In a message dated 2/20/01 5:38:00 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
nydersdyner(a)yahoo.co.uk writes:
<< And I also sometimes
 feel as if nobody really questions the concept at all--like it's just
 assumed that everyone's OK with this. >>
Maybe that's because in American fandom, as a rule, hurt/comfort is 
"standard" in fan fiction and therefore it probably *is* assumed that 
everyone's "okay" with it. In fact, hurt/comfort is a standard in pro 
fiction, as well, even in something as "nuts and bolts" as mainline SF. I can 
only quote from one of my favorite authors, Orson Scott Card, a winner of 
multiple Hugos (actually I will paraphrase). Scott says find the character in 
your story who hurts the most... and hurt him SOME MORE. 
You really can't write a story that involves the reader emotionally without 
putting the hero/heroine into trouble.
Annie