“There is no exquisite beauty… without some strangeness in the proportion.”― Edgar Allan Poe
At this section, we aim to describe the purpose of this week and what we specifically here classify as dead dove.Defining Dead Dove:
Initially a general content warning derived from a scene in arrested development, dead dove quickly came to expand as a term to incorporate fanwork with dark themes. The central tenet is that of it being a way to warn readers when a fanwork is intended to "roll around and wallow" in potentially problematic tropes, rather than "giving a measured evaluation of anything". To put it simple, it is a content warning in reference to dark and taboo tropes in fanwork. Contextlessly tagging "dead dove" does not suffice without the specificied problematic trope in question labeled.Purpose:
Enstars fan events has historically been repressive to that of dark content and tropes, save for a few rays of light who has been kind enough to be more openminded and allow it. This event is yet another attempt at trying to fill that vaccum that they've been desperately trying to fill.We aim to provide with another outlet to give those desires a space. This fan week encourages creation and consumption of problematic and dark tropes featuring the chararacters from Ensemble Stars. Tropes like noncon, dubcon, incest, age gap, violent themes and psychological horror are encouraged. All enstars ships are allowed, period.Putting "Dead Dove" into practice - Examples
1. The event is going to happen from 28th April to 02 May 2024.2. The recommended rating for works are M(Mature) or E(Explicit) due the nature of the event.3. The event tag is #enstarsdeaddove244. Any gender and sexuality headcanon is allowed, along with body and mental headcanons as well. Always tag your works properly and be happy!5. If you wish to remain anonymous, feel free to DM us your submission, so we can post it for you! Don’t forget to add tags and warnings, name of work, link to the work and an optional screenshot or graphic.6. We’ll open collections closer to the event starting date, but you can post on the hosting site of your preference, like AO3, squid, privatter, tumblr, dreamwidth or a personal site. As long as you add the event tag, we’ll boost and count the work.7. Even though the event premise is to work with extreme content, hate speech won’t be tolerated as in: racism, xenophobia, fascist imagery and hate ideology. If any work is reported to fall on such terms, we’ll analyze case by case and ultimately might ban works and participants that indulge in such practices.8. Any additional questions, suggestions and feedback can be sent to our retrospring!
This section was created to clear up ambiguity regarding what kind of tone and themes a entry could preferably implement. The concept is giving a space to freely explore mature content and pushing boundaries of imagination as creator and audience.Let’s say you have the trope Arranged Marriage. The trope per se might be controversial and warrant a tag, but in its nature wouldn’t require a Dead Dove warning. It can cover from a romantic comedy to a period drama, or a slow burn love story. But if you have a fic tagged as Dead Dove and Arranged Marriage, some creepy stuff is really going down here. It could be twisting it through blackmail, kidnapping, brainwash, anything that can disturb the audience and defy the limits of morality.Obviously, all other tags should be included as well; but the Dead Dove is a quick way to make sure you pay attention to the nature of the work and all the tags.
| Trope Example | Description |
|---|---|
| Arranged Marriage | Trope is bent in a way that allows it to be interpreted in a darker tone. For example, through the combination of somno, consent issues, participants can have power differences, age differences etc. |
| Incest | Most would make a case that incest by virtue is Dead Dove, but it could need a tonal component for it to be "dark". If you throw in a subtrope like Yandere or through other imbalances it ends up in Dead Dove territory. |
| Psychological Horror | A good reference point for tone is series like Perfect Blue, Serial Experiments Lain, Paranoia Agent, Monster etc. |
| Slasher Horror | A good reference for tone are movies and films like Saw, Psycho, Pearl, Texas Chainsaw Massacre etc. |
PROMPT LIST
This section was created to make a easily readable chart of our prompt list for the week. For all days, there will also be a bonus prompt accessible: taint the cutie. The intent is for it to be used and combined as seen fit wth any of the existing prompts.Of course, you can also opt out of a specific prompt if you still work within the margins for theme of the week. If its dead dove and made specifically for the week in mind, it can be submitted using the appropriate tag and content warning.artwork credit: @its_sunnwoo on twt
| Day | Trope 1 | Trope 2 | Trope 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Blackmail | Self-harm | Noncon |
| Day 2 | Dehumanization | Branding | Bad BDSM |
| Day 3 | Cannibalism | Mindbreak | Body Horror |
| Day 4 | Age Difference | Gore | Obsession |
| Day 5 | Necrophilia | Electrocution | Power Imbalance |
| Day 6 | Incest | Forced Feminization | Eroguro |
| Day 7 | Medical Malpractice | Bodily Fluids | Brainwash |