Unraveling Clues in Everyday Settings
This collection features short BL stories that are incomplete narrative fragments, each a window into a moment caught mid-action or a page torn from a larger story. Their partial nature is an intentional invitation, prompting your imagination to construct the full narrative, both what precedes and what will follow.
This project is part of an experimental program that explores the intersection of human creativity, interdisciplinary arts, and applied artificial intelligence research. It investigates how digital tools can act as partners in the writing process, shaping new forms of storytelling, scriptwriting, and enhancing digital literacy skills and workflows, all fueled by a deep love for BL stories.
Today’s selection explores genres such as the intriguing complexities of Mystery/Detective BL and Modern Office BL, alongside the relatable backdrops of Contemporary Campus BL and Slice of Life BL. Authors Jamie F. Bell and Leaf Richards are featured in this distinctive collection.
We encourage you to engage with these short BL stories, not just as a reader, but as a co-creator, completing the narrative within the rich landscape of your own thoughts.
Today’s BL Short Stories
The Alley’s Murmur
Author: Jamie F. Bell | Category: Journalistic | Genre: Mystery/Detective BL
Finn, an aspiring journalist, navigates the chaotic periphery of a brutal crime scene in a grimy urban alley. He’s trying to gather information, feeling out of his depth, when he draws the attention of Detective Asher, a calm, observant figure amidst the disarray.
Frozen Breath and Mergers
Author: Jamie F. Bell | Category: Coming-of-Age | Genre: Modern Office BL
A wind-scoured city park in the dead of winter, surrounded by looming corporate skyscrapers. Two teenage interns seek refuge from their offices, finding themselves isolated together on a frosted bench.
The Ghost in the Code
Author: Leaf Richards | Category: Espionage / Spy Fiction | Genre: Contemporary Campus BL
Kakeru sits alone in his dorm room, surrounded by the detritus of a student life he barely participates in. He reflects on his past, his connection with Asahi, and the now-defunct ‘Northwood Exposé’ news site, before a routine check of the old server reveals an unexpected, encrypted folder.
Hide Your Bruises
Category: Espionage / Spy Fiction | Genre: Modern Office BL
A quiet, dimly lit records room in a junior intelligence training facility during a heavy spring rainstorm.
Just Breathe, Idiot.
Author: Jamie F. Bell | Category: Slice of Life | Genre: Slice of Life BL
In the cramped, dusty backstage of a regional theater, moments before a career-defining performance, Hana succumbs to a crushing panic attack. The air is thick with the smell of old wood, sweat, and cheap stage makeup, as Jin, his usually detached manager, abandons his headset to confront the raw, overwhelming fear. Autumn chill seeps through a cracked window, a stark contrast to the boiling anxiety in the room.
Storytelling and the Arts, Skills Development and Digital Transformation
AI-Assisted Scriptwriting: Our project explores AI’s role in crafting intricate plots and red herrings for Mystery/Detective BL, ensuring suspense and satisfying resolutions. For Modern Office BL and Contemporary Campus BL, AI assists in generating realistic dialogue and environments, capturing the nuances of professional and academic life, respectively. In Slice of Life BL, it helps create authentic daily interactions and character moments, demonstrating AI’s ability to handle genre-specific challenges from complex plotting to subtle character development in scriptwriting.
Talent Development and Training: The creation of these specific case studies highlights the evolving skill set required for creative professionals, particularly in digital literacy and the effective management of AI tools. It demonstrates how integrating AI into the writing process for diverse genres prepares individuals for the future of digital publishing and film production workflows, where the ability to leverage AI for narrative generation and refinement will be a key competency for sustained innovation.
We’re excited to learn about these new technologies and how they can be applied to expand the boundaries of human storytelling. We encourage you to keep reading, keep imagining, and keep exploring the incredible potential that opens up when creativity meets technology.
BL Stories. Unbound
By design, these short BL story chapters have no definitive beginning and no end. Many of the resulting BL stories—exploring intimacy, deep commitment, and the gravity of desire—are fictional, but many others are not. They are evocative story snapshots from worlds that never fully exist, designed to engage you, the reader, and invite you to imagine the profound connection that comes before and what happens next in these boundary-pushing narratives. We had fun exploring this creative research project, and we hope you will enjoy this unique experience in digital literature.
The BL Stories. Unbound collection is an interdisciplinary arts and narrative storytelling experiment. It is part of a creative arts and research program by The Arts Incubator Winnipeg and the Art Borups Corners collectives. This project focuses on two key areas: AI-Assisted Scriptwriting, exploring AI for generating ideas, plot structures, and alternative story arcs; and Talent Development and Training, studying the skills and training needs for creative professionals managing AI and immersive technologies to inform future training curricula. Funding and support were generously provided by the Ontario Arts Council Multi and Inter-Arts Projects program and the Government of Ontario. We thank them for supporting the arts, digital transformation, and applied Artificial Intelligence (AI) research for northern innovation in Ontario.
