Collected Thoughts

Victoria P, over in her LJ is asking some questions and one is:

dark fic. what it is. why people write it. why I don't write it, and generally don't care for anything that's unrelentingly dark. why it's allegedly cool and other types of fic are not, and who decides what is cool, and why does anyone care?

I saw in another LJ that this is being discussed in zendom.

I consider "Darkfic" to be death stories, twisted psychological thrillers, stories that delve into the darker aspects of characters' personalities (especially Jossverse stories about vampires). I love reading those types of stories, I find them interesting. I like writing stories that delve into the darker aspects of characters. I don't write comedy well, I'm not good with sweetness and light. But the dark stories talk to me, I can see those in my head.

I don't think "darkfic" is cooler or better than any other type of story. I like to read romances, slice of life stories, PWP, funny stories, pretty much anything. But hte darker stories just grab me.

In non fanfiction terms, I've always loved morbid, gothic stories--Edgar Allan Poe, Lovecraft, Frankenstein, Dean Koontz, etc. My favorite poem growing up was "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes. I loved watching reruns of "The Addams Family"--I wanted to be a part of the Addams family,when I found a book of the original drawings I fell in love. I don't actually own it but I regually checked it out from the library.

Two of my favorite recomendation lists are : Laura Jacquez's Dark Fic Recs and The Darker Side of Sunnydale (which is closed for updates).

I don't like overdone dark stories, just like I hate hurt/comfort stories that put characters through endless misery.

Sometimes Darker stories can be pretentious or show a writer that is trying too hard, but you find that no matter what type of story you are looking for.

I'm not sure why anyone finds these stories "cooler" than other stories. I know that these are my personal preference and I tend to write dark, broody stories because that's how I think. It's easy for me to think up these kinds of stories, it's easy for me to write. I have a hard time with humor and I'm not good with fluffy and light, even when I try that the characters start brooding.

I don't always want happy endings and happy stories, the darker stories, the stories about pain and sorrow and angst and torture and death and desire. Those, they seem more real to me, I can relate to brooding, I can relate to inner turmoil. The happy stories: romantic and light and playful and hopeful with happy endings, those are fairy tales that take me to places that I don't know very well or at all.