#Flexible Gear Coupling

[shanghai-reijay]

Reijay RJF series Flexible Gear Coupling Wear resistance and noise reduction and shock absorption

Whatsapp: +86 18017826808 Email: info@reijay.com

[mahameruputra14]

Expansion Joint Rubber - Karet Dilatasi di Makassar

Karet Dilatasi Dalam industri konstruksi dan infrastruktur, stabilitas dan kelangsungan struktur bangunan adalah faktor yang sangat penting. Salah satu elemen yang berperan dalam menjaga stabilitas ini adalah Expansion Joint Karet Dilatasi. Artikel ini akan membahas secara mendalam tentang expansion joint ini, termasuk apa itu, bagaimana berfungsi, dan mengapa penting dalam proyek…

[short-honey-badger]

Phantom Pain part 5

The Fishing Incident

First off! I am so so sorry it's been so long. I've got in a bit of a slump and struggled to get anything out. So I really hope you all enjoy this next part! Mostly fluff and some kissing!

Masterlist

@writingmysanity @foggyturtleknightangel @kenkenmaaa

Shanks ends up buying you one of the better fishing rods in the market, one strong and flexible enough to take the challenge of some of the bigger fish that make the Grand Line their home. He'd watched with a fond look as you gushed over the different reels, lines, and luers, and reminded you several times that price was not an issue. You left the market happy and excited to try your new gear, and that was all that mattered to Shanks.

The Yonko had expected you to run off right after the two of you had finished shopping, but instead you lingered outside the market and waited for him to pick out a couple of bottles of saki and rum. He could feel your nerves again and gave you a reassuring smile in return.

"Do you wanna come fishing with me?" You blurt out suddenly, and Shanks is already nodding his head before you can even finish your sentence. He'd do anything you wanted to do. However, the question also has guilt welling up inside of him. You furrow your brow at him, confused on why he would feel that way.

"I'd love to, Baby," Shanks tells you and then shakes his right side, causing the empty sleeve there to flop around, "But it's kinda hard to do with one arm."

You blink up at him, frown scrunching your face. Damn. Shanks makes a good point as much as you would rather not admit. You shuffle your feet before ultimately shrugging and aiming a shy smile up at your soul mate.

"You can just come sit with me, though, right?" You suggest softly. You don't really want to be alone, not when you could spend this down time with your soulmate. The longer you stay, the more you think that may you do belong with him, made to be by his side.

Shanks looks delighted, face softening into a gentle expression full of fondness. His side of the bond pulses like an exploding star, and you flush at the tsunami of feelings you feel from him. The Yonko snickers at your red face and then boops your nose, a new favorite thing of his to do.

"I wouldn't want to spend my time any other way, Seastar," he teases, and you roll your eyes at him with a huff before turning away. You shouldn't have expected anything less from him.

Eventually, the two of you find a nice secluded spot on the beach quite a ways down from the pier and small town. It's quiet and peaceful here, and you take the chance to dig your toes into the sand and just breathe in the salty air. You feel Shanks step behind you and tense for half a second when his arm wraps around your waist, but relax and let yourself lean against his strong chest. You feel safe and secure in knowing that nothing could ever harm you when your soul mate holds you so closely.

Shanks buries his face in your hair and breathes in, humming in joy when he feels you slump against him. He never wants to let you go and wonders how he had ever gone through so much of his life without you by his side. He kisses your hair, arm tightening around your waist as he scatters more kisses along the top of your head and then to your cheeks and brow when he gently turns you around.

You flush at the attention and then grab his loose shirt to tug him down for a real kiss. Shanks laughs against your lips, and you retaliate by nipping his bottom lip hard enough to hurt. He grunts and slips his hand into your hair so that he can better control the kiss, tongue sweeping into your mouth to plunder like a true pirate.

You break the passionate exchange with a gulp of air, and Shanks snickers again at your lack of stamina. His hand loosens in your hair and instead begins to stroke it lightly, "Thought you were supposed to be fishing?" He teases lightly.

You scoff at him, "It's not my fault you decided to distract me," You say with a smirk and the redhead looks at you with big puppy eyes, as if he had done no wrong. You raise your brow at him, not believing his puppy act for a second.

"Okayyy, fine," one of the most powerful men in the Grand Line whines, and you wonder how this became your life.

Shanks leaves and settles on a flat rock that also held your fishing equipment and his booze. He cracks open his bottle of saki and takes a deep swig before setting it aside. He expects you to grab your pole, but instead, you drop to your knees a couple of feet away from where the damp sand ends and begin to dig.

He furrows his brow at you from his seat, "What are you doing?" He asks curiously. Even before he lost his arm, Shanks hadn't been the biggest fan of fishing, so he was a little lost.

You laugh at him, and his heart seizes in his chest when you look up at him with a big grin. He can see where some sand is sticking to your face, and it just endears him more to you.

"Sometimes it takes a while for a fish to bite, and I just don't want to hold my pole for that long," you explain and then stand and dust yourself off when you deep your hole good enough, "Hence the hole."

You pick your way across the sand and settle on the rock beside Shanks. Your pole is soon lured up with a good sinker and a big chunk of bait attached to the hook. Shanks watches as you heft the pole and then walk almost chest deep into the ocean. He tenses at how far you go, but you look confident in what you are doing, so Shanks stays seated.

You cast your line as far as you can throw before wading back to shore and carefully lowering your pole into the hole. You come back to the rock and collect the small jar of shells you had made up earlier just for this purpose. You feel Shanks watching and deciding to explain to him, "I'll wrap my line around the jar. That way, when a fish hooks, I'll be able to hear it."

The Yonko makes a Huh sound and looks vaguely impressed with your small set you now have at the shore, "Well. Would you look at that? You made fishing even lazier," he teases when you sit beside him. Shanks gets shoved in the shoulder for that one, and he allows himself to be moved by your weak push.

"Shut up, I've got to save my strength for when I'm reeling it in," You inform him smartly and Shanks just laughs again and tugs you close so that you lean against his chest, he drops a kiss to your brow.

"You do have some noodle arms, Sweetheart," Shanks says, and you scoff in indignation. Here he is with only one arm, picking on you for being weak.

"Says you," you tease back and gesture at the empty sleeve that flops against his side.

Shanks promptly grabs you with his arm and lifts with ease, plopping you into his lap with a shit eating grin. His hand grips your hip to keep you from squirming away, and he leans in close enough that his hair tickles your nose, "What was that, Baby?" He murmured softly and your shiver at the feel of his breath against your ear.

You clutch at his shirt, feeling a bit off center being in his lap. This was new, but you weren't about to let your dark thoughts get the better of you, not when Shanks looked at you as if you were the only thing on the planet. His thumb strokes the skin of your waist, and you vaguely wonder when your shirt had ridden up enough to expose skin.

Shanks can't help himself anymore. He can feel your warring feelings, feel how much you want him, and how scared you still are of any kind of affection. You've worked hard for Shanks, and he loves you for it. He leans in and kisses you, lips soft for only a second before Shanks devours you, and you happily let him.

The two of you lose yourself within one another, lips smacking and teeth nipping. Heat pools in your lower stomach, and Shanks grips your hip hard enough that it may bruise, but you don't care. You don't want Shanks to stop kissing you.

That is until an annoying rattle startles you away from Shanks. You jerk your head and look, eyes bugging when you see your pole bending and the jar of shells shaking like crazy. You scramble off of his lap, untangling the jar and tossing it to the sand before you grab the pole and jerk it.

You grunt when you are yanked forward, feet kicking up sand as you struggle with the weight of the monster fish on your line. You are tugged forward again, and a yelp leaves your mouth when you almost eat sea water this time.

"Shanks!" You screech and grab the reel, cranking it twice as you fight against the fish, "Help me hold it!"

Shanks is there in a flash, back pressing against yours and hand gripping the pole as he helps you hold it steady. It's a fight even with his help, but the two of you eventually stand victorious over the wriggling fish. It's huge, long and silver with a mouth full of teeth.

"That...that is a big fish," you pant out, but you are grinning so wide that it hurts your face. You are proud of your catch.

Shanks matches your grin, feeling your elation over the bond. He slides close to you again, leaning down to kiss the top of your head, "Guess I can fish with you after all?" He comments and will forever treasure the delighted laugh and kiss that he receives.

[sylvies-chen]

OFMD WEEK 2023

Ahoy there, pirates! OMFD season 2 is right around the corner so I wanted to organize an official OFMD WEEK to celebrate! I’ve tried to come up with some original prompts for each day, and it will run from Sunday, September 24th to Saturday, September 30th right before season 2 drops. Make sure to use the hashtag #OFMDWeek2023 so that we can locate your works and keep it all in one place. I hope many of you are able to participate and support those who do by liking and reblogging their posts, as well as reblogging this to get the word around! I’ll be posting reminders and updates leading up to it. Have fun and get creative with it!!

OFMD Week Prompts:

Day 1 (September 24th): Favourite crew member

Writers: write a fic about a character’s past or origins if they haven’t already been explored in the show. It’s your last chance to cement any headcanons into writing before season 2 adds new info to the mix on your favourite crew member

Gifmakers: freestyle/favourite character’s highlights

Artists: freestyle

Day 2 (September 25th): Music Monday

Writers: you know the drill, it’s song lyric title time!! Use lyrics from songs of your choice to inspire a story

Gifmakers: either use song lyrics from songs of your choice in your gifsets OR use your favourite song feature from season 1 in your gifsets

Artists: draw the crew/characters as your favourite bands or singers! wanna see Ed as Prince? Stede in full ABBA gear? The crew as KISS? Queen? Draw them at the Eras Tour? Get creative with it!

Day 3 (September 26th): Recurring themes/symbols

Writers: put your favourite recurring themes or symbols to action and expand them in a fic

Gifmakers: favourite recurring themes/symbols (i.e. the red handkerchief, the petrified orange, the lighthouse, the teal earring, the kraken, etc.) OR parallels

Artists: incorporate your favourite colour motif or symbol into your artwork

Day 4 (September 27th): Favourite ships

Writers: FLUFF GALORE! Since season 2 will undoubtedly serve us much angst, your mission is to write something as delightful and fluffy as can be for your favourite ships

Gifmakers: favourite ship + best moments from season 1

Artists: similar to the writers, draw your favourite ships, from canon couples to rarepairs, doing something fluffy and domestic

Day 5 (September 28th): AU/Crossover Mania

Writers: write any AUs or crossovers that you would want to see!!

Gifmakers: FREE SPACE - this is a hard one to attempt for gifsets so consider this day your day to post whatever creative, colourful, or fun gifsets you may have planned!

Artists: draw OFMD character(s) in an alternate universe OR crossing paths with another fictional universe entirely 👀

Day 6 (September 29th): Friendship Friday

Writers: prompt is found family or friendship fluff! take the time to explore in writing your favourite on screen (or not yet seen) friendships

Gifmakers: favourite crew moments or friendship moments from season 1

Artists: draw an unlikely duo and a passtime they’d both enjoy (or just any friendship from the show, this one has lots of flexibility to it)

Day 7 (September 30th): Season 2 theories and trailer moments

Writers: this is the last chance to get in any speculation fics!

Gifmakers: favourite moments and looks from the trailer

Artists: draw your predictions or your favourite outfits from the promos

Again, make sure to tag all your work using the #OFMDWeek2023 tag!

Oh, and post this to Twitter if you can. Get the word around! Happy creating everyone, season 2 is on its way! 🏳️‍🌈

[logmore]

hello logmore! silly question but i was curious about your thoughts on like a dragon: infinite wealth so far. you mentioned being bored by the first few chapters (fair) so i’m curious what your impression is now that you’ve played more of it. i wish sega was a bit more transparent about the development of the yakuza games because im kind of fascinated by some of the decisions they made in this one

I finished the game last night so I can reply now. I will talk about Infinite Wealth spoilers here:

Things I like:

Combat: Just Yakuza 7 combat but fleshed out, which is perfect. Being able to position your character is great, the team chain attacks and weapon attacks and stuff are fun to set up. The one flaw with it is that it does not interact with Kiryu very well, and by the end I was actually doing less damage with Kiryu if I got a tag team or weapon attack instead of a basic Brawler attack.

Classes: There were a lot of classes I ignored in 7 because they just weren't doing anything; it was just better to leave Joongi, Zhao, and Eri as their defaults and go to town. I think 8 has an improved skill inheritance system that made it more worthwhile to try out different classes, so by the end I switched every character away from their base class. Desperado and Aquanaut stood out as being very flexible and fun.

Kiryu: Technically this is an Ichiban game, but its more of a send-off to Kiryu than anything. I like how there was a ton of content dedicated to Kiryu revisiting characters from the past games, delivered in a way that I still liked it even though I only played 0 and 1. I thought the way they introduced leveling up his stances + gaining the ability to go beat-em-up mode was pretty clever. I also liked equipping him with gear that gave him buffs every turn so he could tear enemies apart like King's Hawaiian rolls.

Yamai: They knew what they were cooking here. You have to fight this guy like 4 times and I enjoyed it every time. He's cool, he looks cool, even the main characters say he is cool, and if he isn't playable in Yakuza 9 I'm gonna be astounded.

Things I don't:

Slow start: The first chapter got me pretty invested, but after Ichiban goes to Hawaii the story is a fucking slog for like 15 hours. I got so bored I stopped playing, and when I came back it finally picked up again.

Side content that I wasn't ever going to do: This is the reason the start of the story is so slow. I'm sure Dondoko Island and Crazy UberEats and all that is fun, but it isn't the type of thing I'm playing these games for, and when so much time in the story is spent ramping up all these side games to play, I just feel like I'm wasting my time. Next game might as well have a Virtua Fighter 6 tournament in the middle of it, why not?

Villains: Bryce and Ebina are just lame characters. This is a game with essentially 2 final bosses, but neither of them have the emotional core or the weight of the bosses from 7. Bryce is literally just 'a weird guy shows up', and while I understand what they were going for with Ebina, his goals seem so disconnected from what the protagonists are experiencing that him taking his shirt off and fighting Kiryu doesn't feel like a real climax. Getting Danny Trejo on board was a pretty inspired choice, but you fight Dwight so early that it framed him as a weakling that didn't matter. And he keeps coming back, in spite of that! There were a few showdowns in 7 where it felt high stakes/intense, but in 8 they had to bust out Sawashiro again to capture that.

Managing 2 parties at the same time: On one hand its cool because it means I get to use every party member, but I wish they bumped up the XP of whatever party you weren't playing, so that when you switched between them they were both at the same level. There were a couple of points where I had to grind because the difficulty of the content was scaling based on what my previous party had left off at, so I needed to get my current party to that level first. I also had to spend a lot of time doing the dungeons to get the materials for weapon upgrades on 9 characters. Just kind of time consuming, but it isn't the worst thing in the world.

Tatara Channel: Its dumb, but this is the only thing in the game that actually made me mad. The social media aspect of the story already feels dated in a way, and I don't care about Vtubers to begin with, but the thing that actually got me upset about this shit is that all the Tatara Channel scenes are just story recaps with unskippable dialog where something relevant MIGHT happen at the end. At one point I got tired of it and just skipped the cutscene, and then all of the sudden Kiryu is in front of Tojo HQ ready to fight. I hope they never deliver a plot in this way ever again

Even though I wrote more negative things than positive things, I still liked this game a lot. 7 is a way better story, but I think Ichiban and Kiryu are just too strong of protagonists to truly hate on the story, even if a lot of things surrounding it are dumb. I'm looking forward to playing pirates with Majima, and I will wish on a genie's lamp for Yamai to come back as a playable berserker-type character

[jubmato]

Hello!! Cutting right to the chase here – I have attempted to create a Discord server for still-interested DSMP fans! It’s intended to be a chill, creatively-geared space for individuals who are (mostly) normal about these characters. It’s been a backburner project of mine for a little bit now, but I think I’ve gotten everything I’d like to have settled, settled, so I’m attempting to release it to the public!

The server offers a couple different things, to begin with. We’ve got:

Automatic and manual moderation

Pluralkit

Off-topic (general stuff) and on-topic (DSMP-centric) chats, separated into their own categories

Off-topic and on-topic art and writing channels

And a flexible variety of other channels, such as areas for discussing AUs, theories, headcanons, and character analysis!

Basically, just a place to hang out and chat about the DSMP -- because it may be 4 years old now, but by God, some of us are still kickin’!

If this sounds interesting to you at all, even just a little bit, please give in to your demons and join. I promise I will keep things oh so normal and not insane. Link will be below the cut, if your interest has been caught!!

[fandomtrumpshate]

Wish lists

A couple weeks ago when we were gearing up to open signups for the 2024 auction we asked what you hoped to find among this year's offerings. This is what you had to say:

Fandoms dpxdc fic Batfam Shazam Monkey Prince Spirit World The Untamed/MDZS art MarvelxThe Long Dark MarvelxMCYT (Philza and technoblade) Mantracker The Martian Shades of Magic Artful Dodger Transformers (art or fic) A Court of Fey & Flowers (Rue/Hob) More James Bond The Hour Benoit Blanc Untamed (art and vids) Becky Chamber's universes PJO fics starring Annabeth Tortall fics starring Alanna or Kell More Queen's Thief Marvel and DC Comic Crossover Rarepairs

Work types art for a dark/noncon wrestling fic rare pairs a vidder offering supercuts longfic with fandom flexibility research time periods/locations assistance with graphics spreadsheet wizardry sensitivity reading for a specific culture, or world cultures in general write trans MCs and niche identities book cover podfics fanbinding podfics and fanart

So, if any of these are fandom spaces you work in, or types of work that you do and you've been wondering if anyone would be interested?

Yes. The answer is yes. And there is time left for you to make someone's wish come true by signing up to offer one or more of these things for FTH 2024!

Signups are OPEN!

[zizz-asdf-re-r-o-u]

some whackass nu carnival headcanons- nails, bondage, toys, tails

i have like 20 nucarnival theory drafts all partially written but not done. and i could try to finish them. but instead, i write this instead.

there's a couple that i couldn't think of, so if anyone wants to offer suggestions, feel free to contribute.

NU Carnival characters and what nail polish they would be:

Eiden: any holo glitter topper - holo rainbow for the gays, topper cause versatile on any polish :3 Aster: https://www.holotaco.com/products/private-villa its pink and half the stories start out in aster's mansion xD Morvay: OPI Infinite Shine Love or Lust-er? , cause Lust is in the title and it's kinda purple-ish. Honorable mention: theres several other "lust" polishes and even a purple mayhem polish, but the lust ones were weirdly not purple, and the purple mayhem polish was too boring. Yakumo: https://www.kbshimmer.com/much-lava-to-you-multichrome-nail-polish/ - black red multichrome with a subtle holo sparkle cause he shy Olivine: https://www.holotaco.com/products/peridont-bother-me green + peridot reference Edmond: https://www.holotaco.com/products/playing-with-sapphire - sapphire reference. and also, don't we all love the idea of playing with Edmond ;) Quincy: Holo Taco Lost in the Woods or Topaz Tears- wood reference or topaz reference Kuya: https://daintydigitslacquer.com/collections/pride/products/chotic-gender-neutral I just have to, you know? Chaos? Purpleish? but also, i think he'd do 4inch super pointy acrylic nails with lots of 3D gems on it. Honorable mention: Mooncat has a polish called "Foxfire" but its too boring for him. Garu/Karu: any blue/yellow multichrome, or a blue polish with an intense yellow/gold shimmer. i swear i know one, but i can't seem to find it Blade: an automatic robot nail painting machine cause why not xD Dante: https://pluslifelacquer.com/products/fiery-start-2-1 , cause he flamin' xDDD Rei: https://www.starrily.com/products/emc2 a grey holo polish with a chemical formula as the name? totally rei.

What bondage style they would like:

Eiden: everything, but i think he should especially try self-bondage cause... the entire selfcest card???? Aster: western equipment- spreader bar/handcuffs (canon) Morvay: everything Yakumo: single column tie Olivine: diamond harness (canon), but you just *know* he'd be down to try anything Edmond: box tie + hog tie. you know he's flexible enough for this. Quincy: any spread eagle position- i think he's done this with vines before? Kuya: its canon he can do a diamond harness multiple times, but if he was a japanese rigger in real life, he'd totally be into kinbaku, which is angstier than shibari. Garu/Karu: booty basket harness. cause booty. but also i can totally see him in full leather puppy bondage gear cause he's basically already a puppy player. Blade: everything Dante: someone help me with this, i dont know if Dante has done bondage in his rooms yet @murdertramp25 ? Rei: *pulls up that @fisheito fanart of rei tying up someone & singetailing them*

What other kinks they would like:

Eiden: alright, i'll be honest, i think he prefers soft thuddy toys. he might be a switch and a little bit masochistic, but doesn't strike me as an extreme masochist or sadist Aster: the most extreme sadist in the game, but i think he'd go crazy over blood play. vampire gloves would be too on the nose lol, but i think he'd looooove scarification, hooks, or barbed wire floggers too. ok now i'm just shoving my own fetishes onto him lol. or a good findom scene lol. Morvay: tbh, i dont think he's all that into human kinky toys. i think he likes any kind of sex more, but he'll do kinky for his partner (Aster). Yakumo: someone please help me with this Olivine: extreme masochist and exhibitionist and i don't think there's anything he wouldn't try. he's wanted to try orgies or group sex before, but the devs keep cockblocking him from trying. let the man try group sex! Edmond: Halfetirosie wrote a really thoughtful piece about edmond's kinks. i'd like to throw in that edmond should try electroplay again 8D Quincy: someone please help me with this... i'm gonna steal from Garu and say he should try bootblacking. already works with leather, already makes his own clothes, wears a lot of boots, he'd be into it. Kuya: second most intense sadist, and i'd like to offer him latex, a vacu-bed, or a drilldo. Garu: i dont think he's all that into specific toys, he's just really really submissive and slutty and wants to do anything for his master. i do think he might like trying bootblacking. Karu: //glares at Phaerlax and the ao3 Garu/Karu writing community// its very hard for me to figure out what he would be into canonically, and what reading their fics have influenced me lol. Blade: if he has an... uh... anus, he should try bottoming. Dante: someone help me. i'll just add foot fetish cause of velo_agogo though lol. Rei: someone help me again xD

What mermaid tail they would be:

Eiden: https://www.themertailor.com/rainbow-dream-too-whimsy-fantasea-mermaid-tail-2.html In the mermaid event 4koma comic, Eiden is depicted with a boring blue tail. I think he deserves better. Aster: https://finfunmermaid.com/products/rose-calypso-elite-mermaid-tail-l Morvay: https://finfunmermaid.com/products/aurora-purple-pink-calypso-elite-mermaid-tail Yakumo: https://finfunmermaid.com/products/crimson-koi-neptune-elite-mermaid-tail Olivine: https://finfunmermaid.com/products/viridian-blue-green-calypso-elite-mermaid-tail Edmond: https://finfunmermaid.com/products/sapphire-sea-blue-mermaid-tail - sapphire reference xD Quincy: https://shopvancouvermermaid.com/products/moonlight-magic-mermaid-tail or any natural orangey/yellowy nail Kuya: ok technically i would give him the most EXTRA Fin Folk silicone tail with a gazillion fins, but unfortunately Fin Folk's tails are not always on rotation so I'm not sure the link will still work several months from now revisitng this post, so for now i'll put this https://www.themertailor.com/unfortunate-souls-original-whimsy-fantasea-mermaid-tail.html Garu/Karu: https://www.themertailor.com/oceans-secret-full-fantasea-mermaid-tail-skin-mertailor.html Blade: https://finfunmermaid.com/products/iron-mermaiden-halloween-tail Dante: https://www.themertailor.com/aphrodite-seas-original-whimsy-fantasea-mermaid-tail.html Rei: https://finfunmermaid.com/products/silver-mermaid-tail

[chucktaylors]

The NJPW fanbase is dying out, and as a primarily AEW fan that got really into NJPW a couple of months ago, heres a couple of NJPW wrestlers I recommend watching/stanning!!

TJP

- Member of United Empire

- One half of the tag team Catch 2/2, with Francesco Akira

- Also known as The Aswang

- Known for a high flying, flexible, flip-based style of wrestling

DRILLA MOLONEY

- Member of Bullet Club: War Dogs

- 44' Calibre

- Usually seen tagging with Clark Conners

- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion (2nd reign)

- Former United Empire member

CLARK CONNERS

- Member of Bullet Club: War Dogs

- 100 proof

- Usually seen tagging with Drilla Moloney

- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion (2nd reign)

- Cowboy 🤘🏼

GABE KIDD

- Member of Bullet Club: War Dogs

- Im a mad man, dont ya know?

- Known for his hardcore matches and insane/mad/angry personality and style pf wrestling

- Strong Openweight Champion (1st reign)

DAVID FINLAY

- Leader/creator of Bullet Club: War Dogs

- IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion (record setting 2nd reign)

- Beat Ospreay and Jon for the first reign of the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship

- Sent Will Ospreay out of NJPW, alongside the War Dogs and United Empire

ROBBIE EAGLES

- Member of TMDK (The Mighty Dont Kneel)

- Sniper of the Skies

- Former member of Bullet Club and CHAOS

- Australian Style

El Phantasmo

- ELP

- The HDBNGR (head banger)

- 1/2 of G.o.D with Hikuleo

- He's literally put me on blast before on his story for editing him to songs he doesnt like then we beefed then he wished me happy birthday the next day.

- Former Strong Openweight Tag Team Champion (just lost it like 2 days ago)

- He has an LED jacket and the LED glasses down there on Desperado, he's pretty swag ig

HIRMOU TAKAHASHI

- NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion, alongside Bushi and Yota Tsuji

- Timebomb

- Known for his stuffed animal cats, "Daryl"

- Lowk mentally deranged but look how cool his hair and gear is

- He means no harm, rlly

EL DESPERADO

- Former 3 time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion

- Winner of the recent Best Of the Super Juniors

- Former member of Suzuki-gun

- Also means no harm, rlly

[residentshitcunt]

The funniest thing for me personally, coming out of all the James Somerton shit, is the camera choises that he made. I've seen a couple of his more recent videos, there is nothing there that requires spending more than a couple of grand max on a complete camera rig. If what you do is sit in front of a stationary background in controlled lighting and talk at the camera, you can make that work with fucking 8-bit footage (I wouldn't for the sake of flexibility, but it's very doable), keeping in mind it's gonna compress down to a garbage-fire bitrate for streaming. And you go from a Ursa Mini Pro G2 to an FX6? When you're supposedly running out of money? Everything about an FX6 is more money. You need FF glass, you probably want AF lenses, probably mirrorless ones too (no sigma 18-35 1.8 for full frame), and for what, slightly better low light performance (not an issue on a professional set, most cine cams shoot at low EI values) and AF, which again isn't an issue shooting with cine lenses because they don't have fucking AF motors. "I wAnT tO sHoOt AnAmOrPhIc" buy a flare filter and crop your footage and spend the money you saved hiring people to do what actually needs to be done to make a good film, which doesn't involve blowing your budget on camera gear.

[smittywing]

FicBit 7: Jason Todd/Tim Drake

Previous parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

This was not one of Jason's better ideas.

~

Jason tried. He did. He went to the nightclubs and the bars and he asked guys out on dates and kissed guys on the dance floor. Not one of them was Tim Drake. Sure, some of the kisses were interesting and one guy put a heavy hand on Jason’s lower back and pressed him close in a way that he liked, but when he went home, when he went to bed, there was only one person on his mind.

Maybe, he thought, he was trying too hard. He was in the back of a nightclub nursing a drink and watching the couples and throuples on the dance floor. He had discovered a few things that he liked and didn’t like and he could build on that. But his heart wasn’t in it tonight and he knew it.

At least it wasn’t until a slim, dark-haired guy leaned into the bar to speak to the bartender and Jason knew him. He would know Tim Drake anywhere. Tim got his drink and backed up, his eyes casing the room. There was nowhere to go, so Jason just braced for Tim’s gaze to sweep over him and lifted his glass in acknowledgment. Tim nodded and started filtering his way through the crowd toward Jason.

“Hey,” he said, a few inches below Jason’s ear. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

Jason shrugged. “Research,” he said. “Where’s Cannon Fodder?”

“I’m working tonight,” Tim said, sliding up against the wall next to Jason and taking a sip of his drink. “It’s drugs,” he said from behind the glass. “Want to help?”

“Hell yes,” Jason said. 

~

For the record, Jason would be down with taking out some pushers even if it didn't involve Tim murmuring in his ear for the next ten minutes. 

But it did. 

“It comes in on motorboats small enough to come up to the dock,” Tim explained. “They cut and package it in one of the rooms upstairs - I haven’t gotten in there yet - and then they have the dealers take it to the floor. A little dancing, a little grinding, hey you want to do some powder, and they’re making bank before midnight.”

“So we want to be on the docks,” Jason reasoned. “Pushers aren’t getting us anywhere but the cutting room. If we can get onboard one of those boats - “

“This is just evidence-gathering,” Tim told him. “If we can catch the actual sale, I’ll call Detective Williams and he can - “

“Don’t you want to get the big bad,” Jason asked. “Cut this ring off at the head?”

“Do you have anything that even resembles a plan?” Tim returned. “We don’t have gear. At least I don’t.”

“I came here to get laid, not bust a drug ring.” Jason shrugged. “But I like to think I’m flexible with my plans.”

Tim stared at him a moment, eyebrows furrowed, mouth slightly open, and Jason suddenly realized what he’d said. Well. Who cared, anyway. One of these days he was going to get laid at one of these places. He didn’t have to tell Tim that it wasn’t actually going to be tonight.

‘Come with me,” Tim said suddenly, looping fingers around Jason’s wrist and tugging him around the crowd, up to the bar. Tim left his half-filled glass on a tray and waved down a handsome blond guy at the edge of the room. For a moment, Jason thought Bernard was actually there, but then realized the guy was too broad and too sharp-featured to be Tim’s boyfriend.

“What can I get for you, Mr. Drake-Wayne?” the man greeted them, hardly sparing a glance for Jason. “Or for your friend, perhaps?”

“Listen,” Tim said, sounding impatient and bored for someone who had summoned the guy in the first place. “My friend - “ and at this point, he slid his hand into the back pocket of Jason’s jeans - “is looking for a bump but frankly, I’m a little concerned about the quality of the stuff here. How do I know it's not cut with fentanyl or something else that could cause some…bad press?”

Wow, Jason almost said because he knew Tim had some bastard in him but he delivered that line so coldly, Jason wanted to shiver. 

There were other reasons he wanted to shiver, starting with the hand Tim had firmly tucked in his back pocket. He was starting to regret wearing the tight jeans that night. 

“Understood,” the man said. “If you like, I can show you the process from receipt to delivery. The package comes to us pure and the division of assets takes place upstairs.”

“Please,” Tim said disdainfully. “I do enjoy an efficient operation.”

They followed the man down a back hallway, past the bathrooms and the kitchen, and finally out a set of double doors onto the freshly salted air of the courtyard. 

Under the light of the new moon and the motion-activated security lights on the building, Jason’s pants were definitely too tight. He tried to adjust himself subtly but Tim noticed and a blush spread across the bridge of his nose and over both cheeks. He did not, however, remove his hand.

“Mr. Drake-Wayne,” the man said, nodding to the water. 

Tim looked at his watch. “On the nose,” he said. The speedboat pulled up alongside the dock and the pilot looped heavy rope lines around the pylons of the dock. 

“Pure bricks,” the man said, breaking one in half. White powder puffed upward in the moonlight and Jason threw up a little bit in his mouth. He tapped a finger against the split edge and held it up to Tim’s face - to smell or taste, Jason wasn't sure. “A sample, Mr. Wayne?”

“Drake-Wayne,” Jason said. 

“Excuse me?” the man said, looking vaguely horrified that Jason dared speak. 

“He uses both names,” Jason said. Tim was the only one of them to use the Wayne moniker - mostly because Bruce had suckered him into working for the business - but he made sure to acknowledge his birth family as well, and Jason respected that. 

“Of course,” the man said. The expression he cast at Jason was most definitely in the sneer family. “Any other requests?”

“Well,” Jason said, deciding to go for broke. “I don’t suppose we could have a tour of that ship?”

Tim’s hand spasmed. Yeah, this was definitely one of Jason’s better ideas.

~

This turned out not to be one of Jason’s better ideas.

Jason hit the water feet-first and sank like a rock. He exhaled some bubbles and followed them to the surface with brute strength strokes. His head broke the surface and he immediately looked around for Tim as he blinked water out of his eyes. For a long moment, he couldn’t see Tim, could barely see anything, and his heart seized up as he reoriented himself, finding the ship behind him and the lights of the marina in the distance. He shook his head and his ears popped and there, finally, Tim’s head broke the surface twenty feet away.

Jason used a powerful crawl to close the space between them. “You okay?” he called, spitting out vile Gotham river water that lapped into his mouth when he opened it.

“Yeah,” Tim called back, spitting out his own mouthful. His hair fell into his eyes and he shoved it back out of the way. “Make for the marina. My boat’s not far.”

‘Not far’ was a relative statement, Jason found, as he followed Tim through the water toward the lights. Tim was a graceful swimmer, cutting through the water swiftly and quietly. Jason had the strength and endurance, but he wasn’t as fast as Tim and trying to keep up was actually a little bit of a workout.

“Here,” Tim finally declared, grabbing the ladder on the outside of one of the boats and hauling himself out of the water. Jason followed closely, feeling the weight of the water fall off him as he pulled himself up the rungs.

“Ugh,” Jason said when he hit the deck. “Gross.” He was drenched through and while he was glad he’d been wearing clubbing clothes instead of his armored suit, he was drenched and the night air was chill.

“We probably need a course of antibiotics now,” Tim said, and Jason coughed out a watery laugh. Then Tim sat straight up. “Oh, shit.”

“Oh shit, what?” Jason asked but he didn’t have to wait for an answer.

Cannon Fodder was on the dock and hopping onto the boat. He was a good-looking kid, Jason had to admit, taller than Tim, lean but fit, with dark blond hair falling over his eyes. 

“Tim?” he called. “Tim’s friend? Are you okay?”

“Hey, hi,” Tim said, scrambling to his feet and reaching for Bernard. “We’re fine, it’s all good.”

“Were you *swimming*?” Cannon Fodder asked in horror and reared back when Tim leaned in to kiss him. Jason couldn’t really blame him. Gotham’s water wasn’t exactly potable on its own and the river caught the worst of it. “In the *river*?”

Tim raked his hair back. “Um. Jason fell in and I jumped in for…solidarity.”

“Solidarity,” Cannon Fodder repeated.

“To help him get back up to the boat,” Tim amended hastily.

“Help,” Cannon Fodder echoed. His eyes narrowed at Jason and Jason immediately felt guilty. This was the guy who made Tim smile like Jason had never seen before, Tim’s *partner* and Jason couldn’t stop himself from wanting to wrap Tim in his arms, kiss him, steal him away for his very own. 

Did Cannon Fodder know he was the guy Tim had kissed? How had he reacted when Tim had explained? How had he *felt*? Was the context enough? Empathy might not be a trait people immediately associated with Jason, but he was having a hard time not putting himself in Cannon Fodder’s shoes right now.

“I fell in,” Jason said. “I was chasing my, um, hat. I had a hat and I thought I could grab it. Guess I was wrong.” He could feel Tim’s eyes on him. Ugh, selflessness was the worst.

“Sorry about your hat,” Cannon Fodder said. “You might want to hold on to it better next time.”

“Yeah,” Jason said, entirely aware there was no wind that night. “Or maybe not wear a hat.”

“Also an option,” Tim agreed. “Um, Bernard, this is my friend Jason. Jason, this is my boyfriend Bernard.” And then he fucking blushed at calling Cannon Fodder his boyfriend. “Look, we should get some dry clothes. Um. Jason, I’ll see if I have anything that will fit you?”

That was unlikely. Jason might be able to squeeze into a t-shirt that was oversized on Tim, but there was no way pants were going to happen.

“Uh, thanks but I think I’m just gonna…Uber?”

“Uber?” Tim repeated.

“Uber,” Cannon Fodder said firmly.

Somehow Jason’s phone survived its bath in the Gotham River, courtesy of the weatherized case Barbara had left in a gear drop. There was awkward silence as Jason waited for his ride.

“Thanks for the save,” Jason said stiffly when his ride was a minute out. “Bernard, good to meet you, man.”

“Same.”

Yeah, Cannon Fodder definitely knew who he was.

Jason collapsed in the back seat of the car and closed his eyes. He’d given an address two blocks from his closest safehouse but chances were he’d have to burn the place anyway. River stench lingered.

He tried not to picture Cannon Fodder taking Tim below decks and stripping him of all those wet clothes, wrapping him in towels, running a hot shower, getting in with him, soaping him up, and - 

Yeah.  Not picturing that at all.

~

[animehouse-moe]

Would you be surprised to learn that Gero x Kinosaki is a popular ship?

I wouldn't be surprised at all, really.

Spoilers for volume 1 below, so read at your own risk.

Really, Marriage Toxin explicitly sets up Gero and Kinosaki as a ship and a potential "end goal" for the pair. The idea of Akari having a girlfriend is very much meant to open the reader's perspective to the potential of a relationship between Gero and Kinosaki.

Similarly, the idea of duty over passion is pretty well expressed, and even though Gero claims to be caving to that duty he refuses to not consider his passion... which, well, just sort of tells the reader that the likelihood of Gero falling for Kinosaki is highly likely.

The icing on the cake for me though is that in volume 1 Kinosaki has their Cinderella moment.

They didn't really have any "feelings" for Gero prior to this moment, but through the symbolism of losing their one slipper, they fall into the "Cinderella" role.

Also, here's proof that it's only the singular slipper.

But anyways, the whole point is that the manga is explicitly stating to viewers "hey you see this? How Gero's looking for a spouse and trying to find the one that fits the crystal slipper? Yeah, we're telling you who it is".

It's really heavy handed, so long as you catch it, and I think that's really fun.

Though this was also a question about the idea of a ship, so I should actually address that part more haha.

Gero and Kinosaki are already shown to have great chemistry. They have humor that complements and contrasts, their personalities are very flexible in regards to how one treats the other (I'd assume there's a good bit of versatility between the pair in regards to the top-bottom conversation), and they're a visually pleasing couple. Gero brings a lot of sharpness while Kinosaki smooths things out.

It's a lot of good energy and creativity that I'm sure would get a lot of gears turning in the heads of writers, so I'm really not surprised to hear it's a popular ship.

[splatsvilles-fashionista]

Splatoon 3 Fashion Challenge - Week 38:

Okay. I know Splatoween got announced and we're all super excited about that, but I will politely ask you all to pretend we're normal for little while, just a little bit, so that we can get this fashion challenge going.

I've been for the last couple of weeks, the challenges have been a bit more loose and freeform, and that's always fun, but we're reining things in a bit, and returning to our roots, as this week's theme is:

The Seahorse Shoreliner!

This beige guayabera is arguably one of the most iconic new shirts from Splatoon 3, featured prominently by the Octoling on the game's very box art. It was a good choice for it, too, as it shows off the way Splatsville's habit of taking the old and traditional and mixing it into its chaotic aesthetic.

And far from being a boring color, its neutral beige tone makes it very flexible. Just how flexible? Well, why don't you try for yourself?

Rules:

Put together an outfit of any kind that includes the Seahorse Shoreliner. Remember to give your outfit a name when you submit it!

Send it to me via ask or submission, please don’t add it to a reblog, that makes it very easy to miss! Also, please make it clear that it is a submission for the challenge and not just a regular submission.

Only one outfit per person! You can submit multiple photos of that single outfit, though.

Please include the gear you picked in the submission. It makes my life just a touch easier!  

The outfit should be submitted before Monday morning, as I will pick my favourite submissions to feature on Monday evening.

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

Hey, Sex Witch! This one's uhhh probably different than your usual fare BUT here goes. I'm pretty close to middle-aged, monogamous (m/f), and having some trouble with like. positions. Because we're both like ow my knees and ow my hips and yes this is the one position that seems to work but now we're BORED. Which has led to all sorts of anxiety issues around initiating and having sex at all. Do you know of any resources to help a couple of old farts out?

hi anon,

this is actually soooo normal for what I do here! a lot of Sex Witch Advice(TM) boils down to "okay, so try something different then," and that's exactly what we're going to do today!

right off the bat if knees are an issue: hey. have we tried some padding. you could buy, like, this 95 dollar sex pillow from goop if you really wanted to

but you could also just, like, fold up your own blanket or strategically place your own pillows to do exactly the same thing! padding in general can be a huge help; just prop em up wherever you need them to support the parts of your body that need support and go to town.

or, hey, just buy some knee pads and/or knee braces. this may just be the roller skater in me talking, but knee pads are so sexy. having sex that requires its own gear is soooo sexy, and knee pads are no exception!

this is lingerie. to me.

also, pro tip for you and anyone reading this: this also 100% applies to things like wrist or elbow braces! any supportive devices! whatever you need to support your body and keep it comfy during sex, just do that!

aside from just padding things out, let's talk about sex that requires less hip movement. y'all have, presumably, fingers and mouths and a variety of exciting erogenous zones, all of which can be combined in fun and exciting ways.

there is also a wide, WIDE world of sex toys out there to explore together. hips too achey to thrust much anymore? that's fine; just buy a thrusting vibrator and get each other off that way, babe. I've heard particularly great things about Hot Octopuss, a company that found unexpected popularity with elderly customers who enjoyed how accessible many of their toys were for bodies that aren't quite as flexible as they used to be, but obviously anything that tickles your fancy is fair game.

(just, you know. check the packaging to make sure it's body-safe. no jelly dildos, so help me god.)

it sounds like the problem absolutely isn't you and your partner not wanting to bone. in a strange way I consider it a great sign that you've gotten bored, because it tells me that you and your partner like variety and expect to have fun when you have sex together!

to me, that means you're in a fine position to get back in the swing of things by doing a little experimenting together. approach sex like a game, playing together find out what works. try things like the list of positions offered in this article, seeing what works for you, what doesn't, and what just feels silly. when something doesn't work for you, that isn't a failure - just a learning experience, and a great opportunity to laugh together.

listen, you guys are in a super cool part of life where the gift of your lived experience is starting to make itself known and require different accommodations. learning how to do that now is GREAT, because (if everything goes right) you're just going to keep getting older, and your body will continue to change! how great to get to learn what intimacy will look like as you spend more of your lives together!

[allthe-everything]

to all my babes out there trying to get a job, got some tips for y'all. i'm updating my resume and realised that what i do might help some people, and not everyone knows about ATS parsing. gonna be long, will add a tldr at the end

so, first things, instead of MS office, i use libreOffice as my document creator/word processor. stop giving microsoft your money - libreOffice is free and open source, and it's amazing. go get it. saves you money too and god knows we need that. but, i'm sure you can do this in publisher too, i just don't know all the buttons

onto techniques: instead of creating my resume in libreOffice's equivalent of word, i use the equivalent of microsoft's publisher - the thing meant for you to make cards and flyers and whatnot. essentially you just pick a size document, and get to throw things (pictures, text boxes, charts, whatever) onto the page where you want them. since it's geared more towards artsy things, it's a lot more flexible with formatting than word (moving images in word? just don't).

essentially, every snippet of information i put on my resume is one text box. each job with its description, each project i've worked on, etc gets its own text box. this is great in a couple ways: it means that if you want to change the formatting of your resume, you can just move around text boxes instead of fucking around with copy/paste all day. the second thing is that when a machine tries to read your resume, internally it'll read that pdf and see blocks of related information that's more precise than giant paragraphs you'd get in word. make your section titles their own text boxes (like experience, education, skills, etc) so they don't get lumped in with the real info.

i'm not gonna talk about "resume words" or "clean formatting" bc tbh i'm bad at that and i think recruiters are dumb sometimes for wanting "no templates, but only format it this one particular way". but get all your info there, arrange it how you see fit, and THEN. then we get sneaky.

in libreOffice, you can name and add descriptions to text boxes. "what!" i hear you say. "that's so weird why would anyone do that!". and i say "well, if a human is reading your resume, it doesn't matter what the text box thinks it is. but it's a machine reading your resume! you want to speak the machine's language." the name is less important than the description, in my opinion, but you can name the boxes too. what you're gonna do is select a text box, click on "format" at the top bar, then "description". and you're gonna add in the alt text box what this text box is. if it's a list of skills, write "skills". if it's education, write "education". this info won't show up visually to a human reading the doc, but it helps machines categorise the data, just a little bit better. in the description part of this, you can also try adding the key words from the job description so the machine sees them but a human really can't find it unless they really look. this isn't something i've been able to test thoroughly, though, so take it with a grain of salt.

i'm still working out all the kinks myself, and picking apart what the ATS does in terms of parsing your resume, but when i started doing this my resume was better parsed whenever i applied to jobs. which, bonus, less retyping your resume into the bullshit job app.

tldr; fuck microsoft, use libre office instead. use libre office's drawings app or ms office's publisher app for ease of use. in libre office, click text box, go to format -> description and add a description of what the text box contains. test and retest your resume in an ATS parser online to make sure the machine reads your resume correctly.

i wish this wasn't how things are, but since we're here might as well figure out hacks. if anyone else has info to add, please please do. it's rough out here.

[dingochef]

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x You (OFC)

Warnings: Swearing, Smut (MDNI 18+ Only), Stalking, P in V, oral (female and male receiving), Semi-public sex, light spanking,

Summary: Jake officially moves in, but that's not what throws you off kilter, it's memories from the past.

Word Count: 3.4k

Chapter Specific Warning: Brief mention of eating disorders in general. No character has an eating disorder in this story.

My Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Chapter 5

Chapter 6: From Afar

Jake wasn't kidding when he said it wouldn't take him long to pack and be out of his quarters. He has packed up his belongings and is back at your house in under four hours.

You are relieved, the few times you had visited the apartment always felt lonely and impersonal. It also didn't help that the floor below him was all of his students, which was too close to have any real separation from his job.

You've only lived with one other person before and in a place you both chose to move to so it was a blank slate you filled together. Jake is moving into your house where you've lived for a couple of years. You want Jake to feel like this is his home, too.

You had cleared out a drawer in your dresser for Jake to stash some clothes early on in your relationship, but now you need to reallocate storage space in the bedroom. You and Jake are standing in the bedroom discussing it.

"I won't lie, I do have an absurd amount of clothing between work clothing, casual clothing, and cycling/workout gear," you say.

Jake laughs,

"We'll figure it out, besides I like all your clothes especially when I'm taking them off you," he replies and kisses your temple.

"So, I was thinking I'll clear out half the closet for your frequently worn hangables and we can put the rest of your stuff and formal uniforms in the guest room closet. We could also get another dresser for you or get a double one, I think there's room for either option," you say as you lay out a plan.

Jake wraps his arms around you and replies,

"You are such a cute engineer, the way you pounce on a problem is adorable."

You give him a little scoff and he continues,

"I think the closet will work and that another dresser is a good idea, it gives us more flexibility in layout."

Nodding, you reply,

"I think I can get a matching dresser from the place you got this one, or there's a neat vintage shop in Old Town where we could find something."

The bedroom settled, you walk into the guest room. You have a very fancy futon with a good mattress for guests and a desk, but not much else in the room.

"This room doesn't really have a function, I sometimes get friends visiting, but when my family comes for Christmas my parents just rent a beach house for a week and we all hang there."

"Christmas in San Diego, sounds nice."

"Yeah, with my parents in Michigan and my sister in Chicago convincing them to come somewhere warm in the middle of the winter was an easy sell."

"Back to this," you wave your hand at the room, "If you want to carve out a space that's yours or have any ideas this room is a blank canvas."

You step over to Jake and wrap your arms around his waist,

"I want you to feel at home here, that this house is your home, so if there's anything you want to do, change, or need, let's talk about it. You know, paint, sheets, whatever."

He kisses your forehead.

"I appreciate you putting so much thought into all of this," he looks down at me, "I do feel at home here, I like the way it's decorated, light and airy, you have very comfortable furniture and whatever 12,000 thread count sheets you use are like sleeping on a cloud. This is home because you're here with me."

"You are too sweet," you respond standing on your tiptoes to give him a kiss.

"I have a few things back in Texas at my parents house that I'd like to get up on a wall and a few other mementos that I thought I'd grab when I went back for Thanksgiving," he pauses,

"Speaking of, would you like to come with me and meet my family?"

You are surprised and not at the same time that Jake has asked you to meet his family. A brief memory of meeting Liam's family for the first time flashes into your brain; it is not a good memory.

"Depends, do you like your family? I've walked into a hornet's nest of passive aggressive familial animosity and I'd prefer not to do it again."

Jake chuckles,

"I do like my family, in fact I love them. I think you'll like them and they are definitely going to love you. Seriously, my mom is probably going to write me off and adopt you as the daughter she never got."

It's your turn to laugh,

"It sounds great, I'd love to spend Thanksgiving in Texas with you and the Seresin clan."

"I'll call my mom later and let her know the news, that and my new address."

Jake is beaming, the panty dropper smile is brilliant on his face.

The transition of Jake living with you is hardly noticeable or different than how things were before in the daily routine of your lives.

It's a few days into your official cohabitation when you get a large box in the mail from your mom.

You're opening it up when Jake gets home.

"What's all that?" he asks as he takes his shoes off. You have placed the large box on the coffee table and are looking through it.

"My mom sent it. My parents have decided to downsize and are looking at getting a condo on the lakeshore, so they've been cleaning out the house in DeWitt. My mom said she was sending some 'important stuff' that I left there," you answer.

"The lakeshore?" Jake asks.

"Sorry, Michigan thing. A condo somewhere in one of the towns on Lake Michigan, in this case, or any of the four Great Lakes that Michigan borders."

He laughs at your very tourist guide answer and sits down next to you. There's a few formal family portraits in frames on top, you laugh as you look at the absurd 90s clothes and hair.

Jake laughs,

"El, you had a perm."

"I know, a poodle perm, too. I asked my mother later in life if she laughed when she sent me to the bus stop in the morning."

The next artifact to come up is your high school diploma and tassel. you put it aside and look under it. There are about a dozen DVDs with homemade labels on them.

"Oh yeah, my dad said something about taking our family videos and putting them on DVD."

Flipping through the DVDs you see that most are in chronological order and include things like birthday parties, holidays, and school events. The last two give you pause. The first is labeled with your mom's handwriting and says, "Elsa Gymnastics - Before" and the second one says, "Elsa Gymnastics - After."

You look down and the rest of the box is filled with gymnastics medals and trophies and other useless trappings of competition. Something in you flares up in anger.

"Jesus Christ, mom. It's been nearly 20 years and she still hasn't let it go," you spit out.

Jake takes the two DVDs from your hands and reads the labels.

"Are these seriously divided by when you fractured your ankle?" he asks, an incredulous edge to his voice. He has peered into the box and seen the mountain of medals and trophies. He puts his hand on your back and starts to rub gently, sensing your agitation.

You huff an angry laugh through the tears that are starting to form, "Nothing like your parents making you feel like a disappointment from afar, thank you US Postal Service."

"That's a little fucked up, El. I can't understand how any parent wouldn't be busting with pride for all that you've accomplished in your life."

You sigh,

"Please let them know that. They had one dream for me for so many years, but it wasn't my dream. They poured so much time, energy, and money into making that happen. I get the initial disappointment, but it's been almost 20 years and I've gone on to do some pretty god damn amazing things with my life, but they still hold onto the grief of losing that one dream. I always thought that a parent's dream for their kid would be for them to be happy in life and not a serial killer."

He snickers at the last part and takes your hands in his,

"I think most parents aim higher for 'not a serial killer'. What matters is if you're happy with your life, El. Not them. You are an amazingly smart, beautiful, funny, and kind woman who has a goddamn PhD in aerospace engineering with a job that engages and challenges you and a devastatingly handsome boyfriend who is a decorated fighter jet pilot."

You laugh softly at his self assessment.

"People wouldn't write that in a movie script because it sounds too good to be true," he says, earnestly.

You look at him through the last of the tears and say,

"Did I mention I love you?"

"Not in the last five minutes, but I'll take that any time. Here," he stands and pulls you up. He rifles through the rest of the box to see if there's anything else besides medals and trophies. Seeing none he picks up the box and grabs your hand.

"Come with me and grab some shoes," he tells you. You break apart for a brief moment to slip on some sandals by the back door. He is outside and heading towards our garbage bin in the alley with you following close behind.

"I think I'm reading the situation right, this all shit you don't want in your life anymore?" he asks, putting the edge of the box on the edge of the now open bin.

"Yes, I've made my peace with it and it's all just reminders of the past and shit I don't need," you answer.

With that answer he tips the box of medals, trophies, and bad memories into our trash. It is a loud din of metal clanking and jingling. There is a silence after everything settles in the trash and you feel lighter. Jake responsibly breaks down the box and puts it in the recycling bin.

Taking your hand he leads you back into the house. He sits down on the couch and pulls you down with him.

"I didn't throw the DVDs out because I want to see that part of your history," he says, almost asking gently.

You nod and you get it, it was such a big part of your life that it makes sense that he wants to know about it.

"No time like the present. I'm already in an emotional state so why not go with it," you say a bit darkly. You pick up the DVD labeled 'After' and put it in the player and turn on the TV.

Surprisingly, the first meet to come up is one from college, you recognize the shiny shamrock on your leotard as you run for a vault, your face determined. As it plays you look over to Jake, who is mesmerized.

"That's unbelievable you could do something like that with your body. Hell, most people pull a muscle getting off the couch," he says watching the past you on the TV.

The TV you had landed the vault beautifully, you bow and trot off out of the frame. The next thing to appear is you on the parallel bars. You snuggle into Jake and he wraps his arms around you.

"Babe, not to be blunt, but you seemed really small back then," he asks with a bit of hesitancy in his voice.

"Yeah, I was about 15 pounds lighter than I am now. There was immense pressure to keep your weight down, I'm lucky I didn't come out with an eating disorder. I didn't really have tits or an ass till you went to grad school and stopped working out four hours a day, basically."

"Really, you are a tiny little thing right now and in incredible shape. You don't even weigh enough to give blood. I didn't realize how intense some of the training was and how that would have affected you growing up. It makes it even more amazing that you're a well adjusted human being after all that."

"Yeah, it took some therapy and mostly just getting away from my parents and living the life I wanted."

Jake looks down at you where you have your head on his chest.

"And that life led to us, so I'm incredibly grateful for that. Plus, I do have to tell you how much I appreciate your tits and ass among other things," he says leaning down to kiss me.

You let out a little laugh,

"You are a very good man, Jake Seresin."

Your storm of your emotions has wound down and you are filled with the need to have Jake surround you with his love in every way possible.

Pausing the TV, you stand up and pull on Jake's hand to get him up off the couch. You take his hand and guide you and Jake to the bedroom.

You guide his head down and kiss him,

"I need you, Jake, I need your love," you whisper into his neck, your voice cracking a little at the end. You see the understanding in his eyes, in what you're asking for. Jake brings his hands up to your cheeks to cradle your head and kisses you so tenderly it brings tears to your eyes that Jake wipes away with his thumbs. He wraps his arms around you and squeezes you into a tight hug.

Lifting you up he gently places you on the bed. He pulls back and undoes your pants and slides them off. Then he works on his clothes, unbuttoning his shirt then his pants letting them all fall on the floor. The bed tips as he kneels down and crawls up to you pulling you into his arms and kissing you. His hand slips under your shirt and rubs the soft skin of your stomach.

You lean up to pull your shirt off and Jake's hands have slipped to your back to undo your bra. Clothing discarded Jake rolls you so that you are on your sides. He pulls your leg on top of his and pulls you close so that you are chest to chest. He brings his hand up to stroke your cheek and looks in your eyes and whispers,

"El, you love you so much. I can't change your past, but know our future together is brighter than any shitty medal ever would have been."

His words overwhelm you and you feel a part of yourself heal, his love so strong and pure. It strikes you that is what love really is, unconditional and beautiful. You can't form the right words, so you desperately kiss him trying to let him know how much you are feeling right now. Small tears slip down your cheeks as you process it all. When you're finally able to talk, all you can say is, your voice a little thick,

"Jake, you need you, need you right now."

He understands and slides down to slip off your underwear and his. Sitting up he gently pulls your arms for him to straddle his lap.

You sit in his lap and enjoy the feeling of strength and protection that envelop you as Jake wraps his strong arms around you. Your head is tucked into his neck and he smooths his hands over the expanse of your back and you for the same. The position places your core over his rapidly hardening cock and you start slowly running your heat over him, your quickly forming slick wetting him. Everything you've ever wanted is here at this moment, and is Jake. You reach behind yourself and guide him into you. You both moan at the contact and connection. You savor the initial stretch, the initial joining, your breathing starting to speed up and your foreheads together.

Rolling your hips Jake's breath catches and a low groan bubbles up from his chest. His hands slide down to your hips and join the gentle pace you have set. The room is filled with soft moans and heavy breathing. Your hips are suddenly lifted by Jake's strong hands and you are moving farther up and down his cock. You engage your legs to help speed up the pace. A stab of pleasure shoots through you. Jake has moved one of his hands to your clit and is drawing circles around it in time with your pace.

There is so much emotion running through you right now; you feel raw, vulnerable, and most of all safe. That thought combined with your now almost frantic pace and Jake's efforts on your clit brings your orgasm hurtling towards you. The intensity overwhelms you and tears pinprick at the edges of your eyes as you cling to Jake as the waves wash over you. Jake's breathing has stuttered and he spills into you reaching his high. Wrapping his arms around you, he murmurs words of praise as your breathing slows,

"My El, so strong, so amazing."

You let them wash over you along with a warm feeling of comfort. Jake gently lays you down. You are so exhausted, emotionally, physically, and sexually and you quickly slip into a light sleep.

You wake a little while later, a little disoriented, not used to taking a nap this late in the day. Jake is cooking something, the smells luring you out of bed. Throwing on one of Jake's t-shirts and some underwear you walk out to the kitchen to find Jake putting some bowls of food on the table. He is wearing a pair of gray sweats and, of course, a faded Navy t-shirt. He turns and gives you a bright smile and says,

"I was just about to wake you, figured you needed the rest."

Stepping up to Jake you wraps your arms around his waist, nuzzling your face into the soft fabric of his shirt on his chest.

"I did, definitely helped me recharge a bit. What's for dinner?"

"Whipped up a quick stir fry," he answers. You break the embrace and lead him to the table sitting down to eat. He is looking at you trying to read your face to see where you're at emotionally. You take a bite, chew and swallow it savoring the umami and other delicious flavors. He continues to watch your face closely, you help him out and say,

"First, this is really good. I like the sauce," you reach out and take his free hand,

"Second, I want to really thank you for being here today, for that emotional landmine. I know if it was just me, I don't know how I would have dealt with it. Probably would have angrily drank too much wine and then put all that emotion into a box and not dealt with it."

He snorts,

"So you would have worked through it in a totally healthy way."

"Yeah, but having you here to share it and do something about it, even if it was just a mostly symbolic act, it was a million times better. Thank you."

He gentle shakes his head,

"El, that's just one benefit you bring to our relationship, besides keeping you knee deep in orgasms." You give him a well earned laugh.

"I'm here to share your burdens and support you, that's what love is. I think it was more than a symbolic act, your mom said 'important stuff'. Those medals and trophies were important to her, not you. They were just bits of metal that brought you back to bad memories. Getting rid of them shows you've moved past that. All the good that gymnastics brought you, your degree, your crazy capable body, and your own joy when you did it for yourself, that's what you get to take with you, not trinkets that supposedly made your parents proud."

"Jake, stop, I'm going to start crying into your stir fry," you squeak out through a few tears. Wiping them away and you squeeze Jake's hand.

"I want you to know this goes both ways, I'm here to support you too, babe. You and you are a team," you say as you point to both of you.

"I don't want you to pull some stoic soldier shit when life hands you a problem. I will always be here for you."

"It's a deal, El. It's a deal."

Chapter 7

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