To ‘whump’ a character is to write a fic where awful things happen to him, often at the hands of other characters from the book/show/movie, after which everyone realizes they’ve done him wrong and make amends. Daniel from Stargate SG-1 is the canonical whump!fic target since he’s always dying, getting kidnapped by aliens, or dropped into stray singularities.

It’s amusing to learn this, and explains the odd reaction I get when introduced to fan writers.

I’ve asked how long the term has been in use, and guesses range from a decade to the past 20 years.

kate_nepveu

As read, the panel description sounds rather wank-tastic, however, given the background of my co-panelists, I'm sure we can discuss more interesting things:

1. The development of 'BitterCon' and other meta-convention activities.
2. The role of LJ in programming (thinking of ktempest and coffeeandink's sprints to develop program proposals from a PoC perspective.)
3. LJ as ad-hoc programming space for continued discussion of items (such as "But the Master has a Black and Decker drill.")
4. LJ as immune system (responding to the OSBP, and organizing people on the ground to handle harassing situations.)
5. LJ as pre-convention coordination (are you going, I need a room, I can share a ride, what panels are you on, what panels are you going to, and what the hell is with that panel?)
6. LJ as permanent floating WisCon.

I didn't write the program item description (if you did, please clarify your intent in the comments.)