#how to do full locust pose

[kallie-den]

Rescue Hound Chapter Six

Kione finds herself growing closer to the rebels around her, even as her new handler-hound relationship with Sartha places her at a greater distance than ever before

This is a Warhound story! The preceding stories can be found at this tag

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“Let me ask you something,” Kione asks languidly. “How come the food keeps getting worse around here?”

Muted laughter around the rec room. Vola, Nese, Amynta—Radio Girl—and a few others Kione doesn’t really know yet. All bored shitless. Sorties have been few and far between. Nothing to do but keep their heads down while the imperial net closes.

“Terribly sorry, my lady.” Amynta feigns a little bow from her slouched pose on the bench. “Any requests for dinner? Fresh fish, perhaps? A nice salad?”

More laughter. Their banter isn’t exactly high drama, but anything to lighten the mood.

“If you could bring me that,” Kione sniffs, “I’d pay you your mech’s weight in imperial coins.”

“Gods,” Vola grunts. “Don’t you ever get tired of being such a rich bitch about everything?”

“No.”

“Then, don’t you ever feel like putting that ridiculous hoard of yours to good use? A contribution to the cause? That’s what a good rebel would do.”

“No.”

“Can’t you at least share it around a bit? Among friends?

“Got that fresh fish for me?”

Everyone groans at her. Kione drinks it in, of course. She’s never happier than when she gets to play the villain. Plus, all the rebels seem to appreciate having someone to groan at too.

“No fish.” That’s Nese. She’s been quiet today. Sounds dour. “Imperials secured the east bank of the Lethys River a few days ago. We’re cut off.”

That brings down the mood at once. This front of the war hasn’t been doing well—not that any of them have. The imperial war machine crawls across the land like a locust swarm. Let them take what they want, and they’ll never stop. Fight them, and the buzz of resistance drives them into a frenzy. Oh, the rebels fight well, to be sure. They know the land they fight on, and they love what they know. But you need resources to win a war, and on that front more than any other, the empire is unmatched. They have machines that turn mountains into legions. That rip great wounds into the ruined earth, drinking the dredges of its long-spent wealth the way a mosquito might a still-warm corpse. Against a foe like that, victories are only temporary. The accountant’s toll of gains and losses is forever.

The rebel base—Leukon Base, it’s called—is getting surrounded, inexorably but slowly. It’s up in the Orestis Highlands. Difficult territory to claim. And so far, the rebels have managed to remain in the dark. Probably, the imperials don’t know if it’s a fully-fledged outpost or just a few stragglers, and they also probably don’t know which hole or peak they might be hiding in. So, there’s time. But only time. Resupply will keep getting harder. Kione’s glad she got Theaboros all patched up already.

Learning all these proper nouns for places is kind of a pain in the ass, honestly. Kione never bothered with it before. You take a map, you get a job, get some coordinates. You show up, you shoot some people, you get paid, you fuck off before anyone can try to engage you in a scintillating conversation about the weather this time of year. Now, Kione hears the place names coming out of people’s mouths, and they actually mean something to her.

‘Not part of the job’, is what she’d normally say. But she supposes this one stopped being ‘just a job’ a while ago.

“Doubt we were getting much fresh fish out of the river anyway,” Kione grumbles. “That’s fairy tale stuff.”

“Not true,” Nese tells her. “Most of the year, it snows clean on the mountains to the north of here. Keeps the waters pure. There’s a few springs, too. Plenty of fish spawn in the hills around there, and some of them even make it this far downstream without choking on runoff.”

Finally, Kione twigs it. “You’re from around here, aren’t you?”

Nese nods.

“Shit, I’m sorry.” Kione feels oddly nervous about offering condolences. She’s not used to it. “Your people?”

“Don’t know.”

“Damn,” Kione replies. Then she says, “I’m sorry,” again because she’s not really sure what else she’s supposed to say.

“Thanks.” Nese looks up from her game of solitaire and offers Kione a bit of a nurturing smile; ‘A’ for effort, apparently.

“Relax, merc,” Amynta reaches over and claps Kione’s shoulder. “It’s not such a rare story around here. No offense, Nese.”

“Yeah,” Vola pipes up. “I grew up in the Memphin Desert, across the Panropa Basin. They occupied it years ago. Turns out there’s still oil under there, if you dig deep enough.” She takes a breath. Exhales her cigarette. “Hope they drown in it. They probably won’t. Either way, I’ll probably never see the sands again.”

Kione nods slowly as she absorbs that. “You?” she finds herself asking Amynta, because she realizes she actually wants to know.

“Me?” Amynta is surprised by her curiosity. A little delighted, too. “I’m from nowhere, babe.” She flashes a peace sign, just to make Kione giggle. “Born on a refugee trail. Grew up moving here and there. Joined up to fight the first chance I got. Now, your turn. Where you from, Ki?”

“Uh.” She asks casually, but the question lands on Kione like a lobbed boulder. She’s not good at talking about herself. But she’s really in it now; this has already turned into a sharing circle. And worse, she asked first. “I’m… from Kinbashi.”

She sees recognition in Amynta’s eyes. A touch of pity, too. Kinbashi is—was—a large city-state, one of several in the resource belt far to the south of even Vola’s home. One of the sad little comfortable dreams of those who wanted to keep living sad little comfortable lives, as they had done in the days the world was whole.

“Surprised you didn’t join our cause a long time ago,” Nese snorts. “Pay the imperial cunts back for it.”

Kione shakes her head. “It’s imperial now,” she corrects. “But Kinbashi fell a long time ago. Madness and greed. People fighting and dying over all sorts of stupid shit. I grew up running from shelter to shelter with my parents whenever the sirens sounded.” She forces a smile. “Then one day, the sirens were a little too late, and I was on my own. Kinbashi in rubble. Nothing to stay for.”

All around the rec room, sympathetic glances. Kione really wishes they wouldn’t. There’s a reason she doesn’t usually go on about herself.

“’Madness and greed’,” Amynta quotes. “If that’s how you see it, why be a merc?”

Now Kione grins. “Yeah, and it was madness because none of those greedy fucks ever actually got what they were fighting for. Now I make damn sure I’m getting paid before I get out in front of a bullet.”

The smiles return. Everybody loves the rich bitch. Doesn’t quite banish the sympathetic looks, though. They’re all getting a bit too used to it. They don’t see Kione as some merc anymore.

They see her as one of them.

Not all of the rebels do, that’s for sure. Skulking in one of the rec room’s corners is Pela, that Sartha fangirl Kione once dressed down in the canteen. There are plenty of others like her. Rebels Kione has pissed off so mightily it’ll take more than just time to heal the wounds. But on the whole, they’re softening. Kione is too, and she knows their names, and she knows the names of the places they’re fighting for.

It’s… a new feeling. One Kione isn’t quite sure how to get to grips with. Even more uncomfortable is the novel idea that all these rebels might, sooner or later, actually know her.

“I’ve never heard you tell that story to anyone besides me, Ki.”

But for now, there’s plenty they don’t know, of course.

They don’t know about Sartha Thrace. They think they do; Kione can see that plainly from the little looks of adoration and comfort on all their faces as the hero walks in. She’s been in the hangar-cave, helping to calibrate Ancyor’s new upgrades. With her arrival, she warms the room. The world is brighter and better with her in it. The rebels look at her, and see a hope beyond hope. They see salvation.

Not Kione.

The truth of Sartha Thrace stares her in the face. First of all, she sees that Sartha is wearing her jacket buttoned up tight, all the way to the top of her neck. To most, nothing noteworthy; just a concession to the cold. Kione knows that beneath her collar are a bouquet of bruises that match her own fingers. Evidence of the previous night’s excesses, now blossoming into grotesque, ugly purple. Just thinking of it makes Kione shudder.

She went too far, of course. Kione knows that. But she’s already forgiven herself. Her task is to plumb the depths of another woman’s soul. Certain mistakes are inevitable. What counts is that the damage is not permanent. And in the process, Kione grasped something crucial.

Sartha Thrace is not human.

Presumably she was, once, but she gave it up. Traded her humanity for the comfort of existing on the end of a metaphysical leash. She does not think as people do. She does not feel as people do. When she was taken and brainwashed, Sartha was not broken on the surface; coerced into a set of simple, mechanical acts as the core of her personhood buried itself deep within her mind for protection. Oh no. She was broken all the way through. Broken the way glass breaks when an entire pane shatters from a single strike—because she wanted it. Now, her very internality has been crushed into something abhorrently one-dimensional. There is no deeper meaning to be found in her than one would find in a dog scraping the bottom of its bowl for food.

Can you really speak of abusing such an animal? Of violating it? Of course not. Kione’s guilt would be senseless, and that very senseless guilt is what almost drove her over the edge when she had her hands clamped around Sartha’s throat. So now, she has discarded it. She has forgiven herself—and for whatever it’s worth, she knows that Sartha has forgiven her too.

Why? Because they’re in love, of course.

“Hey, Captain Thr- I mean, Sartha,” Amynta turns to greet her. Sartha has been insisting on names over titles, but it doesn’t come easy to most of the rebels.

“Hey,” Kione says too.

Sartha has eyes only for her. She hurries across to Kione’s side, adoring, no hint of fear or resentment over the way Kione tortured and strangled her. That no longer strikes Kione as strange. When Sartha looks into the eyes of those around her, she sees hero-worship reflected back at her. Kione once suffered that delusion—but now, when Sartha meets her gaze, the fallen hero sees nothing reflected other than her own nothingness. Kione sees her clearly. The nothingness is validating. For that, Sartha would gladly trade all the abuse in the world.

She is sick with love for Kione.

But nobody else sees it. Not even as they move aside to allow Sartha to sit next to Kione and rest her head on the merc’s shoulder. To everyone else, it’s cute. They’re a little jealous, probably, but mostly they’re glad Sartha has someone at her side. They can only imagine what the two of them do behind closed doors. They don’t know what Sartha is.

That thought pricks at Kione.

Why don’t they? Can’t they see it? Isn’t it obvious? It is to Kione. She isn’t sure how she ever missed it. She sees an abyss in the dark pupils of Sartha’s eyes, the surrounding color a mere echo of the spirit that had once driven her. She sees nothingness on Sartha’s lips, wet and parted when she looks up at Kione, eager for commands or praise or abuse or the three words that deliver her from the thin pretense of personhood. She sees oblivion in everything Sartha does, even in the way she acts like a hero, so desperate and forced and pathetic.

Why doesn’t everyone else?

That’s why Kione isn’t one of them. She sees. And they are blind.

“How’s the new beast looking?” Amynta asks.

“Good.” Sartha grins as she leans into Kione. “A couple more weeks, and it’ll be ready to tear them a new one. She’ll be the finest machine on the planet.”

A couple of appreciative whistles. “Watch it,” Vola jibes, energized. “Kione’ll be complaining we keep getting parts shipped in instead of haute cuisine.”

“No way.” Amynta answers on Kione’s behalf. “Even she’s not that much of a hypocrite. You were plenty grateful for our supply lines when you were getting your babygirl fixed up, right Ki?���

“Yeah, I’m so ‘grateful’ that they cost me more than I’ve ever made working alongside you lot,” Kione complains. It’s true. Her coffers have never been so empty—not that they’re likely to run dry any time soon.

As she plays up her discontent, Kione reaches across and drapes an arm over Sartha’s shoulder. Accidentally, her forearm ends up pressing against Sartha’s collar and the bruises beneath. Sartha flinches subtly, but then settles in to press even closer to Kione, a look of giddy, drunken contentment settling across her face.

Fucking freak. But nobody else takes any notice.

“From what I heard, you paid so much because you needed some seriously weird shit,” Nese puts to her. “How does that machine of yours work, anyway? The flying, I mean.”

“Antimatter?” Kione shrugs. She has a pretty good idea of Theaboros’s basic engineering—enough to direct repairs, anyway—but the finer points of its machinery escape her, as do the deeper physics underpinning them. “You want much more than that, you’d have to ask the person I got to design it for me.”

“What’s their name?” Nese asks. “I had no idea any rebel groups had the labs and resources to develop this kind of tech.”

“They don’t,” Kione replies. “She’s imperial.”

That gets a few looks. Rebels are no strangers to appropriating imperial technology, but they usually have to steal or salvage it, not commission it.

“How’d that work, exactly?” Vola asks, a touch guardedly.

“First of all, I’m a merc,” Kione reminds her. “If I take a bit of care, I can go wherever I want. Second… have you ever met a mech engineer? Those adorable little freaks are all exactly the same. They’re all gagging for a chance to get their pet prototypes built.”

“So? How’d you get her to give it to you, instead of the empire?”

Kione looks from side to side, then leans in, like she’s about to let everybody in on a big secret. Then she brings her free hand to her lips—and makes a little gesture of sticking her tongue out between the V of her fingers.

All the rebels howl with laughter. Not Sartha—but it’s not jealousy or envy that stop her. She looks up at Kione, awestruck, like Kione’s some kind of goddess for it. Gods, can the rest of them really not see her for what she is?

“OK, seriously,” Kione adds. “You gotta remember, the imperials don’t build like you do. It’s all production lines and interchangeable parts over there. No way you can get their bean-counters to approve some flashy one-of-a-kind machine that’s only as good as whatever fresh-faced academy dipshit ends up in the cockpit.”

Vola nods slowly. It’s a hard thing for some rebels to get their heads around, especially if they’re still a little green. If they’ve only ever fought in skirmishes and insurgency actions, not in the kinds of full-scale battles that showcase the empire’s horrific aptitude for total warfare. Their factories can churn out Dorus on a scale that a girl like Vola could scarcely believe possible. It just doesn’t make sense for an industrial war machine like that to derail its manufacturing, maintenance and support logistics just to build exactly one of something that might turn out to be a terrible idea anyway.

For the rebels, it’s just the opposite. Every rebel mech is a mongrel. They’re all one-of-a-kind, so if you have the parts to build something special and a pilot that can make it work, why not? It’ll be no more of a pain in the ass to keep in service than any of the hundreds of thrice-reconstructed imperial mechs the rebels usually fight with. Besides, rebel tactics are necessarily local, flexible, and improvisational. Give them a weird machine, you can bet your ass they’ll figure out an equally weird way to put it to good use. Kione respects the resourcefulness. What she doesn’t respect is that, beyond everything else, the rebels need icons. Symbols. Heroes, like Sartha and her Ancyor. Instantly recognizable on a poster. It’s a way to rally people. All the more reason to favor wacko prototypes.

“So…” Amynta ventures, “you didn’t really eat out an imperial engineer to get Theaboros?”

“I paid her handsomely, and I gave her a chance to see her baby fly,” Kione answers primly. “And then I ate her out. Just for fun. I mentioned she was an adorable little freak, didn’t I?”

Amynta gives her a playful punch whilst everyone else groans.

“Whatever,” Vola snorts. “If you ask me, you’re the freak for trusting it. I’d never want to count on imperial tech to keep me three hundred feet in the air. I’ll bet on my Phassus any day of the week. She’s not flashy. But she gets it done.”

Amynta and Sartha both flash her a warning look, but it’s too late. She said the magic word, and Kione is already wearing her finest shark grin.

“You’d bet, huh?” Kione purrs. “Easy enough to settle that—unless you’re all talk, of course.”

At once, Sartha switches gears. Suddenly, she’s a guard dog. A cheerleader. She partakes in Kione’s smugness, and glares challenging daggers at Vola. The other rebel bristles at Kione’s taunt, but Radio Girl is quick to shut down the suggestion.

“Absolutely fucking not,” she insists. “Command is not in the mood, and neither am I. Try for some dick-swinging duel, and I’ll have both of your machines drained of fuel so the entire base can laugh at you when you try and launch only to fall on your asses. Do not test me.”

She’s really growing into herself. Kione’s a little bit impressed, but mostly just annoyed she won’t get her dick-swinging duel.

“Fine,” she yawns. “No fun allowed.”

A crooked smile forms on Nese’s face. Apparently, Kione isn’t the only one who wanted a show.

“How about you get it out of your system a different way?” Nese suggests.

“What did you have in mind?” Vola asks. She’s game.

Nese licks her lips. “Nobody’s gonna complain about a little arm-wrestling. Right?”

And nobody does. It only takes a few moments to set it up; Kione and Vola on chairs, a table between them, staring menacingly at each other, while the other rebels pretend to be an appropriately riled-up crowd. They’re all in Vola’s corner, of course. She’s the hometown girl. Kione stands apart. She’s the heel. She’s not one of them. Only Sartha stands behind Kione, resting a hand on her back with a doting affection.

She’s so damn obvious about it. They’re going to see you, Sartha. They’ll see the nothingness in you. They’ll see that you’ll always betray them in the end.

Kione hopes they see. She hopes Sartha sees that none of them could love her the way she does.

“Three,” Amynta counts, as Kione and Vola plant their elbows on the table and grip each other’s hands. “Two. One. Start!”

Kione tenses the muscles in her core as well as her arms as she begins to push against Vola. She feels the other woman’s palm shifting in her grip as both of them jockey for angle and position. Vola is young and strong. She gives it her all from the first signal, and Kione has to give it hers just to stay in the fight. She can tell at once, though, that she’s being underestimated. Kione likes to keep herself looking pretty, and she knows she looks a little slight in her jumpsuit—but she’s a merc, and sometimes that means having to carry a lot of heavy shit all by yourself.

So Kione relaxes into the hold, letting her wider shoulders give her a better angle, and lets Vola huff and puff until she’s all out of juice. It’s not so easy that she doesn’t sweat from the strain, though, and Kione’s not such a poor showman that she won’t let Vola force her all the way back like she’s on the verge of defeat.

But just as her rebel comrades are already beginning to whoop and cheer for their hometown girl, Kione flashes them a grin and starts pushing back. Every grunt from Vola’s lips and every grimace on her face is a little gift to Kione, and the gifts only end when Kione plants the back of the other woman’s hand flat on the table.

Victory.

Lots of groaning. Kione takes that as applause. Sartha rubs her back and coos for her. That makes her feel kind of nauseous. Vola grimaces again, then amicably shakes Kione’s hand. She gets up—and Amynta sits down.

“Come on, then.” Radio Girl winks at her. “Can’t have everybody think a merc is better than a rebel.”

Kione’s arm is already tired. She really shouldn’t—but she just rolls her eyes and meets her grin for grin. She just can’t say no to a good flirt.

“Fine,” Kione replies. “You’re on. Just one moment.”

She makes a little performance of the way she reaches up and unzips her jumpsuit from the neck, before peeling it away to her waist in order to expose her shoulders and her belly. Only a thin, fabric sports bra covers her torso, and Kione’s dark skin is covered in a sheen of sweat from her bout with Vola. Everyone is ogling her. Especially Amynta.

Kione smiles. There’s more than one way to skin a cat.

“OK.” Kione makes a show of stretching, too; bending left, then right, folding her arms across her shoulders, making sure Amynta gets a fine look at her back muscles flexing. “Let’s do this.”

“Yeah,” Amynta pants. “Let’s.”

The atmosphere in the room has changed. Amynta is openly leering at Kione. She can’t help it. The poor girl has been sweet on her ever since that first mission together. Sartha is the only thing that’s kept them from sharing a bed. Now she’s feeling a little more than just rebel pride. And she’s not the only one. The rest of the rebels are watching with a voyeuristic interest. They want to see who might come out on top.

In many senses of the word.

“Three.” Nese counts this time, as the two women grip each other’s palms. “Two. One. Go!”

Kione tenses up again as she and Amynta begin to grapple. Amynta can’t hide her interest; her eyes keep flickering to Kione’s stomach and shoulders as Kione flexes her trim figure. She’s distracted. Kione has a wild grin on her face. This is going to be fun. But not right away; no, she lets Amynta get a little warm and a little riled. Lets her marinate in her own stupid animal brain chemicals for a moment.

Then Kione flashes her the filthiest look Amynta’s ever seen, licks her lips, and does something truly sinful with her extended tongue.

Amynta blushes and squirms and, just for a moment, lets her concentration slip completely. Slamming her hand down onto the table is the easiest thing Kione’s ever done.

“No fair!” Amynta protests, while Kione throws back her head and howls with victorious laughter.

“Love and war, babygirl,” Kione tells her. That forces another blush into Amynta’s cheeks. “Merc two, rebels zero. Kind of embarrassing for all of you, honestly. Surely you can do better than that.”

“We can,” Nese retorts.

And looks at Sartha.

A heartbeat later, and everyone’s looking at her. Their eyes are full of expectation. They already know: Sartha will save them. Sartha can’t lose. She’s a hero. Sartha, to her credit, doesn’t flinch from it, although Kione feels her tense invisibly at her side.

“What do you say, Ki?” Sartha asks, with cocksure lightness. “Think you can go another round.”

Asking for permission, of course. She can’t do anything here without Kione’s permission. But she threads the needle, and finds a way to ask while still acting like the confident ace everybody wants her to be. Cute.

How does that work, exactly? Kione makes a mental note to pry into that, the next time she’s playing with Sartha’s head. Is it a conscious deception? An anxious lie? If so, is it motivated by simple self-preservation? Or by a twisted, not-quite-obliterated sense of pride? Alternatively, is it simply second nature to the dog Sartha Thrace has become? Has the fundamental lie of her identity been seared so deep into her soul, she no longer realizes she is deceiving everybody who has ever trusted her?

Kione’s nostrils flare. She has so much to learn, if she’s to become the equal of Sartha’s handler.

“Sure,” Kione answers eventually. “One more.”

Sartha sits opposite her. Nese, Vola, Amynta are all cheering. Others too. The atmosphere is bordering on riotous. Several more have heard what’s happening, and come to watch. Who wouldn’t want to see Sartha Thrace arm wrestling another dyke? On the surface, Sartha is a perfect match for their expectations. She sits easily in her chair, a slight, smug smirk on her face; it’s easy to imagine her sitting in Ancyor with the same ease as she readies herself to deliver a hammer blow against the empire.

Kione, though, can only imagine her one way: on her knees, wearing a muzzle.

What would all the rest of them think if they saw her like that? Even once?

“Ready, Ki?” Sartha challenges. As loyal as she is, she means to win. Kione can see that in her eyes.

“Ready.” Kione is no less competitive. She plants her elbow on the table. The two of them lock hands.

“Three,” Amynta counts. “Two. One. Start.”

Sartha starts slow the way an avalanche starts slow. She eases into the grappling—but gods, she’s strong. Stronger than Kione, that’s for sure. Even if she’d been fresh, Kione couldn’t have beaten her. She strains every sinew, of course, but Sartha is already pressing her down, down, down. Her fellow rebels drink in her impending victory. They urge her on, yelling and cheering. The looks on their faces are jubilant. To them, it’s fate. It’s justice. In the end, their rebel hero wins the day.

Something about that just pisses Kione off.

Don’t you get it? She betrayed you. And she’d do it again.

Maybe Kione should show them. Just a little bit. Just in a small, harmless way.

She looks straight into Sartha’s dead eyes and tells her: “Sartha. Let me win.”

Most of the people who hear it laugh. They think Kione’s begging. Sartha doesn’t laugh. Her eyes flash wide in shock for a moment. Kione can tell it’s not surprise. She’s not surprised Kione is doing this to her. It’s just the bow shock of a cold, clear command spearing through the persona she had been wearing. A moment later, color hits her cheeks. Gratitude. Arousal. Every chance to obey is a chance to submerge into obedience. Sartha is always glad of those. Kione’s lips curl.

They’re all watching you, Sartha. Show them.

“Yes, Kione,” Sartha replies, very quietly.

And lets her win.

Sartha’s arm goes limp. Kione feels the fight drain from her. No more smug hero act. She is a doll in Kione’s grip. Something she can pose with ease. The small crowd turns hushed as they see it happen. As they see Sartha give up. Kione looks over each of them, delighting in their half-amused, half-disturbed shock, before slowly forcing Sartha’s hand to the table.

Clean sweep.

The audience churns uncomfortably. A few of them are tittering with approval. They think they know what they saw: a kink dynamic, spilling out from the bedroom. Even some of those, though, seem faintly disappointed. Most of the watching rebels are plainly discomforted. They suspect nothing, but this isn’t what they wanted to see. Sartha Thrace doesn’t just lose. Not like that. The natural order has been subverted. And Radio Girl is looking between Sartha and Kione like she’s suddenly not sure she knows either of them at all.

That’s right, Kione thinks. We can play nice and swap stories all we like, but the truth is: I’m not one of you.

And neither is Sartha.

***

“Here,” Kione commands. “Strip. Take everything off.”

It’s late at night. The whole of Leukon Base is asleep; that’s the only reason nobody has seen Kione leading Sartha through the base’s narrow corridors, muzzle bound tight over her face.

“Yes, Kione.”

Kione had wondered, idly, if this would prompt any questioning from Sartha. Any hesitance. Of course not. A fervent eagerness shines across the surface of Sartha’s deep, dead eyes as she reaches up and begins to pull her jacket away from her body. The more clothes she removes, the more bruises she reveals; a discolored necklace around her collar, then a few irregular rows down her sides and a couple of huge, yellowing marks on her belly. All of them are two days faded now, but all the prettier for it. As excessive as the violence might have been, Kione is proud of the proof of her handiwork. She made Sartha look like exactly what she is.

A kicked dog.

The most wretched creature on the face of the world. And Kione’s beloved.

As she sees her now, naked, beginning to shiver against the nighttime chill, Kione almost bursts with love for her. Her love for Sartha threatens to drool out of the aching grin fixed on her face. She’s so lucky. Nobody has ever been more lucky. She and Sartha are joined, utterly. They have stared into one another’s darkness, and they have not blinked. They accept each other totally. Partners in atrocity. What bond could be greater? Purer?

And what’s more, they’ll do anything for each other.

“Chin up,” Kione instructs.

As the tip of Sartha’s muzzle tilts upward, Kione reaches into her pocket and fishes out a dog collar—a real one, sized for a large breed. She was able to pick it up at Leukon Base’s commissary. The rebels have a relaxed policy around pets. In multiple senses, actually. Kione could have bought something nice and leather, hand-crafted, padded on the inside, with a nice big D-ring on the front for ease of use.

But no. Kione thinks this ugly, red nylon thing that fastens with a cheap clip instead of a proper buckle is a much better fit. Sartha’s opinion on the matter doesn’t count, but Kione is pleased that she seems eager enough; her eyes widen with palpable excitement as Kione twirls the collar around her upraised index finger for a moment.

“Long overdue, right?” Kione grins. “Here.”

She fastens the collar tight around Sartha’s neck. Sartha relaxes eagerly into its embrace, grateful for the chance to be a pet instead of a person. And now Kione has Sartha Thrace collared. Owned. It’s the stuff of dreams. Kione lifts her hand, and strokes her fingertips lovingly across the high part of Sartha’s cheek, the part that peeks over the muzzle’s cage.

Then she snaps out of it. Then she remembers. Sartha doesn’t want gentle. Sartha doesn’t want loving. And she’s a filthy fucking traitor who let them break her.

“Get down,” Kione barks, scowling. Before Sartha can possibly react, Kione grabs the end of her muzzle and uses it to shove her downward. “On your hands and knees, dog.”

Sartha stumbles a bit in surprise, but obeys instantly. Kione’s rictus grin flickers back to her face. Sartha might be a subhuman bitch, but that doesn’t mean Kione can’t enjoy this. Mastering her own emotions is still new to her, and still a struggle. But she’s determined to keep her adoration well-aimed. She will not love the false idol that is Sartha Thrace, hero. She will love the dog.

“There we go.” Kione bends down and starts petting Sartha’s head—oh, and it’s so hard not to love her when she starts looking stupid and brainless like this. “That’s where you belong. How do you feel, Sartha? Not too cold?”

“No, I’m- ah!”

Kione cuts her off by knotting her hand into a fist in Sartha’s hair and yanking so hard Sartha’s hands lift off the floor. Her face is pained, but Kione sees the ecstasy beneath.

“Wrong!” Kione laughs. “Do you know why it’s wrong, Sartha?”

“No, K- f-fuck!”

The same treatment again, only harder. “You really are a dumb bitch,” Kione scorns. “It’s wrong because dogs don’t talk. What do dogs say, babe?”

Sartha gets it at once, and as Kione releases her grip and lets her pet slump back to the ground, a look of voracious, submissive glee settles across her face.

“Woof!”

Kione laughs a little at that, but she isn’t completely satisfied. Sartha says it a little too much like a person-word, rather than a sound.

“Try again,” she encourages. “Bark, bitch.”

To her credit, Sartha senses exactly what Kione wants from her. “Arf!” is what comes out of her next. A simple, brute, guttural ejaculation. Now Kione truly throws back her head and cackles.

Gods, doesn’t she know how fucking embarrassing that sounds?

“Good girl,” Kione mocks. “Now. Louder.”

“Arf!”

“Louder!”

Now Kione senses a touch of hesitancy—although only a touch, before Sartha lets out another wretched, bleating: “Arf!”

Kione knows exactly why Sartha hesitated. Yes, it’s late at night, but a military base never quite sleeps. There are sentries. There could be people awake and wandering around for all kinds of reasons. Hell, the walls around here aren’t so thick that someone awake in their bunk might not overhear a loud bark and decide to come and check it out.

A little shiver of danger races down Kione’s spine as she thinks on it. Yes, this is going to be delicious.

“You really do make a good dog,” Kione announces. “And honestly? I’ve been a neglectful pet owner. I’ve waited this long to take you out for walkies.”

Deep in subspace though she is, Sartha’s cheeks redden from sheer embarrassment. She’s not completely beyond it—not until Kione gives her the words. For now, all she can do is twist and turn in her own nauseous delight. In the shame of being, and the bliss of being less than human.

“Arf!” is her only reply. That, and the sound of a drop of Sartha’s wetness hitting the floor.

“Good,” Kione repeats. “Now, here.”

Kione pulls out a leash. Her next commissary indulgence. It takes no more than a moment to clip it to Sartha’s collar—and then Kione turns on her heel, and she’s away.

She picks her pace carefully. Not rushing, but not slow either. Leisurely—but not leisurely enough for Sartha. Shuffling on her hands and knees, she struggles to keep up. Unfortunately for her, Kione was careful to pick a short leash. After just a short distance, Sartha’s pace slackens as she pauses to breathe. Kione steps forward again, heedless—and pulls Sartha up short. As soon as Kione feels the barest hint of resistance, she yanks. Hard.

“Keep up,” Kione orders merrily. “Or do I need to find a bone to throw for you?”

Being pulled along by her collar only makes Sartha’s task harder. She’s forced up onto her feet, not her knees, and into a desperate, headlong scramble just to relieve the pressure on her neck. When she catches up, it’s no better. Kione is still walking just a little bit faster than she can comfortably crawl or shuffle, so Sartha ends up settling into an awkward, exhausting, half-raised gait just so she can keep herself at Kione’s side.

Kione’s face hurts from grinning. But she can’t stop. You’re perfect, Sartha. Perfect like this. Maybe this is simply the way you were always meant to be.

“Good girl,” Kione tells her again. Sartha deserves to keep hearing it. And then, for her own benefit: “I promise. I’ll keep you safe. With me. Just like this. Forever.”

You don’t need that handler, Sartha. I’ll be her. I’ll be better than her. Just you watch.

As they walk through Leukon Base’s corridors, the two of them pass door after door. Most of them, closed; a few of them, open, leading into empty rooms or other passageways. Each of those that they pass makes Kione feel like she’s going to throw up and blow her load at the same time. Each time, she glances into the dark doorway and thinks the shadow she sees has a pair of eyes. The threat of discovery is ever-present, and it activates all the small danger-instincts Kione has honed in her time as a pilot.

Would happen if someone saw? Kione keeps running through it in her head. What would they think of her? What if they saw her use Sartha’s trigger? What then? Would they hate her? Would they punish her? Would they envy her?

It’s too much. The adrenaline is kicking her something fierce. Kione can’t stop giggling as they walk.

And what if they saw Sartha? What then? Would they hate her? Would they think she’s let them down? They’d be right to, of course. But would they look upon her as a traitor? Or merely as a broken wretch?

Kione is desperate to find out. It’s the only thing that could snap the merciless tension gnawing at her.

Gods, maybe some of them would envy Sartha too. She’s not the first rebel girl to enjoy being collared. Plenty of them would look good that way, too. A sudden vision hits Kione, as the flames of arousal lick at her: Amynta Tet, Radio Girl, muzzled and kneeling.

Kione laughs long and loud. She’s not sure if Radio Girl swings that way. But it sure would be fun to find out.

“How you doing, Sartha?” Kione abruptly comes to a halt. “Getting some of that energy out of your system?”

That’s an understatement. Sartha looks wrecked. Fit as she is, scrambling on all fours after Kione has left her bedraggled with sweat and shivering from both cold and exertion. Kione’s heart swells with the knowledge that Sartha would keep going forever if Kione told her to. Until she collapsed into sleep from exhaustion.

“A-arf!” Sartha answers. Her voice trembles, but she’s no less eager for being so tired. “Ruff!”

Love and contempt fight for primacy in Kione’s bosom. It’s strange how accustomed she’s becoming to those two emotions coexisting. She wants Sartha to be so much more than this, even as she adores her being lesser. In the end, a perverse sense of pride sweeps through Kione’s mood.

She remembered! She remembered not to speak. Who could ask for a better pet?

“Good girl,” Kione purrs gleefully. “You’re doing so well. Almost perfect, in fact. You’re just missing one last piece.”

There’s one other thing Kione got at the commissary. Something that really got her some looks from the quartermaster sitting behind the counter. Kione plucks it out of her pocket now, already giggling at the thought.

A butt plug. With a long, canine tail attached to the other end.

“Turn around,” Kione orders. “Ass up.”

Shaking with need, Sartha obliges. While she turns, Kione uses her spit to get the plug nice and slick. Then she bends down and pushes it all the way into Sartha’s ass. Sartha yields to her without question, but then her legs almost give way from the sensation, and she lets out a wild, throaty moan that fills the dim corridor. Kione can’t help but notice that Sartha seems used to being taken this way. Jealousy rises in her. She would rather not picture all the ways imperial pilots have been using her.

“Quiet, slut,” Kione snarls coldly. “Unless you’re really that eager to be overheard.”

The pathetic little whine Sartha lets out fixes her mood at once. She really is being loud, though. If she carries on like this, it’s almost inevitable that someone will overhear them. Suddenly Kione wonders about that.

“Maybe you actually are,” Kione muses. “Is that what you want, dog? You want people to see you? Hear you?”

“Aarrfff,” is the only reply Sartha can give. Kione can’t tell if it’s meant to indicate yes or no—but it’s certainly eager. Sartha is incapable of anything but eagerness. Her eyes are as wide and shiny as any puppy. Her shivering is now more pleasure than anything else, and Kione can see rivulets of drool trickling down her chin behind her muzzle.

Sartha is lost to this. She’s exactly where she wants to be. Maybe she really does want to be discovered. Maybe that would be a release for her, or an ending. Kione finds herself craving that same ending more powerfully than she had expected. She fights to keep a tight rein on the self-destructive impulse. Not now. Not when they’ve both come so far. She’ll give Sartha a climax, oh yes. But of another kind.

She’ll make sure that, for a little while, there’s no Sartha at all.

“Sartha,” Kione says. Her tone is enough to make Sartha yip with glee. “Off The Leash.” Kione giggles. “Not that you’ll be coming off this leash any time soon.”

She’s growing used to Sartha’s dissolution, but that doesn’t stop it from feeling like a fresh miracle each time. The way Kione appreciates the transformations keeps changing, though. More and more, she finds beauty in it. When she wields those three wonderful words against Sartha Thrace, she is a sculptor with a chisel, cleaving away at all the rough edges and imperfections of her. Removing what is not needed. Removing what is impure. Her hero���s facade, made a lie of so many times. Her confident stance, her smug grin, her warm smile, her hopeful eyes—all of them made meaningless by the ravages of the handler’s brainwashing. The gossamer-thin facade of personhood, which she is so much better without.

It breaks away. It falls apart. In its wake, there is nothing.

In its wake, there is the hound.

There is no confusion in Hound when she wakes. She understands her place perfectly. Kneeling, muzzled, collared. Beyond the obvious eagerness and adoration, there’s a kind of comfort in her dull, brainwashed eyes as she looks up at Kione. This is exactly where she belongs. All is right with the world. To her, the dehumanization is a balm. She doesn’t want to walk on two legs, because that’s what people do. She doesn’t want to speak in words, because that’s what people do. Better to be this. A thing. A weapon. A pet.

Kione’s heart aches in love for her. Sartha’s better half. Sartha’s truest self.

“Come along,” Kione says sweetly, adoringly. “You deserve to stretch your legs too, puppy.”

Kione turns her back again and begins to walk. The same awkward pace as before—only now, for Hound, it’s infinitely harder. The way she has to move her hips with each scrambling step works her new tail around inside her, prompting high, vicious moans from her lips and drooling droplets of wetness from her cunt. After just a short distance, she’s shivering violently, plainly struggling to keep herself from collapsing onto her belly.

It’s so wonderful. Kione keeps grinning and laughing unsteadily. She’s so hot, and so pathetic, and so needy, and so easy, and she’s all hers. Kione must be merciless with her.

“Keep up,” she warns, and yanks on the leash.

Hound does, although it’s almost more than she can take. Her panted moans turn ever more whined and strained, and her whole face is drenched with sweat and drool. Taken with her bruises, she’s never looked less like a person. The tail is the final touch, of course; as Hound moves, it sways from side to side to match her gait, just about stiff enough to stick a little way into the air when she fully extends her hips. It’s ridiculous and frivolous and hot and absolutely fucking humiliating all at the same time. Kione keeps giggling over and over again.

“R-rarf!” Hound bleats, as her legs give way. From the arch of her spine and the helpless tremble of her thighs, Kione can tell right away what happened: she came.

A crooked smirk comes to Kione’s face. Just from that? Adorable.

“I said,” she hisses, “keep up!”

Kione barely misses a beat before she yanks the leash again—hard. Hard enough to drag Hound’s limp body across the cold, rough ground for a pace. It’s not a choking collar, but even so, nobody likes being dragged around by the neck. By the time Hound has recovered enough to claw her way back up onto her knees, her face is a deep, pained red and there are scrapes down her shins.

But she makes it. She catches up.

“Good girl!” Only now does Kione pause. She reaches down, she ruffles Hound’s hair, she pets her for all she’s worth. “Oh, aren’t you a good girl? Who’s a good dog? You. Yes, you are. Yes, you are!”

The look of stupid, lovestruck, praise-drunk glee on Hound’s face makes it all so very worth it. And it might just be from the pleasure or the cold, but Kione still adores the way that Hound looks for all the world like she’s wagging that dumb little tail of hers.

“Let’s head back to my room,” Kione decides. She’s gotten exactly what she wanted out of this little excursion—and besides, Hound looks exhausted. “This way. Should take us a full circuit.”

She leads the way. Slower, this time, to let Hound crawl more comfortably at her side. Kione still holds the leash tight, though, so it tugs on her a little with each step. She knows Hound will appreciate it. Walking just like that, they make it almost all the way back to Kione’s quarters, before Kione notices something dangerous.

An open door. A light. And voices.

It’s the rec room. It’s unusual for anyone to be in there so late, but not unheard of. Sometimes soldiers find themselves sleepless, and in need of company. As they come to the doorway, Kione comes to a halt. Two people inside, from the sound of it. She thinks she recognizes the voice of Pela, Sartha’s fangirl. Less sure about the other person. It seems like they’re sitting a fair way distant from the door. Probably facing away from it, too. It should be easy enough to pass quickly and quietly, without anybody taking any notice.

But…

A wicked mood takes Kione. Was their little walk really enough for Sartha? She’s used to much worse; of that, Kione’s certain. Used to being watched, too. Kione can’t quite suppress a hint of disappointment over the fact that nobody happened across them during their walk. It would have been a disaster, of course. But she wanted to see what might have happened.

“Hound,” Kione instructs quietly. “In the doorway. Now.”

She doesn’t even need the gentle leash-tug Kione provides for guidance. Unquestioning, unhesitant, Hound crawls into the doorway. The yellow light within spills out onto her face, leaving a long, canine shadow behind. Hound shivers. Even now, it seems, she retains a certain pilot’s instinct, flooding her with adrenaline.

She’s exposed.

And what a sight she’d be, down a mech suit’s targeting scope. The slower pace Kione struck was easier on her, but there’s only so easy moving can get with something so large and intrusive inside her. Hound is stuck on a permanent hair trigger, and her body is already covered with proof of her deprivations. Bruises, scrapes, sweat, drool, her own slickness. She’s a mess—and then, of course, there’s the muzzle itself.

What would any of the rebels say if they saw that?

The rictus grin is carved so deep into Kione’s face that it hurts. Maybe she’ll finally get to find out.

“Up,” she hisses, not loud enough to risk anyone overhearing. “Sit.”

A pair of heartbeats pass as Hound works her fucked-up brain to try to figure out what kind of pose Kione wants from her. But she gets there in the end. Hound straightens her back and then lifts herself up, balanced precariously on the balls of her feet, her torso bared into the rec room.

Still, Kione can hear voices coming from inside.

“Go on,” she urges gleefully. “Paws up, too”.

It doesn’t matter how dumb and humiliating Kione’s orders get, there’s no question that Hound will obey. Trembling, fighting for balance, Hound lifts her arms up to around her shoulders, wrists hung limply to make her hands into feeble, ludicrous impressions of paws.

Kione is about to bust a gut laughing. At this point, if anyone hears anything, it’s going to be her dying of laughter. Not that she isn’t also insanely turned on. That’s always a given, with Hound.

“Legs apart,” Kione orders next. She’s grinning so wide she’s showing teeth. Her voice sounds wet. “Let’s give your friends a good show.”

A drooling whimper comes from Hound’s lips as she spreads her thighs apart, adopting a truly pornographic, bow-legged pose that sends shocks of pleasure up her spine as her butt plug digs all the way in. A moment more, and she can’t take it. Can’t keep the pleasure in.

She moans.

Kione’s heart stops. Did someone hear? She isn’t sure. The voices from inside the rec room have stopped—which could be a red flag. The last warning Kione is going to get that they need to get the hell out of there. True, Kione might be able to talk her way out of it. Excuse what she’s doing with Sartha as some kinky sex that got out of hand. But there are those who would immediately see in Sartha’s muzzle something far, far more sinister. Anyone who saw Sartha as they brought her in from the rescue, or who participated in her rehabilitation. Kione should put a stop to this, right now.

But she doesn’t. She doesn’t want to.

The ludicrous risk of what she’s doing crashes over Kione. When her heart beats again, it’s in her throat? What is the point of this? Gratification? Hers, or Sartha’s? She’s risking everything. All her progress. All her efforts to reclaim Sartha from the handler’s jaws, just so she can… get her off?

It doesn’t make sense. She can’t make it make sense. But she can’t stop, either.

The voices from within the rec room resume. A reprieve. Clearly, it’s time to end this madness.

But then Kione looks at Hound.

Fuck. She’s a mess. She’s such a mess. And she looks so fucking turned on by it, too. By the abjection and dehumanization. By being turned into a stupid, exhibitionist bitch for Kione’s amusement. Beneath her, a small but distinct puddle of her wetness has formed on the floor, and she’s got a look on her muzzled face like she’s riding the edge again. Like she craves discovery every bit as much as Kione does.

Before the merc can think better of it, the order slips out.

“Speak.”

“Rrrrarf!”

The eager yip erupts instantly out of Hound’s throat. Ever the good dog. Ever obedient. At once, she tenses up and, for the second time, cums her bitch brains out all over the floor. It makes Kione moan her laughter—even as the voices from inside the rec room cut off for the second time.

“Hey?” someone calls out. “Who’s there?”

A chair shifts.

Immediately, Kione’s instincts take over. “Quick,” she hisses, and for good measure she yanks hard on Hound’s leash while she’s still in the throes of orgasm. Beleaguered, Hound does her best to walk, to crawl, to keep up with Kione as she hurries away from the rec room. Luckily, the next corner is only a few paces away. Not far beyond it is Kione’s quarters, and safety.

Kione’s heart is still pounding something fierce. She’s terrified—but she’s grinning too. She’s never felt more alive. She’s never felt more in tune with Sartha Thrace, with Hound, with her dog, with her love.

“I love you,” she says quietly, swept away in the moment.

She hopes to hear it back. But of course, dogs don’t talk. All she gets in return is an eager, doting “Arf!” from Hound.

It’s just as good. It’s perfect. The night has been perfect. Kione knows, more than ever, that she is Sartha’s, and Sartha is hers.

Her only regret is that she couldn’t be there to catch the looks on those rebels’ faces when they stumble upon the mess Sartha left for them.

***

“I win.”

Kione actually feels the truth of her boast as she stares up at the viewscreen that’s displaying an image of the imperial handler. She’s in Theaboros this time, not Ancyor. Copied over the comm codes. Continuing to slip into Sartha’s mech seemed unwise. Arguably, letting this bloodless ghoul into Theaboros is even more unwise, but Kione’s pretty sure her systems are secure and untraceable. Besides, if talking to the handler is a red line, it’s one Kione has already crossed.

And how is that?

Above her, the handler is a monolith. She looks exactly the same as when Kione last saw her. Not a single hair is out of place. Not a single hair seems to move as she opens her mouth to speak. She is one with her black leather uniform; the coat, the cap, the way they frame her icy face. She is perfection itself.

Kione wants very, very badly to see that composure of hers shatter like glass. She wants to do it somewhere Sartha can see. She wants to ruin her in Sartha Thrace’s eyes.

“I asked her,” Kione brags. “Just like you said. I got Sartha’s secret. I know what she is—and I’m still here.”

What is her secret?

A shiver races across Kione. She is being weighed and measured. She puffs herself up.

“She wants this,” Kione answers. “Deep in Sartha’s soul, she wants what’s happening to her. You brought that desire to the fore, yes, but it was always there. She needs Hound, because otherwise the sheer hypocrisy of her being would tear her apart. But it’s a mask she wears willingly. She’s… happy, like this. In a way.”

The handler nods. Her smile sharpens. She’s impressed. Kione grows warm.

Correct. Sartha Thrace’s spirit grew thin under the weight of her own weariness. She conceived a broken longing for freedom—from strength, from expectations, from the burdens of heroism. From humanity itself. That is exactly what I gave to her. On some level, she wanted it. That was enough.

Another shiver. Kione’s heart is beating the way it usually only does in combat. When she flies Theaboros high above the battlefield, looking down on all the rest of humanity, she is gifted with a delicious sense of superiority. This is no different.

“It’s… it’s why there’s no fixing her.” It’s the first time Kione’s said that out loud. That truth should weigh heavy on her, but she feels as light as a feather. Talking to the handler like this feels like sparring. It’s energizing. “She doesn’t want to be fixed. She knows she can’t carry all that weight again.”

Just so.

“But.” Kione glares daggers at the viewscreen. “I can still save her from you.”

The handler laughs, just once. A quiet sound. Snow trampled into ice underfoot.

She does not want to be saved, either.

“No,” Kione admits. “But she deserves it. For… for who she used to be. At least I actually give a shit about her. At least I won’t make her betray her own people.”

I assure you, I care for her deeply. Regardless, what makes you so confident that you can—as you put it—save her?

“Because she loves me,” Kione answers firmly. She was ready for this. She rehearsed her answers in the shower. “And I love her. I’m… still learning how to do that, exactly. But I can give her what she wants. Last night, I stripped her naked and walked her around the rebel base. Muzzle, leash, tail. And she fucking loved it, and I took care of her afterwards. I can give her everything she wants. She doesn’t need you anymore.”

Fascinating. The handler’s smile is like a needle. I have a question for you. After your walk with Sartha, did you fuck her again?

“What?” Kione splutters. That takes her entirely off-guard. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Do you need all the lurid details to jerk off to or something?”

The handler smiles politely. It’s simply a question. We’ve already discussed your proclivities—and hers.

Kione finds herself red in the face. Gods, it’s like talking about sex with a teacher. Or a priest.

“I’m not answering that,” she growls. “I don’t have to give you shit.”

I see.

And she really does. That’s the truly awful part. She sees all of Kione. Her blue eyes flash with something, and Kione has never felt more seen. The color of the stars, perhaps.

You aren’t embarrassed because you fucked her. You’re embarrassed because you didn’t.

“The fu-“ Kione has to fight to calm herself, but it’s hard when she suddenly feels cold all over. “H-how do you know that?”

Tell me why. Why not use her?

Her words are a fishhook down Kione’s throat. Before she can think better of it, she finds herself answering.

“It seemed…” she spends a moment grasping for the word, “perfunctory.”

The handler nods thoughtfully. Say more.

“And…” Kione’s brow tightens. She had not thought to put a name to the feelings that moved her to release her urges on her own time, rather than with Sartha. But she must find the words now. She must master herself. She has so much to prove. “For me… demeaning?”

She didn’t mean for it to come out like a question, but it did. The handler lets it hang in the air for a moment. Kione has time to ask herself why she’s so stupidly fucking nervous, and the answer only unsettles her further.

She’s nervous because she’s waiting for approval.

You’re doing very well with her indeed. It’s true that Sartha has been conditioned to crave sexual gratification and objectification, but it needn’t be from you, in quite such a… direct fashion. You will find that she prefers a certain separation. Authority is as essential to her as degradation. Beasts fuck other beasts. Their master provides something altogether different.

Kione nods slowly as she absorbs that. It doesn’t occur to her to doubt it. She would never dream of trusting the handler, but she hasn’t misled her yet. Besides, Kione feels as though she’s already seen much of that in Sartha. It all stands to reason. The harder part is maintaining her grip on her own emotions as she digests. She doesn’t want the handler’s praise to feel good.

But it does.

“Well, thanks for the notes,” Kione says sarcastically. Brashness is her refuge. “Really helpful. But I think I’m good, actually. No need for any more of these delightful little chats. I just wanted to give you a friendly heads-up. Sartha’s mine. I win.”

How amusing. What makes you so sure that she won’t come running back to me the very first time she hears my voice?

Kione’s blood freezes.

“I… she won’t,” she replies lamely.

Why not?

“Because… because she loves me!”

I can make her love me instead.

Cold, then hot. Kione’s fighting not to throw up. She’s embarrassed that’s all it took to plunge her into a panic attack, and the shame only deepens her struggle. She can feel sweat on her brow. No. No, no, no. She wouldn’t. She couldn’t. Not love. She loves me.

Me.

I’m the one who saved her, Kione. I’m the one who broke her in the precise way she most needed to be broken. You forget yourself. You believe that because you hold on the other end of the leash, you are my equal. You are not. You are a pale imitation. I know it. You know it. Sartha knows it.

A nightmare unfolds before Kione. She sees it happening. Sartha, running away from her. Towards the loathsome, beautiful creature on the viewscreen before her. Slipping Kione’s leash. She’d be eager. It’d be a homecoming. And all the words in the world couldn’t stop her.

It’s a knife in Kione’s heart. She starts fumbling for the hatch release to her cockpit. It doesn’t even occur to her to end the transmission. This place feels more like it’s the handler’s domain than her own. She can’t breathe. She can’t believe she was so stupidly fucking cocky. She needs to get out of here.

Calm yourself, Kione. I meant what I said: you’re doing well. But you’re still finding your footing. You must go much, much deeper if you wish to make Sartha Thrace truly yours. Don’t worry. Did you forget? I promised you that I’d help you. I always keep my promises.

Kione can just about hear her words over the sound of her own pounding heart. “How?” she asks thickly, before realizing that’s the wrong question. “No… why? Why pretend you’re fucking helping me?”

Because you and I are not entirely dissimilar. And I would hate to see someone else with such rare qualities remain so aimless.

“We’re nothing alike,” Kione growls. She can’t hear this. Not when she’s already so fucking angry. Being made anxious always gets her angry.

You should hope to be wrong about that. If you’re right, you stand no chance.

“Fuck you.” A furious spray of Kione’s spit hits the viewscreen. “Fuck you! I don’t care what you have to say. I’m gonna beat you. Understand me? I am going to reach into Sartha’s head and rip you out of it. I don’t care how deep I have to go. I don’t care what I have to do. I will tear your face and your voice out of her memories. I will make her hate you. I. Will. Win. Bet your fucking ass on that.”

All the anger in the world wouldn’t have made the handler flinch. Kione should have known that; now, as the corners of her lips turn upward, Kione merely feels petty in her rage. Still, petty is better than panicking.

I am no gambler, but you can call it a wager if that makes you more comfortable. I admit, there’s a certain charm to the idea. Sartha Thrace is the game, and the prize. If you can take her from me, I invite you to do so. I’ll even show you how. Your next lesson is already on its way.

Before Kione can question the sinister implications of that, the handler makes her another, even darker promise.

But one day—and it will not be so very far off—I will come for her. Mark me well, Kione. I will come for her. I will come at your worst moment, to call Sartha back to my side. And if you are not prepared for me, you will lose everything.

Strangely, Kione’s heart has begun to slow. A game. A wager. A challenge. She can handle that. Kione’s life has been nothing but challenges. That’s life, as a mercenary. Nobody’s ever had her back, and it’s never kept her from winning. Kione meant what she said. Whatever it takes. She’ll learn every lesson. She thinks back to that night she had her hands wrapped tight around Sartha’s throat. Kione knows that moment was the cusp of something. A metamorphosis. She gazed into the darkest black, and held its stare. There is nothing she is not capable of.

For love. For Sartha.

Kione nods. It’s on. But as she girds herself to cross the threshold and enter the handler’s world, another question comes to her. Another why. An embarrassing one, really. One any sane person would have asked right at the start. Kione feels almost childish as she asks it—but she really does need to know.

“Why do this?” Kione says quietly. “Like… any of this, I mean. Turning people into… like that. I can’t even imagine… I get it, it’s useful. It works. But, fuck, how did you ever even begin to think of something like that?”

The handler raises an eyebrow. She’s not truly taken aback, but the question seems to have surprised her a little. Perhaps it’s just the incredulous simplicity of it. The tall, black-clad corpse of a woman takes her time to properly consider before answering; before speaking the words that take root inside Kione and grow there like a tumor.

Kione, the handler says slowly, and with great weight. Haven’t you ever moved through your life and felt like you were surrounded by nothing but dogs?

---

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[maxmagic]

SHIT I realize I never posted these losers on Tumblr

Uh- Here they are !!! At some point I decided to give the boys some more members (kind of...). These are only concepts too I will defo redesign them ^^'

The first is the third band member we see in the pilot. At first I thought his name was Locust (like the bug), but someone on the disc said his name sounded like Lucas, so hes Lucas now.

The second is a full Oc- Aka Samantha/Sam

✨Descriptions and design explanations under read ✨

-Lucas came to my mind first. Like given how Mollox looks it was pretty obvious he would have been a potential hero member if the show got picked up, so I HAD do give him a design.

-He has a skull motif, because of the original thought of his name being Locust (and they're usually associated with plagues... And plague causes death... You catch my drift). And I did add the same robot arms the Mollox drummer has, but he also has it in his costume. I wanna redesign him at some point cuz I'm still not 100% with the design

-I also want to tweak his colours at some point cuz like I wanted It to be green, but Hank is also green (technically a neon yellow bit fuck that, that's green)

-I imagine he can summon giant drum shields or maybe even sort of bombing based abilities. Like he uses the beat of the drum to basically make explosions.

-I also posed him poorly, but he is supposed to have a spiky mohawk 😭😭

like this ^^^^^

-Samantha came after, cuz I felt like the team would be rounded out with a keyboard (and I personally like rock songs with piano so sue me)

-She has a wing motif. When I was looking up what kind of themes to give these two I realized Hank and Ronnie both have motifs that are common in rock imagery (fire and lightning) so I basically went to Google images and both skulls and wings appeared the most next to the first two, so they got that

-The rollerblades are only there cuz I had the idea she can summon like piano ramps that, when she slides over, make noise as if you went over the piano keys with your finger. With the belts the kind of resemble sandals and with the wings it kind of nods to Hermes. Her hair is also supposed to be wing-ish

-I also thought of maybe her keyboard can split to form wings on her back, with the keys kind of looking like wings. I do want to redesign her keyboard it just looks to plain to me, but it's so hard to styalize a keyboard.

I have a lot more ideas about their personalities and how they'd interact and join the boys

So if y'all are interested drop an ask or DM :D

[callmebrycelee]

9-1-1: FLASHBACK

The first season of 9-1-1 isn’t as highly praised as other seasons but on a rewatch I think there are some pretty solid episodes. For today’s edition of 911: Flashback, I will be focusing on the season 1, seventh episode “Full Moon (Creepy AF)” which originally aired on February 28. 2018. The episode was written by Adam Penn and directed by Maggie Kiley. So, without further ado, let’s get creepy AF!

Quick Recap

I forget how much VO is used in the earlier episodes. At the top of the episode, we get some narration from Hen Wilson who talks about the effects of the moon. Regarding the moon she says, “It is said to increase fertility, create chaos and cause people to do things they would never normally do”. Hen’s assertion serves as the thesis for this episode as we will see quite a bit of births, chaotic situations, and a few of our mains act out of characters. We next see Hen and Karen getting ready for bed. Karen has got the fever and requires some sexual healing, but Hen is in no mood to play doctor. She wants to rest up in preparation for tomorrow’s full moon. Karen worries her and Hen are experiencing LBD (Lesbian Bed Death something she implies all lesbian couples succumb to eventually. Hen assures Karen she is getting everything she needs but Karen tells her she’s been in relationships that have been more like sisterhoods and wonders that if her and Hen aren’t having sex, are they even a couple. Look, I’m not a lesbian nor have I ever navigated a lesbian relationship, but I think Karen’s views on relationships in general are a bit myopic. Does she realize asexual people exist? Anywho, Karen thinks her and Hen’s relationship is boring AF.

We move from Henren to Buck who is back at work after nearly choking to death on Valentine’s Day. Buck is on the phone with Abby and the two are talking about the full moon. Buck believes a full moon will bring out the freaks but Abby, being the Dana Scully to his Fox Mulder, doesn’t believe all the full moon hype. After their conversation, Abby gets a call from a woman named Nora (played by Jenny O’Hara) who says there’s a man standing outside her house. She starts to panic which causes a medical emergency. Hen, Chimney and Athena arrive at the woman’s house. While Hen and Chimney tend to Nora, Athena around the house for any signs of an intruder. Hen notices there are footprints inside the house and discovers that when standing in front of the window, the glass door behind her creates an optical illusion. The man who Nora saw standing outside her house was inside. Creepy AF!

Over at dispatch, Abby gets a call from a woman reporting an intruder in her home. Abby hears the woman get killed over the phone which is traumatizing to say the least. This is directly followed by one of the brighter moments of an otherwise dark episode. Bobby and Buck head over to a yoga studio where a woman who is six months pregnant is stuck in Locust Pose. While they both tend to the woman, three other women go into labor. Bobby and Buck end up delivering two of the babies, but the third woman’s baby is breached so she is taken to the hospital. Buck cites the full moon as the reason why all three women have gone into labor at the same time but like Abby, Bobby is a non-believer. This scene was funny AF!

We head back over to dispatch where we see Sue Blevins consoling Abby. Detective Andy Marks (played by Colby French) meets with Abby and asks to listen to the call. He tells her they’ve arrested the estranged ex-husband of the woman who was murdered but Abby is not convinced they have the right person. Detective Marks downplays Abby’s concern and assures her the ex-husband is the one responsible. When he leaves, Abby listens to the call again and listens to another call where the victim called in previously. She picks up on how the woman responded to her ex-husband versus how she responded to the intruder. The woman seemed annoyed by her ex-husband but genuinely fearful of the intruder further proving the person who killed her was not her ex-husband. Again, creepy AF!

We then get the trio of Athena, Hen, and Chimney responding to a disturbance involving a crazed man eating another man’s face. Athena tries to get the man to stop but he charges at her and Hen. Athena uses her taser, but the man is unphased. He then starts advancing towards Athena and Hen, resulting in Athena using multiple bullets to dispatch him. Athena hates that she’s killed someone, but Hen assures her she has her back. While Athena gives her statement to a couple of detectives, Hen gets a call from her ex, Eva (played by Abby Brammell) who informs Hen she is out of prison. Eva asks Hen to come over to her hotel room, but Hen sees Athena approaching and tells her she has to go. Athena, knowing her friend, tells Hen that was not Karen on the phone. Athena asks if everything is good at home, but Hen is evasive and tells her she appreciates her concern, but her and Karen are solid. Hen is delusional AF!

Abby plays both calls for Detective Marks, but he seems undeterred. I really like how Abby stands up for herself and refuses to let him just write her off. After he leaves, Abby calls Athena who is on desk duty until further notice and enlists her assistance regarding the murdered woman. Athena pulls up a complaint filed by the woman on her ex-husband and the witness was someone who shares the same name as Nora. Abby puts together that the witness is Nora’s daughter. Abby calls the daughter under the guise of checking on her mother. Abby brings up the victim, whose name is Katheleen Blake, and Nora Jr. tells her that Kathleen saved her life. Nora Jr. tells Abby that Katheleen runs a support group for survivors of domestic violence. She also says that Katheleen is the one who gave her the courage to finally leave her abusive husband. Abby asks for Nora Jr.’s address and tells her that she believes Kathleen was attacked by Nora Jr.’s ex-husband. Just then, Nora Jr. goes to look outside and sees her ex looking exactly how he did when he was inside her mother’s house. Abby dispatches the police to Nora Jr.’s address but they are not quick enough. The ex-husband makes it inside the house, but Nora Jr. is not the woman she was when they were married. She makes quick work of him with a baseball bat and lets Abby know she and her mother are okay.  Nora Jr. is badass AF!

We get one final emergency involving a couple. Bobby and Buck arrive at the couple’s home where they discover Connor (played by Pete Ploszek) is experiencing severe pain in his abdomen. Paul (played by Sean Maher from Firefly) thinks his husband is being overly dramatic but Connor assures him his pain is very real. In the ambulance, Buck notices what looks like a string hanging out of Connor’s boxers. Turns out it’s a tapeworm brought on by Connor eating way too much sushi. Buck, having once tended bar at a surf beach in South America, knows a lot about tapeworms and tells Bobby and the couple that he has to be very careful removing the tapeworm because if he breaks it, it will crawl back inside Connor and regenerate. This is my favorite scene of the episode, maybe even my favorite scene of the series. The banter between Buck and Bobby and the couple is absolutely hilarious and a nice way to break the tension after the conclusion of Abby’s heavy storyline. Buck manages to get the tapeworm out without breaking it and puts it in a bag. He then hands it over to Connor and says, “Congratulations, Connor. It’s a boy.” Disgusting AF!

At the end of the episode, Detective Marks apologizes to Abby and thanks her for helping solve Kathleen’s murder. Athena finds out the face-eater from the park wasn’t on any kind of substance. Hen goes over to Eva’s hotel room and the two of them have sex. I guess she didn’t need her rest. And then, Buck and Abby have sex for the first time. The final scene is Hen sitting on the beach looking very remorseful for her actions.

Observations

How did that girl get into the claw machine in the first place?

Buck is good with kids as evidenced by his immediate report with the girl trapped inside the claw machine.

Buck is basically Wikipedia. They play him as a himbo, especially in the earlier seasons, but he’s honestly one of the smartest characters on the show.

Buck still has his tracheotomy scar, and Chimney still has a scar from the piece of rebar that went through his skull. Score one for continuity!

In future episodes we see Chimney and Hen work side by side with Bobby, Buck and eventually Eddie but in this episode, we see our paramedics working separately from our firefighters.

Buck tells Bobby he’s dated like 50 yoga instructors, and you know what, I believe him. Although, I think Buck is one of those people who conflates sleeping with someone with dating.

We get a Terry sighting this episode! I really like the character, and I wish we got to see more of him.

This episode marks the first appearance of Detective Andy Marks. I have written about his second appearance in the “Fight or Flight” episode from season two.

Poor Athena has been placed on desk duty twice this season. At least this time she wasn’t antagonizing a teenager.

We get a glimmer of bisexual Buck this episode. He really hits it off with Connor and the two bond over what type of rice they like and their workout regiments. Buck is also very at ease around the gay couple which you wouldn’t exactly expect out of someone like him.

Connie Britton is an attractive woman, but I wonder why they play down her looks. In this episode she’s giving Rachael Leigh Cook in She’s All That with the glasses and frumpy attire. It feels weird that the show seems to think that she’s the lucky one getting to hook up with Oliver Stark when it’s the other way around.

This episode is a reminder of why the character of Abby didn’t work for the show. Other than Buck and occasionally Athena, Abby feels very isolated from the overall cast. I think the writers made the right choice by making her replacement related to one of the main characters from the jump.

Hen cheating on Karen is one of the reasons why I believe most viewers have trouble watching season one episodes. Every one of our main characters are so different from how they are portrayed in season two and going forward. Seriously, in what universe would anyone choose Eva over Karen?

Funny Moments

Moment #1: Hen talks with Athena after the cannibal bath salts attack.

Hen: “Everything all right?”

Athena: “Yeah, well, it is for now. I mean, so far, no one’s questioning whether or not it was justified. Hell, I wasn’t gonna let that monster eat my face.”

Moment #2: Buck and Bobby are speaking with Connor and Paul.

Buck: “You guys eat a lot of sushi?”

Paul: “He does – about four or five times a week.”

Connor: “I try to go carb- and fat-free as often as possible.”

Buck: “Ah, same here. You guys ever try brown rice pasta? You know, it’s not that bad.”

Connor: “You know, it’s a little gummy for my taste.”

Buck: “I see that.”

Connor: “Hey, what’s your body fat percentage?”

Buck: “I swing between, like, 50…”

Bobby: “Okay, can we finish the most interesting conversation of all time later?”

Moment #3: Buck removes a tapeworm from Connor’s butt.

Bobby: “We’re almost to the hospital – they’re gonna remove that with the proper instruments, put him on some albendazole, and then we call it a night.”

Connor: “No, please no. I can’t take those drugs. They’re toxic. They put me on Flagyl for diverticulitis once, and it gave me severe heartburn and turned my pee burnt sienna.”

Buck: “I’m sorry, burnt sienna?”

Connor: “It was brown! Okay? It was dark brown.”

911 Lore

Hen used to date Eva but somewhere along the way the latter got put in prison; Hen’s indiscretion will have a lasting impact on her relationship with Karen.

In this episode, we see the shift from Buck being a total fuckboy to someone who actually values women beyond what they can offer him sexually.

This is the first instance of showing how first responders have certain superstitions regarding the job, and it won’t be the last.

This is the first time we see Buck be intimate with a woman without a firetruck being involved.

Sue and Terry have been here from the very beginning but where is Josh? I know Bryan Safi came onto the show during its second season but in later episodes he talks about knowing Abby and has been at the dispatch center for over a decade.

As I mentioned earlier, season one is not highly regarded by the fandom, but I don’t think you could just go without watching this season. We learn so much about our main characters and knowing where these characters are coming from will help you appreciate their evolutions in future seasons. This episode is also a reminder that Abby Clark was a complex character. She’s so much more than the woman who broke Evan Buckley’s heart. I really wish we got her for one more season. I wonder if she and Maddie would’ve gotten along. At least we will get some closure with the character a couple of seasons from now. Overall, this episode was enjoyable from beginning to end. I loved the scenes featuring Bobby and Buck the most. I like seeing Bobby be a little less tightly-wound. Bobby unburdening himself a few episodes ago really took a lot of pressure off him. I also enjoyed the main storyline involving the stalker. That particular plot reminded me of American Horror Story which both Connie Britton and Angela Bassett were a part of. My least favorite part of the episode was Hen cheating on Karen. Again, knowing where things go in future seasons, I just can’t picture the Hen from future seasons risking her marriage for someone like Eva. I think the writers are trying to show that these characters, while lovable, are flawed human beings. I think they could’ve demonstrated that without Hen doing one of the worst things ever. I really had fun talking about this episode and I look forward to talking about more season one episodes. Until next time ..

[how2fit]

Is your sedentary lifestyle killing your back? Try the baby cobra yoga pose to do away with discomfort and strengthen your back.Backbends look complicated, but they are beneficial, as they can strengthen your back and improve flexibility. But before moving on to bow pose, locust pose, king pigeon pose and wheel pose, start with the basics of backbends in yoga. Baby cobra yoga pose can introduce you to the world of backbends without hurting your lower back and depleting your energy. Like the name suggests, it is a version of cobra pose or bhujangasana. This modified version is gentler and easier on the back, but still offers many health benefits. Read on to know how to do this yoga pose to strengthen your back, improve digestion and more.What is the baby cobra yoga pose?The baby cobra pose, also known as ardha bhujangasana or half cobra pose, is a foundational yoga posture that involves gently lifting the chest while lying face-down on the mat. “Unlike the full cobra pose, this variation requires less backbend and arm strength, making it ideal for beginners or those seeking a milder spinal stretch,” says yoga expert Fenil Purohit.Baby cobra yoga pose is a version of cobra pose. Image courtesy: Adobe StockWhat are the benefits of baby cobra yoga pose?Here are some of the reasons why you should do the baby cobra yoga pose:1. Alleviates lower back strainOne of the benefits of baby cobra yoga pose is its ability to gently stretch and strengthen the lower back. “Because it doesn’t involve an intense backbend, it provides just enough movement to loosen tight muscles in the lumbar region (low back or lower spine) without risking strain,” says the expert. Yoga, in general, may be an efficacious adjunctive treatment for lower back pain, as per a study published in Pain Research & Management.2. Builds strength in the upper bodyThough it may appear simple, this asana activates the upper body in a subtle but effective way. The slight lift involved in this pose engages the muscles across the chest, shoulders, and arms, helping to tone them gradually. “This improved muscular strength not only improveea posture but also supports the spine and reduces the risk of injury during daily tasks,” says the expert3. Supports digestive healthWhen you press your abdomen into the mat and slightly lift your upper body, the baby cobra yoga pose provides a soft massage to internal organs like the stomach and intestines. This pressure can help improve blood flow to the digestive system, potentially boosting metabolism and easing minor digestive issues like bloating or sluggish digestion. Yoga can help in reducing bloating, according to a study published in the Journal of Ayurveda And Integrative Medicine.4. Boosts core stabilityWhile the Baby Cobra yoga pose mainly targets the back and chest, it also gently engages the abdominal muscles. This engagement helps build core strength, which is essential for maintaining balance, preventing injuries, and supporting the spine during daily movements.5. Encourages spinal mobilityBaby cobra yoga pose works to improve the spine’s natural range of motion. “It introduces a mild backbend that keeps the spine resilient,” says Purohit. Practicing this pose regularly may help reduce stiffness and maintain the spine’s flexibility.6. Safe introduction to backbendsFor beginners, the baby cobra yoga pose serves as a safe introduction to deeper backbend practices. It builds foundational strength and flexibility without placing too much strain on the spine or wrists, which makes it ideal for people just starting their yoga journey. You wouldn’t want to skip backbends, as they can relieve constipation, and benefit all abdominal organs, particularly the liver and kidneys, as per a study published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Research International.You may also like7. Enhances lung capacity and breathing awarenessAs the chest expands in the baby cobra yoga pose, it allows the lungs to open up more fully. “This encourages deeper, more

conscious breathing, which not only improves oxygen flow but can also support respiratory efficiency,” says Purohit.It is good for lower back. Image courtesy: Adobe Stock8. Supports recovery after sedentary periodsIf you have been sitting for long due to your job or journey, do baby cobra yoga pose. It provides a gentle release for the spine and hips. “It helps reverse the effects of prolonged sitting, loosening tight hip flexors and reactivating the core and back,” says the expert.How to practice the baby cobra yoga pose?Follow these steps to do this yoga pose: Begin by lying flat on your stomach with your legs extended and the tops of your feet pressing into the yoga mat. Place your hands beneath your shoulders, elbows close to your sides. Inhale as you slowly lift your chest off the ground, keeping your elbows slightly bent and your lower ribs grounded. Keep your neck long and gaze slightly forward or down. Hold the pose before exhaling and gently lowering back down.Individuals dealing with severe back injuries, recent abdominal surgery, or pregnancy should steer clear of this pose unless cleared by a doctor. “Performing backbends, even if they are not deep, in such conditions may aggravate symptoms or delay healing,” says the expert.Baby cobra yoga pose is a simple way to kickstart your backbend journey. Even though it is a beginner level pose, it should not be done by everybody, especially those with severe back injuries.Related FAQsWhat's the difference between baby cobra and cobra poses?The baby cobra pose involves a mild lift of the chest with minimal use of the arms, focusing more on the back muscles. In contrast, the full cobra pose (bhujangasana) involves straightening the arms and lifting the chest higher, offering a deeper backbend.Can you practice baby cobra yoga pose daily?Yes, this pose is safe for daily practice for most people. Its gentle nature makes it a great addition to a morning stretch routine, especially for those looking to maintain spinal flexibility and core engagement without overexertion.Is baby cobra pose good for weight loss?Weight loss is not a direct health benefit of performing the baby cobra yoga pose. But it helps with digestion, which can enhance absorption of nutrients and boost metabolism.Is baby cobra yoga pose good for beginners?Yes, this pose can be done by beginners. It is gentle and easy-to-perform yoga pose. They can also enjoy its benefits without overexerting themselves.

[knee12]

Try These Yoga Asanas To Strengthen Your Back

Back pain is one of the most common health complaints worldwide. Whether it’s that dull ache after sitting too long or the stiffness you feel upon waking up, you're not alone in experiencing it. The good news? You don’t always need medication, complicated therapies, or expensive treatments to find relief. A simple yoga mat and a few minutes of your day can make a world of difference.

Yoga asanas for back pain are a natural, effective, and gentle way to reduce discomfort and improve how your back feels daily. Yoga doesn’t just stretch your muscles it strengthens, heals, and brings awareness to your body. And the best part? You don’t need to be flexible or fit to start. Anyone, at any age or fitness level, can benefit from practicing yoga.

What Is Yoga?

Yoga is an ancient practice from India that connects the body, mind, and breath. At its core, yoga is about gentle movements (asanas), conscious breathing (pranayama), and mental calmness. You don’t need expensive gear or a large space to practice. Just a quiet corner, a mat or towel, and your body.

Yoga is for everyone young, old, stiff, flexible, beginners, or advanced. It teaches you to listen to your body, move mindfully, and breathe deeply. And when it comes to back pain, these principles make yoga a powerful healing tool. By improving flexibility, strengthening core muscles, and promoting relaxation, yoga can reduce back pain and prevent it from returning.

Top 10 Yoga Asanas for Back Pain Relief

If you’re searching for easy, effective yoga poses for back pain, these 10 asanas are a great place to start. Practice them at home, at your own pace, and remember—slow, steady movements bring the best results.

1. Cat-Cow Pose (Chakravakasana)

This gentle flow warms up the spine, increases mobility, and relieves tension.

How to do it:

Get on your hands and knees.

Inhale: arch your back, lift your head and tailbone (Cow).

Exhale: round your spine, tuck your chin (Cat).

Repeat 5–10 times, moving with your breath.

2. Extended Triangle (Utthita Trikonasana)

A standing pose that stretches the spine, hips, and legs while improving balance and posture.

How to do it:

Stand with your feet wide apart.

Extend one arm down toward your shin or the floor, and the other arm toward the sky.

Look up or straight ahead. Breathe deeply and switch sides.

3. Sphinx Pose (Salamba Bhujangasana)

A mild backbend that strengthens the lower back and opens the chest.

How to do it:

Lie on your stomach.

Place your forearms on the mat with elbows under shoulders.

Lift your chest gently while keeping your neck relaxed.

Hold for 1 minute, breathing slowly.

4. Locust Pose (Salabhasana)

Builds strength in the lower back and improves posture.

How to do it:

Lie face down.

Raise your arms, chest, and legs off the floor.

Engage your core and hold for 15–30 seconds.

5. Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhasana)

Stretches the spine, hips, and thighs while strengthening the glutes and lower back.

How to do it:

Lie on your back.

Bend your knees and place your feet flat on the floor.

Press into your feet and lift your hips.

Hold for 30 seconds, then release slowly.

6. Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)

A full-body stretch that elongates the spine and improves circulation.

How to do it:

Begin on hands and knees.

Lift your hips toward the ceiling, forming an inverted V shape.

Keep your heels reaching toward the ground and your back flat.

Stay for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

7. Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana)

Relieves stiffness in the lower back and strengthens spinal muscles.

How to do it:

Lie on your stomach with hands under shoulders.

Gently press into your palms and lift your chest.

Keep your elbows slightly bent and avoid overextending your neck.

8. Two-Knee Spinal Twist

A calming pose that stretches the spine and reduces lower back tightness.

How to do it:

Lie on your back.

Hug your knees to your chest.

Gently drop both knees to one side while keeping your shoulders on the mat.

Hold, breathe, and switch sides.

9. Half Lord of the Fishes (Ardha Matsyendrasana)

A seated twist that increases spinal flexibility and detoxifies the organs.

How to do it:

Sit with one leg bent and the other crossed over.

Place your opposite elbow outside the top knee and twist.

Keep your spine long and breathe deeply.

10. Child’s Pose (Balasana)

A resting pose that gently stretches the spine and relaxes the entire body.

How to do it:

Kneel on the floor, sit back on your heels.

Stretch your arms forward and rest your forehead on the mat.

Stay for 1–2 minutes while breathing deeply.

Tips for Practicing Yoga for Back Pain

To get the most benefit from your yoga practice, keep these simple tips in mind:

Practice regularly: 10–20 minutes a day can bring noticeable improvements.

Start slow: Especially if you're new to yoga or experiencing pain.

Use props: Cushions, yoga blocks, or towels can provide extra support.

Breathe deeply: It calms the nervous system and releases muscle tension.

Listen to your body: Never force a movement. If it hurts, stop and rest.

Benefits of Yoga for Back Pain Relief

The benefits of yoga go beyond the physical. Here’s how it helps:

Improves posture by realigning the spine and building core strength.

Reduces stiffness and loosens tight muscles, especially in the lower back and hips.

Strengthens muscles that support the back and reduces the risk of future pain.

Boosts circulation, which promotes healing and reduces inflammation.

Calms the mind and lowers stress levels—a major contributor to chronic pain.

Yoga also increases body awareness. When you tune into your body’s signals, you can respond early to discomfort before it becomes pain. Over time, yoga empowers you to take charge of your back health without relying heavily on medications or treatments.

Yoga Asanas for Lower Back Pain

Lower back pain is particularly common, often caused by long sitting hours, weak core muscles, or poor posture. The following asanas are especially beneficial:

Sphinx Pose

Bridge Pose

Two-Knee Spinal Twist

Child’s Pose

These poses reduce compression in the lumbar spine, stretch tight hips, and encourage gentle mobility. Always warm up before practicing and avoid pushing yourself into deep bends.

Precautions and Considerations

While yoga is safe for most people, there are a few important precautions:

Consult your doctor before starting yoga if you have severe back issues or spinal injuries.

Avoid deep twists or backbends during pain flare-ups.

Use props to make poses easier and safer.

Always move with your breath, not against it.

Stop immediately if you feel sharp or shooting pain.

Remember, yoga is not about perfection. You don’t need to touch your toes or bend like a pretzel. What matters is how your body feels after practice. Focus on gentle movement, awareness, and healing.

Conclusion:

If you’re struggling with daily back pain or simply want to support your spine, yoga offers a safe, natural, and holistic solution. These yoga asanas for back pain don’t just target discomfort they improve your overall strength, flexibility, posture, and peace of mind.

You don’t need fancy skills or a gym membership. Just a mat, a quiet space, and a few minutes a day can bring real, lasting relief. Start slow, be consistent, and most importantly be kind to your body. With time and practice, you’ll notice your back feeling stronger, your posture improving, and your pain easing away. Read Also : https://kneereplacement.hospital/how-does-smoking-affect-bones/

[photography-with-sammie]

Artist Research (7/8): Thomas Jackson- Emergent Behavior

Thomas Jackson was born in 1971 in Philadelphia, PA. He went on to live in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1993, Thomas went on to receive his Bachelor of Arts in history, at the College of Wooster. His early career included book publishing and later editing and writing at the Forbes Life magazine. Developing an interest in photography, Thomas Jackson went on to pursue shooting Garry Winogrand-inspired street scenes and then landscapes. Jackson self-taught himself to merge landscape photography with sculpture and kinetic art. His work has been exhibited in various areas including The Brooks Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, and the Bolinas Museum in California. He has had many exhibitions including his two famous ones Emergent Behavior, 2011-2016, and The Robot Series.

Thomas Jackson

Thomas Jackson created the work Emergent Behavior to be based on the self-organizing systems in nature such as birds flying, schools of fish, and swarming insects like locusts. He tries to intertwine the unexpected manufactured objects of everyday life and insert them into the more natural and unexpected landscapes that do not correlate with each other. While Jackson leaves the interpretation to the viewer, he wants to try and invoke a sense of fear and guilt when viewing his piece due to the environmental message at play in his work.  Using cheap objects allows the environmental message to play while also creating a unique contrast between the natural and living world to the industrial and man-made objects. The pieces that will be discussed in this blog are Cups no. 1, Napanoch, New York, 2011 and Cheese Balls, Napanoch, New York, 2012.

Cups no. 1, Napanoch, New York

Cups no. 1, Napanoch, New York is one of many of Thomas Jackson’s cup works. This work showcases a lot of colorful cups in one mass in the middle of the woods. Much like his other cup works, Jackson’s pieces remind me of a school of fish, one of the emergents he discussed. The viewer can see this due to the large mass of cups circling one another while some fall behind. This is similar to the behaviors of fish in schools. Swarms of locusts tend to be in larger sections all over and birds tend to follow in a line or pattern. The choice of plastic cups correlates with the idea of pollution and garbage, one common piece of trash being plastic cups. The full green forest allows for the artificially colorful cups to stand out from the busy background as well.

Cheese Balls, Napanoch, New York, 2012

Cheese Balls, Napanoch, New York, 2012 was one of my favorite pieces of the exhibition. This piece is a tree covered in cheeseballs, which I found quite amusing. The cheeseballs almost remind me of fungus on a tree. The way they are positioned is similar to the grouping of fungus sprouting, with some spores higher than others. Fungi can be considered emergent behavior similar to other natural events. The way the cheeseballs trickle down the tree is similar to fungus growing through the tree and finding moisture. While cheeseballs are exactly trash, cheese is a common product that becomes artificial, especially with coloring or how it is processed. These bright orange cheeseballs make for an eye-catching object but also give the piece an unnatural look to it.

Thomas Jacksons pieces were a new unique experience for me. I enjoyed his creativity and the way he incorporates this seemingly artificial being into a natural and more common landscape. His pieces were both unique and colorful, and it was interesting to compare with sculptures to nature itself, such as comparing his cup sculptures to real-life fish schools. It was also interesting to read about his experience with taking his photos while dealing with mother nature, like wind and the sun setting. His work provided an interesting perspective on the environment's relationship with human interaction and his technique in sculpting and positioning these manufactured pieces into natural poses, mimicking the living organisms that live in these environments.

References:

“Home.” Thomasjacksonphotography.com, 2024, www.thomasjacksonphotography.com/. Accessed 8 Dec. 2024.

https://lenscratch.com/author/aline-smithson. “Thomas Jackson - LENSCRATCH.” LENSCRATCH, 24 Feb. 2012, lenscratch.com/2012/02/thomas-jackson/. Accessed 8 Dec. 2024.

‌Marques, Catarina. “Thomas Jackson.” Metal Magazine, 9 Mar. 2018, metalmagazine.eu/en/post/thomas-jackson-artificial-swarms-in-the-nature.

Accessed 8 Dec. 2024.“Thomas Jackson (@Thomasjackson415) • Instagram Photos and Videos.” Instagram.com, 2020, www.instagram.com/thomasjackson415. Accessed 8 Dec. 2024.

[appmonk]

Moon in Scorpio

Moon in Scorpio

Suggestions of tools for optimizing your experience during the Moon in Scorpio.

YOGA

Locust Pose

Don’t underestimate the power of the locust. At first glance some assume this pose is not a big deal and if you’re not being intentional it’s possible it won’t be. The way to make this pose really powerful is to press the tops of your feet into your mat as hard as you can — this will probably lift your knees off the floor. Reach your arms toward the wall behind you. As you do, try to bring your shoulder blades closer together while keeping your fingers higher than your hips. Visualize space in your collar bone and bring your shoulders out of your ears.

The locust pose, also known as Salabhasana, is a full-body yoga movement that can help energize, de-stress, and relax the mind. The pose is named for the resemblance of the body to a locust while in the position. Here are some tips for performing the locust pose:

Start on your belly With your feet together and palms down, extend your big toes back and press down with your toenails to activate your quadriceps.

Lengthen your spine Inhale and stretch your hands forward and your legs out, as if someone is pulling them in opposite directions.

Engage your core Rotate your inner thighs toward the ceiling to broaden your lower back, and roll your shoulders back and up. Keep your back of neck long and emphasize lifting your sternum instead of your chin.

Lift your legs Keeping your hips down, lift one leg at a time, pointing your toes internally and rotating your thigh. You can try locking your knee and lifting your leg as high as you can without discomfort.

Lift both legs Once you're comfortable with lifting one leg at a time, lift both legs and press your toes back.

Focus on length Don't worry about how high you lift, as this can strain your back or neck. Instead, try to extend forward through your torso and back through your legs.

Release slowly After several breaths, slowly release back to your mat and rest.

[yogaayurvedacourse]

Locust pose || Shalabhasana

[opaldraws]

✨💗 Harringrove Feedback Fest 💗✨

This fandom is so full of amazing creators and if you're seeing this post and you've ever created anything for this wonderful fandom, I APPRECIATE YOU!!

✨Artists✨

@awrble Awrble's art is the reason I discovered harringrove! One of their pieces popped up on my dashboard and I was like "Oh! I've never thought of Billy and Steve together!?" and then everything spiralled out of control. Their art is excellent and I go through their art tag frequently! This piece they did for the zine makes my heart so mushy and this piece is just so playful and cute!

@juu-riin Julie's art constantly makes my day better, whether it's a stream of doodles like these, a fluffy piece like this, or something SPICY like this !!

@lazybakerart Ever since I found their blog when I first joined this fandom, I thought their art was the most creative and visually compelling art I had ever seen! I frequently scroll through their art because I aspire to have the same grasp on color that they do! Like this piece is so perfect!! And I completely adore this one!!

@ihni Ihni's drawings always make me smile! I think that they are so creative and funny and it shows through their art! Like I laughed out loud at this one! And this piece is so perfect for Billy and Steve

@swimbirdyswim Their art is so dynamic and cool! I totally adore this piece and this one is AWESOME! And they have some really cute and soft drawings that just melt my heart!! Like this one!

@b-leach-ing Their art is so sweet! I especially really love this one!! And omg these holiday drawings are just too adorable!!

@dearvenison How could I ever get over this STUNNING piece?! This tender moment is captured so well and if this isn't canon in s4 I'm gonna riot!! Their art is just so amazing!

@ezisdrawing Ez's art is so full of life! I love how they draw Joe and their nb Steve pieces are my absolute favorite! Like these ones! They're just so cute! And this most recent drawing omg! It's so lovely!

@darkmystdrake Annie's art is so spicy and hot! Every time I see it, I notice how dynamic the poses are! And I always appreciate the piercings added onto the boys! This is one of my favs of Steve! And damn! THIS ONE IS AMAZING!

@avalonlights Their art is so so so wonderful! They set a scene beautifully and every piece of theirs just pulls me in! Like I still think about this one a year later! And this piece! Billy and Steve look so in love and the relationship is expressed perfectly! I just love love love their art so much!

@deardmvz Marilyn's art is so fun!! They have so many fresh and interesting ideas and I love seeing what they come up with! Like this vamp Billy is so cool! And this piece is so sweet and beautiful!

@kingsandsaints Their art is unbelievable! Every time I see their art I am in awe of it! Like this piece is insane?! I could stare at it forever!! And omg I love this punk Billy art!!

✨Editors/Gif Makers✨

@memes-saved-me Their photo edits are so distinct and identifiable! And their video edits are always so cool to watch!

@hoegrove I LOVE the gifsets that they make, they're so creative and fun!

✨Blogs I Could Scroll Through For Hours✨

@smashmouth-hargrove - idk how to explain it, but I have actually spent *hours* reading through their writing. You can just tell that they have fun with what they're writing and that makes it fun to read!

@rascheln/@steviespanties Rina's writing is so amazing! They have so many creative and dirty ideas and I can't get enough of them!

@draculcid Not only is their writing amazing, they make some really great edits! I really enjoy reading their responses to asks and they have so much creativity!

@yikesharringrove Yikes has written so many of my favorite fics and I love seeing how they expand on the prompts they receive! I remember the first time I found their blog and I spent like 2 weeks devouring all of their writing,, it was awesome

@ghostofjellyfishforgotten I have read so many ficlets from them and they are always so well written and interesting! And there are so many posts that have paragraphs of tags under them that are amazing! (And they wrote some jestor/king smut months ago that I can't find anymore AND IT'S LIKE ONE OF MY FAV FICS I'VE EVER READ AND I THINK ABOUT IT ALL THE TIME)

✨Fics✨

in the locust wind by @hectordelavega - pls understand that this fic completely ruined me. it's perfect. it's been like a month since i read this and i still think about it all the time.

Walking Home (v)., the Tourniquet by @passivenovember - Jaz's writing is so lovely, I have reread so many of their fics and they even wrote me one that is incredibly adorable T^T BUT back on topic, this fic is everything! Jaz has a way of writing Billy and Steve that is just so perfect, and I love their dynamic in this fic!

orange juice by @aspartaeme - this fic is so fun! I love how thirsty Steve and Billy are for each other and I really enjoyed the whole premise of this fic!

Took it all and took the dirt road home by @nagdabbit - this short lil fic is so soft and emotional,, it just feels so hopeful

with every several pleasure in the world by @rvspberryjvm - I completely adore this fic with my whole heart! Jones is a fantastic writer and their talent truly shines in this fic (and all of their fics)!

Billy Hargrove’s Exploration of Beauty (series) by @mourntheantagonist - this series is amazing! I love how Mandi has Billy and Steve address gender stereotypes and lets Billy explore his gender expression!

Sweet Wonderful You by @cherrydreamer - the way this fic stole my heart! it's just so soft and adorable and Steve and Billy are just the best bfs to each other :') Cherry's writing is so fantastic!

Lonely Hearts Club by @shewritesdirty - this fic (like all of Cait's fics) is so wonderfully written and once I started reading it, I just couldn't stop! It's got the perfect mix of humor, tenderness, and smut!

Plant Your Feet by PeckishDragon - this fic is so sweet,, I will always have a soft spot for dads!harringrove and Billy is just the best dad in this :')

you act so pure (i know you're laced) by @softjish - this fic. THIS FIC. IT IS SO TENDER AND IT BREAKS MY HEART AND PUTS IT BACK TOGETHER IN 5K WORDS.

seventh inning stretch by @holdenduckfield - Idk anything about baseball, but I *do* know that I adore Jill's writing! I love how competitive the boys are in this and how their rivalry evolves!

Bad dog, no biscuits by @catharrington - this is f i l t h y and perfect in every way! Steve is so dominant and he takes care of Billy so well! I am 100% convinced this is how Tina's Halloween party ended.

i'm falling now, but it's so wrong by @hartigays - Ouch this fic has a lovely balance of hurt comfort and it is a great read! I remember I read it all in one go because I just got so hooked!

I Ain’t Fraid Of No Ghosts by @heck-in-a-handbasket - this fic has a special place in my heart bc I love ghost Billy! Reading how Steve dealt with Billy's ghostly shenanigans was hilarious and when they finally become *acquainted*, they work so well together!

@gothyringwald thank you for putting this little love fest together!

[foreverlogical]

Israel’s National Security Council has assumed control of a massive bird flu outbreak in the Galilee, which scientists warn could become a “mass disaster” for humans.

Over half a billion migrating birds pass through the area every year, heading for warm African winters or balmy European summers, making this a catastrophic location for a major bird flu outbreak—right at the nexus of global avian travel.

The virus can be deadly if it infects people. The World Health Organization says more than half of the confirmed 863 human cases it has tracked since 2003 proved fatal. Most strains or variants of avian flu, H5N1, are relatively difficult to transmit to people.

Yossi Leshem, one of Israel’s most renowned ornithologists, told The Daily Beast, however, that it is the ability of these viruses to mutate into new strains that poses such a threat, as we have seen with the coronavirus.

“There could be a mutation that also infects people and turns into a mass disaster,” said Leshem, a zoologist at Tel Aviv University and director of the International Center for the Study of Bird Migration at Latrun.

So far, at least 5,400 wild cranes have died infected with the new H5N1 avian flu, which Israeli authorities fear could expand into a global emergency.

Of the 30,000 Eurasian cranes passing this winter at the Hula Nature Reserve, 17 percent are dead, and scientists fear the worst for their surviving brethren, at least 10,000 of which appear to be ailing. The infection of the cranes is the same strain of avian flu which infected chicken coops throughout northern Israel, and led to the cull in recent days of nearly 1 million birds.

Israelis will be without their beloved chicken schnitzel—and without eggs—until a supply chain of imported birds is established.

The deaths of thousands of wild birds in the Hula Nature Reserve, one of the world’s premier bird sanctuaries, “is an extraordinary event with global ramifications,” warned Tel Aviv University Professor of Zoology Noga Kronfeld Shor in an interview with Reshet Bet Radio.

Shor, who is also the chief scientist at Israel’s Ministry of the Environment, noted that the carcasses of other waterbirds, such as pelicans and egrets, have already been found.

Israelis have been warned not to approach any wild bird that looks sick, and not to touch any bird droppings.

Yoav Motro, a specialist in vertebrates and locusts at Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture, said that for now, H5N1 is presenting “like the opposite of COVID. Compared to COVID, the chances of [humans] catching this are very, very slight—but unlike COVID, the risks of dying from it if you do catch it are very high.”

“It is a tragic ecological event,” he said. “And we simply do not know how it will end, or where it will lead.”

Israeli scientists don’t yet know the full scale of the die-off in Israel because of the dangers inherent in fishing around marshes and wetlands. Observing birds that shy away from human contact and the urgent matter of retrieving bird carcasses is proving even more challenging because of the lack of waterproof protective gear currently available in the arid country.

While the disaster is evident in the Hula Valley, in Israel’s fertile north, crane mortality has also been observed in other sites, though not yet in Jerusalem, according to Yotam Bashan of the Jerusalem Bird Observatory.

“There is no way to know what is going to happen,” Motro said in an interview with The Daily Beast. “When you identify avian flu in chicken coops you kill all the chickens and disinfect the coops. In the wild, at this level of infection, I don't know where it will lead. I’m worried.”

Shalom Bar Tal, an experienced wildlife photographer, told The Daily Beast that he was one of the only people allowed nocturnal access to observe the dead and dying birds. “It could turn into an ecological disaster no less significant than the corona epidemic,” he said.

For now, no Israeli is known to be infected with H5N1, but Israelis who were exposed to wild birds are taking the antiviral Tamiflu.

Both Motro and Bar Tal noted the heartrending scenes of weak, infected cranes leaning over their dead. Cranes mate for life and live in strong family units, Motro said. “That means that when one dies, the rest of the family—I don’t know how to define it—but it mourns.”

The cranes’ close physical proximity to one another and tight-knit family structure almost ensures, he said, that when one crane dies, “a close family member will be the next to die.”

“There is no treatment,” he said, “no way to help.”

We can only hope it doesn’t mutate and jump species.

[theuncrucified]

It's that magical time of year again for the Exalted Secret Santa! It’s also time for a new reference collection now that I have some new art to share this year. My Secret Santa has 3 options behind the cut. Choose your poison!

Kalara Vadras, The Uncrucified

A passionate Eclipse Caste, Kalara can often be found traveling Creation using her charm and wit towards the cause of achieving a more equitable economy and the abolishment of slave labor throughout the threshold. While she has a friendly public face, her enemies whisper of her spy network, Kalara's "Tongues", which work quietly throughout Creation eliminating her enemies.

For more reference, see Kalara's full bio for more pics, etc.

Art Notes

She has a scar from a failed crucifixion on her left hand only, not both hands

Feel free to play with her hair and clothing style without sticking too close to the ref. Kalara mixes things up a lot to either blend in on her travels OR to make a big impression, depending on the occasion. She's quite the fashionista!

Her totemic anima involves chains of sunlight wrapping around her arms and ankles as the links fall off one by one. Spikes of sunlight, which do not harm her, appear in her hands and melt away. Behind her, a phoenix with a long, trailing tail rises up behind her

NSFW ok!

When she can't talk her way out of combat, Kalara uses a set of 'plainer' artifact firewands (pictured on the right below), though she prefers to leave the gunslinging to her alter-ego, Koh.

------------

Koh, the Silver-Tongued Devil

Sometimes when Kalara requires more "discretion" on the road, she travels in the guise of her male persona, Koh, the Silver-Tongued Devil. Rumors swirl around about how this infamous gunslinger and Righteous Devil led a rebellion and rules a network of rebels, escaped slaves, and bandits in the forests between Nexus and Dinas Ryhdd.

Much to Kalara's amusement, there's even a rumor that the two are lovers after her Night Caste companion shapeshifted into Koh so they could pose together at a party to throw off suspicion.

Art Notes

Koh appears male with dyed brown hair, though the disguise in my ref image is slipping a bit with Kalara's red roots showing and her shirt open.

The round-rimmed glasses are Koh's signature, feel free to take liberties with everything else, though Koh's appearance tends to channel Kalara's Southern heritage

Koh uses a set of dual Prayer Pieces

NSFW ok

----

Night Locust, the Kindly Reaper

Kalara's right-hand ninja, head of security, and leader of her black ops, "The Embers". The two formed a strong familial bond as fledgling Solars, as the young Solar took his second breath at the age of 19 when he refused to murder his assassin partner, instead taking the life of their assassin clan's leader in a blaze of sunlit fury. Night Locust met Kalara in the wandering time after, Kalara giving him a purpose and compassion he did not have in life.

Night Locust may project an aura of calm sagely wisdom, but he is a prankster at heart and a keen edge on the battlefield. He uses a pair of short diaklaves and a dual-bladed scythe. He is not a fan of pointless murder, however, and also does his best to avoid violence.

Art Notes

Kalara and Night Locust are not lovers, but rather have a found-family relationship. Please do not draw them in a romantic situation.

Night's totemic anima is a cloud of blackness that breaks off into countless locusts

He enjoys a nice cup of tea and meditation

No NSFW topics

More reference images here.

Kalara and Night Locust by Sam Hogg

Kalara and Night Locust by Raeliyah

If you're interested in learning more about these characters, check out The Uncrucified for my Exalted art, fiction, etc.

Can't wait to see who is chosen this year. Have fun!

[classybunnies]

‘True life lies in laughter, love and work.’ - Elbert Hubbard •••••••••••• Enjoy doing what you love. Like hanging out upside down ••••••••••• #AutumnAloLove Yoga Challenge Nov 9-18 🍂🍁 Fall is a season when the temperature starts to cool down and have an effect on our bodies. In fall, practicing heart opening poses isn’t as easy as in those warm summer days. So let’s step into the autumn breeze and continue to open our hearts in this challenge. Hosts: @heartmaher @monica.b.wilson @galaortin @pigeatsfish @ciel70 Sponsors @aloyoga @alomoves Poses list: 1. Child Pose or Puppy Pose 🐶 2. Cow Pose or Tiger Pose 🐮 3. Crescent Pose 🌙 4. Locust Pose or Bow Pose 🏹 5. Seated Mermaid Pose or King Pigeon Pose 🐦 6. Standing Mermaid Pose or King Dancer Pose 🧜🏼‍♀️ 7. One legged chaturanga or Chinstand ✔️ 8. Reverse Table Top or Reverse Plank Pose ✔️ 9. Supta Virasana supported or full pose ✔️ 10. Any inversion with heart opening. 🤸🏻‍♀️ 🙌🏼 How to participate: 👇🏽 1. Follow all hosts & sponsors 2. Repost this flyer & tag some friends to join. 3. Post each day using the hashtag #AutumnAloLove & tag all hosts and sponsors.  #inversion #yoga #challenge #DoingThings (at Boulder, Colorado) https://www.instagram.com/p/CHvWxhvDpjH/?igshid=tg8e0ythpfi4

[how2fit]

Bow pose (dhanurasana in Sanskrit) is a very challenging yet satisfying backbend. Its difficulty lies in the amount of strength required of the body’s posterior. Similarly shaped postures like camel pose and bridge pose are often easier to access because of how much leverage the body can exert by pressing down with the limbs. Dhanurasana, on the other hand, offers only the abdomen as a contact point. Because of your body’s relationship to gravity, the strength required for bow pose must come from the glutes, hamstrings, and upper back to lift your upper and lower body off of the floor. With repetition and perseverance, your body will understand how to move into this pose and experience the benefits of a more mobile spine. Bow Pose (Dhanurasana): Step-by-Step Instructions [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naiByQ_XjRI[/embed] Lie face down on your mat, legs hip-width apart, forehead resting on stacked hands. Press the tops of your feet into the floor and straighten your legs as you tuck your tailbone toward the floor. Observe a subtle lift underneath your navel. Lift your forehead off of your hands and lift your chest as you simultaneously firm your buttocks and the backs of your legs toward the floor. Reach both of your arms behind you simultaneously, rotating them so your palms face each other, and bend your knees. Lift your chest and legs high enough that you can grab the outsides of your ankles or the tops of your feet. Keeping your knees hip-width apart, hold your ankles or feet firmly so the backward resistance of your legs helps to keep your chest lifted. If your upper back is moving well and you’re able to look upward, give that a try. Avoid throwing your head back, and work on moving your shoulder blades down and away from your ears. Hold for 5 to 10 deep breaths. You will be tempted to come out of the pose by simply letting go of your feet. Rather than releasing your body like a slingshot, slowly resist gravity, with the upper and lower bodies landing at the same time. Beginner Tips for Doing Bow Pose Play with moving your focus from opening your chest by pulling your legs farther back. Then, try letting your chest move down toward the floor a bit to focus on lifting your legs higher. Brent Laffoon, instructor in BODi’s Yoga52 series, says, “There’s value in doing it both ways. There’s also a lot to be gained by keeping your weight centered on your belly and trying to lift both the legs and the chest evenly.” How to Make Bow Pose Easier Instead of bending your knees and reaching for your ankles, keep your legs straight and strengthen them by pressing them into the floor and strongly engaging your glutes. This teaches you how to support and lengthen your lower back, rather than hinging at the lumbar spine, the most vulnerable and often injured part of the spine. Working your legs straight, practice various arm positions: Interlace your hands behind your back and work to lift your chest up by pulling your arms back (also known as bound locust pose). Extend your arms straight behind you, and press your palms strongly down into the floor to lift the fronts of your shoulders. Move your shoulder blades toward each other, spreading your collarbones wide apart. To modify the full pose, place a long bolster or two folded blankets under the tops of your thighs. Starting off with your legs already lifted shortens the distance needed to reach your feet. How to Deepen Bow Pose Rather than pushing yourself further into bow pose, try holding it longer. Then practice coming out of the pose as slowly and gracefully as possible. Once entering and exiting bow pose becomes more effortless, continue to deepen dhanurasana by lifting your feet and the crown of your head toward each other, creating an even higher vertical line. Try taking the pose to the side into parsva dhanurasana, or side bow. Maintaining the grip on your ankles, gently rock over completely to one side. In this very different relationship with gravity, feel the

floor underneath your side body and tighten up the pose, tucking your tailbone and opening your chest even more. With even amounts of momentum and control, rock back onto your abdomen, take a full cycle of breath, then gently rock to the other side.

[vinylfromthevault]

“Yoga Instruction For Relaxation and Good Health, Vol. 2″ 1971. Conversa-phone Institute. Vinyl + yoga = two of my main interests and fortunately I have friends who find weird shit and pass it along to me. OMG this record is a piece of work. Instructed by Harry Alister of the New Jersey School of Professional Dance & Drama, this second volume of yoga instruction (I don’t have the first one but there is a big warning by Harry at the start of the record that one should be well-practiced in Volume 1 before attempting this record’s instruction) is definitely nothing like the classic yoga instruction I’ve received and teach. After listing a litany of things yoga can help “cure” (stress, constipation, heart problems, etc.), he has the practitioner stand with heels together and toes turned out (NO!!), “pinch” the buttocks (NO NO) and tuck under the tail (again, NO). There is almost zero breath instruction - the key component that makes yoga, well, yoga. 

Side 1 (after the horrible Tadasana/Mountain teaching) is pretty much all back bends: half and full locust pose with a bunch of leg lifts, leg scissors, breast stroking and even leg bouncing. Cobra pose is instructed as badly as the cover photo on this album would indicate (my neck and shoulders hurt just looking at her), cueing the head to be thrown back and the eyes rolled back in their sockets. And then Side A concludes with a rocking variation of Dhanurasana/Bow pose with absolutely no prior thigh, hip flexor or shoulder mobilization,. Ugh. 

Side B is mostly animal exercises, including cat pose (at least it’s cued to move slowly without jerking movements) but with zero inhale/exhales indicated - just the instructions to “hump, arch;” rabbit or hare pose (one of my least favorite postures in yoga but at least here there is actually some breathing cues given); frog (but not traditional frog but rather the pose that is pictured front-and-center on the album cover, a position of the legs and knees which is NOT recommended for good knee health); “the head of the cow pose” which “helps to preserve the youthfulness of the face” (it actually is a good pose for maintaining shoulder mobility, I’ve never heard anyone say anything about its benefits for the face); and lion pose (also pictured on the cover, by the male yogi) for “improving the health of the root of the tongue.” Lion pose is one rarely taught in group classes because it’s goofy as hell but I remember my mom practicing it a lot at home in the 70′s - I thought it was goofy back then, too. After the animal postures, Alister spends a good amount of time on the facial muscles - clearly there was a lot of concern about how good one looked doing yoga back in the early 70′s. Example of face yoga instruction: “With the lips together twist the mouth to the right and then to the left. Now open the mouth wide. Pucker the lips. Open wide. Pucker. Frown. Relax. Smile. Relax.” He concludes the face yoga section by saying “These exercise are not guaranteed to produce extreme beauty but they will add to the youthfulness of your looks and save you from discontentment.” 

No links to hear this gem that I could find but there are few copies for sale out there on Ebay and Etsy. A couple of those come with the original manual with “over 40 photographic illustrations” that this copy does not have. 

[ashishu9899]

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[thegoalebookpdf]

!^READPDF$ The Student's Manual of Yoga Anatomy 30 Essential Poses Analyzed  Explained  and Illustrated Pdf

!^READ*PDF$ The Student's Manual of Yoga Anatomy: 30 Essential Poses Analyzed, Explained, and Illustrated Pdf

The Student's Manual of Yoga Anatomy: 30 Essential Poses Analyzed, Explained, and Illustrated

[PDF] Download The Student's Manual of Yoga Anatomy: 30 Essential Poses Analyzed, Explained, and Illustrated Ebook | READ ONLINE

Author : Sally Parkes Publisher : Fair Winds Press ISBN : 1592337317 Publication Date : 2016-2-1 Language : Pages : 192

To Download or Read this book, click link below:

http://read.ebookcollection.space/?book=1592337317

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Synopsis : !^READ*PDF$ The Student's Manual of Yoga Anatomy: 30 Essential Poses Analyzed, Explained, and Illustrated Pdf

The Student's Manual of Yoga Anatomy is the essential guide for anyone looking to understand the importance of doing yoga poses correctly in order to maximize the benefit and avoid pain and injury. With the guidance of Sally Parkes and Joanna Culley, students and instructors glean a simple and clear understanding of the practice of yoga.Work through 50 step-by-step illustrated poses (asanas) that are perfect for working through each section of the body. Including an overview of the musculoskeletal system to explain the body systems and terminology discussed. Then it deeply introduces yoga, looking at the styles of Hatha yoga, movements of the spine and its axis points, how levers change the intensity of each asana, types of muscle activity, and the science of breathing. Full-color anatomical illustrations and clear, concise text of 50 common yoga asanas make the science easy to understand, and allow a deeper understanding of yoga and how it works with the body, allowing readers to easily apply what they learn to their own practice. Clear notes describe the type of muscle activation, plane of movement, axis of the spine, and options for practical modifications to allow for individual ability and injury rehabilitation. You'll also discover a list of sequences to link the asanas together to form a complete workout routine for a healthy lifestyle.Featuring some of the most popular asanas:- Mountain Pose - Tadasana- Warrior 1 and 2 - Virabhadrasana 1 and 2- Chair Pose - Utkatasana- Dancer's Pose - Natarajasana- Eagle Pose - Garudasana- Hands to Feet Pose - Padangustasana- Staff Pose - Dandasana- Boat Pose - Navasana- Seated Half Lotus - Ardha Baddha Padma Paschimottanasana- Cat/Cow Pose - Marjaryasana/Bitilasana- Locust Pose - Salambasana- Upward Dog Pose - Urdhva Mukha Svanasana