BL writers, what inspired you?

[king-goldfish]

I'm also a big fan of Chinese BL because I've found those most frequently cross over with the fantasy genre. I'm not as much a fan of light novels or "straight" romances without fantasy elements. You can definitely see the MDZS influences in my novel. I also really loved Lord Seventh by Priest.

But I wouldn't say that's what inspired me to write BL in the first place. I've been interested in gay stories since I was maybe 10 or 11. I had no idea why, then. Now that I've gone from a little girl to a fully grown man, I think I have a better idea lol.

My writing interests are wide and multifarious, but most stories I write have some element of gayness in them. Usually it's a pretty prominent element. It's always been this way with my writing, and it likely always will be.

[miyaskya]

I was also inspired by danmei (MXTX, Thousand Autumns, Little Mushroom, Sha Po Lang, Golden Terrace, etc). One of my novels was influenced by MDZS/The Untamed. Other inspirations were CLAMP's earlier works (i.e. RG Veda). But my stories are also influenced by non-BL material (i.e. Nausicaa, DBZ, Ghost in the Shell, Blame!, wuxia films, etc), so they end up being a amalgamation of all sorts of ideas.

[joannekwan]

most of Est Em's work, hands down

[TAMAnnoying]

I'll be honest, usually when I'm inspired to pick up a pen for a "BL" plot it's usually due to my inability to find something... Wholesome AND adult?

Sadly I'm mostly inspired by my lack of anything of substance to read rather than because I was inspired by one writer I'm someone who needs more "old man yaoi" in their life and in general find BL to be far too sexualized for my liking in most situations. I'm super into several chapters of two dudes discussing their future plans in their work and where they're planing on moving to and if they're planing on having kids. Something I'm well aware is not a common placed thing for most BLs and BL writers.

As for the ones I've enjoyed... Uh... Not actually sure they're age appropriate for the forums 🥴 but there's def some fun comedy ones/ones with old men ive bought.

[Emalie]

I was a fan of BL stories from a very young age, but over time I felt like I was reading the same old thing. About four years ago I read a comic here, on tapas, that gave me the motivation to write a story about two men, without a forced or questionable relationship, who were genuinely in love. Little by little I became more selective when it came to reading BL beyond what the plot simply showed. I wanted something that wasn't typical.

Stories like Given, Yuri on ice, Orange (although it's not a BL), Sasaki to Miyano, No. 6, well, stories like that.

[stiatent]

@ThunderChicken yep I feel the same way too

Yep also a dude living a rl BL mostly draw inspo from that too

Hot guys and guy fashion, and video game costumes especially those in popular fighting games
Wanted something with intense action, adrenaline rush I get from watching action movies or playing videogames, mixed with BL, so that inspired some of the projects I'm working on.

Originally wanted to make videogames but posting a series online became more manageable,
The aesthetics of J-RPGS , Fighting Games and Action Horror games are also huge inspirations.

Existing BLs include:
Marry my Dead Body was hilarious and had cool action, Handsome Devil is one I watched many times,
and look forward to seeing Red, White & Royal Blue (which also stars Nicholas frm handsome devil).
Years back I used to watch a lot of Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Thai BL series on YT mostly without English translations and the names were in their native language so never remembered the names.

[XiuLyn_12]

The main reason would be that I'm more comfortable drawing men. But I also read a lot of BL manhwa and comics. I wanted to give a different type of spice in my own way, so I made one!
I'm honestly not sure if my work is considered original or not typical, but I like to think I'm doing my best, haha!

[ameliacovet30]

Got tired of finding spice without plot. Spice is good, great, super but falls dry, flat, makes me annoyed sometimes without plot. That said, I don't read BL with no plot. They must be well-rounded with actual struggles (unless you're writing fluff/cozy then by all means, no struggle) and that I'm reading characters instead of sex dolls.
Also, to write what I want to read. There have been mature bl books (by mature, I mean plotted) I've read and are reading that feels like an actual book so yeah... If you're writing erotica but states it as BL romance or any other genre, I'll automatically hate you.
As for inspirations, I've read books/comics from gay/queer authors and mature female authors who Know how to plot and write a damn book.

[vfaqvrf]

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[SpookySky]

@BreeBaxter
I love the WHAT IF storyline authors throw in as AUs for their fans

[vfaqvrf]

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[NickRowler]

I guess I felt a disconnect between the BL stories I was reading and the gay men I knew IRL. I feel like a lot of BL appeals way too much to the female gaze, so I never really got into them.

[Lensing]

There are a lot of articles about straight women writing BL stories.
I never understood and wouldn´t do that as a writer, but I´m also no
woman and I don´t write BL, so what do it know

[SpookySky]

It lot of videos cover the subject, but its because the romance category was engineered for women, because for the longest time women werent allowed to read, so it was one of the first made JUST for women spaces. KrisPNatz on youtube covers this subject really well as a gay man.
But it would be nice to mainstream more gay media BY queer folks. A majority of them are focused on writing coming out and relatable stories to help the mainstream understand the queerspace more, and aren't as focused on the whole fantasy aspect as much

[king-goldfish]

I really bristle at the idea that women—cause often the women in question are not straight—shouldn't be writing BL/fiction about gay men in general. I would love to see more stories about gay men by gay men, but as a trans man, I was made to feel so ashamed of my interest in gay stories. From both people who just thought being gay was gross AND people who thought women writing/reading about gay men was inherently fetishistic. Two things to say to that: 1) people are allowed to fantasize about things (as long as they're not bringing that prejudice out into the real world and treating real people as fetish objects) and 2) so many of the BL stories written by women I've read have featured such amazing and careful characterization that I find accusations of fetishism hard to give much credence to. Like sure, they're probably choosing two men to write about because they find that more aesthetically appealing, but also, these stories can be deep and heartfelt and the characters layered and compelling. It's not all sex puppetry.

Sure, there are problems in the genre, like any genre. And yes, again, I want to see more gay fiction by and for gay men. But these fujoshi writers got me through some shit lmao.

[SpookySky]

Ive strayed far from fanfiction due to the fujoshi fetishism in that space being extra intense, same with a lot of stories on Wattpad.
I'm queer and non-binary, so I also try to add my own experiences into my stories here and there, including experiences from friends in queer spaces.
I would LOVE to see more queer folks dive into queer fantasy/scifi/action romance series. I'm writing it because I can't find many of them unless you come across a local indie author self publishing.

[NickRowler]

I have zero issues with women writing gay love stories. I guess my issue was a lot of them made the boys young and attractive for women readers.

Not all gay men look like young supermodels. Maybe I just want more variety. And maybe more facial hair.

[Emalie]

I agree with that point. Personally, I know it's a matter of taste, but I personally prefer to draw a relationship between two men and have them have facial hair and even beards, and not be so attractive just because.

[Selfmaiden]

I am a transman, but wasn't that openly for the longest part of my life.
Soooo... My characters are always male, since I really cannot stand writing from a female gaze. (Feels like getting back into the closet honestly)
I have a wife and my marriage is considered homosexual by most people. So ... to say it frankly I do not feel like I can confidentially write about heterosexual relationships, because socially speaking I was never in a heterosexual relationship and often when my friends talk about their problems and such I cannot really relate:
Thus --- male main character, gay relationship ---- BL it is.

Oh... and right now I took the first homosexual book (presumably by Oscar Wilde) in history as an inspiration to write my own story. Here it is.

Read Teleny Novel | Tapas Web Community

[TinaAnderson]

I'm going to show my age with this one - what got me writing male homoeotic fiction was movies like The Outsiders and Taps. As a masc queer woman, dabbling in stories with those characters was lit-erotic for me. I moved on to GL fics with the Facts of Life ... but that's for a different thread. 0__0

I didn't discover Japanese homoeroticism until I got my hands on the twisted tanbi titles of Tanizaki Junichiro in the late 80s. After college, it was anthologies like BeBoy Gold and Kinniku-Otoko. K-Ot had so many great stories; anything written by Matsu Takeshi was a favorite because of how unserious those stories were. They were gei-komi, though marketed as BL (remember, bara is not a genre, it is a slur.) When I began writing pro in the mid-2000s, all the pubs wanted traditional BL stuff. So, I fell back on my favorites from that genre, Moduru Motoni and Mika Sadahiro.

Sorry to ramble... I had too much ice cream after dinner and it makes me chatty.
--T