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Crueltide!
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 or horror, then Crueltide is here 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 your recip requested dark or horror fic but didn't comment on this post, you can still tag it with Crueltide if it fits the theme! The Crueltide tag helps all of us darkfic and horror readers find more things to read. :)
-- 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.
If you're one of the many people interested in either writing or receiving darkfic or horror, then Crueltide is here 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 your recip requested dark or horror fic but didn't comment on this post, you can still tag it with Crueltide if it fits the theme! The Crueltide tag helps all of us darkfic and horror readers find more things to read. :)
-- 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://primeideal.dreamwidth.org/93400.html
Fandoms:
Adventures of Ledo and Ix (the existential horror of being the only self-aware characters in an 8-bit video game world) Crying Suns (clones on a spaceship battle and die time after time in a collapsing galaxy), Redwall (tropey good-versus-evil fantasy quests, but with rodents), Remembrance of Things Past (starts with secret government conspiracies in 1970s China, continues beyond the literal destruction of the solar system centuries later). I'm also requesting Steerswoman and Wayside School; while I don't think these tropes fit as well there, feel free to go dark if you're so inclined.
Happy endings preferred: not necessarily, though I do prefer cathartic/a sense of closure to cliffhangers.
Suggested tropes: apocalypse, cannibalism, character death, conspiracy, hauntings, hypothermia, monsters, murder, prison, suicide, unhappy endings
Unwanted tropes: rape/noncon, child absue