This week, we're batting our best and bowling for the fences as we talk about fans of that popular English sport, Cricket! Why is it so popular? Is it really as slow as they say? Stay tuned! Next week, there'll be less qq and more pew-pew when we dive into fans of StarCraft! ## Episode outline ### Fandom Facts **Origins:** Cricket is in some ways, not dissimilar from more familiar (to North Americans) sports such as baseball: > Cricket is a ... played between two teams of eleven players each on a cricket field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard-long pitch with a target called the wicket (a set of three wooden stumps topped by two bails) at each end. Each phase of play is called an innings during which one team bats, attempting to score as many runs as possible, whilst their opponents field. Depending on the type of match, the teams have one or two innings apiece and, when the first innings ends, the teams swap roles for the next innings. > > — [Wikipedia - Cricket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket) It is unclear when the sport began, but it is likely to have started around the middle of the 16th century and the first international matches took place in the second half of the 19th century (with the sport having grown globally as part of the expansion of the British Empire). Interestingly enough, the first international match took place between the United States and Canada (of all places) in 1844. **Most Active:** Unlike many recent fandoms we're explored, interest in cricket seems to be increasing! [Google Trends](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F09xp_,%2Fm%2F018jz) indicates a slow increase in interest in the sport since 2004, with a few spikes recently corresponding to the Cricket ...
What if you were listening to the latest episode in Dolby Surround 11.1 (that's right, this one goes to 11.1)!? Well, probably nothing, but we're sure someone out there would care. This week, we're talking about ~~the highest~~ super high definition displays, and unearthing why folks care so much about 4k resolution! All this in 20 minutes or less! **Sources** - Opening music, ["Diggin' til the Very End"](http://music.djcutman.com/album/volume-iv) by Dj CUTMAN used under [CC BY-NC-SA](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/) - Ending music, ["Bounty Hunter"](http://music.djcutman.com/album/volume-iv) by Dj CUTMAN used under [CC BY-NC-SA](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/) ...
[// Pregenerate link to episode ahead of time: - clicktotweet.com- sharelinkgenerator.com]: # This week, we need an expert to get to the bottom of the difference between yaoi and shonen-ai, for starters, as we dive into the world of Boys' Love fans (just in time for Anime North)! ## Where can I learn more about Sara (Feminist Fujoshi)? Sara is the writer and moderator of the blog Feminist Fujoshi on [Tumblr](http://feministfujoshi.tumblr.com/) and [WordPress](https://feministfujoshi.wordpress.com/). Sara's work on Feminist Fujoshi started on Tumblr in 2013 and she has even done some academic research on the subject! If you want to check out more of her work, you can find her on Twitter [@blusocket](twitter.com/blusocket) and soon on [Anime Feminist](https://www.animefeminist.com/)! ## Episode outline ### Fandom Facts **History and Origins:** > In English, often abbreviated BL. Written as BL or ボイズラブ in Japanese. The manga and anime genre of fictional male homosexual romance, created for a female audience. Used interchangeably with yaoi and shounen ai in English (but not in Japanese). > > — [Fanlore - Boys' Love](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Boys%27_Love) **Search Data:** Based on the search data, interest in the literary genre of ["Yaoi" is, generally, up](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F0f9s9). There was a wave of interest that appears to have started in 2011, peaked in Summer of 2015, then has been on a bit of decline ever since. It appears that Yaoi might be the general term that Google wraps up search terms under. The top 10 countries, by search volume, for Yaoi, are as follows: Thailand, Phillipines, Chile, Vietnam, Bolivia, El Salvador, Mexico, Peru, Paraguay, Russia. ### [Last Episode's](http://fanthropological.com/e/#-name) Famous Last Words **Z** Did this genre emerge simply because folks saw these elements in other stories and wanted to make a quick buck? Or was it about expressing themselves? **T** How much BL is sports ...