Hurt/Comfort
Heck, this series is one long Hurt-Comfort story.
– Henry Jenkins comments on Supernatural, Confessions of an Aca Fan
A hurt/comfort (or h/c) story is one in which one character is injured (either physically or emotionally) and the other takes care of them. Often the point of the story is provide a setting in which the characters can reveal and demonstrate an emotional connection previously concealed or repressed.
H/C stories may be focused more on the comforting than the hurt. In a Slash story, this will often lead to sex, and possibly the use of the Magical Healing Cock.
Some stories will focus more on the hurt aspects of the trope. The darker of these will often subject the main character to extreme forms of abuse, sexual assault or torture.
In Supernatural, the show itself and the universe it has built offer many opportunities for the characters to be shot, stabbed, thrown against walls, choked, cursed or tortured by angels or demons. All the main characters also suffer some degree of emotional anguish much of the time. In addition, fanfic very much likes stories where characters suffer illness which may range from the common cold to cancer, or loss of senses or limbs.
Stories are usually classified in terms of who is the subject i.e. hurt!Dean, limp!Sam or whumped!Castiel
In RPF, circumstances most commonly involve emotional distress, mental illness, or diseases. A wider range of situations occur in RPF AUs.
See also
Links
- SPN HurtComfort a h/c fic community
- Angel Whump – hurt Castiel stories
- Spn Little Bro – fic link archive for hurt Sam or hurt Jared stories
- ohsam – h/c fics featuring a hurt Sam
- Abused Sam – h/c fics featuring a hurt Sam
- Hurt Sam comm for h/c fics featuring a hurt Sam
- Limp Sam website – no longer active
- Society for the Continuation of Limp (and Redeemed) Sam
- Limp!Sam Fanfic Awards
- Hoodie Time – comm for h/c fics featuring a hurt Dean. The hoodie reference relates to Dean wearing a hoodie in 1.12 Faith
- Hurt Dean comm for h/c fics featuring a hurt Dean
- Knives Inside Me – a comm for stories about Dean or Jensen with stomach pain or injury
