Personally I have a hard time remembering names in general, korean names are even worse because they are out of my scope of pronunciation. So yeah, it is a skill issue lmao. I usually call them MC and ML honestly
im with u tbh, people calling them bottom, top, uke, seme lowk give me the ick. Im not good at remembering names and I dont want to butcher them either so I refer to them as mc/ml instead
MC/ML is the best take for those who are bad with names, or calling them by their hair colour
i've seen people call characters in shounen ais (sotheir positions arent even confirmed mostly) seme & uke and its so weird like just call them mc/ml bro its not that hard. but then there are people who think mc = uke and ml = seme which is even more insane like ?????
I call them by their hair colour or MC / ML.
And yes I also feel handicapped when I have to try and memorize names in general, irl, let alone names I have never heard before and have absolutely no idea how to pronounce. (If I have to remind someone 's name generally I repeat it several times aloud and in my head, so I need the pronounciation for the magic to work !!)
i mean uke and seme are applicable if the story actually has smut in it. but, if the story involves 2 teenage boys or a shounen ai story, thats where it goes wrong.
I can understand your ick but personally I can't remember korean and japanese names, it's confusing as hell and even though I'm thai, a person who have a big long ass name for no reason then also I can't remember sorry, that's why I prefer more seme or uke
It's been a long time that seme,uke,top, bottom are the norm use before... Mc/ML are somewhat new so many people are not really use to it .. and also mc/ml are also use in straight genre .. and it's really a confusing as well cause MC (main character) can be used for a male lead or Female lead , u can say "if it's female lead then just use FML" but u see FML can be talking about Female lead as in the Main Character (mc) or Main Lover of MC ..
And also other people use ML , FML when they talk .. so confusing as which character is the MC , as ML can also be talking about the main character (MC)
As a gay man, I used to say uke/seme cuz I have a horrible time remembering names. But then I got the ick from myself lmao, so I switched to mc/ml, hair colour, or job title
Same when I was a teenager, especially when I learned that I could occasionally switch depending on the mood and got an extra ick from the "cutesy, feminine, fragile and short" bottom like, they exist, but they're not the only ones allowed to be bottoms nor do they have a restriction from being tops.
People are also using the terms uke/seme and top/bottom when there's no smut just because one is taller than the other and it irks me to no end.
Same when I was a teenager, and I changed my mind especially when...*
I hate that I can't edit comments here
Yeah it feels so heteronormative since the default straight couple is like that (man being taller/woman being shorter). But in queer relationships, it’s a mix. I’m assuming it’s like that bcs bl is generally catered towards women(most likely straight) and are mostly made by women(most likely straight) as well. So maybe the authors themselves don’t even realize it?? Idk
Some people would read a manga or manhwa for 3 volumes/seasons and still call the characters "seme" and "uke"
Does it just give me the ick because I'm a gay man? I know most people don't speak Korean or Japanese here but why is it SO hard to learn the names instead of referring to characters as "the one who shoves it up the ass and the one who gets his ass pounded"?