There's tons of mutual,love, kindness & respect plot out there. This simply isn't one of them.
I was going to point that out, there really is a lot of cute mangas out there with "normal" plots. Although more common on shonnen ai, there are yaoi mangas and manhwas without toxic relationships elements
no no don't get me wrong I know there are mangas out there that don't resort to using these toxic tropes but we all know that a majority of them contain these negative elements and have become the norm and standard of this genre. People are reading BL for the first time will read a story like this and I know I certainly did when I began reading at 11yrs and while I'm grateful I know the difference between a consensual respectful relationship and toxicity even while fictional the sad reality is that his same toxicity is already present in our real world lives coupled with the media we consume regularly we become desensitized to even the most blatant forms of abuse and wrongness. After all we live in a world that claims "love hurts" and we teach that our growing children that getting a few slaps here and there means your loved, that a woman/man asked to raped due to their lack of awareness or clothing choice, that the mental health of abuse victims is seconded to concerns of their abusers wellbeing. I could go on and on. I don't mind plots that show stark reality but please these romanticization of it is disgusting and toxic.
Yeah that is very true :c
I should also mention that the best example of a truly realistic and authentic depiction of bullying to love narrative is 'A Starry Sky' while it is not explicit yaoi, the author as done an above and beyond portrayal of trauma affecting a loving relationship between two boys' once toxic relationship. Slight spoiler the two boys don't immediately end up together even after the bully character eventually confesses and realizes his feelings towards his victim. Secondly both character have fully reflective discussions about their individual traumas and feelings acknowledging the elephant in the room and realizing that love doesn't overlook inflicted pain physical or emotional. Despite that when they are finally together it makes their love all the more special because our victim unpacked those bottled feelings of pain in a therapeutic way coupled with the allowance to not have his abuser push and push at his boundaries like so usually happens in these sort of narratives. I cannot begin to express how beautifully done this story is in properly showcasing trauma and abuse and overcoming it with love.
I've never read a starry sky before bc I don't find it interesting but now that u explain the storyline like that I might get into it
God these plots are so fucking problematic. Seriously we have the rape to love, Stockholm to love, abused to love, bullied to love can we just get a plot with mutual love kindness and respect for fuck sake. While I’m not in control of the morals and desires of these mangakas people really have to understand that even while fictional these stories are truly harmful in how they romanticize trauma.