Yes, I would definitely love to have the fandom that BL comics have! Or at least the size, lol. However, that doesn't mean that I don't appreciate the number that I already have and the fandom that I already have. They all seem like lovely people (at least the ones on Tapas).

I do just fine with that type of fandom for the most part. They're adorably perverted.
In some cases they do kind of sexualize/objectify the men involved because they're used to traditional yaoi, but I don't really slam down on them for that. I feel that, rather than arguing angrily about it, it's better to keep creating media that goes against the clichés and promotes a more realistic view of gay people, and also expand their understanding to involve trans people, asexuals, intergender and intersex people. On top of that, promoting sex positivity, body positivity and the importance of consent is probably best done by placing a good example in front of them through your own creation. Once they see what a consensual and well balanced relationship looks like, they'll probably figure out for themselves that the yaoi/bl they'd seen so far was promoting some pretty bad things, and they'll mature with time.

However most of the people reading my stuff seem to be "with it" and already know what's acceptable and what isn't. Hell, they've even called me out on some stuff (stuff that isn't relevant to BL culture tho). They're good, honest people who take no bullcrap.

I have come across a few creators on the other hand that can be pretty pretentious, drama-driven or agressive. But I don't think that's a trait of the BL community, I think that's the matter of some people letting fame get to their heads. Once again, 99% of creators are awesome people too.

A good amount of them get really creepy, some can get really overwhelming, and some just don't know that they crossed a line they really should not have cross, but honestly this is the case with pretty much any fan base, the bad fans are going to make the whole fan base look bad.

In general though, aside from those that make the rest look bad (for various reasons that have probably been mentioned or will inevitable be mentioned), they are pretty fun, and often very enthusiastic, and they very like their ships, which is actually kinda neat to see? Even if it's a ship I wouldn't do it's really neat to see that people like my characters enough to ship them.

It's also neat that I can draw my boy's pretty and they are 100% fine with that. I used to get in so much shit for drawing my guys not man enough (I came from house where the men either acted and looked feminine or androgynous... to me guys having long hair or being short and petite was normal x.x)

I mean, I have stated my dislike for the bad fans I run into a number of times, but the good ones I absolutely love.

Hmmmmmmm I guess it depends on how this applies!

Like, I would prefer it if the people reading my comic were interested in the kind of comic I'm making. So, if this just means the general amount of energy and investment, I wouldn't knock the passion and excited anticipation of the BL crowd, and I do enjoy it a lot when shipping happens! But if this would mean folks are reading a comic without a whole lot of relationships in it and constantly getting frustrated at the lack of romantic action and demanding more, I'd find that sort of disheartening even if it meant I had a ton of technically-engaged readers.

The readers who focus a lot on what they really want/hope will happen rather than on what's actually happening aren't my ideal audience, I think -- and I feel like I've seen that tendency before in the more ship-happy audiences? As much as I love shipping, I really hope that people will hear the story I'm telling more than imagining how they wanted it to go, so I don't know if it'd be a good fit for me!

Every fandom has it's drama queens. As long as people are nice to each other, respect each others opinions and have fun it's all good. It's encouraging to see people getting involved and get passionate about the characters and their stories we have to tell. Some comments can be intense, but until now I am able to lol them off since they are not crossing a line imo. Hope that'll never happen, but it's the internet so that's probably a wish not granted.

i want the size without the gross fetishization of mlm relationships and romanticized rape/abuse

I want the fandom of a hentai artist ........ KEK

Last time I checked a BL comment section it was all "aw he's so cute and sexy my nose is bleeding X3 nya!!! X3X sugoiiii!!!11!!!~"

So probably not really....

Nah, I'm pretty happy with my fandom right now for both Tapastic and Webtoon, they are a hilarious bunch with the same sick and twisted sense of humor that I have.

A lot of the BL fangrills that comment on my comic come across a bit cringy, but it's a nice laugh. I enjoy reading their ALL CAPS COMMENTS with lots of emojis haha. And I kinda respect their courage to type some of the stuff I've seen...

Though it isn't really the attention I'd choose myself, I would definitely miss them if they were gone

in numbers: hell yea
in activity: hell no

I'm a fan of the genre myself and wrote a few stories (not comics tho,,), so in a buch of comics i see i find some,,, grotesque commentaries. It's like they keep butchering the characters to fit the yaoi stereotype, misregard abuse that we're suPPOSED to read and be like "holy moses X, F you for doing that to Y" and take it as romantic, and keeps trying to speed things up ignoring that No Real Person Would Fall That Deep In Such A Short While.

So.... If i could have the number, and if this part of the fandom got really really quiet, that'd be great.

I dunno, some of the fans (and some creators) sort of give me the creeps. Like if I was suddenly flooded with those types of fans, I might just get really anxious or something.

I would like to write another comic about a gay couple...however I just don't want the hyper pervy fans. (Tho if someone wrote a weird sexy fanfic I might actually read it for the LOLZ)

I just hope I have a fandom that like my comic the way it is.

I'm gonna be completely honest here and say that the majority of BL fans terrify me with how.... passionate they are.

Yes, but without the creeps pls.

nah i wouldnt want a fandom like that. shipper culture, especially at that level, is really uncomfortable and i dont want to face that pressure as a creator. its so far from what im in it for

that said, if theyre a paying fandom, id put up with it. maybe.

lol oki. I'm Heck and I'm broke.

Sometimes I wonder about making a BL comic just for shits and giggles...like one that panders to the tropes (minus the rape one). Then see if it can actually be successful.

But...every time I brainstorm a "romance plot", it derails and becomes about something else which has little to nothing to do with romance. Plus, seeing all the crap I have said on the forums, I think some BL lovers might quickly find out I am not a fan.

Oh man I love ramen but it makes me sick so I just eat a lot of apples. I'm probably like 65% apples.

LOL because it's SO FUNNY AND INFORMED to assume that most or even a large amount of BL and comics featuring mainly gay male characters predominantly feature rape as a hilarious trope! That's not an out-of-context assumption at all! And that a majority of fans are "creepy" or "weird" for being enthusiastic!

It probably is worth pointing out that any fandom, regardless of what they focus on, will have its more regrettable members. It will also have its majority of perfectly fine, unobtrusive and unobjectionable members who just like what they like. And if you are not in that fandom, it will be very easy to just see people who are as strange and inscrutable.

As I've pointed out numerous times before, having dudes into dudes in your comic is not some easy path to fame and fortune. It's bad when a creator just fetishizes gay men and doesn't respect them enough to support them having, you know, actual human rights...but that's a rarity. It's a lot more harmful at this point when people become hyper-critical and jump on the anti-anything-remotely-BL bandwagon with misinformation, incorrect assumptions, and frankly harmful stereotypes misrepresenting stories that incorporate gay guys.

There is no easy, handy formula for popularity. Even if some stories that incorporate BL elements achieve meteoric popularity, and even if it's a trend for a long while, that's just another trend. By the time you've jumped on it and produced enough to keep a title sustainable, it'll be over. Don't do that. Don't just put gay dudes in your comic in a woefully misguided attempt to garner popularity or readership, because it won't be something that ends up successful in the end.

I am for stories that tell more stories of gay male characters, because they are not common even now. I want to see the different perspectives and different ideas. Pointing fingers and assuming does a great deal more harm than good, and I don't think it's a very good thing to end up discouraging people from telling the story they want to tell. There's far too much of that here at Tapas(tic), and it just comes off as sour grapes.

Work on your story, and in time you will have your own solid and stable audience, I'm sure. If you're eager to toss your story out in favor of something that might be more popular in the moment, I have to question your dedication to the story you claimed to want to tell.

It's easier to look at a popular comic and claim it became popular because it's insert-genre-here or because the system on the website/platform worked in its favor, than it is to recognize reality, which is usually one of the following:

1. You haven't been around for long enough. Establishing yourself as an artist takes YEARS or even DECADES.
2. You are too slow or not good enough. This can be fixed, as speed and better content comes with time as long as you try hard. Recognize the importance of practice.
3. You might be in the wrong medium.

If an artist isn't willing to keep going despite this, they can forget about getting successful. There is no easy way to success. Only tons of hard work.

It's straight up insulting to have my 13 years of hard work practicing art, and 10 years trying to get my art out there online and observing statistics and marketing methods, all summed up to "Nah you didn't get where you are because you worked hard, you got where you are because you followed that goshdarned gay agenda and drew trash for teenage girls to drool over and fap to".