@moonlit dream:

I just wonder if no matter what your background somebody is gonna love yaoi. Like it seriously does not matter your background whether you like it or not. If you read it and like it then you like it. You could tell yourself 'no, this is against my beliefs' or then say 'But I am just reading it for the story' But then why not read a heterosexual romance for the story? That's the big thing. Why read yaoi when there is some shoujo close enough to that but it's heterosexual. Now it makes perfect sense for gay men to read that sort of thing, but I don't think they do since it is targeted at young heterosexual women...It-it just doesn't match anything that people say the audience wants.

@Wakusei Aoshi:

Hahaha, no problem!! xD

Yeahhh, that doesn't really seem to be the case in my opinion, either. I actually think the "not woman" thing in that case would more likely be that female abuse is generally seen as more wrong than male abuse (possibly because of some underlying belief like "he's a man, so he can take it.") But yeah, I don't think the "desire to be bullied" thesis is the best thesis.
You're right, there's probably a whole ton of reasons for yaoi popularity and why it's the way it is, possibly with a lot of overlap among the reasons. BUT. THAT IS FOR YOU TO INVESTIGATE, WAKUSEI.... *u*

That's actually the first I've heard of that! But I live in a different community than you do. I feel like you've mentioned that you live in a fairly conservative community, so location might be the determining factor for that discrepancy.

@moonlit dream:

Omigosh! That was the most hilarious critique I've ever read. I even showed it to my friend and we're still laughing about it! XD Thank you for that! XD

My professor said she read an article that said that those types of yaoi are popular because it puts the typical stereotypical roles that females have into the roles of men and that woman have some sort of sexual desire to be bullied like that or something, but to distance themselves it is nicer to read it with men and not with women. I dunno, sounds pretty wrong to me. I don't think I would agree with that at all. I think it is a very complicated matter since different people have different reasons and some people don't even know why.
I have several friends who frown upon gay marriage and find homosexuality to be sinful, but they read much more shounen ai and yaoi than I do. Doesn't really make much sense, but if there could be some sort of psychological reason for then it might make sense.

@Wakusei Aoshi:

I'm always surprised at how popular generic yaois are, because they do just tend to be boring and predictable. :T And yeah, idk what's up with the creepy ones... Zarla on livejournal's done some (extremely sarcastic but hilarious) critiques on those kinds of yaois. THEY'RE REALLY ENTERTAINING, IMO...

That'd be an interesting topic to explore! Most people tag BL popularity as the female form of "guys like lesbian romance", but then that brings up the question of why guys like lesbian romance. And I also get the feeling it's not a simple "two guys/two girls are better than one!" sort of answer for BL/GL. :V Plus, why is BL so popular on the internet, especially in slash fiction? I can't say this definitively, but I'm pretty sure most slash fiction is boyxboy, the second most would be boyxgirl, and the least would be girlxgirl. I do know for a fact that there's scholarship on slash fiction, so there is research material out there.
(And don't worry about it, it's interesting to read about! xD)

@moonlit dream:

Ahh, yeah, I totally understand what you mean. I am very picky with shounen-ai as well. The art has to be really nice and the story really good. In fact, he shouldn't even feel like I am reading a shounen-ai, but more like a typical shoujo except with boys, unless they want to get into the politics of that sort of relationship, that's fine with me. I don't enjoy reading ones that are basically just fan service and unrealistic like boyXadult man who abuses him or something. That's uhhh...creepy?

But I find it interesting. Why do we like shounen ai? I talked about this with my japanese professor and I feel it would be an interesting topic to do more research on. I am doing a social sciences workshop where I do that sort of research before the end of summer and although I chose a different topic I kind of want to do my research on that. I am doing my research on consumerism in anime and manga and how that shapes the art style into a new form of art, but I feel writing about shounen ai would be less cliche...>3> (sorry for the wall of text about nothing)

@Wakusei Aoshi:

~*~Maybe some day, Wakusei...~*~
And idk, fantasy stories are just difficult. ""orz IDK WHAT THE PLOT'S EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE. There are a couple things I have decided on in the story, so I might post about that some day. Mostly stuff about Falorin.
Aaah, I haven't played Sacred Stones in so long, I forgot what all the characters act like! xD I just remember liking Franz because he's cute and Colm because he's supah cool. >:V

Thanks! C:

Haha, yeah, I kind of read a lot of shounen-ai. xD I'm picky, though, because I don't like reading shounen-ai with unattractive art...;;; Like Junjou Romantica, I never read it because I didn't like the art. And I'm not too into the blatantly seme-uke relationships, because they're usually pretty boring.
Ah, yeah, I really like drawing guys interacting with guys! 8D /weird maybe, but idk. Guys do tend to act differently around guys than around girls, and the guy-guy interactions are just something I have an interest in... >3>

Awww....;3; No more My Dear Princess??? Yeah, it does sound quite difficult to come up with all the details of something of that scale...;3; I do like Segran! He looks like a funner version of Forde. Forde looks too proper (though he's totes crayzeh).

I like your new OC as well! XD And I love how you drew him in that meme! XD

Lulz, 'tis okay that everyone is bi! XD I wonder...do you read very much shounen-ai? Maybe you just like your characters to be well rounded. Have a gentle side and harsh side. And for some reason they only seem most gentle when with people of the same gender.

@greenLeAfe:

WAAH, THANKS! ;u;

Omg theyre so cute!<3