I declare Hurt-Comfort Day!

[rachelmanija]

This is brought to you by yesterday's diagnosis of acute bronchitis. In retrospect, I probably should not have waited one month to go to the doctor. I kept thinking, "It is just lingering irritation from the flu! It will go away any day now

Comments

[tool_of_satan]

Bronchitis, yuck! I know that feel.

For h/c media, I see you read the first two volumes of Sarah Monette's Doctrine of Labyrinths. If you have not read the other two, I recommend reading the whole thing (having recently done so myself). Plenty of h/c and Felix actually becomes a decent human being in the fourth volume.

[rachelmanija]

I did read them, but seem not to have ever written them up. I might also look into Monette's Goblin Emperor. I started it, really liked it, got side-tracked, then returned and realized that I'd forgotten who all the supporting characters were. I should probably start over.

[tool_of_satan]

The Goblin Emperor is not big on h/c but is well worth reading.

[tool_of_satan]

From my other recent reading, Helene Wecker's The Golem and the Jinni is pretty good and has some h/c content. And it was nominated for the World Fantasy Award! (So was Sofia Samatar's A Stranger in Olondria, which you should definitely read.)

[egelantier]

::hugs::

(but what a wonderful idea, though!)

i come bearing things!

1) the most epic comforting fic thing i know is the dickens-verse series that arsenicjade wrote for me: it's a gigantic crossover mashup about a rag of street orphans finding home(s). you don't need to know any fandoms, it's just one gigantic quilt blanket of awesomest hurt/comfort.

2) rurouni kenshin live action movie is epic, gorgeous, incredibly faithful to the original story, cast with most amazing actors and chock-full of beautiful, beautiful hurt/comfort. it's - i'm looking at your anime tags and it's not there, but sorry if you're familiar with the original - about a gentle and grieving man trying to rebuild his life after a youth full of idealistically-minded violence, and it's kind and lovely and sweeping. it's also my #1 adaptation of all times, probably. i've rewatched it about thirteen times this year, showing to all the different people, and it never fails to cheer me up.

3) shirogane no ou (and especially the sequel) is a lovely tropey short manga about a

[egelantier]

(4. speaking of books, how do you feel about martha wells? her raksura series are awesome about hurt/comfort, and are set in luch and wonderful fantasy setting. moon, the protagonist, actually reminds me of ross, now when i think about it? he's got separated from his people in early childhood, lost his guardian and spent most of his life being an outsider everywhere, and thinking himself to be the only one in his entire species. than he's picked up by his people, and tries to reintegrate into their society, with varying degrees of success. it's very, very satisfying).

(also, you know, matriarchal dragon shapeshifters).

[rachelmanija]

I own the first one but have not read yet. Moving up my list. It sounds excellent.

[genarti]

Having just read the first Raksura book on a friend's enthusiastic recommendation, and immediately gone to acquire the second, I second this rec!

[rachelmanija]

Thank you! That sounds right up my alley.

I actually prefer books where there's more than one thing going on. I suspect many mystery/thriller writers of being secret hurt-comfort fans. Dick Francis particularly. Last night I re-read Nerve, where the hero is persecuted, chained up and blindfolded, and has ice-cold water thrown over him on a freezing English night, when he must ride a very important race the next day! After he manages to rescue himself, he makes a desperate call to his lady love, who shows up (along with a confused yet helpful cabbie) to cuddle him and feed him hot soup. Very satisfying.

The confused yet helpful cabbie really makes it. I love when tiny walk-on characters get actual characterization.

[egelantier]

drive-by dick francis love! i've adored his books through my adolescence: i love the emphasis on decency and quiet competence he puts in it. and damn but he sure know how to do perfect hurt/comfort sequencees.

[rachelmanija]

Dick Francis is one of my very favorite writers, seriously. A lot of what I know about writing I learned from him, but especially writing action sequences and letting minor characters affect the plot. There's this brilliant moment in Forfeit (the one where the hero's wife is paralyzed from polio) where this minor character, an absent-minded, fat, middle-aged mom, takes out one of the villains.

I wish I could figure out how he does that can't-put-it-down style. Every one of his books glues me from literally the opening paragraph. And it's not with non-stop action or immediate danger, either.

[wordsofastory]

Bronchitis! D: I hope you feel better soon!

2. Have you read Courtney Milan's historical romances? There's a lot of h/c in them, but I think "A Kiss For Midwinter", a short novella in which the heroine deals with an out-of-wedlock miscarriage and the hero's dad is a hoarder, might be particularly h/c-ish.

For 3, I recently got a lot of enjoyment out of reading wikipedia's page on the Donner Party (and the links to further info). The 1972 Andes Crash is similar, and features people actually helping one other and making good decisions, which may or may not increase the interest for you.

[rachelmanija]

I have read some of Milan's. She's great. Now would be a good time to read all the ones I have not yet read. I haven't read the novella, for instance.

I have actually read Alive, the book about the Andes crash. It's a pretty amazing story. I always wondered how the survivors did afterward, but have never been able to find any sort of solid follow-up.

I definitely prefer survival stories where people generally make good decisions and behave like decent human beings, which those guys certainly did.

[wordsofastory]

I see she has "The Governess Affair" for free up on Amazon right now, which is another h/c novella, where the heroine was raped by the hero's boss. The sex scene is really sweet and super comforting.

I actually spent a lot of time being fascinated by just how badly everyone in the Donner Party seemed to have handled the situation, but yeah, I can imagine that's much less comforting.

[ellarien]

I hope you feel better soon!

If you can get hold of it, D.K. Broster's "Mr. Rowl" is very hurt/comforty. (Misadventures of a French prisoner-of-war in England in the Napoleonic wars.)

[cyphomandra]

Ooh. I have read and own 'Mr Rowl', but I never came across anyone else who had! Did you get into it via her Flight of the Heron?

[ellarien]

Yes! A school friend introduced me to that when I was 11, and I read the school library copies of the whole trilogy. (There were some really old books in that school library. I remember one popular book about chemistry that pre-dated the discovery of the neutron!) Several years later, when I was very much in need of comfort, I picked up a paperback copy of my own, and then I stumbled across "Mr Rowl" on the bargain table at WHSmith -- a 1972 reprint of the 1924 edition. I also have a used copy of the 1929 edition of The Wounded Name, but I can't remember where that came from.

[cyphomandra]

Oh cool! I picked up The Flight of the Heron when I was very young (8) and loved it, but it took me about ten years to work out that the author might have written others - I was thrilled to discover the sequel.

My copy of Mr Rowl came from a book sale from a rest home - it's a 1954 Austalian hardback - and I got a few others of hers as well, Chantemerle, The vision Splendid, Sir Isumbras at the Ford and Ships in the Bay! - the first two are co written historicals, enjoyable but not her best (ok, and also lacking in the hurt comfort aspects that got me hooked on Flight), and I haven't yet read the others. The Wounded Name which, if I remember rightly, has a good amount of suffering stoically, I've read but don't own.