Fanfic Trauma Narratives

Fanfiction often recognizes that what happens in canon is often potentially traumatizing. In adventure fiction (particularly superhero stories) this is especially true.

Trauma has been part of the MCU from the beginning

In Iron Man 1, Tony Stark is captured, undergoes non-consensual body modification, open chest surgery (likely without proper anesthetic) and is waterboarded. It's not a reach to think he might deal with PTSD from the experience and/or has a hard time with water near his face for a while afterward.

Tony Stark then escapes that situation only to discover that the person responsible for his kidnapping and for selling weapons that Tony designed to terrorists, is his last living father-figure, Obadiah Stane.

When he realizes that Tony knows, Obadiah paralyzes Tony and pulls the device keeping his heart viable out of his chest while he’s watching, unable to do anything about it. Among other things, fanfiction notices that Tony’s heart is a weak spot and gives him heart problems from the three times in this film alone he goes into cardiac arrest.

This is just in Iron Man 1. Just looking at the character of Tony Stark, there are another eight movies worth of potential trauma to unpack.

Trauma Narratives

With all this material and fanfic’s special liking for exploring the trauma of characters, there are a number of narratives about trauma that crop up in fanfiction. Some of these narratives are much more common in fics than other media, but none are exclusive to fanfiction as a genre. Click through the slides below to explore these narratives and their implications, as well as examples.

Naturally, there is a lot of topical overlap from one narrative to the next. Instead of repeating myself, I have linked to the narrative where I talk about a particular situation in more depth.

Note: If you click on the titles to read the work, please heed the tags for traumatic and sexual content to make an informed decision about whether you want to read it or not.

Also: The majority of the fics linked are well-written, regardless of potentially problematic content.

Therapy Narrative

YOU SHOULD GET THERAPY

Deficit

DEFICIT

Because, see, nobody loved Clint. Not . . . Not like that. Not ever. It just wasn’t something that happened. Sure, he knew he was attractive, and he could turn on the charm whenever he wanted, but any infatuation people felt for him only lasted a short time, until they discovered what a fuckup he was.

...

Yeah. Clint uncurled his fists and flexed his fingers. Yeah. That’s what would happen. Coulson would get over it. He’d see that Clint didn’t deserve his . . . regard. He didn’t really deserve anyone’s, least of all Coulson’s. Coulson was far too good for pretty much anyone, let alone an idiot like Clint.

Moving In or Moving On: The Hawkeye Remix by desert_neon (sproutgirl)

Savior Narrative

SAVIOR

Extreme Trauma

EXTREME TRAUMA

warning: quotes include descriptions of pain and neglectful/abusive parenting; stories linked include graphic injury, violence, assault, abuse, physical/psychological/sexual torture, and the emotional repercussions of all of the above

Recovery Narrative

RECOVERY

"...this isn't a monolithic project you must complete all at once of abandon forever. Think of it as a million little tasks."

"That's not encouraging."

"Isn't it? What if someone advised you to eat all the food you'll ever eat in one sitting? You know, just so you can get that repetitive task out of the way. It keeps you alive day to day, so doing it all at once couldn't possibly be harmful ... Recovery's the same. You only have to do exactly what you can stand every day. What you need every day. Never anything more."

Motion Training by Nonymos, ch. 23

LIVING WITH TRAUMA

Steve moves restlessly on the couch and Bucky thinks about whether to wake him, but he's still uncertain what Steve hears or sees in Bucky in his first moments of consciousness. For all that Bucky can peer into Steve's mind, the nightmares could be about Bucky.

He's still considering his options when Sylvie gets up from where she's been dozing by his side, and rises up on her back paws, propping the front ones on Steve's chest and letting out a soft but insistent bark. Steve startles at the sound, his eyes opening, muscles tensing. Then he smiles a little and brings a hand up to skritch at one of her ears. "Hey there, pretty girl."

She barks again, not loudly, but like a question. He laughs. "You got it in time."

Hard Wired by arsenicarcher (Arsenic)

Concrete Narrative