I see a lot of people talking about how TSHD isn’t a BL (and you’re all absolutely right and should say it. The author themselves is very passionate about this) but in the same breath say that’s why they can’t ever kiss. And while for Yoshikaru specifically I couldn’t care less if they actually kiss or not, cause they don’t care about that either, I do think it’s important to remember a display of queer affection doesn’t automatically make something a BL.
BL is a whole specific gay romance genre. Straight couples kiss in genres outside of romance all the time, and that doesn’t automatically change the nature of whatever series it is. It doesn’t override the overarching themes or plot. Saying any affectionate interaction between males changes the entire genre of a story feels very limiting, or restrictive.
“You can have gay characters outside of romance but they can never ever act on being gay without the whole story being shoved into the dedicated gay box” see what I mean?
Also it’s just dishonest to say it would change the genre if that happened between Yoshiki and Hikaru. There have been (admittedly few) queer characters that share kisses and affection, outside of BL. In No.6, Nezumi and Shion kissed twice (three times, as of the new novels), and are regularly are physically affectionate in other ways. That series is not and has never been a BL, even if the internet has mislabeled it as one. They are involved but it is not the focus of the story at all. Even Yuri On Ice isn’t a BL, and not only have they kissed and cuddled on screen, but they got engaged(promise ringed? Idk). Either way it didn’t change the actual genre, only changed how the internet categorizes them. Ironically
Queer people can and should be involved, kiss, and even fuck in media without it immediately being shoved into some dedicated “gay genre”. I honestly wish more of them would. Because again straight couples are so normalized comparatively that even multiple explicit sex scenes in non-romance doesn’t ever make anyone think a show should be labeled differently. People only think like that when it’s between a gay couple. and I really hate it !!!
I’ll be clear I don’t think Yoshikaru would kiss/get involved anyway because of how the story is written, so this is less about them, and more just the general “gay=BL” stuff that comes up so often regarding them. But, even if they did, it wouldn’t change much about the themes or characters at all honestly. a kiss doesn’t automatically make a pair “traditionally dating” and it definitely doesn’t magically make someone not ace. If it did, I wouldn’t be. But that’s not how it works lol.
Queer people aren’t one-note and showing affection shouldn’t be some kind of hard line that needs to be danced around. We shouldn’t be so concerned about what specific requirements there are for specific labels. The label obsession is honestly exhausting.
It makes me miss the way No.6 handles queer characters tbh because nothing ever felt like some taboo or big moment at all, it just felt natural for them, and we moved on with the story. They aren’t romantic and they aren’t platonic but we don’t stress on it. They just exist as they are, comfortably. I think that’s an ideal way of writing queerness. or honestly, any type of human interaction.
