Why switching/reverse couples are so rare?
So the question is: why switching/reverse couples are so unpopular in BL world. I know, I know some people are going to accuse me that it’s not true and name the same 20+ titles everyone has reread already at least few times. But what are 30 stories in the ocean of thousands? A drop in the bucket. I can’t name any news switching couples stories in the last year or two only continuations like “Happy shitty life”, “Neko x neko” or “Thirst”.
What’s more a lot of stories on the site are wrongly tagged and under „switching” or „reverse couples” tags you can find stories with the same overused trope how one guy used to be a total top but turned into total bottom in his new relationship, of course a lot of the time such stories are full of SA but that’s beyond the topic.
I know I’m going to get accused that stories are more than sex and it’s not that important but I find the extreme underrepresentation of verse gay/bi men very questionable in BL world.
Few years ago I believed we are finally getting more variety in BL world, especially after appearance of “Dark Heaven” but beside a little bit more of buffy bottoms titles (who a lot of the time act like the most stereotypical “ukeish ukes” but I don’t even want to start the whole discussion about homophobic uke and seme archetypes), BL world is still heavily heteronormative and even the plots feel super repetitive and uninteresting these days…
So any ideas? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the topic.
You basically said it, cause the BL world is still heavily heteronormative. People want pretty uke’s with big buff tops, and the people who don’t are more so in the minority sadly
1 reply
09 11,2024
Because authors only write what sells. In addition, why write creatively when the same old repetitive slop gets eaten up with less effort. You've seen the comments. People don't care as long as the art looks good. (Cough Jinx COUGH)
There's just not much demand for switch couples from the audiences. BL isn't exactly a genre about representation, ......
1 reply
09 11,2024
As a nekoxneko supremacist it's something that I would like to know I feel like switches should be more popular and it's a trope that I most definitely enjoy. I would be curious to hear from a gay man how common switches and switching is within the gay community. I don't have an answer to your question as much as a critique of a dangerous rhetoric ......
2 reply
09 11,2024
I think it mostly has to do with people don't like it, I see people drop the BL just because the character that they like is not bottoming or bottoming I see this problem even with queer people, while I agree we should get more switch but that is not popular.
2 reply
09 11,2024
Idk but I wouldn't be surprised if part of it is because it's easier to market a couple with set positions. Most popular tropes/dynamics cater to that. It also means characters can easily be referred to as "seme" or "uke" which helps with marketing and makes it easier for audiences to categorize the characters in their head.
There's also the obvio......
1 reply
09 11,2024
Honestly ouroburos showed great rep of switching
1 reply
09 11,2024