I pretty much agree with most of the pet peeves here... but I am open to all stories as long as the author/writer is good and the characters aren't 2-dimensional. Pet peeves that make me mad instead of just lightly irritated arise from super shallow writing in the first place. THANK YOU!! THIS THIS THIS!! Is probably my biggest peeve. It started when a friend in real life (who is a full on adult) actually thought that RL gay people had top/bottom designations and I had this moment when it's like.. damn, I had no idea shitty BL tropes were so infectious. Men in real life have varied emphasis or preferences of topping/bottoming/whatever, and I'm sure there are a few that do always prefer one over the other. BUT in BL it's like frickin' 99% of all characters, plus it's completely black and white, like if they're a bottom, that's what they want to be forever. Plus putting something in your ass is literally not the only sex act, but somehow in BL they're defined by this one thing. There are gay couples in real life who don't have anal sex. ALSO, this trope ESPECIALLY pisses me off when the author jokes about a "manly" bottom wanting to top and then never EVER getting the chance to because they're always tricked by the "real top." Like seriously??? if you love someone you seriously care about maintaining your "dominance" in bed?? hell no. if the "top" thinks he's being emasculated because he "bottoms" a couple times for his bottom, then is the "bottom" not a man too? Ugh. LEADING us to wonderful mpreg stories where the pregnant bottom can't have sex or some bullshit for the early stage of pregnancy bc it's bad for the fetus... bc apparently the only sex is to be penetrated AS IF THEY WERE ACTUALLY WOMEN... ugh. Top/Bottom designations are such a heteronormative view--where the bottom is basically the female and written with all the female stereotypes of being weaker, younger, shorter, virginal, more innocent/clueless, inexperienced, shy, take less initiative like being confessed to instead of doing the confessing, are taken care of, have less responsibility (economic or otherwise), have lower sex-drive etc. etc. etc.-- which essentially reinforces established gender roles. I challenge someone to find me a novel where the bottom does not at least check off ONE of the above if not ALL of the above. TL;DR (I did not realize I felt this much about this pet peeve, thus rant).
You and me both. I want to find a novel that has a versatlise couple. That is my one dream, but damn BL writers. They know nothing.
Thank you haha. I've had these feelings bottled up for too long XD Yeah! There should be a tag on NU for "switch" couples! Actually this is what frequently leads me to reading fanfiction for more realistic relationships. Depends on the fandom, but some writers are really good, haha. I'm thinking because the majority of BL writers are women, instead of realism, we get eroticized gay relationships catered towards young female readers.
So many~! But most of them have been covered by other people already. Personally, I hate when a story with really good plot potential caves to being nothing but a smutty, brainless BL compilation... Such a strong start, and such a potential for a rich, gripping romance supported by entertaining plot, but~! Instead every chapter from "get together" point onward is devoted to sex or flirting, and the plot totally self-destructs to fuel character shipping... Boring sex is a big problem, too. Not just the lack of switching, but the lack of variety in scenes altogether. Always just missionary, always just one way, hardly any teasing and barely any toys... Mills & Boon can be racier sometimes. Oh, and I hate that there aren't more stories/manga that focus on adults instead of high schoolers (or younger...). But they do register their existence~! They keenly recognise them as "that slut", "that gold-digging whore", and "that one tomboy who isn't threatening to me and so can be cheap comic relief". I like Yuri on Ice, but I'm definitely bitter~! Now every time I search for yuri, I have to jump through hoops to exclude it from results, and I still never get rid of it all. (And woe is me every time I want to search for winter-themed yuri.) Yes, I want to burn everything that uses this trope so much! Why is this even a thing!? Surely if you're reading BL, you want the men to be gay/bi/pan, right? Why the hell is anyone still grasping onto the "they're straight, really" in a genre like this!? *is guilty of writing this just because I'm lazy* I've taken a break from LMW - got to chapter 580 before I just couldn't take it anymore. I'm going to read it to the end, though, since an artist I liked made some cute art hinting at the ending and I want to see what it's about. I honestly thought the series was going to get much, much more romantic after that stargazing scene. I was so prepared for tender, loving Ling Xiao and lots of new relationship cuteness and growing closer... Why did they suddenly become like some old, passionless wife and husband!? That running joke about the MC's IQ is... Surely the author had to realise that joke would get old fast, right? I think the fact that You XiaoMo reached the point of being pleased just to be called "not quite that stupid" was what really, absolutely killed all my hope for this story. (But the "yet another woman being demonised for daring to look at Ling Xiao" is what made me walk away.) It actually disillusioned me toward BL so much... LMW was the novel I came to NU to read in the first place. It's sad that I'll be finishing it with such bitterness now.
Speaking of mpreg, I did read one omegaverse manga where the omega prefers to top, and the alpha is totes cool with that. Was very nice to see. https://mangadex.org/title/20451/my-high-spec-darling
It was my first bl novel, I had read yaoi manga before but this was just so... wrong. The IQ thing is do annoying, his IQ drops multiple levels whenever the ML comes around! I also really hate the naming thing they started doing, I just found it unnecessary to tell me how.kuch they hate their names every chapter. It was funny the first time, but it got old quick.
Preach girl, preach! Atleast if it's a novel my imagination can fill it in to make it more spicy but In manga they never do anything other than the typical stuff! Like, why must you belittle my thirst for saucy bl smut??
(Came here to add my thoughts to the topic at hand but saw that people above have said it better than I ever can. But yes, the "bitchy females" and ultra-femininization of uke/shou roles are my personal big peeves.) +100 on MDZS. It's a modern masterpiece. The story's amazing, and all its arcs leave an impact (the blind man one still has me shook). Its characters are all three-dimensional, and many are likeable. My personal favorite is A-Qing (I think?), ghost/girl who's so clever, brave, and devoted that I legit cried while reading her story. It's incredibly evident that the author treats every piece of the novel with care and attention. Also, the main couple may have something of a slow-burn relationship, but don't let that fool you into thinking it's any less intense. The UST is so real and both the MC and ML are just. Very cool.
There's a lot of tropes in bl that were disturbing, but everybody is gay trope is the one I dislike the most. I have no idea why. Feminime uke, stoic seme, hubby wife. I love some bl with those trope, even when I don't really like the whole cute uke stuff. But everytime "everyone near me are gay" trope appear, I will drop the book.
Same here. It’s so unrealistic. And feels so wrong. Like I love BL. But when the BL filter hits everyone. Especially when the ML was straight, he turning gay, somehow makes everyone around him gay. Like I’m done.
Didn't you know? It's infectious, like a yawn! Don't catch the gay! In all seriousness though, even though this used to bother me, I'm honestly not too peeved by it anymore. I imagine it could just be the author expressing how different sexualities shouldn't come as surprises/different from the norm, and just "the norm." (or maybe I'm just desensitized.)
Am I the only one that prefers the uke and seme designations? Not that I don't like reversible couples in real life, but when it comes to fiction novels, I prefer to read something where there is a seme and an uke. Seems like I'm in the minority here. But I can agree with the others of not wanting feminine and whiny ukes and asshole semes. Also having a fujoshi girl friend character is the best!
I don’t mind the uke and Seme roles. But it’s a very general stereotype now. And no one branches out is the problem. Even in real life, gay people have roles they solely do and like. So the designation isn’t a problem, it’s really the lack of a realistic representation in the novel community as a whole. As well, as selfish ML’s who for some reason start freaking out and worrying about losing their masculinity if they were to bottom. Which isn’t really a problem at all, and a whole bunch of crap. If you really loved someone, you’d let them do what they want, and at least try before saying you hate it. Also, the masculine seme and femenine uke is really overdone. So we just want something different and unique you know. But no author is branching the stereotypes. Also+1 for fujoshi best friend all the way!!