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randominityHey, just wondering - for those on my flist who like mpreg, do you care to lay out your reasoning as to why? I'd be interested to see where we're all coming from on this front. I mean, I love mpreg, and yet I rarely come across an mpreg I find really satisfying, that hits all my particular kinks. The only conclusion I can come to is that we like it for different reasons, or are looking for different things when we read or write mpreg. So what gives? :)
I may share my own thoughts in a bit, if I can get them sorted out.
I may share my own thoughts in a bit, if I can get them sorted out.
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-14 11:13 am (UTC)2. The best mpregs are funny and offer very little in the way of logic to explain the pregnancy. Because it is absurb for a man to be pregnant. Stories about some post-apocolyptic future where men have to repopulate the Earth are unappealing in the worst way. I want mpreg to be about freak, unexplained instances. Magic is a good enough explanation. I don't need biological excuses.
3. I like men with babies. Good fathers are sexy.
Now, none of this is to say that I won't read an angst-filled, alternate universe mpreg, set in a future with no women where men have evolved into hermaphrodites. But I probably won't enjoy it as much as "You Say That Like It's a Bad Thing."
(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-14 01:07 pm (UTC)2)? THANK YOU. This is a huge part of it for me - the absurdity. If I wanted to read a story where hermaphoditic/submissive/genetically altered men are the "breeder race," I'd read het, where women get pregnant the old-fashioned way. I like it when the pregnant daddy is freaking out, the other daddy is freaking out, and everybody around them is freaking out, because mpreg is not supposed to happen. I do like to give "an explanation," even if it's magical, but the WTF-ness of it is what I enjoy.
3) - not your point 3), but my point 3): thanks for the compliment :).
(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-14 01:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-14 11:45 am (UTC)So, in fiction, we can indulge men giving birth. Personally, pregnancy and birth terrify the bejeezus out of me, hence why, at the age of 33, I haven't crossed that door yet, and never will. That being said, if 2 gay men want a baby and can use magic to do it, what a fantastic thing that is!
So - the reason why I like MPreg so much? It satisfies my very unrealistic ideas of utopia - everything for anyone who can.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-14 01:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-14 06:35 pm (UTC)1) As someone mentioned above, I like the absurdity of it. I like having Lance or whoever wake up one morning, and poof(u?)!, is pregnant. I love the hilarity that ensues when four other boys try to figure out what the hell happened. And then occasionally, I like it when the mpreg comes out of nowhere and is totally and completely accepted immediately, like it's something that just happens sometimes and all you can do is shrug and have the baby. (in that order.) I don't want the science behind it, because come on, there are so many parts that boys lack (uterus! ovaries! eggs in general! fallopian tubes! the ability to grow placental membranes!) that it's too ridiculous to try to ground in medicine.
2) In a way, mpreg popslash is like girl!popslash to me. Some of my favorite 'nsync fics are the ones where ____ turns into a girl, and romance ensues, and then the girl returns to being a boy. If I'm honest with myself, I think it's because I tend to like het and conform to gender roles more than I'd like (a lifetime of reading romance novels will do that). In a twisted way, having a slash couple where one boy is pregnant, almost allows the couple to fall into normal roles. I know, the progressive part of me is totally cringing.
3) Formerly manly men turning into whining, hormonal pregnant men = hilarious, in my book. I like the plot device because it's a big one, and an unapologetic one, at that. It's sort of like, "look, JC got knocked up. Don't ask how. But let's watch how things unfold because of it."
4) My boys + babies = too cute!
(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-14 06:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-14 09:33 pm (UTC)2) Coming from popslash, you know how I love girl!fic. I don't think I like it for the same reasons as you (re: conventional roles), though... I think I view these "turns into a ________" fic more like hurt/comfort. Something's wrong, everyone goes crazy trying to fix it, there turns out to be no solution, the wronged victim becomes close(r) with "insert name here" because he's being a source of support, the dilemma passes, and everyone's better for having experienced it. Which brings me to
3) of COURSE it's a plot device! It's practically meta! I love it. And okay, while I like stories where the author almost tries to make sense of the mpreg (but not TOO seriously. It can't be serious enough to take away the absurdity factor), the most fun mpregs are the ones that are totally self aware, like the girl!fics. Or the llama!fics, the cat!fics, the puppy!fics, etc... (man, I'm missing popslash with all its quirky fics right about now).
4) I never address the baby part. I'm not good with babies, lol, so I just pretend they don't exist. I'm defective that way, I suppose.
why mpreg?
Date: 2005-06-14 08:09 pm (UTC)Re: why mpreg?
Date: 2005-06-14 09:35 pm (UTC)Having written mpreg both where the couple is an established couple, and one in which the couple is forced togeth and has to make it work, I much prefer the antagonistic angle (and there are few established couples where I think the mpreg angle would work without becoming too schmoopy). I wouldn't turn down a good Ron/Harry mpreg, though! *g*
(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-15 09:09 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-15 09:12 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-15 04:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-15 04:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-15 05:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-15 05:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-06-25 07:47 am (UTC)-Strange and random comment i no. I just thought you might like to know...2 years later...(oh well!)
H/D yumminess
Date: 2005-06-15 02:56 pm (UTC)Though, I will admit that the look I imagine on Ron's face if he found out he was pregnant would be priceless!
Re: H/D yumminess
Date: 2005-06-15 04:10 pm (UTC)I'm amused by your comments that Ron and Neville are too nice to be sexy, as I'm a huuuuuge fan of best-friends-as-lovers fics and really love the domesticity and escape from all the antagonism! In fact, the thought of Ron's face upon discovering he's unexpectedly pregnant.... *runs off to look for Ron/Harry mpreg*
Re: H/D yumminess
Date: 2005-06-16 10:34 am (UTC)