dead doves: do not eat

This page will include a significant amount of mature (18+) and potentially triggering content. This includes (and is not limited to): noncon/rape, physical/sexual/emotional abuse, child abuse, age gap, underage, grooming, incest, homophobia/transphobia, and vomit. The full nine yards, baby!

I do not endorse any of the actions, views, or themes depicted here in real life. Please use caution, go back if you need to, curate your own online experience, etcetera, etcetera.

Dead Dove: Do Not Eat is a warning or tag that is used to indicate that a fanwork depicts "problematic"/disturbing/transgressive tropes, themes, and topics. By this, I mean everything from rape, torture, incest, underage, guts and glory galore. Further, works with "Dead Dove"attached may not explicitly condemn these topics.

It is also more broadly utilized to say that "what's on the tin is in the tin"--basically if you choose to engage with the content given its clear labels and warnings, you know what you are getting into. There are at least several different other interpretations and uses of "Dead Dove", but these are the most common two I've encountered.

According to Fanlore, it derives "...from a meme referencing the 2003 Arrested Development episode "Top Banana", in which Michael Bluth opens a paper bag labelled "DEAD DOVE DO NOT EAT" and, upon discovering that there is a dead dove inside the bag, says, deadpan, "I don't know what I expected.""

The appeal of this content can usually be simply explained by the human love of taboo. Humans are drawn to taboos because (social, cultural, etc.) prohibition triggers a surge of attention, dopamine, and excitement in the brain. This is a very normal phenomenon. It is not terribly different from the widespread love of rollar coasters at otherwise dangerous heights, or horror games and movies, where violent and scary imagery is commonly depicted.

I've also heard of people who enjoy it because it allows them to process trauma, guilt, grief and other stressors in a safe environemnt. Some simply love it for the drama and tension it can add to a story. Personally, as a victim of some pretty violent child sexual abuse, rape, and grooming, I've found it quite cathartic and introspective. In a world where we are made to feel ashamed and silenced for something that was never our fault in the first place(!!!), reading and writing about these experiences has made me feel much less alone in this isolating, dark grave. It has allowed me to even understand my abuser(s) a bit better, by processing their actions through those of the fictional characters who are perpetrators. I would go as far as to say that "Dead Dove" content has given me more closure than any kind of counselling or conventional means of coping.

Oddly, and maybe counterintuitively enough, it has helped a bit with my sexual and violent OCD-induced intrusive thoughts. I suffer from really, really terrible intrusive thoughts were I think/picture myself being sexually assaulted, harming my loved ones, or killing myself/others. It has led me to feel incredibly guilty and absolutely awful about myself--to the point where I avoid people if I think seeing them will trigger these thoughts. "Dead Dove" content helps me feel more comfortable with these disturbing, horrible thoughts--which then makes me less inclined to beat myself up over them, while still maintaining that I wouldn't ever want to actually carry them out in real life.

Also, it's fun and hot. #WOUNDFUCKERSUNITED