"Straight"
Which, like, fair enough, although I don't see why you should be anything but completely indifferent to yaoi since (just like yuri, or any kind of shipping) it's never shoved in your face in a heavy-handed enough manner to become uncomfortable.
And since we are on the technicalities of that topic, I'm not even sure that Phainon/Mydei would count as yaoi because Mydei is not exactly yaoi-coded as far as my (admittedly limited) knowledge of the genre goes.
Edited by Bexlerfu on Mar 11th 2025 at 6:16:03 PM
Y'all are going to make me rip my hair out, I swear to God. It's just an (outdated if you're not referring to the porny types at this point) alternate term for BL, Mx M pairings fall under that umbrella by default, it is truly not that complicated.
Edited by Mami on Mar 11th 2025 at 6:56:58 PM
I absolutely cannot help but adore handsome 2D boysI'm pretty sure the depiction of homosexual relationships in japanese-influenced media at large cannot really be described as "not that complicated" if you aren't invested/familiar with the genre.
My comment is not meant to be pejorative or dismissive in any way, it's just that Mydei is not the kind of character you're supposed to find in a yaoi manga, unlike Phainon or especially Anaxa.
I too, am someone not invested in the genre- it's not that complicated.
I did not find your comment "pejorative or dismissive", I found it baffling. BL like most things us an expansive genre and while there are recurring tropes, characters not abiding by seme uke stereotypes is not the grand decider of whether something is yaoi.
Edited by Mami on Mar 11th 2025 at 7:58:38 PM
I absolutely cannot help but adore handsome 2D boys![]()
My comment stems from discussing with a FFXIV FC pal who is invested in the genre and who explained to me that he thought Mydei would not be very popular with the traditional yaoi fanbase because he was far too muscular for that - while Anaxa would be very popular because he, like Aventurine, is, and I quote here, "a Twink".
I'm not trying to gatekeep, I'm repeating what people more knowledgeable than me told me.
Well, he likes twinks, draws yaoi, and is the biggest Sunday fan on Earth.
What he said was never, in any way, derogatory, it was more of a statement or a comment. It doesn't mean Mydei is lesser in any way. Just like my comment.
It's like...I don't know, saying that Rappa isn't designed to appeal to the waifu audience as much as Castorice or Firefly are, because her peppy, slightly zany personality is more that of a tomboy, and because the writing does not try to ship her with TB (or anybody else for that matter).
Which doesn't mean people are wrong for liking her, or that she's a bad character.
Why do you keep twisting my words in the most negative way regarding you and your friend possible, let's start from there. Both you two's engagement with and understanding of "yaoi" befuddles me but at this point I'm finding the constantly putting words in my mouth more annoying.
Edited by Mami on Mar 11th 2025 at 9:32:28 AM
I absolutely cannot help but adore handsome 2D boysFWIW it took me about negative three seconds to find someone like Mydei in a piece of yaoi media
Bewitching EyesTbf regarding the Yaoi thingnote ,the laconic for Yaoi Genre mentions its often between feminine and/or androgynous men.
Not saying buff dudes are never in Yaoi, just that it seems to be rarer.
Edited by MB74 on Mar 11th 2025 at 4:46:48 AM
I’ll lift my face, and run to the sunlight.I have zero emotional investment in that topic, honestly. I was just making a statement, which is obviously debatable, but apparently the very initial statement was hair-pullingly horrible.
I'm not saying that Mydei-like characters don't exist in yaoi, just that apparently they are not the norm.
Like...Seinen manga are supposed to be aimed at young adult men. Most Seinen manga have male protagonists. Seinen manga with female protagonists, such as Apothecary Diaries, exist, but they're not the norm.
Just like Isekai without harems for the male lead. Not all isekai feature several girls fawning over the male lead, but the norm still is one male lead and several female supporting characters.
I've actually tried to learn stuff on that topic I am not knowledgeable about, and I have read detailed answers that both say "yaoi = BL" and "yaoi =/= BL", which leads me to say that it is not that obvious an answer. Some people seem to say that "yaoi" requires androgynous characters to fit, others say that "yaoi" requires some erotic content (while BL does not), and finally others say that "yaoi" is the all-encompassing term for gay romances in japan-inspired content.
And I honestly can't say which one is right. Again, I was parroting what somebody whose opinion I trust said on that matter. If it's a sore topic, I'll just drop it.
If this is you at zero emotional investment, then that's terrifying honestly!
I said it from the beginning but my reaction was bafflement and I have not said anything extra since then. So I do not know how you saw that and immediately assumed that, in your words, I thought your comments were "pejorative or dismissive", I thought you were a "gate keeper", I thought you "considered Mydei lesser", stop putting words in my mouth, I am not holding you on the cross just because I don't think you know what you're talking about, the semantics of yaoi is not that serious.
You would still be incorrect, open a manga site and do your own research, hell knows I just did, searched the most recent and most popular works and we've got dudes with the same level of miniscule muscles as Mydei in spades!
Yaoi was coined from the Japanese phrase "Yamanashi, ochinasi, iminashi" meaning no climax, no point, no meaning a.k.a. porn without plot. That's why I called it outdated, because it's actual meaning doesn't quite encompass the genre it's usually used for properly. It's still a commonly used short hand particularly in English fandom which is why I didn't chide you for not saying BL specifically.
Also why are we acting like Mydei and Phainon are some buff ass Adonises just because Mihoyo got better at shading biceps, they're as big as bloody Archer and Lancer from fate/stay night and Fujoshi have been drawing those two banging for two bloody decades!
Edit: And I said this at the start that this whole thing isn't that complicated, when people call a random pairing yaoi they are not saying it because it subscribes to BL manga stereotypes, they're saying it because it's two guys and feels gay and that's it! This whole back and forth didn't even need to exist
Edited by Mami on Mar 11th 2025 at 10:38:56 AM
I absolutely cannot help but adore handsome 2D boys~Tropers/Bexlerfu
> "Straight"
Finally, someone who gets me
> Which, like, fair enough, although I don't see why you should be anything but completely indifferent to yaoi since (just like yuri, or any kind of shipping) it's never shoved in your face in a heavy-handed enough manner to become uncomfortable.
More than that, I would respect any pairing if it makes sense (like having enough interactions), even if it's yaoi (or MLM? afraid I'm trippin' on a minefield here)
I did note that for Phainon and Mydei too
Your cheeky preview in your initial post was dog shit and only served to make you look worse than if you had just said a basic "I'm not partial to BL pairings but even I can see it". As is you still come off as fetishizing lesbians honestly.
And you can just say yaoi dude.
Edited by Mami on Mar 12th 2025 at 4:55:06 PM
I absolutely cannot help but adore handsome 2D boys![]()
I understand that you (might have) meant for that post to come across as a cheeky nod at how your tastes fell on one particular side of a scale of preference, but by gosh you could not have phrased that in a more "I'm going to say I'm a bigot (without saying I'm a bigot) way" if you tried. I am going to err with you as genuine and just spouting rhetoric from worse sources, because I don't think anyone would have said that stuff with a full knowledge of meaning and intent.
Edited by IniuriaTalis on Mar 12th 2025 at 11:13:33 AM
Does anyone actually read these?You see, I just really wanna see Ratio and Aventurine make out.
Goddammit, Schezo... || *insert incredibly thirsty copypasta about Dr. Ratio*

Speaking of that guy, it's a bit outside of the main discussion, but what do you think of their editing style in the HSR pages while we're at it?
Just an eagle. Feel free to PM me. Proposed pages in my sandbox are free to create/edit.