Let's chat about h/c today!

[frith_in_thorns]

To go with naye's lovely post about comfort tropes, tell me your favourite kinds of hurt for your fictional characters! Do you have ones you like to read but not write, or vice versa? Are there some you will read endlessly in any fandom you're in? Are there some h/c tropes you can bash out a 2k oneshot for at the drop of a hat?

Also, do you find you're equal-opportunity with your hurt, or do you hoard it all for one particular character or character archetype?

I'll start, and say that I'm really into hurt resulting in altered-state, as provided by many things but especially concussion/drugged/fever etc. It's something I find endlessly enjoyable to write -- the vulnerability caused by the skewed perspective, and how that plays out in character interactions, but also I... just like... the hurt bit itself *gg* And currently I have a definite Thing for Shen Wei magically exhausting himself and coughing blood and stumbling in a floppy way and having to be supported by Zhao Yunlan. (I don't suppose this is a revelation to anyone. But I'm so glad to know that I'm not alone!)

Anyway, please share your own likes! And recs!

(This is a positivity-only post. Very uninterested in hearing how h/c is OOC or a moral failing or how some people write it badly or whatever, thanks.)

Comments

[xparrot]

--As far as character preferences go -- I very often do have them! Though it can be hard for me to predict, because it's not always my favorite character that I want to see hurt; sometimes I prefer my favorite to be the caretaker. And then sometimes I don't have a favorite. For a variety of reasons; sometimes it's the aesthetics of seeing the hurt, sometimes it's more the emotional side. Sometimes I want to see one character hurt because the other character isn't good at expressing themselves and I want to see their love shown in their caretaking; other times a stoic character I want to see their walls broken down.

In Guardian I definitely lean more towards wanting Shen Wei hurt, both for the aesthetics and also for the emotionals reasons -- him being vulnerable, and also wanting to see Zhao Yunlan taking care of him. Though I like it both ways (and a number of my favorite scenes in the show are Zhao Yunlan hurt and Shen Wei taking care, though it's the interactions I like there, while as Shen Wei I enjoy seeing hurt and coughing up blood even when no one is around for it...)

There is the case for me sometimes that I have characters I like who I'm not especially interested in h/c for, or only want them in the caretaking role, never the hurt? Guardian's not like that for me, but there have been others. I think some of it depends on the nature of the characters, and how I read them...I like h/c best when I perceive it will help develop or advance the character in some way. Like, characters who have poor self-esteem, getting affirmation that people care about them can be really good for them; characters who are extremely self-sufficient can learn to entrust themselves to someone else. I kind of think this might be the difference between liking h/c vs whump -- whump characters are more those who need different lessons, like, they need to know they're strong enough on their own? (which for me is why Shen Wei especially is such a good h/c target, because he knows how strong he is, he knows he can do things on his own; what he needs to learn is that he doesn't have to...)

[frith_in_thorns]

it's the interactions I like there, while as Shen Wei I enjoy seeing hurt and coughing up blood even when no one is around for it...

Yeeeeeah this :D