History YMMV / TalesOfTheCity

* HarsherInHindsight: In ''Further Tales'', Michael has a fling with an aging closeted actor who is strongly implied to be real-life movie star Rock Hudson. Two years after the book came out, Hudson disclosed that he had contracted AIDS. The very next Tales book, ''Babycakes'', revealed that Michael had contracted HIV.

* AcceptableTargets: Anyone who advocates for separating themselves from the rest of society tends to get ridiculed or vilified in this series, including radical feminists, wealthy gay men, and Christian Conservatives.

* TakeThatScrappy: In ''Sure of You'', Mary Ann refers to Prue Giroux as a "pretentious little starfucker".

* TheScrappy: Mary Ann and Mona are less universally loved than a lot of the other characters, perhaps because they are shown becoming ''more'' selfish and self-absorbed as the series goes on. Contrasted with, say, Brian and [=DeDe=], who go from being self-centred and rude to genuinely caring and likable, it's not hard to see why a bit of antipathy might set in.

** It's finally addressed in ''Sure of You'': Mary Ann recalls how she drunkenly turned to Brian (who was still dating Mona at the time) for "comfort" the night Burke left for New York, and that their whole relationship kind of "drifted" from there, ending up with them getting married and adopting Shawna.

* ReplacementScrappy: Prue Giroux, Mona's replacement in ''Further''. Stupid, selfish, and vaguely racist and homophobic, all in one package.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Michael and Mrs Madrigal, who started out as secondary characters in Mary Ann's sub-plots before graduating to their own story lines. After the hiatus they each receive a book dedicated to their stories. Michael in particular is often cited as "the most beloved of Maupin's creations", and sometimes even "the most beloved gay character in fiction". Quite the honor!

* HoYay: Michael and Brian have their moments. Quite deliberately too: Brian's secure enough to walk down the street with his arm around his gay friend and it not be an issue.

* DesignatedProtagonistSyndrome: Mary Ann, perhaps starting as early as ''Further'', but particularly from ''Sure of You'' onward.

** Particularly jarring since, at the end of ''More'', it's Brian and Mona who get together. ''Further'' might almost be seen to {{Retcon}} the situation, with Brian and Mary Ann an item, and no mention of Brian's history with Mona until ''Babycakes''.

* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler: Luke, AKA Jim Jones]], is revealed to be one in ''Further''. Also, [[spoiler: Norman. And a bit of a stretch, but Lexy's parents]].

** Also D'Orothea, whose return to the series was eagerly anticipated by a lot of fans, and seems to be much more popular than Mona, the character she was originally shown in relation to.

** The "new generation" from the post-hiatus books (many of them the now-grown children of the "first generation") are young people facing realistic modern-day problems - essentially mirroring Mary Ann, Michael, Brian, Mona, [=DeDe=] and D'Or from the first six books. Unsurprisingly, their chapters are generally less popular than the ongoing tales of the older crowd from the originals, though most reviewers seemed to think they were merely average rather than outright terrible.

** Particularly jarring since, at the end of ''More'', it's Brian and Mona who get together. ''Further'' might almost be seen to {{Retcon}} the situation, with Brian and Mary Ann an item, and no mention of Brian's history with Mona.

* DesignatedProtagonistSyndrome: Mary-Ann, perhaps starting as early as ''Further'', but particularly from ''Sure of You'' onward.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Michael and Mrs Madrigal, who started out as secondary characters in Mary-Ann's sub-plots before graduating to their own story lines. After the hiatus they each receive a book dedicated to their stories. Michael in particular is often cited as "the most beloved of Maupin's creations", and sometimes even "the most beloved gay character in fiction". Quite the honor!

* TheScrappy: Mary-Ann and Mona are less universally loved than a lot of the other characters, perhaps because they are shown becoming ''more'' selfish and self-absorbed as the series goes on. Contrasted with, say, Brian and [=DeDe=], who go from being self-centred and rude to genuinely caring and likable, and it's not hard to see why a bit of antipathy might set in.
** The "new generation" from the post-hiatus books (many of them the now-grown children from the first few books) are generally less popular than the older crowd from the originals, though most reviewers seemed to think they were merely average rather than outright terrible.

** Particularly jarring since, at the end of ''More'', it's Brian and Mona who get together. ''Further'' might almost be seen to {{Retcon}} the situation, with Brian and Mary-Ann an item, and no mention of Brian's history with Mona.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Michael and Mrs Madrigal, who started out as secondary characters in Mary-Ann's sub-plots before graduating to their own story lines. After the hiatus they each receive a book dedicated to their stories. Michael in particular is often cited as "the most beloved of Maupin's creations", and sometimes even "the most beloved gay character in fiction". Quite the honour!

* HoYay: Michael and Brian have their moments.

** The "new generation" from the post-hiatus books are generally less popular than the older crowd from the originals, though most reviewers seemed to think they were merely average rather than outright terrible.

* StrangledByTheRedString: We never see the process by which Mary Ann and Brian fell in love, so their relationship in ''Further'' just seems to come out of nowhere.

* DesignatedProtagonistSyndrome: Mary-Ann, particularly from ''Sure of You'' onward.

* TheScrappy: Mary-Ann and Mona are less universally loved than a lot of the other characters.

* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler: Luke, aka Jim Jones]] is revealed to be one in "Further." Also, [[spoiler: Norman. And a bit of a stretch, but Lexy's parents]].
* {{Squick}}: the story Burke was investigating that gave him his amnesia? [[spoiler: a cult of cannibals]]