Be afraid

[leethet]

Like all my fanfic thoughts, this is probably a dead horse kind of thing. But I was thinking that in gen hurt/comfort, there is a strong erotic element. It's not exactly sexual, but it's usually extremely physical -- much touching, much physical trust and intimacy. And I wonder if it's as close as nonslashers will get to slash. Any and all thoughts on the topic are welcome here.

Comments

[graculus.livejournal.com]

So what does your theory say about the people writing h/c where it's high on the h and fleeting on the c? That they're all sadists? ;)

[dinahmt.livejournal.com]

There are certainly some gen writers for whom this is true. I think the h/c scenario allows physical contact (ie cuddling) without any sexual connotations (the guy's too sick/injured for sex so we're quite safe here).

What I find somewhat disquieting is h/c slash when they use energetic sex as a sort of panacea for all problems. It just doesn't ring true in many cases.

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

There's a K/S story that dealt with that issue (This Deadly Innocence, or The End of the H/C Syndrome, 1979.) In the story, McCoy is pretty much of the mind that Kirk and Spock continually put themselves in danger so they'll have an excuse to touch each other. In that fandom, anyway, it seems to have been the road that led to slash.