Hurt/Comfort Recommendations

All righty, so it took just a couple minutes, but I am quite pleased to announce the formation of the brand new hurt/comfort community specifically for recommendations: hcrec
AKA http://community.livejournal.com/hcrec/

Join and post recs/links to your favorite h/c pieces (one fic/art/vid/piece per post please!) or watch and see what goodies others are enjoying. Make sure that if you've enjoyed something someone reced, let them know you appreciate him/her spreading the word.

You can rec things you've enjoyed within the sneeze fetish community or things you've stumbled across outside you think other h/c-lovers will enjoy.

If you have any questions or need anything clarified, just ask me :-)

Came upon this Snupin rec and wanted to put it here before I lost it!

DRABBLE- Sick by uthien82 (Snupin)- A very cute drabble done for a mood theme, containing sick Remus and Severus *G*

ART- Sick by karasu_hime (Snupin)- And if the drabble isn't cute enough, there's also adorable art in the mood theme with Remus and Severus all sick and sniffly, together, wrapped in blankets.

These were made for the Snupin Mood Theme at lupin_snape

So today I was listening to The Signal podcast at work and the ample amount of coughing and sneezing during the fic section made me all happy (and cautious about the volume). And for my own reference as much as anyone else's, here's my first Firefly/Serenity fandom rec post.

My favorite (and the first sickfic I ever encountered in the fandom):
Drabble & Podcast Episode: Chicken Soup is Good for the Soull by squish_67 (G)- OMG This is a wonderfully shiny, clever drabble with Mal and Jayne both sick. Mal is especially complainy and both are beautifully in character. I first heard it as part of the Jayne drabble series on the Strangely Literal podcast (sl_podcast) and the reader does a damn perfect (kinda congested, dare I say it!) job of reading it. So definitely check that out in audio here: Episode #14.5- Jayne Drabbles

And speaking of fics on audio:
Ficlet & Podcast Episode: Badger's World- Sick by Nick Edwards- features the two loveable "henchmen" in search of medicinal libations amidst lovely cold-like symptoms attacking everybody. Bonus is Kari & Les discuss people being sick. Plus, it all takes place during the first 8 minutes of the epsiode so you don't have to jump around within to get to it. Of course, the whole thing is worth listening to anyway, while you're there! Listen to the episode here: Episode 2 of Season 4

Some others I stumbled upon:
Excerpts: Excerpts by Space Wolf- some excerpts from a sneezefic (not much sneezing but some decidedly lovely h/c moments!) our very own Space Wolf was playing with. Gotta love the dialogue- it's perfection! I especially love the Kayle bits :-)

Fic: Wine Glasses & Cheese Cutters by Fish & RSB- Sick!Jayne deliciousness. Not a bad plot, to boot! And there's some additional h/c to be had since things on the job don't go quite as perfect as planned, but I won't spoil it for you. The Jayne moments alone are fantastic, though.
Jayne faltered, and let the weight sit on his chest for amoment. He started to lift the weight, but only made it halfway, before hisarms started to shake. This began to puzzle Jayne, and he started to say,"What the-" but he was cut off by a violent sneeze, and the weight almostjumped out of his hands.
Fortunately, Book caught the weight before it crushed Jayne, and he loweredit back onto the arms of the bench. Jayne sat up and wiped his nose on hisarm, then sniffled.
"Seems to me as you might be getting a little under the weather," Booksaid, handing Jayne a towel.

Ficlet: Sick Day by Lipton Lee- Okay, so this ficlet has its moment, but generally it didn't really rock my world. The writing is less than stellar (and the stuffy talk is strange) and Simon's first line struck me as totally OOC. Still, the idea of Mal being well and the entire crew coming down sick is rather cute.

And I've got to end with some shiny sorta slash:
Ficlet/Drabble: Cold by iety (Simon/Jayne?, PGish)- I'm seriously undecided about where I lean regarding slash in the 'verse but if I were already a fan of this pairing, I'd probably have melted on the spot. As it is, this is a wonderful ficlet with Jayne all freezing cold, shivering, and sneezing and Simon sweet and... well... Simonesque *G* Love it.

DRABBLE- Comfort Me by styxion- Awwwwww. This is a tender, sweet and heartbreaking drabble about a hockey player who's been eliminated from the playoffs. It just might be my favorite drabble ever!

I really need to update this journal more.

HP ART: The Curse of the Were-Flamingo by _minks (click on preview image for full comic)- Awww poor widdle Ronikins! LOL!

FIC: Company (Starsky & Hutch, PG) by K. Hanna Korossy- What is the one thing that a sick partner needs? Awwwwwwww! So nice. I love their interactions here and how sick!Hutch is described. They're so comfortable and natural around each other... and yet the h/c still comes out loud and strong. This is just lovely. I highly recommend everything K. Hanna Korossy writes. Downtime... Comfort's Cost... A Textbook Case... just read everything, seriously: http://www.korossy.org/khk/

FIC: Cold (The Man from UNCLE, I/N) by Julia Justina- He’d stopped shivering a while ago, that was bad. He knew all about hypothermia How much do I love hypothermia fics? MUCH! Men being desperate to keep each other warm... what's not to love? This has wonderful slash and Illya-whumping :-)

FIC: Fever (The Man from UNCLE, I/N, R?) by Kate D.- "I am not a stray puppy," Illya said stiffly. "And I am quite capable...."
The other two exchanged commiserating glances. "I'll take the stray Russian home with me," Napoleon said with a grin. YUM! Yes, just: YUM! Every bit is light and lovely yumminess. See my previous comment about men keeping each other warm... especially when it leads to... *sigh* Such absolutely yummy h/c.

FIC: A Day in the Life of Illya Nickovetch Kuryakin (The Man from UNCLE, G) by Deb- Illya allowed himself the luxury of a flash of genuine indignation that he was always the one to get dirty, wet, hurt or saddled with a cold while Napoleon generally sailed through missions looking like the cover of Esquire. Guuuh. Ohhh yes. Illya all sick and sneezing but going on with the mission anyway. GOT to love it.

FIC- Picking Up The Pieces by Annie (Starsky/Hutch, NC-17)- This is the definition of yummy for me :-) It follows a rather typical plotline (that I am certainly guilty of following in several stories, myself) but the overpowering hurt/comfort elements and adorable characterizations really save this. The hurt at the beginning is wonderful- it's got all the elements that I adore. And when the comfort portion comes around, it does so with understanding and emotion and hot hot sex. Who could ask for more?

FIC- By Candlelight by Annie (The Sentinel, Jim/Blair, FRM)- Squee! I don't even know this fandom, apart from a few fanvids and fanfics, but this is sooo right up my alley. This is so my idea of romance... and so absolutely adorable. I especially love the touches, the kiss, the sneeze, and the dialogue that follows. "Ah crap," he says huskily as he sits up, wiping a hand under his nose. "Sorry, big guy." *dies with happy* Even if you don't know TS, this is sooooo worth a read. Because it's delicious and adorable and at the height of numminess!

symphonyflute just sent me this rec and I couldn't resist sharing.

FIC- What I'm Here For (Roger/Mark) by lovablegeek (Aubrey)- I usually get totally nervous about characters with HIV/AIDS getting sick... and I would never go as far as shipping Roger/Mark because I'm true to RENT canon (even though something in the back of my head is dying to do so and I couldn't have been happier at their hug in the movie) BUT, even with all that, I absolutely ADORED this story and everything about it!
The dynamics are adorable, the characterizations are fantastic (I SO love motherly!Mark and sick&in-denial!Roger is to die for), and the deeper theme in here is just so brilliantly presented. This fic is a perfect example of why I love h/c's.

Puddin' Love by Fiendling is an adorably fluffy story in which Ron is sick and Harry attempts to feed him some pudding *G*

A Most Unusual Student by Alkari is a great, long Remus WIP told from the perspective of Madam Pomfrey. Currently it spans years 1-5. As far as H/C's go, I think Madam Pomfrey is terribly underutilized so I was pulled into this story immediately.

Under Me, You by kasche is a fantastic piece of art featuring Remus and Sirius being all clingy and huggy. *snuggles*

Harry Potter and the Polka Dot Plague by Mariner is a great humor piece about, you guessed it, a polka dot plague called Skittles. Poor Harry! And I'll even throw in a Poor Snape! since I read this before HBP. The summary says it best, though: Harry Potter discovers why polka dots are evil. Snape discovers why it's a bad idea to forge your medical records. Lucius Malfoy discovers why you shouldn't give suprise presents to your boss.

Today I was skimming through my saved SF stories folder which is horribly outdated (mainly because I wanted to read solitaire_au's Stargate fic, but I didn't get that far in the list). Anyhoo, I spent practically an hour reading Going Goth(ADULT!) by Cath UK. Not only because it's long and I was doing two other things at the same time, but because I kept pausing to make comments to the story/characters out loud. And about halfway through I decided that meant I should probably rec it here :-) Particularly as they were mostly rather good comments ;-)

I've always admired the heck out of this story. The characters are absolutely incredible and... real. They feel very real to me. And the culture is entirely too accurate and adorable. Every so often I get a plot bunny biting to do a smoke-allergy fic and then this story ALWAYS pops up in my mind. Those clove cigs... oohhh. SUCH a lovely plot device. Everyone always says smell is the strongest trigger to memory, and I can practically smell this story. So wonderful, that.

The writing is fantastic. And not just because I've a weakness for British slang *EG* I love the multiple perspectives- it brings SO much to the story. It gives the story so many layers and allows the reader to think from all those different views at the same time. I love the overlaps, and I love the moments of revelation to the reader from one view or another- excellent choices, all. Very creative. Very brilliant. It allows for the repetition of some things and keeps others a bit of a mystery for the reader to think about. Brilliant.

The sex... ohhhh the sex. The fetish elements are fantastic, as befitting a story told in first person. Two of the three characters have the fetish and, thus, their descriptions and observations are quite delicious (and, yet, the variation between the two is fresh and nummy). And the other character is able to provide readers with a first-hand account of the sneezes from how they feel to how he feels about them. His shyness coupled with their candidness (at least to themselves/the reader) about how the sneezes turn them on makes for quite a delicious tale indeed. He was just focused on trying to give the impression he was listening, when all he was noticing was what was going on inside his nose. I could see his eyes going glassy, and the effect was made even more alluring by the liner he wore. He’d been sneezing a bit already that night, like I said, and his eyes were kind of teary, like he was going to cry. Very sexy. I'll say! *G* The story is full of great juxtipositions like that. Not to mention that the sneezes sound fantastic... and the description is quite original. I tried to ignore it, to pay attention to what she was saying, but it was like the inside of my nose was liquefying. I could feel it was just a matter of time before it overflowed and I exploded all over the place with sneezes. It was as if tendrils of smoke were working their way inside me, tickling everything in sight, driving me mad. I'm not even one for the more "liquid" side of things but there's something about this part that always gets to me. Oh, and I'm MORE than happy to see this particular line repeated several times: “Sorry, gotta- gotta-... Hiessshhh!” *dies*

But the characters... gods, I cannot get enough of the characters. Cath writes them so wonderfully; they're all full and deep and diverse. Lovely. But I must admit I side with Paeyl the entire time, no matter what. I totally want him. Even if it is Raevyn doing all the sneezing, and even if he's technically gay, I still want Paeyl. I think it's because I definitely see a lot of myself in him.

My only complaint is the ending. I love the sex- all of it. I really do. But, like I said above, I side with Paeyl, so I felt very un fulfilled by the ending. And when I finish reading this story every time, I can't help but yearn for a resolution that involves him. I feel hurt when he gets hurt and I never fully recover with the story ending the way it does. But maybe that's just because perky, controlling bats bug the heck out of me, too.

Nonetheless, this is one of my favorite original character fics out there.