Would you label a webcomic containing a gay couple as "BL"?

[eishiya]

In short: If the gay romance is the focus of your comic and you're writing the comic primarily for a female audience, you can label it as BL. If no, then it's not BL and should not be labelled as such.

Whether BL comics should have "BL" on their banner is a discussion for another topic, as is the discussion of common BL cliches, etc. Moreover, it's a discussion that gets repeated here periodically and leads to nothing but trouble, so I think it should be dropped.

[mitchellbravo]

Ah, sorry for going on about it, then. I was just laying out what in my mind distinguishes a BL from just a comic that features a gay couple, but I can see how it might be controversial. I'll edit my post if you'd like.

[K-cho]

Whether BL comics should have "BL" on their banner is a discussion for another topic, as is the discussion of common BL cliches, etc. Moreover, it's a discussion that gets repeated here periodically and leads to nothing but trouble, so I think it should be dropped.

Yeah, potentially touchy material here. :I;;; (I hope nothing in my earlier comment strayed to much in that direction...)

So anyway, Kalma, my final thoughts on the matter are that it just depends on whatever you feel best represents your story! There are some popular comics on SJ that have gay couples in them that are labeled "BL" (or "yaoi", or whatever) and some that aren't, and no matter what you do, people who decide that your comic isn't the sort of thing they want to read will stay away on their own.

[Kalma]

Thank you all very much for your opinions. You were a great help! I hope I can upload my adventure comic soon - after I get my current Sonic one done.

I found "mitchellbravo"'s comment really interesting, as itll help me to avoid any negative BL cliche I may be tempted to draw.

Again, thanks!

[Syllva]

It's interesting to see that even though you supposedly have a gay couple...your comic descriptions in all caps you said "NO BL OR YAOI. ONLY HETERO!! Though jokes will be made." What's up with that? So does that mean they are just the token gay characters, thrown in so you feel diversified? If your hetero couples are getting their fair share of love, isn't it fair that the gay ones do to (and I'm not talking about sex)? Why can't you just say that the comic contains gays and straights, or just love, or not even mention either of those? It kind of annoyed me that you are hiding the gay characters like they are something to be ashamed of...if you even kept the gay characters in your comic, that is.

[SunshineMoonlight]

I see here in Smackjeeves people always talk about their characters' sexuality. People here make a big deal out of homosexuality, like it's something...special. Is it me or it would be better if we don't talk about it like it's special a.k.a. different a.k.a. strange a.k.a. god knows what? Is it me or it would be nicer and more supportive to relax a little and take it calmly, take it as a normal and common thing that it is.
Is it just me?

If your main storyline is not about the boy \ gay love don't write a BL warning.
I think no one should ever write BL warnings, it's ridiculouse! Is it to protect innocent haters? It's like if you have a comic about vegetables, and you know a lot of people don't like them, you write :WARNING VEGETABLES! -____-

[malcolm hex]

If the plot doesn't focus on their relationship then I don't think it would be BL

Thanks for your opinion!

Do you think people would stop reading once they find out that the main couple is actually gay?

doubt it. i've got a lesbian in murder kitty and nobody's really dropped it yet. all depends on how you play it.

if it's like the first few seasons of will and grace~yaknow where the audience knew who was gay but it wasn't a massive issue to the plot or a shipping fest, should be fine....
but if it's like th last few seasons of will and grace~where it became the heart of the show and ended up having episode after episode of nothing but whacky shipping, then maybe.

best way to deal with this kind of an issue is focus on writing the characters as people rather than making them an extension of a specific type of people. it works out better that way and conversations and events feel more organic because you're just writing them from your perspective versus over compensating from a perspective that may or may not be familiar to you....if that made sense.

[Hiei]

I think genres are such a mess these days that it's hard to find a decent label anymore. I can relate, as my comic is not all about romance, though it does contain (gay) romance. I think adding a little warning that it contains gay romance (BL/Yaoi/etc) might be wise, though.

[LuckMouse]

Oh my gawds! BL (41 fans even before it gets a second page) Personally don't write BL/GL just because just as everyone has pointed out. It is nothing more then a
way to get fans without working for it. If you are within that realm of loving someone in that manner why would you announce it? I mean let the viewers learn who they are and let them become a attached no matter what their sexuality is. Love between two people is determined on the adventures of their life; it is the deciding factor on how one will love each other in the end.

I mean unless it is an absolute sausage fest of man lust just don't do it xD *not trying to insult anyone with those words* .

in the end; it is up to you. :3

[mossi-mo]

From what I've seen putting BL on your banner just gets you fans who may not actually be interested in your story, but just interested in whether you'll throw in some fanservice. If you're worried about losing readers when your characters "come out" then that's a completely different can of worms and it's not your fault. Readers who are reading just to avoid homosexuality are not there for your story either.

Don't label it as BL unless a significant portion of the plot depends on their homosexuality. If their relationship is no big deal, don't put it in the banner. This is especially true if they don't have sex. I believe putting BL in the banner began as a warning to people who didn't want to accidentally stumble on a homosexual love fest. Now it's blown up into some sort of ridiculous thing where if there's a stray gay couple holding hands in the background it needs to be labeled. Honestly, in your case,(and several others) I don't think you need it. If you still aren't sure, imagine one of the characters in question as the opposite sex. Does this change the story dramatically? Have you suddenly lost several plot points? Would the outcome change if this relationship was heterosexual? If not then it definitely doesn't matter.

Don't worry so much about it. Unless your story revolves around the fact that they're gay, don't even mention it.

[Hiei]

>_>

I still think a warning is wise/polite. Same with gore, death, etc. I put warnings whenever there's a chance of a kind of content people may be uncomfortable with.

But I wouldn't outright put it in a banner.

[mitchellbravo]

I agree with you in the case of pornography/graphic sexual content, but I don't think homosexuality alone is something to be warned for. Maybe it makes me the jerk, I can't say, but I don't care too much about the poor, misunderstood bigots.

[eishiya]

I'm with mitchellbravo.
Things like gore, blood, and violence need warnings because they are hard-wired in our brains to repulse us, sometimes to the point of physical illness. Homosexuality is not.

If you put a warning, it shouldn't be a "BL" warning. "BL" is not a catch-all term for gay relationships in fiction, not at all. A BL warning is more of a warning about the types of relationships depicted than the sexes of the participants. If a BL comic was to be advertised in a forum of people looking specifically for gay fiction, it would still need that warning! It tells people not to expect a serious depiction of the subject matter and that the relationship is most likely not realistic. "BL" is a type of gay fiction with its own tropes and it's enjoyed largely for those tropes rather than in spite of them. Your comic desn't sound like BL.

[C_You]

Is the BL label really a warning? I call BS.

It comes a across as promotion a lot more.

Edit: I need to learn to spell.

[Hiei]

Well I'm pretty new here, so I'm not sure what the regular stuff is, but it seems there's a pretty heavy prejudice against 'BL'. I can see someone not putting it in a label/sig/etc for that reason. I suppose people might toss in that sort of label for fans, but frankly I'm not going to read something just because it has a specific kind of porn/relationship.

Of course, some people are looking for that specific kind of porn/relationship and yes, it can be helpful.

Now this is just my perspective and I'm not yet involved much in the site enough to know what goes on regularly, but I can say as your average guy who tends to prefer guys, if I walk into Barns & Noble and I'm looking for romance fiction, I'm not heading to the typical 'romance' section. I'm gonna head to the gay/les section. Hetero relations can sort of weird me out sometimes, so I would rather it be more in my field of comfort. On the same token, I usually don't read yaoi/shonen ai because I'm not a woman and it doesn't appeal to me. I don't much like feminine males in my stories. If I want something dirty then sure, I might go for some bara (to be blunt) or something more... for guys. But I'm gonna want a label -somewhere- that's telling me what I'll be getting into.

As for this BL stuff (which I assume is 'boy love') I'd probably think it was shota or something yaoi. If I see GAY MEN or HOMOSEXUAL or 'dude romance' even, I'd be more inclined.

Some people like to write romance. Some people like to write porn. Some like a more even dose of stuff with one or the other mixed in, and some don't like any of that. A label exists for a reason, either way. It gives you a perspective of what you're about to be getting into. If I pick up a DVD at the store and it says it's rating M or R or whatever due to graphic sexual scenes, I'll probably put it back, but hey, I'm glad to know it had the label to tell me. And someone else might just find that label dandy.

And maybe people write yaoi/BL/whatever purely to get fans, but so what? It's not hurting me any. I personally like more in-depth stories, but that's just me. Everyone has a preference, and every preference (just about) has a label to help us find it. People might abuse it, but that doesn't mean it isn't useful.

And that's just my long and drawn out thoughts on the subject.