I (she/her) read BL because it’s light, comforting, and entertaining. I love doing deep dives into characters, finding meaning in their actions, and figuring out what makes them tick. Sometimes the storytelling doesn’t quite add up, but rating is still one of my favorite parts. There’s something satisfying about evaluating a piece as a whole and deciding how it stands.
I love intensity, not just in plot, but in the depth of the characters. I enjoy good storytelling, and I try not to judge characters based on whether they’re good or bad people. I judge them on how they’re written and how they serve the story.
Tropes . Archetypes . Genres I love
Enemies to lovers
Star crossed lovers
Fantasy
Sci-fi
Apocalyptic universe
Supernatural horror
Younger seme x older uke
Characters with a filthy mouth
Characters who are witty, sarcastic, or teasing
Characters who look grumpy/scary but are actually sweethearts
Characters with a rocky, toxic start who eventually grow and treat each other better
Taboo relationships (legal, but socially unacceptable due to in-universe prejudice, not incest)
Obsessive characters (whether it’s about a person or a specific passion)
Things I’m less fond of (I’ll still read them, but they’re not my favorites)
Fated mates
Omegaverse (especially the domestic kind where the plot revolves around rigid gender roles. Piece of shit alphas make me furious, and self hating recessives or betas boil my blood)
Friends to lovers (that’s just lazy. There are billions of people in the world, and you choose the one you’ve already spent forever with?)
Forgotten past connections (when two characters meet and fall in love, only to later find out they had some sort of forgotten connection because one of them was too young or unconscious to remember)
The “I can’t wait anymore” line (No. Go fuck yourself. You’re a human being with a working brain)
Unresolved cruelty (when one character keeps being cruel to another and it never improves, with no apology or acknowledgment of the harm done)
Weird age gaps (example, when one partner knew the other as a child while being a full adult. Or when one partner is a fully grown adult and the other is 17, turning 18, and they sleep together as soon as they hit 18)
My rating scale
5 Beyond Great Unique plots or exceptional storytelling, even if the plot is cliched. Memorable characters and/or compelling redemption arcs
4 Great A pretty good plot with solid characters. A few minor flaws like short length, a rushed ending, or small inconsistencies
3 Good Enjoyable for a one time read, but not worth revisiting. Ultimately forgettable
2 Meh A mediocre or messy plot with too many inconsistencies, poor pacing, shallow depth, and bland characters
1 Trash I regret ever touching this. Either the characters are completely irredeemable, or the writing is just awful. I can’t drop things, so I suffer through to the end
I don’t put any emphasis on art style when rating. A good story stays good, even with rough art. That said, I do have a soft spot for pretty visuals, so I still rate art purely based on what catches my eye.
⁃ younger ukes
⁃ shorter ukes
⁃ sexy ukes
⁃ submissive ukes (w/wo BDSM)
⁃ uke w/ low self-esteem
⁃ tight hole defiled
⁃ big dick
⁃ childhood/school/college friends
⁃ rapist/asshole semes
⁃ student a/o teacher ukes
⁃ childhood/school/college friends
⁃ employee a/o boss ukes
⁃ uke always horny (insatiable sex drive)
⁃ cross-dresser ukes
⁃ puppy/gentle semes
⁃ established relationship
⁃ friends to lovers
⁃ coworkers to lovers
⁃ LGBT parenting
