18, HE/THEY, JAMAICA
Sometimes people will call me a fake or say that I am not allowed to read BL because of how I identify and my gender assigned at birth. Most people are okay with how I ID though. — 18, He/They, Jamaica
Recent Posts
28, SHE/THEY, ARGENTINA
On one side, it was because of piracy that I was able to find BL content in the first place (downloading anime and manga, and later on doujinshi). When I got into online fandom, nobody debated where the content had come from, we never stopped…
21, THEY/THEM, CAMBODIA
BL gives me solace but as a person who needs to recharge from ALL real life things and people. From the very beginning, I separated myself from fiction very strictly and BL is simply one of the art forms I enjoy. Fujoshi are so stigmatized but my best fandom and real life friends have always been fujoshi. No exception. They’re all warm and tend to be very accepting and lend their ears to my issues. Back when I was a teen a trans fujoshi helped me a lot with my issues and helped me calm my anxiety about transition etc.
— 21, They/Them, Cambodia
27, HE/HIM, NEW ZEALAND
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…
34, SHE/HER, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
I grew up in the era of Ai No Kusabi, Kizuna, FAKE and Ayano Yamane. I read Tokyo Babylon and X/1999 as queer (at the very least deeply queer-coded) and works like Utena and Neon Genesis Evangelion were revolutionary to me. BL wasn’t easy to…
27, SHE/HER, BANGLADESH
My country seems to have some people who are now aware of the BL genre, some started reading it. Vicious commentary is everywhere. But I have found some people who read not only manga, but [BL] literature as well. I wouldn’t have realized people existed like this in real life if not for the internet. I managed to get much entertainment as well as many insights about this. It became a new genre of romance for me.
— 27, She/Her, Bangladesh
25, THEY/THEM, VIETNAM
The first mlm ships I started shipping came from Homestuck, which came with lots of fanart and fanfic. Then I got into the Free! fandom and started reading BL. I remember people kept talking about Junjou Romantica and the likes, although it did feel like…
31, SHE/HER, SOUTH KOREA
BL can be easy to find. But not in English. Online comic sites like Lehzin and Tappytoon toon are making it easier as they offer translations. But an annoying payment system makes it hard to enjoy. Pirating has led to publishers realizing there’s an audience.…
34, THEY/THEM, USA
There’s a lot to be said about availability privilege when it comes to media and content. We need to have a talk about people who live in places and countries without the privilege to access these things. The industry around distribution heavily affects all fans. This can’t be denied. Other times it’s a cultural barrier (example; anti-LGBTQ culture presiding in that society) and sometimes fans live in countries that haven’t been afforded the same opportunities. Such disadvantages affect something even like access to media content. BL fan space is always going to be challenges or problems. They will exist. But if we can include every experience and every voice, I think we could do more to shape it.
— 34, They/Them, USA
28, SHE/THEY, USA
First experiences with BL: Yu Yu Hakusho and Prince of Tennis doujinshi and fanart back in 2003-2004. The first BL manga I bought was “Only the Ring Finger Knows”— very silly and romantic. I liked so many things about BL and shipping— the distance from…
