documenting the BL fan experience
To put it as simply as I can: I experienced gender dysphoria when I was young in a society that heavily prioritized gender roles. As a result I rejected everything feminine, which included “fujoshi tendencies” aka yaoi shipping (yes, it was homophobia). As I grew…
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…
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
