Spike and the Unwanted Pregnancy; or, Why Mpreg?

[snick_backup]

Okay, I’m outing myself: I like mpreg. I didn’t write Seraph as an experiment. I didn’t write it to try and prove that, “Anything, even mpreg, can be good if it’s written well enough” (although I do generally hold to that notion). I wrote it partly because I think the trope has all sorts of fic potential, but mostly I wrote it because I like the stuff.

And here’s why:

I’m fascinated by the exploration of the divide between body and identity and by the vulnerability that comes of feeling that one’s body is out of one’s control. Pregnancy is a special case: it’s one of the few situations where having your body doing all sorts of abnormal, uncomfortable things is considered, well, normal. However, it’s hard to get a really good look at this because it is normal, it’s everyday; of course that’s how we get new people.

Mpreg, on the other hand, throws all the extremes into sharp relief. Assuming you’re in a ficverse where male pregnancy isn’t usual, you suddenly have a character that’s dealing not only with a whole set of radical, possibly unexpected physical changes, but also on one hand a huge number of potentially contradictory social expections about pregnancy and on the other hand the vacuum of a situation for which there are no expectations. Plus your poor pregnant guy is physically vulnerable in different ways than he’s ever been before; he’s more directly responsible for someone else’s welfare than he’s ever been; he has new physical and maybe emotional needs that he may not be able to meet on his own. And when it’s all over, well, he has a baby to deal with.

All that aside, it's also one of those extreme circumstances we fic writers get so much mileage out of. Need a catalyst for your ship of choice? Try mpreg. Want a cannonball into your fandom's pool of platonic relationships? Try mpreg. Want to explore your guy's feelings towards his body image, his masculinity, his parents, his ego, his life priorities? Mpreg has major character-study potential.

Of course, there’s also a political angle to this: in the real world, unexpected and potentially unwanted pregnancy is a uniquely feminine concern. Aside from the sneaking satisfaction of watching a guy struggle through weight gain, swollen ankles, and the abortion question, there’s plenty of room for more serious commentary on the gender politics.

Finally, I gotta be honest: boys + babies = awwwww. As far as I’m concerned there are few things more aww-inspiring than a daddy holding his newborn. Mpreg has that, but dialed up to eleven.

Not always, of course – there’s also mpreg-as-horror-trope; mpreg-as-social-commentary, as mentioned above; mpreg-as-angst-device (and I am always up for a little well-placed angst); mpreg-as-‘ship-catalyst; mpreg-as-character-exploration; mpreg-as-humor (always a classic, although I should point out that a guy fainting when he’s told he’s pregnant isn’t actually funny); and a couple dozen other variants. Turns out it’s quite the versatile trope.

All of which isn't to say that most of the mpreg out there does all or even any of these things. The vast majority is spork-your-eyeballs-out horrific. I'd rather not admit to the atrocities I've read or attempted to read for the sake of mpreg. Characterization run amok (or completely disappeared), squicky relationship politics, logicfail in new and exotic flavors, and just plain bad pregnancy science. (And yes, despite the basic unlikelihood of male pregnancy, I'm pretty picky about its portrayal. Guy or gal, your baby still doesn't have a heartbeat before six weeks, you won't start showing or feeling any movement until at least four months, and yes there are symptoms besides morning sickness.)

Honestly, that was part of my reason for Seraph: I hoped to show not that "anything" could be good, but that mpreg could be good. Because it can! It’s a trope that offers huge potential to do any number of different things.

So there you have it: a scenario that’s ripe for all sorts of interesting character conflict, development, and growth. It’s like a highly specialized form of hurt/comfort with gleefully smashed gender roles and optional sides of fluff/schmoop, horror, angst, or social critique.

And there should be more of it, darn it!

Comments

[brutti-ma-buoni.livejournal.com]

The vast majority is spork-your-eyeballs-out horrific - now, see, this is what puts me off reading it... Do you have any recs which weed out the pain?

I'm not, honestly, thinking of writing mpreg, despite ponderings in this direction lately. But it does have potential, speaking as a reader.

[snickfic]

Actually, I suspect I'm going to need a follow-up post with recs to the good stuff. But for now, my first-foremost-and-always Buffyverse mpreg rec is Corpus et Sanguis, by 47_trekker_47. It's S5 Giles/Willow, with Giles/Ethan backstory, some great character dynamics, and really fabulous voices.

You might also like Expecting, by entrenous88 - it's Spike/Xander in vague AU S4, very much on the silly end of the genre but for the most part amusingly so, and again, good character voices.

There are also a few shorter things over a range of genres - horror and humor and darkfic and so on - but honestly, the Buffyverse pickings are pretty thin. Are there any other fandoms you read in?

I'm not, honestly, thinking of writing mpreg, despite ponderings in this direction lately.

You keep saying this... :)

[bobthemole.livejournal.com]

There are also a few shorter things over a range of genres - horror and humor and darkfic and so on - but honestly, the Buffyverse pickings are pretty thin. Are there any other fandoms you read in?

I'd love to see a full list. If a fic is recommended highly enough, I sometimes do a google reading to learn the basics of an unfamiliar fandom so I can understand the fic.

[snickfic]

It's in the works. I thought I had it a lot further along than I did, but some work failed to save at some point, I think.

[deird1]

There's Feed Me To The Tabloid Monster, which is what got me into fanfic in the first place.

(It's quite silly, set in the X-men movieverse, and very worth reading.)