Fuck or Die
| Trope · Genre | |
|---|---|
| Synonyms: | Mate or Die |
| Related: | dub-con, heat fic, knotting, Aliens Made Them Do It, Alpha/Beta/Omega |
| See Also: | Forced Marriage, Mates (trope), Pon Farr |
| Tropes · Slash Tropes · Tropes by Fandom | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Definition
Fuck or Die is a fanfiction trope in which the author puts two or more characters into a situation that forces intimacy between them.
Like many tropes it can be and often is combined with others such as sex pollen or Aliens Made Them Do It and Virginity Sacrifice. It can result in dub-con or non-con fanworks.
Original Fannish Source
Although Fuck or Die has been used as a plot device in many fandoms since, its starting place was a canon source: the Pon Farr endured by Spock in Star Trek: The Original Series. In the episode, "Amok Time", Spock enters Plak Tow and must return home to fight, fuck or die. Many K/S stories started with Spock going into pon farr, and as Trek fans moved on to other fandoms, they took the trope with them.
Many fans ignore that Spock's explanation emphasized that pon farr makes you go home. This would rule out his being able to consummate with anyone away from Vulcan. But it makes a good story.
The concept was revisited in the movie Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (between Saavik and a reborn Spock), the Star Trek: Voyager episodes, "Blood Fever" (with Vorik) and "Body and Soul" (with Tuvok), and the Star Trek: Enterprise episode, "Bounty" (with T'Pol).
Gen Examples
- A Sentinel story by Arianna is Boundaries of the Soul.
Other Examples
- list of fuck or die stories on the Archive Of Our Own here
- list of Starsky & Hutch fuck or die stories here
- list of Supernatural fandom "sex pollen & fuck or die" Sam/Dean stories at sd_recs
- astolat's Supernatural classic Bad Blood, in which in a fuck-or-die scenario in a remote location Dean initially attempts to fuck a horse rather than his brother.
- The Sound of Wind Chimes by Sarah Stegall caused a lot of controversy back in the day in X-Files fandom
- notably subverted in Supernatural story The Operative Word by road_rhythm, occasioning some controversy about Choose Not to Warn.
