#but I feel a lot of pressure to... not address this incorrectly

[a-polite-melody]

Is it possible to ever make a post about queer identities other than trans women without some joker claiming transmisogyny. Like do we have to preface every post about different types of oppression with "of course trans women have it worse but-" so we don't get harassed for talking about our own experiences. Like is this where we are now.

This is exactly what I was afraid of when I saw those posts floating around last night. This is exactly what the “danger” flashing lights in my head were going off about.

THAT IS A TERF RECRUITMENT POINT

I’ve sat on this ask all day because there is a lot of pressure on me in how I answer this because it’s a TERF recruitment point. I don’t know if the person who sent this ask is aware of that, but it is.

Because, at face value, I agree. No one should have to preface talking about their own experiences by acknowledging another group first.

BUT

This - people being shut down because they didn’t say "of course trans women have it worse but-” - is not a widespread issue. This happens occasionally. There are individual instances of it happening, like last night. But agreeing, at face value with the original statement is like agreeing with the statement “aces shouldn’t go around LGBT+/queer spaces bragging about how pure they are for not having sex”. Sure. And there are probably instances of tumblr posts you could pull of individuals doing this, but it isn’t the enormously widespread problem aphobes make it out to be.

Agreeing at face value with the first statement has their foot in the door, and that’s all it takes to go from “aces shouldn’t brag about their purity” to “maybe we shouldn’t include aces at all to protect our community” to “who else is invading our communities?” And there starts the radicalization. This is an example of how they target people within the LGBT+ community to gradually radicalize them.

AND

I have a (maybe not the healthiest, but it’s useful, so whatever) of trawling radfem tags to preemptively block any that I find before they can find me, because curate your own online experience and all that. Anyway, because of that, I see the trends in radfem talking points.

Right now? There’s a huge amount of “trans women are so mean to TMEs, they obviously don’t support you and we would support you more!” from radfems aimed at transmascs and other AFAB nonbinary people - people who don’t experience transmisogyny. And to get their targets to a point where they can believe that, they need to start somewhere.

And here is where that is. Find an instance of a transmasc being targeted by, in this case, an aphobe [x], but it could be by any of their indoctrination offshoots, by way of pulling out a false transmisogyny accusation that, in this case, was fabricated based on people putting words in other peoples’ mouths, and then other people coming in without the full context and so misinterpreting the situation [x], and then start worming in these more broad statements like this ask, which imply a much larger problem than there is, and there’s your starting point of radicalization.

BE CAREFUL, CHECK YOUR TARGETS

We should not be trying to talk to each other about issues between different communities within the LGBT+ community while framing it as though we are or should be hostile toward each other. We especially shouldn’t be talking about the issues between AMAB and AFAB trans people, or any different groups trans people can be separated out into, in that way. Ask yourself who you’re being prompted to be angry at and why. Ask yourself if they’re actually your enemy.

[nextinline-if]

I understand that I haven’t seen the whole message yet from that anon yet, so I’m sorry to you and them if I’ve completely misread this, but please, please don’t feel pressured into making whatever these changes are.

It’s the first chapter and I feel like it’s a little premature for people to be commenting on the way the mc acts. As you say, you were planning for the mc to come into themselves in the next chapters (and I personally feel that there were a range of ways to react to the mc’s lack of control which would no doubt be developed further). The MC has just become the Harbringer, and whether that was by their choice or not, they have been sheltered, and they don’t have control over their life yet. Key word there being yet. From what I’ve gathered from your answers to asks etc..MC is going to have the chance to gain that control through their investigations and through their new role as the Harbringer and future king/queen/royal.

As for Anna and MC’s relationship, personally I really loved it. I’m not entirely sure what anon didn’t like, but if it was how close they were despite the difference in status, then as you said, they’re childhood friends and Anna seems as though she will end up being their sister-in-law eventually anyway (barring any incidents). On top of that, the MC wasn’t even the heir most of the time that they’ve know each other, and there doesn’t seem to be much emphasis on status within the kingdom anyway considering how chill the Queen is.

Again, I haven’t seen the full message and I’m sorry if I interpreted anything incorrectly, but ultimately this is your story and I would be pretty sad to see you overhaul it because one anon was being nitpicky about the first chapter. Unfortunately, this actually seems to be a trend in royal/medieval IFs where people get upset if it’s not completely historically accurate or people are actually nice to each other. Please tell your story the way that you want to otherwise you may find yourself falling out of love with it. You’re a great writer and I love your IF !!

hey...🥹 thank you (and everyone else who has shared their opinion, including the original anon).

I’m not going to lie, I do feel pressured but NOT because of the anon, but because one of my inherent flaws is to try to please people. Again, I realize this is impossible especially when it comes to writing and sharing that with others. But, I pressure myself into trying to do better, be better. It’s due to the way I was raised but unfortunately, it has stuck to me as an adult.

I think it’s fair to say my initial response was too emotional. I admit that I should have waited to post what I did because I’m a firm believer of stepping away first. But I felt embarrassed and hurt due to my insecurities. Which is really fucking stupid on my part 😅 And I was just like “I’ll take the demo down next weekend and do it all again.” However, I’ve been looking at the game and I’ve been reading and responding to yours and others thoughts, and I don’t plan to do a massive overhaul. I’ve spent all of my free time for months, almost a year on this game and it’s world. I also skipped a lot of meals and sleep (not intentionally) but because it’s something I care about a lot.

I agree that if I give into too much, I will lose my passion and this game will die like many WIP. I don’t want that. Especially since this game is how I’m healing from my own loss. I need to write this game, for myself if no one else. That said, I will still consider the anon’s feedback as I work on my game. And I’m still open to other people’s feedback. Always.

Some of the rest of their message, which I will still address on Friday, does have some fair feedback about making more choices available, especially in reference to F. And this is feedback others have given me as well- and I’ve said I do plan to add more choices/reactions.

But, you are right. The demo covers two days. The other chapters are meant to be a month of events/activities and there will be way more opportunities to shape MC. They are not a blank slate and neither are their relationships with certain characters. There are games that allow that though.

I’ve also tried to emphasize that my game is not meant to be historically accurate - it’s just a world I built with elements of history that fascinate me. But I do think I see what you mean about the trends.

Thank you for your message - it does mean a lot. More than I can express through this black hole of a blog.

[theoi-crow]

Hi there... Kind of shy about asking this so sorry if my question seems a bit all over the place. I kind of lost myself a few years back and stopped working with the goddess I was before. I've tried recently to slowly get back into my shadow work and loving myself again. Fortuna made herself known in ways I didn't expect. I think she wants to work with me but I don't think I should be working with anyone because what happened last time. How do you get over such self doubt and forgive yourself?

Hi!

please don’t worry about being shy and I apologize for taking so long to reply, my school is often very demanding of my time and my summer SADs make it hard to work in the summer. .

It is not uncommon for someone to lose a connection with gods.

I myself have experienced this on so many occasions, and it was even the reason why it took Aphrodite so long to convince me to start working with Greek Gods in the first place after I lost touch with a different pantheon.

Losing a connection with the gods is a lot more common than most followers will have you believe.

It teaches us about ourselves, our limits and the need for spiritual boundaries and clearer communication, not so much for the gods but for ourselves and how we approach the gods and expect the gods to communicate with us because everyone is different with different limits and needs.

According to the ancient Greeks, everything came from Chaos which birthed the first primordial gods: (LINK)

This is the reason why chaos tends to be a lot easier to reach, while order takes more effort.

This is also why intention is important when addressing the gods. Between the social noise of the media, personal expectations, social pressure, capitalism, surviving etc, it's easy for our thoughts to get muddled, so it's important for us to be clear about our plans with the gods so we create order within ourselves instead of letting life get a hold of us and lead us back to Chaos.

Setting spiritual boundaries can help you develop a clearer communication with the gods.

This applies to everyone but it is especially important for people who are disabled (physically, neurodivergent, a spoony with energetic limits, people that are prone to depression or anxiety which latch on to negative self talk and thus add confusion to life, etc.)

One of the main reasons why acknowledging and honoring your own limits and conditions when working with the gods is important is because not acknowledging them might affect how you view your relationship with the gods and might lead to feelings of guilt.

For example; I grew up catholic with undiagnosed ADHD and when I was going to church, I’d often get pinched whenever I got distracted.

As someone that finds it hard to focus, I assumed I was unfit to follow a god I couldn’t even focus on and the pinching I received for having ADHD incorrectly taught me that "my disability was bad and unfit for gods."

I didn't deconstruct my christian expectations, and accidently carried those same expectations with me when I started working with pagan gods and assumed I was never going to be able to work with pagan gods for the same reason.

It took me a while and a lot of self reflection to accept that paying attention to gods was going to be a lot more difficult for me, versus someone who was neurotypical.

One of my personal boundaries with the gods is asking them to patiently repeat something I forgot they said or gently guide me back to something I forgot to do.

The gods are a lot more patient than I'll ever be able to explain.

It's also possible that any guilt you experience could have potentially come from personal expectations that were not met. These kinds of expectations are common and have the potential to lead followers into developing imposter syndrome:

Imposter syndrome manipulates one into assuming they are not good enough to work with the gods, or have them wonder why the gods are bothering with them in the first place. Or have them worry that they might be bothering the gods.

It also encourages them to assume they are not doing enough to keep the gods happy and forces them to go beyond their limits.

Failure becomes inevitable and the devotee suffering from imposter syndrome comes to the conclusion that they are a terrible follower and shouldn't ever work with gods without ever realizing that they were going beyond their limits until they finally reach a breaking point.

Breaking points look different to different people but it often leads to a disconnection between the person and their gods.

The gods understand humans have limits and they also know the shadow self influences a lot of how we see them and how we expect ourselves to behave around them including the consequences we give ourselves for not abiding by that, or negative experiences from not having others respect our boundaries.

You are not a terrible follower because it's very common to fall out of relationships with gods, please don't let anyone guilt you into thinking this is a rare and personal problem.

May Fortuna help re-establish and enrich your relationship with the gods and help you find your voice within your own spiritual journey.

[ming-sik]

Reporting in as the fandom's second woman enjoyer to ramble more!

Charlotte:

Ahhh, Charlotte. She's being crushed under generations of trauma and constantly drawn and quartered by the fact that everyone in her life has diametrically opposed and contradictory expectations of her.

Florencia wants her to be the next aub, Sylvester wants her to be a support to her siblings, and Rozemyne wants her to be her adorable devotee, any of which are an exhausting burden to place on someone and any of which are impossible to do if she wants to do the other one. Charlotte herself seems to want to be aub, but nobody in her life is invested enough in her to say for sure.

Even when Wilfried's aubhood is no longer guaranteed(which it never truly needed to be and the fact that Sylvester was unable to imagine a happy future for Wilfried in which he wasn't the aub for a long time is part of why my guy is not making it out of internalized bias hell), although Charlotte is in the room and it's specifically pointed out that it's been unfair to lock her out of even competing, she's not named as the successor! The door is still left open for Wilfried despite the fact that unlike her, he really is only aiming to be aub because he's been told the alternative is shameful.

She mirrors Georgine in a very interesting way, which is something I've talked about before, because of that thing where Sylvester is attempting to spare his children from the trauma he suffered without understanding why exactly it happened and is therefore recreating a lot of that trauma. The ultimate problem is still that she has no control over her own life and although she can ruin her life if she fails, she can't improve her life if she succeeds because all the oxygen in her future is being thoroughly monopolized by her protagonist-of-the-universe older sister and default golden child older brother. She has to beg Rozemyne to try not to advance Ehrenfest's grades to the point that Charlotte literally cannot improve on them and Rozemyne thinks that she never thought about leaving room for Charlotte to show off before proceeding to ignore that plea completely. Her frustration at Wilfried treating her retainers as his own never really goes anywhere.

Charlotte has every right to hate her family and yet that same pressure has made her suicidally willing to repress her feelings. Her life debt to Rozemyne and feelings of obligation towards her father and brother mean that despite being metaphorically ripped apart for the entirety of the story, she puts on a brave face and is genuinely thankful for even being allowed to compete in the race for succession. In many ways this is worse because it means that she's never allowed to hash these things out with them! We as the audience can ascertain why she's fallen through the cracks and know that if Sylvester and Florencia had been chewed out for not communicating with her or each other enough to realize that they were forcing her into contradictory positions they very likely would've been willing to change! AOB is quite bad at having satisfying character conflict and conflicts outside of Rozemyne and the other one are basically nonexistant, so Charlotte's situation being addressed would've required that either 1) that... change, or 2) Rozemyne's own unfair expectations for Charlotte also be addressed, and it would've been impossible to resolve quickly or cleanly.

Egg said it already but tbc Charlotte's neglect isn't bad because Charlotte is extremely competent, it's bad because she's a kid. If she had crumbled under the pressure and started failing her classes that wouldn't make the way she's treated any more justified.

Detlinde:

If Detlinde has no fans I am no longer on this earth, she was right in everything she did and if she was wrong I still support her and if you don't you hate women.

Every day of my life I am thinking about abused kids who respond to their abuse incorrectly. Kids who are Bad Victims, who are unpleasant to be around, who are hostile and strange and incompetent. At this point in my life I have a personal rule not to develop a vitriolic hatred for any child characters, but that really wasn't hard for Detlinde. She's just a kid!

The thing about Detlinde is that, although the narrative tries to vilify her by showing how much everyone else hates her, this has the opposite effect, because holy shit living in a house where everyone fucking hates you melts your brain, and Detlinde really acts like a kid who grew up in a house where she was treated as an eternal eyesore. She's her own cheerleader, clinging with bloody fingers to the idea that she is better than this place and that someday she will be big and strong and all the people who hate her will be left in the dust, because what else is she gonna do? Accept the view of herself that people project on her, one in which everything she does from wanting to put nice smelling flowers in her house to wanting to land a prestigious job is not only unspeakably arrogant but also indicative of some kind of inherent evil?

The idea that victims shouldn't have to sympathize with their bullies is entirely correct, but who exactly counts as a victim seems to get overstated a lot and dismissing abuse because the victim isn't sympathetic enough is actually an abuse tactic in and of itself. If Detlinde's classmate or servant thinks she's a jerk and never wants to see her again, that's entirely different from Georgine or Ferdinand acting like the victim of the teenage girl they're currently abusing lashing out at them. Also tellingly, the hatred at Detlinde does not in fact seem to come from the fact that she's a bully, it literally is just that she gets in the way of peoples' ship.... unwillingly and despite her best efforts. Most of the hate is calling her a homewrecker or a whore or an idiot because those are the things Ferdinand hates her for. Those last two things aren't even sins! Gervasio drugged her and unlike Rozemyne, Detlinde doesn't have a modern university education to compensate from being tossed into a closet for a decade and a half before she was suddenly expected to speedrun an adc education, so due to my generous soul I'm willing to forgive her for getting overwhelmed.

Also yeah I'll say it too the "Christmas outfit" rules. What's wrong with being glitzy? She's performing in a religious ritual in the starring role as the goddess of light, so it's very strange that the story judges her for wanting to stand out and look pretty. The hairstyle she comes up with would've taken an enormous amount of effort, and although she got the idea from Rozemyne, I am personally much more impressed by the determination and energy to purposefully execute an impressive project than bumbling into it because you have a lot of mana. Her only crime is not doing a dress rehearsal. It's a very lazy attempt to vilify her for being arrogant and incompetent, but its laziness betrays the extremely low standard the story has for what makes a woman hateworthy.

Hirschur:

Hirschur is one of the few characters from the RA period that actually work, not least because she's actually a character who benefits from existing in a school setting. She strikes a wonderful mix of oddball eccentric mad scientist and genuinely caring teacher in a way where those two sides of her complement each other rather than it seeming like she is two entirely different characters depending on which tone the series is currently in which is a problem that Rozemyne struggles with or not having a serious mode at all which Hartmut struggles with. This lets her be funny without being grating and means that she feels like she would be really fun to hang out with. Also props for being like the only female character in the entire series who is allowed to be an old woman without being shoved into either the grandmother or old hag personality archetype, very cool and not sexist that those are otherwise absent.

My favorite Hirschur moment is unquestionably her conversation with Sylvester, where after he both apologizes for not noticing that she was suffering under Veronica and offers to support her from now on, she... says no. She originally took the hit from Veronica to avoid being beholden to the whims of the archducal family re: which students she's allowed to take on and which students she's allowed to help. This is immediately followed by Sylvester asking if that changes when Rozemyne graduates and Hirschur saying it definitely could. This works on two levels. First it is really funny. Secondly although she's not interested in having financial support used to pressure her into keeping an eye on someone who already has plenty of people in her corner, she was willing to take that hit and only clarified her position after Sylvester accepted her terms. She carries that through, too. She doesn't kowtow to Ferdinand or Aub Ehrenfest or the royal family, her students are her business and never you mind what she's doing in that lab of hers. She's not polite, but she's kind in her own way. Also executive dysfunction queen she cannot change tasks quickly, her not being able to stop working to clean her lab despite KNOWING Lieseleta is bringing the vacuum of death is so funny.

Delia:

Delia is one of the most heartbreaking characters in the entire series. She's another kid who has reacted Incorrectly to being abused. She's ostracized almost immediately and nobody makes any genuine attempt to break her loyalty to the High Bishop despite the fact that we do learn that she is clinging to him so desperately because she feels she has no other option. She never fully opens her heart to Myne because she feels certain that Myne will betray her sooner or later and Myne helpfully confirms that fear a thousand times over by leaving her in a worse position than she found her.

Myne asking Delia if she "can do anything else" is always painful for me to read both because it's one of the clearest examples of Myne having zero compassion for her, forcing her to plead not to be abandoned entirely and teaching Delia that Myne's favor is as inextricably tied to her usefulness as the High Bishop's, and also nobody present seems to care that if this is the only thing she's been allowed to do that's pretty fucking tragic, isn't it? She's eight years old and she's already internalized that her purpose in life is to be used for the sexual gratification of men, only to have that trauma be used to tell her she's entirely worthless. What a fucking world!

The thing about Delia is that despite the attempts both the narrative and the society she lives in adultifying her, she still is agonizingly eight years old. She can't understand why Myne didn't come save her back then even if she also knows that Myne wasn't there back then(and then Myne promises to always save her from now on, which is a lie). She's only eight! She's giddy when she gets new clothes, she loves taking baths, she's grumpy and childish and at the very start of her life.

And then, through her attempt to help her brother, she's trapped in the source of her trauma forever. Unprompted too, like Egg says Myne really could've just fucking lied and said Delia's worst fear was living in the lower city or at the very least waived her punishment after becoming the High Bishop. Instead Delia just vanishes from the story except as a blink-and-you-miss-it side character.

I need to claw my way into the pages and tell Delia that it's okay, it's all over now, she can go outside and make some friends and become a seamstres or a carpenter or a fisher and do anything she wants to for the rest of her life and it's not too late for her at all.

Best female AoB character in your opinion?

Boy oh boy do I got Opinions™ about female characters in AoB!

So the thing is that if you plunked any given female character in front of me, my opinion is bound to be at least a little bit positive on some level. Yes, even Veronica. Yes, even Detlinde. Especially Detlinde. And many, many more.

So much so that I had a very difficult time narrowing things down to answer this ask— and unfortunately for y'all I thunk™ about it too much and was ultimately unable to narrow it down to one.

So we're getting: Charlotte, Detlinde, Hirschur, and Delia.

FOUR CHARACTERS, BABY. LET'S GO!

Charlotte

Charlotte is a very fascinating character, in my opinion. Generations' worth of grudges and torment and abuse, all crystalizing in this generation— crystalizing in her. Veronica's pain (because yes she did have a fucked up childhood, doesn't excuse any of her abuse but it does put it into perspective: it shaped her and she literally is passing the pain down) passing onto her children, Georgine's pain passing onto Sylvester, Sylvester's fears and Florencia's all reaching, reaching, reaching down until it got to her. Many people were affected by this chain reaction, undeniably, but in my opinion Charlotte is the point on the map where all these lines converge. Veronica took her brother and more than likely ostracized/abused Charlotte as she did Florencia. This made Florencia try to train her to be Aub. There must've been a touch of desperation in that choice. What does it do to a child, when they know they're being raised for a larger purpose? Their reason for existing? To know everything's laid on their shoulders? Sylvester on the flipside declared Wilfried as heir because he didn't want Charlotte to go through the pain his sister went through of being raised all her life to be Aub only to be snatched away, to be allowed to have a more hazard-free life in his eyes. But his approach, even as it stemmed from love (he loves, he loves so much, his love hurts, but this post ain't about him even as I regard him as an honorary girl bc he's hated as much as many other female characters seem to be but I digress), did not help as he is blind to what his children need (his love is deep as the ocean and twice as blind)— he projects onto Charlotte, and that… makes her feel small. Useless. Unworthy. What does it do to a child, to have your entire purpose be snatched from you? To be made to feel like your father does not see you as capable or worthy?

How do you deal with the weight of all these generational chains on your limbs?

How do you deal with the devastation of walls closing in on you?

Well, how do you?

Charlotte definitely has a complicated dynamic with her family members. Even Rozemyne. Especially Rozemyne. We'll… get to that in a bit.

Sylvester neglects her. I don't think that's up for debate. I am among his most ardent defenders (though it mostly stays in DMs since… I'm not convinced it would be received well) and I can freely say this. He neglects Charlotte. I don't think he dislikes Charlotte or prefers Wilfried or anything, but his way of expressing his love is undeniably detrimental to her well-being and antithetical to what she wants and needs. He's projecting his and Georgine's dynamic onto his children, and in trying to prevent animosity and bitterness he creates exactly that. In Charlotte's eyes, her father favors Wilfried way too much and neglects her, who has been desperate for someone, anyone, to acknowledge her.

Charlotte and Florencia as well, they have a fucked up dynamic. Florencia raised her to be pitted against Wilfried. What does that do to a child.

I understand why Florencia did it but it would've fucked Charlotte up!

She was raised for this purpose, by her mother, and said mother just stands by and lets it happen when her father takes her purpose away.

There's something fascinating to be found here. So much more fascinating than whatever AO3/Discord folk try to milk out of Rozemyne-Florencia. Charlotte's sense of obligation probably has a root somewhere in her younger years.

She's not even the center of the conversation when it comes to the subject of Sylvester's parenting. She isn't! She just isn't! Rozemyne is the focus 99% of the time!

He's neglecting her. EVERYONE is. She has nobody in her corner and yet she's expected to support everyone else.

Even though she might even resent Myne (for promising to support her and then Not Doing That) she wouldn't allow herself to feel/express it bc Myne risked her life to save hers.

The guilt! The sense of obligation/gratitude! The resentment!

I think she redirects a lot of what she might feel towards Myne onto Wilfried, a much less complicated recipient. But she still doesn't, can't, express it outwards because... well. Myne. For Myne's sake.

While Myne revels in her adoration, she doesn't care about Charlotte as a person. She has no true allies, her brother and father ignore her, and her sister looks at her without seeing her.

I keep remembering the fanbook tidbit of Charlotte being an ornament to Myne. She doesn't think Charlotte is capable of anything except looking cute and motivating her. If only the story and the fandom acknowledged that… but nope! She's just there to prop up Myne and bash Wilfried.

I don't quite think she's transmasc either. Yes, I know, I said the opposite before but it was me trying to fit in and figure out her character and after giving it much thought… her storyline deals with systemic misogyny, not gender dysphoria. She wants to be acknowledged for what she is, her capabilities, I don't think she's feeling any worse for being regarded as a girl in of itself— and I am of the opinion that it somewhat undersells her struggle and sweeps the misogyny she's facing under a rug via dressing it up with a queer headcanons. At the end of the day though, people are free to have any headcanon or opinion they so wish, and I have no authority over that. Also fyi I'm genderfluid in case someone accuses me of being transphobic.

All in all, I think she's such a fascinating character because she's the nexus at which all these lines all this hurt all this cumulative trauma from so many generations and so many directions converge into a white-hot light. Gabrielle, Leisengang, Veronica (look, she's a villain and I'll never excuse her for basically choking out an entire population, but I think she had a hard childhood that few acknowledge and more try to excuse and justify), Sylvester, Florencia, Georgine…

She had such potential. And what'd she get in canon and fics? Okay this is making me depressed let me move onto the next character on this list:

Detlinde

Ooooh boy, where do I even begin with Detlinde? She's my babygirl she's my blorbo she's everything. She is to me what Ferdinand is to the rest of the fandom. I will defend her every deed to my dying breath.

So I'll start by doing just that.

She's been neglected. Like, seriously. Do you think Georgine genuinely cares for her? Gieselfried? Do you think she has anyone who's truly on her side?

To take an excerpt from a fanbook (people regard them as like, gospel, right?):

Q: Lady Detlinde spins her wheels a lot during tea parties. Is she, by any chance, a bit thick?

A: She doesn't pay as much attention to her words and surroundings as someone her age and with her status probably should. She's not entirely to blame, though. As the third child of her duchy's third wife-and a girl, to boot-she had a half-hearted upbringing and was never expected to amount to much. That's why she's so proud about her mother becoming the first wife and why she always boasts about being Ahrensbach's next aub.

(Credits to @ming-sik for bringing me this fanbook quote, he actually read through the fanbooks at people's recommendation, so! Thank you!)

Children are always more perceptive than people think— they absolutely pick up on the fact that a particular adult doesn't really care or that they might hurt them, it's just that their defense mechanism kicks in to shield them from the fact since having your sole source of protection and guidance hate you is an earth-shattering revelation for a child to confront and acknowledge.

I've seen fics justify this neglect by saying even Georgine gave up on her because she was Just That Dumb or something like that. Which, even if you subscribe to that kind of narrative, it still doesn't make it not abuse. It still doesn't make it not neglect. No child should be abandoned simply because they did poorly in academics. Yes, this goes against AoB's (admittedly ableist) “if you're not of use then you deserve any bad thing that comes your way” theme, goes against YS's standards, but I am my own person with my fully formed morals and worldview, not a Yogurtlander with Yogurtlander morals, and I shall judge characters from my perspective.

(It is also in a similar vein that I dislike the notion that Charlotte's neglect is bad because she's more competent than Wilfried, no child under any circumstance deserves abuse or neglect, in my opinion.

People somehow stop registering abuse as abuse when it's happening to a character they don't like. Detlinde being drugged and likely assaulted is her fault and she's a whore. It's her fault she got discarded and neglected by her parents anyways. Wilfried deserves to be imprisoned in the Ivory Tower. They don't seem to think it's “real” abuse if the victim did something that “justifies” punitive narrative violence, it's just really unpleasant to see.)

With all that context in mind, I think this puts Detlinde's behavior into perspective. Being conveyed to, both explicitly and implicitly, that she is unlovable, she will never amount to anything, she's not wanted, she's not useful, all those things, she copes. She copes by loving herself because no one else would— though she spins it as “they just don't realize how awesome I am because they're too dumb for it”.

Remember what I said about children's defense mechanism kicking in to shield them from the fact since having your sole source of protection and guidance hate you is an earth-shattering revelation for a child to confront and acknowledge? Same principle here.

When people around her, all around her, constantly and routinely imply and convey that she's all these negative things, when they try to shoot down her ideas (you can't tell me her whirling dress and hair was bad, you haven't seen half the historical fashion in our world, the bling, the shine, the detail— any historical hairstyle, southeast asian headdresses of gold studded with gemstones, beetle wings intricately embroidered onto garments, the absolute flair, I find it hard to fault her for wanting something pretty, YS's fashion is so very bland), not listen to her, not guide her, all that, I think her narcissism is not only a predictable kind of trauma response/defense mechanism for her to develop but one could even argue it is virtuously defiant. Whereas Ferdinand chose to embody noble society ideals (don't try to tell me he's some deviant, he's just not), Detlinde stubbornly tries to maintain an ironclad grasp on what she feels is true to her.

I do not want to hear any of you come to tell me that Detlinde sucks, actually, because I've had to sit and watch as the entire fandom trashes on her and insults her and calls her a whore— if there's anything all three branches of the AoB fandom (reddit, discord, tumblr) agree on, it's that Detlinde deserves to be hated. I have had to live with y'all's vitriol all this time, don't bring this onto the sole post in the entire internet that sympathizes with her. Good? Good.

How am I to sympathize with a grown man over a fifteen-year-old girl who didn't even want the marriage in the first place? How am I to sympathize with a twenty-something man who is such a shitheel to her in every regard, manipulates her with the intention to have her dead eventually? She was so happy. She didn't want the marriage at first but she was so happy to have someone who seemed to appreciate her. Isn't that sad?

Detlinde is the Atlas holding up the sky of her entire self. No one else will do it for her, so she must. All alone.

She's such an interesting character to me. Too bad Kazuki hates girls/women and children and Detlinde is clearly written to be a shallow, hateable villain. And the fandom? Completely fell for that! Not a single soul besides @ming-sik and I refused to regard her as a fucking demon.

I love her because she's defiantly confident. A crystal flower in a collapsing cave. So dazzling, so beautiful because of it.

Uhhhhh how to end this section— okay let's do a quick-fire round of other shit I like about her:

She's pretty. Like super, super pretty. Shame people constantly give her shit for resembling Veronica.

She's funny. She's so fucking funny. Among the most amusing characters to me for sure.

HER BLING. I know people like to make fun of her fashion but! Her whirling fashion didn't even look bad to me! Also she has my single most favorite adult updo style. It's so elegant and pretty.

She's silly. I guess this also falls under the funny umbrella but she's such a silly goose I love her.

She's just a normal girl. She likes pretty things and plushies and is bad at school. She'd KILL it in a modern setting. I can so easily picture her at a cafe or an arcade. She wasn't born for YS she was meant to be somewhere happier!! Tragic!

She forces the AoB fandom to think about a woman at any cost. They can't get her out of their heads. So many fics exist just to bash her. Someone even made up OCs just so they could write more Detlinde bashing. Feminist queen.

Now to move onto another funny character who might have some surprising depth:

Hirschur

She's such a mood. She's my silly goose. She doesn't care about being proper or whatever. Stay unbound, queen.

Hirschur is so interesting (and endearing) to me because she isn't someone who gives a shit about societal conventions. She's quite un-noble-like for a noble lady. She's kind. She's eccentric. She would stand against the world for her students. The ones who have nowhere else to go. One would think Ferdinand would see her as his savior or a parental figure considering she did practically raise him (as he stayed in the RA all year long instead of going back home) and he just ghosts her as soon as he graduates. Hirschur takes in Raimund and Ferdinand has the audacity to get pissy about it. Dude. SHE'S JUST DOING AS SHE'S ALWAYS DONE.

She helps people! That's what she does! Hirschur spins it as for selfish reasons or bc of her whims but the truth is that she is just kind. I don't think it's a coincidence at all that both students she took under her wing as personal apprentices had no one else to turn to. She frames it as “picking out interesting/promising students” but the fact remains that she shields outcasts from the rest of the world. Heck, she tells Sylvester to keep not supporting her so that she isn't beholden to the archduke to choose who she's allowed to help! She! Doesn't give a shit! About politics!

Hirschur's isolation is way more compelling because she USES it to help people and clearly conflicts with noble expectations of faction politics. She ain't got no time for this faction politics nonsense she's got research to do and students to help!

She's actually eccentric too. She's actually an interesting freak. Her eccentricity puts her in a position where she doesn't really rely on people's approval of her or her choices. She does what she wants and if you get hissy and pissy about it then that's a you problem. She's willing to accept a massive drop in her resources (FOR research at that, she's fucking poor) because it means she doesn't have to isolate a kid with no other options.

It baffles me and honestly kinda irritates me that she's not appreciated enough, not by the characters, not by the fandom. Ppl make such a big deal about Ferdinand seeing parents go to hell and back for their children and it doing smth to him but... he's experienced that. He received that. Hirschur stood against the world for him. While he's having his pity party trying to cure Myne's amnesia, he only flashes back to his father Adelbert. Dude. STOP THINKING ABOUT THE SPERM DONOR THAT LET THE ABUSE HAPPEN, THINK ABOUT THE WOMAN THAT PROTECTED YOU. Like Ferdinand, what about all the other people in your life. There are so many people who love you, why do you not care???? In hindsight, him acting like a poor unfortunate abandoned soul in the temple is just insulting. He says all of “us” were abandoned to Myne but he wasn't abandoned. He's only in here because his brother is clumsily but genuinely trying to protect him and he ghosted his support network. Sylvester's attempt was misguided and he was trying to say “You're capable and I trust you and you have a place by my side, please stay by my side” by giving him work. He was trying to— okay I'll stop now this post isn't about Ferdinand and Sylvester it just makes me fucking mad the way Ferdinand acts. Ferdinand, my guy, you want family? WHAT ABOUT THE WOMAN THAT STOOD AGAINST THE WORLD TO MENTOR YOU?????????? Hirschur helped him well enough that he was happy and “having the time of his life” during his RA years. She worked so hard for that boy and for what.

She's just. Unappreciated.

But then again a female character having the fandom's attention might not be a good idea since somehow someone will eventually find a way to demonize her too.

Anyhow her eccentric brand of kindness is much more interesting and infinitely more compelling than Ferdinand's “hard-to-understand-kindness”. He isn't kind, he's just mean.

Hirschur never even told Ferdinand that Veronica was cutting her off for sheltering Ferdinand. Because that's the choice she made and she stands by it and that's not her student's problem. She probably didn't want him to feel guilty.

ALSO another disclaimer because I know this fandom too well: I will neither entertain nor respond to any commentary on this post that pertains to Ferdinand because I just know people are going to derail the entire conversation and center the discussion around justifying this golden boy on a post meant to spark a discussion about female characters that never get discussed at length. Do not comment or reblog saying Ferdinand isn't bad actually because blah blah blah reason. We have had to read y'all's extensive Ferdinand posting all this time. Everyone talks about Ferdinand and not about any of the female characters to the same extent. Keep that blue thing off this post. You can bear for things to not be about him for once. Okay? Okay.

Other reasons I like her:

She's funny. She's so funny. She's so entertaining.

She's adaptable and open-minded. When she saw Myne's PandaBus she went “oh! makes sense!” and immediately adapts it into something that makes sense to her. This is in contrast against Ferdinand who despite being a “genius innovator” only ever acts like a stick-in-the-mud-with-no-imagination.

I've said this before but she doesn't conform. She's proudly eccentric.

Everything people like about Ferdinand is actually true about Hirschur, in my opinion. Her kindness is disguised but she does have a heart of gold, she's ostracized and poor, she's a genius, she's unhinged and eccentric, she doesn't conform, she's even aro coded.

Again, do not try to defend Ferdinand on this post, we've had to live with people misinterpreting and bashing and insulting our faves (if they don't outright ignore them) all this time, I'm not even calling Ferdinand anything on the level of “whore” or “homewrecker”. Deal with it.

And now we move onto the next girl— last but not least is:

Delia

She's so tragic. Her entire situation is so tragic. How do people hate this girl I'm gonna cry.

First of all, she's a victim of grooming and manipulation— and she is a child. She is, what, eight years old? when she first appears.

Just wanted to establish that right off since I don't think even Myne sees her as a child.

She was being actively manipulated and used by the primary adult figures in her life, she views becoming a mistress as a good fate because at least she won't be starving and surrounded by death in the dark. She was “rescued” because she was pretty. Of course she'd cling onto that!

She doesn't understand what a “family” is because she's never had one and she was never raised with love. She asks Myne, “Are things like family really all that great? I never really understood what a family is.” and Myne replies “It's where I belong. It's the one place where I feel the most at ease.” and yeah! That's an honest and genuine answer! It gives Delia much to think about, and being raised in the Temple with no love… what else would she assume but “No matter how well I serve you, you'll end up leaving me anyway. Right, Sister Myne?”

This is a situation in which neither of them are at fault— Delia asked, so Myne answered honestly, and Delia… yeah. Why wouldn't she assume that. Why wouldn't she want to turn to the “certainty” she's familiar with, rather than give her heart to someone who'll leave her anyways? With Dirk she finally understands love, finally understands what family is, and she's so desperately terrified of losing this, the one unambiguously good thing in her life that doesn't have complicated stuff attached to it. Why wouldn't she try to protect it, protect him? Why wouldn't she want to be with him all throughout? And Ferdinand and Myne, they deliberately keep shit from her! They deceive her and make it seem like they're ripping her little brother from her for no reason, of course she feels cornered and threatened! And remember what I said about certainty vs the unknown? Thinking (well, knowing, really, because was she wrong at all?) Myne would leave her no matter what she does, thinking Myne would never trust or prioritize her (I mean, she didn't, Delia never got to exit the Temple w Myne like Fran and Gil did), and Bezewanst (the one who “saved” her) promises her that he'd not only find a better future for Dirk but also allow her to be with him? What's a young desperate child gonna do? Maybe if somebody had properly communicated with her, this wouldn't have happened.

And then she gets trapped in the place she feared anyways, never allowed to leave (she never got to leave the Temple in the first place).

And then her brother gets torn from her anyways.

They just trap her there forever. She never gets to be anywhere or go anywhere.

And I'm just… supposed to be fine with that?

Yeah, yeah, mercy, mercy, blah blah blah, I wish Myne would've planned for this to be temporary and not forever unto Delia's death. But nope! Myne never retracts her decision ever! Like hell Sylvester would've known what Delia's worst fear was, she could've just lied.

ANOTHER disclaimer: my god please do NOT come at me with justifications on why Delia's fate was fine and warranted, actually. I have seen fandom discussions and such justify it to hell and back and some even say Myne should've just let her die. If you're one of the people who think Delia deserved it, GO AWAY.

The way many people talk about her, if they talk about her at all, makes me think they genuinely do not recognize that her situation is fucked, that CSA and grooming are harmful at all. So there was once this fic I read. In the dedicated discussion space for that fic, both author and audience alike were like: “she's so dumb for wanting to be a mistress she doesn't know what reality is she just thinks it's easy glamorous work so we should traumatize her to teach her a lesson about reality but also to punish her for ‘having caused the attack on Myne in canon’ as well we're so smart” via making her watch a woman in labor. Which she of course got traumatized by.

Way to miss the point.

Way to miss the fucking point.

She's so desperate to be a mistress not because she thinks it's glamorous work but because she's terrified of being trapped in a place that neglected and starved her! It's a desperation for survival! It's a trauma response! Gods above, people are incapable of sympathizing with children (especially if they're girls) in this fandom and series.

Delia is… well. She's such a tragic character. Her wanting desperately to be saved from something that she also thinks is completely normal is… it's interesting. It's heartbreaking. I must sound like a broken record by now. Her upbringing and trauma actually informs the actions she takes, and she gets to have an effect on other characters! Her choices aren't without consequence, and that makes her interesting unlike a certain blue someone whose dickishness doesn't affect anything negatively ever. People in this fandom act as though trauma and its effects are only limited to affect dumb people. (A la someone saying trauma can't be the root of a certain character's dickishness bc it's “too sentimental” for that character, ignoring how trauma is illogical and affects you in ways you might not even notice). People insinuate she's dumb and had it coming. It's just so exhausting and disheartening to see. Thankfully, tumblr folk don't talk like that, because they don't talk about her at all. Nor about any other female character to the extent everyone talks about Ferdinand. I swear to god he's the only thing anyone ever talks about.

So yeah! Four female characters I find most compelling. Probably not anyone's pick, except Charlotte though she isn't talked about and explored in-depth to the same extent as a certain other character is. She just gets mentioned as being better than Wilfried and it's all done, no need to talk about everything else about her. I hope this post was able to give a new perspective to people who might not have considered thinking this much about these characters! Pretty please do keep negativity about them off this post, I do not need to know you want to put twenty bullets through Detlinde's body or whatever.

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Do you find Moonshadow culture becoming a little less... likeable? (but not less interesting) It seems like they hand out Ghostings like candy with no path to forgiveness and no belief in a person’s ability to change and reform themselves. The pressure and anxiety those elves must be feeling at all times has got to astronomical. What are your thoughts?

I have plenty of thoughts, as always! Less likeable than what, though, anon? Maybe you’ve missed most of my posts on Moonshadow society over the last year...

Moonshadow society is a disaster, poor thing. It’s a tightlaced corset, pretty but restrictive with long term consequences. It’s a queer neurodivergent elf who just wants to do their very best but all the rules that are supposed to help them out with that end up hurting them too and they don’t know how to stop or change and so yes they’re dancing gracefully in the moonlight and yes they express themselves through beauty but if you get close enough you can hear the constant pterodactyl screech of their soul too. (Did I extrapolate extra hard from “Runaan is the most Moonshadow of the Moonshadow elves”, maybe yes)

Moonshadow society is deeply flawed and it needs help, but it’s so big and pervasive that it may be impossible to change its course without severe consequences, just like last time (aka moving east across the border and becoming assassins that took out humans). The elves can only do so much to alter their own fates from inside their own society.

Some may leave and never return. Some get ghosted and want nothing more than to re-enter the fold because they still believe in its ideals, like Feathershawl. Some probably try to change things from the inside, whether subtly or obviously. And others embrace the rules with both arms and try to mold themselves into The Perfect Moonshadow Who Can Do No Wrong, in order to remain safe and to belong.

But that’s a spectrum you’re going to get when perfectionism is a big part of your cultural philosophy. Everything has to be Just So for so many aspects of these elves’ lives, and it’s Very Not Good for them. Yes, they’re pretty. But mandating prettiness is just as bad as mandating other aspects of personal choice and free will.

As for ghosting, I really don’t think Moonshadows just yeet those left and right with little care for the consequences. I do think they’re too harsh with their shunning! Shunning, giving up, turning their back in a relatively permanent way, that’s not a good solution. Learning and adapting are important, and knowing that you have time and room to practice and adjust is so important for mental health and stability in your society. Living in constant fear of minding the rules or getting even perceived to be doing something incorrectly is such a drain on your energy.

But I do think that the Moonshadows have strict rules for what deserves ghosting and what doesn’t, just as they do for other stuff. The details of Feathershawl’s ghosting are theirs to keep, and I assume any Narrator could flesh those out however they chose during a playtest, whether to make their situation more or less sympathetic for the players.

But my take is this: Moonshadow elves revere life very deeply, and they work constantly to serve each other and their whole community, as they hold themselves together and celebrate their continued existence on every level they can. When someone in a position of big responsibility for the health, well-being, and lives of so many Moonshadow citizens messes up in such a bad way that there’s a plague and lots of elves die--lose their precious lives, lose those connections with others, leave their families torn and distraught and unable to focus on their own duties due to heavy, soul-sucking grief--when one elf causes this level of arcanum-deep catastrophe, I can absolutely see why the other Moonshadow elders would be horrified and grief-stricken, and furious. It’s a very un-Moonshadow thing to have happen, especially with how hard they’re all trying to be so very Moonshadow all the time.

Feathershawl had a position that gave them authority over the food sources that kept a good number of the Forest’s elves fed and able to live their lives without privation. And they screwed that up somehow. They were trusted with a basic staple of everyday life--food--and they got it wrong in such a horrible way that there are a lot fewer Moonshadow elves as a result.

Moonshadow elves need each other’s support and presence as part of their communal network, and anything that tears at that fabric goes against everything that Moonshadow philosophy stands for. Feathershawl themself had literally dozens of family members, whose illusions were kept in their crystal. That’s a lot of family! If it’s common for Moonshadow elves to have that many family members, then a plague would probably touch every family multiple times and leave everyone multiply devastated. It’s just Bad All Around.

There’s probably a lot more to Rayla’s ghosting than we know, since we only learned of it from her POV and she’s not in the habit of sharing Moonshadow secrets with Callum just yet. Knowing that Moonshadow families are so thickly intertwined, and how heavily they rely on each other to help support and cheer each other through standing strong together and mutual services, it’s no big stretch to imagine that Rayla’s biggest crime in Moonshadow eyes wasn’t her supposed running away, it was that her actions cost the Silvergrove their assassin leader, one of their elders and one of the strongest moral guiding hands they had. Rayla cost the Silvergrove their most Moonshadow Moonshadow.

Without Runaan, the Silvergrove is probably reeling quite a bit, and Rayla’s failure is to blame, in their eyes. They’re all suffering, and they need to put the blame somewhere--other than themselves--so they can start to move forward again.

It’s far from ideal. It’s very shame and blame oriented. But it does hold to some internal logic that seems to bear out through the three ghostings we know of for sure so far.

Another things Moonshadows are very good at is quick action. The moment they think there’s been a “mistake”, they move to address it. Whatever feelings they have on the matter, they process it in half a second (if at all) and jump straight to rectification. You attack the Storm Spire? Lain’s gonna kick you down the stairs. You think the Silvergrove ghosted you unfairly? You literally run to Ethari for help. You see Rayla trying to stay on the mission? You grab her wrists so she can’t draw her weapons. You see your workshop doors open but no one’s there? You stop working and fetch a hammer in case you need to smash a vindictive ghost. You think your friends failed their duty and dishonored you? You take everyone you can to go uphold that honor, including a 15 year old girl. (Holy cats does that mean everyone on Runaan’s squad was family, oh god) Swift action is a reassertion of the rules, of what’s right, so no one forgets. That’s got to include ghosting for things that are really terrible.

What I do find interesting is that Eljaal, the homesick assassin who is afraid to return home, may not be worried about ghosting specifically? But it’s a little unclear. I think there is something else they fear, perhaps a lesser punishment? But still one they can’t yet bring themself to face, poor elf.

I do think Moonshadow society is very stressful on the mind, and all these elves have become very skilled at hiding, mitigating, and otherwise working around their stresses and traumas. The greatest illusion that Moonshadows play is the one that Everything Is Fine, because there is always more work to do, and they keep telling themselves that they’re the ones who must do it, for everyone elses’s sakes. Laziness and selfishness are probably the same thing to Moonshadows. Hmm, maybe that’s why Runaan lets his family drag him off to picnics on his birthday, so he doesn’t seem selfish for wanting alone time.

In very very long, anon, Moonshadows are a Mess tee emm, and they’ve been designed that way from the start: doing their best inside a flawed system. This is the heart of their imperfection. They will probably benefit from spending time with literally anyone else aside from just themselves. They really really need to get out more, or to let someone else in, because the strictest of their own traditions are actually ruining the life and beauty they work so hard to celebrate.

[deliberatelyvague]

Taboo (beelzebub x gn! reader)

Started: May 16, 2020 at 12:59pm

Ended: May 16, 2020 at 1:33pm

Pairing(s): (beelzebub x gn! depressed! reader)

Trigger Warning(s): disappointment from an ‘authority figure’, self harm, almost suicide, talk about mental illness

Author’s Note: if you all are every struggling, just know that there are people out there who care. I am here, I see you. If you ever need someone to rant to, just someone to just hear your struggles, or someone to talk through something, I am here. My DMs are always open ❤️

Request/Prompt: A beel x (f) (small) reader, who has Depression, self harms(deep cuts with razor) who tries to commit suicide because Lucifer was angry at her and said she's a dissapointment and he'd rather have someone else in the exchange Program and that triggered something in the reader? If not that's okay-

————

Halfway through the school year you had started to desperately wish that the forms Diavolo and Lucifer went through listed medical issues. It would be a lot easier to talk about you issues then, if they already knew about it, but now you were suffering and too scared to mention your struggles with them.

You had been doing rough, your depression had made itself known again and your lack of motivation came with it. And it wasn’t that you were struggling with your classes, they were pretty easy for the most part and anything you didn’t understand you either asked Satan, Simeon, or Solomon. But you just couldn’t find the motivation to do it, especially when you gained nothing but a good grade from it.

So when you had been called out by the teacher for the third time for dozing off in class, Lucifer just had enough of it. He demanded that you come to his room before dinner but after you did your homework, and a sinking feeling settled in your gut. You knew what the talk would be about, and you didn’t want to have it because that either meant taking the backlash of your mistakes or explaining to him your mental state, and neither of those seemed like good options to you.

But alas, you did go see him and you just stood there, taking his judgement and frustration. There you stood, in front of his desk, listening to him rant about how you were pretty much a disappointment to the exchange program, and to Diavolo, and about how someone else more motivated and thoughtful should’ve been chosen.

Through the entire lecture, you could feel your chest tighten, and you desperately stopped yourself from crying, holding in your breath as much as you could before he dismissed you. When he did, you practically ran to your room, passing Beelzebub who had called out to you, but you didn’t look back at him. You could feel his eyes following you into your room where you shut the door and locked it, making your way to your closet when you shut the door once again and wrapped one of your blankets around yourself.

And itching feeling when up your arms, a desperation- craving almost to grab your blade and just cut, only a little bit.

Everything was always better after you harmed yourself, the endorphins masking the actual issue and you didn’t worry about what was troubling you. Besides, you deserved to be punished, and Lucifer didn’t lay a hand on your after the few incidents where he almost killed you- so you got no reprimand about what you did other than the scolding.

So, you dug your fingers into the shag carpet that you had placed in your closet and found the razor, and pulled up your sleeves, starting the make small cuts. You didn’t feel anything from them, so you applied more pressure, think crimson blood oozing from the cuts and dripping onto the carpet. After a few more of these deeper cuts, a dizzy feeling washed over you, and you looked at the injuries, noticing very quickly that you were losing too much blood, and that if you didn’t do something about it you would probably pass out.

You stood up on wobbly knees and made your way to the door as quickly as you could manage, almost falling out of the room as you made your way to the lounge, where someone was knots surely at. You stood in the entry, and two sets of eyes landed on you- Beel and Lucifer’s. You lifted your arms and shakily asked for help before you fell to the ground after exuding so much energy.

You were still conscious, but the rim of your vision was black and everything was blurred, and you could see Beel rushing over to you and picking you up, a look of pure worry on his face that you barely saw. He was saying something to you, but something you couldn’t make out, and you lifted your blood covered hand to his face, wiping away a tear that had made itself seen. When you hand feel, a handprint of blood was left on his face. You felt the ground move, but before you knew where you were being taken to, you had already closed your eyes.

When you woke up your were laying in Beel’s bed, a warm body pressed to your side. You looked over slowly and saw that Belphegor was holding you, his head resting on your stomach, a frown etched onto his face.

You almost said something so he would wake up, but a voice cut though the almost serene feeling of the room.

“That’s the first he’s slept for awhile.” Your eyes shot over to see Beel walking in with a wet rag, a bucket of water, some bandages and what looked to be hydrogen peroxide.

“Why is that?” You asked, adverting your gaze.

“He was worried about if you would wake up or not,” he answered simply, unwrapping your arms and starting to clean the wounds. You didn’t say anything. “We all were, honestly.”

After he cleaned the wound, you could see how bad they had been. They looked to be sewn up pretty well, and you laid back on the bed. You didn’t really want to discuss this with him, but you’ve learned that delaying the inevitable would only cause bad things to happen sooner. Then he finally asked the question you had been dreading.

“Why did you.. cut yourself?” You looked over at him, so you weren’t focused on the cuts anymore.

“I needed to be punished, and I had been feeling bad lately. Cutting myself makes me feel better, I guess.”

“Diavolo had Barbatos get your medical files from your home, and it said that you had been struggling with these issues for longer than just your time here. Why didn’t you tell us? We could’ve helped you.”

“There’s a stigma where I live surrounding mental illness, it’s kind of a taboo thing to talk about, even though most people struggle with some type of it.

“People are scared of reacting incorrectly or offending someone, so they just choose to not talk about it in place of discussing it so people know how to address it. I guess the stigma travelled with me, so I was worried about how you all would react, considering mental illnesses isn’t really a topic you can bring up while eating dinner.”

“Well, we need to talk about it. I don’t like it when you feel bad or you get hurt, whether it be by your own hands or someone else’s. I want to protect you, and love you, but I can only do that if you let me. Please, [Y/N], tell me when you’re having bad days, or even a few bad minutes. I want to help your though it.”

“I will, I’m sorry for worrying you, Beel.”

“Don’t feel sorry, please. Never feel sorry.” He was finished with cleaned and rewrapping your wounds, and Belphegor had turned over in bed.

“Can we cuddle, please?” You asked, scooting over so he could fit.

“Of course,” he answered, and laid down next to you, allowing you to rest against him.

————

This was written by me in no way trying to romanticize mental illnesses. I try to write what I feel would help me in the moment. I completely understand that mental illnesses don’t just ‘disappear’ when you’ve figured out that someone loves you or someone helps you once- that’s why I don’t write what happens after in most cases. If you are struggling, please reach out to anyone you trust, or call a hotline.

[anotheronechicagobog]

The Crackship Sails To Molly’s-I’m Not A Nurse - Rheese - Connor Rhodes x Sarah Reese

written by: @anotheronechicagobog​

A/N: My second Halloween fic, and my first Rheese fic, hope you guys like it!

Warnings: swearing, mention of drugs, mention of how Halloween has been oversexualized, Protective!Ethan, seriously he threatens him and it’s a little intense

Sarah used to love Halloween. Her favourite nanny, Katya, used to be a seamstress and so she would hand make Sarah’s costumes. Sarah had loved it so much that she’d actually gotten the older woman to teach her how to sew, something that came in handy later in life for suturing, and she had been making her own costumes since Katya left to pursue another career. But as she got older new problems arose. Starting at fourteen she was expected to dress in... Revealing costumes. And Sarah did not like that, first of all, it was disgusting to expect women to dress in ‘slutty’ costumes, and second, it was appalling that the expectation was pressured on them so young. So the magic of Halloween she’d loved as a kid shattered, she didn’t even dress up for the holiday anymore unless it was for a costume party where she knew it would be appreciated. That Halloween, she was working in the ED. Even worse, it was the night shift. That meant the usual hell of calling time of death and cranky nurses, while also dealing with drunk morons who use Halloween as an excuse to fuck shit up.

Most of the usual ED staff wasn’t scheduled that night, they were here during the day which had been bad enough, but Sarah, Ethan, Connor, and Ava were all working doubles. Ethan was still avoiding April after their breakup and Noah was helping move her stuff out of their apartment that night before heading to Molly’s, Connor had requested it for some unknown reason, and Ava stayed because she and her girlfriend had gotten into a bad fight but she was using a patient’s touch-and-go condition as an excuse. Sarah downed her sixth coffee before stepping back out into the pits of hell. Connor wasn’t in the ED, probably went back up to the cardiology wing to help with Ava’s patient. Their relationship had improved drastically when Ava figured out she’s gay. It wasn’t something that was accepted in South Africa so she repressed it, even in Chicago, until she met Emily Foster. Ethan was sitting behind a computer with nurses bustling behind him, glaring at his computer screen. Sarah suspected it had less to do with whatever he was reading and more to do with whatever Doris was gossiping about right behind him.

Doris was an excellent nurse. Intelligent, experienced, and sympathetic when necessary. Unfortunately her sympathy did not extend to the other staff at MED whenever they were going through something gossip-worthy, read: deeply personal and often heartbreaking. Sarah had a basic amount of respect for her, but it didn’t expand past more than that since she heard her call Natalie the ‘ice princess’. The woman lost her husband and then found out she was pregnant a month later, had to deal with her mother-in-law constantly, all while continuing her fellowship, and Doris couldn’t say anything nice about her? And while she was right behind her. Another flaw of Doris’, she rarely kept stock of where anyone was in the ED at any given time so she usually ended up supplying MED’s gossip mill right in front of whoever it was about. It was distasteful, really.

“Dr. Reese, incoming, you’re going to treatment three.” 

“What do we have?” Sarah’s eyes began wandering them patient’s body, taking mental notes, as she listened to the debrief from Sylvie Brett and Gianna Mackey. “Male, 24, laceration on the forehead, we stopped the bleeding, but he lost consciousness once at the scene and three times on th way over. He was in a bar fight.”

“Okay, transfer on my count, 1, 2, 3. Good, thanks guys, be careful tonight.”

“You too, Reese.” And with that, the two paramedics left leaving her with a drunk patient and a couple of nurses. Sarah went through her usual checklist of examinations based on the physical exam, questions answered by the patient, and information from the paramedics. “Can you tell me your name?”

“My name’s Brad, am I terr yous anytingting yous wans tas know.”

“Well Brad, my name is Dr. Reese, does anything hurt?”

“Non, non, nona, yous a nurse, ot a-”

“I assure you Brad, I am a doctor, now can you please tell me if you’re feeling any pain and where?”

“Nursh, yous nursh. Where you fish nets? Ans I wants yous boobies.”

“Okay, let’s get him to CT and run a tox screen, his bandage is good for now and the wound is clear, I’ll stitch him up after we run the tests.”

“SOW ME YOUS BOOBIES!”

“... Are there any male nurses available?”

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

The rest of Reese’s night went like that, drunken fools, high morons, and an absolutely swamped ED. Brad shockingly did not have a concussion, and was refusing to let Sarah stitch him up and send him out. She would have just let him sign out AMA, but his tox screen came back with copious amounts of alcohol and ecstasy in his system, so she couldn’t under good conscience let him sign out and leave without the proper treatment in his state. So he was moaning and groaning about... Everything and kept demanding a ‘real’ doctor. “Hey Sarah.” She turned to face him, her shoulder relaxing as she signed in relief at the sound of his voice. A beaming smile graced his features that immediately made Sarah’s day and she really wished that they could just stay like that for the rest of shift. Or eternity, either would do.

“Hi Connor, how are things up in cardiology?”

“Good, good, they don’t really need me up there so I came back down here. Were you scheduled for just the ED tonight or neuro aswell?”

“Just the ED for tonight, I’ve been putting in more hours up there recently so Ms. Goodwin suggested a couple of doubles to catch up.”

“Ah, hey have you seen the movie ‘Knives Out’ yet?” Connor had tensed slightly, and was giving an odd amount of attention to an old coffee mug sitting on the nurse’s station, and a nervous look drained onto his face as he glanced between Sarah and literally anything else. Honestly it bummed Srah out a little, working with Connor was the only silver lining she had while working the graveyard shift, and she’d be lying if she said that her heart didn’t hurt a little everytime Connor looked less than ecstatic. She’d also be lying if she said she wasn’t head over heels in love with him.

“No, I just haven’t had the time! I have to keep running out of the room anytime my housemates talk about the movie so I don’t get any spoilers.”

“I still haven’t seen it either, maybe we could make a day of it, grab some dinner at that Thai place you like and then head over to that theatre by Navy Pier to watch it?”

“You know what Connor, that sounds like a great idea.” And just like that, Connor perked up, his smile was back and so was Sarah’s.

“Really? I mean-”

“Nursh! NURSH! NURSH REESH!” Connor cocked his eyebrow in annoyance un the direction of Brad’s room. Both at the interruption and at the language the man was using.“I keep telling him I’m not a nurse but he just won’t listen to me. And he’s in detox right now so we can’t discharge him yet.”

“Do you want some back up?”

“No, I’m good Connor, but thanks.” So Connor stayed in place as she drifted over to treatment three, his lips pursed together in worry. “Reese’ll be fine, man, she can take care of herself. And did I overhear incorrectly, or did you FINALLY ask Sarah Reese, third year ED and neuro resident, out on a date?”

“... Shut up, Choi.” All the other man could do was let out a boisterous laugh, while Connor didn’t really appreciate that all the attention was on them now, or that he was being mocked for finally addressing his feelings, Connor had to admit, he hadn’t seen Choi laugh in a while, let alone so sincerely. So he cracked an embarrassed smile and chuckled along with him. “I’m happy that I won’t have to see you looking after like a lost puppy, but in all seriousness, Reese is like a little sister to me. I you hurt her I’ll string you up by your toes and make you eat your own kidney.” Choi’s eyes had gone completely devoid of amusement, they were hollow and dead serious, at that moment Choi looked how he did whenever he had to think about his time overseas. A pang of fear fluttered through his chest. “I’ll- ahm- I’ll keep that in mind.” Connor forced himself to break eye contact and Choi nodded definitively. The tension still hadn’t dissipated by the time Sarah got back. “You know, I used to love Halloween. I used to handmake all of y costumes. Now? Hate. It. Women are expected to dress in ‘slutty’ costumes, and everytime I work the day of, before, or after Halloween I get idiots who will ask why I’m not in my ‘proper uniform’, and some more idiots who are far to handsy. I just can’t wait for this shift to be over.” 

“I take it Brad is being a little too friendly, then?”

“Yeah, I just have to keep thinking ‘only one more hour, only one more hour’.”

“And you used to make your own costumes? They must have been great!”

“They were! When I was twelve I was Medusa, fourteen I was one of the Beauxbatons from ‘Harry Potter’, Poison Ivy when I was sixteen, I had a lot of awesom costumes over the years but those were my top three. Oh! I saved pictures to my phone, hold on.”

“Well why don’t you still dress up? You clearly love it, and those costumes are amazing.”

“Other people have certain expectations for Halloween, as I mentioned before, and I started to get a lot of negative attention for it. So unless I’m going to a Halloween party that hasn’t been thrown by horny teenagers masquarading as adults, I just don’t dress up anymore.”

“I’m sorry Sarah. It’s a bit too late for this year, I think you’ve inspired me to throw a Halloween party next year.”

“Connor, you don’t have to do that just for me.”

“I know, which is why I’ll also be doing it for me. I used to like Halloween too, but like you said, it just gets so... Pervy when you grow up. I think it’d be really nice to have a Halloween where I can get excited about costumes again, it used to be my favourite part, too.”

“I’ll right, well I’ll keep my calendar open. For that one day, three hundred and sixty-four days from now.”

“That’s great. I loo forward to it.”

“And as for our ‘Knives Out’ date, would you be free for it tonight?”

“Uh...” Connor was taken aback, he had asked her out, yes, but he wasn’t sure if it actually came across as a date. And he was too nervous to ask himself because he really liked Sarah, she had become one of his best friends and she truly had carbed out her own spot in Connor’s heart, something he welcomed. “Unless... You didn’t aske me out and I just and I just made everything super awkward...” Connor could see Sarah start to internally chastise herself, so he gently grabbed her elbow before she could walk away, hope blooming inside of him. “I did ask you out on a date, and tonight sounds perfect.”

“Really?” Sarah smiled up at him and Connor couldn’t help but wonder what exactly he did to be lucky enough to have her in his life. “Yeah, really.”

“Well, I guess I’ll see you later tonight, Connor.”

“Yeah, you will.” And twenty minutes later, after both of their shifts had ended and they were free to go, they left smiling, excited for the future and not despising a mutually memorable holiday as much as they did going in.

[im-the-king-of-the-ocean]

Soft summer prompt #5, Nuts and Dolts?

(sorry for the absurdly long wait - hope you enjoy!)

(watching the fireflies)

takes place in my royalty/bodyguard au ;)

.

A pleasant summer’s breeze blows Penny’s curls away from her face.  The princess from the north is in awe of how much more mild the weather here in Vale is than back home.  Her cloak, sewn from a lighter fabric than all her heavy wool and fur ones made to withstand Solitas’s cold, is enough to keep her warm even during sunset, with night beginning to cool the air.

“Your royal highness?  Might I inquire what you are doing out at such a late hour as this?”

Penny jumps.  “Um, uh, nothing?”  Her voice squeaks in a way not befitting a royal.  She tries not to wince.  “Nothing, Stablemaster Port,” she tells the gray-haired man with one of the largest mustaches she’s ever seen, hesitates, and then hastily adds, “sir.”

Do Vale royal staff have a specific way to be addressed they prefer in polite conversation?  Back home in Atlas, Penny had to memorize all the proper terminology for each and every different ranking staff member at a young age.  It was considered a grave insult if the Crown Princess herself addressed someone incorrectly.

Before Penny can fully start worrying over whether or not she’s insulted Stablemaster Port by calling him simply “sir,” loud hoofbeats approach them.  They briefly slow when they reach the princess and the stablemaster.  Penny feels a hand close around the hood of her cloak.  She’s yanked off her feet and pulled expertly into the saddle.  She would panic, but there is only one person who would do such a thing.  Penny trusts her implicitly.

“Ruby Rose!  That is no way to handle a royal!”  Port shouts after them.

“You aren’t my teacher anymore, old man!”  Ruby calls over her shoulder with a laugh.  Her arms wrapped securely around Penny, she pushes the princess’s dapple gray mare into a canter.  Port yells something else, but Penny doesn’t catch his words over the wind.

Once they’re safely away from the stables, Ruby slows the mare.  She stops at the entrance to the riding trail they picked earlier, dismounts, and retrieves her own steed from where she hid the blood bay behind some shrubbery before doubling back to retrieve Penny and her horse.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” From still in the saddle, Penny admonishes her bodyguard.  “He’s going to get us in trouble.”

Ruby retorts.  “No, he’s not.”  She swings up into her own saddle.  Her horse snorts his protest. “Port owes me.”

“He owes you?”  Penny repeats incredulously.  She nudges her mare forward to stand by Ruby’s.  “What, pray tell, does he owe you that he won’t go telling on us for behaving in such a manner?”

“Oh, come on!”  Ruby pouts.  “Don’t get all princessy on me now.  This was your idea!”

Penny grins.  “My idea was to go on a pleasant evening ride.”  She pauses dramatically.  “Not that tomfoolery.”

Ruby sticks out her tongue at her.  Penny can’t help but giggle.  She loves this.  So much.  Back home, Ruby wouldn’t dare pulling off such a stunt like she had.  The pressures of being a Royal Bodyguard weigh on her too much.  Penny knows they do.  Usually, such a position is reserved for a highly regarded lord’s son.  Not some commoner girl poached from another kingdom’s academy.  Ruby’s arrival in Atlas and appointment had caused a stir among the nobility, to say the least.  There are many among them who are waiting for Ruby to make just the right mistake that they finally could consider it reason enough to oust her.

The situation tends to cause Ruby a lot of stress.  Not that she’s ever admitted to it anytime Penny has attempted asking.

Here in Vale, away from the prying eyes of Atlesian nobility, Penny noticed, Ruby is more relaxed, carefree.  She still takes her duties seriously.  She’ll always protect her princess, of that Penny has no doubt, but Ruby goofs off in ways Penny could have never predicted while in her homeland.

It gives her mixed feelings.  Penny loves seeing this side of Ruby.  She does.  It just kind of hurts knowing that when they go home, to Penny’s home, it won’t be the same.  Penny holds back a sigh.

They ride on, silent but the clip-clop of their horses hooves for a few minutes.

Penny sees the first bright green spot in the air.  Her breath catches in her throat.  The spot disappears quickly, but then another appears.  This one drifts over to her.  The little bug that caused the bright light lands on Penny’s horse’s mane, crawls around, flashes bright green again, and then takes off.  Penny watches it go.

“Are these…?”

“Fireflies?”  Ruby finishes for her.  “Yup.”  She halts her horse, dismounts, and ties her reins loosely to a tree.  Then helps Penny do the same.  Taking Penny by the hand, Ruby leads her princess to the center of the meadow they’ve come to.  All around them fireflies drift around, blinking their lights leisurely.

Penny twirls around in a circle.  She can’t take her eyes off the little bugs.  Solitas is too cold for anything like them.  She holds out her hand.  A firefly lands on her index finger.  Penny giggles, and turns to show Ruby, who’s grinning dopily back at her.

“I knew you’d love them.”  Ruby approaches Penny.

“I love you,” Penny answers without thinking, and then chokes on her gasp.  Oh gods.  Oh gods.  She just admitted—to Ruby—she just said…

Ruby’s silver eyes are as big as saucers, or the moon itself.  She stares back at Penny, her face gently illuminated by the fireflies’ lights.  Her mouth opens, and then closes, and then opens again, like a fish.

Panic rises in Penny’s gut.  She shouldn’t have said that.  What they have is special, but it’s not allowed, and they shouldn’t—it will be easier to not be hurt when they have to let go if they don’t admit like she just—and oh gods.  Oh gods.  Oh gods.

Ruby takes Penny’s hands in her own.  She kisses the backs of them.  Not in the reverential way reserved for royal and bodyguard, but in the tender way only a suitor is allowed to do for a princess.

“I love you, too,” Ruby breathes.

In that moment, Penny knows Ruby will never let go of her, and she’ll never let go of Ruby.

No matter what.

[bestmechanicaustin]

Best Bicycle Services and Cost in Austin TX |Mobile Auto Truck Repair Austin

More information at :https://mobileautotruckrepairaustintx.com/bicycle-services-near-me/

Bicycle Services near Austin TX: Are you looking for the Best Bicycle Services near Austin TX ? Mobile Auto Truck Repair Austin, a well maintained properly functioning drivetrain ensures that as much of the power you input is felt in the bicycle’s output as possible. Cost? Free estimates! Send us a message or call us today. Best Bicycle Services around Austin TX. We serve Austin TX and other areas. Get a Free Quote Now!

BEST BICYCLE SERVICES IN AUSTIN TX AUSTIN BICYCLE SERVICES

Bicycle Services At Mobile Auto Truck Repair Austin Bicycle Services near Austin TX: Bicycles are refined pieces of advanced engineering. Like any precision machine, bicycles benefit greatly from regular service and maintenance. Bikes that are regularly used can easily develop less than optimum function in multiple systems without their rider noticing the incremental changes that occur over time during use. Mobile Auto Truck Repair Austin, even bicycles that are not regularly used can develop issues from sitting that affect their overall performance and their owner’s enjoyment of them. While much of the basic maintenance can be done with a few tools, anything more can require special tools and training to ensure the best results. Mobile Auto Truck Repair Austin, why invest in a high quality bicycle unless you are going to provide the care necessary to keep it in prime working condition? Gears to Wheels- Power Input and Output Caring for your bike’s drivetrain involves much more than just making sure that the gears are shifting properly and the tires have enough air. While these are essential to proper operation there are many more moving parts that need to be considered. Ensuring that all of the components are functioning takes special tools and know-how. The difference between a well maintained drivetrain and a poorly cared for, worn one is obvious in function and power output efficiency. The well maintained drivetrain will function smoothly, put power to the ground efficiently and quietly do its job without you thinking about it. To ensure optimum function you need to assess every bearing, gear and pawl between your pedals and the ground. This involves work outside of the scope of the average home mechanic. Regular bicycle service tune ups can be the difference between recording a PB or a DNF. Mobile Auto Truck Repair Austin, a well maintained properly functioning drivetrain ensures that as much of the power you input is felt in the bicycle’s output as possible. Tires and Wheels- Ride Quality, Traction and Handling Everything changes gradually on your bike. Not only from riding, but also from age which causes rubber to dry, lose elasticity and grip, and can cause greases and oils to break down. This can be very hard for many riders to sense causing them to ride components till they are well past their prime. Tires are consumable components which need regular replacement and wheels need basic maintenance to help ensure that they function properly and have a long life. They should be inspected before every ride to make sure that they have sufficient rubber, are inflated to the right pressure, have no cords showing, and no visible cracks. There is nothing you can do to your bike that will as profoundly alter its handling for the better as having the right tires for your riding type, style and conditions. Properly trued wheels with clean and greased bearings and drivers are one of the most important pieces of maintenance you can have done. Mobile Auto Truck Repair Austin,It will help improve performance while saving you money on replacement parts by improving your ride quality, reducing rolling resistance and improving handling. Bodies are complicated. So are bicycles. Each of us is unique and has different physical constraints. Your body and your bicycle should fit each other perfectly, and it makes a lot more sense to adjust the bicycle to the body than the body to the bicycle. Mobile Auto Truck Repair Austin, professional fitting will align your bicycle to your body, which will help you be comfortable and efficient while riding. I use a strategy of learning to address your individual needs, which will make you more comfortable on your bike. Mobile Auto Truck Repair Austin will work with you to understand your goals of riding, physical limitations, injuries, strength, flexibility, and range of motion, to create an ideal position that brings health, not pain, to the body. Through a process of education about position, form, alignment and balance, I will help you begin a new understanding of your relationship with your bike. Bicycle fitting Bicycle fitting is the process of adjusting a bike for a cyclist to optimize their comfort, performance and efficiency. Cyclists often experience overuse injuries such as cyclist's palsy, cyclist back, and Anterior Knee Pain. and this is often due to an incorrectly set up cycle. Bike fitting aims to prevent injuries, increase efficiency, comfort and improve performance for all cyclists. Bike fitting is for anybody who cycles, particularly if an overuse injury has occurred, to maximise their enjoyment and performance. Indication Bike fitting is for anybody who cycles. A good bicycle fit goes a long way to prevent overuse injuries and helps muscles and lungs function at best ability, all improving performance and enjoyment. ● everyday cyclists ● touring cyclists ● tri-athletes ● Clinical Presentation who complain of: buttock; back; lower limb; upper limb and neck pain associated with cycling. Often the cyclist may have tried pressure garments to relieve areas of pressure eg gel pads in gloves, gel seat covers, upright handlebars. Often these are a band aid solution to an incorrectly fitted cycle.

To fit or not to fit? Bicycle Services near Austin TX: There are of course ways to set up your bike position yourself and this is still what most people do. There are plenty of handy online guides out there if you don’t feel you want to splash out on a bike fit. The decision whether to get a fit or not will also depend on how seriously you take your cycling. If you are riding purely for fun and perhaps use your bike infrequently using an online guide will be fine. However, if you are looking to race or ride sports then it’s certainly something to at least consider. One way to look at a bike fit is as an investment. It’ll certainly start you off on the right foot as it were. If you do go for a fit, ensure you do your research first. Bear in mind that as you develop and change as a rider (weight loss, increased flexibility, core strength) your position may change too. It’s a fluid, dynamic ongoing process. Many top pros regularly tinker with their position as they evolve as riders. Ultimately it’s up to you. You certainly don’t need a bike fit as most of us (including myself) have got to where we are using trial and error and a basic knowledge of the ideal set up, as well as taking advice from experienced riders. But, if you have the budget, are serious about your cycling and keen to ‘fast forward’ through the trial and error phase and want to fully optimize your cycling efficiency, then go ahead. Visit your local Mobile Auto Truck Repair Austin to learn about their bike fit services. Happy riding!

The Importance Of A Good Saddle Seat And Why You Have To Change It Bicycle Services near Austin TX: Pain from your bicycle seat doesn't have to come with the territory. Pain in the saddle can be an indication of many things, including an incorrectly sized seat, inadequate padding and poor positioning. Diagnosing your saddle pain and correcting it can help you enjoy your ride without worrying about potentially damaging any sensitive tissue. A correction to your saddle position could also improve your pedaling efficiency, giving you more power on those tough hills. Sizing Up Your Seat Eliminating saddle pain starts with a correctly sized seat that properly distributes your weight. More padding isn't the solution; you want your contact point with the saddle to be directly on your sit bones, which jut out from your pelvis underneath the flesh of your buttocks. To find your sit bones, try sitting on a table or other flat surface. The two points that contact this surface most firmly are your sit bones. Find a saddle with a width that matches these contact points. Most bike shops have an accredited bike fitter on staff that can assist you in finding the exact measurement. Less Is More With too much cushioning, you may be distributing your weight between your legs, where pressure and vibration can damage sensitive tissue. A good bicycle seat uses high-density foam that matches your sit bones and provides good cushioning without improperly cradling your weight. A channel down the center of some bike seats eliminates contact altogether, which can relieve saddle-related pain or numbness. Finding the right balance between cushion and support is key to eliminating your pain, so don't be afraid to ask to try a few saddles at your local bike shop. Sitting Pretty The proper position in your bicycle seat can make a big difference in your comfort. With your bike leaned up against a wall, mount your seat and rotate the pedals so that one crank is pointed straight to the floor. While seated, your knee should be just slightly bent and you shouldn't be straining to reach the pedals. Now that your seat is correct, lean forward, grab the handlebars and adjust your stem height until the position is natural and your neck isn't craning. If you can't get your positioning right, check that your bike frame is the correct size by matching your inseam to the manufacturer's sizing chart. If it isn't correct and you do a lot of cycling, it's worth your time to try and get a properly sized bike. Finding a Short Solution A pair of cycling shorts is a necessity for rides further than a few miles. All professional cyclists use them, and they come in a wide variety of price ranges, styles and materials. Cycling shorts have a chamois pad built in that provides extra cushion when you're in the saddle and can relieve a lot of issues associated with cycling such as soreness, chafing and numbness. If you want to get the most out of your ride, coupling your seat with a pair of cycling shorts is the safest and most comfortable way to ride.

TIPS 5 Bicycle Fit Tips That’ll Improve Your Comfort and Power Bicycle Services near Austin TX: How you position yourself on the bike makes a huge difference in terms of comfort, power, and aerodynamics. While it’s a good idea for all cyclists and triathletes to get a professional bike fit, there are some basic guidelines you can use to troubleshoot problem areas and generally set yourself up in a neutral position. The goal is to achieve a position that allows you to ride your bike without creating any injuries and one that will allow you to ride your bike for years. As an added bonus, the right fit will also make you more efficient and powerful. Try a Saddle Before You Buy Finding the right saddle can be a bit of a process because it’s important to find the curvature, width, and shape that is comfortable for you. Saddles with more curvature (and/or a channel down the center) are often great for athletes who have limited flexibility through the hips and lower back. The curvature allows you to rotate your hips forward more easily without putting too much pressure on sensitive areas. The width and amount of padding in the saddle also have a big impact on comfort and performance. Finding the right saddle may take some time and some trial and error, so work with your local bike shop – many have a loaner program – so you don’t have to make a huge financial investment. A quick ride in the parking lot is often not enough to tell you whether a saddle will work for you in the long run Determining Saddle Setback Move the saddle forward or backward so your knee is over the pedal spindle when the crank is in the 3 o’clock position. Again, this is a good starting point, and then you can adjust your cleats fore and aft as needed. Use your thumb to feel the ball of your foot on the inside of your shoe. With a pen, put a small mark on this point of your shoe so you can set the cleat using this as a landmark. Basics of Setting Saddle Height While you can dial this in perfectly with a professional fit, here are some guidelines for roughly setting up your saddle height. These are especially useful when you have to jump on a loaner bike or even a bike in a hotel fitness center. Start with the saddle in a level position, parallel to the floor. Sitting on the saddle, pedal with your heels on the pedals. Your foot should maintain contact with the pedal without having to rock your hips. Pay Attention to the Shoe-Pedal Connection The pedals are your third point of contact with the bike.  It’s important that the platform is large enough to feel secure (not like you’re standing on ice cubes). And the most critical piece will be adjusting the cleats properly, to make sure you have a stable and tight shoe to pedal connection that will ensure optimal power transfer and allow you to ride injury-free. As a general starting point for many riders, you can set the middle indicator on the cleat slightly back, about 5mm, from the ball of your foot. The angling of cleats and the lateral distance they are set from the crank (Q-factor) is dependent on each rider’s individual body structure, however, you want to make sure you don’t feel any twisting or tension in the ankles, knees, and hips while pedaling. You can start with the cleats set straight ahead and make minor adjustments from there. Note that each foot could require different angling. Handlebar Width and Reach Makes a Difference Bicycle Services near Austin TX: With the handlebar, look at the drop and the width of the bars. If you have relatively small hands or a shorter torso, look for a shallow drop bar. The width of the bar should match the width of your shoulders, which will keep your arms in a neutral position when your hands are on the brake hoods. You also want to ensure the handlebar reach is neither too long or short, as it can cause neck, shoulder, back pain, and compromise bike handling. You should be able to reach the hoods with a comfortable bend in the elbows without feeling like you need to scoot your body forward or backward on the saddle.

COST Bicycle Services near Austin TX: All bicycle services are carried out using professional bicycle tools, greases, and lubricants. Prices quoted for services are estimates only. Thus, prices may vary if other problems are found during the service. If the price variation is significant we will contact you for approval - otherwise we will go ahead with the repairs. Senior bike mechanic has 28 years’ experience in our workshop. Headset repack from $15 Hub repack from $20 Gear adjustment from $25 Brake adjustment from $12.50 Precision wheel truing from $20 Disc brake wheel truing from $22.5 Disc brake bleeding from $25/brake Recoil a dropout from $30 Fit a tube and/or tyre from $10 Recoil a crank arm from $30 Bicycle service from $79 Fit a bottom bracket from $25 BMX bicycles from $49 Fit a chain from $10 Geared bicycles from $79 Re tap a bottom bracket from $25 Frame strip and rebuild from $130 Fit a headset from $20 Annual overhaul from $130 Disc brake truing from $15 Precision wheel building from $37.50 Reface disc mounts from $20 Realign a frame from $25 Reface a bottom bracket from $25 Fit a suspension fork from $35 Disc brake adj & clean from $25 Pack a bike in a box from $30     Flat tire repair – $18 (inner tube replacement included) Bicycle Assembly – $55 Includes assembly, basic tune-up, fitting and free adjustments Basic tune up – $70 ● Safety check ● General cleaning ● Brake and derailleur adjustment ● Adjust bottom bracket, headset and hubs ● Clean and lubricate chain and derailleurs ● True wheels (on-bike) Tune Up Plus – $100 ● Includes everything in the basic tune-up plus thorough cleaning (replacement parts extra) Specific part overhauls – $25/per part Complete overhaul and cleaning (November thru March only) – $150 (a great deal!) ● Bring your bike to a Like-New condition and save $100s (replacement parts extra) Prices quoted for services are estimates only. Thus, prices may vary if other problems are found during the service. If the price variation is significant we will contact you for approval - otherwise we will go ahead with the repairs. Senior bike mechanic has 28 years’ experience in our workshop. Standard bicycle service Our standard bike service includes: ● Alignment of derailleur hanger and adjustment of gears and lubing of gear cables. ● Adjustment of brakes and lubing of brake cables. ● Measure chain for stretch and report on life. ● Lube chain and all pivot points. ● Adjustment of wheel bearings, headset bearings, and bottom bracket bearings. ● General check on tension of all bolts and screws. ● Inflation of tires to recommended pressure. ● Minor in frame wheel truing. ● Alignment of handlebars ● General clean ● Test ride Annual overhaul ● An annual overhaul includes everything in the Standard Bicycle Service plus the following. ● Full clean, grease, and repack of both front and rear hubs. ● Full clean, grease, and adjustment of the bottom bracket. ● Full clean, grease, and repack of the headset. ● Full clean and relube of the drivetrain. ● Test Ride. Wheel Truing All bike wheel repairs are carried out using either DT, Sapim, or Wheelsmith plain gauge or double butted spokes. The double butted spokes can be either plain stainless steel or black.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Can I come in and work on my own bike? Yes! Mobile Auto Truck Repair Austin offers do-it-yourself access where we provide you with tools, parts, and guidance so you are able to service your bicycle yourself. No experience is necessary as long as you are actually able to do the work yourself. And there is no cost for DIY service access but we ask for at least a $15 donation an hour to Mobile Auto Truck Repair Austin Coop for the bicycle stand and tools used. Most DIY tune-ups take about an hour per bicycle. If you are interested in working on your own bike, you are most welcome at the Mobile Auto Truck Repair Austin shop on Wednesdays 6-9pm, Saturday 10am-6pm, Sunday 12-5pm.

How much to get my dusty bike in rideable shape? Mobile Auto Truck Repair Austin offers full tune-ups for $75 excluding part replacements, please see our Additional Repair Services page for more information.

What is the turnaround time for bike repairs? Anywhere from next day to a week during peak season.

I’m having problems with my bike. Do you know what the problem is? How much does a repair like this run? We can’t say for sure without you bringing the bike to the shop. Please refer all questions to the Mobile Auto Truck Repair Austin shop manager at 703-549-1108.

Can I sell my used bikes or parts to Mobile Auto Truck Repair Austin Coop? Sorry, Mobile Auto Truck Repair Austin does not purchase used bicycles or parts. However, because of our 501c3 non-profit status, Mobile Auto Truck Repair Austin can provide you a tax deductible receipt for any material or financial donations you wish to make.

Do you require appointments? Nope!

Do you do mobile repairs? Sorry, Mobile Auto Truck Repair Austin currently does not have the capacity to support our customer base through mobile repairs. Mobile Auto Truck Repair Austin does support bike rodeos where we visit local schools and affordable housing in underserved neighborhoods. For more information, please see the Community Services pages on the Mobile Auto Truck Repair Austin website.

Call For Us: ● Bicycle Services Near Austin TX ● Bicycle Service ● Bicycle Service Center ● Bicycle ● Bike Repair ● Gear Cycle Repair Shop ● What Does A Bicycle Service Include ● Bike Service Cost Near Austin TX ● How Much Does A Bicycle Service Cost ● Bike Service Price List ● Bike Shop Service Price List ● Bike Service Center ● Bike Service At Home ● Bicycle Service Centre ● Hero Bike Service Charges ● Bike Maintenance Cost Near Austin TX

BEST BICYCLE SERVICES SERVICE IN AUSTIN TX MOBILE AUTO TRUCK REPAIR AUSTIN REQUEST MORE INFORMATION. CONTACT US NOW! Contact Details Mobile Auto Truck Repair Austin Best Mobile Mechanic & Mobile Auto Truck Repair in Austin Texas Call US: (512) 649-5322 Location: Texas, Austin

Monday-Sunday 24 Hours

www.mobileautotruckrepairaustintx.com

Zip Codes in Austin, Texas: 76527 (Florence) 76530 (Granger) 76537 (Jarrell) 76573 (Schwertner) 76574 (Taylor) 76578 (Thrall) 78602 (Bastrop) 78610 (Buda) 78612 (Cedar Creek) 78613 (Cedar Park) 78615 (Coupland) 78616 (Dale) 78617 (Del Valle) 78619 (Driftwood) 78620 (Dripping Springs) 78621 (Elgin) 78622 (Fentress) 78626 (Georgetown) 78628 (Georgetown) 78633 (Georgetown) 78634 (Hutto) 78640 (Kyle) 78641 (Leander) 78642 (Liberty Hill) 78644 (Lockhart) 78645 (Lago Vista) 78648 (Luling) 78650 (Mc Dade) 78652 (Manchaca) 78653 (Manor) 78655 (Martindale) 78656 (Maxwell) 78659 (Paige) 78660 (Pflugerville) 78661 (Prairie Lea) 78662 (Red Rock) 78664 (Round Rock) 78665 (Round Rock) 78666 (San Marcos) 78669 (Spicewood) 78676 (Wimberley) 78681 (Round Rock) 78701 | 78702 | 78703 | 78704 | 78705 | 78712 | 78717 | 78719 | 78721 | 78722 | 78723 | 78724 | 78725 (Hornsby Bend) 78726 | 78727 | 78728 (Wells Branch) 78729 (Jollyville) 78730 | 78731 | 78732 | 78733 | 78734 (Lakeway) 78735 | 78736 | 78737 | 78738 (Bee Cave) 78739 | 78741 | 78742 | 78744 | 78745 | 78746 | 78747 | 78748 | 78749 | 78750 | 78751 | 78752 | 78753 | 78754 | 78756 | 78757 | 78758 | 78759 | 78953 (Rosanky) 78957 (Smithville)

#Roadsideassistance.   #Emergencyroadsideassistance  #CommercialTowing #Carlockouts    #HeavyTransportation   #Flatbedtowservice

[historyofshipping]

Something personal: my child is 100% formula fed

For whatever reason, I’ve seen a lot of lactivist (people who are hardcore breast is besters) pop up over the last few days so I feel like saying something. This is directed to anyone who ever dares shame someone else for how they feed their baby and to anyone who has ever been shamed. 

Let me start by saying: fed is best. Fed is always, ALWAYS best. Not only do I support one’s decision to breastfeed, combo feed, or formula feed but I will continuing fighting like hell to make sure that governments, employers, and society support your decision. No one should be forced to choose based on anything other than one’s desire to breastfeed, formula feed, or combo. This is also ONLY applicable to places with clean water and a generally well-developed supply chain. In places that do not have access to these things, breast usually is best. For the vast majority of us in the US and Europe (the two places I study, I cannot speak for other parts of the world simply because I don’t research there), fed is best and fed is formula, breast, and/or combo. 

That said, I have exclusively formula fed since my baby was born in March and I am not in any way ashamed of that fact. Some quick background on myself: I have a MPH (masters of public health) in Maternal and Child Health from one of the top PH universities in the world. I worked in MCH and sexual and reproductive health for a while. Now, I am finishing up a PhD and one of my fields is reproductive health and justice - past and present. I literally do academic research for a living. I’m not someone getting my information from youtube. 

Before giving birth, I extensively studied the most recent literature on breastfed vs non-breastfed babies. You know what they show? What we’ve known for years: when controlling for socioeconomic status, there is no long term differences between BF & non-BF babies. 

“But breast is best! All the MCH orgs say so!” There is a huge political history behind this that I’m not really in the mood to get into. Instead, I will just tell you why the breast is best “evidence” is bullshit - very rarely do researchers control for demographic factors and socioeconomic status (ie - income, race, educational level of parents, etc).  Study after study after study shows that breastfeeding is correlated with high SES. People who breastfeed tend to be white, mid to high income, well-educated, and healthy. People who tend to not are the opposite of all of those. Unsurprisingly, children who are raised in high SES households have better health and economic outcomes than those raised in low SES households.   

And yet, studies repeatedly do NOT control for these factors when trying to determine the benefits of breastfeeding. So what are almost certainly SES factors are conflated with breastfeeding but incorrectly attributed to breastfeeding. 

One of the only studies that attempt to control for this found the following (this is an abstract and the study is here -> x

Breastfeeding rates in the U.S. are socially patterned. Previous research has documented startling racial and socioeconomic disparities in infant feeding practices. However, much of the empirical evidence regarding the effects of breastfeeding on long-term child health and wellbeing does not adequately address the high degree of selection into breastfeeding. To address this important shortcoming, we employ sibling comparisons in conjunction with 25 years of panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) to approximate a natural experiment and more accurately estimate what a particular child's outcome would be if he/she had been differently fed during infancy. Results from standard multiple regression models suggest that children aged 4 to 14 who were breast- as opposed to bottle-fed did significantly better on 10 of the 11 outcomes studied. Once we restrict analyses to siblings and incorporate within-family fixed effects, estimates of the association between breastfeeding and all but one indicator of child health and wellbeing dramatically decrease and fail to maintain statistical significance. Our results suggest that much of the beneficial long-term effects typically attributed to breastfeeding, per se, may primarily be due to selection pressures into infant feeding practices along key demographic characteristics such as race and socioeconomic status.

It’s not just one study. Another shows that INTENTION to breastfeed is what made the difference in child health for this study, not whether or not the parent actually did breastfeed. Again, since those of higher SES are more likely to and intend to breastfeed, this is absolutely not surprising. 

Now, as for why I personally didn’t breastfeed: frankly, I just didn’t want to. I can tell you all about the health and medical reasons (of which there are many but were not high on my list of reasons) and about how I am the primary breadwinner with a stay at home partner and it just didn’t make sense. I can give you a whole slew of reasons, but the only one that is important is that I didn’t want to and it didn’t make sense for my family. 

Whatever is right for you and your family is valid and exactly what you should do whenever possible. And I will fight to make sure you’re not restricted by external factors. 

Now why the hell did I write this essay?  Well first of all, if you’ve made it this far - kudos. I appreciate you. I wrote it because I don’t give a shit what people think of me and my parenting BUT I’ve been called a child abuser, accused of neglect, and essentially accused of ruining my child’s life by choosing to use formula. These things don’t affect me but they do affect the mental health of MANY parents. It’s bullshit that anyone dare shames anyone else. 

Second reason - I was exclusively formula fed nearly 30 years ago and sometimes it feels like I’m being personally attacked and written off because I was formula fed. I believe in data, not anecdotes, but ffs I’m almost 30, have two masters, finishing up a PhD, have a wonderful family, own my house, and all of this while I grew up poor. Lactivists make it seem like someone like me is impossible. 

My child is thriving. He’s 2.5 months old (after being born nearly a month early), has already rolled over, is almost double his birth weight, and is just generally proving to be a bright, healthy child. I sleep 8+ hours a night because my partner does night feeds and we’re generally just a happy, healthy family. This was far and away the best choice for me and I am thankful that I live in a time and place where I can safely make the choice to not breastfeed. 

[theauthenticcommunicator]

10 Tips To Vastly Improve Your Public Speaking

As a coach of speaking and communication skills, I've learned that the same strategies apply to almost every situation where we're sharing our thoughts and ideas.

Graduation speeches, job interviews, eulogies, first dates, sales pitches, monologues and scenes for theater and film, wedding speeches, keynote speeches, and presentations at work are all made better by applying the following recommendations.

01 Breathing

It's the very first thing and the very last thing we do in this life. Improving the quality of your breathing on a daily basis can lead to better physical, mental and spiritual health. How you breathe in the ten minutes before you speak in front of a room full of people will make or break your presentation. Calming your breathing through exercises is something you can start to work on today, so that later when you are called upon to make an impromptu speech you'll be able to master your physiology.

Simply defined, breathing is the interchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the body. When we have too much carbon dioxide in the bloodstream, we begin to feel dizzy and experience shortness of breath. Chronic shallow breathing causes anxiety, high blood pressure, digestive problems, sleep disorders, and more. Re- learning to breathe more deeply is one of the most valuable skills to improve.

Unconscious thoughts can sometimes bring to the fore ideas one might easily dismiss as unrealistic.

02 Nix the Notes

If you're a hard worker and you want to get things exactly right, you are likely planning to work with notes during your presentation. You'll rehearse over and over with the goal of getting it exactly right - maybe even close to perfect. The problem with using notes is that it becomes too easy to start reading from them when we're nervous. This will result in a pretty flat presentation. If you memorize your speech word for word, you'll be stuck in your head - remembering. You might get every word right, but you won't be present with your audience because you'll be chained to the script. Structuring the framework of your speech in a way that you'll easily remember is a better approach.

Investigate how you structure your ideas. Get feedback about how you organize your thoughts. This will help you to become more comfortable when you have to speak on the fly without any prep (and bonus: you'll sound smarter). You should absolutely prepare your speech, but there is a point in the preparation where you must trust yourself and put down the index cards.

03 Stand And Deliver

What we do with our bodies tells a story. Crossing your arms looks closed off and defensive. Putting your hands behind you will cause people to distrust you. It's important to allow people to SEE you, which can feel incredibly awkward. You don't want to appear too stiff. You also don't want to seem too casual. The best thing you can do is to get balanced on your own two feet.

Stand with your feet a little more than hips-width distance apart. Roll a little forward onto your toes, and then rock back toward your heels. Then, side to side. Find where your body feels the most centered and balanced. Stack your bones. Your knees over your ankles. Hips over your knees. Shoulders over your hips. Balance the weight of your head over the structure of your bones. Then relax your arms by your side, palms facing slightly forward.

Do this often. In the grocery store. In the kitchen. When it becomes second nature you will start to feel confident in this sturdy and solid stance. This neutral, ready-for-anything posture is your home base.

Unconscious thoughts can sometimes bring to the fore ideas one might easily dismiss as unrealistic.

04 Remember Who Is Listening

The speech you're giving isn't for you. You've been selected to give it, and all eyes are on you, but you are meant to be talking TO other people. If you lose sight of that you will find yourself talking AT them. Youtube videos and Zoom presentations are rife with this talking AT business because we lose the sensory feedback of our audience and have only the tiny red or green dot of the camera to address. It's easy to disconnect from the listeners.

How can you connect with your listeners? With your voice? With your eyes? With your intentions? This is also related to allowing people to SEE you. Awareness is half the battle. A coach can help you activate your presentations.

Sometimes we forget to talk with all of the people in the room. At weddings, the Best Person or Person of Honor often forgets to address the family and friends of the new partner in their toast (I did this!). Executives speak at a company-wide meeting but are often just addressing upper management and not the entire supporting staff.

Work to be inclusive of every body in the room.

05 Watch Yourself

Record yourself as you practice a speech and then watch it a few times. Look for the good stuff. Repeat this. This isn't so you'll hate what you're doing and fix and fix and fix. This is so you'll get comfortable watching yourself.

The more you watch yourself, and accept yourself - your voice, your body, and your presence - the more you'll accept that others will appreciate what you have to offer.

Unconscious thoughts can sometimes bring to the fore ideas one might easily dismiss as unrealistic.

06 Be Truly You

I receive a good many queries about Accent Reduction training and cultivating Executive Presence. I urge you to be thoughtful about these pursuits.

If you're speaking English as a second language, you are a rock star because English is a tough language to learn. In terms of accent reduction, how much is sufficient to reduce? What does it really mean to sound more "American" or "British"? Is it to sound more "white"? Why should you sound more "white"? If you are pronouncing a great many English words incorrectly, you will need to buckle down in your ESL work. But your accent is a part of YOU.

If anyone asks you to develop Executive Presence, press them for a very specific actionable definition. Are there specific skills you need to develop?

An Executive is someone who can be trusted to lead in the good times and the lean times. Executive Presence = Confident Leadership. There are many kinds of leaders out there. What kind of leader are you? Cultivate this.

You are enough. You are delightful. You are better off being you than trying to pretend you're somebody else. Humility and authenticity are more highly-valued than a suit jacket you can barely afford.

07 Bring In The Funny

It feels risky to reveal our sense of humor. Humor shows people who we really are and how we see the world. There are more appropriate times for humor than others, but sometimes nudging the boundaries a little is good for letting down our collective shoulders.

When our audience is distracted they are many separate people. When they are tuned in to a speaker they become a collective and present entity. Laughter connects us.

As a speaker, you control the energy in the room. It's important to read the room. Who are these people? Why did they come here? Are they hot? Are they hungry? Anyone in the theater or comedy biz will tell you that every audience is different. If a joke flops they will still connect with you more for trying. A planned recovery line ("Tough crowd, tough crowd...") can win them over.

Humor in a speech will humanize you. It's worth the risk and if you bring down the house you have everything to gain.

Unconscious thoughts can sometimes bring to the fore ideas one might easily dismiss as unrealistic.

08 Say Nice Things

If you beat up on yourself all the time with harsh thinking, you are going to be hard-pressed to believe yourself when you're mustering up the confidence to give a speech or to walk in proudly for the job interview.

If the messages you are always receiving inside yer noggin' are critical and damning, it's time to switch things up. We wouldn't talk to a child in the same way that we often talk to ourselves. It's incredibly important to change your self-talk immediately.

Start by writing a mini-speech called "My Favorite Things About Me". Give this short speech to yourself often. Recite it out loud. Recite it silently. Say good things about yourself when you're talking to other people. Say good things in your mind while you are brushing your teeth. Say good things a lot so you'll always know that you have YOU in your corner.

09 Skip the Sweet, the Sour, the Salty, the Spicy, the Sloppy, and the Stimulating

Sugar, chocolate, onions, garlic, dairy, pepper, chips, french fries, citrus, booze, and caffeine are ...amazing. They are also terrible dietary choices for presentation days.

Sugar, dairy, spice, and salt can create a bad scene in your gut and when that comes back into your throat at some point (sometimes you aren't even aware of it returning - it can be subtle), you'll find your voice sounds weaker, and will even begin to crack more. Citrus or dairy will put you into an alternating cycle of a dry throat and excess phlegm production. Booze is a bad idea for a number of reasons. Caffeine and nerves are a sweaty combination.

Eat some simple protein. Some rice. A few cooked veggies. Stop eating a couple of hours before you speak. Drink a whole lot of water up to an hour before your presentation. After that, just small sips.

Unconscious thoughts can sometimes bring to the fore ideas one might easily dismiss as unrealistic.

10 Feel The Feelings

You're nervous. You just are. Folks reach out to me to figure out if there's a way to stop feeling nervous. There really isn't. The reason why you're feeling this way is that there are so many unknowns. Public speaking is truly heightened uncertainty! The fear of public speaking has a name: Glossophobia.

It's like a roller coaster. You wait in line and start to psyche yourself out. You feel like you want to change your mind and RUN. Then there's a point of no return - you move forward - you're gonna DO this! And then you're a couple of minutes away from speaking and things get realllly uncertain.

Feeling fear can be a really fantastic way to get to know yourself. Feel it in your body. Relax your shoulders. Unclench your jaw. Breathe your calming breaths. See yourself in this moment. Tell yourself you're into it and that you'll enjoy the ride. You're gonna DO this thing - this crazy thing! You might even find yourself smiling about being in this crazy situation. That's exactly when you know you're ready.

Speaking and communicating well will benefit you in all areas of your life.

You can make great progress and get to a place where you aren't dreading presentations, meetings, or speeches. Communication skills are just that: skills to learn and practice. It might even become fun. It might even become something you love doing.

Reach out to me with questions. It would be a treat to hear from you.

Good luck to you!

aimee@theauthenticcommunicator.com

[penelopedidthistoo-blog]

5 Dangers Of Deep Tissue Massage

The 5 Dangers Of Deep Tissue Massage!

It's critical to take note of that the 5 risks exhibited here may not all be pertinent to you explicitly. Continuously counsel with your doctor before initiating a back rub routine!

#1 Risk Of Fracture

In the event that there's one thing I've found out about back rub, it's that each specialist has a somewhat unique strategy and style. This isn't to imply that a very much prepared specialist can't alter his/her system to suit a customer's needs. In any case, that is not really the issue!

The issue emerges when over the top weight is connected to a patient's body!

What's more, when extreme weight is connected, break is surely a probability. Is it a distortion? Not as I would like to think, no.

There is uplifting news, in any case. The odds of getting a break from profound tissue work is moderately low. Most advisors today are very much prepared, and affirmed. Be that as it may, here and there the reason for break has nothing to do with the specialist… .it could be on the grounds that a patient neglected to make reference to a current ailment (Osteoporosis for instance). Master tip: uncover everything!

#2 Tissue Tears

In Paul Ingraham's post titled "The Pressure Question In Massage Therapy", he talks around 3 kinds of torment: great, awful, and appalling. As indicated by Paul, monstrous torment is what is brought about by excessively inordinate weight. It's the degree of torment that can bring about harm (source: The Pressure Question In Massage Therapy). I reference Paul's article since it uncovered an outstanding fantasy in the back rub industry:

The legend of no torment, no increase!

A few specialists are dead set on the no torment, no addition standard. On the off chance that it doesn't hurt, it's not powerful. This kind of outlook can be extremely dangerous for various reasons:

It can accomplish more mischief than advantage—Too much weight can cause significant issues, for example, tissue tears, breaks (as examined above), and cut off wounding.

It detracts from the experience—Unless your concept of unwinding includes enduring 1 hour of horrible pulling, pulling, and squeezing!

There's clearly a lot more reasons why excessively exorbitant weight is terrible, however I won't experience them here. I recommend you look at Paul's article (connected above) for more data. He shares some intriguing accounts of individuals who've had bad dream back rub encounters!

#3 Blood Clots

On the off chance that you experience the ill effects of blood clusters, it's significant you address your PCP and advisor before doing profound tissue work. The thinking behind this is profound tissue back rub may constrain a blood coagulation to break free and travel in the circulatory system, and this can prompt genuine medical problems.

I know, who would've thought right!?

Try not to trust me? Look at this article titled "When Is Massage Dangerous?" from Dr. Andrew Weil. As you experience every one of these tips, you most likely notice a common subject: address your primary care physician in advance, and unveil everything to your specialist! Ideally you would now be able to see that it is anything but an exercise in futility.

#4 Deep Tissue Massage and Cancer

In my post titled "multiple times you shouldn't get a back rub", I talked about how Cancer patients should look for restorative counsel before starting back rub. Be that as it may, why? What are the threats of profound tissue back rub to malignant growth patients?

Lamentably, it's exceptionally hard to have a solitary answer apply in all cases!

There's a fantasy circling that recommends destructive cells and tumors can break down and spread quicker through lymph liquid when exposed to profound tissue weight. In view of my exploration, I see that there is next to no reality to this. The Canadian Cancer Society mirrors this in their article about back rub treatment (source: Canadian Cancer Society). The equivalent has additionally been noted on the Cancer Council Australia site. You can look at that article by clicking here. Still don't trust me? Watch the video underneath (all credit to Live Sonima).

In any case, that doesn't mean profound tissue rub explicitly is 100% totally alright for all malignancy patients. For those with malignant growth that has spread deep down, profound tissue can conceivably break or crack bone (source: Canadian Cancer Society).

See, I'm no specialist so I can't offer medicinal guidance!

The main guidance I can offer is to counsel with your oncologist/specialist in case you're anticipating getting a profound tissue rub. Try not to think about this guidance while taking other factors into consideration!

#5 If Done Incorrectly, It Results In A Negative Experience!

Whenever done appropriately, profound tissue rub feels extraordinary as well as inconceivably advantageous. The issues happen when advisors erroneously misuse the method. Prior on, I addressed how inordinate weight can raise a wide range of ruckus from breaks to tissue tears, yet there's another issue:

A solitary negative encounter may totally change a person's view of profound tissue rub!

What's more, that is a major issue, in light of the fact that there truly is so much good that can emerge out of profound tissue knead. Try not to trust me? Complete a speedy google search, and read up on the advantages. To me the greatest of the 5 perils of profound tissue back rub is this last one, essentially in light of the fact that an ever increasing number of individuals are less inclined to encounter the advantages on the off chance that they've had an awful encounter first time round.

[ragaviveka-blog]

How Are You Handeling It?

Doing so will allow you to focus on the present moment, and feel more calm and centered. When two individuals consummate marital vows, they share an unbreakable, invisible vow that no one can see or feel apart from the couple. You only have to choose the right one to block Spam before it reaches your inbox. It is important today as never before because almost every other email message we receive is Spam. High quality health care today simply means having the right information in the right hands and at the right time. Generic drugs are considered a better option today as as they provide the same effect as there branded counterpart but at extremely lesser price value. When the thoughts are recorded, there is no need for your brain to hold on to them. But haven't you seen many men who are good looking but don't have any girl. “We will donate all the bags to local charities across Manchester who can help distribute them throughout the night. Learn about our latest products will be appearing around Connecticut. Amazon’s Golden Globe-winning “Transparent” will be available for free streaming Saturday. I could take it late Friday or early Saturday and be good to go through most of Sunday, which is why they call Cialis "The Weekender". Vidalista is generic tadalafil tablets, globally famed as CIALIS. Online consumers also can find that such internet based pharmacies also offer a variety of other generic products, including generic Viagra and Cialis. Generic drug makers almost started selling tadalafil tablets in the US last year after Adcirca, a hypertension drug also manufactured by Eli Lilly, moved out of patent protection in November. The makers of Cialis say a lot of men are hesitant to talk with their doctor about sexual problems, and it’s those men who will benefit the most. Apart from this, it is also important to tell the doctor about previous as well as current medical history. The approved form of drug can be noticed to be sold under a structural design of a yellow, film coated and almond shaped. Taken incorrectly or mixed with certain other prescription medicines, CIALIS can cause your blood pressure to drop suddenly, which can be dangerous for your health. If you use Levitra, Cialis, or Viagra, you may have heard about the possible effects they can have on your vision. The metropolitan goods homosexuality technology also hopes through the cialis comparison viagra, although elsewhere at 2007 it is usually being advocated for charge stores. Contact an ophthalmologist near you to learn if Viagra, Levitra, or Cialis is right for you. Half Price Viagra & Cialis Free Shipping, Free Consultation! Cialis may work best as long as you are not taking nitrate medications. Some patients are choosing to get an online diagnosis and deal directly with prescriptions online. More Americans, either by choice or necessity, are beginning to find more prescriptions online. In case you too are looking for the Cheap Cialis version, then online pharmacies are the answer. This is the procedure how Kamagra or several other medicines are manufactured and bring in use for the patients. Eibner said, noting that some patients may have difficulty getting a doctor, since some physicians have not taken patients covered by newly expanded Medicaid plans due to lower reimbursements. There may be pre-determined factors and specification for the batch of dosage amount. Even Levitra convinced me that I was ready to go because there was the start of a flush like feeling. There is a need to self-diagnose. Our service is good reviews from our customers all over the world. It was an over hyped topic and often taken as a taboo subject which could not be discussed openly in public. Adcirca, an alternate brand of tadalafil, is utilized to treat pneumonic blood vessel hypertension and enhance exercise limit in men and ladies. Cialis is also approved to treat enlarged prostate symptoms. I think at this point I will probably be a Cialis user. Cialis for once daily use is administered in the dose of 2.5mg or 5 mg. Side effects of CIALIS. Cialis Tablets in Bahawal! I did not find the tablets did a lot for me and consequently bought 270 10mg tablets on the internet and received, also, 10 viagara. However, the very act of talking is often what does the trick, so having someone to talk to isn't always necessary. They organized their partial to out of secure these. Its difficult to know where to begin, who to believe, and what to get freaked out about if anything at all. The third way to get your email address is to buy email lists. Simply put, canada drugs online it is technically illegal to buy drugs from Canada that were either manufactured in Canada or manufactured in the United States and then sold to Canadian distributors. The results were impressively in favour of tadalafil as a treatment for both ED and BPH.

[mobilemechanicsabq]

Best Bicycle Services and Cost in Albuquerque NM |Mobile Mechanics of Albuquerque

More information is at: http://mobilemechanicalbuquerque.org/bicycle-services-near-me/

Bicycle Services near Albuquerque NM: Are you looking for the Best Bicycle Services near Albuquerque NM ? Mobile Mechanics of Albuquerque, a well maintained properly functioning drivetrain ensures that as much of the power you input is felt in the bicycle’s output as possible. Cost? Free estimates! Send us a message or call us today. Best Bicycle Services around Albuquerque NM. We serve Albuquerque NM and other areas. Get a Free Quote Now!

BEST BICYCLE SERVICES IN ALBUQUERQUE NM ALBUQUERQUE BICYCLE SERVICES

Bicycle Services At Mobile Mechanics of Albuquerque Bicycle Services near Albuquerque NM: Bicycles are refined pieces of advanced engineering. Like any precision machine, bicycles benefit greatly from regular service and maintenance. Bikes that are regularly used can easily develop less than optimum function in multiple systems without their rider noticing the incremental changes that occur over time during use. Mobile Mechanics of Albuquerque, even bicycles that are not regularly used can develop issues from sitting that affect their overall performance and their owner’s enjoyment of them. While much of the basic maintenance can be done with a few tools, anything more can require special tools and training to ensure the best results. Mobile Mechanics of Albuquerque, why invest in a high quality bicycle unless you are going to provide the care necessary to keep it in prime working condition? Gears to Wheels- Power Input and Output Caring for your bike’s drivetrain involves much more than just making sure that the gears are shifting properly and the tires have enough air. While these are essential to proper operation there are many more moving parts that need to be considered. Ensuring that all of the components are functioning takes special tools and know-how. The difference between a well maintained drivetrain and a poorly cared for, worn one is obvious in function and power output efficiency. The well maintained drivetrain will function smoothly, put power to the ground efficiently and quietly do its job without you thinking about it. To ensure optimum function you need to assess every bearing, gear and pawl between your pedals and the ground. This involves work outside of the scope of the average home mechanic. Regular bicycle service tune ups can be the difference between recording a PB or a DNF. Mobile Mechanics of Albuquerque, a well maintained properly functioning drivetrain ensures that as much of the power you input is felt in the bicycle’s output as possible. Tires and Wheels- Ride Quality, Traction and Handling Everything changes gradually on your bike. Not only from riding, but also from age which causes rubber to dry, lose elasticity and grip, and can cause greases and oils to break down. This can be very hard for many riders to sense causing them to ride components till they are well past their prime. Tires are consumable components which need regular replacement and wheels need basic maintenance to help ensure that they function properly and have a long life. They should be inspected before every ride to make sure that they have sufficient rubber, are inflated to the right pressure, have no cords showing, and no visible cracks. There is nothing you can do to your bike that will as profoundly alter its handling for the better as having the right tires for your riding type, style and conditions. Properly trued wheels with clean and greased bearings and drivers are one of the most important pieces of maintenance you can have done. Mobile Mechanics of Albuquerque,It will help improve performance while saving you money on replacement parts by improving your ride quality, reducing rolling resistance and improving handling. Bodies are complicated. So are bicycles. Each of us is unique and has different physical constraints. Your body and your bicycle should fit each other perfectly, and it makes a lot more sense to adjust the bicycle to the body than the body to the bicycle. Mobile Mechanics of Albuquerque, professional fitting will align your bicycle to your body, which will help you be comfortable and efficient while riding. I use a strategy of learning to address your individual needs, which will make you more comfortable on your bike. Mobile Mechanics of Albuquerque will work with you to understand your goals of riding, physical limitations, injuries, strength, flexibility, and range of motion, to create an ideal position that brings health, not pain, to the body. Through a process of education about position, form, alignment and balance, I will help you begin a new understanding of your relationship with your bike. Bicycle fitting Bicycle fitting is the process of adjusting a bike for a cyclist to optimize their comfort, performance and efficiency. Cyclists often experience overuse injuries such as cyclist's palsy, cyclist back, and Anterior Knee Pain. and this is often due to an incorrectly set up cycle. Bike fitting aims to prevent injuries, increase efficiency, comfort and improve performance for all cyclists. Bike fitting is for anybody who cycles, particularly if an overuse injury has occurred, to maximise their enjoyment and performance. Indication Bike fitting is for anybody who cycles. A good bicycle fit goes a long way to prevent overuse injuries and helps muscles and lungs function at best ability, all improving performance and enjoyment. ● everyday cyclists ● touring cyclists ● tri-athletes ● Clinical Presentation who complain of: buttock; back; lower limb; upper limb and neck pain associated with cycling. Often the cyclist may have tried pressure garments to relieve areas of pressure eg gel pads in gloves, gel seat covers, upright handlebars. Often these are a band aid solution to an incorrectly fitted cycle.

To fit or not to fit? Bicycle Services near Albuquerque NM: There are of course ways to set up your bike position yourself and this is still what most people do. There are plenty of handy online guides out there if you don’t feel you want to splash out on a bike fit. The decision whether to get a fit or not will also depend on how seriously you take your cycling. If you are riding purely for fun and perhaps use your bike infrequently using an online guide will be fine. However, if you are looking to race or ride sports then it’s certainly something to at least consider. One way to look at a bike fit is as an investment. It’ll certainly start you off on the right foot as it were. If you do go for a fit, ensure you do your research first. Bear in mind that as you develop and change as a rider (weight loss, increased flexibility, core strength) your position may change too. It’s a fluid, dynamic ongoing process. Many top pros regularly tinker with their position as they evolve as riders. Ultimately it’s up to you. You certainly don’t need a bike fit as most of us (including myself) have got to where we are using trial and error and a basic knowledge of the ideal set up, as well as taking advice from experienced riders. But, if you have the budget, are serious about your cycling and keen to ‘fast forward’ through the trial and error phase and want to fully optimize your cycling efficiency, then go ahead. Visit your local Mobile Mechanics of Albuquerque to learn about their bike fit services. Happy riding!

The Importance Of A Good Saddle Seat And Why You Have To Change It Bicycle Services near Albuquerque NM: Pain from your bicycle seat doesn't have to come with the territory. Pain in the saddle can be an indication of many things, including an incorrectly sized seat, inadequate padding and poor positioning. Diagnosing your saddle pain and correcting it can help you enjoy your ride without worrying about potentially damaging any sensitive tissue. A correction to your saddle position could also improve your pedaling efficiency, giving you more power on those tough hills. Sizing Up Your Seat Eliminating saddle pain starts with a correctly sized seat that properly distributes your weight. More padding isn't the solution; you want your contact point with the saddle to be directly on your sit bones, which jut out from your pelvis underneath the flesh of your buttocks. To find your sit bones, try sitting on a table or other flat surface. The two points that contact this surface most firmly are your sit bones. Find a saddle with a width that matches these contact points. Most bike shops have an accredited bike fitter on staff that can assist you in finding the exact measurement. Less Is More With too much cushioning, you may be distributing your weight between your legs, where pressure and vibration can damage sensitive tissue. A good bicycle seat uses high-density foam that matches your sit bones and provides good cushioning without improperly cradling your weight. A channel down the center of some bike seats eliminates contact altogether, which can relieve saddle-related pain or numbness. Finding the right balance between cushion and support is key to eliminating your pain, so don't be afraid to ask to try a few saddles at your local bike shop. Sitting Pretty The proper position in your bicycle seat can make a big difference in your comfort. With your bike leaned up against a wall, mount your seat and rotate the pedals so that one crank is pointed straight to the floor. While seated, your knee should be just slightly bent and you shouldn't be straining to reach the pedals. Now that your seat is correct, lean forward, grab the handlebars and adjust your stem height until the position is natural and your neck isn't craning. If you can't get your positioning right, check that your bike frame is the correct size by matching your inseam to the manufacturer's sizing chart. If it isn't correct and you do a lot of cycling, it's worth your time to try and get a properly sized bike. Finding a Short Solution A pair of cycling shorts is a necessity for rides further than a few miles. All professional cyclists use them, and they come in a wide variety of price ranges, styles and materials. Cycling shorts have a chamois pad built in that provides extra cushion when you're in the saddle and can relieve a lot of issues associated with cycling such as soreness, chafing and numbness. If you want to get the most out of your ride, coupling your seat with a pair of cycling shorts is the safest and most comfortable way to ride.

TIPS 5 Bicycle Fit Tips That’ll Improve Your Comfort and Power Bicycle Services near Albuquerque NM: How you position yourself on the bike makes a huge difference in terms of comfort, power, and aerodynamics. While it’s a good idea for all cyclists and triathletes to get a professional bike fit, there are some basic guidelines you can use to troubleshoot problem areas and generally set yourself up in a neutral position. The goal is to achieve a position that allows you to ride your bike without creating any injuries and one that will allow you to ride your bike for years. As an added bonus, the right fit will also make you more efficient and powerful. Try a Saddle Before You Buy Finding the right saddle can be a bit of a process because it’s important to find the curvature, width, and shape that is comfortable for you. Saddles with more curvature (and/or a channel down the center) are often great for athletes who have limited flexibility through the hips and lower back. The curvature allows you to rotate your hips forward more easily without putting too much pressure on sensitive areas. The width and amount of padding in the saddle also have a big impact on comfort and performance. Finding the right saddle may take some time and some trial and error, so work with your local bike shop – many have a loaner program – so you don’t have to make a huge financial investment. A quick ride in the parking lot is often not enough to tell you whether a saddle will work for you in the long run Determining Saddle Setback Move the saddle forward or backward so your knee is over the pedal spindle when the crank is in the 3 o’clock position. Again, this is a good starting point, and then you can adjust your cleats fore and aft as needed. Use your thumb to feel the ball of your foot on the inside of your shoe. With a pen, put a small mark on this point of your shoe so you can set the cleat using this as a landmark. Basics of Setting Saddle Height While you can dial this in perfectly with a professional fit, here are some guidelines for roughly setting up your saddle height. These are especially useful when you have to jump on a loaner bike or even a bike in a hotel fitness center. Start with the saddle in a level position, parallel to the floor. Sitting on the saddle, pedal with your heels on the pedals. Your foot should maintain contact with the pedal without having to rock your hips. Pay Attention to the Shoe-Pedal Connection The pedals are your third point of contact with the bike.  It’s important that the platform is large enough to feel secure (not like you’re standing on ice cubes). And the most critical piece will be adjusting the cleats properly, to make sure you have a stable and tight shoe to pedal connection that will ensure optimal power transfer and allow you to ride injury-free. As a general starting point for many riders, you can set the middle indicator on the cleat slightly back, about 5mm, from the ball of your foot. The angling of cleats and the lateral distance they are set from the crank (Q-factor) is dependent on each rider’s individual body structure, however, you want to make sure you don’t feel any twisting or tension in the ankles, knees, and hips while pedaling. You can start with the cleats set straight ahead and make minor adjustments from there. Note that each foot could require different angling. Handlebar Width and Reach Makes a Difference Bicycle Services near Albuquerque NM: With the handlebar, look at the drop and the width of the bars. If you have relatively small hands or a shorter torso, look for a shallow drop bar. The width of the bar should match the width of your shoulders, which will keep your arms in a neutral position when your hands are on the brake hoods. You also want to ensure the handlebar reach is neither too long or short, as it can cause neck, shoulder, back pain, and compromise bike handling. You should be able to reach the hoods with a comfortable bend in the elbows without feeling like you need to scoot your body forward or backward on the saddle.

COST Bicycle Services near Albuquerque NM: All bicycle services are carried out using professional bicycle tools, greases, and lubricants. Prices quoted for services are estimates only. Thus, prices may vary if other problems are found during the service. If the price variation is significant we will contact you for approval - otherwise we will go ahead with the repairs. Senior bike mechanic has 28 years’ experience in our workshop. Headset repack from $15 Hub repack from $20 Gear adjustment from $25 Brake adjustment from $12.50 Precision wheel truing from $20 Disc brake wheel truing from $22.5 Disc brake bleeding from $25/brake Recoil a dropout from $30 Fit a tube and/or tyre from $10 Recoil a crank arm from $30 Bicycle service from $79 Fit a bottom bracket from $25 BMX bicycles from $49 Fit a chain from $10 Geared bicycles from $79 Re tap a bottom bracket from $25 Frame strip and rebuild from $130 Fit a headset from $20 Annual overhaul from $130 Disc brake truing from $15 Precision wheel building from $37.50 Reface disc mounts from $20 Realign a frame from $25 Reface a bottom bracket from $25 Fit a suspension fork from $35 Disc brake adj & clean from $25 Pack a bike in a box from $30     Flat tire repair – $18 (inner tube replacement included) Bicycle Assembly – $55 Includes assembly, basic tune-up, fitting and free adjustments Basic tune up – $70 ● Safety check ● General cleaning ● Brake and derailleur adjustment ● Adjust bottom bracket, headset and hubs ● Clean and lubricate chain and derailleurs ● True wheels (on-bike) Tune Up Plus – $100 ● Includes everything in the basic tune-up plus thorough cleaning (replacement parts extra) Specific part overhauls – $25/per part Complete overhaul and cleaning (November thru March only) – $150 (a great deal!) ● Bring your bike to a Like-New condition and save $100s (replacement parts extra) Prices quoted for services are estimates only. Thus, prices may vary if other problems are found during the service. If the price variation is significant we will contact you for approval - otherwise we will go ahead with the repairs. Senior bike mechanic has 28 years’ experience in our workshop. Standard bicycle service Our standard bike service includes: ● Alignment of derailleur hanger and adjustment of gears and lubing of gear cables. ● Adjustment of brakes and lubing of brake cables. ● Measure chain for stretch and report on life. ● Lube chain and all pivot points. ● Adjustment of wheel bearings, headset bearings, and bottom bracket bearings. ● General check on tension of all bolts and screws. ● Inflation of tires to recommended pressure. ● Minor in frame wheel truing. ● Alignment of handlebars ● General clean ● Test ride Annual overhaul ● An annual overhaul includes everything in the Standard Bicycle Service plus the following. ● Full clean, grease, and repack of both front and rear hubs. ● Full clean, grease, and adjustment of the bottom bracket. ● Full clean, grease, and repack of the headset. ● Full clean and relube of the drivetrain. ● Test Ride. Wheel Truing All bike wheel repairs are carried out using either DT, Sapim, or Wheelsmith plain gauge or double butted spokes. The double butted spokes can be either plain stainless steel or black.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Can I come in and work on my own bike? Yes! Mobile Mechanics of Albuquerque offers do-it-yourself access where we provide you with tools, parts, and guidance so you are able to service your bicycle yourself. No experience is necessary as long as you are actually able to do the work yourself. And there is no cost for DIY service access but we ask for at least a $15 donation an hour to Mobile Mechanics of Albuquerque Coop for the bicycle stand and tools used. Most DIY tune-ups take about an hour per bicycle. If you are interested in working on your own bike, you are most welcome at the Mobile Mechanics of Albuquerque shop on Wednesdays 6-9pm, Saturday 10am-6pm, Sunday 12-5pm.

How much to get my dusty bike in rideable shape? Mobile Mechanics of Albuquerque offers full tune-ups for $75 excluding part replacements, please see our Additional Repair Services page for more information.

What is the turnaround time for bike repairs? Anywhere from next day to a week during peak season.

I’m having problems with my bike. Do you know what the problem is? How much does a repair like this run? We can’t say for sure without you bringing the bike to the shop. Please refer all questions to the Mobile Mechanics of Albuquerque shop manager at 703-549-1108.

Can I sell my used bikes or parts to Mobile Mechanics of Albuquerque Coop? Sorry, Mobile Mechanics of Albuquerque does not purchase used bicycles or parts. However, because of our 501c3 non-profit status, Mobile Mechanics of Albuquerque can provide you a tax deductible receipt for any material or financial donations you wish to make.

Do you require appointments? Nope!

Do you do mobile repairs? Sorry, Mobile Mechanics of Albuquerque currently does not have the capacity to support our customer base through mobile repairs. Mobile Mechanics of Albuquerque does support bike rodeos where we visit local schools and affordable housing in underserved neighborhoods. For more information, please see the Community Services pages on the Mobile Mechanics of Albuquerque website.

Call For Us: ● Bicycle Services Near Albuquerque NM ● Bicycle Service ● Bicycle Service Center ● Bicycle ● Bike Repair ● Gear Cycle Repair Shop ● What Does A Bicycle Service Include ● Bike Service Cost Near Albuquerque NM ● How Much Does A Bicycle Service Cost ● Bike Service Price List ● Bike Shop Service Price List ● Bike Service Center ● Bike Service At Home ● Bicycle Service Centre ● Hero Bike Service Charges ● Bike Maintenance Cost Near Albuquerque NM

BEST BICYCLE SERVICES SERVICE IN ALBUQUERQUE NM MOBILE MECHANICS OF ALBUQUERQUE REQUEST MORE INFORMATION. CONTACT US NOW!

CONTACT US: 24-hour Mobile Mechanic Roadside Assistance Services in Albuquerque, NM! CALL (505) 485-1736 MOBILE MECHANICS OF ALBUQUERQUE CALL (505) 485-1618 MOBILE AUTO TRUCK REPAIR ALBUQUERQUE CALL (505) (505) 346-2463 ALBUQUERQUE TOWING & ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE CALL (505) 346-2463 TOWING SERVICES OF ALBUQUERQUE WEBSITE: www.mobilemechanicalbuquerque.org mobileautotruckrepairalbuquerque.com roadsideassistancealbuquerque.org towingalbuquerque.org SERVICE AREA: 18 Cities within 30 miles of Albuquerque, NM Algodones, NM | Belen, NM | Bernalillo, NM | Bosque Farms, NM | Casa Blanca, NM | Cedar Crest, NM | Corrales, NM | Isleta, NM | Jarales, NM | Kirtland AFB, NM | Los Lunas, NM | Peralta, NM | Placitas, NM | Rio Rancho, NM | Sandia Park, NM | Tijeras, NM | Tome, NM | Torreon, NM | Alameda, NM | Five Points, NM | Los Padillas, NM | Los Ranchos, NM | Los Ranchos De Abq, NM | Los Ranchos De Albuquerque, NM | Los Rnchs Abq, NM | Manzano Base, NM | Metropolitan Detention Ctr, NM | Public Service Co, NM | Sandia Base, NM | Univ Of New Mexico, NM | Univ Of Nm, NM | UNM, NM | Village Of Los Ranchos, NM Albuquerque, NM - Standard ZIP Codes 87101 87102 87104 87105 87106 87107 87108 87109 87110 87111 87112 87113 87114 87115 87116 87120 87121 87122 87123 87124 #towing #mechanic #Albuquerque #roadsideAssistance #vehicalwinching #CarTowing

[dmdumouchel]

Sigh...

Ok, so, I wasn’t rly gonna address this here, but it’s been on my mind.

Under the cut bc this might get long. Why?

1) I talk a lot. Like...it’s just how I am.

2) This is hopefully the last time ...at least for a while, that I’ll be addressing this. And I have a lot to say.

A while ago I got into a few arguments about the ol’ Di/sc//ourse and you know the one (bc I’m impulsive and lack self control...and I was rly annoyed. I know it was pointless....altho at least one conversation was calm and civil and I even ended up changing the other person’s mind about something).

And basically, I’m a bit disheartened, because what I feared was basically confirmed, which is the abundance of misunderstanding when it comes to a/se//xuality.

Why do I put dashes in that word? Because I can’t even post in that tag without having someone latching onto the post and spewing b.s. at me.

Seriously, you don’t even have to post about Di///scourse(TM) to have someone start a screaming match with you. It could be the most harmless un-opinionated (is that even a word??) post ever about being a//ce and someone will immediately try starting a fight. That’s how much the di/sco//urse has polluted the online community. So uh...no thanks lmao. (and if this by any chance still ends up in any of the tags, you will be immediately blocked if you try arguing with me. The purpose of this post is solely to vent).

Anyway, this is what I’ve discovered, which honestly isn’t new...

- Many people think of a/se//xuality as a modifier and not a se//xual orientation in its own right. I had a civil discussion with someone about this though and managed to change their mind (which is the person I mentioned earlier).

- I’ve had someone claim I’m bigoted because I’m a/s//exual. Because being a/s//exual...automatically makes you bigoted?? As if that makes literally any logical sense at all.

- Said person generalized the entire a/s/e//xual community as being bigoted. Even though there’s bad apples in every community, for some reason, the a//ce community is the only one generalized in this way to this extent.

- And I can’t believe this has to be said, but no, I don’t mean generalizations in general. Ofc other communities have generalizations placed on them. But that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m specifically referring to certain generalizations pple within the LGBTQ+ community make about the a//ce community, and how it’s hypocritical. If you’re familiar with this dis/co/ur//se, you know what I’m talking about.

- Said person also claimed we don’t /have/ a community, which is contradictory and just...well, wrong lmao.

- Pple mock the a//ce community for being small. Like, seriously? You’re mocking a minority group for being...well, a freaking minority group??

- Our community is growing. We don’t have many resources or information...but we’ll get there.

- Pple tend to pull the “I used to identify on the a//ce spectrum” card, as if it serves as an excuse to generalize, and speak for all a//ces, as if they somehow know or represent all a//ce experiences.

- Pple assume the worst things a//ces are told is “so like a plant?”

- Pple also assume the worst things that happen to a//ces is “pple being mean online.”

- Pple with no knowledge whatsoever of a//ce experiences try speaking for us and telling us what our experiences are.

- Pple continuously, over and over, and over, and over again, incorrectly define a//se//xuality. They define it as someone who doesn’t have sex. To take issue with this is not nitpicking. You don’t define a se//xual orientation as who you have sex with, or whether or not you have sex. Behavior does not equate to an orientation, and is completely irrelevant.

- Pple think of h//et a//ces as “st//raight pple who don’t have sex.” This is incorrect.

- Speaking of which, I’ve even had someone call h//et a//ces “h//eteros/exual a//s/exuals” .....how does that make sense. Do the fucking math.

- Pple continuously invalidate a//se//xuality as a se//xual orientation.

- Pple think it’s totally ok to bully a//ces online. In fact it’s encouraged. Seriously, no one cares if an a//ce is bullied. They don’t give two shits.

- Need I remind you being bullied leads to feeling suicidal for many pple? You don’t fuck around with that.

- And no, once again, being bullied online is not the worst thing a//ces ever experience, you ignorant dumbasses. But it’s still not ok. Fucking obviously.

- A//ces are under NO obligation to reveal personal info in order to “prove” the prejudice etc. they experience. Some a//ces have gone through some traumatizing shit and to pressure them into sharing such personal info is super fucking gross.

I didn’t even wanna ever bring this shit up again on my blog. But pple are still spreading all this toxic bullshit online. I’ve done a pretty good job of avoiding it here, but then find it on other sites too. That’s when I snap. Bc even after all my efforts to avoid it, it still finds its way back to me.

I’m soooooo sick of it, you don’t even know.

I never even check the a//s/exuality tag anymore. Hell, that’s why I’m leaving dashes in every other word, because I don’t want my post to end up in any of the tags and have to interact with anyone there.

Sometimes I get so annoyed with misinformation that I have to speak up, even if I don’t always get my thoughts across as well as I’d like. But I get tired easily and I don’t wanna do it anymore...I’m going back into retirement lmao.

I’m tired of having to explain a//se//xuality to pple who are overly nasty and aggressive, and don’t want to listen to someone with a perspective different than their own.

From now on pple like that will be blocked on sight. Unless they’re willing to have a mutually respectful, calm, and level-headed conversation. Arguing is utterly pointless.

Just want to make that clear.