March Challenge for hc_bingo
Warning: Read the warnings on these fics. I have not transcribed any of them, so if you have triggers, check them out.
Unshockingly, because this is me, and I'm completely psychotic and take the treatment (and understanding) of h/c very seriously, this turned into a THING. You don't want to know how many hours went into this. Or how many times it changed. Or all the issues I still have with it. Dear Self-You need to consider getting a life. Or possibly some perspective. Or both. Both would be good.
That said, what I wanted, above all, was to be really careful to rec fics that did the right amount of h/c balancing, since that's kind of the cardinal flaw in a lot of "h/c" fic written, and I wanted a balance of older works and newer works, as well as a smattering of fandoms, because the genre does shift in its own way. Not sure I really accomplished these lofty goals, but, well, hopefully I came close. *g*
Hunger:
Arsenic's definition: story which focuses on the deprivation of food or other basic human necessity, and the solid beginnings of, or a full recovery, for the character who has suffered.
1. Living Expenses by Tolakasa
One of the few stories that gets hunger h/c dead right. Sam's got a full scholarship to college, but it doesn't cover things like laundry, toiletries, other basic expenses. Nor does it give him somewhere to sleep/eat over the summer. Dean needs Sam's help, but when he gets there, he realizes Sam needs his even worse. (Gen.)
2. Six Times Jim Kirk Didn't Talk About Tarsus - and the Two Times He Had To, by
sloth
Because good hunger h/c fics are a rare breed, I had to compromise my standards a bit (not in terms of writing, etc., in terms of what I truly consider to fulfill genre requirements) in order to have some recs in here. Tarsus is kind of a gift to the h/c writer, but it's also something, I think, people shy away from in a lot of senses. Sloth's angle on this is interesting to me. This fic does NOT have the amount of comfort that I consider necessary to balance out the hurt, but what's there is gorgeous, and leaves room for the imagination.
3. Sealed by a Fragile Touch, by
vixys
This story does involve biological hunger, but more than that, there is probably one of the most amazing scenes dealing with touch starvation I've ever seen in a fanfic. Bones gets stuck on a planet with a time dilation field. It's not that long on the Enterprise-it's pretty much forever where he is. (As a side note, read the sequel, it's about something totally different, but mindblowing. You won't regret it.)
Captivity:
Arsenic's definition: Pretty much any time a character is held against their will, no matter length of time or by whom or place, but a captivity that necessarily causes physical/emotional damage of some sort, which then must be worked through.
4. My Lips Have the Sin, by
hoosierbitch
The Neal-goes-back-to-prison trope is really almost a given in WC, but, as far as I am concerned, this is far and away the best in the genre. Hoosier breaks Neal, but she doesn't lose sight of who he is, and she takes her time rebuilding that person, not completely the same as the old, but a more experienced version. The perfect balance of h and c, and the way it should be done.
5. Forgotten and Forgotten: Roles Reversed, by Trudy West,
I like these two fics because they come at the same situation with two different persons and the result is only vaguely the same. Basically, depending on the fic, either Qui-Gon or Obi-Wan has been captured, mindwiped, and enslaved, and the other finds him, after looking, but has to get him back to Coruscant to tinker with the mindwipe, hence, it is the indoctrinated personality they have to deal with on the way back. The approach is cool, and West does a good job at looking at how this sort of captivity affects different persons, as well as the different ways in which free-persons handle the results.
6. Dirty Numb Angel Boy by
rhyssj
(Sorry abt the text, I'm not actually certain why her site hates this ONE story.) I haven't read popslash pretty much since I left it in 2002. And that doesn’t matter, because this fic is such an epic standout that there wasn't any way it wasn't making it onto a list that involved "captivity" recs. This is a hard story. Justin's almost impossible to understand for much of it, when the reader finally learns what happened, it's kind of a punch to the gut. It's also h/c perfectly, flawlessly delivered as only Rhys could. (Srsly, this isn't even CLOSE to my favorite fic of hers. She's on my list of all-time greats.)
7. Untitled Avengers Kinkmeme Fic, by Anon
Whhhhhhhhhhy won't this author reveal hirself? *primal scream to the universe* No, but seriously, what happens to Clint in this fic is so well-described and put together, as is the way the team helps him to gather up the pieces of himself. I really don't want to say more, it's just rock-solid captivity fic.
8. Dealer's Choice by Sue Bartholomew
As with many older fan archives, I'm going to suggest a zap colors app for this one.
The thing I love about M7, besides it's ahead-of-it's-time transformative policies, is how classically late-90s h/c-strong it is. I chose this one because two characters are held captive separately, so, a) twofer, but b) because the characterizations are spot on, and the sense of team is perfect. Bounty hunters come after Vin. Bounty hunters Ezra's done "business" with before.
9. Next of Kin (We're All Born Renegades) by
storm_petrel
The conceit of this AU is that Jensen's sister and niece are kidnapped by Max before the events of the movie, and Jensen, never a Loser in this 'verse, is forced to work for him. Then the Losers capture him, and he's stuck between a rock and a hard place. There are a lot of things I like about this story, but the moment when the Losers realize what's really going on? Keysmash. (As a bonus, this has a fleeting, but definite element of touch-starvation.)
Learning to be Loved:
Arsenic's definition: sad;lkjgblsdhz. Oh, coherently? This might be my bullet-proof kink. Before this experience I would have said slave or whorefic, but nope, it's just that this shows UP a lot in those. Basically, person A (or maybe several people, depends on the fic/fandom) has had a pretty shitty go of it. Probably a broken family, if one at all, betrayal from those they should have been able to trust, etc. And because of all this, that person(s) has assumed zie is unlovable. Not in some big drama-queen way, just, "there's a pattern, oh look, I'm the common denominator." And the person B (or several persons…) teaches them to understand that, no, sometimes patterns are shaded by our own perspectives/lie.
10. Here Waiting (Do You See Me?) by Morgane/Smilla840
This is an incredibly sweet Learning to be Loved fic, an almost completely perfect example of the genre. The conceit is that Natasha and Coulson get together and Clint is truly happy for them, at the same time that it highlights how lonely he is. Natasha and Coulson both agree that he "doesn't give himself enough credit," and take it into their hands to show him. Clint's the perfect mixture of pulled together professional and lost little boy, and the story just works.
11. Chad/Jeffverse by
beanside
I'm not in CWRPS. I had to look up who Chad was at some point while reading this, just to have a concept of his physical appearance. Yeah, none of that matters even just a little bit. I've probably read this fic three billion times. Basically, Jeff's met Chad, sized him up as a jerk, starts to change his mind when unfortunate circumstances bring Chad to his door, and slowly realizes Chad has some SERIOUS self-esteem issues. Featuring the J's as really good friends, this fic is achingly sweet and endlessly comforting.
12. The Cupcake Series by
mcstories
(Sort of a theme for a lot of these? That they're not pairings/fandoms I usually read but they were too fucking hotsauce at these tropes to leave off, just saying.) This series is Cupcake/Chekov. Yep. And it's brilliant. It has a Chekov who knows his intellectual worth and his worth as a person, but can't always defend himself from bullies, and Cupcake (who, yes, gets a real name in this series) who pretty much thinks he's a waste of space, except when he's helping Chekov. And then things evolve. This one hit me in the solar plexus so often there was bruising. It was fantastic.
13. There Is a Season by Darcy and Kalymire
Basically the kidfic with the most feels ever in this universe. I'm not kidding. Jack takes in a foster kid, one Daniel Jackson, who's been kicked around for a while essentially for being a little too old for the system and way too different to fit in well. All Daniel really wants is to be kept forever by someone whose not actively mean to him. All Jack wants, really, is for Daniel to be happy. SO PRESH. I CAN'T EVEN.
14. A Nick In Time by Tira Nog
Kidfic of the people-being-turned-into-kids variety. Written prior to DH, but set in a time well after, Snape and Harry are both professors at Hogwarts who, one night, find themselves returned to the age of eight or so. Harry's desperately attention-starved and could use some feeding up. Snape is vicious and terrified and so, so desperately lonely. Ron and Hermione, married in this fic, take the boys in while they search for a way to get the men back. Watching Snape learn to accept affection from the others is wounded-cow-sound-inducing, fair warning.
15. Friendly Fire by
shadowen
(Side note: this has a tasty morsel of "captivity" in it as well.) This is the fourth in a series-which, ftr, contains lots of lovely h/c and Clint and Phil being BAMFs and an AWESOME coffeehouse conversation with Nick Fury, and should be read-but it CAN stand on its own. Basically, Clint is jumped by some of the other agents in a way that's not all that unfamiliar. He already knows Coulson is too good for him, he really doesn't want the other man learning he's even MORE damaged. (Spoiler: Coulson finds out. AND IS AMAZING.)