Yaoi’s real meaning is that it's short form for the expression "YAma nashi, Ochi nashi, Imi nashi" that translates to "No climax, no ending, no meaning". Basically "porn without plot". So it’s definetely not how it’s used on this website or in west, normally.
And for shounen ai, it’s basically the love between an older man and a younger innocent boy, aka shota :(
So in short, yaoi and shounen ai are outdated terms, especially in Japan since these real meanings come from there and they know it, so BL is used for all boys love stories rn.
But ofc in here or twt etc. you can tell these and most of the people would understand the “with sex/ without sex” meanings so np (〜 ̄△ ̄)〜
yaoi and shounen ai are outdated terms and are very offensive to asian mlm because it was based off harmful and homophobic stereotypes thats why they said not to use it outside of here. most use bl in and outside of japan so please respect others ^__^ its ok if you still use it out of habit but be understanding when other people express their discomfort with the words (づ ̄ ³ ̄)づ
can someone explain to me what the difference is between yaoi, bl and shounen ai