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Narrative
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Sad, isn't it?
And nothing makes us identify - feel with - another person as immediately as empathy for their pain. It's instinctive. It's the root for the highest of human virtues - compassion - and the lowest of human evils - sadism. In HC, one can shade into another and it's okay because no real people are being hurt during the filming of this fanfic.
A Fan Fic based on Woobiefication: a regular character is damaged, either emotionally or physically, and another character (usually the character's partner, love interest, member of their team/nakama, or a Mary Sue) must comfort them. This comfort can become...intense. Alternatively, the author creates a Sympathetic Sue to get damaged so the author's favorite canon character can comfort him/her. Can take place after specific episodes or installments of canon, or else the writer creates a new predicament. (The trouble arises when they're not very novel about it, or pick a sensational situation that doesn't really fit the mood of the original series....)
Conversely, the above methods are often used by fanfiction authors as a way to force together two characters that would otherwise be at each others' throats or have nothing to do with one another. Maybe the characters don't know each other too well, or maybe they wouldn't get along well under normal circumstances, but once they see that poor kid bleeding on their doorstep there isn't much alternative to taking them in and nurturing them back to health.
Often used as part of Shipping. Sometimes, Ron The Death Eater is responsible for the "hurt" part and Draco In Leather Pants is responsible for the "comfort" part. At other times, the characters stick to canonical roles (if not canonical characterization). In cases of physical hurt, it may be accidental or deliberately inflicted, but almost always there's some thinly-veiled reason why the injured cannot be taken to get medical attention (at least at first), which would involve them being cared for by mere strangers (with medical training) rather than someone who cares.
Fanwriters love this device because it gives the characters a situation which they both must struggle to overcome, without the author having to think too hard to create a believable plot. These types of fanfics will often be riddled with fluff and overly dramatized scenes in which the injured character lays out their entire tragic past for their rescuer to sympathize with, and more often than not transforms the characters' relationship from strained to romantic without much explanation in the interim, regardless of either character's gender or preference.
Can occasionally be done well, if the affliction is realistic and the story is well-written. Done especially often in medical show fandoms and buddy shows.
Often effective when combined with the Morality Pet.
Common setups:
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