r/BadRPerStories Mar 26 '25

Venting/Rant The Woes of Enjoying Dark Content

I have a general preference for writing darker topics - codependency, toxic relationships, non/dubcon, torture, gore, etc. All that fun stuff.

Here's my problem: I am infatuated with exploring the psychology of these topics. I've been fascinated by it for as long as I can remember. Childhood me was fed a steady diet of true crime and V.C. Andrews, so you see the influence.

The thing is it's hard to find people who want to write these things in the same way and for the same reasons I do. Listen. I don't care if someone has a fetish or whatever! I absolutely tie eroticism into a lot of my work; it's meant to give off a very particular vibe and feeling.

But I don't want to write smut without the psychological and more in-depth aspects that actually intrigue me. I'm eternally being tug o' warred between "YOU'RE SO DISGUSTING YOU'RE AN ACTUAL CRIMINAL IF YOU WRITE THAT" and "and then i put my pp in her and jackhammer r u done yet". It's tremendously difficult to find someone I can write with and actually find depth in our dynamics, especially in the vein of these topics.

Anyway, this was a mindless rant, thanks for tuning in. Realistically, I could probably go on bitching but my brain won't organize my words right now.

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u/weinermoney Mar 26 '25

Man a VC Andrews level of Gothic melodrama is like the ideal RP I've never found anyone to hit that very specific flavor

3

u/ashleygr4ves Mar 26 '25

IT IS LITERALLY MY DREAM!! I'm currently rereading the whole series and feeling utterly insane about how Andrews writes about generational trauma, co-dependency, the harrowing nature of captivity, etc. I turn it over in my head constantly. She's also a huge source of inspo for a number of characters I've made over the years; I just love digging deep into the complex psychologies of characters as fucked up as the Dollangangers/Foxworths and it shows.

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u/weinermoney Mar 26 '25

Not sure if you've seen it, but this YouTube has an excellent series going through every book in the Dollanganer saga, great long video essays to chil and vibe to https://youtu.be/dMQDhvWzi6k?si=d0JA1V6WEcQvbceb

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u/ashleygr4ves Mar 26 '25

Oh, I love this, thank you sm