At last someone pointed it out
Thank you
Damn you're right ngl kudos to you
I recently had an uncomfortable petty conversation with a commentator in their spoiler section here about the ML/Seme in Payback.
I expressed my concerns and they/this user reacted negatively.
We wasted our time by having the last word out of spite and at the end I finally apologize for peace sake + let it go.
There are these hardcore fans who likes this dangerous mafia tsundere immature ML with these very fitted hidden depths without any critical thinking... I believe they love this fantasy about a godlike looking well off bad boy getting redeemed and tamed by the Uke/FL... It's wishful self-projecting porn.
They quickly forget and accept how the superior Alphahole "harassed" the struggling Uke/FL. So no matter what these MLs did to the MC/the love of their life, they always are forgiven for having deep sympathetic reasons:
ML was in love with them some years ago, he felt for the first time these feelings of love because them and they are the only one in this world who can make feel truly better, good, alive or reformed.
It is pretty much the Beauty and The Beast Syndrome.
We should respect as good as we can the preferences of others but there are tropes that are quite questionable and problematic. I think we should talk about that openly and reasonably.
"If you don't like it, don't read it. Go read something else like shoujo..."
There is sth really too simple, cheap and patronizing about this counter argument.
I mean I ve already read it and dropped it. And sometimes you don't know which direction this story you were interested goes or how annoying bad a character really is.
Thanks for reading/listening.
And I forget to mention that these readers like how the Uke/FL can benefit greatly from the super rich powerful famous Alphahole who will give them everything you can dream of...
This is honestly what makes this series topnotch and undeniable. There's no uke/seme qualities thrope, they characterized them both as as men as they should be. Both empowered and living theit life with that empowerment with their hands until they meet ways. And even after they met, there's no unnecessary seme saving uke or what kind of thrope. They both could stand independently as characters, so when they are put together, the world panics. They give out this indescribable yet undeniable taste. The author really stepped out their game
Tell me about it. Like I was reading big and beautiful and the semester likes to dress up as girls and I commented "who doesn't like femme boys" And this one commented people who have preference of masculine boys and im like bruh who pissed your pants and told me to use tone indicators like I'm just enjoying my day and it had to be ruined by a petty person.
I know!! People really get offended at the slightest things which is really irrelevant and inconvenient and try saying something they get all pissed like why r u here. And really ruined my day yesterday but then I realized some people are just stupid as fuck
All we can do is try to communiate friendly, offering a dialogue, find common middle ground and learn from each other...
And if your opposites still refuse to compromise or listen and just mocks you at the end, then it is truly on them.
Periodt?
Their power dynamic is not that unbalanced! They are pretty much on equal footing!
I recently discover this annoying toxic trope that I ve seen in plenty other dark BL stories:
The innocent or not innocent struggling poor Uke meets the Seme who is usually so goodlooking, charming, rich, influential and powerful but is also in truth often a bored, lonely, violent, psychotic, dangerous manchild. Alphahole becomes interested in the Uke, bullies, manhandles, mistreat, sometimes sexually assault, toys with him, stalks him, blackmails him, deceive him etc... until Asshole falls in love with him. Him being very obesessed with Uke will automatically turn in into MR HOT GENTLEMAN.
Uke initially didn't want anything to with him but was forced to by him. Evtl Seme makes a deal with Uke that he/Uke becomes his toy/plaything/lover in exchange for money and power.
After enduring the bad fuckboy for some time, we learn Seme met Uke already somewhere in the past and we are given the revealation how sad and tragic his backstory is to easily sympathize, romanticize and excuse him of all his shitty harmful behaviour towards the inferior Uke.
And there is always one or two worse scums that wronged or target the Uke that will make the Seme/ML conventiently look obviously better for us...
I noticed that many young readers are praising messed up BL webtoons about bloody Mafia like Semes because how super hot they are. They are ignoring the fact how messed up, disturbing, unhealthy, traumatic and creepy such portrayal of relationships are.
The Story KILLING STALKING was quite a wake up call for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujmgqNyZ190
“Killing Stalking” and The Romancing of Abuse
Thirst may be a messy melodramatic story but I appreciate that we are following two conflicted engaging super sexy equals who are really mutually attracted to each other not because just sorley of revenge, blackmail, abuse, trauma or grand scheme!