Thoughts about putting "BL" in the thumbnail

[spadesart]

I feel like labeling the comics as LGBT would be a lot better? but then again I've checked out some BL comics on here that portray homosexuality/homosexual couples HORRIBLY (i.e. glorifying a rapist/pedophile/abuser and his victim as a couple(this is all in one single comic, with 1.1k subscribers might i add), an abuser and his kidnapped victim, etc. all portrayed as 'sexy' and 'cute') and there could be serious issues with labeling horrifying abuse like that with an LGBT as well..

But as a general rule I'm pretty repelled by the BL tag and am more open to the LGBT+ tag

[UrMom]

They probably label it for a little of both, wanting to keep away unwanted visitors, and to attract people who like gay crap. Can't say I feel anything about it, I used to be homo-fetishizing garbage in my youth. Now I click the 'bl' thumbnails expecting it to be wonderfully terribad, cringy trash, or decent and most of the time it's the first two. I've noticed more serious creators using the 'lgbt+' tag, but it's rather rare. I myself have a lgbt+ comic, but since it doesn't have much focus on lgbt+ issues there is no reason for me to put a tag on my thumbnail.

[lunaartemisasama]

I think it is for attention but also for repeling unwanted audience. When I see BL I think in yaoi and all the kind of genres that are in it, also I think the plot it is going to be about boys falling in love.

For example if it is action but with a gay protagonist I wouldn't put BL, because it's not about romance, that's just an extra.

I tried to do a BL comic, but then I changed my mind so I changed the thumbnail lol.

[Mharz]

I think it works as both a head's up for fans who like these kind of things and at the same time warning audience who doesn't like BL (including me. sorry.) that it wouldn't be their cup of tea.

[GesuGesu]

Before, my comic didn't have the tag, and it was just tagged under comedy. Then I realized that perhaps a warning might be better since... things do get pretty gay. My primary audience is BL lovers anyway, I'm not too interested in attracting anyone outside of that pool of readers.

EDIT: I've read through the older thread linked here. Everyone's put a lot of their thoughts and opinions into this. I never got very deeply in the webcomic community and always read official published manga or doujin. With manga, if it's marketed as BL, it doesn't need the label. With doujin though, 100% of the time, it is marked with "WARNING: R18 BL/18+ BL/BL ADULT ONLY" and I'm so used to seeing it that it doesn't bother me.

[eleoza]

Why would an lgtb tag make a comic look more serious than just a bl tag? Especially if a comic only focusses on a relationship bewteen two males? O:

I think a BL tag is good to have in a thumbnail to notify people who dislike it to steer away from a comic. Especially when a comic starts off casually then the BL disliking reader might get upset cuz he/she invested time in a story which turned into something they dislike?

[Kura]

I don't like it as a warning. I don't mind it as a content tag... but the idea that people need to be warned and kept safe is... uncomfortable. Completely not what is intended mind you. But yeah... really uncomfortable when you think about it that way.

I have several comics that I could throw the BL title on and get away with it because the content is there. I just don't, because though applicable and often an important a part of the characters or story it's not the story's complete focus or theme.

I DID however, put it on a comic that I put under the romance genre, and this was a really huge personal debate for myself, cause I really do not enjoy the label and how it's either used as a 'warning', or a 'click bait' move. But I also do not mind it as a tag. If it's applicable to the content.

This is because the comic in question is under the romance label, which is almost it's own storytelling beast with it's own genres, couplings and kinks. It's a whole new mess. People who go through the romance sections specifically look for the type of romance they are interested in and the labels are more acceptable. They always have been, it generally where these labels originated and drifted off eventually showing up on comics outside the romance genre. This even more true if you're looking for COUGH COUGH smut.

If you're looking for BDSM you're gonna be looking for series tagged with that, same goes for other tags such as BL or GL. Romance readers are not looking for LGBT+ content in general they're looking for a specific type of relationship they want to right now feed off of, it's why you get those weird as heck 'shipping names' in fandoms. They're tags and labels to find a very specific type of relationship that the fan would like to find content of (and this goes for people looking for romances about straight couples as well)

So my thoughts on the BL tag, they're complicated, clearly. My thoughts on BL content even more so because I do not like fetishism of a lifestyle, which is what a lot of comics under the BL title like to do (not all of them, but very large and unfortunate amount) so I tend to avoid the BL tag. Which does not mean I don't like LGBT+ content. I do, I look for it, I LIKE finding stories I can relate to on that kind of level. I just do not like the horrible 'looks at the hot guys fuck because it's HOT' content.

[punkarsenic]

i think i'd far prefer an 'lgbt' tag on the icon, or sometimes ive seen a small strip with the rainbow flag - thats nice.

the 'bl' tag has a specific connotation with straight yaoi fangirls and fetishisation of mlm. so, when i see that tag, im instantly skeeved - i'd check the author, reassured if they're a boy, and so likely creating a 'bl' comic from the perspective of being a mlm themself - if theyre a girl, especially a straight girl, id avoid the comic entirely tbh.

and like, besides that, i just find that most of the 'bl' comics are corny and fall into too many bad 'yaoi' tropes - yknow, like ones smaller and more feminine and crying for some reason, while the other comes onto him in an assertive and masculine way. ugh.

[punkarsenic]

upsetting homophobes is just an extra bonus to not using the 'bl' label lol

[indagold]

I literally do not see the point of "BL" "Yaoi" "GL" "LGBT" in the description. I feel it literally wrecks what could be representing a possible good story and turns it into some pandering attempt to get views and diversity points. Not to mention BL/yaoi is notorious to be stereotyped schlock. I think if you want a comic to stand alone and be recognized you want the story to be what compels the reader, not because there's minority groups in there. Hell just write in the description something like "this is a romantic comic about greg and steve". It's at least more modest.

[UrMom]

More serious creators use a 'lgbt+' over 'bl' because socially 'bl' is associated with negative connotations similar to the term 'yaoi'. That being romanticized rape, assault, emotional/physical abuse, and heteronormative stereotypes. People who want to be taken more seriously, and break away from those connotations go for the first, assuming they are making a story that has romance between characters of the same gender. There is also the fact that some creators are starting to make stories featuring characters within the lgbt+ community, but don't show any romance. As well as stories showing same gender romance, but feature more than just gay or cis-gendered characters, so they may not feel comfortable labeling their story as just 'bl'.
Even though there are gay romance comics that do use the 'lgbt+' label, most of the time it is used when a story can have romance but doesn't have it as the main focus. Overall, people use 'lgbt+' to show they want to make a more respectable representations of lgbt+ people, while detering readers who don't want to see those kinds of characters.

[joannekwan]

Totally agree with @indagold!

There are m|m relationships in most of my series right now coincidentally, with one of them actually being the subject of the story. However I will never put the BL label on the thumbnail (unless it was a joke or something) because it will cheapen it. And anyone clicking on the series has fair warning that it features a m|m relationship. It's in the description, it's categorized in romance, and the two male leads are featured prominently on the second page. And there's no beating around the bush about it either, these two guys make it known they're attracted to each other in the first few pages.

I've gotten a couple of subscribers to the romance in question who have told me they don't usually like m|m subjects but I got them interested in my story and kept them interested with my art and writing. And that makes me very very happy. Because if I get people to see my characters as people, and not some dumb trope or stereotype, then I'm doing my job.

I'll admit that I often go about the Fresh section and click on anything with the BL tag just to see how trash it is. Sometimes I'm proven wrong, to my relief, but a lot of times my suspicions are confirmed to my dismay.

[NickRowler]

OK, I am going to say this...when I see BL in a thumbnail, it makes me not want to read the comic. Mostly because most of the time, it's a story which appeals to yaoi fans, so it is filled with anime tropes, pretty boys, and no one ever talks or acts naturally...plus sometimes the unnecessary smut.

And I guess if you are a yaoi fan, this would benefit you but honestly I want a story with gay characters which is treated maturely and I am not talking about adding emo kids or sex, I'm talking about having a story which is written by a mature person and not a crazy immature fanatic.

[spadesart]

tbqh so what if some homophobe gets mad that they like a comic that just HAPPENS to have gay character(s)? it's not the writer's problem. i don't think it's something that should be used as a warning, kinda has that whole "BEING GAY IS BAD AND EVIL!!1!!!1" connotation to it.

[Mikayi]

I think the tag used for both. I use it content warning the. Further it in the description because I have a character that cross-dresses in one and often had people very confused asking me that I should have labeled it as such. I've been basically scolded for not having the 'warning' So I basically learned my lesson the hard way. although I understand that people use it for gaining an audience.

when seeing LGBT on a tag, I think more reality based relationships. when I see BL or GL I think more or less fantasy or fictional based.

As for content. I don't have a problem with the type of relationships as long as I like how the story is played out. But I find that a lot of comics BL labeled run in the same line of the same plot. so I admit it does get kind of mundane after a while. so I don't have many BL comics in my reading list.

I think ever Genre regardless of the type from cute relationships to 'crazy' ones do exist. to ones that people do not approve of, but there is always an audience for it. Not all BL is Yaoi and I do know that, so I give them a chance. normally someone will write "yaoi" on the description to let someone know it will exist in there.
Just like Yuri and Hentai there will always be comics stories from one end of the spectrum to the other.

[kristintipping7]

I don't really get the hate for this trend. I mean, I assume it's an extension of hate for the BL genre at large, which, ok fine. Labeling the thumbnails just seems like good marketing to me, though. It's a more honest version of the way book covers use coded imagery to target certain audiences.
BL is it's own genre within the wider spheres of LGBT+ comics and Romance comics. It has it's own tropes and conventions, a lot of which are real fucked up and can be very off putting to some some readers. Even if a reader is on board with the broad premise of two boys falling in love, they may not like BL.
When I see a thumbnail that has BL on it, I expect the comic behind it to be a romance about two boys/men that focuses on the individual relationship between the two characters over broader LGBT+ issues. Also, it's probably going to be super fluffy and/or trashy and likely deeply problematic on a number of levels. When I see a comic labeled LGBT+ I tend to expect something with a wider range of different types of LGBT+ characters, more attention paid to social issues, and less focus on romance (or at least a more down to earth approach to it). They are two different genre's in my eyes.
So I guess to answer your question, yes, all of those things. A "BL" thumbnail is a way of signaling to BL audiences that "Yes, this is the smut you're looking for" while also letting readers who aren't into that know not to wast their time with it. LGBT+ is a more respectable progressive label that encompasses a wider range of comics, but not every comic is trying to be respectable or progressive. Some of them just want to be horny trashy nonsense, and hey, that's what a lot of readers are looking for, even if it's just as a guilty pleasure.
The only way labeling comics like this is a problem is if the content of the comic doesn't match the way it's being marketed. That's up to the individual creators, though. I'm kinda partial to the fluffy BL stuff tbh, but I get really upset when I click on a fluffy looking thumbnail and the comic turns out to be about some really awful abusive/rapey relationship. At least there's usually content warnings on those now.

[Caelestie]

just letting you know yuri is usually not on the same caliber as yaoi or Hentai. I mean in yuri it is rare it goes Nsfw.

[Mikayi]

I know most yuri isn't, but it didn't mean it didn't exist. I've had friends show me some really way out there yuri some being pretty violent more violent then some yaoi comics
But I see what you are trying to say. And the point didn't come off like I ment it. But the meaning was in hentai has the romance and cute things same as yuri but both can go to the opposite of it.
GL and BL are normally not in the basis of hentai, yaoi or yuri.

[klei]

there was a fantasy work that includes BL but they didn't warn the viewers so it got lots of hate and homophobic comments so at times for attention and for a heads up for those who doesn't like BL.

[scullpanda]

I put it on mine because I know one it keeps away people who know they wouldn't want to read and two signals to others who like the genre that is what it is , honestly My comic is fluff and just getting started but I'm planning a realistic cutesy romance not *first lays eyes on other (omg they are so hot I must have them) sort of comic.