documenting the BL fan experience
I was certainly open to explore my sexuality, as from my exposure to BL. Liking same sex isn’t bad, contrary to what Indonesian society taught me as a child. Interactions with fandom also helped me to navigate my boundaries, what am I comfortable with, what…
I use BL as a good litmus test to find out if my acquaintances are homophobic or not because these are well written stories with well written smut and there’s no reason to be dismissive of it unless you’re homophobic, at least in Asia. I…
Everyone has been crazy about danmei for a long, long time. Sometimes it feels like people prefer danmei to Japanese BL here. They are also very vocal about LGBTQ rights, although the fujoshi phenomenon does come up with reference to younger fans. That being said, BL fans are still placed in a box and pretty much silenced in common fandom spaces (some male-oriented fanpages are quite dismissive of mlm shipping and BL fans tend to scatter around smaller, queer specific fandom spaces).
— 25, They/Them, Vietnam
A lot of people now know about the term BL, yaoi, and fujoshi. Indonesians are still very apprehensive about anything related to same-sex relationship, but now people are able to loudly say “I’m BL fan of this pair!” And not be afraid of being singled…
My identity makes me a bit more critical of the portrayal/manifestations of queer experiences in BL. Though when I turn to BL for escapism, the realistic portrayals hurt a bit more since I’m reminded of the real-life challenges of being a queer person. In reverse,…
Fanart of Kakashi and Iruka from Naruto kissing in the hokage office on a break. It felt soft and warm. At the time I hadn’t dated anybody and was a known prude who kept my confusion to myself. But seeing them felt reassuring somehow. I never became a huge kakairu fan, but I kept seeing really pretty Japanese fanart of boys kissing each other. Then I discovered entire manga where characters I thought were gay, were given their gay stories. It was liberating and has now come to the point that if some fiction is not gay I’m not interested. I found that BL is generally well written compared to most heterosexual stories. With hets I feel it’s a huge either/or with sexual and SFW themes, you almost never see the two themes together which kind of results in less immersion. BL takes the more holistic approach to relationships and how they come with the physical components and emotional components together and not separate like heterosexual romances. The tension between Naruto and Sasuke is undeniable to this day. This was back in 2012-13. Other than that there was the Free!! series which I also love because the character design is gorgeous and everyone seemed to be into it.
— 21, They/Them, Cambodia
