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smooth--criminal · 7 years

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Nothing Lasts Forever: Part 2

To recap: my character Regina seduced a guy into her home for @underopenskies‘s character Vlad, who has just shown up.

"What are you doing here? I didn't know you had contacts in this city. There's no bad blood between us, is there?" Klaus gave Vladimir a nervous look. "Can we not talk like civilized gentlemen? You could have arranged a meeting, instead of sending your little minx out to lure me in. Though how you found me, I am not sure."

"And risk you telling Vanya where I am?" Vladimir snorted. "No, I think not." He came closer, and quietly tugged a small hammer and a chisel from one of his pockets. He settled down by Klaus's hand, and eyed the backs of his bones thoughtfully. "No, Klaus. All I want are the names of every mole you know. I want them all, and as much information as you're able to give me." "I'm not going to-" "Ah, but you will. I have plenty of time." Vladimir purred. He lined the hammer up. "Pain makes people talk. The sooner you spill everything, and I'm sure o have everything, the sooner it ends."

During all of this, she had been starting to regret actually being genuine in her offer to help Vlad. Klaus being willing to play submissive to her almost made her crack for the sake of her own pleasure, as she normally would have. She was honestly surprised at her own loyalty and had gotten close to questioning it- that is, until Vlad walked in. When Vlad walked in and she saw the fear in Klaus's gorgeous eyes. When her new companion drew a chisel and hammer. When the threats were said. She suddenly remembered what she had to gain from all of the previously abandoned effort to resist temptation.

She got to actually witness what became of her handiwork, not hear about it. She got to be involved in something bigger than petty gang rivalries. For once, she got to watch a truly interesting person work and have a hand in that work. She'd spent plenty of time making men bend at her will, but this was something brilliantly new. She hadn't felt this excited about anything since first getting involved in a gang, and this was so, so much better. She grabbed the other chair in the room- a much more comfortable one, obviously meant for herself- and seated herself against the wall facing both of the men's sides, crossing one leg over the other.

Klaus's gaze flicked to her, and panic briefly flashed over him. He squirmed in the chair. Trying to jerk his arm away, though Vlad was swift in pinning it. "A-and what about your little bird? Is she going to watch you do this to me?" She tilted her head, her gaze settling on Klaus again. She was still very able to hold eye contact with him.

"Of all the things you seem willing to do, exhibitionism isn't one of them? What's wrong with me watching?" She pouted a bit, as if she were a kid wanting to watch two boys play with their actions figures. Vlad glanced to Regina, and hummed.

"If she wishes. If she also wishes, she could join in. But that is her choice." She had no intention of joining, however. At least, not this time. Maybe if one of the targets annoyed her enough she would. That said, the purple eyes of the more intimidating skeleton locked onto the skeletal hand trying to worm out of the cuffs tightly holding him. The hammer key the chisel, and with slow and steady strokes, chips of bone began to splinter off.

Regina raised a brow. "So, the 'little bird' thing isn't just a you thing?" She decided to take it a notch up to Russian assassin terminology from personal quirk.

"Everyone has their preferred names for their contacts. Mine are my birds." Vladimir answers her honestly as he adds a small detail to a swirl near Klaus's wrist. "Vanya has always called his contacts his 'moles'." She turned her attention to Vlad's work, watching him chisel the patterns into Klaus's bones. That was unique. Each tap of the hammer drove a furrow, and each furrow was only a little bit into the bone. Not deep enough to penetrate marrow- but it was painful all the same. Klaus opened his mouth and cried out.

"Fine! Fine! I only know of Jean, Monica, and Fox. Jean works with a radio station, Monica is a sales rep, and Fox is a professor at a college." Vlad nothing, and began to chisel careful designs into the bones of his hand. He took care to to make them nice and even, blowing out the chips as he went.

"F-fuck you both." Klaus spits. His legs jerk against the cuffs holding him, and he strains, trying to break them. Regina couldn't help but giggle.

"He was much more of a gentleman before the chisel, if that's any consolation." She gave Klaus a wink, "See, I gave in a good word. I'm not all bad.~" she cooed.

"I hope he gets you, because when he does, oh, he's going to make you wish you hadn't been born. I just wish I'm going to be there to see Vanya beat your little bird until she can't ever fly again."

Vladimir lifts the chisel and used the hammer to use it and puncture a hole straight through the bone of Klaus's palm. When Klaus finishes shrieking, he pries the chisel out and starts again, working up his arm this time. "She is a lady, and you will not address her like so. Now. Names, locations, occupations. Continue." Despite not addressing it, she was actually.. grateful for Vlad sticking up for her. Demanding she be treated like a lady. She definitely wasn't used to that one. More akin to a bird than Regina was, under Vlad's artistic care of the yellow eyes skeletons arm, Klaus sang nicely. Names, locations... All sorts of things that Vladimir took mental note of.

She remained quiet as the chiseling continued, also making mental notes of every detail Klaus gave. She was sure that Vlad's memory was damn near flawless based on what she knew about his training, but she was more familiar with the area. So she supposed she might as well pay attention. When it seemed like Klaus was running out of information to give, though, she piped up. "Klaus here lives in the building under construction a few miles away from here. I supposed you would want to check that out. It's wired- but a clumsy construction worker spilled some expensive alcohol that probably screwed that up." Maybe everything did happen for a reason.

When Klaus ran low on information, Viktor listened to what Regina told him and then nodded. "Good. We will check it out then once the construction crew clears out." Klaus was trembling in the chair. Vlad had made it up to his shoulder, and his shirt had been torn, showing the lovely bone that had been chiseled into such intricate designs. His yellow eyes were focused though, all the same, and he sneered at Vlad and at Regina. He kept his comments polite. At least with Regina. "There is something fucking wrong with you if you can sit here and chisel someones arm up like you're giving a damn tattoo." Regina couldn't help but giggle when Klaus said something was wrong with Vlad. A family of assassins trained to kill by the age of four? Fucked up? Never! Couldn't even fathom it! But she kept her comments to herself this time, intent on enjoying the show.

"There is a reason why you, and all of the other non-civilian moles and birds are not indoctrinated into the family." Vladimir muses, and cleans his chisel on the man's leg. He looks at him flatly. "You cannot give what you do not know."

"You mean you're fucking tortured to teach you how to torture?" Klaus eyes the chisel near his leg with much trepidation.

"Yes. It is part of our family's schooling. I learned all I needed to know about the art of carving from my father." The chisel slid up, and trailed over his cheekbone with a flat scraping noise. Klaus flinched away from it.

Regina paid special attention when Vlad talked about himself. You cannot give what you do not know, and his father taught him to carve. Her smirk did dissipate a little at the thought of a young boy having a chisel taken to him by his own father. She couldn't imagine her own late father doing that to her brothers.. but she decided to stop thinking too deeply into it. She was now even more interested in seeing Vlad's scars, however.

Vladimir continued, "But you don't have to worry about it anymore, Klaus. You're done. You chose to work for the wrong brother. Not that I would hire someone as subpar as you anyways. I've heard of your work." Vladimir tuts. "My brother must have been desperate. All the same... Make your peace, Klaus."

Regina stood from the chair and walked back over, not to look at the designs but to be closer to Klaus. Vladimir didn't even glance up at her as she came closer. Klaus did, however. "I wasn't lying when I said I love your eyes." She said with an almost malicious grin that contrasted her compliment. "It truly is a shame that they don't last.. but I do want to see them go."

The man gave her a spiteful sneer, and then closed his eyes. They jerked open again when the chisel slid into his femur with a quick stab, making him yelp. Vladimir lifted a brow. "Eyes open. The lady wants to watch- so let her. Might as well do something useful with the last of your life." He hummed.

Regina pouted when Klaus closed his eyes, but she was grinning again tenfold when Vlad made a point to change that. The lady. She was a lady, and she wasn't the only one that had to enforce her will- at least, not right now. Klaus bore flat teeth at Vlad in an unimpressive snarl. Vladimir was quick after that. He changed out the chisel for a familiar knife, and then lined it up with the skeleton's chest. He set it to be about where his soul would be cradled at, and then plunged it down, and watched as Klaus gasped and gurgled. The knife had bit deep into the ectoplasmic part of his body, shoving through organs and soft tissue, and piercing many vital places. Vladimir rocked back on his heels, and straightened, leaving Klaus to die on his own time. It would be quick all the same. Regina's eyes didn't leave Klaus's. She didn't even flinch at Vlad's swift movement and the jolt of Klaus's body. She focused solely on those lovely yellow eyes, then watched as the eyelights faded to black. Vladimir glanced down at Regina and rolled his shoulders. "You mentioned that he was a gentleman until I started carving. He did not hurt you prior, correct?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, he didn't hurt me one bit. Opened the cab door for me and even paid the cabbie for me. He was decent company." Vladimir let out a pleased sound.

"Good. At least he knew his manners then." He hummed. He withdrew his knife once Klaus was dead, and then cleaned it on the man's pant leg.

Regina turned her attention then to the beautiful carving that Vlad had done. "... Your father did this sort of thing to you?" She asked in a neutral tone, as if she was asking about the weather. It was still strange to think of, but she didn't let her own feelings on the matter seep into her voice. At the carefully neutral toned question, Vlad glanced back at her, and looked her over. He hummed low in his throat, and then nodded slowly.

"Yes." He says. He rolled up his left sleeve a little bit, and displayed some faint marks on his radius. They didn't show up like normal scars- but looked more like he had grown out of them with time. They were small and tribal styled, not unlike the carving He had done on the skeleton bound in the chair. "My father did. He taught all of us to torture in various ways. I learned to carve from him. I was three when he gave me these." He supplied lightly.

Regina took a gentle hold of Vlad's wrist so she could tilt his arm as needed while she studied the carvings. Vlad did not have an issue with her taking hold of his wrist. He held still and let her examine him. She listened to his explanation, and while it still didn't sit right with her, having her question answered did ease her some. Vlad didn't seem to care, why should she? Not to mention the fact that they look pretty cool. "There are more, though most have faded out with time, but I lack the desire to strip down to my bare bones near a corpse." Regina giggled at what he said about stripping down.

"Oh, where's your sense of adventure?~" she teased- but necrophilia definitely wasn't on her list of kinks in any way, shape, or form. Vlad chuckled softly.

"My sense of adventure does not include being nude around dead things." He replies.

"But, speaking of the corpse," she let's go of Vlad's wrist and looks over at Klaus, "You're gonna bury him before he starts to stink, right?" Once she was done, he rolled his sleeve back down again . At her glance to Klaus, Vladimir nods. "As I said I would. It is dark still, so it is as good a time as ever to dig. If you wish to go change clothes and clean up or do whatever, I will handle the body." It was his job after all, since it was her house he was using for his base of operations.

"Good man." Regina didn't feel it right to say 'good boy' in this situation. Vladimir likely would not have appreciated being called 'good boy'. 'Good man', however, would suffice. "I do think I'll be turnin' in for the night. Want anythin' specific for breakfast?" She asked with a quirked eyebrow. "Otherwise it'll probably be pancakes." The tall skeleton tilted his head to her slightly and hummed softly. "Pancakes sound lovely, Regina. Have a good night. And I hope you sleep well. I will be up at my usual time tomorrow." Meaning early, even if he hadn't had a full night’s rest.

"Pancakes it is then." Regina turned away for a moment, walking towards the wall that had miscellaneous toys on it. After a moment's consideration she grabbed one of the vibrators from the wall. "Good night to you too, Vladimir~" she cooed casually as she walked past the other skeleton and went up the stairs to her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Vladimir watched her to with only a brow that raised. Well... She was a strange woman after all. All the same, Vladimir set himself to his task of unlocking the body and then hauling it up the stairs and out towards the back yard so he could go bury him.

#Regina #Vlad #rp #nothing lasts forever #read more

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benegap · 7 years

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The Secret to Athletic Longevity

Today’s guest post is written by Tim DiFrancesco, PT, DPT, ATC, CSCS, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Los Angeles Lakers and owner of TD Athlete’s Edge. Tim is a longtime friend of the Primal community, and I’m thrilled to have him contribute today. He’s offered to lead us through a portion of the screening he uses to evaluate players as well as exercises to improve weaknesses. I think you’ll find a great deal to apply to your Primal fitness in the tips and demonstrations.

Just the fact that you’re reading this tells me that you’re ahead of the pack. You already have what many don’t: the motivation to get out there, grind workouts, and train your body to be its best day after day. That’s clutch, but unfortunately it’s not enough to keep you ahead of the pack! One of the secrets to helping NBA athletes get ahead and making sure they stay there is a sound movement assessment. A movement assessment is an appraisal of how a player moves before they hit the court. Movement assessments don’t have to be restricted to a defined and organized battery of tests. Although I use something of the sort, I’m also constantly assessing players’ movements as they train, warm up, and play.

Without ongoing movement assessments, you run the risk of sending a player out to compete and perform with underlying limitations and weaknesses. Often these limitations and weaknesses are hidden by the highlight reel athleticism that we all see during game time action. This scenario is a huge problem because as we’re all cheering at their big plays, damage is being done to tissues, structures, or joints that can ultimately lead to debilitating injury.

This doesn’t just apply to high level, high paid athletes. It applies to anyone putting work in at the gym, pounding the pavement, hitting the trails, playing sports, or generally testing the physical limits of the body. I know what you’re saying: “That’s great, TD, but where do I get a movement assessment to know if I’m ready to train and play?” Not to worry—I’ve got you covered!

I’ve put together a series of movements that I want you to test yourself on. I want you to use these to see just how ready you are to train, play, and compete for the long haul.

1. Single Leg Squat

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This appears simple but like many “simple exercises” it can be tricky to do right. This is testing your ability to be on balance and strong during single leg stance. No matter what you do for sport, play, or training, you will end up in a single leg stance. You better be able to stay strong and balanced in a controlled setting if you want to perform safely in a dynamic and random setting. Your performance on this test will give insight into your lateral (outside) hip muscle strength and function. Keep in mind that your hip’s ability to perform can make or break what happens at your knee and on down the line. In other words, there’s a lot at stake here.

Coaching Keys:

Stand on one leg while you bend the other knee, bringing the heel to your butt.

Sit your butt back and down into a single leg squat and return back to standing single leg position.

Imagine having a laser pointing out of the front of the knee. Your goal is to keep the laser pointing straight forward.

Keep your chest up and back flat.

You should be able to get your hips below parallel without knee collapse or allowing your chest tip to the floor.

2. Half-Kneel Stand-Up

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This movement looks at your ability to control your body from a split or lunge stance. Even if you rarely perform an activity that requires lunge positions or actions, this test is very important. It generally shows how capable you are of producing power through one hip at a time while controlling your pelvis and surrounding core musculature. This is fundamentally critical during any physical activity. Your hips need to be both appropriately mobile and strong to allow you to perform physically over time. Performance on this test will tell a lot about general hip strength and mobility.

Coaching Keys:

Start kneeling with one knee on a pad and the other foot/knee in front of you. The front knee needs to be in line with the rest of the body.

Stand up from the lead knee/leg into a single leg stance position.

Return back to the start position in a slow and controlled way.

Imagine having a laser pointing out of the front of the lead knee.

Your goal is to keep the laser pointing straight forward for the entire motion.

3. Airplane

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Your core is responsible for holding everything together while your arms and legs do work. That’s the essence of any physical activity. The Airplane test allows us to see how competent your core is while you work to be stable on one leg. It requires one leg to be stable and balanced while you move the body around the hip. The only way this is possible is if your core is operating at a high level. It doesn’t indicate a strong core necessarily, but it does indicate your core’s ability to communicate effectively and in a timely fashion with your hips. If the core is unable to communicate smoothly with your extremities, you’re going to have trouble functioning in any physical activity over a lifetime.

Coaching Keys:

Begin by standing on one leg and taking a bow.

Place your hands in an “X” across your chest.

With your chest parallel to the floor, open and close your hip on the non-stance side.

When opening and closing the hip, you should see the same open/close motion at the shoulder. In other words, your hip and shoulder should be completely connected and opening/closing together.

Your goal is to open and close the hip/shoulder together at a slow and controlled pace 3 times without losing balance on the stance leg.

Now that you’ve put yourself through your own personal lower body movement assessment, you may have found a few areas that need work. Here are 5 exercises that will help you to bolster your single leg performance and your physical performance overall.

1. Sidelying Single Leg Hip-Drive

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Benefits:

This exercise is a great way to strengthen your core and lateral hip/glute muscles. The action of this exercise will challenge these muscles during movement patterns that occur during running. This will help you to refine your running mechanics and performance.

Coaching Keys:

Stay tall through the shoulder on the floor side (avoid the sagging on the shoulder).

Keep the rib cage away from the floor.

Avoid allowing the low back to arch when you touch the hips to the floor.

Avoid low back arch at the top of the action.

Keep the chin tucked.

How To Use:

Use this as a warm-up to a lift, sport, or any activity. It’s also great as a standalone exercise to strengthen the hips. Shoot for 2-4 sets of 8-15 repetitions.

2. Elevated Single Leg Squat with Counterweight

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Benefits:

This exercise will target your glutes in a single leg position. If you notice that your knee caves in uncontrollably when you do a basic single leg squat, then you need to develop your glutes. The glutes control what happens at your knees and below. There’s a good chance that you’re spending ample time in single leg stance during any physical activity. This exercise will not only help you to develop better control while on a single leg but also better strength, power, and performance from a single leg.

Coaching Keys:

Be sure that the counterweight doesn’t exceed ~10lbs.

Add resistance or weight by applying a weight vest if the form is perfect with just a 10lb counterweight.

Sit your butt back like there’s a chair.

Keep the knee from caving in or losing control.

Picture a laser pointing out of the front of the chest. Keep the chest facing forward so the laser doesn’t point to the ground.

Keep the core tight or the belly button close to the rib cage. This will ensure that you avoid a hyper-arch position of the low back as you drop into the squat.

Finish the move in a tall knee position. You want to be statue tall—no less, no more. The knee should be locked out, but be careful of letting this cause a rock-back position through the low back.

How To Use:

Use this as a warm-up to a lift, sport, or any activity. Use a weight vest to add resistance and use this exercise as part of a super set during a lower or total body lift. Shoot for 2-4 sets of 8-15 repetitions.

3. Medicine Ball Single Leg Deadlift with Rotation

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Benefits:

This is a great exercise to train single leg balance the right way. This exercise will challenge your single leg balance in a functional position while your upper body is active. This is what happens in sport and performance.

Coaching Keys:

Move the ball across your chest instead of rotating your chest or upper body.

Keep your foot still in your shoe or on the ground.

Keep your stance leg knee from caving in or moving side to side significantly.

How To Use:

This is a great warm-up for any workout or activity. It can also serve as part of a balance and core specific workout. Shoot for 2-4 sets of 8-20 medicine ball rotations on each leg.

4. Cable Bowler Squat

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Benefits:

The Cable Bowler Squat will strengthen your single leg balance and stability during rotational single leg action. Sport or activity of any kind happens in all planes, so you need to train in all planes.

Coaching Keys:

Don’t let the shoulder sag or dip at the bottom of the movement. Keep the shoulder packed with the rest of the body.

Be active with the outside leg. Reach the heel up and back behind you at the bottom of the movement.

Slowly lower yourself into it. Avoid falling into the bottom position.

Finish the move in a tall knee position. You want to be statue tall – no less, no more. The knee should be locked out, but be careful of letting this cause a rock-back position through the low back.

How To Use:

This is a great warm-up for any workout or activity. It can also serve as part of a balance and core specific workout. Shoot for 2-4 sets of 8-12 repetitions on each leg.

5. Kettlebell Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat

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Benefits:

This exercise will help you to strengthen the muscles around the hip and the knee while in a single leg position. The glutes, quadriceps, and even the hamstrings are targeted. Developing strength in these areas will help you to protect your lower body and enhance your lower body performance. If you want to avoid lower body injury and train to have better balance, run faster, jump higher, or land better, then you need to be doing the Kettlebell Rear Foot elevated Split Squat.

Coaching Keys:

Don’t let the knee drift too far over the toes, but don’t keep it too far behind the toes either. The lead knee should ever so slightly cover up the toes when you look down.

Avoid letting the knee cave in during the motion.

Keep the core tight or the belly button close to the rib cage. This will ensure that you avoid a hyper-arch position of the low back as you drop into the squat.

Be sure to keep the shoulders from rolling forward while you hold the weights.

Select a height of the surface to place the rear foot up on that feels comfortable throughout the entire range of motion of the exercise.

How To Use:

This exercise fits perfect in a lower body or total body lift. Ideally, you should super set or pair this with an exercise that is grip neutral (doesn’t require grip action). Shoot for 3-5 sets of 4-12 repetitions.

Do the assessment, train up the deficiencies, and visit us across all of our platforms (Twitter/Instagram: @tdathletesedge) for more insight on how to perform like a pro for the long haul.

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