*Ring Ring*
My phone rang as I called Melinda. As I waited, I became curious as to how she came across such genre.
After a long wait, Melinda finally picked up the call.
Melinda: "Hi Lia! What's up?"
Me: "Mel! You finally picked up! I had finished reading the manga you recommended me, so I called you about it."
Melinda: "Ohhhh! As expected! You finished it in just a day! So how was it~ hoho~"
Me: I blush, "Well... it isn't that bad but what the h*ll is that genre?! Although I don't mind it, it makes me curious as to how you came across it?"
Melinda: "Haha.. knew you would enjoy it.. 'Ten Count' is a Yaoi genre manga which also has boy's love. Hopefully, it's suitable for a new Yaoi reader like you. Come to think of it, this was also one of the first few Yaoi manga I had read. I was searching for a new manga just like you were the other day when I came across 2 ikemen as the cover page. I thought there would be some ikemen male characters, so I gave it a chance after finding out that it was Yaoi. After all, trying it out would not hurt me."
Me: "I see... If that's so, then what is 'Yaoi'?"
Melinda: "Yaoi is also known as 'Boy's Love (BL)' and it is something like a romance between 2 guys but with some sexually explicit theme. Each character has a certain role within it. They are what you would call 'Seme', 'Uke' and 'Riba'.
Seme is the 'attacker'. Basically, Seme is a type of character who would do the 'attacking' and is the 'giver'.
Uke, on the other hand, is the opposite of Seme. Ukes are the 'receivers' and would be the one 'receiving' the 'attacks' of the Seme.
Riba (Seke) is the mix between a Seme and an Uke. Riba can go both ways.
So that's pretty much the basic terms, Lia.
There are also 'Sou-seme' which is a guy who can't be anything other than a Seme and 'Sou-Uke' which is a guy who can't be anything other than an Uke.
How was that - make sense?"
Me: "Wow.. there are even roles for the characters?!....."
As I replied, I overheard Aunty Bell, Melinda's mother, from Melinda's phone saying
Aunty Bell: "Mel, it's time to go. We're going to be late! Who are you talking to for so long?"
Me: "Mel, you're going out?"
Melinda: "Yup. We're going out to eat. So I'll catch up with you about other things later. We should also meet up again someday too."
Me: "Sure. I'll talk to you later then. Say 'Hi, how have you been?' to Aunty Bell for me. Thanks."
Melinda: "Sure thing! See ya later!"
A few moments after Melinda's farewell, the call ended. I began to ponder about the new information that Melinda told me. As I thought about the information, I decided to do more in-depth research on the topic.
Reference
- https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Yaoi
- https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/BoysLoveNotes
Edited:
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