28, SHE/HER, ALGERIA

My first BL experience is linked to fan work. I was around 8 and I actually through that Oscar from Versailles no Bara was a guy so I thought he/she was a gay couple with André. My first experience with “real BL” was from the anime Yuyu Hakusho. I was really into Hiei and Kurama together and looking on the family computer I found some doujinshis and fanfictions. At the beginning I was kind of grossed out by original BL, I only liked yaoi with characters I knew. But the sexual aspect in doujins and fanfic was really eye opening for me (I rarely consumed pornographic content before). I also liked that in the original work it was more serious stories that the shoujo I could find. Fandom was very welcoming and active (in french, not Arabic). I went on Livejournal and had multiple accounts on websites where people would post fanfic, fanart and talk about the show.

— 28, She/Her, Algeria