#bl spreadsheet

[fandomonium-crack]

Okay here’s a fun little facts about me. I keep track of Fake First Kisses for every BL series I watch. Obviously this is kinda based on my own opinion but my only rules are that a couple’s first real can’t be while one or both parties is drunk and that feelings must be confessed on both sides (not necessarily a blatant confession which is where things can get a little fuzzy).

The point of this is that MingJoe in My Stand-In currently have 14 FFKs which is the most of any couple in a BL I have ever watched. For Playboyy I counted total fake kisses between all the boys because that shit was way too confusing to keep track of. In total they had 34 but that is between six couples/ships. That’s only an average of 6 per ship and we’ve already almost reached half of the total number for that show with My Stand-In. With one couple. And the shows not even over yet. We haven’t even gotten their first real kiss yet.

Another interesting thing to me is the concept of “no kiss rules” like we saw in Pit Babe and are seeing in Wandee Goodday. There’s something about knowing the characters are actively sleeping with each other (very often), but yet they haven’t allowed themselves to give the other person access to this more intimate, vulnerable act. Babe tried so hard (not really 🤭) to hold onto that rule with Charlie but those boys still had 5 FFKs. I’m really interested to see if Dee can hold out or if he will also give in and let Yak kiss him before they get their heads out of their asses and realize that they like each other. I swear we get a scene every single week of them both leaning in only for Dee to remember his rule and shake himself out of his lustful haze 😔🤦🏼‍♀️.

Anyways if you’ve read the entirety of this rant, thanks for indulging me 😘

[absolutebl]

BL Streaming - Which Service is Worth Your Money?

I’m bored and I have a little extra time this morning so it’s time for ABL to play with the spreadsheet of doom. 

Occasionally I get the question: 

If I were to subscribe to only one platform for BL which should I pick? 

This post is dated May 2023. 

First things first. I am going to be (somewhat) objective about this and not judge on quality of content. Because if KinnPorsche is all you love in life, obvs you need iQIYI, but if you are a HIStory franchise stan, than it’s all about Viki. Those are your life choices, I’m just here to play numbers games, okay? 

Secondly, some shows air on multiple platforms, particularly Viki & Gaga, but sometimes it’s Gaga & YouTube, occasionally it’s even iQIYI + others. This has only started happening in the last few years. Bed Friend was on 3 different platforms (GaGa, iQIYI, YT) - even though it was originally announced for Viki! I honestly don’t know how to track this, so I tend to log the spreadsheet with my preferred watching platform for that language, this will throw the numbers off for those platforms. 

Since I join everything my platform preference choice is based on:  

the quality of the subs/captions   

the quality of the user experience  

My subs experience tends to be: 

YT = best for Thai

Viki = best for Korean and sometimes Japanese, okay for Thai

Gaga = best for Chinese and sometimes Japanese but very weak Thai subs

My user interface preference is: 

YT, Viki, Gaga in that order then everyone else with iQIYI at the bottom. This is because I watch on mobile devices. 

ASplay, WeTV, former Line, Amarin TV, Netflix and the other smaller suppliers (and apps) will all be grouped together for this assessment. Since they have so few offerings, by default I would not recommend subbing those platforms unless you are a hard stan of all BL with disposable income. 

Super bad BLs that I watched back in the day on grey sites or YT (pre 2020 crack down) because there were no other options and I am a completest are still listed as grey. I would never suggest anyone watch these shows anyway, so I don’t care if they have now shown up on legitimate sites. If they are somewhere, it’s likely Gaga. Which means Gaga’s percentage of the market share is probably UNDER reported by my numbers. 

Movies and cinema-only releases that never got international distribution fall into the “grey” category. If I got it off an indie subber, since that too is technically illegal, it falls into the grey category as well. 

Final note: This is from a USA based IP, I don’t use a VPN, so platforms assessments are from that perspective. 

Spring 2023, current state of the spreadsheet. AKA 

Our BL Data Set 

Total # of BLs = 564

# of BLs ongoing (so finished runtime is best guess) = 18 

Just Answer the Damn Question 

Round Number of Actual BLs - % of market share

YouTube = 218 - 38.6%

Gaga = 148 - 26.2% 

Viki = 77 - 13.7% 

Grey = 53 - 9.4% 

BLs I’ve never been able to find on any platform (including grey): 36 - 6.4% 

iQIYI = 14 - 2.5% 

Other platforms = 12 - 2.2% 

Margin of error: +- 1% (look I’m just not driven to be that accurate here)

Subscription Platforms Breakdown  - % of market share

Eliminating YouTube, Grey, and missing BLs. Viki is included because I do not know which of theirs are behind the paywall and which are not. 

Total subscribe-only BLs: 257 

Gaga = 59%

Viki = 30%

iQIYI = 6%

Sml sites/apps = 5%

(rounded) 

Okay but how about actual runtime? 

Gaga = 360 hrs - 44% 

Viki = 311 hrs - 38% 

iQIYI = 98 hrs - 12% 

Sml sites = 50 hrs - 6%

Anyway you cut it... on pure BL standards...

GAGAOOLALA WINS 

Other consideration? In most places Gaga is ALSO the cheapest per month option. 

Final Thoughts

YouTube (America’s Alphabet) 

YT has the most pieces of content and longest overall runtime because of all the Thai stuff. ALSO bootlegs show up there, especially the early Chinese and Japanese stuff. They will often get taken down and you have to hunt for it again. YT takedowns come in waves, every 6 months or so.

However, GMMTV, some Star Hunter, some Studio Wabi Sabi, all the Vietnamese & Pinoy stuff (until now), and a few choice bits of Strongberry are YT content.

YT’s app is the best UX of a poor set (for me), but the web based YT at Premium level doesn’t work with Firefox. I use YT for work A LOT, so the fee for Premium ($13.99) and lack of ads + downloads (travel) is worth it for me, but I think it probubly isn’t if you’re on a budget. 

GaGaOOLaLa (Taiwan’s Portico Media) 

Of the pay to play platforms, GaGa dominates with the most BLs by all metrics. If you’re intersted in darker BL, GL and other queer content, very high heat, the history of the genre, or Japanese stuff - most of that is on GaGa. Also all of Strongberry and some of the newer queerer series (like My Ride).  

At $6.99 a month it’s ALSO one of the cheapest options. 

Gaga is based out of Taiwan, the only Asian country with marriage equality (as of 2022) AND it specializes in exclusively queer content so they need our support. If you can afford them, you should support them. GaGa is the only platform that will always have more BL, guaranteed (so long as Taiwan is autonomous). Ironically, you can follow their YT channel for previews and teasers to their latest series, short content, and acquisitions. 

Their app isn’t great, but their web-based interface is fine. That said: there’s no categories (way to organize), and the way they roll out new episodes is unintuitive. Their mobile app ALWAYS pauses not mater what you actually want it to do and the lack of the quick skip ahead is frustrating. 

Viki (Japan’s Rakutan)

Viki specializes in longer series, mostly Thai, Taiwanese, and a few of the Chinese bromances. It also now has a lot of KBLs. But in general only more recent stuff (2018 is as far back as they go).

At $4.99-$11.99 depending, it’s low to average cost. I’m not sure which one (if any) you actually need for BL. Most of my favorite new shows tend to air on Viki, and I like Rakutan as a parent company, so I don’t mind supporting them. 

They happen to have 5 of my top ten BLs, which is A LOT (since I hand out 10/10 so rarely). So for me they host the objective best BL content. 

They have the second best app (after YT, it’s kinda a combo of YT + Netflix) but the lack of a speed-up option is frustrating for many. Also the desktop version is super buggy. But they DO have categories you can name and control, which I love.

Other Platforms 

iQIYI - is Mainland China based (hello Baidu, you ugly fucker), so the platform getting/pimping BL for an international audience only is… how do I put this?… oh yeah: shitty. I will often rename it Icky, for this reason. It clearly wants to break the market, but… do we want it in the market at all? How long will they host BLs? When will they be shut down and censored? I would say it’s only worth it if you really also like Chinese dramas. And even so, Viki also has A LOT of those. Unfortunately for us, Wabi Sabi seems to have cut a distribution deal with Icky. And, of course, there is the KinnPorsche situation (so ironic that Icky hosts the highest heat). The interface is a nightmare. They have the WORST app, even when you pay, it serves ads, some of which alpha crash the platform. 

Netflix - here in the states it almost never has new BL content. Sometimes some old stuff. They tested the waters with SOTUS and Love Sick. I have a feeling they aren’t particularly intersted in this market. So if BL is what you watch, don’t bother. At last check they still had Gameboys and Your Name Engraved Herein and Wish You. 

WeTV - acts like LineTV used to, has Manner of Death and We Best Love and a few of the more obscure Thai pulps. But probably not worth it for anyone but a completest. 

Grey - Unknown or No Distributor 

Indie subbers: there’s some BLs that you can watch by supporting indie subbers who supply private links to their personal versions. This is not legal, but it is a slightly nicer way to get stuff you can’t find anywhere else. I’ve done this for some Thai and Japanese stuff.

I find the leads for these sources here on Tumblr. If someone is giffing and talking about a show and I don’t know how they are getting hold of it, I simply ask.

DramaCool (USA) & Dailymotion (France) & Bilibili (China) and others - AKA the grey space. You SHOULD feel guilty using these sites, you’re stealing, but it’s where many of us go for BL we can’t find anywhere else (in defiance of what few morals we have left). These are BLs that originally sold to very odd platforms or never got international distribution. Unfortunately, some of my favorites are in this category like Great Men Academy or Seven Days. It’s a nightmare. The ads are terrible and the virus/bug risk is high. They get taken down all the time. Or the leads are faked. I use an old computer to access and suggest you take all necessary precautions yourself.

P’ABL SOAP BOX TIME

Look I work tangential to the entertainment industry, so if you thought I wasn’t going to learn you a little on this subject, you got another think coming. 

HERE’S THE THING: 

You watch a show on one of the grey platforms, ESPECIALLY if it actually has distribution on Gaga or Viki - you better review that shit. You spread the word and advocate for that content here, on MDL, on social media, with fan art, I don’t care. You steal it, you find a way to pay back in your time and/or creativity. 

I get it if you’re poor, but don’t be a goddamn scab. Find a way to reward content creators with non-monetary support. If you had the time to watch the thing you stole, you have time to pay it forward in some substantial way. Do this even if you didn’t steal it but got it for free. Do this if you read fanfic. Do this with articles, blogs, books. Do this with podcasts. 

It isn’t hard to be a decent human and support creators. Don’t you dare just TAKE. If you’re that kind of person stop reading this blog immediately. I don’t want anything to do with you and you don’t deserve my words or my spreadsheet of Doom. 

/rant 

MORE ON THIS TOPIC WITH FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS

Original post on this subject that I adapted for this post. 

(source)

[loveable-sea-lemon]

finally acknowledging that this will never be 'done' so here you go lads: spreadsheet of my favorite fanfics 😌

[simp4katsuki]

Keeping my hyperfixations inside. clamp down on them like a caged animal so they don’t know I’m completely batshit deranged

[killiru]

Very late 2022 ranking - and it's a little bit dumb

I fell into a bit of a swamp this year and that swamp is Thai BLs. So I made a little rating list of the shows I've seen in 2022 (completely) because I have an obsessive need to make Excel spreadsheets. This is all just a personal, not particularly thoughtful list, of course. I'm super curious what others' 2022 rankings would look like, though, so feel free to let me know!!

(Yeah I know its late and nearly february. Ups.)

[glamgoblin]

BL WRAPPED 2023

(for Snowy @glamgoblin )

you watched 14 bls this year. that's about 126 hours!

you primarily watched bls from Thailand. 🇹🇭

you spent way too much time thInking about these characters: Vegas (Kinnporsche), Phayu (Love in the Air), Boston (Only Friends) and Win (Between Us, UWMA).

your favorite show was Love in the Air you kept thinking about it all year.

your overall bl mood was Ooh Girlie, Have you ever even Thought About Being Okay? (No Version) .

you read the most fanfiction about VegasPete (and TimeTay) like way too much.

another of your favorites from this year was Our Dating Sim. they captivated your gay little heart.

the soundtracks you listened to the most were Color Rush and Until We Meet Again. it made you feel really normal.

your favorite acting pair was FirstKhao. there was just something so mesmerizing about them...

here's to another year!!

invite friends to share theirs: tagging (only if you want obvs) @wintercrushes @virtualbearfox @disaster-j @ella-norah and @bluesuitdaze and anyone who sees this and do it! 🫶🏻

Copy and paste version of this: here

Ty @loveable-sea-lemon for tagging me!!

[theedorksinlove]

omg yay you’ve been watching bls!!!! what have you watched so far???

YASSSS they're so good i'm having a blast !!! i saw a trusted mutual posting about kinnporsche a few weeks ago and i was bored so i went huh okay i'll give this a go and i was entertained from start to finish so then i started to have a look what else there was so now i've also watched love in the air, not me, bad buddy, and the first ep of only friends !!

[gillianthecat]

Also tonight I dealt with some fandom feelings which unexpectedly reared their head by looking up BL show popularity rankings on MDL, which then turned into entering everything into a spreadsheet.* Which I may turn into graphs and charts and lists sometime and share here. Or at least make the spreadsheet available to anyone else who wants the data in sortable form.

*twice, it turns out. First I did half of it by hand, and only then did I figure out a way to copy and paste, so I started all over again. Which was probably faster, and definitely less room for typos, although it involved a bunch of excel tricks to convert it into a useable form.

I don't know how representative of the general BL fandom MDL is, but it's for sure larger than tumblr, and also offers up actual data of some sort. My assumption is that it's primarily international fans? And probably English speaking fans are way overrepresented? Are there another places out there to get data about what's being watched/what's popular?

[clara-maybe-ontheroad]

Current to watch list

Because I've seen someone else do it and that's as good of an introduction as any :

Currently watching : GAP The Series, The Office season 2, Dark season 3, RuPaul's Drag Race season 15

Rewatching : The Untamed, Not Me, Love in the Air, Nirvana in Fire, Gilmore Girls

Movies recently watched : Babylon (3***), Tár (2**), The Banshees of Inisherin (4****), The Menu (4***)

To watch list : The Knock out (狂飙), Love Between Fairy and Devil, Derry Girls season 3, Heartstopper, Return to Dust, La plus belle pour aller danser

[clipsie]

After idk how many years, more then 10, possibly 20 this whole time, I've finally started cataloguing the manga I own... RN I catalogued all the stuff on my shelf but earlier today I photographed all the ones I have in my waterproof bin for later cataloguing and I have a bunch at my work-home.

Ugh, I forgot about the Vampire Knight set sitting beside me. That's a tomorrow problem...

[absolutebl]

I’m game, you know I love these two and anything historical. Plus seductive fruit is a must. 

At least in my life. 

I’m eyeing a nice looking pomello at the mo

The ever seductive gift of fruit.

It works, you know!

Love Upon a Time

Oh, time travel historical gay romance with fruit seduction, a mystery, a need for revenge and the original identity that he has gone back in time to help dead? Plus a disastrous modern life that keeps hurting him? Yeah, yeah, I'm here for it. @absolutebl the power of peeled fruit!

[absolutebl]

im not a spreadsheet girlie so im going purely off of vibes/fandom experience here buttt: did japan suddenly decide to release a lot more bls than last year? and if so, what do you think made them ramp up? (a particular show doing unexpectedly well, global demand?)

Japan BL growth?

Actually I think it just FEELS that way. I mean, I feel that way too.

I haven't crunched the numbers (I will at the end of the year) but here's what I mean:

We have had about 13 JBL so far this year.

Japan had 18 total BLs in 2023.

17-15 in 2022 (a couple I couldn't get hold of and a couple I just don't think are BL, so 2022 is vague).

7 in 2021. <- THAT was when the big jump occurred, 3 years ago. Which might have more to do with the pandemic than anything else.

But back to now: 13 in 2024 means they are on track for...

hold on let me amortize (P'ABL's brain spins softly)

Actually, they are currently down slightly compared to last year. They are on track to produce 17 JBLs this year.

BUT

The series they've been airing in 2024 are running longer (for them) and being aired over longer periods of time. Not to mention getting better quicker distribution.

By which I mean, Japan used to have more shorts and movies, less actual series with full run times (by their & Korea's BL industry length standard) on streaming platforms.

So I think it's JBL runtime and distribution that is experiencing growth. And the consistency of that runtime.

In other words, it feels like there are more airing because we have access to so most of them (for a change) and they're running long enough to cross into each other (which has been rare in the pats) but 2024 still may end up with around the same number of shows as 2023.

THAT SAID

It's looking like we have a pretty strong end of year for JBL, so that total might go up. BUT I doubt Japan can crack the 20 BL ceiling.

What's almost more interesting to me is...

What the hell happened to Korea?

Korea has cut drastically back. I am not sure if that's money drying up, a crack down within the industry over there, both or something else.

But Japan seems to be surging in to fill the gap.

[loveable-sea-lemon]

MY BL SPREADSHEET

hello i am coming out as incredibly neurodivergent and sharing the spreadsheet that i use to rate and keep track of bls <3

my categories

the full spread but here's the link if anyone wants to look closer

if you make silly spreadsheets or something similar ADD YOURS AND LET ME SEE IT 🫶🏻

*note: these are just my personal opinions, please don't be mean if you disagree. this is all light-hearted <3

more of my insanity: blorbo playlists

[rocketturtle4]

City of Stars is starting to drive me a little crazy…anyone else??

Okay so I have no idea how many people are watching this show but this weeks ep (#6) cemented for me that this show is intentionally playing with us, the BL audience, and our expectations of BL.

We have been presented and consistently shown mature, down to earth characters who express their emotions, communicate, help each other, mess with each other, and basically act like rational adults.

And yet this week for a full 2 minutes, I fully believed Krom had taken one look at the strange man in Fueangs bedroom and run straight back home with his mother’s caution echoing inside his head.

But he didn’t and Feaung explained and later we even got Krom being UP FRONT about his insecurities!!

I felt a bit like a new faen being put through trust exercises by my too good to be a true lover.

This was the most extreme example but it’s done it in a ton of other ways too, just in this ep we had things including

Ooops sent the wrong clip, will the friends explode and ruin the relationship

Will Feaung be mad that the friends know

Oh the parents know, now what??

Unequal understanding of the date! Now what?

You know how many of these caused explosions? NONE

Last week we had “Feungs big secret” as a driving force for concern but the show turned that on it’s head too!

And it did it by making fun of everyone being able to sing

This show is picking up the BL tropes, the BL mold and showing it to us like: THIS? This is what you’ve been dealing with in the past? And don’t get me wrong, I have a spreadsheet that just hit 165 BLs to very much prove I like the model.

But this show

This show is taking a trope and making it real,

or making fun of it,

or both.

Have I lost you?

That guitar scene at the end was a great example, Thai BL boys seem to take guitars wherever they go and pull them out at the drop of a hat. This show:

Made fun of that trope by making Fueang bad at singing

Added depth to that trope by making it a result of childhood trauma

Threw in some communication

And voila a guitar scene that was an emotional HIGH, regardless of your opinion on singing.

This show is saying TRUST ME, we aren’t going to steer you off a cliff,

(even as it laughingly might grab you by the shoulders and push-pull you at the edge just to see you panic for a moment lol)

I am having a very good time with it, I have no idea how we’re going to pan out, and given the reoccurring fakeouts I am now highly suspicious of it’s intro scene in ep 1. But I am seriously starting to trust this show. I feel like I can take my hands of the rails throw them in the air and enjoy the ride

Anyone coming?

(Don't get me wrong, the tropes are stil everywhere)

[dribs-and-drabbles]

Edited to add another, courtesy of @formayhem

The Thai Communal Wardrobe item #6

Vice Versa ep 8:

Love in the Air special ep (x):

The Warp Effect ep 3:

Only Friends ep 1:

Love in Translation ep 6:

[kishigunpla]

Charma & Charmuro - A Dive into Gundam BL Doujinshi History

Join me as I go on a deep dive into the history of Charma and Charmuro, using doujinshi as a point of reference. Featuring links to two spreadsheets with over 1000 books logged in total as I attempt to piece together a timeline of these two iconic pairings.