Dictionary

hurt/comfort en · NOUN

(slang, uncountable) A genre of fan fiction in which a character receives comfort from another after or while suffering injury, illness, or a traumatic experience.
- She proposes that writing slash — specifically the hurt/comfort genre, which involves assault, abuse and recovery — provides a therapeutic outlet for genuine, deep feelings of emotional pain. 2002, Will Brooker, Using the Force: Creativity, Community and Star Wars Fans, Continuum, →ISBN, page 137:
- While genres for these stories range from drama to mystery, many stories are classified by their authors as romances or as “hurt/comfort” stories. 2012, Anissa M. Graham, Jennifer C. Garlen, “Sex and the Single Sleuth”, in Lynnette Porter, editor, Sherlock Holmes for the 21st Century: Essays on New Adaptations, McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 30:
- Hurt/comfort stories often contain enough gore to send shivers down the back of activists concerned with the conflation of sex and violence. 1993, Cynthia Jenkins, "Menage a Deux", SBF 3, November 1993 (quoted in Henry Jenkins, Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture, New York University Press (2006), page 84)