A is for Adaptation
Jan. 29th, 2022 12:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snowynightFor a very long time I'm mystified by my response to hurt/comfort stories. While I like some of the related tropes, the typical beat of hurt comfort stories doesn't hit me perfectly. I don't like story only with hurt, because of my very strong squick about characters broken into pieces and stuck in a hopeless situation. While comfort is nice, I don't exactly want to dwell on how the hurt characters to be comforted by their loved one (or not-so-loved one).
Then I realize that what exactly hits my id is stories about adaptation. The characters get hurt or lost something that is often irreversible, and they still have to live with the side effect of the loss, but they manage (or not quite manage) to live with the loss and pain. They have to pay the price demanded by their duty or morale, but they do it constantly because the needs of the many outweighs the needs of few.
Sometimes they have support from their families and friends. Sometimes they hide it so well that the people they know don't realize it. They may bear their loss and pain stoically or emotionally. They may never recover completely but they survive another day.
Characters with such storylines/backstories usually become my favourite. In Star Trek: the Original Series, James T. Kirk is generally cheerful, but he has to constantly bear the demand and responsibility of being a Starship captain and the trauma of his past. The movie canon is practically how he has to live with loss and change. Spock is reserved and stoic, but he has to deal with the problem that arises from his dual heritage.
Remus and Sirius in Harry Potter canon era both have to deal with the loss. The best years of Sirius is spent tortured and framed for murder in prison. Remus has to deal with the war, death, perceived betrayal and his own dangerous secret.
In Marvel comics canon, Steve Rogers needs to deal with the shock and loss of waking up decades late while Tony Stark needs to deal with alcoholism, heart issue and his many demons.
John McClane in Die Hard series is a rare action movie hero who needs to deal with the heavy cost of his heroics. In Live Free or Die Hard, my favourite fics are all about how both John McClane and Matthew Farrell have to deal with the injury and change brought out by the movie events.
In a milder extent, Benton Fraser has to deal with living in Chicago far from home, and Ray Kowalski isn't the most adjusted person either.
It's difficult to find fics that fit my id, because there are no easy keywords to stand for. Here are some recs:
Bitter Glass by killabeez , Star Trek: the Original Series, Kirk/Spock, note: character death.
My Summary (because the author's is misleading): A story about regrets and second chances. Faced with the news of Kirk's death in Generations, Spock looks back at how his friendship with Kirk disintegrates because of misunderstanding, secrecy, tragedy and repressed feeling, and lives with the belated realization
It feels like an alternate tragic path that they may go after the whale movie. We (and Spock) only knows about Kirk's feeling and thought through his private log, which does a great job depicting his grief and loss but still carry on his life. Spock also deals with his loss and betrayal in the decades thereafter. It has a hopeful ending, but so many suppressed pain and going on.
freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose by synecdochic , Stargate Atlantis, Rodney Mckay/John Sheppard. note: past character death
Summary: Because the meaning of life is "do the next thing", and we all carry the seeds of the past into our future. Futurefic, Rodney-centric.
Atlantis is lost. John Sheppard is dead. Rodney Mckay gets stuck teaching at backwater liberal arts college. He has to live with the loss and adapts to the change, but he still rebuilds his life
Communication series by everythingsshiny Attack on Titan, Lewi/Erwin Smith. note: AU
After the war, Levi is mute and Erwin is blind thanks to the military police, but they manage to talk enough to make it work despite no longer speaking.
There are three stories in the series. It's about how Levi and Erwin live with their disability and the impact of war in general.
Then I realize that what exactly hits my id is stories about adaptation. The characters get hurt or lost something that is often irreversible, and they still have to live with the side effect of the loss, but they manage (or not quite manage) to live with the loss and pain. They have to pay the price demanded by their duty or morale, but they do it constantly because the needs of the many outweighs the needs of few.
Sometimes they have support from their families and friends. Sometimes they hide it so well that the people they know don't realize it. They may bear their loss and pain stoically or emotionally. They may never recover completely but they survive another day.
Characters with such storylines/backstories usually become my favourite. In Star Trek: the Original Series, James T. Kirk is generally cheerful, but he has to constantly bear the demand and responsibility of being a Starship captain and the trauma of his past. The movie canon is practically how he has to live with loss and change. Spock is reserved and stoic, but he has to deal with the problem that arises from his dual heritage.
Remus and Sirius in Harry Potter canon era both have to deal with the loss. The best years of Sirius is spent tortured and framed for murder in prison. Remus has to deal with the war, death, perceived betrayal and his own dangerous secret.
In Marvel comics canon, Steve Rogers needs to deal with the shock and loss of waking up decades late while Tony Stark needs to deal with alcoholism, heart issue and his many demons.
John McClane in Die Hard series is a rare action movie hero who needs to deal with the heavy cost of his heroics. In Live Free or Die Hard, my favourite fics are all about how both John McClane and Matthew Farrell have to deal with the injury and change brought out by the movie events.
In a milder extent, Benton Fraser has to deal with living in Chicago far from home, and Ray Kowalski isn't the most adjusted person either.
It's difficult to find fics that fit my id, because there are no easy keywords to stand for. Here are some recs:
Bitter Glass by killabeez , Star Trek: the Original Series, Kirk/Spock, note: character death.
My Summary (because the author's is misleading): A story about regrets and second chances. Faced with the news of Kirk's death in Generations, Spock looks back at how his friendship with Kirk disintegrates because of misunderstanding, secrecy, tragedy and repressed feeling, and lives with the belated realization
It feels like an alternate tragic path that they may go after the whale movie. We (and Spock) only knows about Kirk's feeling and thought through his private log, which does a great job depicting his grief and loss but still carry on his life. Spock also deals with his loss and betrayal in the decades thereafter. It has a hopeful ending, but so many suppressed pain and going on.
freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose by synecdochic , Stargate Atlantis, Rodney Mckay/John Sheppard. note: past character death
Summary: Because the meaning of life is "do the next thing", and we all carry the seeds of the past into our future. Futurefic, Rodney-centric.
Atlantis is lost. John Sheppard is dead. Rodney Mckay gets stuck teaching at backwater liberal arts college. He has to live with the loss and adapts to the change, but he still rebuilds his life
Communication series by everythingsshiny Attack on Titan, Lewi/Erwin Smith. note: AU
After the war, Levi is mute and Erwin is blind thanks to the military police, but they manage to talk enough to make it work despite no longer speaking.
There are three stories in the series. It's about how Levi and Erwin live with their disability and the impact of war in general.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-29 09:06 pm (UTC)I also love this trope, though I don't know any good keywords to find it. I thought of it as "stoic background suffering", although I like your "adaptation" more. I feel like canon movies/TV series often give the characters some painful background, but then don't really address it, and so I turn to fic for the "adaptation" part.
And thank you for the link to that incredible K/S fic! I just spent most of Saturday reading it in one go :D
no subject
Date: 2022-01-30 04:37 am (UTC)I am glad you have enjoyed the fic. I frequently re-read it for the wealth of silent stoic suffering