It can definitely be included as part of a dark!fic, yeah. But it's all about what's behind the actions, and that's true of really any kink.
Sort of like you could have two identical, really loving, romantic scenes, but if one of them turns out to be a sort of Stockholm Syndrome, mindfuck scenario, that would fall into dark!fic, where the other wouldn't. It's not the kink itself that makes it dark!fic or romance, it's the context of the kink. Even hardcore degradation and D/s can be romantic, if that's the way two people want things to be. But that same behaviour can be dark!fic if it's non-consensual or done in an attempt to abuse someone rather than show affection for them. So yeah... context. ;) It's all about the context.
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Sort of like you could have two identical, really loving, romantic scenes, but if one of them turns out to be a sort of Stockholm Syndrome, mindfuck scenario, that would fall into dark!fic, where the other wouldn't. It's not the kink itself that makes it dark!fic or romance, it's the context of the kink. Even hardcore degradation and D/s can be romantic, if that's the way two people want things to be. But that same behaviour can be dark!fic if it's non-consensual or done in an attempt to abuse someone rather than show affection for them. So yeah... context. ;) It's all about the context.