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

[beccadg.livejournal.com]

*Blinks.* Wow, there's been so much good explaining not sure what I can add. *Thinks.* I'm not sure how much reading I've done of H/C, but I do like that when it says H/C it means there will be comfort. Sure I know going in someone will get hurt mentally, emotionally or physically, but I also know there will be comfort where I get no guarantee with a "plotty fic" whether or not someone who gets hurt will get comforted.

Now, maybe it's just among some of the people I've hung out with, but to me when a friend offered to write "Whumpfic" they specifically meant the Hurt would be physical versus "H/C" meaning mental, emotional or physical pain. My friend said, "If you want to you can specify details such as the character you want whumped, type of injury, characters involved in comforting... whatever you like." I asked for a couple of different possibilities and got, "Blood Ties: Hurt Henry Fitzroy, Comfort Michael Celluci, who does the whumping, degree of whumping (aside from their needing to be the ability of Michael to comfort) and exact time frame I leave to you."

The piece starts after Henry was injured by what "Whumped" him. It starts with Mike already helping injured Henry. There's bleeding on Henry's part and pain, but the piece isn't about his getting injured it's about Mike being there to help him. I reposted it in my journal when she gave me permission to because I love it.

I'm not sure how many people have looked at it when it's both clearly labeled as Whumpfic, and when I included in my reposting her saying, "I tried to give this a bit of slash (because I know you like that) but I've never written slash before - which might explain why this is a bit rubbish (and jarring)." A bigger slash fan than I looked at it for the slash content and assured me it's very chaste. I don't know if you'd be interest in reading it when you're not a big Blood Ties fan or if you might've read it simply because I was excited enough about it to repost it, but if I remember right that you like Dylan Neal's performance as Mike on the show you might like it.

Oh! That reminds me, did you get the email about the Dylan Neal icons and pictures over in the Blood Ties TV comm I sent you?

Er, I like H/C both from the stand point of seeing favorite character A comforted when he needs comforting, and from the stand point of seeing favorite character B there to give comfort to A when he/she needs it. I mean for me it's as much knowing, while I can't be there to do the comforting (unless I happen to be writing a self insert), character B will be there to do the comforting as it is seeing character A get comforted. With H/C I don't have to worry about character A suffering without getting comforted.

Umh... oh... the Whumpfic I love so much I reposted it is over here (http://beccadg.livejournal.com/123919.html).

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

I remember seeing the term 'whumped' when I used to be on a Jack O'Neill list.

[beccadg.livejournal.com]

Another term I've seen as part of conversations about H/C and Whump is "Torture Puppy" used to refer to the character in a fandom that spends the most time being the one who gets hurt and needs comforting. I've seen it used of Face in A-Team fandom, and Daniel in SG-1 fandom. Having been giving H/C in general more thought I think my earliest Highlander fics can each be considered H/C of the emotional hurt variety. In the very first one there's Grayson's hurt from feeling abandoned by Darius and Darius comforting him by giving him the Light Quickening. In the bigger one with TJ she's hurting from Grayson's death and Methos comforts her. 8-)