Okay... I feel a need to comment on this...

I think you have done a pretty good hatchet job on the whole darkfic 
thing. Problem is, I don't agree. My favourite fics have always been the
darkfics (esp. Ministry of Confusion) and I think they deserve their own 
place (of course, like all things, it's a matter of personal taste). 

I find that darkfics tend to go far more into the depths of the characters
and look at them, warts and all. They also get away from all that syrpuy 
happy stuff that I dispise so much. The fact is that life is NOT all roses
and happy endings. Life is pain. If you can't face the pain you should get 
out, and that's precisely what happens sometimes and it's good for overall
balance. Think how boring it would be if all fics were ended as tidily and
happily as...say... Kun-chan's? It's ammusing in it's own right, but let's
face it, there is such a thing as being TOO flowery! (no puns)

Darkfic is, IMHO, the best fanfic simply because it faces ugly realities and
allows a much more in depth and realistic assessment of the characters as
people. Perhaps it's a sort of test, almost.... A matter of asking the 
question :

How far can you drive a person before they snap, and what happens when 
they do?

Fact is, if I want happy, I'll read manga, if I want dark and serious, 
give me a darkfic any day!

P-word.