TROD AU doodles. Spring is coming aka Narinder has game era. Or at the very least the slow burn is actually starting to burn. Scenes for later (probably)
grace, who has been alone for five minutes: oh my god. an alien! im not alone anymore! i hope he wants to be friends :)
rocky, coming up on 50 years of solitude, imprinting on grace in ways baby ducklings can only dream of: if you leave me to sleep where i can't watch your heart beat i am blowing up this tunnel with us both in it
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I am so utterly fascinated by “Saki”, the 18-year-running mahjong manga in which you, the reader, become gradually, frog-boilingly aware (over the course of nearly two decades’ worth of mahjong tournaments) that none of these girls are wearing underwear and most of their boobs are slowly expanding.
I need you to understand that I have, like, an anthropological level fascination with this comic. From the perspective of someone who is also a comic artist and writer, two things delight me about it:
the fact that I understand completely how an artist gets from “the fans can have a little hint of skirted asscheek” to “the pussy is completely out on center page” over the course of 18 years; and
the way in which the pussy being out is treated by the characters and diegesis as being utterly unremarkable.
Okay. Point 1. The frog-boiling.
Let me put this in perspective for you. There was already a meme about how the characters in “Saki” don’t wear underwear when I was in middle school. I am thirty now. Okay? And it’s still going.
In the time since, this has stopped being a joke. It is now indisputable canon. This is not because anyone outright says it at any point. It’s because the underwear ran out of places to hide. I’m obsessed with this thought: somewhere in the over 20 volumes of “Saki”, there is a panel in which underwear was objectively deconfirmed. And it would be so hard to figure out where that panel actually is. Maybe the artist didn’t even realize it when she drew it! The frog? Boiling!!
And of course there is also the breast expansion. I don’t know how to put a spin on this. They are just expanding. Like, this happens a lot with artists: you define a character as being, in your mind, “the one with the big boobs”, and over the years you emphasize that trait further and further so that the signal doesn’t get lost in the noise. It’s just that normally—in like a wildly popular manga series about mahjong published by literally Square Enix, for example—normally there would be a point at which the boobs stopped getting bigger. Like, an editor would step in or something. Or you would get to the point where you cannot draw the character in the same panel as her mahjong tiles without her breasts spilling over the tiles, and you’d go, “Well, this is now untenable.”
That did not happen. There is no ceiling. The frog is soup.
Point 2. The complete and utter mundanity of all of this.
It’s like this, okay: there’s no shortage of trashy ecchi manga out there. There’s a million other comics doing wildly bawdier things with wildly more improbable bishoujos.
The vibe with “Saki” is different.
It’s hard to explain this, but it feels like the world of the comic is fundamentally uninterested in the fanservice happening on the page. I cannot describe it as “leering”, because I cannot conceive of a person in the story from whose point of view one would leer. I think the artist is probably into it—I can’t imagine anyone is making her do this—but “Saki” the comic has no opinion on the matter.
There are essentially no male characters in “Saki”. Like, there was one guy? Kind of? At the very beginning? But he is gone now. They put him back in the toybox. He does not exist. It appears to be some level of canonical that in the world of “Saki”, almost all humans are women. Those women are sometimes romantically into each other. According to comments the artist has made on Twitter (which I cannot source), they have lesbian baby technology, so it’s no problem. It’s so much not a problem that the story is about mahjong, instead of any of that.
So, like, the fiction here appears to be this: this is the, like, meta-narrative of the fanservice of “Saki”, right: it’s just normal that they don’t wear underwear and their boobs are arbitrarily big. It’s been normal. It was normal before the story of the manga began. It’s just how things are. Nobody bats an eye about it, and if they do, it’s in sort of a lesbian kind of way so like what’s the problem, we love lesbians here. This is literally normal for girls.
The fanservice simply diffuses into this all-encompassing aura of disembodied, ambient sluttiness. The framing of the panels demands you acknowledge it, and the story demands you already be over it, because it’s mahjong time now, and we’re playing mahjong.
Do you get??? why I’m so fascinated??? Are you not a little enraptured???
Anyway, I have no idea how to end this weird post. I guess the conclusion is that women stay winning????
I have so many questions... How does one SUSPECT a manga character isn't wearing underwear? Like, sure, boobs are front and center amd you can see them get bigger panel by panel but how does this work for panties? Are there just that many upskirt shots?
Also how do you keep a manga about Mahjong going for 18 years, what??
"Hey, everyone, welcome back. Our first box today is a Uline nine by five by four. Single piece of clear shipping tape over the top, two inch, and the UPS label nicely centered. No edge tape, and you know, that's fine. This box is pretty light, I'd say under a pound, and taped edges don't really add much stability here. Let's open it up and see what we've got for dunnage...okay, half-inch bubble wrap, that's unusual in a box of this size."
Sometimes a post throws into perspective just how much niche knowledge you possess.
I read this, and I can tell from the “review” that the package was NOT shipped by a professional.
One: two inch tape. Professional establishments use three inch. It’s MUCH easier to seal boxes with, especially around the edges. Two inch is what you can buy from office depot or lowe’s. It’s fine for moving house, but it’s definitely not professional grade.
Two: no edge tape. Just seal your edges, people. UPS basically plays soccer with your packages. Even the light ones, just on principal, give them the structural support you can offer.
Three: centered label. Looks pretty on a package, sure, but it makes it very likely that the label will be covered up when the box is sitting in a stack or a pile, and that increases the chance that it will be manhandled to get to that label or even potentially mis-scanned or missed altogether in a stack. Label the SIDE of the box if at all possible! And put it to the side if you can’t! Visibility!
Also, the reviewer may be accustomed to getting a lot of boxes, but I don’t think they were a professional shipper, either. Someone who has shipped too many boxes would comment on whether the box was new or reused, whether there was any special hazmat (mostly lithium-ion battery) labeling, the condition of the package post shipping, and whether or not the weight of the package matched the stated weight on the label. AND they’d have commented on the two-inch packing tape.
I don't know what to say other than "your experiences are not universal," because I do shipping and receiving at a machine shop for a living, I see packages sent by professional shippers all the time, and I disagree with you on just about every point.
One: two inch tape. Professional establishments use three inch.
Nope. For packages I see, two inch packing tape is the norm. Today I had one package with three-inch water-activated reinforced paper tape and one (from Uline) with 2.75" packing tape. Everything else used 2" packing tape. Yes, it's exactly the same kind of stuff that you can get at Office Depot or Lowe's, and people use it because it gets the job done.
Two: no edge tape.
Not uncommon for small, light packages. I just don't see box failures on packages under a pound where more tape would have helped. Where I do see failures is overloaded boxes, thirty pounds and up, where the corrugate simply ripped, and no amount of tape would have saved the package.
PSA: please don't fill an 8x8x6 single-wall box with machine screws and expect it to arrive intact. Fastenal, I'm looking at you.
Three: centered label.
Label on top is standard. I had only one box today with the label on the side, and all the rest on top.
Looks pretty on a package, sure, but it makes it very likely that the label will be covered up when the box is sitting in a stack or a pile, and that increases the chance that it will be manhandled
Your package will get manhandled, regardless of where you put the label. Plan on it.
to get to that label or even potentially mis-scanned or missed altogether in a stack. Label the SIDE of the box if at all possible!
Heck no! I expect labels to be on top and that's the first place I look for them. If it's on the side, that's potentially four other places I have to look, which is a pain in the ass when I'm busy. And I'm always busy.
UPS, incidentally, says you should put the label on the largest surface. For the packages I get, that's usually the top.
Someone who has shipped too many boxes would comment on whether the box was new or reused,
Okay, that's legit. I do see a fair number of reused boxes.
whether there was any special hazmat (mostly lithium-ion battery) labeling
Hazmats aren't common enough to mention it every time when there isn't one present. (My hazmats are usually solvents or paint, and that's not something I get every day.)
the condition of the package post shipping
Not usually noteworthy. My internal monolog (which is what the above fanciful review is based on) doesn't bother to mention it unless something unusual happened to the box.
whether or not the weight of the package matched the stated weight on the label
Although I ship just as many packages as I receive, if not more, it never would have occurred to me to check. And I don't have a scale in the receiving department, so it would be guesswork anyway.
AND they’d have commented on the two-inch packing tape.
Which everyone uses. There's not much need to comment when it's far and away the most common type of tape.
Perhaps things have been different for you, but this is how it is in the manufacturing industry.
Lance would turn for keith, because despite everything he can't look away from keith, from who he is and what he means to Lance.
In another life, Lance would walk forward. Because he wants the simple life, and well, whatever can he do? He's not a coward, or so he tells himself. Just cautious, and now knows better. But he won't stop aching, searching, thinking about turning, but not taking that shaky step forward.
Keith would turn for Lance, because who is a man without his world. What has Keith ever been without Lance but lonely and lost.
In another life, Keith would not hesitate at the crossroads. Moving forward, never turning back no matter how much he longs to hold Lance. He'll do it for the mission, and because he cannot lose Lance, and if this is how he keeps him, he will not give in to such selfish wishes. He will love, but he will not let that love ruin.
I made this series to share clear, no-BS info about abortion in a way that feels kind and easy to understand. Each post starts with a simple “Did you know?” fact — covering everything from how long a first-trimester procedure takes, to what recovery can look like, to the reminder that all kinds of people (not just women) have abortions. I wanted the tone to feel approachable and nonjudgmental, so I used soft, pastel rainbow colors and a clean layout to keep things gentle but informative.
[ID: A series of informational slides with alternating simple images of long-haired and short-haired people in a variety of skin tones pointing to the text. They read:
"Did You Know? You can have an abortion at home with about 5 pills? Medication abortion is safe, effective, and FDA-approved.
Did You Know? It's actually easy to get pregnant again after an abortion? birth control options can be discussed at your visit - but the choice is always yours.
Did You Know? A first-trimester abortion takes about 5 minutes? It uses gentle suction to empty your uterus.
Did You Know? Sedation options can range from local to general anesthesia? You can choose what feels right for you.
Did You Know? Cramping and bleeding can last up to 6 weeks after an abortion? Or not at all - everyone's body is different.
Did You Know? Women aren't the only people who have abortions? Trans men, nonbinary people, and other gender-diverse folks can become pregnant and need abortion care, too.
Did You Know? Reproductive health info should be easy to find. Learn more at prochoice.org" /id]
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