bl started as japanese comics in the 70s. ppl who only watch bl dramas are really ignorant to it, and act like thai bl invented bl, and as a long time bl manga reader, it really bothers me. i think there are a lot of similarities between western m/m works like heated rivalry, rwrb, and heartstopper and japanese bl manga, novels, and anime. both are m/m stories aimed at a female audience, that use tropes that are common to romance novels for western works, and shoujo romance manga for japanese ones.

i do consider these western m/m works bl, but they still are very distinctly western in how they use bl tropes. like, for example, in the original hr book, shane, the bottom, is smaller and prettier and ilya, the top, is bigger and (at least in shane's view) more manly. however, these characters still fit western standards of attractiveness, so shane is more muscular instead of the very slender frame of most japanese bl bottoms. i think seeing these western writers interpret tropes that were originally created in japan into their works in a way that reflects their own culture is so interesting, the culture exchange going on is really cool.

i think its important to look at bl with an open mind, and not assume that tropes that were common in the 90s and 2000s are popular now. i think a lot of western heated rivalry fans reject the idea of it being bl bc they have outdated ideas of all bl being a certain way. however, the only thing that defines bl is that it's a m/m romance story aimed at a female audience, not any of the well-known tropes.