documenting the BL fan experience
The representation in BL is generally good. Most fictional media shouldn’t, to me, be held up as a golden standard for representation because I’ve found in my experience that leads to extremely toxic fandom interactions. Representation in BL isn’t going to be every single gay…
When I first discovered BL fandom: “Glomp rawr XD Yaoi means stop my butt hurts”. Now fandom has chilled out, BL is more readily available for consumers and talking to people is a lot more easy. Though the fandom online is a lot more angry…
The internet helped me connect with other BL fans and was a big part of me growing up. In particular was when I took part in the Togainu No Chi fan translation. Without the internet, I never would have met others with such passion to help bring this to English speaking fans. I was initially the editor of the Togainu No Chi fan translation before taking over as something of a group leader.
— 28, He/Him, Australia
Acquiring BL can be complicated, because some older BL is hard to find when you want to buy it in English. Sometimes it can be very pricey as well. But at the same time these authors deserve money for their work that they have put…
People saying I transitioned to become a gay man like the comics was a big reason I fell out with the community in my late teens/early 20s. It was only recently that I’ve been more comfortable with interacting with fandom again. BL helped me figure…
The quality of internet overtime made it easier to consume, relate to, and make content for. It’s easier to read on the go, talk about it to friends at the same time, live react, etc. There’s a lot more doujins that have been translated to English and a lot more quality scans. Rather than learning basic Japanese to get by. If people can afford the officially published BL then they should buy it but fan translations also have a lot of work put into them. Also keeping people out because they can’t afford to buy a whole novel is unfair.
— 27, He/Him, New Zealand
