT SAME AI POLICY. neither allows AI-generated works, but both allow AI-based assistive tools like grammarly. everyone involved here is ON THE SAME SIDE, they all have the exact same opinion on how AI should be applied to events like this, and somehow they're arguing???

not to mention that no other whump event has ever had an AI policy. febuwhump, WIJ, bad things happen bingo, hell even nanowrimo doesn't have one.

and you wanna know the most ridiculous part of this entire thing? which is also the reason why none of the above events have an AI policy.

no one is doing this. no one is out there feeding whumptober prompts to chatgpt and posting them as fills for whumptober cred. it's literally a hypothetical, made-up issue. all of this infighting over a problem that DOESN'T EXIST.

to the point that people are brigading the whumptober server with shit like this:

saying "everyone who participates in whumptober is a traitor, you should go participate in this other event with the exact same AI policy but more moral grandstanding about it" is silly. every single bit of this drama is silly.

in the end, please just be nice to people. we're ALL against the kind of AI that steals from creators. the whumptober mods are against AI, the AILWT mods are against AI, whumptober participants are against AI, AILWT participants are against AI. there is no mythical person out here trying to pass chatgpt work off as whumpfic. let's all just be civil with each other over this, yeah?

[ailesswhumptober]

And thus Whumptober comes to an end!

We can now solidly say that even in other timezones, Whumptober has come to an end!!!

We hope that everybody has enjoyed their time - whether you've managed to fill all 31 prompts or only found the time to tackle 1, you all deserve a big applause for creativity and effort. We've seen some amazing works this month again :D

We'll take a couple days for the mods to reblog any stragglers we catch in the tags. During this time, the AO3 collection will also remain open for whoever wants to add to it still.

In about a week, we'll post our Google Form where ya'll can apply for the badges you've earned, which will be hand delivered by the mods with a big hooray. We cannot thank you all enough for joining this little event <3

[somer-writes]

GREETINGS CAMPERS

WHO IS READY FOR

SOMERS DODECANNUAL MONTHLY BEATDOWN

october edition

OCTOBER 👏 WORD 👏 COUNT 👏: 72,479 WORDS TO Ao3

CURRENT 👏 WORD 👏 COUNT 👏: 1,000,246 WORDS ON Ao3

CHAT! CHAT! WE DID IT! POGGERS!!!

1 MILLION 1 MILLION 1 MILLION

WORKS (new/continued in October): 34 BABY!!!

MOST POPULAR: HAVING BEEN CHOSEN & CHOOSING FOR OTHERS

MY RECOMMENDATION: OBLATION (reader discretion advised!)

IN REVIEW: 1 MILLION 1 MILLION 1 MILLION!!!

also whumptober! 31 days of beating the shit out of twilight bc i can and it sparks joy. also beat up wars and time this month <3 i love them i promise

this month also saw the continuation of Memento Mori, the sequel to the ever popular Burial Rites (reader discretion advised).

further! @crazylittlejester filled twilight with cheese. and i wrote a fic about it. Cheese Whore (thank you @toyouhellohowareyou for the title)

also also 4000 comments!!! FUCK YEAH!!!

ty so much for all the support!! i love reading all your comments, reblogs, tags, and whatever else! thank you everyone who reads, kudos, bookmarks, or comments on fics!! ily!!!

on that note, lets get SAPPY for a moment motherfuckers:

when my brain latched on to @linkeduniverse in September 2023, i never imagined it would lead me to where it has today. it spurred me to not only write freely again the first time in almost 2 years, but to also POST my writing on the internet for the first time in nearly a decade. AND THE RESPONSE! i treasure every single comment just as much as my first comment. i read your bookmarks, i reread comments, i treasure it ALL!

LU has led to me forging incredible relationships. not only in my personal development as a writer with brilliant and lovely peers, dare i say, colleagues, but also deep friendships AND even led me to my loveliest gumdrop beautiful handsome partner @wanderlustmagician

i never IMAGINED hitting 1 million words after 12 months, completing 6 month long challenges, having so many regular readers, being involved in discord servers and reblog wars--! theres too much i cant even FATHOM

i am so eternally grateful to ALL of you. im grateful to the fandom, to its community of artists and writers, to @jojo56830 for creating such a lovely work which brought us all together, and anyone whos ever beta read for me

starting tonight (oct 31 my timezone) and running through tomorrow is the next 24 hour LU writers' marathon! please give it up for @hotcheetohatredwastaken and @not-freyja for keeping this up! also big s/o to @a-manicured-lawn @noorahqar @gia-d @winterfen @tashacee @weavingstarlight @rebornofstars @zarvasace for modding!!!

heres to the next 1 million words!