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Entry tags:
CRUELTIDE
(Thanks to all the previous Crueltide posters! It seems we've had a different poster every single year, so hopefully no one minds that I make it this year.)
Not every story is pleasant. Not every story has a happy ending, and not all happy endings come without a dark and painful journey. And sometimes, those are the kinds of stories that we really, really want to read.
If you're one of the many people interested in either writing or receiving darkfic, then Crueltide is here to devour your soul the Yuletide-extra for you!
The short version
The long version is beneath the cut.
Why Crueltide?
Because darkfic isn't to everyone's taste. By making it easier to identify darkfic prompts and people open to receiving darkfic in yuletide, we can all indulge our preferences without placing undue pressure on our assigned writers or risking gifting unwelcome fics to our recipients. (And also: the name was the least cutesy of those being thrown around in 2014.)
What is darkfic?
Depends on your definition. But here's a (non-exhaustive) list of darker tropes to get you started:
(White text used as some content may be triggering to some - highlight to read.)
Does a darkfic story have to have an unhappy ending/some other specific trope?
No! Not at all. Just because a story is packed with darkfic tropes doesn't mean there's no light at the end of the tunnel.
Also, just because you like one trope, it doesn't mean you like all of them. Feel free to specify your do-not-wants alongside your wants.
Great, how does it work?
-- If you end up writing a darkfic story, just tag it with Crueltide when you upload it to the collection, and that'll help readers find more of what they like. It would also be good to tag any particular tropes you've used, to help readers find/avoid them. That's all you need to do!
-- If you would like to receive a darkfic story in one of the fandoms you've requested in your yuletide sign-up, you can advertise that here by replying to this post. (The template below is merely a suggestion of what to include - the level of detail in prompts/tropes is entirely up to you. But please do limit yourself to fandoms on your Yuletide sign-up - the Yuletide mods need to be sure you get a fic in one of those, and a treat in an unexpected fandom could make that awkward. )
AO3: ao3 username
Letter: dear yuletide writer (URL)
Fandoms: fandom details here
Happy Endings Preferred?: yes/no/don't mind
Wanted tropes: list any of your favorite dark tropes, themes, or prompts here.
Unwanted tropes: list your darkfic do-not-wants here.
If you want to advertise your requested fandoms as being particularly dark and of potential interest to others, feel free to comment along those lines too.
Alternatively, if you only want your assigned writer to know what you're into, just make a mention of darkfic/crueltide in your optional details as part of your signup.
Not every story is pleasant. Not every story has a happy ending, and not all happy endings come without a dark and painful journey. And sometimes, those are the kinds of stories that we really, really want to read.
If you're one of the many people interested in either writing or receiving darkfic, then Crueltide is here to devour your soul the Yuletide-extra for you!
The short version
- Read the comments to find people to treat with darkfic.
- Tag your yuletide darkfic with 'crueltide'
The long version is beneath the cut.
Why Crueltide?
Because darkfic isn't to everyone's taste. By making it easier to identify darkfic prompts and people open to receiving darkfic in yuletide, we can all indulge our preferences without placing undue pressure on our assigned writers or risking gifting unwelcome fics to our recipients. (And also: the name was the least cutesy of those being thrown around in 2014.)
What is darkfic?
Depends on your definition. But here's a (non-exhaustive) list of darker tropes to get you started:
(White text used as some content may be triggering to some - highlight to read.)
Addiction - Amputation - Animal Abuse - Apocalypse - Betrayal - Body Horror - Brainwashing - Cannibalism - Character Death - Child Abuse - Claustrophobia - Conspiracy - Degradation - Disease - Dystopia - Gaslighting - Hauntings - Humiliation - Hypothermia - Insanity - Invasion of Privacy - Lovecraftian Cosmic Horrors - Medical Experimentation - Mind Control - Monsters - Murder - Mutilation - Non-Con - Paranoia - Poisoning - Prison - PTSD - Sadism - Slavery - Suicide - Torture - Unhappy Endings - Violence
Does a darkfic story have to have an unhappy ending/some other specific trope?
No! Not at all. Just because a story is packed with darkfic tropes doesn't mean there's no light at the end of the tunnel.
Also, just because you like one trope, it doesn't mean you like all of them. Feel free to specify your do-not-wants alongside your wants.
Great, how does it work?
-- If you end up writing a darkfic story, just tag it with Crueltide when you upload it to the collection, and that'll help readers find more of what they like. It would also be good to tag any particular tropes you've used, to help readers find/avoid them. That's all you need to do!
-- If you would like to receive a darkfic story in one of the fandoms you've requested in your yuletide sign-up, you can advertise that here by replying to this post. (The template below is merely a suggestion of what to include - the level of detail in prompts/tropes is entirely up to you. But please do limit yourself to fandoms on your Yuletide sign-up - the Yuletide mods need to be sure you get a fic in one of those, and a treat in an unexpected fandom could make that awkward. )
AO3: ao3 username
Letter: dear yuletide writer (URL)
Fandoms: fandom details here
Happy Endings Preferred?: yes/no/don't mind
Wanted tropes: list any of your favorite dark tropes, themes, or prompts here.
Unwanted tropes: list your darkfic do-not-wants here.
If you want to advertise your requested fandoms as being particularly dark and of potential interest to others, feel free to comment along those lines too.
Alternatively, if you only want your assigned writer to know what you're into, just make a mention of darkfic/crueltide in your optional details as part of your signup.
no subject
Letter: https://elf.dreamwidth.org/832818.html
Fandoms and a random prompt for each:
Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (TV 1976): Any of: Lori|Electra Woman, Judy|Dyna Girl, Frank Heflin, Glitter Rock
Dyna Girl decides to go villain, kidnap Electra Woman, and get revenge for being treated like a sidekick instead of a partner.
The Muppet Show: Janice (The Muppet Show)
Electric Mayhem gets way into drugs and debt until Janice is left performing as a stripper to save them from mob torture. (Look, it's hard to think of muppet darkfic. Surprises welcome here.)
Young Justice Comics: Tim Drake (YJ Comics), Red Tornado (YJ Comics) - caveat: I am happy with EITHER; both not required
I'm not sure I could deal with anything darker than canon, actually; Tim got pretty banged up over the years. But I'm fine with "Gets captured by criminals, tortured, raped, maybe rescued but recovery is gonna take a loooong time." For dark-headgames fic, Red Tornado could be grooming the whole pack of teens.
Humans Are Space Orcs (Meme) - no characters
Humans are a weird, wacky, innovative force of chaos in the galaxy... that leave death in our wake as other species succumb to the swarm of bacteriological and viral infections we just carry around with us.
Klaus (2019): Jesper Johanssen, Klaus
Klaus starts going after abusive/neglectful parents... brutally. Jesper is stuck trying to solve and stop a series of tortures and murders.
Ghost Soup Infidel Blue: Moira, Angela
Maybe accidental addiction caused by not understanding space-elf physiology. Or Moira injuring Angela repeatedly by not understanding the limits of the human body. ...or feel free to throw in one or both of their mirrorverse counterparts and run with it.
Happy Endings Preferred?: yes, but not required. Doesn't need to be happy but I'd prefer it not to be horrifically bleak. That said, character death is okay.
Wanted tropes: I generally like the lighter end of darkfic. I enjoy Hurt/Comfort, tortured-then-rescued, Hydra Trash Party recovery fic, mindgames with unreliable narrators, dubcon of basically all sorts, noncon that involves some level of pleasure.
Unwanted tropes: Heavy gore, scat, small children being hurt, anything that reminds me too directly of recent political events (I don't mind my fic dark but dammit I want it for an escape) (COVID/quarantine/plague is fine; it's the politician-flavored BS I'd like to avoid), neglect, animal abuse.
Not all of those are "I would never want to read a fic that includes this." Is more like, "in a setting where people are specifically looking for the darkest/most depraved things to write... those are not what I'm hoping to read; please tread carefully if you include them. Please don't include them just for shock value; is not fun for me."