Why so much salt?

This situation is very simillar to what happened on YouTube not long ago in my opinion, with the response girls whom responded to major videos, talking about the video while being all revealing their cleavage or being lowkey sexual. Why bring this up? Because of one main reason, BL, as a genre, is an easy way to rake in views much like the content of those girls. The reasoning here is that, in today's media, BL is a very popular form of story telling, two boys being all love-dovey, awkward and possibly even quite sexual. Now, to each their own, but as there is a high demand for it, people tend to abuse this genre by making series with little to know story, mostly fan-service, as well as bursting it out quickly.

Now, don't get me wrong, BL stories done right, any story done right, deserves views, however, it is for the fact that the ones with little to know effort getting the most views that's riling up the non-BL readers and writers as they feel that they've been duped or played. The algorithm prioritizes the most viewed, liked, subbed and commented for trending and popular, so a new BL that shows 2 cute guys doing cute stuff will gather quite a multitude of these things due to the demand for it, overtaking others' work in the algorithm. It's the same as the aforementioned response girls, the more people that come for the boobs, the more likes and views they get, thus shooting them up in the algorithm.

Personally, I don't like BL, to each their own, but rather than complaining about it, I've been studying them. The ones that shoot up have "BL" on their icon, indicating that it is indeed one, thus making people click it on the homepage. Not many people advertise their BL comic on the forums, so it would make sense that they might be outsourcing their viewership from possibly personal websites or Tumblr. Each episode, when clicked, showcases a very stereotypical scenario of two bishonen men doing either cutesy couple things or sexual hot stuff that would leave a BL reader all satisfied, thus garnering the like/comment/sub without really taking in consideration the lack of a real/proper story.

Compare this to a comic that took years to make and lots of effort to gather an audience, the clique of the BL will always win. It'd be fine if one didn't affect the other, again, to each their own, but it all boils down to the algorithm and how, due to their popularity, BL stories tend to be more emphasized than non-BL content.

tl;dr: The algorithm sees that people [refer overly romanticized and objectified men over other content, hence publicizes it more.

Also, shameless plugin, check out Jim's Days3 if you're into a non-BL mystery comic

Hey bulleyes. I meant to make a topic regarding something along this line of a matter but I don't want to bring up too much passive aggressiveness so I just let it slide. I have been noticing a lot of this trend recently too with people seemingly looking down on BL genre in particular. Maybe not intentionally but I definitely feel like that reading responds around the forum.

Also I don't think the matter just stay between BL creators vs not-BL creators, even among LGTB creators themselves too. I feel like LGTB creators are separated into 2 groups of people, one is just your casual BL creators and the other I will say probably is the more elitist one? The people that thing they are not doing a BL comic, but a comic that depict LGTB relationship "right" and "normal" and "better" while the other just doing it out of fetishes or doing it for the subs. Imho, BL comics are just a branch of LGTB comics, I don't get why people think it's okay to not classify their comic as such even though their comic clearly contain romantic relationship between 2 same gender characters. Sure you might be doing a better job at describing this sort of relationship, but I think you don't realize that your comic might be that small hidden gem within all the possibly bad LGTB comics out there. Denying your comic has anything to do with the genre doesn't help the genre as a whole, you are just pushing it down further on the "bad name" scale.

(Fun fact the topic I wanted to make originally named "Art thou holier than other BL creators" LMFAO But I think a lot of people might throw salt at me or be overly defensive. I know not everyone is like this, I'm just speaking up after seeing a handful of those type of responds around the forum in particular.)

It's another way to proclaim your low-key homophobia. It's the same kinda thing when your parents flip through 300 channels, land on one where an effeminate male is hosting and yell in frustration "THESE GAY PEOPLE ARE EVERYWHERE". With BL comics is more like, it's easy to boost your self-esteem by telling yourself the only reason your comic isn't the most famous comic ever because you refuse to confrom and do that trashy BL that all teen girls like. Most of the popular BL comics on this site came by smackjeeves, where they had a 3-5k viewership when SJ was in it's prime, so when those comics moved over to tapas ofc they brought some of their readership with them, giving them a boost. Anything they got after is what they deserved and honestly everyone just needs to get their sub-sticks out of their butt and either enjoy doing the comics for themselves or reconsider doing comics alltogether.

P.S as someone who has actually done in-depth comparisons and research, Het Porn is still the most lucrative genre when it comes to money.

To be fair, not every BL guarantees instant success, and not every popular comic is BL. My favorite comic in this site doesn't even have romance in it and it is HUGE19

I think that most webomics readers doesn't really want things people can commonly acquire, like mostly straight stories can be found in mainstream media, whereas in webcomics they can get something different, hence why they are more popular per se. There are also an article I found why girls like BL to get some insight, just as boys like GL2

I am not into the genre tbh, so I'd like to stay away on my own pace. But I feel like when someone is saying that if you don't like BL you're a homophobic, it's also a prejudice in itself. Some people might be into girls (GL), and some other people don't like the romance genre altogether.

On the other side, you can't also prejudice BL makers by saying they are cheap, they like making the comic, so why rob people the rights to make what they like?

All the problems can be avoided if people don't yell at others for some things, you can dislike things and stay away from it and not cause problem, but this is the internet. People's gonna say some mean things and there is nothing you can do about it (except maybe report them to the mods?). Best you can do is try not to offend other people apparently.

imo its... complicated.

on one hand, BL is a genre has large problems with homophobia (yes, really) as well as misogyny and racism and abuse romanticisation - but on the other hand its a genre predominantly consisting of girls. both are reasons people hate it, the former being justified and the latter being shitty.

BL comics do, also, get far more popular far faster than comics of higher standard, which can leave a really bitter taste in people's mouths.

i also think readers do care - if i werent a creator, id still loathe BL and its popularity over comics with healthy, fully fleshed out gay relationships or (gasp, God Forbid) lesbians. not all readers care, sure, but its not like its only comic creators that have an opinion on this.

tbh im on the anti-BL side pretty firmly - but mainly because im a lesbian and hate the way straight BL fangirls (so, most of them) treat my community.

let's face it most comic artists don't give a shit about yaoi/BL. It basically is a genre to make fun of and laugh it. It's just fap fics for chicks basically that get all the views. No it's not homophobia to hate BL... jesus christ. Stop with that. BL is swamped with millions of shit comics and having an opinion against a mediocre genre doesn't make you homophobe. I mean after all don't you people think BL is homophobic because it's just a straight women's view of gay men? Make up your minds lol

Anyway enjoy what this genre really has to offer:
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Some people can't accept the fact that BL comics are trending more and more on tapastic because they fear their work will be eclipsed if it doesn’t include a gay relationship at the core of their story.

In the end some will get use to this new trend eventually and realise that they can keep doing their thing. They should just focus on making their comic the best they can and promote their work. Audiences will come eventually.

Put a''NOT BL '' sign on your comic then see how many will confuse this as a bl and give you some views , ahahahahahah

I wouldn't say hate against bl comics is anything new. The same topics were being made over on smackjeeves during its heyday.

It doesn't bother me at all that people don't like. It's fine. But the complaints just sound immature. Confidence and a drive to write a story should be your motivators, not popularity. And it's not as if all bl creators/readers only read bl. You're chasing away potential readers by ostracizing then.

I am a lesbian, and I personally am not a big fan of the genre. Most of the time it's straight girls fetishizing gay relationships, and it's really gross. If you are going to write a comic about LGBT relationships and you are not LGBT, you should do your research. And I barely see that happen at all with these comics. Most of the time all they do is read other BL comics and manga, and those barely get it right either.

I get upset seeing these kinds of comics becoming popular because it's not good representation for the community, but it's the most popular medium.

And I know there are good ones! You don't have to rec me any lol. I know there are comics that portray gay relationships very well, but they are rare to see. As a lesbian, I don't like my sexuality to be used as a fetish. And I think a gay man would say the same :/

I have no issue with BL comics; I havent read any, but then again I havent come across one that has piqued my interest either.

My only issue with the BL hype is that you have creators with the mindset of wanting their comic to be popular, so they make their comic to be the "trend of the current moment" so they can ride that & milk it for what it's worth. In no way am I saying that BL is a "trend" but given its current surge in popularity, I cant say it isnt. To those who genuinely enjoy writing, creating, & reading BL- I appreciate what you do because I want you do be able to do it without regrets...but for those who use it to gain popularity(like the folks who craved Hunger Games/Twilight type material some years back)- stop exploiting the genre. That's not cool at all.

Preface: I am 100% in favour of LGBTQ+-spectrum characters in comics. In fact, I want more of it. I want characters on the LGBTQ+-spectrum included in everything as a matter of course, because, well, they exist, and you should be able to tell stories about them, whether it focuses on their sexuality or not, the same way you tell stories about straight cisgendered people. I draw comics with LGBTQ+-people in them, and am myself one of them (I'm on the asexual end of that spectrum)

I also read a handful of BL-comics, so the label itself doesn't scare me away.

But I do have very large reservations regarding it, and I am very critical of the "genre" (putting quotation-marks around that, because it's really a subgenre of romance at best, and more of a nebulous label).

Of course! I am not going to sit here and tell people to NOT draw comics about boys kissing other boys! But "make what you like" doesn't preclude you from justified criticism, and it shouldn't mean that you unthinkingly replicate a bunch of problematic tropes and storytelling mechanisms.

BL tends to come with a large set of accepted clichés and tropes that get included and replicated across a wide variety of stories, and a lot of those clichés and tropes are deeply troublesome. Some of them are rooted in homophobia, some of them in racism, some of them in misogyny, some of them in unthinking adoption of cultural thought-models that are not your own (a LOT of people who draw BL are not Japanese and are not familiar with the culture, even though a lot of BL-clichés were born out of a Japanese cultural context).

I don't want to shame teenage girls into not doing what they like - but those same teenage girls are also kind of shouldering in on territory they need to be careful walking on. A lot of BL-creators are straight, and are glaringly unfamiliar with gay culture in its various forms. It makes for a kind of jarring disconnect, because many BL stories aren't stories about gay men; they're stories about straight people's stereotypical idea of gay men.

So, part of the "salt" directed at BL and its creators is, as you say, whining from people who don't like seeing someone be "undeservedly" popular. Part of it is legitimate criticism of the problems the genre does have; and part of it is people on the LGBTQ+-spectrum upset at being stereotyped by straight people.

1. Dissent and critique is healthy, and consensus isn't always a good thing. If we can't be critical of something, it won't ever get better. But I do agree there is a line between critiquing something, and making personal attacks; the former is good, the latter usually isn't.
2. Some readers most definitely do care (hi!).

I'm not sure that I can add anything to the conversation. Pretty much everything's been said that can be. I read some BL, though not much, as I tend to like romances, and romcom's and there simply aren't that many on Tapas that feature a straight couple, so I have to get my fix somewhere. The ones that don't use tired tropes from Bernice Smalls or Jane Austen are non-existent.

Yes, I'm a straight man that loves to read romance. Deal with it. But, what I consider to be a great romance doesn't necessarily jive with what most people presume when they think romance. The meet cute is great and all, but the meat is in the emotional fervor and hero paradox. The ethics questions that surround relationships fascinate me. And yes, 50 Shades of Grey would have been a police procedural had the main character been poor.

And so, I may see BL differently than some, or most, I don't know. But, and this is only my half-formed opinion, it seems to me that the popularity of BL in general has to do with the very real social constraints placed on women. It's much like female singers in the west, they're allowed to be emotional, broken, and wild. Men are not allowed in the west to display their jelly-belly. I think, as a rule, in eastern cultures where sexually aggressive women are more than frowned upon, much the same is true of women. I think these cultural taboos leave great heaps of what people really are to stick out in lumps. In short, when you repress something, it doesn't go away. It comes back all crazy-like and f*cks some sh*t up.

For the most part I see BL as acting out female fantasies and desires with male characters. From this perspective, it makes sense that they're often homophobic, misogynistic, and often vehemently opposed to GL, because our culture is homophobic, misogynistic, and often vehemently opposed to GL. That, I think, both western and eastern cultures share. In fact, it's rare to find cultures that are not openly misogynistic, but that doesn't mean that humanity is naturally misogynistic. There are documented cultures, some west, some east that aren't, most notably in the pacific islands and southern China that have been studied by anthropologists. Some north american aboriginal cultures could lay claim to that title as well. Africa has been so wrought with war and colonization that it's hard to define culture outside of colonial influence. South america I simply haven't studied, but some of their myths and rituals are interesting and I might get around to it eventually.

In those cultures third genders are often normalized into the language and the concept of a polar sexuality doesn't exist. But, I digress, as I'm getting off topic.

It is not only very possible, but very likely that the target demographic is openly homophobic and misogynistic. Consider Phillis Schlafly in the US, or Marine Le Pen in France. Both women and both deeply misogynistic. There is a cultural revolution going on in the west, and I suspect, in the east. It's been going on for decades. It won't end any time soon. Because of that, I think BL is a safe outlet for desires that are deemed too risky to engage. In that way I think BL is valuable. It allows people to explore who they are without pregnancy, much like the pill did for generations prior. Only BL is safer. It's on a page. No one gets hurt. It may amplify some unhealthy choices, that's true, but I don't, and can't see it as in any way evil or deserving of contempt. There is some great art and really touching moments in BL, if one only dares look for them. And I mean art in the sense of an illustration that connects with the viewer and shares something uniquely human.

I like BL... and I think everything is good as long as people know that it is just a work a fiction, and that that's not how real life works.