Well, I don't have any published SimLit, but I am writing a novel at the moment. And for me, I get these ideas for characters and a world and all of that. But for those characters to be convincing, they have to have flaws. For the world to have any touch of believability, it has to have conflict. No story works without an element of darkness. Even the most simple, fluffy stories have touches of worry or tension or fear. That's what makes a story interesting.
But why take it further than that? Why make it darker than it has to be? Because these characters, their world, the plotline, whatever, just seems like their plot wouldn't work with the whole 'happy ending' thing. I want my story to feel like it progresses in a natural way that allows the characters to be themselves, and to be human. If that means no happy ending, then so be it. Especially right now, dark stories and a corrupt world with no guarantee of eventual happiness are a lot more relatable than they should be. I could write about a world of fluffy clouds where everything goes right. Or I could write something people would actually want to read.
And the whole 'strong female character' thing... what? Different people have different strengths and weaknesses. So should different characters. And isn't the whole point of equality allowing everyone to be viewed as equal? So pushing for a strong female character is just as bad (or good) as pushing for a weak one. Let them be either, or even better, let the author decide. Let them make their characters the way they want, because in the end it's their story. And, often, a 'weaker' heroine can be a good thing for a darker story. Look at fairy tales; the evil queen wanting to eat snow white's heart is in part scary because we know that there's no way the princess can fight back. It adds tension and helps develop the plotline.
And hey. In the end, everyone's opinions are their own problems. Your opinion is valid. But the authors get the deciding votes because it's their story and they can write it the way they want to. Criticism and complaint is perfectly fine, but you have to be aware that just as you have your opinions, others have theirs.
Edited because I cannot spell and the censor bot got me a couple of times.
