I think I just see it less. Discussion of 'tops' and 'bottoms' then was really attached to the seme-uke thing (don't know if I'm spelling that right... it' been a while since I've thought about it), which kind of ties into the widespread fetishizing of gay men in online fiction, at the time. Or, at least, since the fetishization conversation has died down, and the yaoi tropes stuff died down, I haven't seen a lot of 'top or bottom' essentializing.

I did read Moab is My Washpot based on your recommendation, and it was quite good! That was a while ago, though, so I don't recall that part My memory is a bit unreliable these days.

But yeah. I think it would be that sort of thing. And it is literally a trope of the Kostas world that Academy romances are full of intrigue and gamesmanship and drama, so even if it's not exactly canon, it's pretty much canon.