The joys and woes of hurt/comfort

[amatara]

So maspalio requested a Londo and G’Kar h/c fic, which is coming along rather nicely, and has been bringing me lots of writerly joy! However, now that I’m nearing the finish, the Great Inescapable Question inevitably poses itself: is the stuff I wrote any good? Which in turn leads to another question, one I see popping up time and again but that is seldom properly answered: what does make a good h/c fic, anyway?

Or, no, maybe I should rephrase that to: is there any such thing as a good hurt/comfort fic? Because – well, let’s be fair here: not everyone seems convinced of that. In fact, “h/c equals badfic” is right over on the big heap of cliché objections to genres, along with “gen is boring”, “slash is icky” and “het is Mary Sue”. Now, I can understand perfectly that not everyone is into everything; a type of fic loved to death by reader A can be reader B’s absolute squick, and simply not do anything for reader C at all. Personally, it took me a long time to give slash a chance, and even now (though there are exceptions *g*) I tend to leave the explicit well enough alone. And that’s fine, isn’t it? But why do we have the tendency to take our own dislikes and preferences and try to squeeze everyone else into them, expecting they'd make a good fit? Regarding h/c specifically – the most extensive piece of meta I read about that was a ten-page long essay (okay, so I skimmed, not read it) meticulously explaining why all h/c is supposedly bad quality, the main argument being that the meta author defined h/c as a type of fic that portrays excessive angst in an inherently OOC and canon-defying manner. Hence, all h/c is rubbish; point proven. Which is not really a fair argument in any way; I mean, come on!

So, assuming we leave aside the assumption that h/c is bad by definition – what does it take to write a good story in the genre? First of all, what is “good”, really? In any case, “good” is not simply “anything people like (except for those with bad taste)”. Apart from the fact that “bad taste” is a touchy concept in itself, plenty of people dislike things that are considered qualitatively “good”, or love things that can be considered “bad”. Take music for example –some rather awful songs have been made over the past few decades, but some of those I like anyway: because they bring back memories, or they have a nice rhythm, or they just plain make me feel happy, for no reason at all. With fics, it’s the same thing; so, “good” does not necessarily equal “popular”, and vice versa. Point in case: FanFiction.net proves without a doubt that plenty of people like awfully written mpreg (with which I’m not implying that all mpreg is afwully written, as really, I wouldn’t know – but there is certainly bad mpreg, and it is being liked). Similarly, plenty of people like awfully written h/c... So: easy, huh? Except that my ambition isn’t to write a popular story, but a decent one (though I won’t lie and claim I don’t want it both, if I could *g*). Thus, the question still remains.

One could argue that a good h/c fic story is one that fits into a larger narrative. One where h/c isn’t the objective of the story, but rather a means to an end. The same could be said about fluff, or pr0n, or any other specific sub-genre really. And the argument would make perfect sense, except that some of the best fics I’ve read do not fit that description at all. In fact, I have an endless admiration for fic writers who manage a story that is pure fluff, or pwop, or h/c, without making any excuse for the inherent cliché-ness of that premise, and proceeding to execute said premise in such a way that it leaves me utterly astounded at their skill. (penknife is such a writer, andrastewhite is another, and I’m sure there are plenty more around!)

So, if plot isn’t a prerequisite, then what is? Characterization is certainly a part of it, at least to me: I love my canon, and I do not want my favorite character to turn into a blubbering wimp at the first sign of trouble. Nor do I want characters who are known for their mutual snarking to swoon into each other’s arms without a very plausible excuse. Realism? That’s harder. Personally, I don’t need a fic to be entirely plausible in every way in order to enjoy it – though there are limits, of course, and I prefer at least some solid basis for my suspension of disbelief. Then there’s also the fact that I’m really not so much for the comfort-sex thing, particularly not when the hurt has been physical or (god forbid!) sexual in nature. There is at least some physical exercise involved in a good display of lovemaking, so a character that has just been stabbed, beaten, mind-raped and left out to freeze will most likely not be capable and/or interested.

But the main thing for a h/c fic, in my opinion, is dosage. You want your story to have a point, so, just like with a good joke, you don’t give away too much in advance. Oh, you can slip in some teasers, of course, as that’s really half of the fun – but you don’t put your readers through a pages-long angstfest, just to have them discover that, by the time you reach your oh-so-carefully-prepared emotional climax, they simply can’t be bothered anymore. (In fact, overdosing on the hurt was of my main gripes with Peter David’s B5 Centauri Trilogy: the first book, at least to me, read somewhat like a 200-page Londo h/c – only minus the “c”.) So: lay it on gently. It’s no use spilling all the beans before you’re halfway through. And, of course, a lot depends on the characters you’re working with: realistically, a Londo & Vir h/c could be much “comforty-er” (is that a word?) than a Londo & G’Kar one.

What do you think makes for good h/c; what do you expect from a story like that? If anyone has some good ones to recommend, that’s very welcome too! It would seem there are presently no Londo and G'Kar h/c fics in existence at all, which I find very strange indeed. Have I missed some, maybe?

About the one I'm writing: will you believe I’m not quite sure if I’ll find the courage to have it beta’ed? Not because it’s bad, because it really isn't; I'm even kind of proud of it, in a way. But... Well, for some reason, having this one picked apart by a beta would make me feel more – vulnerable? Is that the word I'm looking for? – than I feel about other types of stories. Mostly, I guess, because showing people some of your fantasies (no matter how small, and no matter how innocent) is a scary, scary thing. And h/c is, perhaps, more about fantasies than a regular fic. Does that make sense, or is it just me?