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#grapevine technique
livingwellnessblog · 4 months
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Hear  Your Good news Announced! A Neville Goddard Method
Hear  Your Good news Announced! A Neville Goddard Method
Hear  Your Good news Announced! Imagine this: You’re chatting with an aquaintance, someone you know and who knows you but NOT your best friend. Why not your best friend? Because your best friend already knows everything! You tell your best friend everything first, so imagine a person who maybe knows you both, but you don’t usually confide in them. In other words; An acquaintance! Hear them say…
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badassindistress · 7 months
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~🌺🌼⚘Squashed Flower Stays⚘🌼🌺~
This summer I followed a workshop on natural fabric dying or tataki zomé, or as I like to call it Squashed Flower Dyeing with a Hammer!
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And me being who I am, I decided to immediately graduate from test strips into making fabric for stays.
The technique of this is that flowers naturally have pigments. If you place a fresh flower on some cotton or linen, sandwich it between some more linen and smash it with a big rubber mallet, those pigments get squashed in your fabric. You get a coloured squash print of a flower or leaf:
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Then you wash your fabric in iron sulfate (your fabric goes yellow and your print goes black) white vinegar (your colours stay, reds go pink) or alun/aluin (your colours fix but go more purple).
The sad thing is, the colours fade very quickly. The fresher your leaf, the brighter the mark, but even the vibrant colours fade when they come into contact with the sun :(
Anyway, it turned out very interesting and was great fun to do for an afternoon:
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Stay tuned for the turning it into stays part!
(Link here when I get to that)
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yesihaveaobsession · 15 days
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One on One
Alastor x hunter(ess) reader
Summary: You and Alastor Spar :D
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You were a very well-known hunter on Earth; your defense is what made you well-known. But apparently, you weren't so smart and went on a Werewolf hunt by yourself. You honestly thought it wouldn't be that bad, but the gash on your side said otherwise. Left alone to die, that's how you ended up in hell. From your time spent in hell, you heard of the Hazbin Hotel and the message it was trying to convey, and frankly, you believed in it. So, you stayed and became close friends with the fellow Sinners.
One more important figure was Alastor, The Radio Demon. He adored your fighting style and liked the idea that you were sweet but could tear a poor sinner's body in half with a blink of an eye. You had told him what you were on Earth, but since he died in the thirties, he had no idea that there were people who actually hunted demons and other beings like himself. However, he didn't fear you; no, he found it quite interesting, hence being close with him.
You two always teased each other, and you always flirted, but surprisingly he didn't seem to care. Usually, he would, but he knew you didn't really mean it, and he knew it was all a part of the teasing. You teased him about his fighting style, and just to get under your skin, he did the same, even though he adored it.
But on this day specifically, he wanted to put your fighting skills to the test, to see what your weaknesses were and what you were good at. You heard from the grapevine (Charlie) that Alastor wanted to see you. You were sent to his room, and he stood there with his usual smile. The fireplace was lit, making the room dim.
"Ah, splendid of you to join me, my dear," Alastor greeted with a head tilt. You saw something in his eyes that told you the deer demon was up to something, and you also knew he wasn't going to tell you. Alastor stepped forward to meet you in the center of the room. "Today, we shall focus on agility and precision. But before we delve into the specifics, let's warm up a bit, shall we?"
You snorted, "You're going to spar in that?" gesturing to his suit. He let out a laugh. Alastor then showed various techniques and maneuvers. His movements were lightning-fast yet precise, showcasing his mastery of combat. You easily blocked and dodged his attacks with such ease.
"Now, my dear, it's your turn," Alastor said, gesturing to you. You then threw some punches and kicks in which he too easily dodged and blocked. Once you had enough because you could barely get in any hits, you managed to kneel down and flip him over your shoulder; luckily there was a mat there in which he landed with a grunt. You shot him a triumphantly smile which soon ended when he swept your leg, sending you flying to the ground onto the mat.
You managed to roll backward and land right back onto your knee, which was a lot easier for you to regain your composure. The atmosphere in the room became charged with energy. The sound of fists meeting fists and feet hitting the mat filled the air as the two of you sparred, each exchange pushing you to your limits.
"Come on now, dear, you have to do better than that."
Alastor then left you no room to defend yourself, so you took him by surprise when you swept his leg and managed to get on top of him and pin him down, smiling proudly.
"Bet that, deer man," you smirked. Alastor's and your faces were mere inches apart; you pressed your advantage, pinning him to the ground. Your charade came to an end before you could revel in your victory; Alastor swiftly flipped your positions, effortlessly trapping you beneath him.
"BITCH!" you shouted.
"Now, now, let's not get ahead of ourselves, shall we?" he purred, a devilish glint in his crimson eyes.
Now Alastor has noticed that you seem to use your surroundings when it came to fighting; there's a candle near you, you're using it. A stick, you're using it. But since this was all hands and legs, he's found your weakness. He watched you struggle to get him off you; he was much taller than you, his body practically covered yours as he hovered over you. But after a short while, you knocked his arm to his elbow and swept your leg to make more legroom for you to squeeze your body through, making it easier for you to bump him and get on top of him again.
You pinned his arms above his head, trying to catch your breath after all the effort you had just put in to get to that spot.
"Not bad, dear, not bad."
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finch-velutina · 21 days
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Episode 1100: Even More Gear 5 Analysis
Oh my god i loved this episode. The Egghead animation style just lends itself so well to the Gomu Gomu no Mi and Gear 5 specifically. Look at him he's so silly :)
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These two moments from previous episodes show how gear 5 has influenced Luffy's mastery over his fruit (using gear 3 w/o Haki or going gear 2nd first) and consequently, how Gear 5 has affected luffy as well (luffy getting fired up over the holo-sweets)
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Most of my favorite g5 moments are of luffy using Gomu Gomu no Rocket - like his big lightning-bolt playground moment in the Kaido fight :) Some people say Gatling is his signature move, but Rocket is the first one we ever see him use, and I think given how often he uses it day-to-day, Rocket is the move he's really perfected.
Using the fluidity and silliness of G5 to his advantage, you can see Luffy pulling out of the way of Lucci fast by coiling his arm up like a grapevine.
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This moment shows Luffy's mastery of Gomu Gomu no Rocket, because of how Luffy is able to let go of the antenna and absorb the recoil in a way that doesn't launch him into the sun. Recoil is one of Luffy's biggest advantages/disadvantages of rubber and i'm so excited that he really has a full handle on it now. Devil Fruits definitely aren't perfect, but it's the years of experience Luffy has that makes him feared as an Awakened Fruit user.
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I also loved Luffy's new whack-a-mole move - battle instinct is one of Luffy's strong suits, and I love how Awakening opens up luffy to a whole new variety of improvisation techniques! He's in a silly cartoon, and he loves it, but more importantly he understands it.
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This! This right here is what I was eagerly watching the whole episode in 0.5 speed for. Luffy uses the blur in his arm to speed it up impossibly fast, spinning the multiple points of animation so he can throw his entire body into that punch. Luffy is actively using the medium itself to his advantage - because the plasticity isn't an animation technique to him, it's all real.
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This is just an adorable Luffy moment, and we can see the confusion of trying to track a speeding Lucci physically manifest in his head-shake. Not like, a powers-relevant gear 5 moment, but i really loved it he's sooo silly! He's so powerful, but he's also still our Luffy :)
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bluelocksource · 9 months
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Karasu Tabito’s trivia (source: twt & Egoist Bible).
☆ Character's colour: Dark blue.
☆ Weapons: Keep (keep the ball from opponent), feint technique, and handwork (using hand or arm to block the opponent / to keep the distance from the opponent / to secure the play area).
☆ Nicknames: ‘Assassin’ and ‘Analyst’.
☆ Birthday: 15th August. (Obon festival)
☆ Current age: 18 (3rd year of high school)
☆ Zodiac: Leo.
☆ Birthplace: Osaka Prefecture.
☆ Family: Grandmother. Mother. Father. Older sister. Himself.
☆ Current height: 183 cm.
☆ Dominant foot: Right foot.
☆ Blood type: A.
☆ Starts playing football: At age 4.
☆ Team before joining BLUE LOCK: Bambi Osaka Youth (same team as Hiori) .
☆ Motto: "Never lose your intelligence and your curiosity!"
☆ Favorite food/drink: Kelp tea (kombucha). “It calms me.”
☆ Disliked food: Salmon roe. “The texture and fishy smell are unusual. It’s like eating a monster cells.”
☆ Favorite animal: Hawks. “I heard it has good sense in hunting." “Those sharp eyes and claws are marvelous.”
☆ Favorite season: Autumn. "I like the feeling of solitude."
☆ Favorite football player: Ruud van Nistelrooy
☆ Favorite song: “FLY” by GRAPEVINE.
☆ Favorite manga: GANTZ “The Osaka version. It’s just too awesome.”
☆ Favorite movie: “It’s a foreign movie, ‘Westworld’.”
☆ Favorite TV show: Documental (a comedy documentary program)
☆ Ideal type: Smart and strong woman.
☆ Hobby: Observing, analysing, and assessing people.
☆ Fixation: Voice/way of speaking. "I feel unusually aroused whenever I sense intelligence from the way a person speaks."
☆ Mushroom shoots vs Bamboo shoots: “Bamboo shoots. It’s pretty common but honestly, bamboo shoots.”
☆ What goes best with rice : Kimchi. “It’s good no matter how many times you eat it.”
☆ What makes him happy: To be left alone. “I want to live as I please, die as I please.”
☆ What makes him upset: Surprise presents. “It’s impossible to be happy in a forced atmosphere. I kind of feel bad.”
☆ What he thinks his strength is: Rational, calm, and determined.
☆ What he thinks his weakness is: He can't be kind to ordinary people. “I need to fix that.”
☆ Favorite/Best subject: Modern literature, Chemistry, and World History.
☆ Dislike/weak subject: Swimming. “I’m scared of water.”
☆ What made him cry recently: “Not gonna tell ya, idiot.”
☆ Usual sleeping time: 6.5 hours.
☆ Place he washes first when taking a bath: Hair. “My hair's too stiff from all the hair wax.”
☆ Number of chocolates received from previous Valentine: 6. “They’re definitely messing with me. I keep receiving bonbon whiskey.” (bonbon whiskey: chocolate confectionary that contains whiskey.)
☆ At what age he experiences first love: At age 8. “Marisa was the cutest girl in class. And then there’s ordinary me...”
☆ The first time he got confessed to: “Marisa confessed to me on elementary school graduation day ceremony. But since I’ll be playing soccer at a faraway middle school, I turned her down. Something like that. Nothing out of ordinary."
☆ What will he do if received 100 million yen: Invest in index funds.
☆ At what age he stops receiving presents from Santa: "Around 10 years old. I stopped because I want to be considerate of my parents."
☆ What was his last wish from Santa: PS4 & Winning Eleven.
☆ What will he do during his last day on Earth: “To be with someone important to me. If such a day comes, it’s good enough for me.”
* The crossed words are the changes made from twitter’s answer to the answer from Egoist Bible.
note: i want to apologize in advance for any mistake made in the translation!
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Teasing and Techniques (Another Level - Installment 2, Part 1)
Summary:
“Gojo Satoru,” she called, watching his lips quirk upward into a smirk. “What’s a Tokyo boy such as yourself doing all the way out in Kyoto?” “Kurisaki Rinko,” he replied easily, hands in his pockets as he walked towards her slowly until he stood directly in front of her. “You never did tell me how your cursed technique works. How about it?" - “You’re a Zenin.” More like an unwanted mistake. Which, funny enough, had actually been the first words she ever heard her father say to her.
AN: I decided to combine the first two parts of the original, so this is Part 1 and 2 from the AO3 version :)
Prev - Make a God Bleed | Another Level Masterlist | Kiko's Masterlist
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Teasing and Techniques - Part 1 (and 2) 2010
“Gojo Satoru,” Rinko called, watching his lips quirk upward into a smirk. “What’s a Tokyo boy such as yourself doing all the way out in Kyoto?”
It had been almost four years since they’d first met at the exchange event when they were in school. Their paths hadn’t had reason to cross since.
She never imagined she’d come across him in an abandoned warehouse in the middle of Kyoto, exorcizing the curse she’d been tracking. It was a Grade 3 at most, so it surprised her that he was wasting his Special Grade time on something so weak.
A different kind of confidence oozed from him, a result of his obvious growth.
She’d heard about his achievements through the grapevine, never surprised that he was excelling. After all, she’d experienced his power before he reached his full potential and barely survived.
Part of her shuddered at the thought of another fight like that now, with him at his full strength. Another part craved it more than anything else.
He’d exchanged his sunglasses for white bandages to cover his eyes, but even still, she knew he could see clear as day. The makeshift blindfold covered most of his forehead too, pushing his hair up so it stood in uneven spikes.
“Kurisaki Rinko,” he replied easily. His hands were in his pockets as he walked towards her slowly until he stood directly in front of her. He was somehow taller than he had been in school, towering over her even more than their first meeting. “Guess I shouldn’t be surprised to run into you.” He tilted his head to the side, obviously staring at her even if she couldn’t see for herself. “What am I doing here? Dealing with your messes, of course.”
His reply caused her to roll her eyes, watching the small smirk grow into a grin.
“You never did tell me how your cursed technique works,” he said, leaning down so his face was level with hers. “How about it?”
She could tell his eyes were narrowing behind the bandages as he stared down at her, unable to sense her energy. It was how she’d snuck up on him to begin with.
“Don’t tell me you’ve been obsessing over me and my technique for the past four years?”
She kept her voice teasing, but she knew he’d made inquiries about her abilities since they’d met and even more after they’d graduated. He was a man who didn’t like not being in the loop, and she was sure it drove him crazy not getting answers.
Unlucky for him, her records were sealed tight.
“Of course not. But your energy output,” he continued, “reminds me of someone else I’ve met.”
Releasing the tight hold on her cursed energy, she poured it into her duplicates and prepared for the fight she knew was coming. The fight she was asking for.
“Ah,” she replied, letting her smirk grow. “I heard you had a bit of a run-in with Toji-kun.”
Just as she’d thought, the name made his energy spike, bloodlust filling her senses and she barely had enough time to swap with her closest duplicate before he annihilated her.
“A friend of yours?” he called, not turning to look at where she’d moved to. “Fushiguro Toji was a friend of yours?”
She knew better than to tempt fate, to taunt Gojo Satoru. But just like the first time, it was too much fun to resist. Still, she knew that if she wasn’t careful, he would kill her with ease. Last time she made him angry enough, she’d barely survived. With his power levels now? She didn’t stand a chance. And this time she didn’t have the luxury of teachers and witnesses stopping him if she actually pushed him too far.
If only he wasn’t so much fun to tease.
The strongest in the world was predictable when it came to how to rile him up.
“I only met Toji a few times,” she admitted, holding her hands up. “Heard he gave you a bit of a problem-”
He was barely containing his rage, but she knew that he could tell she wasn’t a real threat. That knowledge didn’t stop him from rushing towards her, his entire body buzzing with his cursed energy.
He’s faster than I remember, she thought to herself.
But of course he would be. His fight with Toji had supposedly unlocked something in him that had laid dormant until then. Allowed him to harness techniques he’d been unable to tap into before.
Her adrenaline spiked just like it had during their first fight years ago. She forced the excitement down and focused on ensuring she had a duplicate ready to swap with.
Staying on the defense was going to be harder this time, seeing as she knew his senses were stronger. He’d see through pretty much anything she threw at him now. Getting any cheap hits was extremely unlikely. With that thought at the forefront of her mind, she struggled to keep up with replacing her duplicates as he destroyed them. He was using just a smidge of cursed energy with each hit, meaning it was harder for her to create another.
Avoiding his hits was proving to be nearly impossible. He grew faster with each miss, a sadistic smile on his face the entire time.
“How did you know Fushiguro?” he asked casually as she physically dodged one of his punches. Her heart stuttered in her chest when she realized how close he’d been to hitting. A millisecond slower and her brains were painting the walls behind her. “And I am still so curious about this technique of yours-”
It was a display of his strength, how easily he could carry a conversation while she focused every ounce of energy on avoiding his inhuman barrage. And he was doing it on purpose. He knew exactly what he was doing.
Playing with her, just like she had with him.
Pouring energy into another set of duplicates, she instantly swapped with the furthest, watching as he exerted more cursed energy than before to demolish it.
He had learned how to tell the difference immediately, she realized. In fact, she paused, assessing the situation. Eyes narrowing slightly, she noticed that he was pulling his punches when he knew the her in front of him was real. The second she swapped away, he destroyed it.
It was true that he had surpassed his former self and even more true that she was in over her head in a fight against him. She’d always known she was no match. But now it was painfully obvious as he toyed with her.
Whispering to herself, she allowed her energy to flow freely, knowing it was a stupid risk. But picking a fight with Gojo Satoru had also been a stupid risk.
“Cursed Technique,” she murmured, taking control of her duplicates and allowing them to multiply. “Shadow Step.”
The echoes of her movement surrounded them now, and Gojo paused his assault to let out a loud laugh. Turning around slowly, he saw the dozens of copies, all mimicking her movements as she wanted. Releasing her grip, she allowed them to act independently, repeating past actions as she focused on masking her own energy to blend in.
But the level of concentration needed to keep the echoes going at the same time as her duplicates was quickly draining her energy.
A low whistle escaped Gojo’s mouth, his grin still in place as he reached up to pull his bandage blindfold down. Revealing his icy bright irises, he observed her technique with the full weight of his Six Eyes.
With those, he’d find her in seconds, she knew he would.
“You’re full of surprises, Kurisaki,” he called, searching the shadows for her. “Which one is real, hm?”
Without another word, he set to work destroying her echoes, letting out a laugh with each one that disappeared. Struggling to keep up with how quickly he got rid of them, she felt her energy waning as he enhanced his fists with cursed energy.
“Gotcha,” he suddenly said, turning and staring directly at her. He anticipated her dodge, fist shooting out faster than she could react and throwing her backward. Her technique fell, and she released a heavy grunt when her back met the hard concrete wall. It knocked the breath from her chest, and she struggled to push herself back to her feet.
Breathing was harder for more reasons than the shock of the impact. She’d felt some distinct cracks when his fist came in contact with her chest; and another crack when she slammed into the wall. 
Letting out a somewhat unhinged laugh, Gojo appeared in front of her again and grabbed her the front of her shirt.
“How many more techniques you got in that pretty head of yours?”
His breath was fanning across her face as he leaned down, his bright eyes staring straight through her. Destroying her echoes hadn’t been an attempt to find her, it was meant to weaken her.
“Guess you’ll have to wait and see,” she breathed, still trying to force the air back into her lungs. Her ribs creaked in response to her shaky inhale, a groan of pain almost escaping. “Or, you can buy me dinner as repayment for cracking a few ribs.”
Another smirk pulled the corners of his mouth, and he chuckled quietly. Releasing his grip on her shirt, he braced his hands against the wall behind her so she was caged in. He leaned even closer, his lips inches away from hers as his eyes stared into her soul.
“You asking me on a date, Kurisaki?”
It was her turn to laugh, watching his eyes flit down to her lips as the air wheezed out of her.
“Wouldn’t you love that, Gojo?” she teased, tilting her head to the side. “No, I’m offering to tell you about my technique. But you have to buy me sobayaki dan okonomiyaki first. I know a great place not too far from here.”
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He had put his blindfold back in place as they walked to the izakaya, shoving his hands back in his pockets nonchalantly.
Now, he stared at her through it as their food was placed in front of them. His expression had been neutral when she returned the owner’s cheerful greeting. But when she snapped her chopsticks apart and sighed happily, his indifference began to crack. The amused smile broke free as he watched her barely resist the urge to inhale the steaming food.
She let out a quiet, delighted groan when the taste of the fluffy pancake and sauces exploded on her tongue.
“Ugh,” she moaned, ignoring how his amusement shifted into a smirk at the noise. “Nothing better than some delicious food after a long day and a few cracked ribs.”
He hummed quietly in agreement, digging into his own food while he continued to stare at her expectantly.
“How did you know Fushiguro?” he asked, his voice serious. Pulling part of the bandage down, he stared at her with one eye. “How would you know the Sorcerer Killer?”
“Cousins tend to know each other,” she stated vaguely, shoving a giant bite into her mouth.
Partially true. She hadn’t actually met most of her cousins.
But as she spoke, his eyebrows met his hairline.
“You’re a Zenin.”
More like an unwanted mistake. Which, funny enough, had actually been the first words she ever heard her father say to her.
Swallowing, she tutted, motioning with her chopsticks.
“Ah ah,” she began, forcing herself to pause to take a sip of her tea. “Fushiguro willingly gave up the name. Took his wife’s instead because of how much he hated the family.”
“But you didn’t.” Gojo’s voice was even as he set his chopsticks down, still staring at her intently. Clearly, seeing as she wasn’t married. But she’d let that slide. “Then what’s your story? You related to the Fushiguro family? They’re not related to the Zenin clan outside of-”
“Not Fushiguro,” she snorted. “I’ve never met any of them, at least outside of Toji.”
“Kurisaki isn’t a known family. And it isn’t associated with Zenin either-”
“Nope,” she stated, watching his face twitch when she cut him off. He was getting irritated, she could tell. “Kurisaki is a family with zero cursed energy, zero Jujutsu Sorcerers before me. Zero knowledge of curses-”
“Then how the fuck-”
“Someone is impatient,” she teased, feeling a thrill when he scowled. “Kurisaki is my mother’s name. My father, however-” she trailed off, feeling a small spike of fear at her almost slip up. She was already telling him too much.
At her pause, Gojo only quirked an eyebrow.
“Wanted nothing to do with me,” she continued flatly. “A bastard from a non-sorcerer family. My mother raised me away from the Zenin clan.”
“Then how’d you end up at Kyoto Tech?”
“Gakuganji,” she replied, pausing to slurp up some noodles. “Zenin may not acknowledge or want anything to do with me, but they couldn’t just let me run around untrained. Too much risk. So, when I hit the right age, they sent him to collect me. According to him, I was technically enrolled the day I was born under the stipulation that I displayed any signs of cursed energy when I got older.”
“Doesn’t explain how you ever met Fushiguro,” he said, leaning back. “He was a legitimate kid. Just didn’t have cursed energy. And if you were raised away from the main clan-”
“You’re so curious about Toji,” she said, her mouth still full of noodles. “S’pose he made an impression, huh?”
His mouth pressed into a thin line, and she quickly swallowed her bite as she realized that one was probably too far.
Toji had killed him, after all.
“Toji came and found me,” she admitted, placing her chopsticks down beside her plate. Gojo looked like he wanted to say something, but she held her finger up to silence him as she turned and called out, “Oi, could I get a beer?”
Upon confirmation, she turned back to see Gojo still leaning back as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“Toji found me before Gakuganji came to get me,” she said, accepting her beer and taking a huge gulp. “I was twelve, I think? Maybe thirteen. I knew of the Zenins. Knew my father was one. But I didn’t know anything else.”
Except that one phone call, where her father had addressed her as the ‘unwanted mistake.’
“I was just starting to understand what I could do, or at least understand that I had the potential to do something. And had just found out I was lucky I’d been allowed to be born. He’d heard about me through whispers. Wanted to see what the fuss was about.” Pursing her lips to the side, she remembered what he’d asked her. “And he wanted me to keep him informed of clan happenings. He thought I’d be more involved with them once I started school.”
“And?”
“At the time, I considered it,” she admitted, shrugging. “I’d never met anyone else from the clan in person, I hated them already, and his ask wasn’t that difficult.”
She’d been bitter and angry. Hated that her only conversation with her father had started with him asking if she was the mistake.
“So you helped him-?”
“No,” she snapped defensively before deflating slightly. “Not really. I agreed that I’d let him know if and when the clan reached out to me. That was why I ended up meeting him more than once. But- after Yoshinobu took me to school, it didn’t take me long to tell him Toji had contacted me. Made me realize how stupid I’d been.” Pausing again, she took a deep breath, feeling her ribs protest. “Probably saved my life, though, agreeing the way I did.”
Gojo released a quiet grunt at that, a small frown on his face.
“He’d have killed you as a kid?” he asked, tilting his head to the side slightly. “Cold.”
“Pretty sure you already knew that,” she retorted. “Found out first hand, yeah? This was before he only cared about a paycheck, too. I have little doubt he’d have killed me that day to keep me from talking. Luckily, he never learned about my technique. But now, I obviously don’t have to worry about that-”
“So you’re telling me you owe me for getting rid of him,” Gojo said, an almost predatory grin forming. “Kurisaki Rinko in my debt?”
“Hardly,” she scoffed, staring at his blindfold now. “Toji’s only concern by the time you killed him was a paycheck. It’s why he killed you in the first place, remember? The only reason Toji ever would have targeted me was if it would have made him money.”
Though, she thought darkly, the Zenins would have paid him well.
“Last I heard from him was almost a year before you met him-”
“Oh?” Gojo leaned forward as he pulled his blindfold down slightly, revealing his left eye to her. “And why was that?”
“He’d heard I’d been to the estate for the first time,” she replied, her side aching. The scar under her ribs was a fun reminder of the only time she’d visited. “He wanted to know about the kid that was like him, the other one born without cursed energy.”
“Ogi’s kid.”
Everyone knew how much the Zenins despised that Ogi’s kids were ‘weak.’
“Thought that my visit was my introduction to clan activities,” she continued. “It wasn’t. I haven’t been back since. Too bad for him, he didn’t get his insider. He was honestly surprised I wasn’t welcome at the estate. Said he figured I would be with how strong I seemed. Think he was bullshitting me to get me to do what he wanted, though. He said he thought my father would want me around, which I know was bullshit-”
“Your father-?”
“I’ll leave that one as a mystery,” she said evasively, her gut dropping at the thought of him knowing. She knew better than to talk about him. “Anyway, yeah, as you pointed out earlier though, Toji had no cursed energy, and I can mask mine. Noticed how easily he could sneak up on people, thought it might come in handy.”
“Neat trick,” Gojo mused, tilting his head to the side. His blindfold was back in place. “So,” he was grinning again. “A Zenin bastard, eh? What a concept. They’re pretty traditional-”
“One reason I’m not welcome,” she agreed, watching him smirk. “One of the many reasons I’m not welcome.”
Taking another, longer pull of her beer, she felt the cool alcohol soothe her throat and her anxiety.
She hated the Zenins. But she also knew that she could get in huge trouble for telling Gojo as much as she had. While she wasn’t privy to details, she knew tensions were high between the two clans, and she’d technically just handed the Head of the Gojo clan a trump card.
Her stomach dropped as the weight of what she’d told him hit her, and she fought the panic that began to rise in her chest. At the very least, she hadn’t revealed her father’s name. But she assumed it couldn’t be that hard for him to figure out.
Rinko hated that old man, but she feared him more.
She feared that entire clan more, really.
That first and only visit to the estate had ended with a brawl that resulted in her being rushed away, barely breathing as the threat whispered in her ear echoed in her head.
And now, she’d just willingly told Gojo more than she’d ever told anyone about her family. Especially her relation to Toji. But for some reason, as she watched him, part of her believed she could at least trust him to not broadcast the information.
At least she hoped he wouldn’t.
The Gojo and Zenin clans didn’t get along, and tensions were high, but she hoped he didn’t care enough to use the information.
Plus, she’d promised she’d explain how she knew Toji after teasing him. Admittedly, it had probably been too much, poking fun at the fact that he’d quite literally died.
Not even a week after Rinko had met Gojo Satoru for the first time, he and Geto Suguru were escorting the Plasma Star Vessel. It wasn’t well known exactly what happened that night, but she knew enough to know that Toji had killed the girl and Gojo had killed Toji. And Gojo Satoru had died and risen again, calling himself the one and only blessed.
Hime knew more than she did because she’d been assigned to Tokyo at the time. And Shoko was there. But neither told her anything. And she hadn’t asked. It had been a sensitive subject, to say the least. Amanai Riko had only been thirteen, after all.
The one thing Rinko did know about that was that Gojo had been a terror in the few days leading up to them receiving the assignment for the escort. Hime had called her, saying that Gojo was grilling her about who Rinko was. She realized later that he had no idea she knew Shoko beyond her healing her injuries after he’d almost killed her.
“What did you do to him?” Hime had asked, her voice filled with amusement. “I’ve never seen him so worked up.”
She’d utterly humiliated him at the exchange event.
Well, humiliated was probably too strong a term. But she still reveled in the look of shock on his face when she’d landed that first blow. And the cold look in his eyes when she’d refused to tell him anything about her or her technique.
She hid her smirk at the memory by taking another drink, draining the rest of her beer, and letting out a small sigh of contentment.
Gojo had tried to find out more, she remembered the lecture she’d gotten for her display because of how many questions he’d asked. The more resistance he was met with, the harder he pushed, still coming up empty.
He’d inquired about her after they graduated, too. Tried to access her records. But, just like she’d discovered early on, he found they were sealed tighter than the higher-ups’ assholes.
“The great Six Eyes of the Gojo clan was bested by a Zenin bastard,” she stated, knowing she was once again poking a much larger, stronger bear. But she just couldn’t resist. “And not even just a bastard, a half-breed.”
As she spoke, Gojo’s jaw clenched. She watched his brow furrow, knowing now that meant he was narrowing his eyes at her.
To her surprise, though, he didn’t take the bait.
“Zenins are strong,” he stated, shrugging his shoulders. “Not surprising you’re stronger than you look.” He tilted his head towards her empty glass. “Indulging, I see.”
It was her turn to shrug, grinning at him as his face slipped into a bored expression.
“Might as well if you’re paying, right?” she teased, somehow just knowing that he was rolling his eyes. “Also helps numb the throbbing pain in my chest,” she said dramatically, and he let out a scoff. “Because you definitely cracked a few of my ribs.”
“Just means you still need to get stronger.”
There was no sympathy in his voice but also no malice. To him, he was just stating a fact.
Because to him, to the strongest, cracking someone's ribs like toothpicks was nothing.
They sat in silence for a few moments, before he was suddenly letting out a quiet hum. Leaning forward, he pulled the bandages down again so she could see his left eye staring at her intensely as he asked:
“You wanna get outta here?”
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Next - Teasing and Techniques: Part 2
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AN: Thoughts on the lil headers I'm making for these so far?
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is-this-tf · 4 months
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I absolutely love this blog, do u have any good tf blog recs for further transformation fun? 👀👀👀
Thank you for the high praise, wow! I'm actually pretty new to the TF scene on tumblr, myself- I'd more been hanging around deviantart and furaffinity for TF specifically for posting my own stories, I don't think I realized the TF presence on tumblr before it really came into focus after making this blog! I'm honestly hoping that through is-this-tf I'll be able to make more connections with TF folks on tumblr, too, so I'm open for good TF blog recommendations myself.
As for ones I do know, hmm.... a friend of mine @skylermadness is great blog I can wholeheartedly recommend, if you're looking for (generally sfw) TF stories. They specialize in character TF, which is a big favorite of mine myself, but have also done plenty of generic human and archetype TFs as well!
Another blog I know of that I've heard through the grapevine is @nocturnowlette- the works they write fall into the Hypnosis side of things more than Transformation necessarily, but god damn do they really GET the real draw and technique of hypnosis, mind changes, etc. Give them a follow if you like thinking puppy thoughts and don't mind the occasional nsfw.
Most other blogs I can rec for this answer are less sort of Centered around transformation, and moreso they know of it and I've seen them speak of it with some degree of understanding on more than one occasion. They've gotten follows of my own because I like their posts and I get to reblog the TF themed ones to is-this-tf sometimes, but their blogs are pretty solid on their own too! Folks like @catgirldragon, @elliegoose, and even @foone come to mind- I can't guarantee transformation fun is what you'll get, but they're fine folks that I respect and like following myself, so you might like what their blogs have to offer as well!
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cornyonmains · 2 years
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Okay, but the scene where Prapai lets Sky rest on his shoulder. Can we PUHLEASE talk about how good Sky's acting in that scene was? Because there was this moment where Prapai kisses his forehead, and you just see this sudden weariness paint itself across his features that comes from an exhaustion that runs much deeper than his sickness. You could just tell in this scene that this poor kid hasn't had a scrap of affection or physical comfort in years, and it just takes everything out of Sky.
And I'm awarding all the gold stars to Prapai this episode, because I think Sky's nightmare not only rattled the absolute hell out of him, I think it was the last clue slotting into place he needed to at least get a general sense of what kind of trauma Sky was dealing with.
This episode was really important, because I think Gun's reappearance isn't coincidental. I think word on the grapevine has spread about Prapai being gone on some cute college kid named Sky, and Gun's come out of the woodwork because he's worried about what Sky might say. As he should be, because there's no shot he believes anything Gun says after seeing the aftermath of what he did to Sky firsthand. Prapai's not actually all that much of an idiot. Twenty year old men don't scream and cling to people in absolute hysterics as a seduction technique. Sky is fucked up and he knows it. He's helping him put the pieces back together, and Gun is right to be worried about what Prapai might do when he finds out who broke him in the first place and how.
What Prapai's scene with Gun told me is that Gun is a small-timer compared to Prapai. And that Sky, by virtue of being with Prapai, has suddenly been imbued with the power to prevent him from operating in the very circles he uses to lure in his victims. I hope he's terrified.
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ineffabildaddy · 22 days
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(professional voice) hello esteemed tumblr user who insists on the Just A Guy status, ive got a question. you've got quite the hang on the "body worship" tag, or so i've heard through the grapevine. is there any way you'd, perchance, share a tidbit or two on how you write about this particular topic, especially in how crowley and aziraphale see it? im trying to dabble it myself, and would really like some advice so i may be worthy to use this tag one day. if you'd be so inclined. if you wouldn't mind. or something
this a long winded way to say: i love so fucking much on how you talk about trans bodies especially since im fat and trans myself. any advice on helping others to? ❤️
hello!!! i do insist on Just A Guy status, because i'm fumbling my way through with no confidence in what i'm doing, ever - that said, i'm really really honoured that you came to me with this! body worship is something i really really enjoy writing, and intend to write a lot more of in the near future<3
i think there are three ways i could suggest that you approach this, just from my own experience - but forming my ideas on what to write aren't always this conscious. i'm gonna talk about this in the context of aziraphale and crowley because of course those are the characters i write about!!
1 if you feel comfortable, sit down and think, for a moment, about your own body. which parts of it have not historically been loved, either by yourself or by others or both (as a fellow trans person who's also not thin, unfortunately it's not difficult for me to immediately list a whole host of features i possess which i've been made to dislike, or which others have either shown disdain for or disinterest in)?
then, think about how you would like those features to be treated by a lover. which physical actions might someone perform, which words might someone use, that could make you love them, or at least tolerate them a lot better?
2 think about aziraphale and crowley, and the actors who play them in the show. what do you find beautiful about them? what might not be seen as conventionally beautiful in them by society at large?
once you've got that, it could help to think about how you might want them to express that beauty between themselves, or how you might do that if you had a sexual partner who looked like them<3
3 stepping back a little bit from specific bodily features, think more broadly about how you'd like to be treated in the bedroom. imagine an ideal sexual scenario, in which you are indulged in absolutely everything you want, everything you like - even if no one else currently knows you like it but you - with enthusiasm and care. think about your most cradled desires for sex in the emotional sense, too, not just which specific sex acts and techniques turn you on - would you like to feel taken care of? would you like to be thoroughly and curiously explored? would you like to be given an opportunity to express vulnerability?
or is your ideal scenario providing for someone else? if so, how would you like to do that? of course, most sex is a give and take, but it helps to think in extremes about giving and receiving here, because body worship can be more intense in this manner than most sexual practices.
i've used a bit of all of these in I'm Beginning to See the Light, but especially number 1 in chapter 2 and and number 3 in chapter 3:-)
hopefully at least one of these ideas helps you write some body worship! again, thank you so so much for coming to me with this, i am unbelievably honoured<3 i believe in you! i'd love to read anything you might produce in this vein so do feel free to send it over!!!!
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gatefleet · 1 year
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Jitters
Stargate SG-1: Daniel Jackson Wordount: 874 T(W): None that I can think of Request: Yes; Anon - "Hey there! I was wondering if there was anyway I could request a Daniel Jackson x reader where the reader is on their first mission with SG1 and Daniel is a ✨small✨ bit anxiety ridden due to the fact that he’s worried about reader and is also slightly overprotective. Thanks in advance lovely!" A/N: I hope this is what you were looking for! <3
You were in awe at Stargate Command. You knew that the place existed (at least as rumours), but you never imagined that you would be assigned to Cheyenne Mountain Complex, but here you were. You had been there for a few months now, mainly working on items and technology which other worlds had traded for. You hadn’t really had a chance to put your engineering skills to the test. Finally, after hinting that seeing the tech in working in it’s natural environment, you were being offered the opportunity to put your knowledge into the field with the SG-1 team. There were two reasons you were excited about this. 1) You were excited for the opportunity to work under Colonel O’Neill’s command, you had heard great things about the Colonel, and 2) you were getting to work with the initial team who re-started the Stargate programme. Both were amazing opportunities, even if you couldn’t tell anyone else about it.
You were prepped and ready to go, anxiously standing outside the main doors to the Gateroom with Major Carter, Dr Jackson, Teal’c and the Colonel. You were bouncing lightly back and forth between your two feet. Dr Jackson had noticed and gripped your hand tightly, you looked to him and smiled, he had a semi-forced smile which he returned to you. You could tell he was a bit nervous for you as you had never been off-world and he wasn’t 100% certain about your previous combat experience. Even if he was, you doubted it would have prevented him from being any less nervous about your first trip through the gate.
You had heard through the grapevine that the sweet archaeologist had a thing for you, but you didn’t tend to heed much notice of rumours. Sometimes being a female officer in any form of the military led to a lot of rumours, especially where male officers or contractors were concerned. You thought you had overheard him speaking with O’Neill regarding you the other day and the plans for you to join the team on their next away mission. You had assumed it was more to do with the fact that you were also a skilled linguist and he felt it unnecessary for another linguist to join the team. You then assumed he backed down once it was explained that you were being drafted into the team due to your engineering expertise as opposed to your linguistic expertise.
Once the gate had activated and you had braced yourself enough to step through it, with the encouragement of Dr Jackson. Once on the other side of the wormhole the Doctor appeared far more antsy than usual, especially for him. You thought you had caught him staring at you more often than you had recalled him ever doing it. You thought you had noticed him trying to subtly walk in front of you or move toward his sidearm more often when he was unable to walk in front of you. It was strange to see him acting this way. You weren’t too sure how to broach the situation, but it appeared that the others had also noticed the doctor’s unusual behaviour, Teal’c had tried, and failed, to subtly ask Daniel why he was appearing to be on edge, leading everyone else to look in Daniel’s direction and with expectant looks on their faces. Daniel made a very vague excuse about being cautious after the last couple of planets they had visited, the group seemed to disbelieve Daniel’s excuse and shook their heads walking on.
While at the village of the inhabitants of the planet you were visiting, you were introduced to various different techniques for using certain (rather common) energy sources that were potentially unheard of back on Earth and endeavoured, with Sam of course, to take as many   notes and pictures as you could to see if it was possible to replicate some of the structures back home. You had noticed that the times where you and Sam were checking separate machines and structures that Daniel seemed to hover around the areas and machines you were working, he claimed that it was due to the unusual linguistics and writing around the machines (he believed them to potentially be instruction manuals he could translate for you). If any of the planets native inhabitants approached you, Daniel would intercept them and try to figure out what they wanted, especially the ones he knew we had had no contact with from the ruling party of the village. Once they were deemed to not be a threat, he would let them through with whichever gifts or offerings they had for you and the team.  You had slowly begun to pick up parts of the native language and had overheard some of the village-folk speaking of you and Dr Jackson and the word “spouse” (or the closest match you could translate) being used in connection with you both. When you had told Daniel about it, thinking he would have found it equally amusing, you were amazed that he suddenly began blushing and refusing to make eye-contact with you or anyone else in the team. That was the moment you realised that the rumours surrounding his feelings for you were more than just rumours.
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GIF Credit (according to the bottom): @spockvarietyhour
Taglist:
@make-me-imagine , @keepingupwiththeskywalkers , @disneyoncerlover815 , @fandomalert31 ,
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livingwellnessblog · 4 months
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Hear  Your Good news Announced! A Neville Goddard Method
Hear  Your Good news Announced! A Neville Goddard Method
Hear  Your Good news Announced! Imagine this: You’re chatting with an aquaintance, someone you know and who knows you but NOT your best friend. Why not your best friend? Because your best friend already knows everything! You tell your best friend everything first, so imagine a person who maybe knows you both, but you don’t usually confide in them. In other words; An acquaintance! Hear them say…
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masterzmei · 3 months
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⟨Jon Moxley. Trans male. he/him. 45.⟩ We just saw Zmei Lazarevich entering Haymann’s Distillery. I heard through the grapevine that they are a Sports Writer and Combat Sports Commentator and sometimes go by Koschei the Deathless. Although he is with the media, he can sometimes be envious, demanding, or even belligerent but I’ve also heard some people say that they were (begrudgingly) fatherly, objective and quite disciplined.— Moss. they/them. 23. EST. violence against children (<10)
AESTHETIC | MUSIC | ASK | LONDON FALLING
[sideblog of kingbriar]
STATS
Real name: Zmei Lazarevich [Dead name: Yekaterina]
Code name: Koschei
Alliance: None (could be bought)
Job: former Prizefighter (Heavyweight Boxing champ/No-Gi Grappling & BJJ NAGA champ/etc) and Olympic Boxing Coach, current Sports Writer and Combat Sports Commentator
Age: 45
Physical: 6', 225 lbs
Birthplace: Podolsk, Russia
DOB: December 10, 1978
Star sign: Saggitarius
Gender: Trans Male (he/him)
Sexuality: Demisexual, Biromantic
FC: Jon Moxley
BIOGRAPHY
Second child from a blue collar family on the fringes of Podolsk, both parents worked factory jobs (mother only part time to manage children). Occasionally watched by a neighbor, an unmarried doctor that worked nights and was the first to make some offhand mention of the “mental illness” that led to homosexuality or people believing themselves to be “the wrong gender” and how they were “treated”. He disappeared from his apartment without a trace when Zmei was 10. To this day Zmei thinks about whether that man was gay and trying to help a fellow queer, or was just trying to correct him early.
Factories had been shutting down or laying off mass amounts of workers already as the union fought about 8 wars with itself, but shut down quickly after Communism and the Soviet Union officially fell in 1991. The family was left scrambling. Zmei was 13.
Scrappy kid needs money? Prizefighting is easy to fall into with so many laid off, angry men looking for an excuse to beat someone up. Zmei starts spending more time focusing on strength and technique, and blue collar Russians are Riddled with machismo and unattainable ideas of masculinity. This does not help the transness, especially with having to “pose as a boy” for safety. 
Rising tension within his family and himself pushed Zmei to run away at 16 with some badly forged paperwork and a dream to one of the new democratic states. Moldova was still largely disorganized, and he was able to get some better, if still inconsistent refugee documentation, but it used the name Zmei and listed him as male. He bounced around continental europe a bit before landing in the UK at 18 (1996), where he is able to officially start to medically transition in ‘96-97 (T, Reassignment Surgery, etc) with NHS access
Instead of purely doing illegal prizefighting, Zmei discovers unsanctioned death matches on the Indie wrestling circuit (turns out, gender is stored in a Crimson Mask and a broom wrapped in barbed wire), and various coaches try to take this kid with a lot of Survival Skills in for actual training in a range of styles (Boxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu/Submission Grappling, etc) to build technique  so he isn’t so reliant on weapons and blood in matches 
After training for a while, he signs up for a beginner NAGA tournament and does much better than expected, which sparks a Deep competitiveness in him. Focusing in on one title, medal or belt at a time, he trains right with single mindedness and deadly focus that gives him a real sense of calm. Winning is  almost addictive, training almost to the breaking point then collecting a new trophy and starting over again, collecting local/national recognition in both boxing and grappling. A lot of his money still comes from being a punk indie wrestler who’s always willing to bleed or do a wild stipulation match for cash and collecting extra from all the people who bet against him.
In 2015, Zmei was competing in a Master Expert Super-Heavyweight No-Gi NAGA championship, and was put into a deadly knee lock for nearly two minutes. He refused to tap, and eventually was able to power out of it when his opponent tried to shift his grip and win the round by pinfall before collapsing. Forcing his way out of the lock had fractured his patella and pieces of his upper tibia, leading to irreparable damage to both ACL and MCL tendons. To this day, Zmei uses a cane when walking/standing for more than a couple minutes, but he DID. NOT. TAP.
Zmei’s more surprised than anything when he’s contacted by the Underdog’s parents about coaching their son for the upcoming Olympics, then realizes he’s accumulated more practice and skill along with titles and credits than he’d realized and after his injury has gained decent renown in British Combat Sports. Besides, it’s boxing, so as long as he can correct Kaan’s footwork, his coaching doesn’t require his knees to be in top shape.
The fallout of the Embezzlement Scheme hits him hard, especially when people start to investigate to see if he was involved at all, and it suddenly looks Very Suspicious that his immigration paperwork doesn't line up after he technically immigrated illegally to avoid persecution for being queer in post-soviet Russia. The fall from grace isn’t pretty, and he’s messily outed to the public.
He handles it as well as he can. Stays in sports, but tries to disappear a bit, facelessly scripting for the anchors who are actually seen on TV and writing weekly sports columns for the paper. But words are hard and he misses his people, misses the rush of a good match and the infectious primal energy of watching someone bleed. On his own time, he starts guest commentating on indie wrestling shows, which slowly leads back to his old home: illegal dark matches in a seedy basement or old warehouse. Seeing himself in a lot of the scrappy kids trying to make a name for themselves, he starts to coach again, then eventually gets tied up in booking; matching up pure boxing/BJJ/etc if fighters want, but reminding fighters that the audience wants/spends more money on bloodsport.
Despite the state of his knee, training with the wide variety fighters in the underground circuits keeps him sharp. If he wanted, he could absolutely kill a man seven different ways with his cane, standing on one leg. He hopes he won’t have to.
OTHER NOTES
Zmei - name comes from dragons in Russian folklore. Sometimes they are male or female, purely multi-headed serpents or humanoid, and generally very mutable. Trans dragon name. 
Mans whole torso is Covered in various scars, especially from barbed wire, glass, thumbtacks, the Forks™️ etc in death matches. He’s a lil too proud of how well his top surgery scars blend in with the rest, esp 20ish years later
Potential Connections: 
 Underdog - Mr. Miyagi type vibe? once and future coach? They find each other again in illegal fights a couple years later and reconnect?
Tower/Combat types - Fights are always open, grinder needs meat and he’s willing to help them beef up 
Gang Leaders - Zmei is many things, but Rich isn’t one. If needed, this old master could be hired by either gang, or even the govt strike team for the right financial compensation.
Doctors - Mans is chronically in pain from something, whether that’s his knee, a back that’s taken too many bumps, etc or just checking in on his dosage of T that he’s been on for about 20 years.
Casino folks/Gamblers - It's a low form of entertainment, but gladiatorial combat is lucrative. Is the Red Rose casino looking for a business deal? Are they trying to shut this gambling den down, or completely neutral to a Neutral party?
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wachinyeya · 2 years
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https://www.yesmagazine.org/environment/2022/07/07/ancient-farming-technique-climate-change
Terracing has been used for centuries to help prevent fire, moderate temperatures, and make farming possible even when water is scarce.
Surrounded by the waters of the Strait of Sicily in the far south of Italy, the island of Pantelleria is made up of 32 square miles of black volcanic rocks with no source of freshwater other than the 16 or so inches of rain that fall each year. Yet, traces of the first farming terrace on the island date back to the Bronze Age, 16 centuries B.C. On such terraces, Zibibbo grapevines grow in hollows to trap moisture near their roots. The olive orchards are low, too; and capers, the other major local crop, stick out from dry stone walls.
These walls stretch in lines of stacked stones without the use of cement or mortar. They hold up beds of soil and create terraces, strips of flat land along slopes. These structures store heat during the day, and at night, when the sea breeze encounters the warmth of their surface, moisture condenses and forms dew. The stones help channel these precious tiny water drops into the wall’s drainage system and distribute them to the thirsty soil.
On this Mediterranean island, as in other parts of Italy and the world, architects, researchers, agronomists, and other professionals have rediscovered the value of ancient farming practices like terracing for resilience to climate extremes and preservation of biodiversity and cultural heritage. As climate change makes water scarce across the Mediterranean, traditional farming practices from areas with little water, like Pantelleria, might provide solutions.
“We can learn from it, without being traditionalist, romantic, or nostalgic, but actually looking at our future,” says Giorgia De Pasquale, an architect, researcher, and assistant professor at Roma Tre University who grew up in Pantelleria. “We can find some innovation skills that respect at the same time the balance of our ecosystems and the environment.”
Geographers estimate that terraces once covered between 200,000 and 300,000 hectares of the Italian peninsula. But currently only what remains over about 170,000 hectares is still visible from maps and satellite images; Pantelleria is the most terraced municipality. De Pasquale compared aerial maps from 1955 and 2016 and found roughly a quarter of rural areas were abandoned, mostly terraces. Out of the nearly 5,900 terraced hectares on Pantelleria, less than half are currently in use.
“Since the 1950s onward, we have lost especially farming terraced areas,” says De Pasquale, “mostly in favor of woods.”
Terraces require heavy labor that cannot be easily mechanized and have largely fallen out of use, despite their popularity across nearly every continent. But the undergoing climate crisis has revitalized terracing as a valuable form of adaptation both in places where rainfall is increasing or intensifying, as well as places it is decreasing, according to a recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on solutions for land degradation.
Cultivated terraces offer a multitude of environmental benefits in addition to water retention. In Pantelleria, for example, an instance of arson in 2016 further highlighted the importance of well-maintained terraces. The flames burned an area two and a half times the size of Central Park around Montagna Grande, Pantelleria’s highest relief, and Mount Gibele, just a few months before most of the island would become a national park. But in some central parts of the island, farmed terraces stopped the fire’s advance.
“In the Monastero valley, only the top of the hill had been affected by the fire,” says Graziella Pavia, a local agronomist who previously served as agriculture councilor for the municipal government. “Flames stopped at the foothill, because then they could find only cultivated land, and it’s very difficult for cultivated plots to burn.”
Terraces can also help with weather events, such as flooding, that become more likely under climate change.
“We are noticing extreme rain events and, at the same time, prolonged drought periods,” says Alessandro Sardella, a geologist at the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate of Italy’s National Research Council, where he works as a researcher in the unit focusing on the conservation of cultural heritage.
“Nicely manicured strips of land with well-maintained walls hold better chances to reduce the risk of erosion, the risk of landslides due to these extreme events, as well as favor water infiltration and act as a buffer for these long [drought] periods,” he says.
But when stonewalls are neglected, they do little to help and may, in fact, exacerbate collapses, erosion, and even fires when they are covered in dry vegetation. For the past four years, Sardella, together with the nonprofit Dotteolie and the CNR-ISAC, has organized initiatives to restore the terraces of the Aeolian Islands, an archipelago higher up along Italy’s boot, where about 90% of the existing terraces is estimated to be abandoned. He has run workshops with locals and landowners on how to build or repair stone walls using traditional techniques along with partners like the Italian segment of the International Terraced Landscapes Alliance.
ITLA was formed in China in 2010 to connect people working on terracing, from farmers to builders, architects, academics, and activists, to shed light on the challenges these rural landscapes face and ways to revive them. Since then, it has grown to 315 members from 35 countries and has gathered three times, including once in 2019 in Madeira and the Canary Islands, which share certain farming techniques with Pantelleria.
Pavia says these congresses are an important way to share ideas about how to keep farming terraces alive. “It encourages comparisons and the exchange of common solutions, drawing on others’ experiences,” she says.
She believes Mediterranean islands have a lot to teach in terms of resiliency, being set apart from more complex supply systems. “Of course, we had some very bad years too,” she says. “All the island suffered a lot.” But she holds out hope the terraces will help them survive future dry spells. Such farming techniques, developed in places with few resources, offer important hints for the future, she says. “As I see it, terraces might let us preserve the landscape as well as feed us at a micro and localized level.”
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starlitdumbass · 1 year
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you once said that if hinata met konan, she might of joined the akatsuki — can i ask why? hinata joining the akatsuki seems sk fun, but i can't think of a concrete reason why she would.
OH MAN I COULD GO ON AND ON ABOUT THIS
Sorry for the long rant I'm about to go on.
To start I think Hinata would go rogue before anything else. This is all based on my opinion on her character so take none of it to heart.
Hinata is a disgrace to her clan, so much so that her father didn't even allow her to undergo her clan's special training. Shee couldn't bring herself to fight her sister, which honestly she probably could have won against hanabi given that it's shown at points that she is a good fighter when she puts her mind to it. It's just that she couldn't find it in herself to go all out on her sister.
Her relationship with neji was permanently ruined due to her indirectly being part of the reason his father was killed and the reason he received the mark. Even so she always tried to maintain a sibling like relationship with him even though he didn't care to anymore.
It doesn't really seem like it because they never go as in depth as they could but emotionally she is going through hell. Even with the support of her team I think eventually she'd start to have an identity crisis that could lead to her to going rogue. Not because she's against her clan or the hidden leaf but because she feels like she's not good enough. Like she doesn't deserve to be along side everyone else because she can't keep up. She's falling behind and too scared to catch up. It's pathetic and she knows it but she doesn't know what else to do. She's wishes she could be someone else. Someone brave, someone strong.
When she leaves she's scared out of her mind and knows that it's stupid but she doesn't go back. She can't. Going back to face everyone and admit she ran away because she felt like she wasn't good enough? A pathetic excuse. She knew death would be better then that. So she kept going on a path to nowhere. Leaving the life she had behind and starting anew.
Maybe when she first goes rogue someone at a random village tells her to throw the person she once was away if she doesn't like it and become what the person she wants to be, trying to encourage her on her journey. But she takes it the wrong way because what she wanted was to become someone worthy of being a Ninja. Which in her mind was an emotionless warrior. So she pursues just that.
She deals with everything alone cause she feels like that's the only way she can become 'better'. She can't rely on anyone and the best way to ensure she doesn't is to stay alone. All while also avoiding getting caught cause of course her clan along with konoha is searching for her. She also tells people she meets she's a boy to help through off their tracks.
Her training mostly comes from run ins with other rogues and such that leave her in pretty bad condition at times but she's not dead so she learns to deal with the pain. When she has the time she practices her technique and fine-tunes it. When she's stronger she starts taking on mercenary jobs in random villages to further help her training. Soon she buries the person she once was and becomes the empty warrior she was aiming for. But now she has no purpose for it. She can't go back to konoha and truthfully she doesn't want to. So what now?
And that's were the akatsuki part comes in. I think she'd join because the person she is now just wants a mission to complete. There doesn't have to be a reason provided, just tell her what, who and point her in the right direction.
Hinata would somehow run into konan by accident and she'd know who Hinata was due to hearing about konoha looking for a pale eyed girl through the grapevines. Instead of Konan using her as a lure she offers her a spot among the akatsuki as she'd could be useful with her power. Hinata accepts it cause it's a mission.
I don't think they'd really be close but konan would be the one to give Hinata her alias name (Lotus) and a paper flower to accompany it. She'd be the only one who knew Hinata's true identity as well.
Also the amount of fun I have thinking about the type of relationship this would create between Hinata and Neji. The drama would be so fun but that's for another time.
I haven't really flushed out this au well cause I know it's just me and my silly obsession with her and the potential she had. To summarize it, I think Hinata would go rogue and lose herself completely which would open the door to her joining the akatsuki. The reason I say Konan is because she's the only other member (besides Kisame maybe) that I feel like would offer instead of using her as bait or trying to sale her off.
Anyway I'm sorry for the terrible explanation but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless and and thank you for the ask.
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gear-project · 5 months
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. . .
I hope all my dear friends are having an eventful Thanksgiving this year.
I can't really predict what the future brings, but a lot of rippers/modders are saying Jam Kuradoberi will be the next character they add... again, that's just something I heard through the grapevine as a rumor.
Guilty Gear as a game series (to me at least) has been driving a long ways for many years now... and sometimes I feel like it's hard to keep track of all that has happened.
I've fought strong players, and I've fought people who struggle to learn the game (if not give up entirely).
While I don't believe that its impossible to remain unskilled in this game series... I know it's a struggle for some beginners to get out of that feeling of weakness.
I encourage players to observe stronger and more skilled players... observe all facets of their play... take notes... you'll find things to inspire you, things to aim for, even small bite-sized morsels of concepts you can apply to your own fighting style.
Beginners often tell me "they're not good at watching other players", but it's really not that hard... take a sample of how YOU play the game and compare it to how they do.
That's all you really need to do.
If they use an attack differently from you do, try some fresh tactics.
If they use defense techniques more often, try those.
Even just practicing the same move over and over until you're consistent is one step forward in getting where you want to be. Practice DP inputs from one side of the screen to the other. Switch sides and do the other side.
Don't give up. Don't lose heart. Keep trying. Find your one way.
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A Concept: Red 🙵 White / The 100 | Spy × Family [Part 1]
This is sort of a continuation of this post with a few tweaks here and there. Might not be as sad. Or not, who knows.
Part 2
MANGA SPOILERS
So Anya ran away because of the whole detainment-of-the-test-subjects issue.
That's right.
There are more like Anya. More people who were involuntarily involved in human experiments.
In total there are 100 children around her age who had been tested on.
They all aren't telepaths (thank goodness) but they all have some power relating to the abstract usage of the brain's capacity. (I'll get to those in a bit)
In hiding, Anya had decided that she would round up all of these misfits like herself together so that they can have each other's backs.
In a world as cruel as this, no one but themselves can understand their position.
As is the nature of her powers, they grew stronger and she was able to catch "signals" from nearly a 10 km radius. She could also cancel out voices as she wished.
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One day, just lazily listening to everyone's thoughts in Hugaria, Anya caught this interesting voice:
"Okay, so at a height like this I'll need to procure 4 arms and scale up the wall. I also need to make sure those police aren't gonna catch me. "
Turning around and straining her eyes to the corner of the street, she saw this tall burly boy with a brown jacket on. And to her confusion (and secret delight), bubblegum pink hair. He had no gadgets on him, so what did he mean by procuring arms? Anya thought.
No sooner than she was able to finish her thought, the boy floated? to the top of the building.
It seemed like floating at first but after thinking through his motions, Anya noticed that there was a certain gravity to it. As though he were climbing. But he didn't use his arms. He looked like he was climbing...
With multiple invisible limbs.
Knowing that this wasn't an ordinary person, Anya ran parallel to him on that the other side of the street. It was a good thing that she learned her parents' technique of running silently or else he would've noticed her, and who knows what he would've done then.
Her parents.
Whatever. Now's not the time, Anya brushed it off.
Keeping pace with him was trying. He's definitely been running away longer than I have, Anya mused.
As she turned around the block, she caught sight of two policemen who were chasing him from the ground, yelling at him as they did so, "Get down here, kid! If you stole something then give it back! Get down from the roof!"
"I didn't steal anything!" the boy yelled back, still running.
"Then get down!"
Anya could see that the guy was in trouble. Why is he running on the roof, anyway? Maybe he just felt like it. Anya decided to opportunize and save this misfit's ass. She swam through his mind and found all the information she needed.
"Hey, Adrian, cut it out already!" she yelled as loud as her voice could carry.
The runaway stopped dead in his tracks. How the hell does she know my name? Is this 034? No, it can't be. Doesn't seem like someone he's seen. Who is this person?
The same was for the policemen.
"It's not funny anymore. I want my bracelet back!" Anya yelled.
The confused fellow on the roof decided to be honest, "I have no idea what you're talking about," he yelled from the rooftop.
"It's in your right pocket, you dumbass-"
"Language, young lady," one of the policemen, looking like he had a big metallic frame in him, interjected (thank goodness he spoke in Ostanian [1]), "Do you know this man?" it looked rather comical that he pointed to the top of the building.
"Like yeah, I do," Anya huffed, putting all the stuff she learned from her Papa and Mama's acting into practice, "We go to the same middle school, Grapevine."
The policeman's thoughts asked for context to this current situation.
Anya continued, hands on her sides, looking totally irritated, "I just said that he couldn't steal my bracelet and run off on a rooftop. I guess he took it personally." she ended with a shrug. To be honest, she was quite proud of her acting.
Both the policemen looked up at the figure on the building. Finally taking the hint, he nodded with embarrassment to the best of his acting ability.
"So, that sums it up!" the other, stereotypically good-natured and stout, policeman said as he clapped his hand on the back of his colleague, "When it comes to youngsters you shouldn't take it so seriously!"
Bidding the children, both on the street and the rooftop, adieu, the policemen walked away.
Anya nonchalantly waved them bye before frantically waving her arms up and down so that this mystery guy comes down, which he does. He skidded down the building, ran across the street (getting a few violent honks from the cars), grabbed Anya's hand and lead her into a bookshop.
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(Pulling her into a bookstore that was barely maintained anymore was a smart decision on his half, no doubt.)
"How the hell do you know my name?" (for instance, no one's gonna tell him to shush)
Well, he doesn't waste any time.
"Easy now, I'll explain. Just chill."
Feeling humourous, Anya merely gave her HEH face. Surely harmless, right?
Apparently not.
Anya quickly learned that this guy is hot-tempered as he stretched his arm back to propel a punch. (I got a different reaction the other time I gave it to someone on the first meeting...)
"Who the hell are you!?"
The fist came flying in, you could hear the air move out of the way. From where she was standing, it rather resembled a certain sucker punch she had thrown once.
thunk!
How the-?
How did she block it?
It was merely the result of what happens when you put rock against paper.
Anya didn't know why she said what she said. But for that moment, to that person, it felt like the most natural words on her tongue.
"I am 007."
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[1] As mentioned in the Post-Strix post, Anya decided to live in an Ostanian community in Hugaria as it allowed her to wander somewhat freely with all the hunters on the loose. I just put Ostanian over here but I actually don't know the name of the language. It's a common language between Ostania and Westalia as I didn't notice any translating among the characters of the two countries. If anyone knows what this language is called, then please tell me in a reblog or reply and I'll correct it and give credit accordingly.
Also, this is just Part 1 of the Red 🙵 White / The 100 concept I've made. I haven't got to the actual "group" part of it so stay tuned! (I sort of got burnt out as I wrote this, even tho I'm pretty sure I've written longer things than this, and I now need a refresher before coming back to this)
I'll do some proper explaining of the names (Red 🙵 White and The 100) and mention some of the names and powers of the members.
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