This is my problem w flashlight it doesn't even feel like bl anymore it feels like I'm rea...

More like straight up rape

Let's not forget that hasving rape in a story doesn't turn the plot into a dark romance. Abuse is a serious topic in all its forms. When rape is involved, the amount of character development needed to transition into romance that doesn't feel like stockholm syndrome is huge.

I'm not trying to say rape is dark romance, there's this whole trend of rape disguised as "dark romance" I've read ACTUAL dark romance WITHOUT rape where they explore sensitive topics and is actually really well written THAT is what dark romance really is but those fake dark romance tend to have a very unrealistic and bimbo kind of storyline even if the initial storyline was good the more you read it the dumber it gets because at first it'll be like "rape is bad he'd never do that" then it'll be end up being "oh well but I love him and I've seen his worst side so now we're gonna be together forever blah blah" and these stories also have a flawless alpha male type of guy who does the rape and flashlight gives me too much of a Deja Vu of this I've written a topic abt this recently too you can check it out if you want

I agree with you. But i don't think is a new trend. I have been reading yaoi for almost 20 years. I have read stories from the 2000s and even early 90s, the rape thing has been pretty common for many decades. And not just in yaoi, i have seen it in plenty of heterosexual mangas and manhwas too.