#like it's quite a big pdf

[kinocharlley]

does anyone know any software that converts pdf to jpg/png with out loosing quality and it's free? i tried a bunch of sites and softwares and either file was too big or i was loosing quality...

[seyaryminamoto]

I know I just put an ask in this morning, but do you happen to have any good Sokkla birth fic recs? I mean pregnancy is fine too but I'm lacking on actual birth scenes and the few I've seen are so sweet 😭 something about those two's personalities is so intriguing in those fics idk Sokka by Azula's side while she's in physical pain may be my weakest point when it comes to Sokkla and I'm unapologetic

Hmmm, off the top of my head, Proving you Wrong came to mind, even if that's not the core subject but I very much remember a birth scene there haha. I have a lead-up to birth but I didn't actually write the birth itself in Matching Heartbeats Chapter 2... Sorry, it's just insanely challenging to write childbirth, hahaha 🤣 There's also I'll Meet You At The Bottom? I no longer remember if it went in depth with the birth because it's been a while but some part of me thinks it did... For pregnancy there's Yeet!, Changings, and Singing Metal. If you want, you probably can find a lot I haven't had a chance to read just yet in this particular filtered search, while I can't attest to high quality every time, I'm sure you'll find plenty of good stuff there regardless!

Hope that helps and happy reading!

[intrepid-fictioneer-7]

How to read the Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Light Novels

I was recently reminded that there is a lot of people who simply don’t know that they can read the Case Files light novels, and that there are people who do know but have no idea where to find them. This is especially a problem when these people have only watched the anime and want to know where they can find more of the story. Since it kind of requires you to go through some hoops (not a whole lot but still), I decided to take a page out of @humbertozero​‘s excellent Fate/strange Fake resource post and make one for my other favorite Type-Moon Fate spinoff, the dossiers of El-Melon.

Read the First Volume: Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Vol.1 (PDF) (EPUB)

Read the Second Volume: Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Vol.2 (PDF) (EPUB)

Read the Third Volume: Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Vol.3 (PDF) (EPUB)

Read the Fourth Volume: Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Vol.4 (PDF) (EPUB1) (EPUB2)

Read the Fifth Volume: Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Vol.5 (PDF) (EPUB)

Read the Sixth Volume: Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Vol.6 (PDF) (EPUB)

Read the Seventh Volume: Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Vol.7 (PDF) (EPUB)

Read the Eighth Volume: Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Vol.8 (PDF) (EPUB)

Read the Ninth Volume: Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Vol.9 (PDF) (EPUB)

Read the Tenth Volume: Lord El-Melloi II Case Files Vol.10 (PDF) (EPUB)

Important note!

It should be noted first that I am just the compiler here. I am neither the translator nor am I the files’ creator. So all credits go to...

Credits

Credits and thanks to TwilightsCall on the Beast Lair forums (from which the majority of the other creditors originally posted their contributions) for translating the first 4 volumes and some of volume 5, thus getting the ball rolling. Further thanks to azwhoisverybored for translating the rest of the series from volume 6 onwards, and thanks to Kneenaw for starting the translation for the rest of volume 5. Thanks to Dotelias for making EPUBs for volumes 1-3, thanks to  cereal_ for making EPUBs of volume 4, thanks to u/confusedkuratowski on Reddit for making EPUB of volume 6, and thanks to ProtoformX for making PDFs and EPUBs for volumes 5 to 10 as well as for Adventures volume 1!

And big thanks to Makoto Sanda for writing Case Files in the first place!

Further explanations

Anime

The anime adaptation of Case Files, with the mouthful of a title that is Lord El-Melloi II's Case Files: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note, is particular to use as an entry-point in the series, because it only partially adapts the series. See, the author, Makoto Sanda, said in interview that the two first arcs/cases in the series didn’t quite work as scripts for anime episodes, so the anime only adapted the third case/arc, Rail Zeppelin, which is more action oriented than the more mystery focused first arcs. But because they still needed to explain stuff like Gray, Reines, El-Melloi’s students, etc., many of whom are relevant characters to the arc, the first half/six episodes of the anime is about introducing them.

So to the question “where do I start reading after the anime?”, the answer is unironically to restart at volume 1. And then you may skip volumes 4-5 since they are the Rail Zeppelin arc and there are not much differences besides some characters not being present during that arc. This is why I think you can watch the anime first if that’s more your speed (I have my problems and criticisms of the anime but that’s irrelevant to this post).

And you can’t start with the anime and start reading with volume 6, the first 3 volumes have characters and plot points that come back for the final arc, so you’re gonna be incredibly lost if you think to consume the series this way.

Weirdly enough, despite being original episodes, the anime originals are most likely canon in some ways. Episode 0, the original OVA, is an expansion of an anecdote Gray mentions in the first volume’s prologue, and Episode 1 takes place during Waver’s travels before the story starts and is an actual story, one of the 3 incidents Sanda has in mind for Waver’s journey before he returned to London. Episodes 2 to 6 take place during the one month period between volume 3 and volume 4, and finally the special OVA take place on Christmas also in between arcs.

Manga

The manga has gorgeous art, but, at the time of writing, it is unfortunately only translated up to the second case right now. Still, go check it out.

The Adventures of El-Melloi II

The sequel series currently ongoing, started a year after the first Case Files ended in 2019. You might know it as “the (other) series where Rin shows up grown up and also a pirate”. @reignsan has been compiling pretty thorough chapter-by-chapter summaries of the volumes by @kaibutsushidousha if you don’t mind being spoiled. Or you can be patient and wait for azwhoisverybored to finish translating them on Beast Lair in this thread.

At the time of writing (27/07/23), the first volume of Adventures has been completed and compiled into PDF and EPUB forms.

Lord El-Melloi II Case Files material

This is absolutely not required reading in any shape or form, those lore books are usually of interest only to dumb nerds like me lol. A timeline of the Clock Tower? An explanation of its politics? Yes please. But it also has insights into the characters by the author that aren’t in the books proper, as well as behind-the-scenes explanations for some decisions (for example, why it’s Gray with the American spelling instead of Grey with the British spelling). Only the glossary/encyclopedia is translated, but give it a look...after you read the series, because it assumes you did and has some big spoilers.

Drama CD

What’s that? You heard something about a Buzzfeed quizz about the most handsome Clock Tower teachers and how it’s somehow a plot point? Look no further than one of my only posts that did numbers. Read the summary, it’s hilarious.

[decolonize-the-left]

This sucks. These prices and these wages (and my own lack of them) doesn't fuck in the slightest.

And based on my recent posts and notes...y'all wanna strike huh?

Well since you insist on not doing it without formal organizing, can I ask if you've heard about the IWW and if you have, have you joined it?

"By age, workers ages 45 to 54 had the highest union membership rate in 2022, at 12.6 percent. Younger workers—those ages 16 to 24—had the lowest union membership rate, at 4.4 percent.

In 2022, the union membership rate for full-time workers (11.0 percent) was double than that for part- time workers (5.5 percent)."

I'll take that statistic from the BLS file on Unions as a 'probably not' since I don't have many older people following me.

Well, joining this union can provide you with all the formality and organization you'll need to get started and without compromising your say as an individual worker.

TLDR: Anyone, yes even if you're unemployed, can join as long as you have at least $6/mo and aren't a manager. No union bosses either. The idea is that it's One Big Union. Meaning it's strength lies in it's solidarity from unifying workers across All types of employment.

It's just a matter of finding your local union and they will help you with the rest.

Worried you might stand out?

In 2021, 14 million U.S. workers - or about 10.3 percent of the American workforce - were members of a union.

That's 1 in every 10 workers. And

In 2022, 16 million wage and salary workers were represented by a union[...]" (Bureau of Labor Statistics Union2.pdf).

You quite literally will be just be one of the tens of thousands joining a union everyday.

Social scientist Damon Centola's new research shows a cascade of change is triggered when 25% of a population embraces an idea.

Minority views of what is acceptable quickly become majority views. Historically, majority- rules economic thinking assumed change happened when 51% of a population wanted it. But in 1977, Harvard University's Rosabeth Moss Kanter studied tokenism in the workplace. She found that women as small minorities were subject to an oppressive culture of discrimination and harassment. But when women occupied 20%-35% of leadership roles, work culture shifted.

Centola's 2018 small-group experiments show how sensitive the tipping point is. Sometimes adding just a single person to the committed minority meant hitting 25%-and the transition from failure to success. Varying numbers of activists were planted into groups in 10 trials.

So if 10% are already unionized then we're halfway there... in a way.

Why join a union?

It's largest tool is collective bargaining, that's why organized strikes work better, it guarantees you have people supporting you. Using numbers helps enforce demands and rights be met.

We know unions work because they gave us all these things already.

So like... Yeah..

Join a union. Even if it's not IWW. Join one.

[empiropediazine]

Hello empiresblr! We're in the early stages of planning an Empires SMP themed zine focused on worldbuilding and we are doing a bit of an interest check :)

If you find that interesting please go ahead and vote on the following poll! If you're not sure what to vote for make sure to read the whole post before picking an option :>

If you wanna know more about this we will be providing more in-depth info under read more!

What's the deal with this zine?

This zine is about Empires SMP Season 1, focused on exploring and expanding the worldbuilding and lore of the series. The name, Empiropedia, is a play on words between ‘empire’ and ‘encyclopedia’- it’s not structured quite like a regular zine, instead presented as if it were an in-universe book (or books) that puts together different sources to describe the culture and history of the 12 different empires. The zine will include both illustrations and writing. Some of the things we want to include are clothes, architecture, folklore, and artifacts/cultural items!

What's the difference between the two options the poll offers?

We are currently deciding whether we want to make one (very big) zine with a set amount of pages dedicated to each empire, or if we want to make multiple zines (one at a time) with one dedicated to each empire. Both options have pro and cons listed below!

120+ pages zine:

Pros:

An overall shorter project since it would be put together all at once

More intersection between different empires (pages dedicated to discussing alliances and the like)

People participating can contribute work to multiple empires more easily

Less pdf files to download! :D

Cons:

FAR less space for each empire to shine and be explored

A pretty long read

While it will take less time overall, it will definitely take much more time and coordination to put together than one singular empire zine of the 12 zines option.

12 separate zines:

Pros:

So much space to truly explore each empire!

You can decide which zines to pick up according to what your favourite empires are

The overall project will be able to include more artists and writers

Each singular zine will take less time than the 120+ pages zine to put together

Cons:

A much bigger project that would stretch over a way longer amouth of time to get to all empires being included

A lot less cross-working between different empires

Certain empires might not get as many applications from artists, making it harder to put together a zine dedicated completely to them

Will Season 2 be included?

While we are thinking of making a similar project focused on Season 2 that's pretty far off in the future, so for now we are focusing on the current project.

How/when can I apply?

We are currently getting everything set up, and we might open mod applications before opening contributor applications, so for now we don't have a set date. All necessary information to apply (including a timeframe) will be provided as soon as we set everything up!

[genericpuff]

I finally, FINALLY found a shred of proof that Rachel depicted Persephone before 2017/Tumblr era LO.

Now does this confirm that Greek myth was, in fact, a big part of her childhood like she claims? Not entirely, considering she would have been the age I am now when she drew this, nearing her 30's. But it's more than what I've seen leading up to this where it's all been Tumblr-era-LO art. This seems to be purely for a zine that I unfortunately can't get my hands on a copy of due to it being very outdated and likely out of print (as it's a decade old now). Still, I'm tempted to reach out to the people who run the site to see if they still have any copies floating around, even if it's just a digital PDF version, otherwise, if anyone out there happens to have a copy of it (this is a LOOONG shot mind you) let me know because I'd love to see this zine in person and know what was going on in the development of it. More specifically, I wanna see if she included any sort of blurb about her choice to draw Persephone, if it was even an actual choice at all. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm deadset on Rachel having to "prove" herself, but a lot of her statements H x P seem to be quite vague for someone who calls them her "muses".

But also, besides the fact that it involves Rachel, this is the sort of media preservation that I'm really interested in! This Persephone is a far cry from the final version we'd later see in LO half a decade later, it's really interesting (although sad in some ways when we know why LO Persephone looks the way she does) to see the transition and changes in a tangible form. And again, it's really odd Rachel never mentions these works, like sure they weren't multi-million dollar hits, but they still showcase a history that pre-exists LO in a pretty monumental way, and some of these projects were incredibly collaborative with actual success behind them, including artists that went on to build their own followings and communities! It's so interesting and yet so bizarre that some of these projects are kept behind locked doors. I can get wanting to bury the more 'cringe' stuff like the medical fetish art, but why stuff like this that only stands to legitimize the claims that Rachel cares about Greek myth?

Unless... y'know, she doesn't want people to see how far her art style has fallen. But that's tinfoil for another day.

[soleilnmity]

Media - ペルソナ2 ～罪が与えし罰～ 上巻 [Eng]

Title: 罪が与えし罰 (Punishment given by Sin) Volume: 上巻 (First Volume) Written by: 南原 順 (Jun Nanbara) Illustrations by: 上田信舟 (Shinshu Ueda) Publisher: Square Enix/G-Fantasy Novels (Label) Summary: This novel focuses on Tatsuya, Maya and Ulala, Katsuya as well as Nanjo and their thoughts/actions prior to the events of Eternal Punishment. It helps link both the story of Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment together. Other characters are touched upon briefly, such as Anna Yoshizaka, Tatsuya Sudou and even Eikichi Mishina. This is the first part of two novels. The second novel can be found here

Google Drive link (Included in the folder are: The translation PDF, scans of the cover and the illustrations inside the novel in 600dpi resolution, and credit pages present in the novel) Personal Note: It took me quite some time to get this done, as I did it entirely by myself. So any error that may be found inside, please let me know! These novels are INCREDIBLY rare and stupid expensive (you might find them for over 30k yen sometimes, 12k for ONE if you're lucky). I lucked out last year and managed to obtain both for a rather cheap price (that if I mention it It'd give a heart attack to someone). At first, I wanted to wait until I could release both at the same time but it would take a lot of time, so I decided to release the first volume first (when I finish the second, I'll edit this post so both can be found together). I recently got a scanner (finally) so I can start scanning and translating all pieces of media that I own. I want to take a bit of a small break from translating big things like these and do some doujinshi scans for a little while www despite the scary count of the advertised pages (200+) the novel isn't actually that long. English isn't my first language, If you want to help in any way that'd be appreciated. If you find any typos etc please let me know. For now, I hope everyone can get to enjoy these unearthed 20+ year old novels for the first time ever.

[klaineccfanficlibrary]

Hello! Could someone help me find this fic please?

Kurt and Blaine broke up and years later they see each other in the street (in New York) I kind of remember the story went from past (mostly Blaine and his ex’s and how he never was fully happy with them) and present, and how they go from talking, to having sex and finally getting back together.

I think Blaine is with his boyfriend when he runs into Kurt and they break up shortly after because the boyfriend realizes Blaine’s not over Kurt. But I’m not too sure about that part.

Thank you!

I'm not sure of the exact fic, but did look through our reunion tag. These are reunion fics that you might consider, unless someone can identify the one you ask? ~Jen

Someone Like You by @iconicklaine

Kurt and Blaine keep up their very own version of “When Harry Met Sally” for years, a friendship fraught with sexual tension and longing, until the agendas of Adele (yes, THE Adele), a bored NY socialite and a super-sweet hetero couple bring our boys together. The only problem is… they’re both in committed relationships.

~~~~~

The One That Got Away by Catcat85

AU after the breakup scene in Season 6 Episode 1. Heartbroken and devastated after Kurt ended their relationship, Blaine changed his life completely. He quit NYADA. Enrolled at NYU and became a Pediatric Surgeon. He married Sebastian Smythe and they later have a beautiful daughter named Elena. Kurt realized he made a huge mistake by letting Blaine go. But the realization came too late. Blaine had already moved on and wanted nothing to do with Kurt. Kurt did his best to move on with his life. He graduated from NYADA and started getting cast in off Broadway productions, which led to having his big break when he was cast to be Link Larkin in Hairspray on Broadway. Since then, his career had taken off and he became a successful actor, but he couldn’t find a man he loves enough to marry. Desperate to have a family of his own, he found an egg donor and surrogate to have a baby, a boy which he named Chris. This is a story about a lost love between Kurt and Blaine, as well as a love story between Chris and Elena. No matter how hard their parents try to keep them apart, Chris and Elena find each other. Even after 25 years, the strength of their love might just be the thing to bring Kurt and Blaine back together.

~~~~~

Foundations by gentlereader

After breaking up Kurt and Blaine went their separate ways.

Blaine’s now a successful LA musician while Kurt is a high school counselor.

The creation of the Pavarotti Music Foundation was their dream… and now its a reality.

~~~~~

A Song For Cordelia by @melissamotown [PDF]  [EPUB]

Kurt never called Blaine after the break up, despite Isabelle’s advice. It was not out of spite, or because he didn’t believe she was right, but because his heart didn’t know how to forgive. Five years later, when their paths cross once more, Kurt and Blaine decides to be friends again - just friends. But where the heart goes, the man follows…

[letstalkaboutfandomsbaby]

How do you feel about pretty woman au with Nanami hehehe

Idk if this is the same person but since I've gotten TWO asks about it, I might as well write a Pretty Woman AU for Nanami 💕

CW: sex worker reader, fem reader, implied smut, kind of a slow burn

───────────────

So, I imagine it going like this: Nanami has this big event to go to for work and his coworker, Gojo, has been bugging him to get a date, and his parents have been on his ass for months about dating and finding a wife, and quite frankly Nanami is sick of it all.

What's his solution? Hire a sexworker for the week so he can go this dumb party to get Gojo off his back and go to dinner with his parents to get them off his back. Hopefully if they see you two together and he claims you're his girlfriend, they'll stop pestering him and meddling with his personal life. Killing two birds with one stone.

So, he hires you from an escort website. You're high end, "classy", pretty and negotiable, the perfect person to play the part of his girlfriend.

You two have lunch to settle the details a week beforehand. You agree to his terms—pretend to be his girlfriend for a few events, convince his family and coworkers that you've been dating for months—but you have some terms of your own.

"Sex has to be with a condom only," you say as you chew, already browsing the dessert menu. "No kissing, no sentimentality. Sex is sex, nothing more. I don't want you falling in love with me."

"I didn't plan on having sex with you," he replies, wiping his mouth with his cloth napkin. "I also don't plan on falling in love with you."

You scoff. "They all say that."

You're a bit crude at times, but otherwise you're a perfect fit. You agree to each other's terms. He sends you a large pdf file with important details about himself, details about "you", and details about your "relationship".

"Memorize this by next Friday. We'll be going to a party for my company, and then we'll have lunch on Saturday with my parents. They'll be in town for a week, so we'll be spending a day or two with them."

You hum, swallowing the chocolate mousse off your spoon. "You know, I expect to be paid by the hour..."

"I'll give you $50,000 for the whole week."

You almost choked on your dessert. You recovered quickly, covering your mouth, clearing your throat.

"Y-Yes... that..." You cleared your throat again, sitting up straight. "That seems agreeable."

He huffs, taking out his wallet, handing you a credit card.

"You'll need some proper clothes for these events. Don't worry about the cost; I won't take it out of your paycheck."

You take the card, eyeing the metallic rectangle.

"How do you not have a girlfriend?" He shrugs, picking up his wine glass.

"I don't have time for relationships."

───────────────

"You clean up nice," he remarks as he meets you in the lobby of his apartment building. You smile, giving a twirl.

"Don't ask me how much it was."

"Wasn't planning on it." He holds out his arm for you and you grab it, walking out of the building together. You reach his car, and you're off into the night.

"You left your bags at the front desk, correct?"

"Yep," you reply, popping the 'P' at the end of the word. "I had to buy another suitcase to bring everything."

"That's fine," he replies. "The guest room is ready for you. We'll have to share a bathroom, but the guest room is all yours for the week."

You hum slyly, tiptoeing your fingers along his thigh.

"You sure you don't want to share a bed with me?"

He sighs, taking your hand, linking your fingers together.

"I told you. I'm not looking for sex."

"Mmm, alrighty then," you say, leaning back in your seat. "I'm just trying to make this realistic."

"It'll be fine if you memorized everything I sent you—"

"I did, I did." You squeeze his hand, causing him to glance at you. "Don't worry. It'll be fine. I won't mess up."

He nods, bringing your hand to his lips, kissing the back of it. The small action makes you shiver slightly, but he doesn't seem to notice.

───────────────

"Huh?! A girlfriend? When did this happen?" Gojo exclaims, almost dropping his champagne. You laugh girlishly, wrapping yourself around Nanami's arm.

"We've been together for almost six months now. Isn't that right, honey?"

"Yes, dear," Nanami replies calmly, sipping his wine. "Six months on the 21st."

"Oh, you're so much better at dates than I am! This is why I like you." His lips twitch into a smile as Gojo scoffs.

"Damn, Nanami. Who knew you were keeping such a cutie all to yourself this whole time? You should've brought her to the New Year's party! You would've had a blast."

"I don't—"

"Oh, shit, hold that thought: the president's coming over." Gojo takes your free hand, kisses it swiftly. "Nice to meet you, lovely. Call me when you dump this sack of wet laundry."

"Hey—"

"Okay, bye!" he replies quickly, rushing off to another part of the room so he could avoid the president. Nanami sighed, watching his colleague run away, shaking his head.

"For the record," you start, putting your empty glass on a waiter's nearby tray, "I don't think you're a sack of wet laundry."

"That's kind of you, but it's alright. Most of my coworkers think I'm boring."

"You're not boring," you reply, facing him. "Serious, definitely serious, but not boring."

"How sweet of you to say." He finds himself smiling when you laugh genuinely. He looks you over once again, one of many times that night. "That dress suits you."

"Why thank you! I got some help from the girl who was working. She said it would 'accentuate my curves'."

Nanami hums softly. "It does."

You feel your cheeks warm and you clear your throat, adjusting his tie.

"I've got an even cuter dress for tomorrow. It's pink with flowers and a pretty ribbon around the waist." Nanami lets you fiddle with his tie for a bit, smiling softly at your nervous behavior.

"I'm sure you'll look stunning."

───────────────

"Oh, she's a doll, Kento, just a doll!" his mother exclaimed, patting your hand and smiling at you. "I can't believe you kept her from us to long!"

"I wanted to make sure she was worth meeting," Nanami replied, lacing his fingers with yours, smiling at you when you smiled at him.

"But still, she's such an angel. Oh, I wish we could've met you sooner, sweetie. Don't you think so too, dear?" Her husband nodded, focused on cutting into his steak.

"It's wonderful to finally meet you," you said to Nanami's mother. "Ken has told me so much about you. I heard you were the inspiration for his love of cooking!"

"Aw, Kenny, you flatter me, dear," she cooed towards her son. "Oh, but I can't take all the credit. Kento has loved food ever since he was small. I remember him staring in awe at the TV whenever Gordon Ramsey was on—"

"Mother—"

"Oh, don't be shy about it, pumpkin! He was so cute when he was little, eyes glued to the TV when Kitchen Nightmares came on. Oh, don't get me started on all the different cooking shows he would watch—"

"Mom!"

You laughed at their exchange, covering your face when you snorted, making the rest of the table laugh as well. Nanami didn't think you'd have such a cute laugh—there was quite a bit about you that he found himself enjoying within the last two days.

"Oh, jeez... Excuse me, I have to go to the ladies' room," you spoke after a moment, getting up and gingerly leaving the table. Nanami watched you leave, staring at your hips sway back and forth.

"She's a real catch," his mother spoke up, eyeing him. He cleared his throat, nodding and grabbing his drink.

"Yeah. She's great."

"Are you going to propose?"

He chokes on his drink, struggling to clear his throat. "W-We've only been together for half a year."

"Your father proposed to me after half a year." Nanami rolled his eyes, glancing at the restrooms, hoping you'd return quickly.

"That was a different time, Mom. People don't get together that quickly anymore."

She clicked her tongue. "You shouldn't judge a relationship based on how long it is, Kento. Some of the best relationships are the shortest."

He pondered over her words, watching you stop at a table, vaguely hearing you compliment a woman's dress. He stared at you, feeling his mouth go dry.

───────────────

"So we're having dinner on Wednesday, golf on Thursday, and they leave on Friday?"

"Yes," Nanami replied, glancing through some reports before looking up at you. You were in his fluffy bathrobe, hair wet, rubbing lotion over your hands as you stared out at the city. You looked ethereal after a shower, your face glowing under the low light of the room.

"I'm not a fan of golfing," you speak up, making a face.

"You don't have to be," he replies, putting down his papers and standing up, walking towards you. "You can just sit in the golf cart and drink a mimosa and look pretty."

You snorted, laughing that sweet laugh he had come to adore. He stopped at your side, meeting your smile with his own. You clapped your hands, turning to him. You ran a hand over his vest, fumbling with the edge.

"You always look so official. Don't you have sweatpants?"

"I do, but I don't usually wear them when I have company."

"Mm, you should. You should be nice and comfy when you're at home. You should relax."

"I can't relax. I have some work to do."

"Boooooo." You undo his vest, tugging it off his shoulders. "Work can wait. Cmon, go get in your comfy clothes and let's watch a movie."

He snickers, letting you pull off his vest and start unbuttoning his shirt. You were lighthearted until you were halfway down: that's when you stopped. You paused, opening his shirt ever so slightly, revealing his muscular chest. You stared for a moment, feeling your body warm up before you suddenly pulled away, clearing your throat. You handed him his vest, giving a flat smile.

"I'm gonna... go pick a movie."

"...Y/N—"

You rushed past him, moving towards the living room.

"Hurry up! If you're not quick I'm gonna choose something you'll hate."

Nanami stood there for a moment, moving a hand towards his exposed chest, briefly wishing that your soft hands had lingered a bit longer.

───────────────

The rest of the week went on without a hitch. Everywhere you went, everyone adored you. Everyone was convinced that you and Nanami were an item; you had them all fooled.

But the entire time... you found yourself growing fond of the man who hired you. You found yourself falling for him the better you got to know him. You knew it was wrong, it went against your own rules, but he was too good to be true.

"Can I say something?" you asked Thursday night, the day before your last day with him.

"Go for it," he said from the other side of the couch, reaching for the popcorn between you. You paused, weighing your words.

"I wish... I wish we had met under different circumstances." He frowned, glancing at you.

"What do you mean?"

"I..." You fiddled with your hands. "I mean that... I wish you hadn't hired me. I wish we had just met in a coffee shop or something."

He scoffed. "Why's that?"

You couldn't respond. You just looked down at your hands, playing with your fingers. Nanami watched you for a minute before clearing his throat.

"Can I say something as well?"

"Shoot," you whispered, still not looking at him. He cleared his throat, inhaling deep.

"I feel the same." You glanced up quickly, watching him stare ahead. "I wish I had met you under different circumstances as well."

Your breath caught in your throat. "Do you mean... you wish I wasn't a prostitute—"

"No," he cut you off quickly, looking at you. "I wish I had met you at a dinner party so I could enjoy your company without having to pay you, so I could ask you out properly."

The two of you sat in silence for a bit, staring at each other. Nanami sighed, moving the bowl of popcorn to the coffee table, scooting closer to you.

"Can I ask you a favor?"

You swallowed. "What?" He stared at you hard, thinking.

"May I break one of the terms of our agreement?"

"Which... which one?"

Another pause.

"May I kiss you?"

───────────────

You woke up late in the morning, in his bed, wearing his t-shirt. You could smell something divine, hear sizzling from the other room. You eventually slid out of bed, padding your way into the kitchen.

"You're up early." Nanami scoffed, flipping a pancake.

"Ten a.m. is not early."

"It is for me." He laughed quietly, humming when you wrapped your arms around his waist, leaning into his back. "You didn't have to make me breakfast."

"I wanted to," he replied. "You should eat something before we meet my parents at the airport."

"Could've just had cereal."

"True, but still..." You hummed, trailing your fingers over the waistband of his sweatpants.

"You just wanted me to eat your cooking, huh?"

He sighed, grabbing your hand, bringing it to his lips for a kiss. "Maybe."

You giggled, burying yourself into his back, kissing over his shoulder blades.

"You're cute, ya know?"

"I don't think so, but thank you."

You sat down at the dining table, sharing pancakes, fruit compote, and coffee.

"So..." Nanami began, "we broke the your terms of our contract."

"Yeah..."

"...Is it bad that I don't regret it one bit?" You smiled softly.

"No. I feel the same."

"You do?" he asks hopefully, grabbing your hand tenderly.

"Yeah..." You took a deep breath. "Is it bad that I don't want this week to end?"

"No, no, I... I don't want it to end either."

You sat in silence, holding each other's hands.

"Y/N," Nanami spoke, sitting up a bit straighter. "Would you go out with me?"

You felt your heart swell, your throat closing up as you nodded quickly.

"Yes, yes!" You practically leaped into his arms, hugging him tight. You stayed like that for a moment before pulling away. "But I wanna take things slow."

"Yes."

"And I want to stay in my own apartment. I love your place, but I don't think we should move in together yet."

"Understood."

"And I don't want you to spoil me like you have all week."

He sucked in a breath, scrunching his face.

"I don't know if I can do that."

"Kento."

"It's not my fault you deserve to be spoiled."

"Okay, okay... just dial it back a bit. Don't send me on shopping sprees."

"Alright. I'll just surprise you with gifts."

"Ken!"

───────────────

[flowerbloom-arts]

Hey, sorry if I'm repetitive but what do you think happened to the humans in the Moomin universe.

Absolutely do not worry about asking too many questions, I love answering them!!!

Humans in Moominland is a very interesting subject... In that they're a LOT less of a presence than even I thought they were.

Alot of people (including me) thought that when, in Moomins and the Great Flood, Moominmamma was talking about Moomins living behind huge stoves before the invention of central heating she was talking about humans' stoves.

But no.

She never uses the word human, she says people.

(...) In those days they lived together with the house-trolls in people’s houses, mostly behind their tall stoves. “Some of us still live there now, I’m sure,” said Moominmamma. “But only where people still have stoves, I mean. We’re not happy with central heating.”

“Did the people know we were there?” asked Moomintroll.

(...)

“[A Hattifattener is] a kind of little troll-creature,” explained Moominmamma. “They’re mostly invisible. Sometimes they can be found under people’s floors, and you can hear them pattering about in there when it’s quiet in the evenings. (...)

And it's not like "people" was used as a specific term in Moomins and the Great Flood, either, because we have instances like these;

“Thank you so awfully much,” said Moominmamma. “You must have invited quite a lot of people up here for sea-pudding, I should think.”

“Oh yes,” said the boy. “People from every corner of the world. Snufkins, Sea-ghosts, Little Creeps and Big Folk, Snorks and Hemulens. And the odd angler fish, too.”

(...)

The armchair bobbed slowly along towards a hill where a lot of people were running about, pulling their belongings out of the water.

(...)

“Well, well,” said the marabou stork, who was beginning to feel touched. “I think I had better put you down on dry land and try to rescue a few more before the sun goes down. It’s very pleasant, rescuing people.” And then he took them back to the shore while they all talked at the same time about all the dreadful things they had been through. All along the shore people had lit fires at which they were warming themselves and cooking food, for most had lost their homes.

So it could be that Moominmamma was just talking about living behind regular creatures' oversized stoves, like how the Moomin ancestor did in Moominland Midwinter, which is honestly a very silly image. And it's not like it'd be impossible - the Hemulen and the Marabou stork in Great Flood are absolutely massive compared to our main characters.

Marabou storks tend to be about 5 feet tall so relatively speaking, if we assume this stork is still the same size as he would be irl, then our main characters would be relatively mouse-sized.

However. Tove didn't seem to have committed to this concept, and more or less just retconned it out of canon. Since the cats in Moomins and the Great Flood are seemingly regular-sized relative to the Hemulen's chair;

But in the 1968 revision of Comet in Moominland including future adaptations of the story, Sniff's cat is regular-sized, and so are the cats that appear in the Moomin comic strip, like the one in Moominmamma's Maid.

(sorry for using a screenshot from the 90s movie adaptation, I couldn't find a book illustration since I don't have a PDF of the revised book, much less an illustration of Sniff and his cat next to eachother, if that exists. If anyone has a way to read the revision in English pleeease give it to me)

But that's just Moomins and the Great Flood, which practically functions as a "pilot episode" for the whole franchise; it set up the concepts but is not representative of the rest of the franchise and has alot of things that get retconned but not entirely removed for the rest of the series, it wasn't even translated into/published in English until 2012. What about the rest of the franchise?

Well, the only instance of the word "human" being used in the books is in Moominpappa at Sea, while Moominpappa talked about how stone-faced the Fisherman/Lighthouse Keeper has been for the whole book;

‘There’s something wrong with you that I can’t make out,’ Moominpappa said to himself. ‘You’re not a human being at all. You’re more like a plant or a shadow, just as if you’d never been born.’

Which implies either of two things; the LHK is human or human-adjacent, or human is a normal adjective in the world of Moomin aswell.

And the only instance of the word "human" in the comic strip (there could be another instance I'm forgetting, however I'm not talking about Lars' comics because I am kind of prioritizing Tove's intentions here) is in a conversation between Snorkmaiden and Mymble Jr in Moomin Winter Follies;

Which... Kind of implies Mr. Brisk is human, I think? It's hard to imagine but there it is, the one instance of the word human in the comics.

And that's like... The only thing we really have within the original medium of Moomin.

But Tove had also worked on other things first-hand, and one of them had actual human characters.

That being Mumintrollet (1969, nice), a live-action show primarily known for the body horror of the Moomins removing their heads to reveal human heads inside. But with that obviously inapplicable facet of the show aside, we have this guy, the main antagonist, the King;

This guy is an explicitly canon human (can't be 100% sure since the show hasn't been transcribed or translated from its original swedish but I'm close to sure), and he's about the same size as the Moomins (probably because of the nature of the show, kinda like the whole head thing and Little My's normal human size in the show, but ehhh)

And that's, like, it for the canonicity of humans in Moomin, everything else is questionable or vague or a bit bewildering.

Like, is King Jones from Moominpappa's Memoirs a human? Why is he so big? What's going on here???

But that's all up to speculation, even the examples of the instances of the word human I've shown doesn't totally prove the existence of humans as we know them in this world. Alot of the characters look human but aren't, and others aren't stated to be not human, there are some oversized things like Muddler's tin that don't get explained, but who knows, really.

In short, I don't think anything has exactly happened to humans. They're either living among Moominland's society like fellow creatures (heck, maybe even some of the characters we know are human) or they're like... Rare or extinct or didn't even truly exist in the first place.

It's one big "who knows?".

[gallifreyanhotfive]

Do you have any recommendations on Dr. Who books/audio format things? I haven't watched the show in a bit because Moffat wasn't my thing and I can't seem to find the old stuff. (If you have any advice on where to find that too I would be very grateful) Following your blog has been a nice reminder of why I liked the show so much. Hope you have a good day!

Aw thank you! Depending on your location, you can find classic who episodes either on BBC iPlayer or Tubi (with ads).

As for books/audios, I'll try to keep this brief as I could write an essay on this.

For books, my favorite author is Kate Orman. Orman writes wonderfully, and my personal favorite is The Year of the Intelligent Tigers. I also really liked Goth Opera, Camera Obscure, History 101, Autumn Mist, Lungbarrow, Divided Loyalties, Somewhere Never etc etc etc etc (so many more but I'm forcing myself to stop here). You can often find free versions of basically every novel (at least all I've looked for) on the internet either as pdfs or epubs or whatever. The Internet Archive is particularly useful. Some examples:

And now for the audios! I personally have sold my soul to Big Finish. I have literally hundreds of recommendations. They do have some audios for free, such as those that came from the Paul Spragg Memorial Competition. You can also find a lot of them (up until Zagreus I think) for free on Spotify. There is also almost always a killer sale going on on the website on top of that too.

As for my recommendations, it's pretty dependent on what Doctor or companion you want to listen to. They even have series centered on UNIT, Romana's Gallifrey, Benny Summerfield, and a ton of other things (including a Masterful special that just had a bunch of Masters fucking around and finding out). I'll put in some of my favorites, one for each Doctor, from what I own (which is far from everything, but I do my best).

One: The Sontarans. It was the first time the Doctor had ever encountered the Sontarans, so he was unfamiliar with them. It takes place during Dalek Master Plan, so Steven and Sara are there.

Two: Lords of the Red Planet! It's a good Ice Warrior origin story and has Jamie and Zoe in it. :)

Three: Terror of the Master. I had pre-ordered it as soon as I heard about it. Three....Delgado Master....what more do you want from an audio? It's narrated by Jon Culshaw.

Four: The Wrath of the Iceni. It was a brilliant historical with Four and Leela and Boudica. Leela gets quite a lesson in this one, first being mad at Four for not helping Boudica and then at Boudica for being cruel.

Okay now we are getting into my favorite Doctors (5-8), so these decisions are going to get difficult.

Five: The Kingmaker! Shakespeare spikes Five's drink to get him absolutely wasted to sneak on the TARDIS, the TARDIS gets hiccups as a result, leading to Peri and Erimem being separated from the Doctor. Shenanigans ensue.

Six: Doctor Who and the Pirates. Six and Evelyn have a really meaningful discussion with one of her depressed students. The third part is a musical!

Seven: The Shadow of the Scourge. Benny Ace and Seven against 8th dimensional eldritch abominations. Seven gets turned into one of these insectoids, and body horror ensues.

Eight: Oh dear I can't choose. At the moment, probably the Great War from Dark Eyes 1. Eight meets Molly and is still grieving here. He is very much doomed by the narrative.

War: The Neverwhen. Lots of the War Doctor is good if you like Time War horror, but this one has a lot of time-as-a-weapon and is well written.

Nine: Battle Scars. A nice short story about that one family Nine saved from the Titanic mentioned in the episode Rose. Has a really fantastic girl in it and a Nine dripping in PTSD.

Ten: The Time Reaver. Ten and Donna! There's this gun that basically slows down time for a single person, so that a few minutes for everyone else is centuries for them. Ten is a self sacrificing dope.

Eleven: The Geronimo boxset is the best in my opinion, but I haven't been able to listen to many of these yet.

Twelve: Another one I haven't managed to buy a lot of yet, but Dead Media is amazing. It's written to sound like a podcast with adverts and everything and is set during his time at St. Luke's. And I cried at the end.

Anyway, I'll shut up now. This was so much fun! Thank you!

[cy-lindric]

Hi! I love your historical pants. Did you use an existing pattern, or did you draft your own? And if so... Do you sell patterns at all? I'd love to make myself a pair but I haven't learned enough to make my own patterns yet

Hello ! I got this question a lot so I hope you won't mind if I use it as a springboard to make a general public reply about it ! For reference, I started sewing a year and a half ago. I don't have any formal training and started from zero, so I kind of just rely on enthusiasm and trial and error.

For most of my projects, I use a mix of patterns and draping. I mostly do men's clothing and the patterns I find don't always match my body type exactly, so I rarely get to use them as is. I'm fairly tall and narrow so usually the smaller men's sizes are a good base, but not all patterns include sizes small enough, and there's still much to fix for me in terms of chest length, leg length, thighs, etc. That'll be something to keep in mind if you're smaller or more hourglass shaped for instance.

For the fall front trousers, it was kind of an impulse project, so I didn't work from a book and I bought a pdf pattern from Laughing Moon Mercantile. It was very useful to construct the front, which is quite complex by my second-year-of-sewing standards, but it only came in fairly big sizes so there was a lot of alterations to do pretty much everywhere else. Also worth noting is that the pdf is made for an A0 format, and although you can print it at home on a mosaic of A4 paper using Acrobat, it's impossible to select which "tile" section of the A0 page you want to print. The pdf pattern contains many options and printing everything to get just the pieces I needed was just too wasteful to do. Instead, I printed only the pattern pieces from the first page, and drafted/copied the missing pieces from other pages myself directly on pattern paper. If you're willing to go through the printing and resizing hassle, it's a great pattern with very clear and exhaustive informations on construction and options for both historical and modern notions.

I picked that one because I wanted to do trousers specifically and it matched my needs best with many options to potentially combine, but if you're looking to do shorter breeches or just want to use it for the fall front, patterns are fairly easy to find on etsy or elsewhere. I like Reconstructing History because their smallest men's size works great for me and they cover a huge range of eras and styles. Unfortunately the instructions don't contain as many diagrams and are sometimes a bit more difficult to follow. I almost never buy paper patterns so I can't recommend any. When it comes to actual historical garments that aren't like, halloween costumes, I find it very difficult to encounter paper patterns and I only find what I'm looking for in books or pdf patterns. I find that both is best where you're a beginner ; the book gives great insight, and the pdf is a good base to work off. I'm still fairly new so I only have a few books (some of them physical, a lot of them pdfs, because they're expensive and sometimes out of print) but they're great classics and they help me a lot :

The Cut of Men's Clothes, 1600-1900 by Nora Waugh 17th Century Men's Dress Patterns by Braun, Costiglio, North, Thornton and Tiramani The Medieval Tailor's Assistant: Common Garments 1100-1480 by Sarah Thursfield Patterns of Fashion - Books 3 and 4 by Janet Arnold

Sorry this was so long ! If you're a beginner reading this, keep in mind I just threw myself at this with no prior experience quite recently and I'm having a lot of fun so go for it and don't be afraid to make mistakes and start over ! Good luck :)

[loosethreadstitchery]

You have so many posts I couldnt hope to comment on them all, but your work is a-maz-ing. Words cannot express how much I adore your art, shown through your magnificent colors and skill <3

Do you have any tips for those starting this kind of stitchwork? I imagine the backs get quite messy XD

First, thank you so much - that's super kind of you!

I don't know how much stitching you've done before now, but the very basics of cross stitch and blackwork are here and here. If you already know the basics,

For the kind of blackwork I do most, using repeating motifs to fill in sections of a larger image, I find that the biggest problem is getting lost in the chart and forgetting which repetition of the fill motif I'm on. This is especially tricky when there are slight variations in the motif, as happens when I'm shading or making a colour gradient. Have some way to mark off each repetition of the motif as you complete it. I do this by annotating in my laptop's .pdf reader; some people print out the pattern and just use a highlighter. There is some software like Pattern Keeper or Cross Stitch Saga that some stitchers like, but the file formats they use aren't always available (I've also been told that Pattern Keeper isn't great with backstitch, which would make it kind of useless for blackwork, but I've never used either program, so someone else can weigh in there).

I work on black Aida a lot - some people hate working on black because it's harder to see the holes in the cloth, but I love the way it makes coloured blackwork pop. Your best friend here is lighting - good light on your work, and also a bit of backlighting. You don't want the backlight to be so strong that the holes turn into blinding little pinpricks, but you want to be able to see the light through them. Some people will put a phone or tablet behind their work with the screen on low; I find that having something white behind it is enough - a white pillow on my lap, or the white walls of my apartment.

My backs are a mess, yeah. For most of my patterns, it's geometrically impossible to do the reversible blackwork thing, and most of the time I'm making something whose back won't be visible, so it's a place to hide my stitchy sins. Gradients in particular have areas where stitches of one colour are relatively far apart, so there are big jumps on the back.

Samplers made up of small motifs in separate squares are a good way to get used to following blackwork charts without getting tangled up in repeating fill patterns.

If you're looking for a small project to give blackwork a try, I've got a couple of little free patterns here and here that are on the simpler side, and one here that's a good way to try a gradient.

[fantasyfantasygames]

Falling

Falling, 20xx Games, 2015

Falling is a game about having a really, really hard day while being so badly depressed that you literally fall into an alternate spacetime below our own, and your climb or flight back out.

There's a big content warning right at the front of this game - Falling focuses on depression. It was written by someone with chronic chemical depression, the sort that's part of your brain chemistry. It's very good at getting you to understand what that's like. If you also suffer from chronic depression, this game is very explicit about not being the right place to get help.

You make a character by drawing a hand of cards, writing a hundred-word summary of your character (a la some other games I've reviewed), and giving a short explanation of what pushed you into Underspace. During play you use descriptors from your character bio and inciting incident to draw more cards and change the ones you have. You need specific combinations of things in your hand in order to do specific things, so it's not just a matter of "better poker hand wins". Black cards are strength and toughness (both emotional and physical) but also depression. Red cards are connection and wisdom but also either mania or obsession, player's choice at chargen. You might need three red cards for one thing, or a small straight in black, or one very specific card. It's all about adapting to the situation. Go too hard and you'll regret it. XP lets you boost traits by underlining them, or cross out some that aren't helping you and write new ones.

Underspace is a massive vertical shaft, a gaslamp fantasy idea of what an enormous abandoned mine would look like. You encounter its odd denizens, many of whom are part fungus. Some of them will try to help you leave. Others are there to drag you down metaphorically or physically. There's no shortcut to get out - it's step by step. As the name of the game implies, you're probably not going to make it out in one smooth climb. The book details one particular settlement with the idea that you could use it as inspiration for others.

The art aims toward DiTerlizzi. It doesn't quite get there, but the rough lines and dark shading make it a good fit. Fans of Planescape will definitely feel at home here. Layout is fairly standard, and there's nothing wrong with that.

One of the rules for the endgame is "It's not about the inciting incident." Whatever pushed you into Underspace was a side-effect, the straw, or a total coincidence. You can't fix your depression and return to Superspace just by fixing or reversing that event.

Falling is ultimately a hopeful game, but not an easy one to play. You're going to get pulled in emotionally, and there will absolutely be serious setbacks that erase a whole session of progress. I wouldn't say you need to be a masochist to play, but you do have to want to do something emotionally challenging.

20xx Games isn't in existence any more. Falling didn't sell particularly well in PDF, never made it to print, and their other big project ran into unspecified legal issues involving Capcom, so the whole company tanked in 2017. I'm not sure what Falling's copyright status is these days. Hopefully one of the company's partners still has the rights to publish it - I think it deserves to be out in the world.

[kushkomikss]

š! #51 'Mindfulness' open call!

After some quite chaotic times, we want to meditate a bit and put our mind at ease. So for our next issue we make an open call with the theme "Mindfulness."

Excerpt from Gary Colin's mini kuš! 'Link'

Details of Participation:

Theme: Mindfulness

Page count: 4-12 (preferably an even page count)

Language: English

Format: DIN A6, width 10.5cm × height 14.8cm

Bleed: In case you want your comics to be full bleed make sure to add 3 mm cut off space all around the comics (in this case the width of each page should be 11.1 cm and the height 15.4 cm). Don't place texts and important details close to the page borders!

Colors: Yes, CMYK, b/w works are also welcome, color profile FOGRA52

Resolution: 300 dpi (1200 dpi for b/w works)

File format: preferably tiff or pdf

If we publish your comics, you'll get 6-10 free copies of the anthology.

You keep the full copyrights to publish your story anywhere else.

Submit only low-resolution jpgs for our consideration (but big enough to read (approximately 900 pixels in width)! The high resolution files as described above we'll ask you to send later.) Please don't send zip files, don't use google drive, dropbox or the like, we only want preview files now as simple attachments.

Please include a short description of yourself and a link to your site/instagram

Deadline: 1 May 2024

Send to komiksukonkurss@gmail.com

Additional notes:

After receiving your work we'll write you a confirmation e-mail within 14 days. If you don't hear from us, please write us again, maybe your mail got lost.

Not all the works from the open call will be published! Usually we get around 200 submissions of which we can print around 20. As we usually get many submissions we enjoy, we often also use "rejected" pieces for later issues or try to collaborate with the artists on other projects.

The decision what we'll publish will be made until around 1 June. We'll mail you if you're in!

We'd prefer if you don't publish the full comics on- or offline before we print it.

Please don't send comics which are made for a bigger format. If your comic is unreadable in A6 format, it will not be published!

We are always happy to feature experimental approaches in storytelling and art. Don't limit yourself!

If you have any questions, just write us. Best if you write a comment below, as other people might have the same question.

If you are not interested to take part and just landed here because you are obsessed with comics, you probably should get some of our previous books. You can find them all on komikss.lv or maybe even at your local comics shop.

Looking forward to your submissions.

[cat-boots]

The anatomy and design of your characters make some wonderfully cartoony, but also cute and sexy folks. What inspires your character's designs? Any artists or methods of study in particular?

I followed a lot of advice like 15 years ago that whatever artists I could find would put out. I don't doubt it's all still relevant today - you can find books like Andrew Loomis' Figure Drawing for All It's Worth as a pdf on google quite easily.

I'm big on figure drawing, sites like quickposes are my go-to when I need to shake off some rust. ideally it's best to find real life models if you can - if you look around you might even be able to do it for free! here's one I went to recently - I like seeing how different people draw the same pose!

and of course cartoons & comics are a big influence on me. I got into furry purely because of disney's robin hood, I'm pretty sure, and I followed folks like pen ward and steve wolfhard on livejournal and loved their straightforward cartooning style just using simple shapes to say what they wanted to say

also starfox for the snes which isn't a cartoon but the low poly models and toony pixel portraits definitely also showed me you can create a lot out of simple shapes