These boxes of books sure are heavy...

[frameacloud]

Theri There from 2005-11-21

Notes: A learning experience with mental shifting. (Readers have pointed out a flaw in this exercise in weird physics: the person should have fallen forward instead. But then we wouldn’t have seen xir sorry face at the end.)

Transcript:
A person struggles to carry cardboard boxes from a moving van, thinking, “These boxes of books sure are heavy. I’ll visualize my dragon form, and focus on its qualities of strength and balance!” The shining silhouette of a dragon astral form appears around xir.
The dragon picks up a box with xir forelimbs, extending xir wings and tail. Caption: “When a quadrupedal dragon rears up bipedally to carry a heavy object, xe instinctively counterbalances the burden by unfurling xir wings behind xir.” This is illustrated with a old-fashioned balancing scales, sitting level.
Caption: “Phantom wings (weighing nothing) are an ineffective counterweight to lean against.” The weight vanishes from one side of the scales, and they collapse to the other. The dragon otherkin falls over, spilling the box.
Under a pile of textbooks such as “Physics 101” and “Qi Gong,” the dragon kin says, “I shouldn’t try a mental shift like that if I’m ever on a tightrope,” and then mutters, “Balance indeed!”

[Edit 2017-04-03: Updated link.]

Comments

[slupine.livejournal.com]

Phantom limbs CAN do some interesting things, even if they can't counterweight you. Though actually, I have found that sometimes I CAN balance myself with the help of them. The thing that I used to do before a fencing match kinda weirded people out though, I think.

See, I kinda ruined part of my back in middle school by carrying an overloaded bookbag. Nobody told me it was bad for me before it was too late. So now my upper back and shoulders are stiff quite often (though part of that is also because I hold a lot of tension there when I'm stressed). Normal stretching doesn't always work. But when I happen to be in a form that has wings (sometimes I can make them appear at the time, sometimes not) I'll cross my arms over behind my back, grab each wing, and pull it to stretch it out along with the rest of my back. That seems to help.

Of course I also weirded people out when I meditated before practice. I'd be all quiet off in a corner, some people would be standing there not noticing me, and when as soon as I was ready to fight I'd pop up and freak them all out. lol Not my intent, but the result was funny....

*ahem* Off-topicness, sorry.

[zeeth_kyrah]

Head judge: "Match awarded to number four-seven-six. Next up, numbers three-three-two and five-four-two."

You: *hops to feet, foil in hand* "Make ready!"

ALL: "WAUGH!" *falls over*

Friend, from beside you: "Where'd you come from!?"

[slupine.livejournal.com]

Hehe. Nice thought, but we don't use foils. I fence duello and those things'd break in our style. We get a little rough. Man I want my strength back... haven't had time to fence for a few months and my arms feel like noodles now.