ithildin | Definition?

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]

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Ummm... Okay. Triona gets really badly beaten up--usually physically, but it could be mentally--in some cases in graphic detail, and then Methos takes care of her, comforts her, helps heal the injuries. The last part can be as mushy as the writer can stand...

But the point of the story is dwelling on the injuries as they are received, and then on the comfort as it is given. Doesn't have to have a plot.

In some cases, it's almost violence porn.

In some cases, it's almost violence porn.

What a great way to summarize it right there. I mean, that's exactly what it is in all of it's non-PC glory...

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.

But the point of the story is dwelling on the injuries as they are received,

[cringes in chair] Okay, I'm definitely not mentally cut out for that sort of fic either as a reader or a writer.

Thanks for the explanation!

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)

I always say that I can't define hurt/comfort, but like porn, I know it when I see it. *g* Seriously, I would say that a traditional h/c story is one where at least one character is hurt (emotionally, physically, or both), and then the other character in the pairing comforts them in some way (i.e. showing affection, nursing them, sex and more sex). Does that make sense?

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.

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.

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.

There was a LOT of that in the seaQuest fanfic community focused on Lucas ... so much so that it was called ELF - Evil Lucas Fiction. I tried to avoid it because ... well, how can you claim to 'love' someone if you just keep beating them up? It makes no sense to me.

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

I always say that I can't define hurt/comfort, but like porn, I know it when I see it. *g*

LOL! Now I'm pretty certain I've never read a strictly H/C story. I actually wouldn't mind checking a few good examples out so I have a mental reference. Though I'm the person who closes her eyes during violent scenes in movies and TV shows, so I don't know how far I'd get [g]

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.

I'll try to dig up some recs for you tomorrow! (I'm about to go to work now.) And, OT, but do you have MSN or AIM or LJTalk? I'll like to IM you sometime!

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

I have all of them, but you need to let me know you want to chat since I only turn them on if I have a reason to :)

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

Ah, okay, will do!

Everyone did a really good job of explaining. The thing to remember however, is that the hurt doesn't have to be physical. It can be mental or emotional as well. And many of these terms over-lap.

We talk about amnesia fic. What if Methos were to take a bad quickening and came out of it not knowing who he was. He wanders aimlessly not knowing he is Methos or that he's immortal. Duncan becomes worried about him and goes to look for him. Then he takes care of him until he gets his memory back. That is an amnesia and h/c story. Methos has suffered harm (loss of his memory) and Duncan protects and cares for him.

Or suppose Methos takes a bad quickening and becomes violently ill. He can't protect himself, all he can do is hole up and try to ride out the illness until he's better. Duncan hears from Joe about the quickening, worries when Methos doesn't show up and finds him shaking and feverish. He nurses him back to health. Hurt/Comfort.

Alexa dies and Methos is emotionally distraught. Joe tells Duncan and he shows up and lends emotional and physical (food, shelter, a shoulder to cry on - doesn't have to be slash) support. Hurt/Comfort.

I don't like torture fic for the sake of torture. But torture fic with a good plot can turn into good hurt/comfort fic.

You can have a hurt/comfort situation that turns into a first-time story or become a very romantic story. So, alot of over-lap if you want it.

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*

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

[nods] lots of great explaining going on :) Thanks for your addition!

In a pop-psychology-ish way, in my opinion, h/c (and I *like* h/c) is a way for someone (the writer/reader) who is a chronic caregiver, to be the object of care, for a change, in a fantasy kind of way, since the reader/writer is most likely identifying with the character who has been hurt and receiving the care. I'm sure it's more complicated than that, but it helps explain - to myself at least - why h/c is appealing.

Just a thought...

Hmmm... that's very interesting!

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

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

h/c is a way for someone (the writer/reader) who is a chronic caregiver, to be the object of care

Oh, that's a fascinating way to think about it1 It does make a kind of sense, since fandom (or at least the fanfic-writing segment) is primarily composed of women, who are far more likely to be in a caregiving role. Though, for me, there's also the fact that I know there will be at least a hopeful ending for the characters, no matter what came before, which can be all too rare in real life.

That last story I wrote, "Hair", was h/c. Does that help? The violence was implied and the comfort was...comfortable. *grin*

*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).

Which one was that? I looked at your website and your tags, but couldn't find it.

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

I'm so much in the caregiver category, you'd think the idea of such fic would appeal to me, but in reading the descriptions of what the fic is, instead, it seems to make me uncomfortable. Of course, I've been told more than once that I won't let people take care of me. Apparently it's a huge fault of mine, so maybe it does make sense in some mentally twisted way :)

It was my first foray into the SGA fandom. You can find it here (http://mischief5.livejournal.com/44688.html#cutid1) if you're interested.

Oh, the SGA one! I'm much better at remembering fandoms than titles :)

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-)

I have no doubt that someone has already explained to you.... but just thought I would throw in the fact that my friends and I call it bruisy/mendy rather than hurt/comfort

*grin*