At 01:09 AM 1/12/98 +0800, you wrote:

What the heck IS 'dark'? I thought 'dark' fics had Akane killing Ranma, or
Genma selling Ranma off as some child-sex-toy, or something like that. What
qualifies a fic to be 'dark' in the first place? And must I label it [Dark]
just so some cold, heartless mail filter can sort it out and throw it away,
even when I don't think it's dark?

"Dark" seems to imply things involving the death of any character(s), or
just as often, severe emotional trauma for the characters as well.  The
latter is why "The Domino Effect" can be labelled 'dark' without me
griping about it. :)

For the most part, though, I consider any 'fic that delves deeper into
the emotional aspect of the characters, without backing it up with a
healthy dose of the original comedy of the series (for comedy shows,
obviously), to be 'dark.'  Severity in Ranma or Urusei Yatsura is not
heard of very often.  Maison Ikkoku, on the other hand, is another
story entirely.  But any predominantly humorous shows are very prone
to have 'dark' fics about them.

Of course, if the series is NOT humorous, like Bubble Gum Crisis or
Hades Project Zeorymer, or even Area 88 (great story), then there doesn't
seem to be much of a purpose to the 'dark' label... it comes with the
series, by definition.  Unless, of course, it's a silly fic involving
the rather serious characters, which can work just as well. :)

Hope this helps. ^_^

-Deuce

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