Tagging care: "Disability" in Good Omens and Stranger Things "hurt/comfort" fan fiction

Authors

  • Marialaura Grandolfo Independent Scholar
  • Nicola Simonetti Durham University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2026.2909

Keywords:

Access intimacy, Comforter, Hurt character, Interdependence, Narrative prosthesis

Abstract

Fan fiction tagged as "hurt/comfort" shows a tendency to treat disability in a prosthetic manner, using it to induce pity toward disabled characters and foster emotional intimacy. We argue that the inclusion of the "disability" tag alongside hurt/comfort signals a more deliberate effort to engage critically with disability literary deployments and portray disability as a nuanced experience rather than a narrative contrivance. A case study–based comparison of Good Omens and Stranger Things fan fictions—some tagged only as hurt/comfort, others also including the disability tag—demonstrates how AO3's tagging practices can inform the use of disability and the reception of disabled characters. Our findings underscore the potential of tagging to support more ethical deployments of disability in fan fiction.

Author Biographies

Marialaura Grandolfo, Independent Scholar

Dr Marialaura Grandolfo is an independent scholar whose research focuses on Fandom Studies. She holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of St Andrews, which looked at fanwork as a contemporary, digital form of mythmaking. Her research interests include myth as a transhistorical system of communication, and popular literature’s challenge to genre and fictionality.

Nicola Simonetti, Durham University

Dr Nicola Simonetti works in Comparative Literature and the Medical Humanities and is Bridging Fellow in Medical Humanities at Durham University. He holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of St Andrews, where he also completed his first postdoctoral appointment. His research interests include deployments of neurodivergence and disability in contemporary literature, the post-human, post-2000 models of the contemporary, and the literary eco-crip.

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Published

2026-06-14

Issue

Vol. 48 (2026): Disability and Fandom

Section

Article

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Marialaura Grandolfo, Nicola Simonetti

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