Dear HurtComfortEx author!

[eglantiere]

Dear author, welcome! I'm unbelievably excited about this challenge, and I can't wait to see the fic that it brings. I've done my best to prune down the freeform multitude, but I'm 100% sure that there were tags that I have missed, so if there's something in tagset or outside of it that fits my requests or that you particularly like - go for it! Bring all the tropes to my yard, please.

I'll try to give my general likes and some fandom-specific preferences, but feel free to mix and match, or ODAO if nothing in particular strikes your fancy; as long as it doesn't hit my DNWs, I'm good! I'm deeply in love with all those fandoms, and I'll be super, super happy with fic for any of them.

Links:
- my exchange tag (letters, recs et cetera)
- egelantier (fics and bookmarks)
- egelantier

DNWs:
- Hurt no comfort
- Partner betrayal of any kind or infidelity
- Unhappy endings and permanent character death
- A/B/O, hurtcomfortverse, any other 'verses with built-in biology-based inequality
- Hanahaki AUs and variations thereof
- Mundane AUs
- Non-con and all forms of sexual assault

General hurt/comfort preferences:
I like my hurt hardcore and physical, and my comfort at least somehow proportional and ending on at least a hopeful note, and I like it in context of any given relationship (i.e. the character getting hurt in sight of / for the sake of / in relation to other characters, and them reacting / rescuing / comforting / rehabilitating them, et cetera, not just the character suffering in the vacuum). I love reading about the aftermaths of disasters as much as I love reading about disasters itself - the recovery, the backsliding, the acceptance, the assistance. Permanent injuries and consequences yes! Adjusting to the new circumstances yes! New understanding yes! And I especially love all those things in the context of larger-than-life, codependent loyalty (formalized or not), self-sacrifice and self-negation.

In particular, the physical kinks especially dear to my heart: torture, dungeons or cages, and rescue thereof, starvation, exhaustion, hand injuries, whipping, crucifixion, carious mobility issues, chronic pain, all variations on accepting injuries for somebody's sake. For the emotional hurt/comfort, all variations on pining (and/or mutual pining!) and characters (mistakenly) thinking that they're either unloved or undeserving of being loved or protected, and being shown they're wrong.

I prefer my woobies competent, BAMF-y and fighting every step of the way, or going into the self-sacrifice determinedly and with their eyes open (as probably evident in my character selection; never let it be said that I don't have a type.)

I really love non-mundane AUs (high fantasy, pirates, space opera, et cetera), so go there without hesitation if it's your thing.

Some prompts for my canons - but also feel free to just go off the freeform tags, or mix them together.

Final Fantasy XV
Accidentally revealing trauma, Aftermath of Torture, Assassination Attempt(s), Bathing/Washing, Believing Others Consider Them An Inferior Substitute for Someone Else, Both hands/arms injured, Character A gets angry at Character B's tendency to self-sacrifice, Character is Exhausted From Overwork, Character works so hard while mildly ill that it turns severe, Crucifixion, Imprisoned & starved/denied food, Pining A saves B's life at great cost to themself then hides it from them, Provoking torturer into torturing them instead, Slow recovery process from severe injuries sustained via previous captivity & torture, Starvation, Video of Character's Torture is Sent to Their Friends/Loved Ones,Chronic Pain, Dungeons, Forced to witness torturing of the hurt character, Headaches & Migraines, Hiding Illness, Insomnia and Sleep Deprivation, Kidnapping and Rescue, Locked in a Box, Permanent Injury, Wheelchairs and mobility issues, Whipping, Hiding Injuries

Lunafreya Nox Fleuret/Noctis Lucis Caelum/Ignis Scientia (hurt Ignis)
This is the rare-3 that's very dear to my heart. I adore the idea of Noct bringing Ignis into his marriage as a dowry, and Ignis transferring part of their loyalty to Luna, and the three of them navigating their complicated relationship together (in whatever combination speaks to you; maybe an equilateral triangle, maybe a V thing with Noctis in the middle, or maybe even some combination of sexual and platonic love - as long as they all end up being equally important to each other).

I love all three of them - Ignis with his perfect combination of loyalty, competence, hidden dorkitude and high martyrdom; Noct who's sometimes childish and sometimes petty, but who loves people a whole lot and learns to walk to his destiny so well; and Luna with her healing and her grace and her iron will and marching onward to subdue the gods and sweeps armored soldiers aside with disdain. I basically just want to see them together, being glorious.

Some scenarios! As you might've noticed, I'm a sucker for hurt/comfort, especially for Ignis to be hurt, so if our interests align, feel free to pour it in liberally.

- No-Destiny AUs where the threat from the Empire exists, and the marriage to Luna is still arranged, but there's no Ardyn or gods or mystical threats, and the three of them have to nagivate their relationship and the politics togethe, with some chosen whump from the tags thrown in. (The overwork exhaustion scenarios, for example! Or assassinations!)
- Any variation of Luna-on-the-roadtrip with Noct and Ignis and the other bros, all of them having badass adventures - again with the added whump.
- Ignis makes his way to the altar in Altissia earlier and saves Luna as well as Noct (preferably at the same or higher personal cost), and it changes the course of history.
- Luna and Ignis in WOR, holding the world together for Noct's return with teeth, nails, magic and anger.
- When Niflhelm strikes Tenebrae, Regis has to flee, and Ignis and Noct are both left behind and raised with Luna in captivity.

Prompto Argentum/Ignis Scientia (hurt Ignis)
I was sold on this pairing ever since post-Altissia part of the game, where Prompto gamely steps up to help Ignis navigate, and I really adore them together: Prompto bringing out the hidden dorkitude in Ignis, Ignis welcoming Prompto to the fold (do you remember this bit afer the fall of Insomnia where Prompto drops his phone and Ignis automatically reaches to pick it up and give it to him? good stuff), Ignis relying on Prompto's help after he's injured and Prompto being unobtrusive enough with it that Ignis can accept it, all the stuff like it.

So:

- Prompto as an outsider coming in during the Brotherhood era, noticing things about Ignis that Noct and Gladio miss due to familiarity (I like the idea that Prompto, for all his anxiety issues, might be more together emotionally than Ignis is; it's a fascinating thing to ignore).
- Prompto and Ignis being BAMFs together in WoR in their adventures - exploring tombs together, helping out in Lestallum, getting Ignis back into fighting trim, supporting each other through the dark years, et cetera.
- Prompto rescuing Ignis from Ardyn, with all the messy feelings thereof - the scarier the captivity, the better... 

And so on! And any other options I have not thought about!

Collared Knight - Tara McGolden
Ralston/Farnesse/Lio (hurt Farnesse)
Catching Hurt Character as They Collapse, accepting injury to protect someone, Bathing/Washing, Believing Others Consider Them An Inferior Substitute for Someone Else, Both hands/arms injured, Bridal/Princess Style Carrying, Shock Collars, chained to a wall, Character A is returned to B having been painfully punished, Character apologizes for being sick/hurt, Starvation, Forced to witness torturing of the hurt character, Provoking torturer into torturing them instead, Wheelchairs and mobility issues, Hurt character continues to protect unhurt character(s), Imprisoned & starved/denied food, Kidnapped and used as leverage against the other character, Mutual pining during slow recovery from near-fatal injury, Permanent Injury, coughing up blood, Hiding Injuries, Cages, Whipping, World-weary broken people find comfort and understanding with each other

My general feelings about this OT3 are Let Farnesse Have His Shiny Woobie Moment, so:

- Literally any variation on Accepting Torture To Protect His Loved Ones, as it says on a tin.
- Accepting some public and unpleasant punishment so Lio won't have to / Ralston's position won't suffer.
- Same but Ralston is the one who has to hurt him, and Farnesse practically sweet-talks him into it.
- ...Those shock collars and use thereof were criminally underused in canon, I'm just saying.
- Getting kidnapped by Ralston's enemies and steadfastly refusing to be their bargaining chip.
- Deciding, for some reason, Lio and Ralston are very much suited to each other and Better Off Without Him, and subtly trying to distance himself for their sake - preferably resolved by some flashy and physically horrible happenstance, yes please.
- More dealing with his war trauma PTSD please.
- Going undercover with people who think he will turn on Ralston, and getting into trouble.
- Hiding injuries / illness / harrassment from somebody else in the castle and trying to deal with it by himself.
- A scene with Ralston going wrong, possibly due to inadvertently hitting on aforementioned PTSD war trauma, and the aftermath thereof.
- Some nebulous trouble in their post-canon Canadian Snack: snowed in, injured while out, harassed by the general population, fighting off intruders, getting sick, trading himself for the food on the sly after a particularly bad harvest, whatever.
...And so on.

Kit Fielding Series - Dick Francis
Kit/Danielle/Litsi (hurt Kit)
accepting injury to protect someone, Accidentally revealing trauma, Aftermath of Torture, Bathing/Washing, Both hands/arms injured, Bridal/Princess Style Carrying, Kidnapped and used as leverage against the other character, Long illness and recovery after poisoning, Mutual pining during slow recovery from near-fatal injury, Old Injuries Acting Up, Career Ending Injuries, Provoking torturer into torturing them instead, Stuck in the middle of nowhere with someone who's severely ill/injured & no way to call for help, Video of Character's Torture is Sent to Their Friends/Loved Ones, Wheelchairs and mobility issues, Whipping, Whipping - Whipped Character in Front of Love Interest(s) Is Trying but Fails to Remain Stoic, World-weary broken people find comfort and understanding with each other, Hiding Illness, Hiding Injuries

I feel like in a just and proper world this OT3 would've been canon (Kit is a stoic jockey who occasionally takes on unscrupulous businessmen and newspaper moguls down on the side, Danielle is his fiancee who is very worried about marrying somebody with such a dangerous career, and Litsi is European royalty whom Danielle might see as a safer option, except that he and Kit spend most of the book admiring and respecting each other, and nobody is a dick whatsoever), so I basically would like to see it explored: Kit and Litsi exploring their own relationship and Danielle and Litsi bonding over their worry for Kit when Kit gets into this or that trouble: racing-related injuries, getting kidnapped by yet another scary unscrupulous evil guy, torture and ransom demands, career-ending trauma - whatever strikes your fancy would be amazing. I'm especially fond of the Video of Character's Torture is Sent to Their Friends/Loved Ones tag here, but take your pick!

(I also really adore Kit's relationship with Princess Castilia, so if you enjoy it and would like to work it in, go for it please.)

The Tarot Sequence - K.D. Edwards
Rune Saint John & Brandon Saint John (hurt Brandon Saint John)
Addam Saint Nicholas & Brandon Saint John (hurt Brandon Saint John)
Addam Saint Nicholas/Rune Saint John/Brandon Saint John (hurt Brandon Saint John)
Cages, Catching Hurt Character as They Collapse, accepting injury to protect someone, Aftermath of Solitary Confinement, Aftermath of Torture, Bathing/Washing, Both hands/arms injured, Bridal/Princess Style Carrying, Captured by enemy while trying to protect the other, Character A is returned to B having been painfully punished, Character apologizes for being sick/hurt, Hiding Illness, Hiding Injuries, Hurt character continues to protect unhurt character(s),
Imprisoned & starved/denied food, Kidnapped and used as leverage against the other character, Provoking torturer into torturing them instead, Slow recovery process from severe injuries sustained via previous captivity & torture, Starvation, Whipping - Whipped Character in Front of Love Interest(s) Is Trying but Fails to Remain Stoic

- Rune and Brand as traumatized, bereaved children thrust into the unfamiliar and dangerous House, turning to each other to cope with their lives.
- Rune and Brand before the beginning of the book, doing their magical mercenary thing: casefics! hijinks! getting into trouble and getting each other out of trouble! Patching each other up after especially hairy cases! Five times Brand Got Hurt Protecting Rune And One Time He Didn't!
- Brand is kidnapped by Rune's enemies to force Rune to do their bidding, and this Does Not Go As Planned.
- (And as a corollary to such scenarios as above, Rune raining down the Holy Vengeance on Brand's behalf - while Brand is horrified and angry at Rune for risking himself - is a plus in literally any story.)
- My hands-down favorite part of the book is Rune telling Lord Tower he will walk if Lord Tower ever abandons Brand to danger again: I wonder if he'll ever have a case to follow through with his commitment? How would that happen and what the fallout would be?
- There also was this moment where Brand got momentarily mindfucked by Ciaran and Rune had reacted very strongly: had something like this happened before? Or could it happen again?
- Some kind of outsider POV on their relationship, especially in the moment of high danger, would be pretty awesome.
- Addam and Brand teaming up for some reason and Brand risking himself to protect Addam, either for Rune's sake or, unexpectedly to himself, for his own.


Psmith - P. G. Wodehouse
Mike Jackson/Rupert Psmith (hurt Psmith)
[Blank] to Lovers - A gets in trouble or injured protecting B; which makes B see A in a new light, Accidentally revealing trauma, Bathing/Washing, Both hands/arms injured, Bridal/Princess Style Carrying, Character A is returned to B having been painfully punished, Character A forced into slavery; Character B rescues them, Character apologizes for being sick/hurt, Hiding Illness, Hiding Injuries, Insomnia and Sleep Deprivation, Kidnapping and Rescue, Provoking torturer into torturing them instead, Pining A saves B's life at great cost to themself then hides it from them, Slavery, Slavery - Slaves Together, Starvation, Stuck in the middle of nowhere with someone who's severely ill/injured & no way to call for help, Wheelchairs and mobility issues, Whipping

Those books are my perennial favorites; I adore the kind hilarity of them, and the intensity of the relationship (whether it's taken as friendship or romance). Psmith is one of my most favorite characters of all time. I love his surety and his unflappability, his low key but endless loyalty and protectiveness, the way he manages to warp the world around himself but does it with benevolence, the way the narrative pokes fun at him but allows him to stand unhumiliated. And I love that Mike is his foil but never the butt of the narrative joke, that Mike's intrinsic value is never questioned or doubted, by the text or by each other. I love how different they are and how wholeheartedly they embrace each other nevertheless, neither trying to change or undermine each other, how much they just - adore and accept and support each other.
And in context of all of this I really, really like the idea of Psmith's version of being a Stoic Woobie, except he's more of a Languid Woobie, in a sense of trying to misdirect and never admitting to being in trouble and needing help nevertheless.
And so!

- ...Having said what I did about Psmith self-surety, I would also read a lot about Psmith secretly having doubts about himself and his own worth in relation to Mike and trying to let Mike go for his own good (family, career, etc.), and Mike having none of it.
- And also literally all the stories about Psmith getting into some trouble he can't get himself out of (ideally on Mike's behalf), and trying to hide it or make light of it, and Mike becoming the rescuer and taking care of him. I always thought that Psmith would make an awesome 'pay no attention to my troubles, have a languid anecdote' kind of iron woobie - iron woobie in a velvet glove? Is it a thing? In any case, yes.
- (For example, I could give or take Mike's domestic happiness in later books, but I loved Psmith's descent from rich heirdom to self-supporting poverty and the way he tried to deal with it by himself and without burdening anybody. Take it to the extreme, and I'll be here with bells on.)
- But also something with a more action/adventure bent and injuries, kidnappings, and accident (see: Psmith, Journalist, only sans racism and Mike is actually there).
- Psmith Hides A Supernatural Secret (he's an elf! he's a selkie! he's an alien!) And Why Would Mike Care No Really.
- The super self-indulgent slavefic option: Mike the bewildered owner rescuing a languid, seemingly unconcerned slave!Psmith and slowly discovering the depths of trouble that will bring? Psmith the jaded, high-ranking slave taking a newly enslaved Mike under his wing and getting into all the trouble trying to keep him safe (and, being Psmith, probably engineering a revolution in the process?)
- Also all the setting AUs! Be it high fantasy or space opera or high sea piracy, those two trampling through it would be amazing.

Benjamin January Mysteries - Barbara Hambly
Benjamin January & Abishag Shaw (hurt Abishag Shaw)
accepting injury to protect someone, Accidentally revealing trauma, Bathing/Washing, Bridal/Princess Style Carrying, Catching Hurt Character as They Collapse, Character apologizes for being sick/hurt, coughing up blood, Hiding Illness, Hiding Injuries, Kidnapped and used as leverage against the other character, Long illness and recovery after poisoning, Mutual pining during slow recovery from near-fatal injury, Old Injuries Acting Up, Permanent Injury, Provoking torturer into torturing them instead, Slow recovery process from severe injuries sustained via previous captivity & torture, Stuck in the middle of nowhere with someone who's severely ill/injured & no way to call for help, Wheelchairs and mobility issues, Whipping, World-weary broken people find comfort and understanding with each other

The relationship between Ben and Shaw is one of my favorite from the entire series (and there's some stiff competition, in the universe where Rose and Hannibal exist); I love their friendship, I love that Ben dropped everything and went with Shaw to get his revenge, I love that by Lady of Perdition Ben doesn't even angst about asking Shaw for help anymore but just flat out knows that Shaw will go with him to Texas and do whatever's needful, I love that Ben named his baby after Shaw's brother... In short, those two are as far from each other, socially, as it's possible, and yet they're so rock-solid good together, as unlikely and taciturn as their friendship is.

So, with that in mind, give me hurt Shaw!

- Getting injured on the job and not; coming to Ben for help so he would not endanger his family (and Ben not having it)
- Ben finding out that Shaw's injured or sick or in trouble, and immediately setting out for the rescue.
- Long, grumpy, fraught recovery.
- Getting into trouble together, and fighting their way out together, with some stoic, taciturn hurt/comfort and BAMFery thrown in.
- Shaw getting falsely accused and imprisoned, for once, and Ben doing his detective thing on his behalf while he's stuck in the prison cell.
And so on, and et cetera, enjoy the tags.

Thank you very much, dear author! Looking forward to reading your story ♥