#which actually that makes me think about a slight correlation between the rigidity of Home's door/features

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

I have a question that I don't know the answer to. And I'm not sure if there's already an answer to this or not.

Why is Wally the only neighbor with no noes and no eyebrows? Was that like a way to make Wally seem like an outcast or something??

It droved me crazy with confusion the first time I realized this.......

And PLEASE don't see this as an ask of me "JUST noticing now". I noticed a month ago (ever sense I first started loving Welcome Home as a hyperfixation) but I kept it to myself because I was too embarrassed to ask to really know. And it's really ok if you don't know either.

oh yeah no to my knowledge we don't know why that's a Design Choice That Exists! could be to make him look a little more unsettling than the others (more out of place within his own niche to kinda mirror how he's Different despite filling the role he's made for & existing in the place he Should Be In) bc this is a Horror project, or just because no nose/eyebrows looked best on him-

but it might be something we're not In On yet! lore we haven't learned! we just don't know

[jadekitty777]

Troika - Chapter 3: To Speak Good

Troika - (Noun) Russian in origin, meaning “set of three” or “three of a kind”. It is a three-way dance between people.

Summary: Taiyang has a bad dream, Qrow has homesickness and James has a headache. Not necessarily in that order.Or, a series of snapshot events at different times of this trio’s relationship together.

Rating: T

Pairing: James/Qrow/Taiyang

AO3 Link: Chapter 3

Note: There’s one more after this, and then the story is done!

~

If someone told Qrow five years ago that he’d one day call Atlas his home, he would have laughed.

If that same someone added he’d do it entirely for James Ironwood, he would have told the guy he was more drunk than him.

Now, with the general dozing in the seat beside him and the tall white buildings that encompassed the upper streets of Atlas growing closer as the airship reached its port, he figured he probably owed that imaginary guy a round or two.

They’d both been gone a few months – he on a mission and James on security detail duty for this year’s Vytal Festival, as he often was. Both conveniently put them in Vacuo, so once he’d finished cleaning up an infestation of Grimm in the lower quadrant, he headed to the city, enjoying the rest of his time away with the other man. James was a bit too rigid to really appreciate the less reputable side of the kingdom which was rot with gambling and underground fight rings, so Qrow improvised, taking him to sand-sailing races and hiking trails instead. It was the walk through the hollowed-out mines, once filled with Dust and now left glittering with natural minerals and stalagmites that kaleidoscoped colors across the stone, that truly fascinated the elder man to the point he wanted to explore every inch of it. Rarely seeing him so boyishly eager, Qrow was happy to oblige even long after his feet were aching from standing too much.

It was all worth it if only for the moment he watched James place his hand against one of the crystals, awash in a gentle blue hue from the reflecting light, and Qrow couldn’t help but correlate the likeness of his lover to this place: that even if parts had been forever lost or broken, what remained was even more beautiful.

Of course, he never said it out loud. Spouting poetic nonsense like that was more Tai’s thing.

Qrow had gotten a chance to see his eldest niece too. She, along with Blake and some of the other kids from the old crew, were on a march across Vacuo with the restructured White Fang, hoping to spread awareness on Faunus civil rights using peaceful protest. They’d chosen to complete their pilgrimage at the crux of the festival, knowing the streets would be crowded from the event and the news reels would be more likely to headline their efforts.

So, mostly, Qrow stood in the thin shade of a light pole in a poor attempt to hide from the burning sun, holding up a sign and letting Yang talk his ear off. She had been so happy, animatedly recounting all the sights and cultures she had seen, all the strange foods she had tried, every new place bringing a new excitement. All of it wasn’t pleasant of course. They’d met a lot of opposition on their travels throughout Remnant that she mostly alluded to, but he couldn’t help but swell with pride as he realized his niece had found her way into following her dreams of being both an adventurer and a hero.

He stretched out his arms up above his head, hearing the slight crack of joints stiff from sitting too long, before he placed a hand on James’ metal shoulder, giving him a slight shake. As he started to rouse, Qrow said, “Time to wake up, Rin Tin Tin.”

Blue eyes blinked at him blearily, saying sleepily, “How do you even know that reference?”

“You have met Tai, right? If you think he didn’t own the deluxe boxset and spent every summer vacation watching it, you’d be very wrong.” He said in way of explanation, feeling the shift of gravity as the airship started to descend for a landing.

“I didn’t, because he doesn’t own it.”

“Not anymore.” Qrow said. “Someone accidentally put it in the fireplace.”

“You did not.” There wasn’t an ounce of belief in that retort.

He grinned cheekily, “You’ll never know.”

James eyed him critically. “Well, you’ll be disappointed to know I did find the send button on my scroll.”

“Jimmy, you’ve evolved! What’s next old man? Using the coffee maker?” He snickered as the other reached out and shoved him.

“Oh, shut up.”

He saluted him. But, after a few seconds of silence, said, “Permission to speak, sir?”

James had a better poker face than most, but even he was struggling not to smile. “Denied.”

“Rude, sir.” He considered it a personal victory when he heard the other laugh softly.

“Come on, cadet.” The man said as the plane jerked on its landing. “I’ve got to drop some stuff off at my office, but we can stop at the café first, alright?”

He responded with another little salute. “Sir, yes sir!”

~

Qrow sipped lukewarm coffee from the plastic cup as he watched the man who had bought it for him putter about his office, putting away some last-minute documents that he’d have to organize properly when he was next there. Back before they were dating, he used to ruthlessly tease James about how much of a workaholic he was, until the other eventually told him that he wasn’t the one who once spent literal years out on the field for his own profession. It had been one of the few times someone had managed to make him pause and actually think.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t heard a variation of it before – how the war was over. How he could take a break every now and again. But it was the way James said it, reminding him that years of his life were just gone, that struck a chord with him and suddenly he understood he’d missed so much. He would never get to be at Yang’s graduation ceremony from Signal as the fiery blond cheered. He would never be able to capture the moment Ruby came home, shouting with joy over her early acceptance to Beacon. Hell, he’d never get to see that stupid, goofy smile Tai probably had when he adopted Zwei. The more he thought, the more the key events piled up, the more seriously he considered removing his name out of the Huntsman rotation permanently.

He never did, but he did lessen his prominence in the roster significantly.

So there he was, in the middle of restoration efforts for Vale city, trying to redefine his life choices, when James walks up to him and says, “Why don’t we go get some coffee?”

He hadn’t really grasped the implications when he agreed until he actually had the cup in his hands and was sitting across from the other. “Jimmy-boy, did you just ask me out on a date?”

“That was my intention, yes.”

“Oh.” And maybe it was because, after having worked together in close quarters for months as the war came to an end, he’d found that he didn’t dislike James nearly as much as he used to or maybe it was because he just wanted to have something he hadn’t allowed himself in years, that he found himself tacking on, “Well good.”

And that was the start of their relationship.

Now, as he sipped on the bitter, overshot brew and realized years had passed since that moment, he found himself not regretting the choice.

“So, we’ll be home within the hour.” James said as he shoved a few more papers into his desk.

“Sounds great!” Was the chipper reply from Tai, voice a bit crackly from being on speaker. “Either of you two hungry? I can make dinner.”

When that blue-eyed gaze turned to him questionably, Qrow called, “Something light.”

“Yeah. It was a long flight.” The general agreed.

“No problem. I can’t wait to hear all about your trip.”

With it being so early in the semester at Apollo Academy, Tai wasn’t able to get the vacation needed to join them. Not that he really wanted to abandon his class for that long anyways. Apollo was a small, secondary school designed to support smaller classrooms for children with special needs, such as amputees. Having a daughter and a lover both living with permanent prosthetics, it had sparked the man’s interest in helping others learn how to cope with their new body parts and reach a sense of normalcy again. While looking for work after he’d lost his former job following the whole newscast fiasco, he’d barely paused to think when he applied at the institute.

Watching Tai whoop and holler as he danced around the house after he’d gotten accepted for the position, Qrow could have sworn his friend was twenty again.

James closed another cabinet. “We’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah.” There was a smile in Tai’s voice as he added warmly, “I missed you guys.”

Qrow ducked behind his coffee as he smiled. James, who had paused to stare down at the phone, didn’t bother hiding his own as he said, “Yeah, us too.”

~

As he walked into their home, the first thing Qrow noticed was the smell of something sweet in the air that told him there was some confectionary baking in the oven. “We’re home!” He announced as he held the door for James, who came into the house with their luggage and carefully shuffled around Zwei who, despite his age, still found the energy to joyfully dart around his peoples’ legs whenever they got back.

There was a whistle, Tai standing in the alcove leading to the kitchen, “Zwei, come on buddy. You’re gonna make him trip.”

“It’s fine.” He said, lifting his square suitcase higher when, without warning, the clasp broke and a few weeks’ worth of clothing spilled out over the floor. The lump of dog underneath the clothing shifted and then he was popping his head back up, a pair of plaid briefs on his head.

When James sent a disgruntled look his way, Qrow shrugged, “Hey don’t blame me! I told you to replace that old thing years ago.”

“I still blame you.”

Laughing, their blond lover walked over, unearthing the rest of his poor corgi first before he started to gather up the clothes. James knelt down, seemingly to help, until his hand caught the younger’s wrist and, when he looked up, lent forward to press their lips together. Tai gave a gentle hum, smiling as he wound an arm over the other’s shoulders. They might have stayed like that awhile, if not for the buzzer from the kitchen that pulled them apart.

“Oh, that’s the dessert.”

“I got it.” Qrow said, giving Tai a wink as he passed on by.

“Well,” The wisecrack followed him, “There was dessert at least.”

He could hear the softness of their voices continue on as he entered the kitchen where he was definitely not planning on stealing pieces of whatever confectionary Tai had decided to make. He found the mitts as he pulled open the oven door, and at first, he thought they were cupcakes, until he lifted them out and brought the tray into the light to discover they were actually muffins.

Huh. Today was just full of ironic food choices.

He set it down on the cooling rack and flicked off the oven, before giving the area a look over. Tai, whether it be on the team, in the family or in their relationship, had remained the cook – so his little haven was pristinely clean except for the vestiges of where dinner was being made. There was something shimmering on the stove and, when he lent forward to look through the glass top, saw it was soup – chicken noodle, he guessed. Lettuce, freshly cut and washed, sat in a strainer. On a cutting board, shredded carrots and radishes that were probably going to be mixed in to make a simple salad. The tea kettle puffed out steam where it sat on the counter; he’d bet every lien he had that it was Jasmine. Their table had already been set; wooden chopsticks by his and Tai’s plates and more durable, metal ones for James.

By the time he was peeling off the paper liner from one of the muffins, his best friend was back, rolling his eyes at him. “Really?”

“It’s what you get for baiting me.” He replied before taking a huge bite.

Tai chuckled, before he went back to making dinner, dicing the rest of the radishes. As he worked, Qrow destroyed the rest of his muffin in a few quick bites, then sidled up next to the other. The knife slowed, the blonde observing him from the corner of his eye. “Can I help you?”

“Well I was thinking,” He started, dancing his fingers along the other’s back, but trailed off when the other jolted away. “Uh, you alright?”

Tai flushed a bit. “Yeah, sorry. That surprised me.”

“Geez, you’re getting old too.”

“Make more jokes like that and I’m hiding the rest of the muffins.”

“Forgive me!” Qrow rested a hand over his heart overdramatically, falling against the other’s shoulder. “For I know not what I say!”

His friend tried his best not to snicker but his grin was untamable. He set down the knife in favor of winding his toned arms around him, bringing them flush together. Tai pecked fond, little kisses along his face, until finally he got to his lips, lingering there. Qrow’s eyes slid shut, leaning in to the caress as he raked his hands through blond hair.

It was the hissing of the overflowing pot that drew Tai away this time. “Ah damn it,” He cursed softly before hurrying over to lift the pot off the burner.

Qrow lent back against the counter, watching him as he pulled off the top, letting the steam out to cool the angrily bubbling liquid. His eyes wandered a bit, pausing curiously on the patch of reddened skin around the edges of the heart tattoo. “Your arm…”

“Huh?” Tai glanced at him, then followed his gaze down to his own still-healing skin. “Oh yeah; I got it touched up, remember?”

“Thought you said you were doing that a few weeks ago?”

He shrugged, turning away to stir the soup. “Well, yeah but Ruby wanted to come with me. So, I postponed.”

That took a minute to compute. “Wait. Did you convince my niece to get a tattoo?”

“No, no.” He was grinning almost manically as he pointed the spoon his way. “She convinced Weiss to get one.”

That revelation took longer, but when it did, Qrow’s eyes bulged. “What!? Ice princess got some ink?!”

“Please tell me Winter doesn’t know.” They both glanced over at James as he entered the room, looking weary already. “Otherwise I’ll never hear the end of it on Monday.”

“Well, it’s not exactly in a discreet place, unless she’s wearing a long dress or really tall boots.”

“Just perfect,” Was the sigh of defeat.

Qrow started to guffaw. “So it’s on her leg? What is it?”

“A red rose with the stem wrapping around her ankle. It’s quite pretty actually.” Tai said, sounding almost fond. Whether it simply be for the art of tattoos or over his unofficial daughter-in-law, it was a little hard to tell. “Anyways!” He reached up to pull down some bowls. “Dinner’s pretty much done. Qrow will you pour the tea?”

“You got it.”

As the day faded to evening and the three of them enjoyed dinner together for the first time in nearly five weeks, Qrow felt a familiar wash of calm overcome him. He had missed this: a dog dozing under the table at their feet and them talking about their day. James recounting somewhat irritably about how lack his security team was. Tai excitedly detailing how well the students from his class were doing. Qrow chiming in about the highlights from the festival.

And when James finally remembered to ask, “By the way, what happened to your copy of Rin Tin Tin?”

And Tai answered, “Oh. Qrow was drunk one night and thought the trees on the cover were firewood, so he put it in the fireplace.”

Qrow couldn’t stop laughing, feeling more at home than ever before.

~~~

A/N: So, if anyone is wondering about the chapter titles, I was looking for another “set of three” idea to name them after. While looking for ideas, I found out three is a really common number in a lot of religious practices – and I stumbled upon Zoroastrianism. One of the philosophies is just like the titles of the chapters – Thinking good, acting good and speaking good will lead to a good life. There’s a lot more to it of course, but that’s a basic principle on their lifestyle.

I realized the chapters aligned pretty well with these ideas, so I went with it.

Chapter 1 is all about good action. It certainly fits James and his disciplined nature the most but Qrow and Tai both have their moments on debating “what the right thing to do” is.

Chapter 2 is focused around good thinking, hence Tai’s many bracketed thoughts in which he’s trying to fight his poor psyche with better views (I actually added a few when I decided on the chapter title). Likewise, Qrow’s own thoughts are a bit see-sawed while James is the reassurance.

Chapter 3 has the weakest connection, because Qrow himself is not a “good” speaker seeing as I depicted him struggling with expressing himself and the plot definitely revolved around a “slice of life” style story. The entire decision basically comes down to the ending – where he finds the most peace and happiness in the simple act of talking around the dinner table with James and Tai.

Now, there’s only one chapter left, but don’t worry, I have a great title in mind! Stay tuned, it’ll be up within a week!

[we-bodybuildingmotivation]

How To PROPERLY Bench Press For A Bigger Chest (2 Science-Primarily based Steps)

    Struggling with establishing chest mass no matter fixed bench pressing throughout the gymnasium? Don’t fret. Beneath, I cowl the important ideas relating to learn how to bench press for a a lot greater chest so that you just get the helpful properties you want.

What variety of situations have you ever ever heard, “Want a bigger chest? Then it is vital to bench.” Correctly, that's actually a reasonably good reply to learn how to assemble a a lot greater chest. On account of everyone knows that the bench press could be very environment friendly at rising the chest. Present papers   that monitor an individual’s bench press energy and chest improvement over time current a sturdy constructive correlation between them. And that suggests {that a} a lot greater bench does seem to end in a bigger chest.

Nevertheless…Some Individuals Don’t Seem To Reply Correctly To The Bench Press

Nevertheless proper right here’s the catch. Try the numbers further rigorously. And we’ll see only a few instances the place no matter some subjects being able to bench significantly further weight than one different subject, they didn’t have any additional chest improvement to level out for it:

There are moreover totally different instances. For example, no matter having the similar bench press energy, two individuals expert a whopping 30% distinction throughout the ensuing improvement of their chest:

Which implies that some individuals merely don’t seem to answer along with others do by way of rising their chest with the bench press. And picture me, I used to be one amongst these individuals. In all places else would develop apart from my chest. Positive, genetics can play a job in determining this. Nevertheless evaluation clearly signifies you possibly can shortly improve the following chest improvement you experience from the bench press by making use of only a few simple bench press ideas. Perception me. It wasn’t until I lastly utilized the following two steps that I lastly started to see my chest responding to the bench press. And rising in a short while in consequence. Be taught on to learn to assemble chest muscle teams with the bench press.

How To Bench Press For Bigger Chest

Step 1: Mobility Work To Open Up Your Chest

By way of learn how to assemble a a lot greater chest with the bench press, the first tip is the opening up your chest. Doing this allows you to use it further efficiently if you happen to perform the bench. Why? Correctly, because of to place lots of the rigidity onto the chest when benching, you need to have the flexibility to do two points: Maintain your chest up and out, and Your shoulder blades retracted once more or pinched collectively. Take into consideration as within the occasion you had been going to pinch a pencil between these blades.

  While you’ve achieved these two, you’ll naturally create a slight arch in your increased once more with home between your once more and the bench. And that's the place it's important to preserve as you’re pressing. This place has two advantages. First, it’s safer in your shoulder and contributes to a stronger press. And second, based mostly totally on  of the bench press, everyone knows that it moreover will improve the involvement of the chest throughout the movement. That’s because of it prevents the doorway delts from rounding forward and taking on.

Forward Rounding Of Your Shoulders All through Bench Kills Your Chest Optimistic points By way of learn how to assemble a a lot greater chest, it's important to stay away from letting your entrance delts from rounding forward all through the bench press the least bit costs. The additional you let your shoulders spherical forward and chest collapse as you press, the additional rigidity goes to be shifted away from the chest. And onto the doorway delts as a substitute. And that ends in a lot much less chest improvement, with further entrance delts improvement (exactly what occurred to me once more throughout the day). To not level out,

So, the upper you probably can keep that chest up and shoulder blades pinned once more all by means of the press, the upper you’ll be able to actually use your chest if you happen to bench. And also you already know what that means: increased improvement! Nevertheless the difficulty lately is that almost all of you are caught in a forward rounded posture…

  …which makes making use of what I beforehand talked about far more tough. On account of as shortly as you hop on the bench press, you’ll be naturally inclined and primarily designed to spherical your shoulders forward. On account of your posture and diversified mobility restrictions, you’d shift further rigidity to the doorway delts when pressing:

Restore Your Rounded Shoulders Posture So, by enhancing these mobility restrictions, you’ll then be able to preserve right bench press variety. And subsequently circuitously improve the chest improvement you experience from the bench press. Now, I do have a contemporary article on   It's good to positively give that, and this textual content on   a be taught. Nevertheless principally the two points it's important to consider are: Opening up your chest and Getting further increased once more mobility in your thoracic spine

That's in order that you possibly can keep that chest up and out and that increased once more arched once more as you press. And that is the suitable bench press variety. One good dynamic stretch that may make it easier to receive that's snow angels on a foam roller. Lay on a foam roller collectively along with your head and butt supported and your shoulder blades pulled once more and collectively.

Then you definately definately merely perform snow angels collectively along with your arms. Slowly rotate up as far as you probably can whereas holding your fingers touching the underside. Perform spherical 20-30 reps.

As your mobility improves from this, you may start together with weight to your fingers collectively along with your arms held at 90 ranges. Doing so permits for a superb deeper stretch.

By generally doing exercise routines like this to open up your chest and loosen the upper once more, you’re going to then be able to get right into a far more surroundings pleasant benching place. This place then lets you use and place rigidity in your chest. As an alternative of the doorway delts.

Step 2: Improve Your Neuromuscular Activation

Now, although you could be executing the bench press appropriately with the form I beforehand went by the use of, chances are you proceed to aren’t using your chest as rather a lot as you could be. And that’s the place getting increased at actually activating your chest turns into mandatory. Activation Of The Chest All through Benching Leads To Further Progress In   from the Journal of Vitality and Conditioning Evaluation, even well-trained athletes had been ready to extend the activation of their chest by 22%! How? By merely using only a few chest activation cues all through the bench press.

And given {{that a}} newest  2018 look at by Schoenfeld has indicated that boosting the neuromuscular activation and mind-muscle connection collectively along with your muscle teams as you follow them ends in significantly increased improvement, it’s clear to see how enhancing the activation of your chest as you bench may end up in increased improvement in consequence. Nevertheless, within the occasion you’re any individual like me, and have always had a extremely powerful time activating your chest, there are some stuff you’ll want to do. These have personally labored wonders for me. As quickly as I utilized them, they allowed me to lastly actually really feel my chest working. Understand The Function Of The Chest Muscle By way of learning learn how to assemble a a lot greater chest, you first need to know what the chest does throughout the first place. Its function is one factor known as horizontal adduction. Which is solely the act of pulling your arm in course of the midline of your physique. So, each time we supply out the bench press, it’s the horizontal adduction and movement of our arms collectively which could be activating our chest.

…and, in consequence, this horizontal adduction presses the burden up if you happen to bench:

So to appropriately activate your chest once you bench, it's important to uncover methods to tug your arms collectively by means of using your chest muscle teams, versus totally different muscle teams. Chest Activation Prepare And to try this, you’ll want to use the following chest activation practice: Stand with one arm out to the side. Make sure that your shoulder blades are retracted and pinched collectively.

Now think about the following two elements. Degree A at your biceps and stage B at your inside pec. Then, place one amongst your fingers on the opposite pec.

Use that pec to simply convey stage A to stage B. As you obtain this, stay away from letting your shoulder spherical forward. As an alternative, you want to keep the shoulder pinned once more by retracting your shoulder blades. Now, it is best to be able to actually really feel your chest contracting collectively along with your totally different hand.

Subsequent, you want to bend your arm as within the occasion you had been doing the bench press. As soon as extra, merely think about bringing stage A to stage B to utterly shorten that pec with out letting your shoulder takeover.

Then, loop a band spherical a fixture and seize it with the one hand. Take only a few steps out to your side until there’s considerably little little bit of rigidity throughout the band. Now, merely perform the exact same motion we beforehand did as soon as extra by enthusiastic about pulling that bicep inwards. When you get to the middle, keep this place for 10 seconds or so whereas contracting and using your chest to cease your arm from being pulled away.

After you do these steps on both aspect and actually really feel a sturdy chest activation, it’s time to make use of what you realized to the bench press. Swap What You’ve Realized To Your Bench Press Methodology Start with merely the bar. Sooner than lowering it, pre-activate your chest. You'll be able to achieve this by enthusiastic about bringing your fingers inwards and pulling your biceps in in course of each other. Clearly your fingers gained’t switch nevertheless this may merely make it simpler to work together your chest.

After this, start slowly performing reps with the bar. Nevertheless it is best to not be enthusiastic about merely pressing the burden up. As an alternative, on one of the simplest ways up of every single rep, I would really like you to easily think about pulling your biceps collectively. So consider elements A and elements B that we beforehand went by the use of. Merely think about bringing these two elements collectively every single rep.

  This, when executed along with the form I went by the use of in step 1, should let you now actually really feel a rather a lot stronger contraction in your chest. After which from proper right here, you probably can slowly add weight to the bar. Merely have in mind that the burden you’ll now be lifting will likely be considerably lighter than what you might need beforehand been lifting. Nevertheless that's exactly what we wish. You’ve efficiently minimized the involvement of your entrance delts and included further of your chest as a substitute. And that is undoubtedly going to end in rather a lot higher chest improvement in the long run. Even within the occasion you’re using a lighter weight.

How To Bench Press For A Bigger Chest (Takeaway)

Alright, that’s all I've for learn how to assemble a a lot greater chest with the bench press. Guys, I hope you had been ready to see that if you happen to want to see the simplest outcomes and   within the becoming areas, then it's important to be activating the becoming muscle teams all through your complete exercise routines and executing these actions optimally. Which doesn’t merely apply to the chest, nevertheless to all your totally different muscle groups as properly. And for a step-by-step program that provides you with these important muscle activation drills and practice tutorials so that you already know exactly learn how to assemble muscle most efficiently and within the becoming areas, merely take the analysis quiz underneath: Read the full article