nah it’s fine! And thank you!

I like it for a multitude of reasons! When I first got into it when I was super young, I liked it mostly because it was something taboo. Something pornographic and non-heteronormative and in a language I didn’t understand. And part of me still likes those parts of BLas a genre.

But I also like it because the male/male aspect gives it a little extra something a hetero romance doesn’t have—the constant scrutiny of peers, the idea of overcoming this romanticized concept of adversity. Somehow I find that really appealing and endearing.

another thing I like about it is that even though both characters’ sex is ‘male’, it kind of takes the pressure off gender. You aren’t going to be bogged down with all these traditional gender roles and ideas. Sometimes the men involved are hyper-masculine, sometimes they’re a mix of both masculine and feminine traits, sometimes they’re very feminine all-around. As a woman there isn’t pressure on you to ally yourself with the female in the story—with her feelings and ideas and worries and role in the relationship—because she doesn’t exist in a traditional way. Even if the men involved are feminine, they are not women and the reader is thus separated with the pressures of ‘femaleness’ that is present in most hetero romance stories.

also just because… well… I like seeing men getting fucked.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It’s something you don’t get to see often with heterosexual romance, because unfortunately a lot of heterosexual men find the idea of being penetrated unappealing and ‘feminizing’. And as for actual gay porn and media aimed at gay men, I prefer BL over that because my personal preferences tend more toward effeminate and gentle people (whether male or female) and a lot of gay media (take bara for instance) generally portrays very masculine, buff, dudely dudes. And that’s just not my personal cup of tea so I stick with BL.

idk. Aside from those ideas stated above, I just really like it a lot for no apparent reason. I like stuff that breaks down gender norms in quiet, subtle ways and BL tends to do that for me. I can’t really explain why I feel so strongly about the genre, honestly—I just do.