Well I think the complain is warranted in this case because the whole story so far has been constantly reinforcing the fact that the uke is into "hardcore BDSM stuff" and he defines himself as a "hardcore M bottom", and yet the wildest thing he does is wear a blindfold and some handcuffs. (I know that BDSM can include other things like verbal abuse but there's none of that here either, just some regular dirty talk).
Same can be said with all the cover art. It constantly brings attention to the BDSM aspect of this story, basically telling the reader "fufufu you are about to see some kinky stuff" and yet it completely fails to deliver that in favor of a super vanilla sex scene. Nothing worng with vanilla sex, I like them too, but it bothers me that the story is presenting itself to the viewer as that it's not.
It's not so much that they are tame, the story barely features any BDSM elements at all. It barely glances over them, there's not even a full scene dedicated to them.
All of this wouldn't be so bad if the uke was, say, a younger character, who didn't actually now that much about BDSM and so he thought that what he was doing was hardcore stuff when actually it was very tame, but that's not the case. This guy is supposed to be an adult, and because of that, he ends up looking reallly stupid, and it shows that the author hasn't done any research on the topic she's writting about.
Interesting discussion. One of the problems with trying to frame the story as BDSM is that the power dynamic is all wrong. The self-proclaimed "M" is running the show all the way, and the Tachi is the real whipping boy, emotionally speaking. Also, he's very needy, which makes him a drain, not a source, of energy. Not that a BDSM story needs to conform to these dynamics to be interesting, but if someone intends to flout somewhat formal conventions, it needs to handled with finesse, or at least with a bit of sneakiness.
How does the "wounded puppy" type convincingly turn into a wolf? It sure isn't by whining.
lol I didn't even notice that. That's a really good point too, thank you for bringing it up!
honestly i dont think people can complain that this isnt "BDSM enough" when BDSM ranges depending on the level of comfort dictated by the individuals in the relationship. it's got binding, blindfolding, and verbal abuse. sorry that it isnt "hardcore" enough for some of ya'll but it's still most definitely in the category of BDSM whether it is up to your standards or not.