hurtcomfortex 2019 letter

[adigeon]

Dear writer,

Hello, and thank you for writing for me! I’m adigeon here on Dreamwidth, and I’m 28ghosts on AO3. I’ll start with a quick disclaimer: my tastes are wide-ranging. Outside of DNWs, I’ll be delighted with anything you choose to write me. Also, I’m really fannish about everything that I’ve prompted. If we’ve matched on something that has fewer prompts/ideas than another section, I promise I wasn’t hoping to be matched on that fandom instead; I’m just out of practice writing prompts! The exact same goes for freeform tags. A lot of these freeforms work really well as prompts by themselves, so I've just tried to add a few more thoughts for some of them; I'm so excited about all the freeform tags for this exchange.

If you're the sort of writer who finds details prompts kinda cramp your style, I totally get it -- feel free to skip reading my canon sections. I want this letter to be useful, after all. If it's not useful to you, skip it!

Table of Contents

• General DNWs and Likes
• Broadchurch
• Jurassic Park
• Harry Potter
• Marvel Cinematic Universe

0. General DNWs and Likes

My DNWs are A/B/O, ageplay, character bashing, humiliation, issuefic, non-canon character deaths, non-canon dubcon or noncon, pregnancy, scat/watersports/etc, second person POV, unhappy endings (melancholy or bittersweet is fine, but please no darkfic or whump-no-comfort), unrequested AUs that change the canon setting, and untagged self-harm or substance abuse (either is fine, but I need a warning.)

My likes are character studies, characters working together, competency and competency kink, first time/getting together fic, hurt/comfort (obviously I guess!), loyalty kink, mutual pining, mutual respect between characters who don’t get along, partnerships, seemingly unrequited pining, snark/banter, and touch starvation.

1. Broadchurch

Alec Harcy/Ellie Miller (hurt Hardy, hurt Miller, or both hurt)

Freeform tags: Anxiety, Awkward Comforter, Bedside Vigils, Belligerent Pining, Caffeine Withdrawal, Character Being Comforted Doesn't Believe They Deserve Comfort, Character Comforts By Taking Immediate Action To Solve The Problem, Character's abusive childhood is revealed, Comforting a character who's been cheated on, Downplaying Trauma, Forcing Exhausted Character to Get Some Sleep, Forgetting to eat, Hurt Character is Exhausted from Overwork, Nightmares, Reluctant Comfortee, Stoic Suffering, Taken Off Guard By Small Displays Of Affection, Taking Comfort In Nihilistic Thinking, Touch-Starved, Trying to help stoic character without hurting their pride

Canon notes: I adore this show, and I love everything about Hardy and Miller’s chemistry. I love Hardy’s guilt and lack of social skills; I love Miller’s optimism and then her losing her optimism and then her refusing to be broken by it all. In season three, I love their restrained comfort with each other: Miller being unafraid to tell Hardy off for being rude, Hardy admitting he doesn’t know how to handle his daughter… There’s this lingering way they could be friends if Hardy put the effort in, but he won’t put the effort in and Miller doesn’t mind, that really intrigues me. (Hardy’s general restraint/guilt and non-stop repression and self-recrimination is kryptonite for me in a character; bless him.)

As a side note: plenty of my favorite fic for this ship was written in the gaps between seasons. If you’re writing this for me, feel free to set something that diverges from the canon after season 1 or 2. And if you haven’t seen later seasons, don’t feel obliged to worry about canon compliance with later seasons!

Ideas:

• So many of the freeforms I have for Hardy and Miller could work really, really well for something canon-like. Maybe for Caffeine Withdrawal, Hardy having to cut down on caffeeine for health reasons, or either Hardy or Miller (or both?) Forgetting to eat due to overworking themselves on a case?
• Accidentally revealing trauma: This tag is so in-character for either Hardy or Miller. Does one of them mention off-hand a way one of their old cases is still haunting them? Or does one of them mention something about a previous relationship that's much more upsetting than they meant it to be? Or even something from childhood?
• For Belligerent Pining, Hardy and Miller are both professional, but they both have their things that they're petty about. Maybe one of them starts seeing another person; how does the other person react?
• For Comforting a character who's been cheated on, maybe one of them has started to move on from their ex, but the new person they're seeing ends up going back to their ex, or sleeping with someone else, something like that. Does the character who got cheated on admit it to the other straight-up, or does Miller have to figure out what's gotten under Hardy's skin? Or does Hardy not notice something's bothering Miller until a bit later than he ought to?

2. Jurassic Park

Alan Grant/Ian Malcolm/Ellie Sattler (hurt Ian)

Freeform tags: Accidentally revealing trauma, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Bonding Over Shared Trauma, Character Finds New Normal After Trauma, Characters Find a New Normal After Trauma, Drinking to Cope, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Exhaustion, Forcing Exhausted Character to Get Some Sleep, Forgetting to eat, Long Overdue Breaking Point, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Reluctant Comfortee, Sex As A Distraction From Emotional Turmoil, Taken Off Guard By Small Displays Of Affection, Using Humor To Deflect Attention From Emotional Turmoil

Canon notes: This ship was my first OT3, and I’ve loved it since the first time I watched the first movie. Alan, Ellie, and Ian all have such distinct personalities and voices, and I love how well they bounce off of each other. Alan and Ellie’s easy trust of each other is really compelling, too; I love the way Ellie doesn’t mind Ian flirting with her and the way Alan clearly never views Ian as a threat.

I love hurt!Ian possibly being what draws them into an OT3: maybe Ian struggling after the events of JP1 to go back to being his carefree, breezy self and admitting to the others that he still gets nightmares or his leg still hurts, or even Alan and Ellie being relieved that Ian is still struggling to cope, too.

Ideas:

• For Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism or Drinking to Cope, maybe Ian has started drinking a little too much to suppress the nightmares, and Alan and Ellie notice and worry?
• Bonding Over Shared Trauma, Character Finds New Normal After Trauma, Characters Find a New Normal After Trauma all seem perfect for Alan/Ian/Ellie. I could see Ian dying to honestly talk about the events of JP1 with people who understand, people who were there, and figuring out how the hell Alan and Ellie are staying sane.

3. Harry Potter

Harry Potter/George Weasley (hurt Harry or hurt George)

Freeform tags: Accidentally revealing trauma, Belligerent Pining, Bonding Over Similar Traumas, Character Being Comforted Doesn't Believe They Deserve Comfort, Comforting Out of Obligation Turns Into Real Sympathy, Downplaying Trauma, Entering a dream/nightmare to help dreamer, Exposed to harmful magical item, Forcing Exhausted Character to Get Some Sleep, Grief/Mourning, Magical Exhaustion, Magical Sickness, Dreams and Nightmares, Rebound Relationship - Character mistakenly believes they're just a rebound, Self-Loathing, Taken Off Guard By Small Displays Of Affection, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Using Humor To Deflect Attention From Emotional Turmoil, Wanting To Help Hurt Character But Not Knowing How To Do It, Watching Someone Sleep

Canon notes: This ship completely blindsided me in terms of stuff I'm interested in, especially post-canon in an epilogue-what-epilogue scenario. It's been a long time since I was in the HP canon, so I don't know much about the post-canon materials; feel free to play fast and loose with anything post-7th book (including the epilogue!)

Ideas:

• Comforting Out of Obligation Turns Into Real Sympathy — I could see this going in either direction so easily. Maybe Harry awkwardly trying to comfort George before realizing how messed up he still is by the aftermath of the war, or maybe Harry's been reclusive and Ron convinces his brother to go check up on him since Ron is out of the country or something. I could just see them clicking really well after realizing they're not the only one still grieving/recovering/etc.
• Entering a dream/nightmare to help dreamer — This has so much promise especially in a canon where there's magic! Maybe the dream-visiting is accidental, or maybe it's by design — George inventing something by accident that allows you to share/enter/change dreams/nightmares?
• Exposed to harmful magical item — So much potential here (especially if you want to keep Harry as an auror.) If you wanted to take some inspiration from the entering a dream/nightmare tag, maybe a cursed item that forces Harry to view other people's nightmares, or that keeps him from sleeping at night (leading to a race for a cure?)

4. Marvel Cinematic Universe

Karl Mordo/Stephen Strange (hurt Mordo, hurt Stephen, or both hurt)

Freeform tags: Accidental Soul Bond, Aftermath of Temporary Character Death, Blood Magic, Both Captured - Forced to Work Together to Escape, Character won't stop getting up no matter how many times they get hit, Enemies to Lovers - Changed Sides in the Middle of the Fight After Seeing the Other Hurt, Enemies to Lovers - Enemy caused hurt but regrets it and tries to make amends, Enemies to Lovers - Enemy doesn't immediately notice other person is injured, Forced to Rely on Enemy, Forced to watch other character's trauma, Injured Character Can't Complete Rescue Mission Without Help From Unlikely Source, Insincere Comfort - Hurt Character Accepts It Anyway Since It's The Best They'll Get, Insincere Comfort, Magic Curses, Non-Consensual Mind-Reading, Prickly Relationship Between Comforter and Comfortee, Rival Rescue - Only I Can Hurt Them, Stoic Suffering, Superpower/Magical Ability Comes With a Price, Forced to relive trauma through psychic attack

Canon notes: For the first half of the movie, I loved Mordo and Strange's teacher-student dynamic, and I did not see the epilogue coming.

I think a lot of my freeforms fit Strange/villain!Mordo particularly well, but if you'd prefer have Mordo as having left the Order but not having become a murderer, I'd definitely be open to that! I'd also love anything where Strange is still learning at Kamar-Taj, before Mordo becomes disillusioned and leaves.

I know this is an enemies ship, so I should note that while I've DNWed unhappy endings/darkfic, I'm by no means expecting a happy reconciliation for Mordo and Strange (though I would love that too!!) Anything between these two would be great, so long as it doesn't end with Mordo killing Strange or Mordo managing to defeat and indefinitely imprison Strange. (I have soft spots in particular for Strange defeating and peaceably imprisoning Mordo, maybe by limiting his magic, or Mordo and Strange temporarily allying themselves to fight a common enemy, before letting each other walk away.)

Ideas:

• Accidental Soul Bond — This would work great for either still at Kamar-Taj, or post-canon. If Strange and Mordo are still at Kamar-Taj, maybe Strange tries a piece of magic he shouldn't have that forms a bond between him and Mordo -- maybe because Mordo is just the closet person nearby, or maybe because Mordo really is his soulmate. For a h/c spin, maybe it leads to one of them realizing the other is in more pain than they let on? (Maybe Mordo can feel how much Strange's hands ache after a day of sparring and training.) Or maybe, post-canon, Strange tries to cast a spell to track down Mordo, and it works, but with unintended consequences...
• Aftermath of Temporary Character Death — This is such a good tag for anything post-Infinity War, and I could see it going in so many different directions. Does Mordo get dusted alongside Strange? Does getting dusted change Mordo's views on the natural laws at all, or does everything that happened because of Thanos just re-double Mordo's convictions that there are too many sorcerors out there? Or maybe Stephen gets resurrected post-Endgame and finds himself recovering from the cognitive/magical exertion of viewing so many futures where the galaxy lost to Thanos, and has trouble adjusting to having been resurrected?
• Forced to watch other character's trauma — I could see this working really well with a scenario where Mordo changes sides, rather than staying Strange's enemy -- maybe Mordo just assumed Strange used the Time Stone to turn back Dormammu's attack and didn't realize how many times Strange looped through time, dying over and over again, and ends up a little mind-broken from having to live through the "I've come to bargain" loop? Or maybe Strange somehow has to relive whatever it was that sent Mordo to Kamar-Taj?
• Non-Consensual Mind-Reading — This is...such a good tag. Maybe Mordo mindreads Strange while they're both still at Kamar-Taj to help the Ancient One determine whether or not Strange will end up a threat the same way Kaecilius did, or even post-canon mindreads Strange to see if he still intends to continue violating the natural law in favor of defending the Order? Or Strange forces his way into Mordo's head to understand what it was, exactly, that led Mordo to not only renounce the Order but also start killing sorcerors?

Tony Stark/Stephen Strange (hurt Tony, hurt Stephen, or both hurt)

Freeform tags: Accidentally revealing trauma, Aftermath of Temporary Character Death, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Belligerent Pining, Can Only Comfort Hurt Character Through Dreams, Character can magically take injuries/pain from others by transferring them to themself, Character needs physical pain or injury to ward off insanity/death/magical corruption, Comforting Out of Obligation Turns Into Real Sympathy, Drinking to Cope, Entering a dream/nightmare to help dreamer, Hands too shaky to complete task, Healer Needs Help Healing Self, Healing power that causes pain for the person using it, Magical Injury, Prickly Relationship Between Comforter and Comfortee, Provoked into revealing trauma, Rebound Relationship - Character mistakenly believes they're just a rebound, Taken Off Guard By Small Displays Of Affection, Traumatic Backstory Revelations, Usually Powerful Character is Helpless Due to Drugs

Canon notes: I loved Tony and Stephen's rapport in Infinity War so much. I love the way they're so similar, but they don't know that about each other, so their weird, prickly banter is all the more loaded. (Stephen snapping Unlike everyone else in your life, I don't work for you is so deliciously ironic given Stephen's arc in the Doctor Strange movie...) Also, Stephen's such a great target for h/c (pain's an old friend and all...) For Tony and Stephen, I'd love something where they start off still at odds with each other, at least in some way. It probably goes without saying, but feel free to handwave Endgame/invent Endgame events.

Ideas:

• Can Only Comfort Hurt Character Through Dreams — This could work really well for something set during the events of Endgame, or in some other messed up scenario where one of them is stuck between dimensions or something like that?
• Character can magically take injuries/pain from others by transferring them to themself/Healing power that causes pain for the person using it — We know magic has its limits in the MCU, for example Strange being unable to heal the Ancient One using magic. In fact, there doesn't seem to be any healing magic at all in the MCU that we've seen so far; maybe the cost of healing someone is incurring that wound on your own person? This tag could be a great set-up for both Stephen and Tony ending up hurt, or for Tony starting hurt but recovering via magic and Stephen ending up hurt.
• Traumatic Backstory Revelations/Comforting Out of Obligation Turns Into Real Sympathy — By the events of Infinity War, both Stephen and Tony are pretty guarded, and during IW, they definitely don't quite trust each other. Either one of them realizing quickly that the other has some trauma they haven't admitted to/that they don't want to reveal would make a lot of sense...
• Character needs physical pain or injury to ward off insanity/death/magical corruption — Oh, this is such a great tag. Maybe Stephen needs to self-inflict pain to keep himself sane during a negotiation with some eldritch power, or Tony winds up cursed and physical pain is the only way to keep the curse at bay while Stephen struggles to reverse it as quickly as possible?

Scott Lang/Sam Wilson (hurt Scott, hurt Sam, or both hurt)

Freeform tags: Accidentally revealing trauma, Badass in Distress, Belligerent Pining, Caffeine Withdrawal, Character being protected isn't used to being cared about, Character interacts with people after long period in solitary confinement, Characters Find a New Normal After Trauma, Downplaying Trauma, Drunkenness, Everyone Thinks They're Together - They're Pining, Fear of partner moving on, Forgetting to eat, Hangover, Panic Attacks, Rebound Relationship - Character mistakenly believes they're just a rebound, Aftermath of Temporary Character Death, Recovering from traumatic resurrection, Taken Off Guard By Small Displays Of Affection, Touch-Starved, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms

Canon notes: I love Scott and Sam both so much, and it's easy to imagine them developing a good rapport at any point in the MCU canon so far. They're both normal humans trying to keep up with superpowered heroes, which could set either of them up for some serious hurt, and the post-credits scene of Ant-Man and the Wasp could set up some really great hurt!Scott.

Ideas:

• Character interacts with people after long period in solitary confinement — My first thought on this tag was post-Endgame Scott Lang finally being rescued from the Quantum Dimension after the events of Endgame. Scott doesn't seem like he'd handle solitary well, let alone solitary in the Quantum Dimension -- what would he be like after being rescued? I could see this tag working great for Sam, too -- maybe the Soul Stone confined Sam by himself, and when he's ressurected it feels like he's spent years on his own?
• Aftermath of Temporary Character Death/Recovering from traumatic resurrection — Again, what a good post-Endgame tag. If you wanted to go with established or nearly-established Scott/Sam, maybe something about the relief of finally seeing each other again? Or if the resurrection was difficult, Sam coming back not wrong but still messed up from his time in the Soul Stone?
• Drunkenness/Hangover — For both/either, maybe drinking too much to celebrate everyone's resurrection post-Endgame? Just one of them waking up hungover after drinking themselves to sleep because they still can't believe it's over, the other one finding them and trying to figure out what's bothering them? Mutual drunkeness in Wakanda, trying to figure out how they ended up on the run?