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Crueltide 2022
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://ayboo-da-bish.dreamwidth.org/1638.html
Fandoms: 成化十四年 | The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty (TV), 成化十四年 - 梦溪石 | The Fourteenth Year of Chenghua - Meng Xi Shi, Dark Matter - Michelle Paver, 别那么骄傲 | Proud of Love (TV 2016)
Happy Endings Preferred?: yes, although I’m also fine with ambiguous/unhappy endings for Dark Matter
Wanted tropes: hauntings, abduction, noncon & attempted noncon, non-graphic torture, claustrophobia, hypothermia, monsters, paranoia, psychological horror, poisoning, degradation & humiliation (by abductors)
Unwanted tropes: graphic torture, disordered eating, starvation or food-related horror, body horror, non-canonical character death, cannibalism, self-harm, traumatic amputation, unhappy endings, betrayal, degradation & humiliation (by friends and family)
Only one of the listed fandoms is an actual horror story, so I’ve done a little explanation of what tropes I think could maybe fit for each fandom if that helps. People can do whatever they like though!
成化十四年 | The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty (TV): A Chinese historical and romantic mystery drama approximately 50 episodes long, available in full on Viki or iQiyi. This is fairly light for an action-packed drama, but the main character is canonically a very pretty young man who gets abducted surprisingly often. My favourite tropes to play with here are abduction, noncon & attempted noncon, paranoia, non-graphic torture, violence, degradation & humiliation by abductors
成化十四年 - 梦溪石 | The Fourteenth Year of Chenghua - Meng Xi Shi: The novel the previous fandom was based on, available originally on jjwxc or translated on chichilations.home.blog. The novel is less lighthearted than the show, with a lot more conspiracy, betrayal, monsters, and magic. The main character is even more canonically pretty and irresistible here, and he has definitely been abducted and sexually harassed before. Fun tropes would be: abduction, noncon & attempted noncon, poisoning, monsters, non-graphic torture, violence, degradation & humiliation by abductors
Dark Matter - Michelle Paver: A fantastic short-ish ghost story/psychological horror novel available to buy anywhere, about an explorer who gets stranded in the Arctic overwinter and isn’t sure if he’s being haunted by a ghost. Fun tropes would be paranoia, psychological horror, hauntings, possession, violence, hypothermia, ambiguous/unhappy endings, claustrophobia, agoraphobia too come to think of it
别那么骄傲 | Proud of Love (TV 2016): A mostly-lighthearted slapstick Chinese youth fantasy comedy/drama, both seasons available entirely for free on Youtube. Bodyswapping, time travel, and alternate universes/timelines are all canon here, so there are plenty of possibilities. Favourite tropes are abduction, noncon & attempted noncon, claustrophobia, hypothermia, monsters, hauntings, violence, degradation/humiliation by abductors