hurt/comfort exchange letter
Dear h/c writer,
Thank you for picking up my requests! I'm repeating myself from last year in this letter in some places, because my tastes haven't changed much, so apologies if you've read this before.
For every fandom I've ever been in, my first instinct with any characters whose relationship I like is to put them into a h/c situation and see what happens. I love h/c as a way to explore relationships, as a way to find out how far characters will go for each other, explore their trust or lack of trust, push them to extremis and see how they cope. I like role reversal in h/c: I like it when the more competent/powerful character is hurt and the other characters have to step up. In general, I like plotty adventure stories, 'away mission' type stories, missing scenes from canon, canon AUs, domestic fluff and pure tropefic. For me, h/c and loyalty kink go together all the time, and all of my requests go that way. I like the way h/c intensifies the loyalty issues, it forces the characters into situations where they have to express their loyalty, whether it's the classic throwing yourself in front of a bullet or something more low-key.
For all of these relationships, I like both the gen and the shippy version and regardless of what I've selected, I don't mind which you write. If you want to write something more explicit, go ahead. In explicit sex, I like imperfect, messy, complicated situations more than idealised sex, and I'm happy with any kinks you think fit the characters and situation.
With the h/c dynamic, unless I specify below, I don't mind if you want to mix it up, have the hurt and comforting character the other way round or have both playing both roles.
I've used a lot of the same tropes on every request because they are general h/c tropes that I adore, and added some others that match up with the various fandoms. But reading through the list of tags, there are hundreds and hundreds on there that I like, so if something else has sparked off an idea for you, by all means use it.
My only DNWs are death of a requested character, and death of or severe violence to young children. I am fine with gore, noncon, violence, bodily fluids and any other dark stories, though I think by its nature a h/c story needs some kind of happy or comforting ending.
Endeavour (TV), Endeavour Morse & Fred Thursday (Thursday hurt, both hurt)
I've just watched the most recent season, and I want reconcilation-through-h/c so much. These are the opposite of demonstrative men, and that's how I want the h/c to be. And for this one, it's Thursday I want hurt. Morse can be hurt too, but I'm not asking for the dynamic where Morse is hurt and Thursday relents towards him, I want it the other way around, for Morse to have to swallow his pride in the face of how much he loves and respects Thursday. Any kind of scenario whether casefic or missing scene or a brief domestic moment or anything else. Of the other characters, I adore Bright and Wynn, and I wasn't terribly interested in Morse's disaster affair in the most recent season.
accepting injury to protect someone
Altered Mental States
Bedside Vigils
Character insists on completing mission despite injuries
Collapsing on character's doorstep
Comfort focusing on little hurt because the big hurt is massive and unapproachable
Huddling For Warmth
Hurting Oneself to Win/Complete the Mission
On the Run with a Sick or Injured Partner
Neither comforter or comfortee will directly acknowledge that comforting is taking place
Exhaustion
Sick/hurt character forgets they are undercover
Technically awful attempts at comfort are actually very comforting
Flight of the Heron - DK Broster, Ewen/Keith
This book is the quintessential h/c novel already, but that doesn't mean we can't have more. Obviously, there's fixing the ending, or you could diverge from canon somewhere else, or just find some extra scenes to add into the books. The torture with Guthrie is ripe for h/c, you could just extend the Edinburgh scene and have them kiss, or show some extra scenes from the early days at Ardroy and on the march with the Highlanders, or go completely AU somewhere along the line.
accepting injury to protect someone
Altered Mental States
Bedside Vigils
Doing the "Dirty Work" Themself At Great Emotional Cost So Others Won't Have To
Exhaustion
Huddling For Warmth
Imprisoned/locked up with person who needs medical care
Nightmares
Pining character reveals their feelings while not quite lucid (hurt/drunk/etc.)
Mistreated While A Prisoner
Sharing a Bed
Struggling Against the Caretaker
Technically awful attempts at comfort are actually very comforting
hurt character still being the protective one
Hamilton - LMM, Hamilton & Washington
I've come very late to this show, but I love it, and of everything I love in it, it's the Hamilton-Washington dymanic that does things for me, the loyalty kink side of it, the severe and brilliant general and his dazzling, brash right hand man, the friction between them and the way Hamilton gets in his face but in the end when Washington raises a finger, Hamilton jumps. And when I like a dynamic, the first thing I want for it is h/c :-).
I have one DNW for this, no modern AUs please. Other kinds of AU are fine, change the course of history, add magic, but I like the period setting, the war, the nation-building, and the way the relationships work in the setting. If you want to go more historical RPF, that's fine too, or feel free to be anachronistic in the way the show is.
Assassination Attempt(s)
accepting injury to protect someone
Altered Mental States
Bedside Vigils
Character A is cursed to obey every order; Character B protects them when it goes wrong
Character insists on completing mission despite injuries
Doing the "Dirty Work" Themself At Great Emotional Cost So Others Won't Have To
Exhaustion
Huddling For Warmth
Hurting Oneself to Win/Complete the Mission
sick/hurt at formal social event
field medicine
Rivers of London - Peter & Nightingale, Peter/Nightingale
Give either of them some comfort for the things they go through in canon, or give them some new magical trauma, make use of the fact that for much of canon they live in the same house for something more cosy and domestic. If you want to include Beverley or go OT3 that's fine, and I love the entire cast of characters so feel free to use any of them. I am up to date with canon.
accepting injury to protect someone
Altered Mental States
Bedside Vigils
Character A is cursed to obey every order; Character B protects them when it goes wrong
Comfort focusing on little hurt because the big hurt is massive and unapproachable
Forced to hurt friend to maintain undercover identity
hurt character still being the protective one
Character Finally gets a Hug
Entering a dream/nightmare to help the dreamer
Magical Exhaustion
Injured by Mind Controlled Friend or Loved One
Sick/hurt character isn't quite lucid
Character insists on completing mission despite injuries
Star Trek: Discovery - Georgiou, Mirror Georgiou, Michael and Saru
Feel free to mix up the characters: I love both Georgious, Michael and Saru a great deal and I don't mind which combination of them you use or whether they're shippy or gen. I love all their interactions, and I'd love to see that explored and exposed with h/c. Saru, Philippa's first alien protege, and then Michael, the second, faster-rising one, always sniping at each other but both loyal to her. And then on Discovery, Michael and Saru learning to become friends, their ranks reversed, and then they go to the Mirrorverse, which is completely ripe for h/c in so many ways and if you want to go there, with Michael and mirror!Philippa (or mirror!Saru; by all means use him too), and then Mirror Philippa in the main universe, obsessed with Michael but viewing Saru as dinner. And all that Michael and Saru go through together in S2, and Mirror!Philippa's overtures towards Michael and her scheming... there's so much going on between them all.
Altered Mental States
accepting injury to protect someone
A's seriously injured on mission; B's ordered to leave A and proceed with the mission but disobeys
Character A undertakes a dangerous mission and Character B's job is to keep them alive through it
Huddling For Warmth
Injured/sick in the wilderness
Forced to hurt friend to maintain undercover identity
hurt character still being the protective one
Hallucinations
Bedside Vigils
Vorkosigan - Alys/Simon, Aral/Simon, Aral/Cordelia, Ivan/Duv
All characters I love very much, who all go through all sorts of unpleasant things in canon. Feel free to either use canon events as a base, or go off into something totally different, perhaps set during the Regency when there must have been all sorts of hijinks that never get mentioned in canon, or a canon AU of any kind you like (I've often wondered about the Prince-Serg-survives AU, if you want to go really dark). Or something light and fluffy, or anywhere in between.
Assassination Attempt(s)
Protectiveness
Bedside Vigils
Comforting over the phone/radio
sick/hurt at formal social event
Pining character reveals their feelings while not quite lucid (hurt/drunk/etc.)
Huddling For Warmth
Sharing a Bed
Sick/Injured Character Slipping In And Out Of Lucidity While Important Information Must Be Shared
Technically awful attempts at comfort are actually very comforting
Injured by Mind Controlled Friend or Loved One
Struggling Against the Caretaker
Drugged Character
Hiding Injuries
Crossposted at https://philomytha.dreamwidth.org/170471.html. There are
comments there.
Thank you for picking up my requests! I'm repeating myself from last year in this letter in some places, because my tastes haven't changed much, so apologies if you've read this before.
For every fandom I've ever been in, my first instinct with any characters whose relationship I like is to put them into a h/c situation and see what happens. I love h/c as a way to explore relationships, as a way to find out how far characters will go for each other, explore their trust or lack of trust, push them to extremis and see how they cope. I like role reversal in h/c: I like it when the more competent/powerful character is hurt and the other characters have to step up. In general, I like plotty adventure stories, 'away mission' type stories, missing scenes from canon, canon AUs, domestic fluff and pure tropefic. For me, h/c and loyalty kink go together all the time, and all of my requests go that way. I like the way h/c intensifies the loyalty issues, it forces the characters into situations where they have to express their loyalty, whether it's the classic throwing yourself in front of a bullet or something more low-key.
For all of these relationships, I like both the gen and the shippy version and regardless of what I've selected, I don't mind which you write. If you want to write something more explicit, go ahead. In explicit sex, I like imperfect, messy, complicated situations more than idealised sex, and I'm happy with any kinks you think fit the characters and situation.
With the h/c dynamic, unless I specify below, I don't mind if you want to mix it up, have the hurt and comforting character the other way round or have both playing both roles.
I've used a lot of the same tropes on every request because they are general h/c tropes that I adore, and added some others that match up with the various fandoms. But reading through the list of tags, there are hundreds and hundreds on there that I like, so if something else has sparked off an idea for you, by all means use it.
My only DNWs are death of a requested character, and death of or severe violence to young children. I am fine with gore, noncon, violence, bodily fluids and any other dark stories, though I think by its nature a h/c story needs some kind of happy or comforting ending.
Endeavour (TV), Endeavour Morse & Fred Thursday (Thursday hurt, both hurt)
I've just watched the most recent season, and I want reconcilation-through-h/c so much. These are the opposite of demonstrative men, and that's how I want the h/c to be. And for this one, it's Thursday I want hurt. Morse can be hurt too, but I'm not asking for the dynamic where Morse is hurt and Thursday relents towards him, I want it the other way around, for Morse to have to swallow his pride in the face of how much he loves and respects Thursday. Any kind of scenario whether casefic or missing scene or a brief domestic moment or anything else. Of the other characters, I adore Bright and Wynn, and I wasn't terribly interested in Morse's disaster affair in the most recent season.
accepting injury to protect someone
Altered Mental States
Bedside Vigils
Character insists on completing mission despite injuries
Collapsing on character's doorstep
Comfort focusing on little hurt because the big hurt is massive and unapproachable
Huddling For Warmth
Hurting Oneself to Win/Complete the Mission
On the Run with a Sick or Injured Partner
Neither comforter or comfortee will directly acknowledge that comforting is taking place
Exhaustion
Sick/hurt character forgets they are undercover
Technically awful attempts at comfort are actually very comforting
Flight of the Heron - DK Broster, Ewen/Keith
This book is the quintessential h/c novel already, but that doesn't mean we can't have more. Obviously, there's fixing the ending, or you could diverge from canon somewhere else, or just find some extra scenes to add into the books. The torture with Guthrie is ripe for h/c, you could just extend the Edinburgh scene and have them kiss, or show some extra scenes from the early days at Ardroy and on the march with the Highlanders, or go completely AU somewhere along the line.
accepting injury to protect someone
Altered Mental States
Bedside Vigils
Doing the "Dirty Work" Themself At Great Emotional Cost So Others Won't Have To
Exhaustion
Huddling For Warmth
Imprisoned/locked up with person who needs medical care
Nightmares
Pining character reveals their feelings while not quite lucid (hurt/drunk/etc.)
Mistreated While A Prisoner
Sharing a Bed
Struggling Against the Caretaker
Technically awful attempts at comfort are actually very comforting
hurt character still being the protective one
Hamilton - LMM, Hamilton & Washington
I've come very late to this show, but I love it, and of everything I love in it, it's the Hamilton-Washington dymanic that does things for me, the loyalty kink side of it, the severe and brilliant general and his dazzling, brash right hand man, the friction between them and the way Hamilton gets in his face but in the end when Washington raises a finger, Hamilton jumps. And when I like a dynamic, the first thing I want for it is h/c :-).
I have one DNW for this, no modern AUs please. Other kinds of AU are fine, change the course of history, add magic, but I like the period setting, the war, the nation-building, and the way the relationships work in the setting. If you want to go more historical RPF, that's fine too, or feel free to be anachronistic in the way the show is.
Assassination Attempt(s)
accepting injury to protect someone
Altered Mental States
Bedside Vigils
Character A is cursed to obey every order; Character B protects them when it goes wrong
Character insists on completing mission despite injuries
Doing the "Dirty Work" Themself At Great Emotional Cost So Others Won't Have To
Exhaustion
Huddling For Warmth
Hurting Oneself to Win/Complete the Mission
sick/hurt at formal social event
field medicine
Rivers of London - Peter & Nightingale, Peter/Nightingale
Give either of them some comfort for the things they go through in canon, or give them some new magical trauma, make use of the fact that for much of canon they live in the same house for something more cosy and domestic. If you want to include Beverley or go OT3 that's fine, and I love the entire cast of characters so feel free to use any of them. I am up to date with canon.
accepting injury to protect someone
Altered Mental States
Bedside Vigils
Character A is cursed to obey every order; Character B protects them when it goes wrong
Comfort focusing on little hurt because the big hurt is massive and unapproachable
Forced to hurt friend to maintain undercover identity
hurt character still being the protective one
Character Finally gets a Hug
Entering a dream/nightmare to help the dreamer
Magical Exhaustion
Injured by Mind Controlled Friend or Loved One
Sick/hurt character isn't quite lucid
Character insists on completing mission despite injuries
Star Trek: Discovery - Georgiou, Mirror Georgiou, Michael and Saru
Feel free to mix up the characters: I love both Georgious, Michael and Saru a great deal and I don't mind which combination of them you use or whether they're shippy or gen. I love all their interactions, and I'd love to see that explored and exposed with h/c. Saru, Philippa's first alien protege, and then Michael, the second, faster-rising one, always sniping at each other but both loyal to her. And then on Discovery, Michael and Saru learning to become friends, their ranks reversed, and then they go to the Mirrorverse, which is completely ripe for h/c in so many ways and if you want to go there, with Michael and mirror!Philippa (or mirror!Saru; by all means use him too), and then Mirror Philippa in the main universe, obsessed with Michael but viewing Saru as dinner. And all that Michael and Saru go through together in S2, and Mirror!Philippa's overtures towards Michael and her scheming... there's so much going on between them all.
Altered Mental States
accepting injury to protect someone
A's seriously injured on mission; B's ordered to leave A and proceed with the mission but disobeys
Character A undertakes a dangerous mission and Character B's job is to keep them alive through it
Huddling For Warmth
Injured/sick in the wilderness
Forced to hurt friend to maintain undercover identity
hurt character still being the protective one
Hallucinations
Bedside Vigils
Vorkosigan - Alys/Simon, Aral/Simon, Aral/Cordelia, Ivan/Duv
All characters I love very much, who all go through all sorts of unpleasant things in canon. Feel free to either use canon events as a base, or go off into something totally different, perhaps set during the Regency when there must have been all sorts of hijinks that never get mentioned in canon, or a canon AU of any kind you like (I've often wondered about the Prince-Serg-survives AU, if you want to go really dark). Or something light and fluffy, or anywhere in between.
Assassination Attempt(s)
Protectiveness
Bedside Vigils
Comforting over the phone/radio
sick/hurt at formal social event
Pining character reveals their feelings while not quite lucid (hurt/drunk/etc.)
Huddling For Warmth
Sharing a Bed
Sick/Injured Character Slipping In And Out Of Lucidity While Important Information Must Be Shared
Technically awful attempts at comfort are actually very comforting
Injured by Mind Controlled Friend or Loved One
Struggling Against the Caretaker
Drugged Character
Hiding Injuries
Crossposted at https://philomytha.dreamwidth.org/170471.html. There are