Snowflake Challenge - Day 11

[dizzojay]

 Challenge #11

In your own space, Talk about your favorite trope, cliché, kink, motif, or theme. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

So for today, I’m going to talk about hurt/comfort (H/C)

I love H/C, and I always have, even before I knew fanfiction existed.  I get a real kick out of the idea of a strong, independent person becoming vulnerable (hopefully temporarily because I love a happy ending) and being forced to accept help and sympathy. 

In a way, this can apply to the comforter too, where the comforter is maybe someone who is not used to being tactile or nurturing in the usual course of their lives - for instance, someone like Castiel, Crowley or Mr Ketch!

There doesn’t have to be a point to all comforting and nurturing.  I’m proudly shallow and not bothered if the story doesn’t lead to any significant character growth or development..

I simply want to immerse myself in the mental images of the pain and conflict of the victim and the caring and nurturing of the comforter.  It's chocolate cake for my soul!

As I’m only really active in the Supernatural fandom, for me, H/C has to be Dean-centric, or in terms of RPF, Jensen-centric.  I guess Jensen is generally regarded as the more stoic partner in J2, and Dean is regarded as the ‘tough guy’ out of the Winchester brothers. 

I love any story where Dean or Jensen's facade of strength is broken, and an inner vulnerability is exposed, whether it be physical, like an illness or an injury, or psychological, like low self-esteem or shyness.  I love it all, I’m not fussy!

From a personal point of view, I believe touch and closeness is such an important part of the human bonding experience.  I'm very tactile, and an enthusiastic hugger (and huggee!) so for me, to experience that closeness as an onlooker is every bit as satisfying, particularly when it's two gorgeous guys that I'm 'onlooking' at.. 

A well-written H/C that ramps up the hurt, and draws out the delicious comfort, and manages to tread the line of helplessness and vulnerability without crossing over into melodrama can grab me on such an intense and sub-conscious level, that it can literally leave me breathless.

In terms of fic, that touch doesn’t have to be sexual, I’m totally happy when the touch and comfort is completely platonic, but I'm happy to read H/C which is both gen and slash.  However, for me in a slash H/C, the sex aspect, however well it's written, is completely incidental to the hurt/comfort elements of the story..

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[dizzojay]

I think there's a lot of people who are, and some may not even realise it!