Definition?

[ithildin]

I have lots of really smart people on my f'list, and smart people who read lots and lots of fanfic. So I'm pretty sure more than one of you can help me out here.

What exactly is hurt/comfort fic? I see the term a lot, and I kinds sorta thought I knew what it was, but now, I have a feeling I don't. I'm not even sure if I've ever read any.

Yes, that's the burning object of my curiosity today [g]

Comments

[giandujakiss.livejournal.com]

I don't consider it violence porn necessarily, although it can be - some of my fave h/c fics don't involve violence at all.

Generally, it's a story that involves breaking down the emotions of Character B by having Character B witness or learn about something bad that happened to Character A. The depth of Character B's love is revealed, and fetishized, by showing the depth of Character B's concern for A.

In other words, both A and B hurt, but A's hurt comes from something external to the relationship; B's hurt comes from seeing A's hurt. It's a tossup who comforts whom - B wants to make things better for A; A doesn't want B to hurt over him/her.

It can be torture porn - it can involve A being tortured or raped in detail with B comforting A afterwards. But sometimes A's hurt is psychological, or even some form of self-harm.

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

Hmmm.... that's interesting. I appreciate the explanation. There are so many fic terms I see used these days, and in addition to making me feel old, they confuzzle me :)

So the hurting and the comforting are all the story is about, as opposed to say a story where something bad happens to a character in the course of a longer story. (Not sure if that question makes any sense at all)

[ekaterinn.livejournal.com]

So the hurting and the comforting are all the story is about, as opposed to say a story where something bad happens to a character in the course of a longer story.

Exactly! And giandujakiss's explanation is probably better than mine. A longer story might have hurt/comfort elements in it, though.

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

Wow, you understood me, huh? Be afraid! [g]

[ekaterinn.livejournal.com]

Hee! Maybe it's you who should be afraid - I'm working in a bookstore cafe right now and it's widely agreed that the cafe people (opposed to the people who work on the bookstore side) are strange, strange folks indeed.

[giandujakiss.livejournal.com]

No. You can have h/c in a longer story, just has you can have first time sex in a longer plotty story.

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

Ah, another category of fic I've never read. But that one even I understand [g]

[fondued-jicama.livejournal.com]

So the hurting and the comforting are all the story is about, as opposed to say a story where something bad happens to a character in the course of a longer story.

That depends on whether or not what you're reading is Outlander. *Grin*

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

LOL!! You know, come to think of it, you may have a point :)

[fondued-jicama.livejournal.com]

I tried to read that book a little too early- I was thirteen or fourteen, I think. I would probably stomach it better now. XD

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

Those parts are my least fave aspect of the books. I do lots of skimming :)

[dejla.livejournal.com]

I did say in some cases. Yes, a lot of h/c is mental h/c, not physical.

The ones that disturb me are the ones where the purpose of the story is to hurt the main character as much as possible. That's what I meant by violence porn.

Generally, it's not my favorite type of story, but then I yearn for plotty stories with fairly happy endings.

[ekaterinn.livejournal.com]

I sometimes binge on h/c stories; they're my fannish guilty pleasure because a lot of it is fetishized and not that well-written.

But I did read one lately that was oh so nicely crafted - lots of hurt without being overwrought and the comfort was realistic (i.e., character A had issues with sex and when he and character B first attempted sex, it didn't go that well instead of being all magical healing and shit.) I was going around for days smiling because of that story.