Problematic Media

girl ion wanna write a long paragraph ( even tho i have so much to say about this topic… ) but i just wanna say i agree with you TOTALLY. you ate, never let them silence u

Thank you bro

Bro the amount of boredom I’ve been going through because some of these mass updates bl’s always turn to have rape or some weird sss shit going on in them. It’s EXHAUSTING!

God forbid, you’re checking out some new material to read… you’re reading the synopsis or maybe the comments and BOOM “rape” “incest” shota/loli”.. it’s like wtf is going on right now in the yaoi community?? AND PPL SEEK THIS SHI OUT?? I saw a thread where they were like “if you have any incest recommendations, lmkkkk!!” Like what the fuck??? What are you supposed to think when you see shi like that?? Oh yeah, you’re not a weirdo who wants to fk your younger brother?? OK. WHAT??

Oh and don’t get me STARTED if you call it out, then you’re sensitive sally, and there fav line “it’s fiction— so if you don’t like it DON’T READ.” NO! I’m going to SHAMEEEE you mfs bc y’all dgaf anymore!!

Needless to say. I agree w/ you LMAO

I'm not defending yaoi, it's a piece of crap genre through and through, but I can confidently say it's NOT the only problematic romance genre. Straight and GL stories have a loooot of problematic themes (just look at the so called "dark romance"/BookTok genre for gross straight stories and GLs have always been infamous for the depiction of incest and predatory relationships between teachers and students). I just think not a lot of people talk about those because they're just not as popular as BLs.

But I still think BLs are the worst, like 9/10 stories contain rape whilst the straight and GL genres are more like 5-6/10 stories.

yeah i get it. a lot of really well written stories ive read either go completely unnoticed or end up with some random forced sex scene solely for the purpose of satisfying fujos desires. i was also just having a convo w a friend about how so many BL fans are super misogynistic and refuse to read any GL bc its "not as appealing" or bc "there just arent any good GL) and honestly probably just hate women lol.

i do however think its completely normal to explore taboos such as incest or age gap and i personally think theres a way to do it right and wrong but i also just dont really care too much about those topics if its depicted in art. art should be the safe place where we explore those taboos but a lot of BL readers are really young and dont have their brains fully developed yet so they take it and run with it in any way they can. lots of Bl readers also lack media literacy and reading comprehension so well written stories go over their heads while the poorly written slop gets eaten up.

there are some stories i refuse to read because of these issues (like painter of the night or jinx) while some i finish all the way through regardless of the bad content because of the messaging and self awareness (like killing stalking) <--- by no means am i saying this one in particular is good. in fact its completely fucked up and i wouldnt rec anyone to read it but i did appreciate how everything was carried out.

it would be nice if BL fans could have civil discussions about this stuff bc i think its important but again, a lot of them are really young and still lack emotional maturity.

YESS OH MY GOODNESS YOU'RE SO AMAZING!! literally I saw someone ask for teacher x student recommendations and I was just like ???? Because what do you even reply to that!? Honestly why do all the stories that look really good and have amazing art always have some BS in them. There's this one yaoi, reverse thinking, and the art style looks so good, and the characters also look really good together. Like I could have LOVEDDD this relationship. But NOOO. It's disgusting. I view it more in a psychological way but the story is supposed to be a fucked up romance

And it be some victims themselves coming to defend those stories because apparently their therapists told them to do so to "cope". Somewhere in that statement is a liar or someone needs to get their licenses revoked.

I don’t blame the “youth” of BL fans because it’s completely valid to be weirded that these taboo topics and becoming normalized in content. We are in an era where pedophilia and rape are just the fucking back of a book, too fucking natural for my liking. It’s ok to like dark themes in your story, hell I love a good dark themes.. but when it’s just constantly criminal activities being passed off as a “plot” it’s pretty annoying and I want them to end it all.

UGH YES. Like I’ll be so pissed when I see a a good looking cover art, I click on it.. see there’s immediate SA first chapter. That’ll piss a mf OFF immediately. LIKE NO WARNING?? Js seeing the MC getting brutally assaulted just for what?? Fucking plot? Sigh I’m confused.

Oh yes you are very very right. Yaoi is like a hit or miss, it's either the best thing ever, or the worst. There are many really good yaois I have read (I reccomend One Room TA, though there is one part that I was a little iffy on). But there are so many BS stories in other genres. Booktok is my enemy. Because the toxic relationships are being normalized worldwide and way too quickly with booktok since it has more traction. Genuinely, shit like haunting Adeline or those fuckass rina kent books are my worst enemy. And my friends eat that shit up like it's dangerous that it's way more normalized because problematic media is spreading way too quickly in the booktok space. Honestly, most GL I've read were some of the most healthiest things ever, but Rangari....Bad Thinking Diary...Lilly of the Valley....I refuse to read. I myself am a lesbian so this feels really insulting that people are assuming our relationships are just like those really bad yuris. If you don't want to read BS like that, I reccomend reading Danmei (Yaoi) and Baihe (Yuri) novels. If you aren't into same sex couples tho then I reccomend reading webtoon stories (NOT CRY OR BETTER NOT YET BEG THOUGH, I CAN GO ON A WHOLE RANT ABOUT HOW BAD IT IS) anyways, thanks so much for sharing ur opinion to me, I loved it

I don’t understand that mentality.. “yeah I was traumatized in this specific way as a child, or teen, so let me just look up media that replicates that exact feeling I had when I was being SA’d!” Like … are you fucking ok? (Obv not). That’s not a coping mechanism, that’s you seeking out what happened to you on others (fictional or not).

AHH YOU ARE SO RIGHT!! I LOVE stories where they portray these types of topics and taboos with respect and not treating it like something to goon to. I thought Killing Stalking actually was romanticized so I never really read it fully (because everyone said the couple was so cute but like I read the first 2 chapters and no they are not). There is one I read called Reverse Thinking but I have a feeling that the author views it in a romantic way, while I view it as more psychological. Honestly, it's not that good because of the amount of rape scenes added. There is too much and I don't like seeing that. There are stories that are cute and address topics like these. I reccomend you read "Boy Meets Maria" because it's honestly such a well written masterpiece. And also in your first topic, I completely agree that BL fans are misogynistic and maybe even homophobic, because most BL have a character who looks like a woman and a character who looks like a man. At this point, just write a straight story. I saw this great analysis about yaoi on this YouTube video (I forgot the title, SORRY!!) and it really hit a lot of important points. Just search up "yaoi controversy" and all the vids that show up are really good. I do agree that I really wish Yaoi fans can be respectful about things like these because these are serious topics. People like you are supposed to be the face of our fandom, but I guess our space is filled with disgusting gooners

I don't understand why some victims do this, and I really get upset when they promote it. I understand they aren't ok and I guess if it helps them they should do it on their own without involving anyone. When they promote things like this either on platforms like here or on social media, it's seriously harmful because then you're just promoting more disrespectful media and normalizing it. You are honestly so right about this! Thank you so much for sharing ur opinion, I totally agree

Yes oh my goodness, I really don't think that's a good idea. Because reminding them is honestly more harmful than anything. You're so right about this

It is annoying, because when we turn something real and harmful into a relationship tag, we are invalidating real victims and survivors of said things. Like that is showing blatant disregard and ignorance for people who had to go through the disgusting side of humanity. It's a topic that needs to be warned about, not used as just a tag.

not saying all the young BL fans are like this but a lot of them are and even grown ass adults too (its mostly the adults that are making these works). ive been having a harder time finding decent reads bc like yall mentioned, a lot of it lately is rape slop. while i can understand how a lot of these taboos make people uncomfortable, i dont think people who are interested in them are as horrible irl as we think. take incest for example: someone that likes that dynamic in fiction doesnt necessarily mean they wanna fk their sibling. sure its weird and gross but its not doing any actual harm so i usually just leave them alone. i also think theres a lot of different viewpoints on the incest topic too. for example, adopted siblings or siblings by marriage can be seen as wrong and disgusting by most (like cherry blossoms after winter or even kaeya and diluc from genshin). or even age gaps are considered problematic and while i agree it can be, especially when its a teen/adult, i also think if done properly it has its appeal (like a first of summers)

the only exception ill ever make for rape being in stories is ifs done with a mature mindset and has great importance and not just for the sake of shock value. that shit pisses me off.

i could also get into the discussion on lolitas but that's a topic most people misunderstand and twist the original meaning of. most ppl think of sexualized children when its not supposed to be like that but has become as such over the years on the internet unfortunately.

anyway yeah,,, i dont normally get into these types of conversations with ppl online since it always spirals into something toxic but i rly do want people to just be able to enjoy the things they like without making a whole ordeal about it. i rly do wish BL fans were a little more normal lol (although its really just the raging fujoshis that make it weird for the rest of us)

Bruh exactly like I don't wanna see that genuinely it's not sexy or attractive, it makes me wish my parents wore a condom while making me

ah yes i loved that manga! i also recommend shimanami tasogare, smells like green spirit, and fukakai no boku no subete o if you like that one ^^

gonna echo that the fascination with taboo and abusive relationships isn't limited to bl, but I similarly take issue with the kind of stories that get popular and are leading the trend of these things in romance genres, bl and otherwise. I don't have a problem with stories including abuse, rape, incest, and to a more limited extent, pedophilia if they're depicted with care, depth, and awareness of their real horrors, but the grand majority of these stories don't do that in favor of mining them for erotic shock factor and titillation.

I wouldn't have as much bitterness and ire towards the "dark" fiction stuff if there were more smutty, erotic stories that didn't rely on rape/SA for tension and plot/relationship development and it wasn't seen as an expected inclusion in non-fluffy stories with complex or troubled relationships. I want porn that isn't based on half-baked, screwed-up abusive dynamics to deliver on eroticism!

While I do agree some people who like something taboo isn't necessarily going to carry that out IRL, it's bad that those people try to justify and normalize themselves. And when there are many people who do that, it gets normalized to a harmful extent. Take for example, the treatment of children in Japan. Lolisho culture has spread from there to around the whole world, and people have just been making it into some meme like "haha incel has nezuko body pillow" It's gotten really bad in Japan that Crunchyroll has announced "Shotaoni" (a story about a 10 year old boy having a crush on his 17 year old friend) is getting an anime adaptation. Crunchyroll is the biggest anime site ever, and Shotaoni has now gained incredible popularity before and after the anime adaptation. While i try to spread word that child exploitation is bad, I cannot make a whole group filled with maybe millions of people change their mind. Ok sorry that conversation just went in like 3 directions. And with the Kaeluc and CBAF discussion, those types of dynamics still hold some sort of skewed power dynamic. If they refer to each other as brothers, then I think that's a little...weird. They can be cute and healthy and have a good dynamic, but they are still brothers. While I won't beat up someone for enjoying this media, I hold the opinion that it is bad. And age gaps can actually be good, if a teen or barely legal adult is not involved. I LOVE a first of summers SO MUCH!! They did the age gap really well, and it's so well written. Also rape in stories for shock value really reflect how much of a chud the author is. Take for example, Jigoku no Rokunin. Rape and sexual assault is really just added shock value to make the protagonists life more traumatic (which apparently builds character???) and also makes his methods of revenge more brutal (actually it just makes it more unnecessary) The author treats rape like some character building plot point (while that actually can be a character building point, the author writes it in a horrible way) and also draws out horribly detailed scenes in the manga. Now let's see Boy Meets Maria. The ML was raped as a child but he is saved by the MCs father. That is a part of his trauma and his mental state is reflected by that trauma. It's an accurate description of how traumatic the experience is and it's treated more like a warning than a shock value factor. Also the scene wasn't drawn in full detail and trigger warnings were added before the chapter (atleast where I read it there were trigger warnings). Also I'm so glad you mentioned Lolitas because I can also go on a whole rant about them too, but I need to save my thumbs from more typing. Ok sorry if this went everywhere, when I rant the direction changes multiple times. Thanks for sharing your opinion tho!! We need more educated people like you in the yaoi community