History Sandbox / Snowsky

In real life, the gender of a baby is determined by the sex chromosomes from its mother's egg and its father's sperm; the mother contributes an X chromosome, while the father contributes either an X or Y chromosome (the former will make a girl, and the latter will make a boy). Fiction throws this out the window with either magic or super-advanced technology that expecting parents can use to ensure a baby of the preferred gender. Most often (but not always), the parents-to-be will want a boy because of the assumption that only men can inherit.

In real life, the gender of a baby is determined by the sex chromosomes from its mother's egg and its father's sperm; the mother contributes an X chromosome, while the father contributes either an X or Y chromosome (the former will make a girl, and the latter will make a boy). Fiction throws this out the window with either magic or super-advanced technology that can force a baby to be one gender or the other. Most often (but not always), the parents-to-be will want a boy because of the assumption that only men can inherit.

In real life, the gender of a baby is determined by the sex chromosomes from its mother's egg and its father's sperm; the mother contributes an X chromosome, while the father contributes either an X or Y chromosome (the former will make a girl, and the latter will make a boy). Fiction throws this out the window with either magic or super-advanced technology that can force a baby to be one gender or the other. Most often (but not always), the parents-to-be will want their bouncing bundle of joy to be a boy because of the assumption that only men can inherit.

The mundane version of this trope: use a scan to reveal the gender of the baby before birth, abort if it's not the preferred gender, and keep trying until you get the desired results. In some parts of the world where baby boys are preferred, a couple trying for a child will abort the fetus if it is a girl and do this as many times as it takes to get a boy, with the consequence that many of those countries now have lopsided gender ratios in favor of men.

* ''Fanfic/WishCarefully'': When a Dark pureblood couple has their first child, male selection spells are used on the wife to ensure that [[HeirClubForMen their firstborn is a boy]]. Pansy has trouble conceiving a child with Draco when his family insists on using the spells. Without them, she is able to conceive a daughter. In hindsight, her father-in-law Lucius thinks to himself they should have been grateful the child was at least a witch, considering the GenerationalMagicDecline in their society that followed.

''Laconic'': Using magical or scientific means to choose the gender of an unborn baby.

In real life, the gender of a baby is determined by the sex chromosomes from its mother's egg and its father's sperm; the mother contributes an X chromosome, while the father contributes either an X or Y chromosome (the former will make a girl, and the latter will make a boy). Fiction throws this out the window with either magic or super-advanced technology that can force a baby to be one gender or the other. Most often (but not always), the parents will want the baby to be a boy because of the assumption that only men can inherit.

The mundane version of this trope: use a scan to reveal the gender of the baby before birth, abort if it's not the preferred gender, and keep trying until you get the preferred one. In some parts of the world where baby boys are preferred, a couple trying for a child will abort the fetus if it is a girl and do this as many times as it takes to get a boy, with the consequence that many of those countries now have lopsided gender ratios in favor of men.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* With technology that can reveal the gender of a fetus before birth, in some parts of the world where baby boys are preferred, a couple trying for a child will abort the fetus if it is a girl and do this as many times as it takes to get a boy. Many of those countries now have lopsided gender ratios in favor of men.

'''Trope Title'''

Nightmare Fuel / Fanfic/LearningToBreatheUnderwater

* During the Gem war for Earth, Blue Diamond believed her Gems had to be willing to die for her and Homeworld. She forced every one of her Gems onto the battlefield, regardless of whether they were made to fight or not. She did [[YouHaveFailedMe terrible things]] to her officers who managed to come back alive from battles with the Crystal Gems.
* Putting a living Gem into a device to power it is called "embedding" and is a punishment for Gem criminals (i.e. literally anyone who breaks the rules on Homeworld). Most Gems embedded for more than a thousand years go completely insane and lose their sense of self. According to Pearl, Gems are threatened with embedding while they're still in the crèche, i.e. the equivalent of a ''nursery''.
* To try and kill the Crystal Gems, Peridot activates the Drill-Class Gem Buster, a robot equipped with three drills made to hunt down Gems and grind them into dust. It becomes an example of AIIsACrapshoot almost instantly, mistaking Peridot for an enemy and refusing to respond to her deactivation code. The Crystal Gems destroy the first one, but there's another and it has access to memory archives, allowing it to learn from the first one's experiences and become a more effective killer. Then it starts collecting material to build more Gem Busters, and those ones start building ''more'' Gem Busters...oh, and they're not just building more Gem Busters, they're building technologically improved, more intelligent, more efficient Gem Busters that learn from their experiences fighting their enemies. They're like [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles the Omnidroid]] if it could clone itself!
** The description of the newer, improved Gem Busters: "...sleek and elegant with solid six-leg construction, thorax-mounted scanners, and extendable front-mounted claws to pierce the bodies of their victims to hold them steady for the drills."
* During the Crystal Gems' first fight with an army of Gem Busters, one Gem Buster pierces Lapis through the back and drags her toward the drills. She comes very close to being ground into a fine pile of powder.
* Chapter 10 ends with Steven getting a phone call from Ronaldo as he's being chased by Jasper, who is not in a good mood after spending the last few months trapped as half of a forced fusion under the ocean.
-->'''Ronaldo''': It's hunting me! I can hear its horrible breathing...tell my dad and my brother I love them, tell them that I died as I lived, seeking the really truthy kind of truth, and that I want to be buried in my Loch Ness Blogster costume, and I want the funeral march to be the second "Go Go Koala Princess OAV" ending title, 'Wagamama no Hi'. Got it? Ahhhhh! The orange...THE ORANGE!! ''(phone disconnects)''
* After Jasper is defeated and bubbled, Lapis wants to [[DeaderThanDead smash her gem into shards]]. Not out of personal vengeance, but because she believes it's the only way to keep Steven safe from the warrior Gem.
-->'''Lapis''': You ''have'' to destroy her. Don't you understand? It's the ''only'' way to make sure Steven will be safe from her. Otherwise she'll ''never--ever--stop.''
* The BodyHorror description of Jasper with a severely cracked gem:
-->''One of Jasper's eyes was sagging out on its stalk. Her teeth were dissolving in her mouth, which was hanging open much too wide. Her too-long fingers were trying to creep across the floor like spider legs, and the rest of her body appeared to be melting. She tried to say something, and then let out a muffled groan of agony as the crack in her gem widened and deepened with every move she made.''
* Inside Rose's room, Steven has a vision of the already-terrifying Malachite with her flesh melting off of her body like Jasper's.
-->'''Malachite''': Come down into the dark with us. It's nice. It's quiet. There's nothing to be afraid of. It's wonderful...
* Steven getting glimpses into Lapis's past with other Gems she knew saying various cruel things to her, then the voice of another Gem who was in some kind of abusive relationship with her, and then the voice of an even higher-ranking Gem who forced her to fight in the war for Earth.
* Everything about Jasper's backstory. She was the sole survivor of an experimental batch of 600 Kindergarten Jaspers who were sent on a dangerous mission. She saw her friend Lydite get attacked by a creature called a Spitter, who poofed her and then dissolved her gem with acid. Rose Quartz rescued Jasper and took her in, but Yellow Diamond intervened, took her away, and lied to her that Rose was never going to transfer Jasper to her command. She then told Jasper that the missions were a test, and the other Jaspers failed it because they were too weak. But this was a lie too: the Jaspers were sent out on a suicide mission that would destroy them in order to uncover the flaws in their programming.
-->'''Yellow Diamond''': Your strength is your worth, and in your worth, find strength. Find ''glory''. You ''know'' what you were made for. Fight. Win. Destroy the enemies of the Empire, erase them, and never, ever allow yourself to be defeated. Or else what makes you different from all those who were...unworthy?

-->'''Lapis''': You ''have'' to destroy her. Don't you understand? It's the ''only'' way to make sure Steven will be safe from her. Otherwise she'll ''never--ever--stop.''