So, how do you prefer your men?

[chilepie]

Over bound manly men, frankly, scare me. I'm talking about the ones that look like they got a hold of bad steroids and didn't know when to stop taking the protein shakes. On the other extreme, I can understand people's love of shota but it's not for me.

So pretty much if the man in question falls in the middle of them, I'll go for it. It all depends on the characters personality and if they are written well.

[Izar]

I like bishonens in my yaoi, but they don't need to be extremly effeminated. in fact, I prefer it if they're not. I like yaoi to be malexmale.

I can use a non-bishie too. Like, a big guy with a bishonen. Yeah, it's hot too.

[Ryder]

I like slender/athletic guys, but not really muscly.

So, someone slim with nice abs. But not with muscles popping out of them.

[marley_station]

You know what? I don't care. Consider me a product of the LOGO cable channel; I've seen big, muscle-y brutes together with big, muscle-y brutes and frail, skinny men with frail, skinny men and everything in-between. I'm fine with all of it.

I write yaoi for Naruto. Consequently, the characters are portrayed in my fiction as lean but toned and/or muscled. In one of my fics Shikamaru Nara is portrayed as a former swimmer and gymnast, if that gives you an idea. The bottom line is, as long as they're loving each other, they can look however they want.

[StAraqiel]

I like 'em young and any degree of pretty. From Inuyasha to Shinji Ikari, as long as they're teen and cute, I'm happy.

Also, I will admit to a healthy albeit cautious curiosity concerning shotacon (and lolicon).

Edited October 29, 2016 by StAraqiel

[Tempestuous]

I like power struggles! I've never been one for fragile uke + I-am-hulk seme. So, in short, my yaoi bells go nuts with the Akatsuki from Naruto. My favourite pairings: Itachi x Madara, Sasori x Deidara. Oooh the struggles!  I cannot stand them out of character, however.

[saiyansecret]

I'm not exactly familiar with all the terms, but since my fandom is DBZ you can see my type! In general I go for the more muscular guys who have lots of pretty hair & innocent faces. I'm a sucker for the protector/protegé type of relationship, parallel to seme/uke. Though as someone mentioned, I do like to change the seme/uke roles from time to time, even when one of them is typically one or the other. It gives them variety. Where shouta is concerned, I guess it depends on who it is, what happens & the situation. I like to think I'm pretty open-minded.

[Guest Nicole]

Honestly, I hate the whole "Effeminate guy, masculine man" pairing. Since it's not exactly, well, realistic. Sadly, it seems to be the norm.

I prefer just two guys. Average guys, not one more masculine than the other (Maybe only a bit), and not one that's entirely shy. Gay couples are most definitely not just Seme-Uke stuff! They occasionally switch off, have their little quirks, they both act like GUYS. Excluding the gay men that act more like a woman, they are GUYS.

"Too Long, Didn't Read" As long as there's no effeminate guy, and no extremely masculine man, it's good for me!

[Kurahieiritr]

I adored the following post.

Of course there always has to be a bottom and a top... but I think it's kinda kinky to switch it once in a while. Even if you have an extremely effeminate man with a much more masculine man for a pairing (like an obvious uke/seme role), it's interesting to put the stronger dude on the bottom occasionally. I don't think there should be clear 'roles', unless you're just writing a PWP or a short story.

I am bouncing up and down that I am not the only one that loves the fresher kink of switching role! This is the truth of real living gay couples! There is not absolute uke/absolute seme within real life gay couples. I have several gay friends and am a nosy enough old broad to ask questions when I found out my own son was bisexual. The truth made me into a person who despises absolute Uke/Seme roles. I thought I was completely alone in my love of shaking up readership expectations. Thanks so much for saying the same thing I have thought for ages!Now for the next response.

Wow, am I the only one who likes when men look like men and behave like men ?

I like them rough, strong, independent... I like them being a challenge, not just waiting to be seduced and moaning at the slightest touch

I can see rough and tumble men getting into gay relationships as easily as the innocent, too perfectly pretty, and weaker looking types. Strong and beefy men can be as much fun as the expected bishi boys that dominates so much of the Yaoi fan fiction base of many diverse anime/manga series lists. Someone recently got me interested in Bleach yaoi, so I am investigating the typical couples that are written by fans. I can see a couple of beefy boy combinations in that series already. We'll see which ones I settle on after I finish the series I am currently revising and posting here.

And a general reply to all of the other replying people! Shota is good when used in small doses, I think. I got burnt out on it after doing one roleplay that -sorta- involved it. -_o It's just.. not fun. Clueless is cute sometimes but.. @_@

Agreed! A character should evolve once he gets his cherries popped! When the character remains too clueless the story becomes a lame read. I can see the prude flashing up and the blushes as the character evolves into an equally sexy partner, but when the innocence goes overboard for too long it gets obnoxious. Nobody stays that dumb after they get accustomed to sex.

One thing I have noticed is a lack of comments about personalities in yaoi/slash writing. Personally, when it comes to putting together yaoi couples, my biggest thing is the personality between characters. Whether they are fighters, lovers, or whatever tags you want to insert within the cannon universe, the men involved have to have conflict and harmonic aspects to make them believable. The body types are not all that important to me since a big and beefy man can get with a short and petite innocent and I'll love the tale so long as the personalities mesh and retain sparks. Yaoi needs the personality meshing quality to make it a hot read. Both characters need to have conflict sparks to maintain interest. They can't be too perfectly alike in their meshed characteristic states, or there isn't anything worthy of reading unless it is mindless PWP formats.

Here's an example of what I mean by character meshing: In the Initial D yaoi cannon couples, the number one written is Ryosuke x Takumi. Ryosuke is always the seme over Takumi. I for one find the idea of Ryosuke only boning Takumi actively putting me to sleep. There isn't enough sparks to make the relationship interesting. Takumi's hero worship can only hold so much interest for me, or Ryosuke being my gut reaction. With Ryosuke being in medical school it is easy to imagine him manipulating Takumi into everything he wants to do. I can't see Takumi's personality as that meek however, so I feel those stories become too OOC-ish for my taste.

However, the super competitive Keisuke getting put with Takumi and wham, I am wide awake and rearing to read more. Keisuke and Takumi have the needed personality sparks. Misunderstandings, and competition create electricity and friction between these characters. The two men share common ground and love of driving hard and fast, yet they are different enough to have to work with the other instead of a blind, one character following the other character's lead 24/7. Both have violent streaks so it is easy to see them having mild to hard core verbal tussles over which is the dominant partner. Disagreements and working things through to remain together gives them the needed zippy dynamics to fuel a great reading fan fiction when they are kept within cannon characteristics.

[Tigro Spottystripes]

I have a thing for short twinks, but taller big-brotherly types somtimes do it for me as well. In regards to body-type/fitness, i think anything between a professional swimmer and someone that you can only tell is fit when his shirt is off would be my type.

[pittwitch]

N-A-K-E-D

[Kurahieiritr]

N-A-K-E-D

Pittwitch, I concur completely with your brilliant response. Naked and sweating truly is the best part for all concerned. :clap:

[pittwitch]

Naked and ... whatever else pops up?

[Kurahieiritr]

Naked and ... whatever else pops up?

Oh yeah!!!!!! Evil grins. Gotta love it when you read about one hot guy standing at attention for his wet dream of a date. Evil manic pervy laughter ensues.

[phoeyay]

I like my men pretty but with powerful personalities, and at least slightly sinister, scheming, or evil. In general I am not a shota fan, but if it's a mean/cold/ruthless enough boy, I'll totally fall for him (case in point, Ciel Phantomhive). I suppose the exception to the 'sinister / evil' criteria would be the tormented woobies like Kenshin and Vash. I don't get into big guys with muscles at all. I can understand why someone else would, but I just don't.

I'm not terribly fussed about the more effeminate one always being the bottom, or there having to be a distinction. It's something else about the idea of two men being together that really gets me going, and I can't quite place my finger on what it is. I think part of it has to do with the fact that there is a sort of archetypal mystique to close relationships between men (not necessarily sexual relationships), and an idea that they can be closer than a male / female couple could ever be, even if they are just friends. While I don't quite believe that's true, the idea of it really turns me on for some reason.