Idk

This particular aspect of it makes my skin crawl

I mean is it bad? it's just shipping 2 men? or you mean shipping 2 real people?

I feel like the term is beeing used not just for people that ship two guys together, but more as a term for someone who fetishize gay relationships which can be harmful for the community. It shows that its ok to objectify the lgbtqia+ community. But the community is not just for straight peoples entertainment and should be treated with respect.

I of course i don't mean that everyone who ships male characters together are objectifying the community and harming it, getting lgbtqia+ media mainstream is really important, but it should be treated with respect and not just seen as fulfilling a straight woman's need to see dudes get it on with each other.

I'd have to say shipping two people in general but also shipping two men that may or may not even be gay. It can ruin relationships and self esteem because you then they start thinking "is that how others see me?" And then start to distance or mask urself in general or around the other person no matter the sexuality

Had this happen to me with someone I was interested in of the same sex and it took a toll on me, someone who just had found out my sexually and was dealing a lot with self image. Short story but this also had happened to my friends who were a mlm couple with our other friends who were women in the friend group. They always harassed them asking them to do stuff together like kissing etc in public. They never had any alone time coz they were literally followed EVERYWHERE LOL. On the stairs, to classes, lunch break, like damn, they even made it difficult for me, an outsider to just walk to my class or anywhere around them because of it. Aways screaming and even took out their phones to record them together like they were celebrities. Like I get it (I don't), but it seriously is damaging in the long run if not at first no matter what the position is. I think they genuinely couldn't take it anymore coz they broke up shortly after. So yes, truly

Idek why that was a question that anyone seriously has to ask

Sorry for the long comment

Second that. I'm fine with the culture as long as it stays in the fantasy world but when you see characters like these on a BL it really makes it feel creepy at times

Oh yeah definitely, though some people can't help but believe the damaging stereotypes they see in fiction and try bringing it to reality, because this fiction is sadly the only "reality" they know of them, which is ..porn. (doesn't stand for everyone btw) So when they meet actual gay people if they're not educated, it just gets messy and most of the time ends up in them being confused or wanting a restraining order (joking)

But sense forever people shipped straight couples even I did as a kid so now if this is part of the LGBTQ it's bad? again talking about fictional characters

It's not a bad thing to ship characters it's just creepy when you get fixated on shipping real people

That goes for non LGBT characters too like what happened at some point with Jaiden and odd one's out shippers (Jaiden is ace but you get my point)

mlm ships are too common and hyped in some asian countries. fun fact i once went to my best friend's house(hes a dude) and his gf and his cousins were also there. so among the five cousins, there was only one girl, and she was like hella pretty and is a professional model as well, so yk extremely charming. She was talking with me and suddenly asked if i read BL on a whim and i said yes ofc. Ofc she got excited and we started talking about what we read and stuff. But then she suddenly said "Doesnt [best friend] and one of his cousins look cute together?". Literally i was shocked. She kept insisting they would look good together and how my best friend would be a good bottom and stuff, all while his gf was sitting awkwardly next to us not understanding a word(she has 0 idea about bl). Tbh i was charmed by the cousin at first, but that comment literally made me so disgusted, like how could you ship your two cousins together all while one of their girlfriend is right next to you??

If it's fictional characters it's fine. They are fictional. Although there is definitely a line and when it's okay to do so and not (when people take it a step farther and start harassing the VA actors etc) then it can start getting a little out of hand

Exactly my point. This is when it becomes extremely disturbing and creepy. There are many people who don't care about incest, pedophilia, abuse etc when it comes to shipping especially MLM. And that doesn't just count for fiction. I've seen it too and what's not even surprising is I've met self bl readers that are extremely homophobic irl to the point of showing up right disgust and hate when mentioned irl mlm and wlw couples. It is embarrassingly sad

Another incident just happened recently (not shipping but a similar obsession) there is a famous ice skater I'm sure you may have heard of who is conventionally good looking and people have obsessed over him on social media, and because of this he apparently got a divorce with his wife (who I think he even has kids with ? I'm not sure) because of the harassment she received just being with him

Being the object of an obsession is SCARY. Especially when in the public eye. This is why I don't condone shipping with irl people and that counts even for public figures, at least for me. Because you know they are bound to get hella harassment, death threats, doxxing, etc the minute they find an actual significant other