I have pondered this on my own for a while. It's bothered me mildly for years ever since I was beta reading fanfics. I don't understand why it's a thing so I thought I'd throw it out to the forum and see if anyone else thinks about this or if it's just me.
So, it's pretty common, especially in first person pov and usually goes a little something like this:
"This is Alex, my best friend. They're a total idiot and I don't really know why I hang out with them but we've been best friends since childhood but they're so annoying."
And then it will carry on throughout the piece telling us periodically how awful and annoying and boring and stupid their best friend is and why they don't know why they're friends they're just stuck with them. This best friend often turns out to be the real love interest "nice guy/girl" when the false lead her been pushed aside. This often comes with no character development or change in relationship just the sudden realization that actually "they always loved me".
And the thing is, it doesn't really read as frustration. We've all had friends where you're like "I love you, you're my best friend but you're really driving me insane right now" it just comes off as petty bitching to make the character seem edgy and relateable. Especially when the best friend actually never seems to be that annoying or whatever else the character is complaining about. And it doesn't come off as playful banter or even semi-serious banter that neither takes seriously (you can always tell when bickering is written as affectionate and most of the time this is not it). I used to tell the people I was reading for that if your main character is introducing their best friend as annoying it makes me wonder why they're friends, makes them seem like a bitch and makes me think the best friend will be annoying. Well done, you've put me off two of your main characters.
So, anyone know why this is a thing? Anyone else bothered by it or am I just weirdly sensitive to this?