"It’s like a bowl of soup on a cold day"
"It’s like a bowl of soup on a cold day"In which I talk with a fanfic writer about why hurt/comfort is so damn comfortingThis is the Sunday Edition of Paging Dr. Lesbian. If you like this type of thing, subscribe, and share it with your friends. A paid subscription gets you more writing from me (like this, another titillating update on the Becky/Fletcher saga), and will help me keep this newsletter afloat. Consider going paid! If you’re a habitual reader of fan fiction, you might understand this feeling. Sometimes, a fic is so compelling that you can’t help but read another chapter, even though what you should really be doing is sleeping. There’s something so addicting, and, indeed, so comforting, about fics like these that you might have to go back and read the first 50,000 words again when a new chapter arrives on AO3, just to be sure you haven’t missed anything. I’m not above this instinct myself. In fact, that’s exactly what happened when a new chapter of a SuperCorp fic (the pairing of Kara Danvers and Lena Luthor from Supergirl) arrived recently. My desire to (re)-read all 78,000 words of the fic – entitled i’m spilling all my words (but you keep 'em to yourself) – got me thinking. The fic in question falls into the hurt/comfort genre, a popular category on the volunteer-run, non-profit fan fiction site Archive Of Our Own (AO3). The precise style of these fics varies, but they all have a similar premise in common: one character is hurt (either physically or emotionally), and another character comforts them. The nature of this relationship is often romantic, but it can also be platonic, depending on the author’s interpretation of the characters. I’ve always been fascinated by the popularity of the genre within fan fiction, especially within fan fiction of the sapphic variety. Some of these fics involve dark subjects like PTSD and unresolved trauma, and yet readers are willing to see their favorite characters struggle as long as there is the promise of comfort on the horizon. Perhaps the answer to why such fics are popular is obvious, but I decided to investigate further. Instead of making wild suppositions of my own, I thought I would talk to an expert. I reached out to fanfic author coffeeshib, who wrote the SuperCorp fic I mentioned above. I was interested to hear from her about why she was drawn to the hurt/comfort genre and the responses she’s received from readers about her work. I also spoke with her about the particular connection lesbian and sapphic readers have to the genre. Check out our conversation below. I hope it brings you comfort… How long have you been writing fanfic? What initially inspired you to start? I began writing fanfic in 2019, so I’ve been writing for about four years now. Two main things that inspired me to start writing:
Writing fanfic has taught me a lot, and I will probably keep writing for a long time. It’s become an important part of my life. What draws you to write within the hurt/comfort genre specifically? Oh hurt/comfort, my fav genre. As a writer I'm very into exploring canon trauma that canon refuses to address (or, they make a passing mention of it and then won’t elaborate, placing the character in an awkward spot and stifling their growth/development.) I struggle to find media that really taps on the human condition and feelings as a main focus point unless it’s in fanfiction. I’ll often see a character go through an extreme event, have a couple of crying scenes, and then that’s a wrap. Their issues won’t be brought up again, it’s time to move forward. It doesn’t feel real. The depth of damage from an event or trauma is often poorly written or handled, and left criminally unexplored (looking at you, CW Supergirl). The characters - Kara Danvers and Lena Luthor are a great example of character neglect. Writing hurt/comfort allows me to give depth to the characters. I greatly enjoy writing about the vulnerability and openness of the characters, digging in deep on human experiences and feelings, furthering the connection between them. Why do you think readers are drawn to this genre? (Speaking from personal experience as a reader and/or from feedback you get about your own work.) One of the best parts of hurt/comfort is seeing these characters feeling pain and learning how to heal. It’s seeing them be emotionally vulnerable and soft around certain people or person, and bringing these characters closer together little by little. Those types of experiences are something that we as humans can all relate to in some capacity and I think that’s why readers (including me) are drawn to this genre. It brings me tremendous joy to see the different ways in which characters show they care about and help each other. Hurt/comfort is a character study of sorts - it’s digging in deep and exploring a side to the characters not shown in source material. We get an insight into the character’s personality by placing them in difficult and painful situations. I love reading and writing about my favourite characters being loved and taken care of (especially when they're at their worst). It’s like a bowl of soup on a cold day! The way I see “hurt” in hurt/comfort is not the character suffering in order to “earn” comfort. They are going through hurt so we as readers hurt. When the character is comforted, we in turn are comforted. I've had some lovely readers tell me that my writing brings them joy and comfort, that they hope to experience or find the kind of love Kara and Lena have in my stories. As a reader, I completely understand the sentiment. As a writer, it really makes me happy to know that I'm able to evoke such emotions from them. When you’re writing about topics like trauma and PTSD – like you do in the “i’m spilling all my words fic” – how do you approach that? Is it just character-based or do you do other research? You’re a free subscriber to Paging Dr. Lesbian. For the full experience, which includes weekly dispatches from the lesbian internet, become a paying subscriber. Your support means a lot! |
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