It seems to me like a "is a tomato a fruit? Is a taco a sandwich?" Kind of debate. There are contexts in which it matters (say if you're the food and health department and sales or smth) and contexts in which it isn't helpful. I can see how it's categorically incorrect but for colloquial and communicative audience purposes it could be useful, the way in bookstores they put danmei, light novels etc in with the manga even if not necessarily "correct" because those buying audiences tend to overlap. shrug. Also LOL really! I know they call general gay movies and such like Call Me By Your Name BL, but for Hannibal that's amusing and fitting (I haven't watched it bc I dislike blood and creepyvibes but it seems a pillar of western modern slashdom)

LOL I feel u anon...tbh I get really annoyed in general when ppl insinuate that appreciating types of stories etc is necessarily because of a desire to be reflected in a 1-to-1 personal representation level. I think our identities and experiences, whether of gender, background, ethnicity, sexuality, etc, can definitely inform what we immediately connect with or sympathize with, and what we consider "indulgent," but it's only one factor, and the way in which it informs us is complex!

I also feel like focusing the appeal of certain BL and GL works down to just what the gender of the gay couples are feels very over simplified to me, in a way that makes me kind of sad. There's a lot of artistry that goes into these works, both the "trashy" sexy series as well as the Critically Acclaimed Serious series, the types of characters, art styles, tastes of the creators, that inform why someone may or may not like certain works or be drawn to certain pairings etc...everyone, even people into "basic" popular content, has a sense of personality and taste that informs what they desire to get out of what they read/watch/create. I think Style is a big part of what makes something feel like what it is, more than a list of tropes or character identities....I think this is what people were trying to grasp at back when people were still talking about "girl yaoi" and "boy Yuri" etc--aesthetic & cultural signifiers and artistic styles and approaches trigger our tastes I guess more than delineated lines of character gender than people would like to admit I think

I guess any oppression makes its way into ppls fetishes and kinks and taboo explorations so I wouldn't be surprised at all the world is full of degrading forces, and those forces make their way into stylistic fantasies...usually with yaoiz I think about more the terror and appeal in stories that come from the structures of homophobia/misogyny that usually are the source of the "restrictions" that bind and cause erotic repressions and struggles (and release) in characters. (Hence "in order to feel the pleasure of release you must first be Tied Up" sentiment) I guess it's not a stretch and makes sense to me that an eroticizing and exploration of transmisogyny, since it IS part of misogyny, would play a role, since well, it is prevalent in mainstream society. Idk I'm not an expert on this, I'm just spitballing here.

Like I said In the earlier ask my view of yaoi appeal is that it has to involve a dipolar dynamic between two points, and not just a singular intriguing or attractive person or character to fixate and commit things upon, but that's just me (in looking at that fujo chart of the animal-type fujos, there's a whole section for ppl fixated on a single character who dont care as much about other pairings as long as their guy gets fucked, but I would argue a "mob" is a character in its own right)

Fascinating tweet, and the reply above it. Not sure what this is "asking" but I guess I can add my thoughts. Yaoi and "femboys" tend to go together bc of the classic bishonen and cute styles, but a single femboy, in my yaoi estimation, does NOT a yaoi make imo ..there needs to be movement, a dynamic between two, a push and a pull, hence the classic Seme & Uke narrative designations. There can be a dynamic between a beautiful boy and the audience, and that is still a push and a pull, which CAN be yaoi, but imo I guess is more for the yumejos and that's not my area of experience or relation. A single "Femboy" (regarding how ppl use it for fictional characters, not self identification of irl ppl) my impressions on the internet seems to be related to a lot of more specific body shapes and youthful fashion aesthetics rather than a character or dynamic on its own.

Regarding fetishized femininity, that's definitely a part of it and a part of Yaoi, though that probably imo is just something that is part of the kink. Many het romances explore an eroticized version of restrictions and oppressive forces on female sexuality, and a lot of classic yaoi tropes basically copy those but translates them onto male uke characters, sometimes without even changing much about the gender dynamics! . Many fujos do like it for the "distancing" from ones own relationship to femininity and irl sexism, or just a way to enjoy hot tropes but with cute and young guys. Or sometimes not even necessarily with "feminine" guy characters, but putting objects of fan-love and desire into that objectification-chair to be aggressively rained on with affection that gives them that quality (the "babygirl" phenomenon)

Yes! I'm a historical RPF girlie ....Richard the Lionheart and John Lackland of England...to me, their real life history is the best because it's incredibly batshit detailed family drama that even the best fictional depictions can only pale in comparison to. Because there are SO many fictional legends and retellings, it's fun to play in that sandbox myself. I do a bunch of stuff set in the actual era (1160s-1190s) inspired by fun things I find in my research, but I also have a fun and goofy modern AU (the Burger King AU) where characters are American teens and tweens, and where royal-political war becomes mundane drama.

I like the two bc they have a big contrast in how they're perceived stereotypically --Richard is always the chivalric but distant and absent action man warrior (either that or in the latter 20th Century, Sociopathic Homosexual) and John is always the Spoiled, tyrannical child of Robin Hood villainy (straight but like, Evil Gay Villain coded) Which are very static, Cartoony images, but I like the History of who they are and how they become who they are known for, and that context comes from knowing their background, contentious relationship with their father, mother, and brothers during many periods of interpersonal interfamilial strife that was So Bitter even the contemporaries were Weirded tf out.

I could get Into It for ages hehe, but that's the simple part of it. For how it connects to the fanart on this page usually I like the dynamic of Richard having some resentment towards John for being the more sheltered and loved one but still caring for him, and John being mischievous and impetuous but still greatly admiring his older brother(s). It's a dynamic that translates to both that historical time but also to the way I think even modern day siblings feel about each other as well, esp when there's a large age gap and when they are not loved equally by their parents or people around them, but still feel a connection nonetheless...it's moe to me.