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yuletide2015-10-18 09:22 pm
for_sorrow) wrote in yuletide2015-10-18 09:22 pm
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, then Crueltide ishere to devour your soul the Yuletide-extra for you!
The short version
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.
Last year 32 yuletide stories were also tagged for Crueltide. You can read them all here.
If you're after inspiration or examples of past prompts, 2014's crueltide livejournal entry can be found here.
The LJ version of this post can be found here - don't overlook the comments there.
So there you go. Don't have nightmares. Do sleep well.
(Have suggestions on how to improve this post? Drop me a comment. I'm not planning to add a spreadsheet as last year the replies only ran to three pages, but anyone who wants to add one is more than welcome to do so.)
If you're one of the many people interested in either writing or receiving darkfic, then Crueltide is
The short version
- Read the comments to find people to treat with darkfic.
- Tag your yuletide darkfic with 'crueltide'
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.
Last year 32 yuletide stories were also tagged for Crueltide. You can read them all here.
If you're after inspiration or examples of past prompts, 2014's crueltide livejournal entry can be found here.
The LJ version of this post can be found here - don't overlook the comments there.
So there you go. Don't have nightmares. Do sleep well.
(Have suggestions on how to improve this post? Drop me a comment. I'm not planning to add a spreadsheet as last year the replies only ran to three pages, but anyone who wants to add one is more than welcome to do so.)
no subject
Letter: http://evilmuffins.dreamwidth.org/1803.html
Fandoms:
Ranpo Kitan
Zankyou no Terror
Dangan Ronpa: AE
Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Samurai Flamenco
Utena
Happy Endings Preferred?: Yes
Wanted tropes: Non-fatal gore, injuries, amputees (I prefer no more than one limb going MIA please), nightmares, angst, hurt/comfort, 'twisted and fluffy feelings', possessiveness, unhealthy codependency, Tokyo Ghoul AU (for TG AU, cannibalism is fine. This is the only circumstance where I enjoy it), serial killer AU, vampire AU
I mostly enjoy dark fic because I like the idea of the characters persevering after great hardship, if that makes sense. Harrowing stories that end happily are one of my favorite things.
For my Ranpo Kitan request only, I'm asking for dark murder case fic in my prompts.
Unwanted tropes: Eye or fingernail trauma, death of canon characters, animal abuse
no subject
Letter: http://lieu.dreamwidth.org/12625.html
Fandoms: Akira, BioShock Infinite, Utopia
Happy Endings Preferred?: yes
Wanted tropes: living with trauma, comfort after said trauma (healthy or not), dystopias, emotional codependence, bloodplay, emetophilia, groundhog day AUs, choking/asphyxiation, incest, un- or badly-negotiated sexual D/s (femdom), identity crises/identity erosion, gore, body horror, and consensual eroticized violence.
Unwanted tropes: rape/non-con, scat/watersports, depictions of mouldy food or unclean living conditions, formal BDSM, A/B/O.
More general likes/dislikes/prompts at my letter!
no subject
Letter: Dear Yuletide Writer
Fandoms: 花帰葬 | Hanakisou (hi we have canon snowpocalypse/child abuse/dystopia/suicide/unhappy endings), Chess (Board Game)
Happy Endings Preferred?: No preference
Wanted tropes:
Hanakisou - betrayal, cabin fever, claustrophobia, gaslighting, guilt, hypothermia, noncon, PTSD
Chess - War Is Hell and associated tropes
Unwanted tropes:
Hanakisou - monsters, cosmic horror, explicit blood/gore/physical pain (mentions are fine)
Chess - No tropes specifically but I'd prefer not to get graphic PWP or violence/pain/humiliation without plot
no subject
Letter: https://som-fics.dreamwidth.org/2585.html
Fandoms:
Giant Robo
The Old Kingdom - Garth Nix
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Soul Calibur
Happy Endings Preferred?: don't mind either way
Wanted tropes:
My letter will give more prompts for each of the fandoms in their respective sections, but a general idea of prompts are: addiction, betrayal, body horror, character death, disease, hauntings, hypothermia, inner demons, insanity, Lovecraftian cosmic horrors, medical experimentation, mind control, monsters, murder, mutilation, paranoia, poisoning, psychological horror, PTSD, suicide, torture, violence.
I love seeing characters pushed to their limits, having their hearts pounding in their chests from fright. They come out of this alive, or not (as in some canon cases.)
Unwanted tropes:
eye gore, explicit gore being described in for paragraphs on end, sexualized violence.