Open Question: What's the Appeal Of Mpreg?

[keyofshift]

Well, I know there's no way I'll ever get out of fanfic writing at this point. My recent birthday gift of a huge bottle of coffee liqueur means that I have plot bunnies jumping at me as if the killer rabbit from Monty Python And The Holy Grail is multiplying in my backyard. One serving tastefully presented inside of a little espresso cup, and

Comments

[aphroditemf]

Hmm, the mpreg thing is a bit of a mystery to me. I can understand it from a science fiction perspective, in terms of the whole "what-the-fuckery" aspect. But as a sexual thing... no, it does nothing for me!

Regarding mpreg in mainstream sci-fi, there's an excellent book called Excession, by Iain Banks, which deals with this. I think that the appeal of mpreg in this particular book is the vulnerability and emotional depth that it gives to the male character.

[keyofshift]

I LOVE Iain Banks! I'll have to check that out.

[aphroditemf]

He's my favourite author, and Excession is one of his finest novels. But (if you haven't already), you should read some of the earlier novels in the Culture series first, otherwise there might be some stuff that doesn't make sense. Consider Phlebas or The Player of Games are good ones to start with.

[keyofshift]

Just downloaded "Consider Phlebas" on iBooks a couple of days ago. Currently reading a paperback of "Transition" after neglecting it for a while.

[keyofshift]

As strange as that is, it makes a great deal of sense. But... Pregnant Roger? Sorry, but how do you NOT make that funny?

[keyofshift]

I'm dying here. Absolutely. Dying. I can already see the look on David's face! XD

[pisceanblue]

I wrote an mpreg (David/James) but it's on my AU journal which is locked so it hasn't been widely-read. I actually wrote it in response to the other mpreg story which was being posted in the comm at the time, in that I was attempting to write something somewhat plausible but also it seemed a way to write a romance in a more conventional way while clinging to a shred of realism (i.e. you can't write growm men being schmoopy but if you write one of them as pregnant then it becomes something else entirely). I grew fond of that world and wrote several stories for it. I'm still fond of it but I don't know if I have the energy to carry on with it now. I think mpreg is one of those things which - like a lot of tropes - has the potential to go horribly wrong or fetishistic but again, like anything, it's all about the writer and whether or not they have the ability to make any idea/trope work; and frankly many do not.

[keyofshift]

That's very true. The great thing about writing and other creative activities is that you get to knock down the walls (no pun intended for the PF crowd) of reality.