S&H is a surprisingly current fandom. It always has reccers on crack_van, and apparently there are still people writing it on a regular basis.

H/C is a staple of the Big Fandom, I think, particularly of the Big Slashy Fandom. SG1, Sentinal, due South, Buffy--even SGA and SPN are making with the Big Slashy Manpain/Manlove. It's not something I read often, and usually if I do it has to break the h/c convention somehow. Generally I find that h/c twists characterization more than I'm comfortable with, in the name of creating a situation that enables the two characters to Realize Their Love in the act of caring. A little too off the mark for me.

I'm thinking of that one really egregiously long SGA story where Rodney ends up in a hospital bed again and again, and John still doesn't buy a clue until the very end. Rodney may have been blind at some point.

It occurs to me that the above description probably isn's specific enough...

I don't actually read a lot of H/C.

Somehow, this hasn't stopped me from writing drawerfulls of it. Wes/Gunn, to be specific.

I blame The Thin Dead Line.

...

...

You know, actually, a lot of my favorite TV moments kind of fall into H/C territory (TWO AXES, PEOPLE!). Perhaps I should get those S&H DVDs.

In Sentinel, it was usually Blair getting raped or beaten up. Every once in a while, he was the victim of domestic violence.

There's not so good h/c, then there's good h/c. I wish I had recs handy.

edit: endless battering of the characters so they can be comforted is not my cup of tea, especially when emotional hurt is tasty, too. The best stories are when there's only one hurt, but it builds up to a big ol' pain that needs comforted.

It is in the eye-rolling about particularly egregious h/c that I have had occasion to explain how catheters work. Hint: if your character is in the hospital, do check to make sure that all the plastic has been removed before attempting the hippy hippy shake.

Let us not speak about who wants to participate in the hippy hippy shake within hours of (a) the technicolor yawn, (b) spinal meningitis, or (c) a gunshot wound to the torso. Ah, fandom!

Those were the days, when you had to be mauled by a tractor to get some everloving comfort. Now it's all psychotherapy and bad childhoods. These kids today! Don't appreciate a good tractor.

the hippy hippy shake

I think this is my new favorite euphemism.

That's an issue that's always cracked me up when I've read, say, torch's fic. Or certain published works of Clive Barker. I mean, I'm anything but prudish and have been known to let the spirit move me on pretty short notice and in less-than-ideal circumstances, but generally a mild fever is enough to knock me out of commission. I can't imagine anyone being able to perform a couple days after defibrillation, or with a wound bad enough to require help just walking or standing.

Don't appreciate a good tractor.

Chainsaws! Or a runaway horse.

I can't imagine anyone being able to perform a couple days after defibrillation, or with a wound bad enough to require help just walking or standing.

And it's never just enthusiastic snogging, which one might be able to manage, it's all-out hanging from the chandeliers.

it's all-out hanging from the chandeliers.

They could at least pull a stitch.