I can't even pinpoint what started my enjoyment of whump, but I know it started when I was a kid and just getting in to writing. It really came out in my teen years when I was neck deep in the Yu-Gi-Oh fandom, both in email roleplays (showing my age a little bit) and in the fics I read. (Kaiba and Joey were my two favorites to beat on). College had me way over my head in the Stargate SG-1 fandom and, if you know the show and the fandom, you know who the favorite whumpee is (and yet my favorite episode is 'Solitudes', which is just Jack and Sam whump). I don't wanna say that's all I read/wrote, but it was the vast majority. Criminal Minds was the same thing.

I fell out of fandoms and fanfic reading/writing for a bit, but the FFXIV and Star Wars fandoms have me all over it again. I blame The Clone Wars and Bad Batch chunks of the Star Wars fandom. I've met a few whump writers in those fandoms over on Tumblr and we all seem to jive well together.

As for my "why": I have no idea! I think whump, sickfics, hurt/comfort takes a lot of characters outside of their typical personalities and explores a different side of them. How they deal with the "trauma" and how they react to it, how they interact with other characters, and I feel like it really lets the author play with character relationships (not always romantic relationships). It can also bring characters together. That and I'm a little darkling that loves drama.

Favorite tropes:

• The whumpee being clutched to their caretaker's chest

• Having one character sit by the other's bed while they sleep, just in case they need something or have a nightmare.

• Fading in and out of consciousness due to a fever.

• Singing softly to the whumpee, stroking their hair, etc. while they're sleeping/passed out.

• Another character comforting the caregiver when it looks like they're at the point of burnout.

• The whumpee falling asleep to the sound of their caregiver's heartbeat (love this one so much, it really gives me the warm fuzzies).

• Accurate medical terminology. No idea with this one. Maybe it's because I grew up with a mom that was an RN?

• Breaking down in someone's arms, especially if it's the cold and stoic character that rarely shows any emotion. Actually, anything with the cold and stoic character being vulnerable, really.