[ SECRET POST #5838 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #5838 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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06. [SPOILERS for Midnight Mass]




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07. [WARNING for discussion of addiction]
























Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 00 secrets from Secret Submission Post #835.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

03. https://i.imgur.com/YbJavaL.jpg

[(Anonymous)]

Why? Well, LGBTQ folks can have babies too and/or adopt, and I think showing that is perfectly fair.

But now you've got me curious (no pun intended). I don't read romance novels and it would be interesting to see the ratio of babies-ever-after endings vs. not.

[(Anonymous)]

I avoid babies-ever-after in any romance too, het/queer, but it's not surprising that it turns up. A lot of queer people would like to be parents and queer writers who want that are very likely to put that in their stories, not guranteed obviously but it's not a subsection of romance that's going to avoid it entirely.

[(Anonymous)]

Well, for many people (straight and queer), starting a family with the person they love is a life goal. And romance novels are usually idealistic, so it makes sense for queer romance books to also end with Babies Ever After. I'm not keen on that trope either, but I think there's only one romance book I've read that ended with the couple having a child. I tend to encounter this trope way more in fanfic than profic.

[(Anonymous)]

I personally NEVER want babies in my own life/home... but if the characters I'm reading about are people who would feel more fulfilled as parents, I'm happy with a babies-ever-after ending for them. That said, when that's the ONLY ending, even for characters who don't seem like they care about having kids until-- SURPRISE-- it happens for them... it's hard, yeah. Romance protags are allowed to not want kids.

(being gay, I'm all for gay chars getting the babies-ever-after ending just because it's historically been denied to us and they have to make a real effort to be parents rather than the old 'oh NOW that I'm preggo I suddenly LOVE babies, despite never having wanted them before' thing that always pisses me off... but like, not *all* of us want kids!)

[(Anonymous)]

You might have more luck avoiding Babies Ever After with historical queer romances, but if historical isn't your thing, I sympathize. I also read a lot of books that I'd classify as queer romance, but when I read reviews, the consensus is mixed over whether they're really romance novels or belong in another category and happen to contain romance as a subplot.

[(Anonymous)]

Got any recs? I'd like some other-genre books with a queer romance subplot.

[(Anonymous)]

Same, OP - DNW babies in my reading material (at least - not if the babies/kids/making of is the front-and-center part of the story, or if it's the 'only thing' that will make the otp 'truly happy'). Just...no.

I also really hate the trope of 'my life is not complete unless I have my VERY OWN BAYBEEEEEE!'. Yuck.

[(Anonymous)]

+1000 to you and OP

[(Anonymous)]

And I thought I was the only one who didn't liked babies at the end of such stories.

It's so annoying that they have to be in there to create a "happy end".

[(Anonymous)]

I get where you're coming from, anon. A lot of people, both het and queer, want to be parents and society's main idea of a happy ending means marriage and kids. so much so that it's ubiquitous in movies and novels as the standard, one-size-fits-all Happy Ending whether or not it actually makes sense for the characters and whether or not they've given any indication of wanting that for themselves.

Personally I'd love to have more variety in happy endings, and more variety in what a happy ending means for different characters.

[(Anonymous)]

I agree OP - why can't the end of the story be a happy relationship between two people? The need to add child acquisition often seems to be pushing the idea that marriage/relationships are primarily about children because being a parent is the only way to ensure the longevity or your relationship and be fulfilled. And often it's an epilogue to prove that the couple have 'settled down' and abandoned self indulgence.

I'm just one of those that doesn't see baby acquisition as the ultimate end game.