Sep 6

Entitlement in Modern BL Fandoms: Why Gen Z Can't (or Won't) Do It Themselves

Let’s get one thing straight: the entitlement in modern fandoms—especially around BL content—has gotten out of hand. You see it everywhere, especially from younger generations, demanding translations, mods, or whatever else they feel should be handed to them on a silver platter. Back in the day, if you wanted to play a BL game or read a visual novel in English, you had to roll up your sleeves, hit the forums, and find those who were dedicated enough to put in the damn work to make it accessible. Now? It’s like Gen Z doesn’t even want to learn how to download a game, let alone figure out how to mod or patch it.

Let's chat about this along with the Reddit post that has some amazing points.

The Old Guard: Paving the Way for Free

In the 2000s and early 2010s, it was the fans—mostly teens and young adults—who made things happen. You had kids learning how to mod games, create patches, and pirate files just so others could enjoy niche BL content that would never see an official English release. Forums like Aarinfantasy were treasure troves for BL games, where people ripped and shared entire patches they’d made themselves. These were community efforts, people banding together because they wanted to share the love of BL.

Hell, Dramatical Murder is a perfect example of how far people would go. There was no official English release, so the fans took it upon themselves to make it playable for English-speaking audiences. And they didn’t just translate; they modded, patched, and even taught others how to play the game on modern systems. The thing is, those old forums and blog posts are still being used today, by a whole new generation of fans who, instead of contributing, just whine about how hard it is to download the files or navigate the patches.

The Decline of DIY Fandom Culture

Look, I get it. Gen Z has grown up with convenient, user-friendly devices that do everything for you. But that’s no excuse for the computer illiteracy I’m seeing now. Back in the 2000s, people figured out how to mod games from scratch, share files, and teach others—all without the same resources we have today. Now, when it comes to preserving old BL games or keeping those translations alive, there’s a glaring lack of people stepping up to learn or contribute. Where are the new fan translators? The people who can create patches or mods for games stuck in Japanese?

It’s insane to think that some of the only playable versions of these older BL games come from files made by fans over a decade ago. And it’s all the more frustrating when you see younger fans today asking for these files but not even knowing how to download or install them. They’ll post on Reddit or Twitter, confused about the process, instead of doing some basic research. And it’s not just BL fandoms; this entitlement is everywhere. They want streams, easy downloads, and someone else to do all the hard work. It’s embarrassing.

The Future of BL Game Preservation Looks Grim

When you think about the future of BL game preservation, it doesn’t look great. If Gen Z can’t figure out how to work a forum or install a patch, what’s going to happen when more of these older games become impossible to find or play? The fans back in the day were driven, passionate, and skilled. They put in the time to preserve these games, but the new crowd? They don’t even know how to use Visual Novel Database to find games that suit their interests.

And don’t even get me started on the piracy debate. There was a time when creators and patch makers were willing to distribute their work for free, as long as people could prove they bought the game to support it. Now, people throw a fit over having to buy anything at all, and when the patch gets leaked, the modders just close up shop. Then, those same entitled fans turn around and start stealing translations for their YouTube videos, further screwing over the community that worked hard to make this content available in the first place. It’s a joke.

The Ugly Side of Entitlement and Convenience

It’s wild to see how much the landscape of fandom has changed. These days, everything has to be convenient. If it’s not, people aren’t interested. They’d rather moan about how they can’t play a game because it’s not in English, even though resources like Lunatranslator and Texthookers exist and are readily available. The information is out there, but instead of doing the work, they demand the fandom cater to their every need. It’s not that the tools aren’t there—it’s that they don’t want to use them.

And what really grinds my gears is the entitlement and disrespect. You’ll see people yelling at romance game communities for not having BL content. Like, excuse me? BL has always been niche, but there are resources out there. You just have to look. The problem is, most people don’t want to look—they just want it handed to them. And it’s exhausting. The fandom I grew up with, one full of people willing to help, teach, and share, has been overrun by folks who expect everything to be prepackaged and easy.

Final Thoughts: Stop Being Lazy, Start Learning

Honestly, I don’t know where we go from here. The entitlement is ruining everything, and it’s not just in the BL community. People want everything cheap, easy, and in their hands yesterday, but aren’t willing to put in any effort to make it happen. The few creators who are still around are over it. And unless younger fans start stepping up and learning how to mod, translate, and preserve games, a lot of this content is going to disappear for good. And that? That’s a loss we can’t afford.

It’s time to stop being lazy and start contributing. Learn how to install a patch. Figure out how to use a texthooker. Do the work. Because if you’re just sitting there waiting for someone else to do it for you, don’t be surprised when there’s nothing left for you to enjoy.

And if you want more opinion pieces like this be sure to read more of our Opinion Articles.

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