Jupiter in 3rd house spouse appearance

Few days ago, my girlfriend called me out for a walk and i was bored sitting at my house so i followed up with her. It was a nice walk and when i felt tired, i went to take a seat, so did she.
Suddenly, her parents appear out of nowhere and i was a bit scared, but she said that its fine so just sit down. I calmed myself a bit and sat and greeted uncle. Uncle reciprocated nicely but when i went to greet the aunt, she escalated the matter saying that she told her not to come at this place but you dont listen to your parents. You dont value them. Whereas it was a simple walking track and a nursery where people walk so she asked her mother that she doesnt see it as a problem. There were some strangers who we didnt even knew and suddenly her mom started calling them thinking those strangers are our friends pretending to be strangers and followed up with my girlfriend.
I told her mother that they are just strangers and im just a friend of her because neither of the parents knew about our relationship. Her mother told me to stop hanging out with her and then proceeds to create a racket.
Moving on, while we were moving to the exit, her mother was going to the wrong way which is, in the jungle. My girlfriend told her that was the wrong route but her mother rudely replies with "who are you to direct me? I know from which direction i came from." We all followed up until her father said not to come any further because if i do the problem will increase. I had to take my leave but still i was in a lookout to see if they managed to get out. Once i found it out i went home right away.
On the other side, my girlfriend and her parents were on the way, her mother suddenly got lost and they were in the search. From here, i dont know if you guys would believe me but when they found her out, her mother was at the hilltop suddenly, her dad went to check if she is alright and started running away from him. She said, "it is either me or that guy". My girlfriend in the middle of her explanation, her mother started screaming, "my daughter doesnt love me. Shes comfortable with her friends than with me" while her father was chasing her down, my girlfriend went home to take a sip.
Suddenly, her mother rushes to her bedroom, locks her room and take a stool and proceeds to hang herself. Her mother blackmails and mentally tortures her since her childhood. And i believe her mother is a psychopath but in the other hand she lost hope in living because other than her daughter, she had many struggles in her family and in her own family she made. She called out her daughter's name and hunged herself. My girlfriend thought that it was her usual day of scaring her and thought she might be going to her village so she was happy that she might get peace there. I have also encountered this moment and i thought it would go back to normal, but nobody, not even her dad and sister thought that her mother would take such a big step. Even me. After some time, she knocked on her mothers door but she wasnt responding so she tried to look below the door and saw her legs were swinging to and fro so it felt pretty unusual for her so she called someone and broke the door and found her mother hanging for half an hour. She was already dead. She was devastated.
My girlfriend already was having trauma but encountering this tragedy made her scared to go back to her own place. She took the blame of her death whereas it was not her fault. It was no one's fault. Her mother took that selfish decision and hunged herself, without thinking about her family, her daughters and her mother. I have no empathy towards her mother because of what she has done to her but despite that, my girlfriend cried for straight 3 days, didnt sleep, didnt eat and was completely drained. She loved her mother despite that. I feel bad for her. I cried alot that day too. My parents shreaked upon her mother and hoped that she will burn in hell because suicide is a sin, but for my girlfriend, she engraved it as her fault and is still in denial. What a petty reason for suicide. I cant even process that her mother killed herself kuz of this. I seriously hate her mother but for her i'd do anything for her to heal even if it means not to speak truth about her mother not resting in peace and preach good on her. We might have different opinions but i love her so much and ill always be there for her as her moral support.
What do you guys think? Her mother killing herself was my girlfriend's fault or was her mother completely selfish?
Please let me know because i wanna let her know that:
"Her death was not her responsibility and it will never be her fault even if her mother called out her name and hunged herself." Even so her mother guilt trapped her own daughter for life and i hate her alot for that.

Is anyone else in a successful long term relationship/marriage with their spouse and you don’t really have all that much in common? Long story short for us physical attraction was first, then things moved quickly and now 8 years later we’ve got two kids, a growing business that she helps me with, big house etc but we just don’t have a lot of things in common in terms of things we like to do and our personality types clash quite a bit. It comes up most on vacations (on one right now) and I can’t help but wonder if we made a mistake marrying each other. We’ve both basically admitted to each other if it wasn’t for the children we’d likely find someone else we have more in common with but since we have them it’s best they grow up with both their parents in the home as long as it’s a stable environment and make the best of our situation since it could be much worse. My only worry is when the kids grow up we’re not left with much substance or things to do together since we don’t really enjoy the same things and we’ll be too old to care about the one thing we do enjoy with each other (sex lol) but hey maybe not haha.

So, to keep things brief, I have schizoaffective disorder (type 1 bipola SZ) and I no longer take anti-psychotics, but I do still take lithium as a mood stabilizer. I am also autistic.
Generally my symptoms are highly manageable unless I’m manic. When I’m manic, I tend to also become, well, for lack of a better term, extremely autistic.
I’m married with 3 kids, and so keeping up with projects and chores around the house is constantly difficult. My wife and I both work but I travel with an erratic schedule and spouse is a college professor, so most of the daily chores fall to me any time I am home. This is ok, I have the free time, I should be doing the work, and when I’m on the road it ALL falls to my wife, so I’m not upset about the division of labor.
When I become manic productivity becomes extremely important to me, so I’ll get very ambitious and start working through the to do list, and this is generally fine as long as I am not disrupted. If I am disrupted, I tend to become extremely combative and angry. This is in part the autism and the tendency to fixate, in part because I’m generally not overly troubled by hallucinations unless I’m manic, and then the voices are loud and omnipresent. This makes executive function difficult enough on its own, and when distractions and obstacles are presented I become frustrated and unpleasant to be around, very sarcastic and dismissive. Being fairly hard of hearing from 20 years of working in industrial environments has also made me fairly hard of hearing, so I tend to seem like I’m yelling, wether or not I intend to raise my voice purposefully.
I’m struggling to find ways to diffuse this anger. Usually, a long walk, a half hour break to read or stand in a shower is enough space and time for me to feel contrite over my behavior and return to the situation ready to deal constructively with spouse, kids, or the problem at hand. But when I’m manic, none of these steps are especially useful, I can’t calm down. My heart rate and blood pressure stay high, I feel trapped in the fight or flight response for hours, and can’t seem to relax and regain perspective.
Does anyone here have any anger management approaches they find helpful? How do you deal with pervasive anger or feelings of panic?

I’m needing some insight for my sister “Jane,” and her son, “Zach,” who turned 16 on 5/8/23. Zach spent some time in DYS for burglary, but was released in early 2022. Since his release, he has been on the up and up and trying to stay out of trouble. However, the local law enforcement has been stalking and harassing Zach and his mom since his release. Jane has been followed to and from work. Officers have sat outside her place of business and her home multiple times. A 19-year-old boy went "missing" in April. The police showed up at Jane’s house when she wasn't home, and attempted to search her house for the boy without a warrant, stating they believed Zach was responsible for his disappearance. Jane’s older son refused to allow the officers inside without a warrant, and they continued to threaten him with a warrant. The missing boy was home the same day he went missing, and had no connection to Zach.
School Resource Officers continued harassing Zach during school. On 5/10/23, they interviewed Zach and his mom regarding and instance of alleged harassment Zach was present for. They weren't able to pin anything on him, and he was allowed to go to class as normal, Jane went to work. Later that day, they arrested Zach for alleged graffiti in the school bathroom. He was immediately taken to County Juvenile Detention 2 hours away, where he has been in solitary ever since. At the first court appearance, the Judge ordered him to stay in custody. No proof or evidence has been provided, in fact, they refused to provide any proof until the trial. Zach has now been in solitary 2 hours from home for almost a month. He finally has a trial date set for 6/22/23, but his public defender is not being very helpful, and just told him to plead guilty, and said he would never be allowed to re-enroll in school in his town, and would be required to enroll in an alternative school in the next town over. His public defender is saying he doesn't think Zach will be allowed home unless he does this.
Jane is low-income. She is a single parent, who was married into an FLDS community at a very young age, which she left in 2011 [Zach’s father has done time in prison for SA against his wives]. I'm trying to help her the best that I can. I hate that my nephew is sitting in solitary like this. I've been reaching out to local attorneys to ask for pro-bono assistance with this case, as Jane cannot afford attorney fees, but I’ve been hitting dead ends. I’ve also contacted the ACLU with no response.
We are located in Missouri. And Zach and his family are white, because that seems to matter in our Justice system. 😑

You may have encountered a situation in your or someone else's life and you want to determine your loyalty to others. This is why people increasingly need to know how to monitor their partners without their knowledge. -----------Allhackgecko.com
How can I spy on my partners phone without them knowing ?
Table of Contents

• How to spy on someone’s iphone
• How to spy on someone’s phone without touching it
• How to spy on someone’s android phone
• How can i monitor someone’s phone?
• How can i hack my partner’s phone without them knowing
• How can I spy on my partners phone?
• Can you spy on someone’s phone?
• Do cell phone spy apps really work?
• What is the best app for spying on another’s phone?
• Can you remotely spy on a cell phone?
• How can i spy on my fiancee’s phone?
• How can i intercept my partner’s messages?
• How to track a cell phone without installing software on the device
• What app is the best to catch a cheating spouse?
• What app can you spy on your boyfriend with?

The Best way to spy on your partner’s phone is to check their phone but if you do not have physical access to the phone and do not want them to know, we suggest you read How to spy on my partner’s phone without him or her knowing it may be that you have observed certain disturbing trends recently in your husband? Or your child is being tight-lipped about his movement. It is your place to be on top of the situation as it will not be pleasant if you are called to witness a distressing event. I know you must have tried reaching out to them to find out what is really going on but hit a brick wall. I know you must be feeling very frustrated as your efforts are not showing any results. But does it make this a hopeless venture? Does it mean you may continue in the dark on such an important issue as your emotional well-being? You may have had to spend countless nights thinking how you got to such a place in your relationship. I am here to give you good news that there is something that could still be done. The one way you can truly unravel what is going and making the appropriate decision would be to spy on them. Now you must be thinking should I follow them everywhere they go?
I couldn’t possibly recommend that. You will give up in the first day out. Your surveillance will not take you out of your house or even take much of your time. All you need to focus on is their smart phone. Once you find a way of unlocking and monitoring their cell phone, you will be able to put everything in its proper perspective.
I spoke about finding a way to track them in the previous paragraph. Let’s get down to that now.
How to spy on someone’s iPhone
Now spying on iPhones is both easy and not so easy. The primary difficulty lies in finding a working spy tool that will do a good job. A lot of fraudulent spy apps litter the internet claiming to do one thing or the other. I know they are a waste of time because I have tried them and know what I had to put up with.
I will let you know from this moment that spy apps we discuss here offer paid services. Meaning you have to pay before you can enjoy premium surveillance services. So onward we go. iPhones are great smart phones and we all know that. The privacy it affords is second to none and many hackers have had a hard time getting access to it. But with all its security, there is still a way you can bypass this hurdle and it requires you to know the Apple ID and password of the target. With this in your hand, you will be able to track their calls, messages, emails, go through their social media activities, know the websites they frequently visit, remotely access their phone camera in order to record and take picture of the surroundings, be able to know in real-time their location. Allhackgecko.com
All these and more can be done when you choose the right spy tool to work with. That is why we have taken the time to compile a list of spy apps you can work with to get the results you are looking for. There is also the added bonus of not needing to jailbreak the target device in order of the spy app to work as the surveillance will be done via the web only. So you just need to login to your account with them and then you will be able to monitor the target phone after verifying the credentials.
How to spy on someone’s phone without touching it
Spying on someone may require you being in the places they are. But there is the fear that they may see you. That is why spying was moved from tailing to hacking. With hacking, you get to spy and monitor them through the activities they generate from their smart phone use. This seemed like a great solution to an age-long problem.
Couples and parents have had to deal with the heartache of not knowing where their partner is or who their kids are friends with. In a bid to make things easier, spy apps were introduced to enable us be aware of the movements of our loved ones. Although spy apps are cast in a bad light, they do a world of good. Through its use, parent have been able to discover whether their kids are lying to them as to where they are and who they are with, romantic partners are able to better validate the fidelity of their partners.
But the first problem spy apps faced was being discovered or noticed by the target and the need to have to root or jail-break the target device before it could work. Now, rooting or jail-breaking will require you to have physical access to the device and we know that this may not be possible.
A couple of years forward, we are now able to spy on a target’s phone without touching it. This feature is not available for every operating system but is exclusive to the iOS platform. So if your husband, wife, kid or employee uses an iPhone all you need to track them is just their iCloud credentials
How to spy on someone’s android phone
The only way you can spy on an Android smart phone is when you physically handle the target device. Disregard any blog post you may come across saying something contrary. You need to handle the target device so you can download and install the spy app on it. Once you complete the installation, you do not even need to handle it again. The spy app will automatically run in stealth mode to avoid detection and will be sending you information on the activities of the target device.
You can even remotely uninstall the spy app if you no longer need it.
How can i monitor someone’s phone?
You can monitor another person’s phone with only cell phone monitoring solutions
How can i hack my partner’s phone without them knowing
Do you want to hack your partner’s phone without them discovering you? Whatever the reason may be I hope you have spoken to them to let them know how you feel concerning the path your relationship is currently on.
Maybe you feel like they are no longer interested in you. You feel neglected and believe there is someone else who they share fond memories with besides yourself. If you are both legally joined, you have a right to know why your partner is acting out and putting your marriage in jeopardy.
How can I spy on my partners phone?
You may have confronted them with your suspicions and they would likely have shown you why your ideas are erroneous and childish. But you still get the nagging feeling that there is something afoot. Trying to go through their phones would be quite difficult given the security measures they may have installed to block outside interference. You may not even get the opportunity for once to handle the phone or even be near it when a message comes in.
What do you do then? How do you get the hard evidence you so dearly yearn for? Your way out of this dilemma will be when you turn to spy apps for help. Cell phone monitoring solutions (technical name for spy apps) will enable you get access to their phone even if you do not have access to it. You will be able to remotely monitor them and catch them red-handed when they are in the act. The bonus of using it is you will even be able to get picture and video evidence to support your case in court, if need be, as you can also remotely activate the target’s camera and video.
If you are in a dilemma and need to hack your husband’s phone and do not want him to know and do not also have access to his phone then you definitely spy apps. If he uses an iPhone, you do not need to install any tracking software before monitoring him. All that is required of you is his Apple ID and password for verification. Also make sure his iCloud backup option is enabled and auto synchronization is on. Once you sort this out, you will be able to spy on him without him ever suspecting anything.
For Android devices, the only way out is installing a tracking software. This means you need physical access to his phone before anything can be done. If you have a few seconds, just quickly go to the official website of any of our listed top spy apps and install for Android. After this is sorted, the spy app will automatically run in stealth mode thereby evading detection by your target. You can then login to your online account you have with the spy service and spy on them. You do not have to root the phone before it works and it does not consume battery life or disturb the performance of the target device.
Can you spy on someone’s phone?
Yes. You can definitely monitor another person’s smart phone. But before doing that, make sure you are aware of the binding laws in your state pertaining to using surveillance technology. You can consult your local attorney to hear his opinion on the issue
Can you remotely spy on a cell phone?
Yes you can remotely gather data on a target cell phone without having access or being anywhere near the target device.
How can i spy on my fiancée's phone?
You can use spy app on your soon-to-be partner to know who they truly are.
How can i intercept my partner’s messages?
Do you want to intercept and read your partner’s messages? Do you suspect they may be having extra-marital affairs and trying to cover it up? Whatever the need may be, you can gain access to all their mobile activities; calls, messages, online chats, social media accounts, passwords, location history, browsing sessions all from the convenience of your couch. Allhackgecko.com

Throughout my (50F) 30-year relationship with her son (55M), my MIL has incessantly micromanaged our parenting, disregarded our boundaries, and disregarded our explicit requests. She pushes for detailed information from us about our adult children, despite their reluctance to talk to her. While they have better relationships with her, they struggle to establish boundaries; she persistently pushes until she gets her way. During COVID, she was furious when I didn't bring "her grandbaby" to visit her in the first year after he was born due to caution. Her influence has been a constant source of conflict in our marriage as my husband always sides with her. I chose to go no/small contact with her a decade ago to protect our family. In a recent argument, my husband told me he will only see the positive side of his parents, refuses to acknowledge any wrongdoing on their part, and forbade me from criticizing them. To maintain peace, I complied.
Recently, my MIL invited my husband and her other adult children to spend 12 days with them in Europe and have been pressuring him to agree. He wants to go but I told him that I could not support a twelve-day trip! Some of our adult children struggle with mental health and still live with us, not to mention we have a two-year-old that needs constant time and attention! My husband cannot take much time off from work and generally works 60-hour weeks. I would really appreciate vacation time to be spent helping me (I take care of everything else round the house and our newest child 24/7). I am exhausted. I told him that twelve days is ridiculous and that I didn't even want him to go as she would undoubtedly speak ill of me and he will be leaving all responsibility of care of our children to me for that period. I said I could support four days. He was extremely unsatisfied with that and kept pushing for more time.
We moved his ticket back by a day and I was unhappy with that but just wanted to be done. Then he bought a ticket that gets in an hour and a half earlier but leaves three hours earlier. I told him that I would refuse to support his trip if he kept the ticket that he bought instead of the one we agreed on. I am just so frustrated because this is the balance, he is really willing to give up my whole support of the trip in exchange for an hour and a half more with his mother. I am hurt and so tired of this constant bickering about his mother, he clearly does not value me. She also has done things like this multiple times where she asks her adult children with kids and responsibilities to drop everything and go spend time with them somewhere (without their spouses or kids).
Also, I don't even know what "refusing to support this trip" means bc nothing will change. I'm still going to take care of the house and the children and one of my adult daughters advised me to not try to cut future trips short because he took "extra time" on this one which I'm planning on following. So what do you think, Reddit? AITA?

You may have encountered a situation in your or someone else's life and you want to determine your loyalty to others. This is why people increasingly need to know how to monitor their partners without their knowledge. ----------- Allhackgecko.com
How can I spy on my partners phone without them knowing ?
Table of Contents

• How to spy on someone’s iphone
• How to spy on someone’s phone without touching it
• How to spy on someone’s android phone
• How can i monitor someone’s phone?
• How can i hack my partner’s phone without them knowing
• How can I spy on my partners phone?
• Can you spy on someone’s phone?
• Do cell phone spy apps really work?
• What is the best app for spying on another’s phone?
• Can you remotely spy on a cell phone?
• How can i spy on my fiancee’s phone?
• How can i intercept my partner’s messages?
• How to track a cell phone without installing software on the device
• What app is the best to catch a cheating spouse?
• What app can you spy on your boyfriend with?

The Best way to spy on your partner’s phone is to check their phone but if you do not have physical access to the phone and do not want them to know, we suggest you read How to spy on my partner’s phone without him or her knowing it may be that you have observed certain disturbing trends recently in your husband? Or your child is being tight-lipped about his movement. It is your place to be on top of the situation as it will not be pleasant if you are called to witness a distressing event. I know you must have tried reaching out to them to find out what is really going on but hit a brick wall. I know you must be feeling very frustrated as your efforts are not showing any results. But does it make this a hopeless venture? Does it mean you may continue in the dark on such an important issue as your emotional well-being? You may have had to spend countless nights thinking how you got to such a place in your relationship. I am here to give you good news that there is something that could still be done. The one way you can truly unravel what is going and making the appropriate decision would be to spy on them. Now you must be thinking should I follow them everywhere they go?
I couldn’t possibly recommend that. You will give up in the first day out. Your surveillance will not take you out of your house or even take much of your time. All you need to focus on is their smart phone. Once you find a way of unlocking and monitoring their cell phone, you will be able to put everything in its proper perspective.
I spoke about finding a way to track them in the previous paragraph. Let’s get down to that now.
How to spy on someone’s iPhone
Now spying on iPhones is both easy and not so easy. The primary difficulty lies in finding a working spy tool that will do a good job. A lot of fraudulent spy apps litter the internet claiming to do one thing or the other. I know they are a waste of time because I have tried them and know what I had to put up with.
I will let you know from this moment that spy apps we discuss here offer paid services. Meaning you have to pay before you can enjoy premium surveillance services. So onward we go. iPhones are great smart phones and we all know that. The privacy it affords is second to none and many hackers have had a hard time getting access to it. But with all its security, there is still a way you can bypass this hurdle and it requires you to know the Apple ID and password of the target. With this in your hand, you will be able to track their calls, messages, emails, go through their social media activities, know the websites they frequently visit, remotely access their phone camera in order to record and take picture of the surroundings, be able to know in real-time their location. Allhackgecko.com
All these and more can be done when you choose the right spy tool to work with. That is why we have taken the time to compile a list of spy apps you can work with to get the results you are looking for. There is also the added bonus of not needing to jailbreak the target device in order of the spy app to work as the surveillance will be done via the web only. So you just need to login to your account with them and then you will be able to monitor the target phone after verifying the credentials.
How to spy on someone’s phone without touching it
Spying on someone may require you being in the places they are. But there is the fear that they may see you. That is why spying was moved from tailing to hacking. With hacking, you get to spy and monitor them through the activities they generate from their smart phone use. This seemed like a great solution to an age-long problem.
Couples and parents have had to deal with the heartache of not knowing where their partner is or who their kids are friends with. In a bid to make things easier, spy apps were introduced to enable us be aware of the movements of our loved ones. Although spy apps are cast in a bad light, they do a world of good. Through its use, parent have been able to discover whether their kids are lying to them as to where they are and who they are with, romantic partners are able to better validate the fidelity of their partners.
But the first problem spy apps faced was being discovered or noticed by the target and the need to have to root or jail-break the target device before it could work. Now, rooting or jail-breaking will require you to have physical access to the device and we know that this may not be possible.
A couple of years forward, we are now able to spy on a target’s phone without touching it. This feature is not available for every operating system but is exclusive to the iOS platform. So if your husband, wife, kid or employee uses an iPhone all you need to track them is just their iCloud credentials
How to spy on someone’s android phone
The only way you can spy on an Android smart phone is when you physically handle the target device. Disregard any blog post you may come across saying something contrary. You need to handle the target device so you can download and install the spy app on it. Once you complete the installation, you do not even need to handle it again. The spy app will automatically run in stealth mode to avoid detection and will be sending you information on the activities of the target device.
You can even remotely uninstall the spy app if you no longer need it.
How can i monitor someone’s phone?
You can monitor another person’s phone with only cell phone monitoring solutions
How can i hack my partner’s phone without them knowing
Do you want to hack your partner’s phone without them discovering you? Whatever the reason may be I hope you have spoken to them to let them know how you feel concerning the path your relationship is currently on.
Maybe you feel like they are no longer interested in you. You feel neglected and believe there is someone else who they share fond memories with besides yourself. If you are both legally joined, you have a right to know why your partner is acting out and putting your marriage in jeopardy.
How can I spy on my partners phone?
You may have confronted them with your suspicions and they would likely have shown you why your ideas are erroneous and childish. But you still get the nagging feeling that there is something afoot. Trying to go through their phones would be quite difficult given the security measures they may have installed to block outside interference. You may not even get the opportunity for once to handle the phone or even be near it when a message comes in.
What do you do then? How do you get the hard evidence you so dearly yearn for? Your way out of this dilemma will be when you turn to spy apps for help. Cell phone monitoring solutions (technical name for spy apps) will enable you get access to their phone even if you do not have access to it. You will be able to remotely monitor them and catch them red-handed when they are in the act. The bonus of using it is you will even be able to get picture and video evidence to support your case in court, if need be, as you can also remotely activate the target’s camera and video.
If you are in a dilemma and need to hack your husband’s phone and do not want him to know and do not also have access to his phone then you definitely spy apps. If he uses an iPhone, you do not need to install any tracking software before monitoring him. All that is required of you is his Apple ID and password for verification. Also make sure his iCloud backup option is enabled and auto synchronization is on. Once you sort this out, you will be able to spy on him without him ever suspecting anything.
For Android devices, the only way out is installing a tracking software. This means you need physical access to his phone before anything can be done. If you have a few seconds, just quickly go to the official website of any of our listed top spy apps and install for Android. After this is sorted, the spy app will automatically run in stealth mode thereby evading detection by your target. You can then login to your online account you have with the spy service and spy on them. You do not have to root the phone before it works and it does not consume battery life or disturb the performance of the target device.
Can you spy on someone’s phone?
Yes. You can definitely monitor another person’s smart phone. But before doing that, make sure you are aware of the binding laws in your state pertaining to using surveillance technology. You can consult your local attorney to hear his opinion on the issue
Can you remotely spy on a cell phone?
Yes you can remotely gather data on a target cell phone without having access or being anywhere near the target device.
How can i spy on my fiancée's phone?
You can use spy app on your soon-to-be partner to know who they truly are.
How can i intercept my partner’s messages?
Do you want to intercept and read your partner’s messages? Do you suspect they may be having extra-marital affairs and trying to cover it up? Whatever the need may be, you can gain access to all their mobile activities; calls, messages, online chats, social media accounts, passwords, location history, browsing sessions all from the convenience of your couch. Allhackgecko.com

Sorry, this still wound up being pretty lengthy. Probably a million typos too.
Ok so I've typed this twice and I keep making it way longer than it probably needs to be to get to the point. But it was a crazy fucking situation and frankly even I'm still struggling to process it all. So, take 3, sticking to basic details pertaining to the title. Feel free to ask additional questions.
5 days ago a giant ass 80 foot oak tree was uprooted during a storm and collapsed on our home. It completely caved in my bedroom. I was home with my 5yo daughter and 13yo stepdaughter. My SO (their dad) was not home. My daughter had been in my room with me just 10-15 minutes before it happened. We went out to the living room to play. I had been hiding (playing hide and seek, relevant detail) with her when it happened. Came out literally seconds before it fell to check on things as the storm was getting loud af.
Long story short, we don't get much extreme weather where we live. This crazy storm came out of nowhere and escalated quickly, basically no warning this tree was coming down. My daughter was closest to it, maybe about 10 feet away from my open bedroom door. My stepdaughter and I were there in the living room with her. Suddenly just this crazy deafening boom, dust cloud puffing up out of my room, power went out then started flickering on and off, view out the living room window obstructed by the fallen tree.
The girls screamed bloody murder. Then my daughter jumped on the couch and started crying hysterically, my stepdaughter froze where she was standing. I grabbed them and got them to my stepdaughter's room, closet door frame, where I felt was the sturdiest safest place farthest from the cave in that I could get them before making sure there was a safe way to get them out. Told them to stay together there while I went to make sure the way out was clear and to look for our upstairs neighbor. My daughter was still crying and begged me not to leave them. That's still fucking me up, remembering the fear and desperation in her voice. Neighbor was ok (albeit borderline hysterical and nonfunctional), lead her downstairs, front door of our building was clear, got the girls and toonthem put to the porch (which appeared to be untouched and secure).
Skipping the details, everyone was ok. My stepdaughter went to stay with her mom and the rest of us slept at my sister's house (who is out of town anyway). The next day my parents took my daughter and kept her for 2 nights for us so we could more easily begin the process of moving out what we could and coming up with a game plan (as it will be months before we can move back in).
Now to the point of posting all this here. There was a storm at my parent's house while my daughter was there. My mom said she had a bit of a PTSD moment. She got really scared and upset and said more than once that she didn't want it to happen again.
And now that she's been back with us a couple days, I'm noticing another issue. She seems to get pretty distressed if she doesn't know where I am. If I just leave the room to go to the bathroom without announcing it and she realizes I'm not there she starts calling out and looking for me in an anxious tone of voice. I'll call out to her and tell her where I am and she'll say "OK, I just didn't know where you were" with a tense edge to her voice still. I put her toys in a room my sister had just been renovating (mostly done, safe for my daughter, but no furniture moved in yet) and she doesn't want to be in there alone to play.
So it seems she's feeling some separation anxiety and fear of being alone, especially involving me. She's always been kind of on the clingy side but not to this extent. I feel like I freaking permanently scarred my child because I was playing hide and seek and she couldn't find me moments before experiencing something really scary and chaotic and traumatic. Rationally I know I didn't do anything wrong, but I'm feeling so guilty for having been hiding, for not having been by her side. For having to leave her behind with her sister for ever though it was probably only for a minute or so and what I felt I had to do in the moment to keep her safe. We've all been crashing in my sister's loving room together and I'm ensure how it's going to go when we're able to get her back into a bed in her own room again.
And now lastly, she wet the bed last night (and by bed I mean my sister's sofa). She's got potty training and overnights well in hand, it's the first time she's done that in ages. So I'm worried about her and how she's doing. I'm trying to approach it carefully so I don't risk inadvertently coaching her into feeling more than she might already or put ideas or feelings in her head that might not already be there.
She's never experienced something traumatic like this before, I'm just fumbling along doing my best to handle it correctly. While feeling guilty, even if irrationally, for maybe having made the moment worse. All while squashing down all the other feelings swirling around my head, cuz fucking hell it was scary. Believe it or not this is a shorter far less dramatic telling of the story, lol. I kept my shit together for the kids and my neighbor, and to look for my pets, including crawling under the collapsed viewing (that portion being propped up by our exercise bike) to get to my bunny who apparently ran to hide in his damaged cage (he isn't kept closed in it) with fallen bricks around it. And all the other bajillion feelings about losing our home, items lost, the guilt of inconveniencing friends and family, stress about finances, my pets being in less than ideal accommodations (though they're all safe and uninjured and cared for).
Anxiety and difficult feelings are not new to me, lol, I can handle it, I'll get through it. But I hate seeing the impact it's having on my daughter. I just hope I'm handling everything correctly with her.

Hello, everyone.
I'm newly ttc (25 yo, mild pcos). In fact, this is our first month. I came off the progesterone only pill when my last withdrawl bleed finished in May (as in, I didn't go back on it after the bleed ended). My bleed started the 18th, and the 21st was my final day. From there, my partner and I tried to track my potential ovulation via the Flo app. We had unprotected sex every day from the 19th or so until the 31st, when my supposed ovulation occured. I monitored my CM as well, but didn't temp. I had watery discharge for a few days. On the 31st (supposed ovulation day according to Flo), I had EWCM but the next day, it changed to watery once again. It was soon afterwards that I realised the Flo app MAY have gotten my dates wrong and I may have ovulated a few days sooner but idk.
It was on my supposed 3rd day past ovulation that I started spotting. It was dark brown, only appeared on the tissue when I wiped and barely noticeable. It lasted for 2 and a half days. I took a pregnancy test during these two days. All were negative. Accompanying this was period like cramps and nausea.
That all stopped (except I still have nausea every now and then), but I got another negative digital test this morning. My period is due the 15th. I'm very confused.
So, 1) Is it possible that I ovulated sooner with the watery discharge?
2) If I ovulated sooner, shouldn't I get a positive test sooner?
3) I hope to take a FRER soon. When should I take it?
I've never experienced these symptoms before. I even cried yesterday because I don't like minced meat when my partner made me tacos for dinner lmaoooo. I would say I was imagining the symptoms but I most certainly wasn't. Thank you in advance for any help.

In my youthful teenage years (15-16) my family moved to many new areas. In one of these new areas a new horror awaited me... I made a few friends in this new area, we'd hang out in the local park or the adjoining street.
Over time we'd attract the attention of two girls, these two girls would always be in the background or following us from behind, eventually they joined our group and one of them handed me a romantic 'i fancy you' letter that was supposedly written by her friend but was actually written by herself, i honestly thought this was weird and that both these girls were a bit odd
One of the following days we'd all be hanging around in the park, the girl who wrote the letter was being a bit flirtatious and decided she wanted to play-fight/wrestle with me, i didn't mind, i kinda lifted her up, put her on the floor, it was all very normal and we laughed about it after.. That was it for now..
A few days letter i hear a knock on my door to my surprise it's two plain clothes police officers who wanted to have a chat with me :/ apparently i was being too friendly with this girl and i needed to back off, i responded with something along the lines of WTF! and don't worry i'll never speak to her again.. If it ended just there, i wouldn't be writing this now... At the very same time i was speaking to the police, this girl was out there telling everyone i knew in the area, everyone but the police that i raped her :( me, a boy who was still a virgin (and still am to this day) was being accused of rape
Over the next few days i had friends coming to me asking if i did rape her and obviously i defended my name , i told them how she was weird, also if she had the confidence to tell everyone on the streets, why didn't she have the confidence to tell the police. She probably wanted attention, how she often followed our group and gave me a romantic letter that she claimed her friends wrote but it was actually her.. My friends believed me...and things died down.. This should've been the end of it..
A few months later my father had a falling out with the landlord, he had been renting the place to us illegally and now once again it was time to leave for a new house in an area many miles away , this new place would become the nightmare area i described in a now deleted post i wrote few day ago. New area was dangerous, friends going down the drug/prison path , my mental health was going to hell and i would've ended up dead or prison if i carried on hanging out with these friends or even leaving the house
Just before i embraced the hikikomori life, i thought I'd go see my old friends from my previous area, it'd been a year or so since i seen them. Going back was huge mistake. It was night time i was wandering the area looking for them, i found one of them, he lead me to the local kebab house where many people were socialising, suddenly one vaguely familar girl points at me and shouts 'that's the one who raped her" i was then surrounded by people and physically attacked, nothing i said to the drunk attackers made a difference... After that i walked to the hospital to get my jaw checked out and then i walked home.
That's pretty much the end of my story. In recent days i made a new FB account but quickly deleted it, i made the account just so i could chat with my sisters, i even used a fake funny name and put a korean man as my profile picture, i only added one of my sisters then i noticed in my find friends recommendations was the bastard girl who accused me of rape, why is she appearing in my find friends list i wonder, does she want to apologise or cause me more grief, I've never had her as a friend on FB, has she been searching my name on fb all these years, does the fb algorithms know its me because im using the same email as last time i was there...
I'm met with a flood of emotions, anger, hate, sadness, confusion and the desire to confront the bastard woman who put me through all this, i start panicking and delete my account .. Is confronting her a smart move? Or best to leave the past in the past

[Chapter One]
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Rosifo Girtwoud woke up feeling sore and exhausted. He slept well, but never as long as he’d have liked. He could hear his roommates moving around and getting ready for their days. Sitting up in bed, he stretched and took stock. His new job was physically demanding, but it was the best job he’d ever had. By a lot. He loved having his own room in a nice place, all thanks to his generous new salary! He could even afford to eat as much as he wanted, a luxury he’d not even dreamed was possible. Last night he ate three helpings of honey glazed pork at the pub! Still clumsy from sleep, Ros shrugged on a tunic and clean slacks, pausing for a second to appreciate the lordly quality of the garments. He still couldn’t believe he owned such nice things, and the Chief just gave it to him! Well, everyone got a few, but that didn’t make it any less special. Ros put on his belt as he went downstairs to the kitchen, where a few of his roommates were eating breakfast and the landlady was pulling some fresh buns out of the wood fired oven.
“Hey there’s the champ now!” called out Rikad, his housemate and co-worker.
“Heh, there are some perks to being the lightest guy on the squad!” Ros replied, referring to the agility drill he had won at work yesterday. Three days a week of training was by far the hardest part of the job, being trained by the Chief was like weathering a storm. Terrifying and dangerous, but something you could be proud of surviving. The other three days a week they worked were a holiday in comparison. Sitting on carts and standing by warehouses was easy.
Ros devoured his huge bowl of sweetened oats and then three buttered fresh buns. Pushing back from the long table with a satisfied sigh, he got up to leave for work with Rikad. The spring morning air was brisk, and they made sure to stay out of the way of loaded carts and riders that zipped by on the narrow cobblestone streets.
“What do you reckon the Chief will have us do today?” Rikad asked.
Ros snorted, “Quit embarrassing ourselves and pick up the pace?”
“Hah! That’s hardly a guess! I liked the knife throwing we did a few weeks ago, that was fun. I hope it’s not all runs and drills, I’m still aching from yesterday,” Rikad said.
“Yeah, I like combat drills. Other than when I have to spar with the Chief. He’s like a mountain that’s fast. I think the day I get a point on him, I’ll buy the whole team a beer!” Ros motioned a lunging jab as they walked.
“We’ll be too old to drink by then!” Rikad teased.
They were in for a typical training routine, a morning lecture on tactics and formations, some solo weapon drills, a short run, then a hearty lunch delivered from the nearby deli. Other days they just called a food cart into the yard with them, but Ros liked the deli lunches better. Also the novelty of someone else buying his lunches was thrilling. Ros assumed that this must be how pretty girls felt all the time. Maybe less sore and less yelled at. But maybe not.
The real highlight of the day was Ros got to see the owner of the whole company when he came out to observe their exercises. Ros hadn’t seen a real lord up close before he started at Pandemonium, and he thought it was one of the biggest perks. Mostly he looked like a tired doctor or shopkeeper, but Ros wasn’t disappointed. He had a nobility of his bearing, clarity in his eyes and an aura of authority. Even the Chief changed when he was around him! Seeing the him defer to anyone spoke volumes to their importance. Not only was he the lord of a whole company, he was also a mage! They were super rare even before the Church started purging all those heresies in their College of Magic, but now he wasn’t even sure there were any in the city!
“Agility drills are done! Imma talk to Mage Thippily, so you lot do some king of the hill sparring; Sword ‘n board! Ros and Kedril start!” boomed Chief of Security Stanisk.
Ros staggered exhaustedly to the equipment racks to get an arming jacket, leather helm, training sword and shield.
“Mage Thippliy is watching,” he whispered reverentially to himself as he geared up.
“Mind your tone or he’ll turn you into a turnip!” called Rikad.
Kedril grinned, “Hah, He’ll turn you into a turnip, Rik. He’ll just look at Ros and see his work is already done!”
Ros used to despise Kedril. He embodied everything Ros had yearned to become: handsome, confident, affluent, and sharp-witted. The team's dynamic was confrontational, rife with competition; they raced, fought, and scored against one another all day, three days a week. It had taken Ros a while to grasp that they were, in fact, a team. Kedril, infuriatingly attractive, devoted time to helping Ros in a few drills last week and offered valuable advice. So, albeit begrudgingly, Ros began to admire him. Kedril was older by a few years, substantially larger, and appeared to be one of the few who already had some training in arms. The prospect of sparring with him didn’t excite Ros.
Fresh from drills and immediately thrown into sparring, sweat trickled into Ros's eyes. The sting impaired his vision. He repeated to himself, 'Elbows in, shield up, tip forward, hips back,’ partially to fix his stance, partially to focus. Kedril was typically in better shape than him, but now appeared even more worn out. His guard was lax and messy, creating a gaping opening. Ros seized the opportunity and struck with a swift, precise jab. In the fleeting instant the jab took, Kedril's shield snapped into position, and his tip dealt a solid blow to Ros's ribs just beneath his sword arm. It was a feint - a brilliantly executed display of weakness where he was most prepared, exactly the tactic Stanisk had explained yesterday.
“Mashed Turnip!” Kedril shouted to the cheers of the others.
“Ros! You lost because your stance is awful! Keep lower! Coiled spring, lad!” the Chief shouted from across the yard.
Ros raised his hands over his head to cede the point and sat at the end of the bench. He hated losing, but he had expected to lose. He gratefully grabbed a cup of water and watched Kedril make short work of a few more challengers. It seemed like they were picking on him, but Ros was coming to understand they were also bonding with him, and these might be the closest friends he’d ever had. Not that it was a high bar, and he didn’t like all of them, but they had his back, and that meant a lot. Finally Jourgun, the biggest lad on the team, tore into Kedril with so much energy and fury that no amount of clever tactics could stop him. Even though he knew these were his friends, seeing Kedril getting bashed in the face with a shield was almost as good as seeing a real mage!
One thing Ros appreciated about training days was that they were shorter. After the sparring, Stanisk pulled aside Kedril and Jourgun for additional work, and dismissed the rest of the men. Ros trailed behind some of his newfound friends to a peculiar place where one would sit, fully naked, in a steam-filled room, all for two glucks.
“This is a sex thing, right?” Ros asked Rikad cautiously.
“What?! Light, no! It’s to relax and heal," Rikad explained. "They place herbs on hot rocks, we sit there, sweat, and breathe in the steam. It’s excellent, you’ll love it!”
“Sounds like we’re all naked and sweaty, though?” Ros remained convinced this was some intimate activity he wasn’t fully grasping. Rikad rolled his eyes and even paid Ros’s entry fee.
Inside the dim, tiled room was surprisingly comfortable. The steam smelled slightly of herbs and medicine, and it was so thick he couldn’t even see the far wall. A quick survey of the others revealed they were just as covered in bruises as he was, which gave Ros a fresh sense of camaraderie. They towelled off, dressed, drank some cold water, and left the strange business without any hint of the carnal encounter Ros had suspected. Despite his lingering confusion about the whole place, Ros liked it and wanted to come back. He appreciated his squadmates not making a single steamed turnip joke. He was hoping that didn’t stick as a nickname, he felt it didn’t remotely suit him.
After the steam, their muscles relaxed and the day's tension eased away. Ros and Rikad were starving. It had been hours since lunch, so they headed to a nearby tavern for drinks and dinner. Being able to simply enjoy food and drink without concern for the price was an intoxicatingly fresh experience. In fact, Ros enjoyed this newfound freedom even more than the meal itself.
After a huge dinner and a few beers Ros paused, and opened up a little.
"Did you know this is the pub where I talked the Chief into hiring me?"
"Really? To be honest, I've always wondered about that. No offence, but you're a lot smaller than the rest of us." Rikad pushed away his empty plate, taking a long drink of his beer.
"Yeah, I saw the Chief in here, dressed like a shining champion, buying ladies drinks and rounds for the whole bar. He was so confident and kind and relaxed. But also obviously dangerous. I’d never seen anyone like him!" Ros gestured to the tavern maid for a refill. "I must have been a sight. My clothes were more patch than original cloth, I was so skinny you could've counted my ribs through a sweater. Not that I had sweater money!" Ros reflected on the lean muscle he'd gained in recent months with inward satisfaction.
"Did the Chief take you for a beggar?"
Ros bristled at the suggestion. "Hell no! I've never begged in my life, I've always earned my keep!" his brief flare of indignation faded immediately. "No, he thought I was a refugee, from some starving backwater. Of course, I corrected him—after he bought me dinner!"
"Hah! The proper sequence," Rikad agreed, laughing.
"Anyway, he asked about my plans. I told him I was waiting till I was eighteen to join the army and serve the Emperor."
"You've certainly filled out since I met you, but I'm not sure you'd pass the army physical even now," Rikad cautiously speculated.
"The Chief was blunter about it. 'Yer so scrawny, a necromancer would find ya offputting, the army ain't gonna waste rations on ya.'" Ros imitated Stanisk’s gruff rural northerner accent.
"Hah! That sounds about right. Which makes your wearing company purple less clear than ever!" Rikad replied.
"Well, he asked if I knew my way around the city. I said I've tread every cobblestone here, so he offered me a job running letters and picking up parcels. Better work than sweeping alleys for a half-gluck and stale bread. I figured a fancy man like him would pay alright."
The waitress finally brought the next round, and Ros paused to take a long drink. Setting his mug down, he continued. "I walked into the Chief's office, and there he was behind that tiny desk with his book and quill. He looked like a cave troll trying to be a librarian. But I wasn't gonna laugh—it was still the Chief. He said, 'We don’t got a lot for now but I’ll give you a list in the morning, and see that it gets done.' I said ain’t fancy, I don’t know how to read! He didn't lose his cool. He simply nodded and said, 'Alright, just report to me in the morning, and we’ll get you started.' Oh, and he warned me never to speak to the Mage unless spoken to, which suited me fine."
Ros took another drink of his beer, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and continued. "I was hoping for five gee a day. I’d probably have done it for a lone gluck, to be honest. So imagine my shock when he apologised that he could only offer me twenty glucks a day!"
"Where were you living, that five would've been enough?" Rikad asked, curious.
Ros, slightly flushed from the beer, leaned forward. "Under a bloody hedge!" He burst into laughter at his own expense.
"That's rough man," Rikad commented, shaking his head.
Ros nodded. "It was, but it's behind me now. After a month or so of running errands, the Chief finally let me join the crew he was training. That's how I ended up a part of the elite guard of a learned lord mage."
Rikad, his face ruddy, pointed his finger at Ros’s chest. "It’s your attitude! You always train the hardest. It’s changed the whole team's tone."
Ros nodded again, serious. "I gotta! The fifteen hundred gee I make every month now is probably more than I did in the last decade. Total! I bet we make as much as a knight commander does leading a thousand soldiers!"
Rikad looked at him suspiciously. "Wait, a decade? Aren't you still a teenager?"
Ros shrugged. "It's been a long, hard time. Anyway, I know I promised to go to see that folk band with you tonight, but I'm spent. I think I might call it an early night." He finished the beer in two long gulps and stood up.
"I get it. Besides, tomorrow's Sunday. We can finally sleep in!" Rikad pointed out.
******
Ros woke to a frantic pounding on his bedroom door. It was still dark out.
“Go away! Keep it down! You’ll wake the whole house!” Ros grumbled, mostly asleep.
“Come on man! Emergency meeting at the training yard. We gotta go now!” Rikad hoarsely whispered.
“Ah, that’s not good!” Ros threw on some clothes and headed out the door with his friend.
“Think it has something to do with what Kedril and Jourgun were doing after work?” Ros asked.
“Maybe? That was hours and hours ago, and those guys are great, and they were with the Chief,” Rikad countered.
They jogged through the mostly empty streets. The moons were behind clouds, and the dew made the cobblestones slick. The faint flickering of their leviathan oil lamp cast strange shadows in the foggy night. The city felt on edge, too many people on the streets in the middle of the night, whispering. A few times Ros thought he heard something about thunder and demons, which did nothing to calm his growing panic.
“What if something happened to Mage Thippily? Are we all unemployed now?” Ros asked, knowing Rikad knew as much as he did.
“What is the business we guard? Something to do with magically formed super secret goods that no one was allowed to talk about. I think? I should have asked,” Rikad lamented.
Finally they made it to the yard, and Kedril was standing at the gate, torch held aloft.
“Good lads! Go into the workshop and take a seat. The Chief has some tea on.” Kedril’s voice was as calm and steady as ever, but his face was pale and drawn, and his eyes never focused on them, just scanned the night intently.
“Inside? Are you sure?” Ros had never gone inside; that was the single biggest rule.
Kedril just nodded. Ros and Rikad looked at each other for courage and moved forward. The big yard door to the workshop opened a crack, and warm light was spilling out. Rikad motioned Ros to go first, and he poked his head in, fully expecting to lose it.
“Oy, is that Ros? Git your scrawny ass in here,” Chief Stanisk rumbled.
The two men felt like flies exploring a web, but inside was surprisingly normal. Five other guards were already there, and the room was a lot like any other workshop. It had planked floors, shelves and tables and one corner was even converted into a kitchen. There were a few simple stools set up, and two incredibly luxurious loungers. Like everyone else, Ros and Rikad took a stool. The Chief gestured to a kettle and mugs for the tea, but no one seemed interested.
“What’s happening, is everyone okay?” Ros finally asked.
“Short answer is yes, for now.” Stanisk said calmly. “We’ll give the other lads a few minutes to get here, then I’ll explain.”
“Holy light, sir! You aren’t wearing your armour!” This unsettled Ros more than anything he’d seen all night, it was like seeing a bear shaved. Chief was just sitting there in trousers and a shirt, sipping tea. He’d never seen the Chief without armour.
“Needs cleaned,” he answered cryptically.
Follow up questions were interrupted by the rest of the men arriving, followed by Kedril and then Jourgun, who must have been watching the far gate.
“Alright, gather round, at ease.” Stanisk started. He looked relaxed which was probably a good sign.
“You lot were hired to protect the interests of our operations. There was an attempt on Mage Thippliy’s life tonight, at his meeting. Security Specialists Kedril and Jourgun did excellent work, and I have full confidence in all of your growing abilities. Our concern is there will be additional attempts."
There was a murmur of apprehension. The mage was the company. Without him there was nothing to guard. No one here wanted to lose their jobs, but they had been suspicious from the start. The pay didn’t match the work.
Stanisk paused as Mage Thipply and the elv, that had only been speculated to exist, came down the ladder from the loft. The mage was dressed like normal, in his brown pants and a white shirt, frameless glasses and a short well maintained beard streaked with grey. The elv was wearing an oversized sweater and long stockings. It had the effect of making her upper body look human, but with the long spindly legs of a shore bird. Her huge nocturnal eyes stared at them all unblinkingly, and her long narrow fingers with too many segments wrapped around a mug of tea. Ros was both intimidated and repulsed. It was like a bird or an insect pretending to be a person, but with eyes that had intelligence and cruelty.
“Ah! Um, thank you all for coming!” The mage was directly addressing them, Ros grinned despite his fears and worries. “There have been events over the last week or so that have culminated tonight, and I no longer think that our operation in Jagged Cove is viable.” The mage saw the reaction of the crowd turn sharply negative. He hastily added, “Of course I’m not closing up shop, we’re just moving to another location. A location outside of the capital region, and I’d like you all to join us.”
Ros sighed and leaned back in relief. This wasn’t bad news at all. He’d gladly move to the bottom of the sea for the Mage. He could feel his pulse returning to normal, as other people started asking questions.
“What? I can’t leave the city, I got a wife and kids!” a guard named Theros said.
“Oh, I just started dating a baker's apprentice, is there an option to stay?” Jourgun asked.
The elv stood up, and addressed the room with an icy indifference. “This is not a negotiation. There is a ship that is leaving in about six hours. If you are on it, you will remain employed. We have also made considerations for your families. They are welcome on the ship, and you can find new homes in the town we relocate to.” She subtly nodded to the Chief before continuing. “Chief Stanisk values your skills so highly that he convinced the board of directors to offer each of you a five year contract. The contract will have some additional employment conditions, but there will be a 5000 glindi signing bonus. Follow Chief Stanisk’s instructions to get on the boat, and we’ll see you there. Or not.”
She returned to the ornate chair, and the room erupted into chaos.
“Holy light! That’s so much!”
“I’d be insane not to sign!”
“Where are we even going?”
Ros grinned from ear to ear, what’s to decide? This was the best possible outcome! Free money to see the world! Packing his bags would take no time, and he could carry everything that mattered in one trip.
Stanisk took command of the room, “You with young ‘uns, we got the company wagons for you waiting, get a move on. I’ll take the mage’s personal wagon and do a loop to Kedril’s, Eowin’s and Klive’s. The rest of you, leg it! Meet back here in three hours and tell anyone what asks, that you took a job out of the city. Be vague! Come on, pick up the pace you helpless kittens!"
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I mean, unless Goofy just really loves that chair 😂

And it’s in my 4th house? Take it away I don’t relate to any of it. Also if someone could get rid of my Saturn in Aries that would also be swell especially because that sits in 10th and it’s just a horrid placement. And maybe get rid of my Jupiter in Capricorn too because yet again another debilitated placement. Scratch them all out.

Given todays economic struggles my wife and I are both working 50 hours a week and often out of town to get ahead. At the end of the day both of us are completely spent and have zero energy for keeping the house up and maintaining our acrage🙄
We’re both considering how we should deal with this and the idea of a “house spouse / domestic help” came up. The idea being someone would live with us, be given room and board and a stipend to spend in exchange for this kind of help.
Anyone have experience with this?

From what I've seen, it appears several different Kailh switch stems have been manufactured with a new mold featuring a flat unbeveled pole. This has resulted in considerably less frankenswitch compatibility with housing from other manufacturers.
That being said, does anyone happen to have recent experience with Cream-series switches from Novelkeys shipping with this same flat pole mold? I realize Creams have already been retooled once before, but have they been silently retooled once again to have this even newer (and arguably worse) stem as well?
Has there been any communication either by Kailh or Novelkeys on the matter? Any insight would be helpful, as I'm hoping to acquire some Cream Tactiles to experiment with. Thanks in advance.

TLDR: My niece is so naive/immature/lacking is basic social skills, and will get eaten alive (by others and her own inner thoughts and feelings) as a missionary. She just received her call. How can I help her prepare so that this doesn't royally mess her up for the rest of her life without it seeming like I am trying to talk her out of going or badmouthing the church-- I want to respect her being an adult and making decisions and not create a backfire effect, while helping protect her.
Complete Story: I (M35) and my wife and kids are the only portion of my incredibly large family that are out of the church. We have been out for a few years. Everyone in my family is 100% in (i.e. stake presidencies, high councils, bishoprics, relief society presidents, young women's leaders, temple workers, weekly temple patrons, every man and most women went on missions, etc...). Prior to leaving, we had just moved houses into a new ward and were subsequently released from our last callings (mine in stake leadership, and my wife from her 4th straight primary presidency).
When we left, and in congruence with being incredibly honest and open people, we decided to pull the bandaid of immediately and tell everyone "we wanted you to know that we will no longer be attending church. It was incredibly hard to come to this decision, as you all know that we have dedicated our entire lives to the church and adhering to the teachings of the gospel. We love and respect each and every one of you, and we will not push this conversation further on you any further than you desire. We genuinely only want to be a part of the family. Please feel free to ask us questions when you are ready."
It has been multiple years, and not a single person (grandparents, parents, siblings, spouses, nieces and nephews, aunts/uncles, cousins, etc...) has ever attempted to talk to us to even ask "why?"
I have gone out of my way (to much personal pain) to ask them how their callings are going, ask when they have girls camp, how their ministering families and ward members were getting by during the pandemic, etc..., and overall trying to talk about the church in non-confrontational ways that show them I care about things that are important to them that I don't agree with and can talk about the church still without it becoming any sort of fight. But they have never said a thing to me about leaving. Never a single question. I honestly feel less valuable than ever in their eyes, not just because I left the church (which brings a whole world of personal insecurities about how they view me), but because if eternal families are so important, why am I not worth even asking the most basic question of why I just committed the ultimate sin.
Personal whiny diatribe aside-- the only person in my family that has mentioned the church to us is my 19 year old niece when she let us know that her mission call arrived a few weeks ago and she was opening it on Zoom that evening. My whole family logged in and watched and supported her (with warm and caring smiles) the entire time.
My issue boils down to this: she is incredibly awkward. I am not being sarcastic when I tell you she has never been on a date, hasn't texted a boy (parents still haven't given her a real cell phone, only one of those old FreedomPop ones that use Wi-Fi for calls to pre-entered numbers like her parents), and really struggled to have friends growing up. She is a sweet kid and I love her to death. Her one semester at college was a struggle. She would not go to any ward activities because they stressed her out because she was afraid to miss out on her studies (not super intelligent but a hard worker), and then she had the hardest time with her roommates because she wants to go to bed at 8:00 every night and they are all teenaged girls living in a dorm at college. It wasn't a good experience for her even though it was at the "holier" BYU up in the frozen northern potato lands and was always supposed to be her dream.
So she struggles with making connections, cannot handle seemingly normal stresses, is a near scrupulosity-level obedient kid, needs a lot of alone time to focus and breathe, and has never been out on her own in any way really to spread her wings and fly. Her entire life has been looking forward to her mission where she thinks that she will finally show her worth that she felt she lacked comparatively to those she grew up with during all of their formative years. Now she is heading to a quickly drying-up area in Europe for her mission.
Help me! How can I talk to her? How can I actually prep her to soften the imact for the brick wall of hurt that is quickly approaching? My whole family is in the perpetual hype-cycle of "look at the amazing missionary you will be because you are so spiritual and unworldly compared to your heathen peers." I don't care about helping her out of the church-- in fact I think at this point that would cause more damage than anything possible could for her until she has a chance to grow and develop a good deal. I served as AP and then Zone leader both for over 18 months of my mission, and she reminds me of these two sets of sisters missionaries that struggled the most of everyone in my mission that I had to field calls from sometimes up to 3 times daily just to keep them afloat.
I literally have no one to turn to for guidance on this, and I love this kid so much.
Thanks for reading this far if you did.

I have a 93 overall attacking midfielder in at arsenal. In 61 appearances i scored 49 goals and had 38 assists. We finished 3rd in the premier league, won the super cup and won the champions league. Somehow when it comes to player of the year voting time I’m getting cooked by Haaland, mbappe and Phil Foden.I have more goals and assists than all 3 of them. I don’t even get nominated into the top 4!The only thing they have over me is the win the premier. This is the 3rd year in a row I’ve put up godly stats. Tell what do I have to do

Hey, folks! Chapter 6 is here! Sorry for such a long wait—I decided to go ahead and give myself some extra time to write and edit (and deal with irl shenanigans). This is my longest chapter yet—nearly 4.4k words! o_O
Anyway, thanks to u/CruisingNW for the title, and of course, thank you u/SpacePaladin15 for this wonderful universe! Well, without further adieu, let's get into it!
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Memory Transcription Subject: Meyra Yeirel, Spacecraft Engineer Apprentice
Location: Veyr, Veyrian Homeworld. Outer Orion Spur.
Date: September 11, 2182.
I pushed myself away from the table, staring at the unconscious Veyrian. In my hysteria, I hadn’t been able to process much aside from what she had said. But her golden eyes… there had been something wrong with them, but I hadn’t caught precisely what it was. I glanced around at the trio. I wasn’t an expert at reading predators’ expressions, but they were undeniably shocked. Galya as well. She sat frozen in her seat, her blue eyes staring into space. I couldn’t fathom why they were so shocked. Was it what I had told them? They should’ve known everything already. Did the Veyrian say something particularly important? If so, why was it so important?
The predators snapping into action derailed my train of thought, causing me to flinch. My heart seized up as I saw they were going for the Veyrian.
Oh, Myern, they’ve snapped, haven’t they? I thought frantically as they crouched next to the Veyrian. I closed my eyes and grimaced, preparing to hear the horrid sound of flesh ripping and the pain-filled screams of the Veyrian.
. . .
. . .
I opened my eyes. To my surprise, the predators had flipped over the Veyrian and were apparently checking if she was alive. I put my paw on my chest, trying to calm my breathing. At every turn, these predators subverted my expectations. Not killing me on sight—both last night and today, not killing me in my sleep, preventing the house from burning down, and remaining calm despite me apparently rocking their entire worldview. Next thing I knew the gray would tell me that it was a herbivore.
“Connor,” the gray growled, “help me out here.”
The ape moved to the other side of the Veyrian and helped the gray. They hauled the Veyrian to her feet and dragged her to the couch. I tried to catch a glimpse of her face, but I couldn’t see anything since her head hung low. They laid her on the couch. The gray tucked a pillow under her neck.
“Go get some water,” the gray commanded, swatting the primate’s arm. It obeyed, hurrying away to the kitchen. “Hey, Galya.” It snapped its claws. Galya flinched and looked at the gray. “Get some pillows.”
Galya put a paw to her head. “Y-yeah. Alright, then.” She stood and got the gray the pillows it wanted. She sat down as the gray tucked the pillows underneath the Veyrian’s legs.
“Thanks, by the way,” the gray added, glancing at Galya.
“You’re w-welcome.” The Venlil stared into space, obviously perturbed by something.
I couldn't believe the brainwashing on Venlil Prime was so overbearing that the Venlil were completely unaware of the galaxy around them. Same for the Terrans and the Arxur. I shuddered to imagine what sort of techniques their governments used to subjugate their populace.
The ape returned with a glass of water and handed it to the gray. The gray took it and stared down at the Veyrian, apparently watching for something. From my place at the table, I couldn’t the Veyrian’s face. The gray didn’t seem to be particularly disturbed by anything, so maybe I had just been imagining things. But… my mind still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.
I shook my head and gathered my nerves. “H-how did you learn to do all that?” I shuddered as the gray laid its eyes on me.
“My mom was a nurse,” it growled. “She taught me how to handle this sort of situation. In case of emergencies, you know?”
The ape made a strange, sharp chuffing as if something was caught in its throat. I stared at the ape, trying to guess what that sound meant. It was baring its teeth—was it angry? Did the gray say something wrong?
“Looks like it paid off, eh?” The primate swatted the gray’s shoulder. “You always complained about your mom lecturing you on how to perform CPR or how to do the Heimlich m—”
The Veyrian bolted upright, gasping for air. Everyone in the room flinched in unison. The gray acted immediately and handed the Veyrian the glass of water. She took it and began drinking with reckless abandon, spilling the majority of the water on herself. She breathed deeply and put her arm over her eyes. The ape sped away to the kitchen once more.
The thought of a gray possessing medical knowledge shocked me. They only knew how to maim, maul, and murder. They weeded out the weak, making no allowances for undesirables. No amount of UN and Dominion propaganda could change the fact that the gray were bloodthirsty monsters. And yet… here one was in my home. No one was dead. The walls weren’t painted red and orange with the blood of Veyrian and Venlil alike.
The primate returned once again and sat in front of the Veyrian. It gave the glass to her and leaned forward, steepling its long, gangly fingers in front of its face. It looked like it was struggling for words as the Veyrian drank—much slower this time. As the Veyrian finished, the ape lowered its paws.
“So, uh, how are you doing?”
Despite not understanding primate body language, I could tell it had just died inside.
“I mean uh… damnit.” The ape’s head hung low.
The Veyrian removed her arm from her face. “I have not… have not been d-doing well.” Her voice was raspy as if she hadn’t used it in a very long time.
“You uh, you don’t look the best either,” the ape commented. It gestured toward the Veyrian as a whole.
It was right. The Veyrian’s fur in the morning light looked even worse than it had the night before. The Veyrian coughed and turned her head to look around the room. That’s when I realized. I stared at her head, expecting to see her eye appear on the side of her head, yet it never came.
Not until she had turned to look
right
at
me.
I felt a bolt of terror through my chest. I staggered backward, knocking my chair down. A scream built in my throat as I stumbled and fell against the wall. They all stared at me, a mixture of shock and confusion scrawled across their faces.
But they were all a blur. Those two golden eyes stared right into my soul, delving into my psyche and shattering it.
I sunk to the floor, tucking my head between my legs. I hyperventilated, my heart racing. All outside sounds were faint. I barely registered them. Calm down, Meyra, it’s ok. You’re ok. I thought frantically. No, you’re not ok. You have several predators in your home, and she has something extremely wrong with her. They must’ve been torturing her. Changing her DNA. I should’ve snuck out in the middle of the night and run down to the exterminator’s office. Oh, Myern, I’m next aren’t I? I started rocking, unable to control myself. You’re fine, it’s fine, I’m fine. It’s all just a dream. It’s all just a dream. It’s all just a dream it’s all just a dream it’s all just a dreamit’salljustadre—
I flinched as a paw touched my shoulder. I looked up, shaking.
“H-hey, ma’am, are you alright?” Galya asked gently. “What’s wrong?”
I pointed at the twisted Veyrian and curled back into a ball. “Her—her eyes. Wh-what did you d-do to her?”
Galya’s ears drooped in confusion. “Her eyes? What’s wrong with—” she glanced at the Veyrian and back at me. She took a step backward, her eyes widening. “W-wait, what’s wrong with your eyes?”
“Galya, can’t you see that she’s pani—wait, what?” The primate growled inquisitively.
I took a glance around the room. Fear had dawned on their faces. They stood in a semi-circle, stuck in a state of tension. I couldn’t understand why.
But those eyes.
Those two golden eyes.
They stared at me, echoing the horrors of the cruelty of the UN and the Dominion. Myern knows how they had done it. And I was sure I was about to find out. To my horror, she stood slowly, baring her teeth as she went.
Oh, Myern, I thought helplessly. They’ve brainwashed her, too.
“I apologize for thy situation,” she rasped. The trio snapped to look at her, causing me to flinch. “I know… I know this must be quite a shock. To all of thee.”
I breathed shallowly, listening as she spoke. She had a strange accent, alongside her deeper, raspier voice. I had never heard her accent before. Despite my sheer terror, I was intrigued.
“I am Xertalis, goddess of time and space,” she proclaimed. “The former goddess, I should say.” Her head hung low as she stared at the ground.
The trio glanced at each other. The ape closed its eyes and waved its paws around. “Woah, woah woah—hold on. Let’s take this one step at a time. First off, what the ffffffuck? You’re saying all that back in the library really… really happened?”
Xertalis’ silence was enough of an answer for the primate.
“And so… and so all the stuff on TV is real?” It glanced at me. “And that I’m not imagining things?”
“You sure as hell aren’t imagining things,” the gray growled. “I’m seeing this shit.”
Their lack of disturbance surrounding Xertalis and her eye placement was almost more terrifying than the situation I was in. I mustered the courage to speak, despite the voices in my head screaming for me to shut up. “Wh-what the farrik is wrong with you?!” My voice faltered as three pairs of binocular eyes stared at me. “Why are you s-so concerned about my eyes? What about hers?” I waved an indignant paw at Xertalis.
“There’s nothing wrong with her eyes!” The gray roared, causing me to flinch. It put its claws on its head and paced back and forth. “This is fucking insane! What the fuck happened last night? Did our drinks get spiked? No, we didn’t bring drinks. Was it the snacks?” It sat down heavily on the couch, holding its head in its claws. Its knee bounced erratically as it sat.
Nothing the gray had said made sense to me. What drinks? What snacks? Did Galya feed them in the middle of the night?
Galya put her paws in front of her in a placating gesture. “Guys, let’s—let’s just eat some food, and then talk about this. I get that this is pretty insane, b-but yelling isn’t gonna get anything done.” Galya glanced at me. “Besides, I’m sure we’re all starving. Right?”
“Y-yeah,” the ape said. “Let’s do that. Maybe a hot bowl of oimal will help clear our minds.”
Galya put her paw on the gray’s shoulder. It looked up at her, its eyes glossy. “I’m sorry to interrupt you, Kiile. You’re the only one who knows how to cook, and well, you saw how well it went when Connor tried.” She bared her teeth. “How about it?”
The gray took a shuddering breath and bobbed its head. “A-alright. Okay.” It stood and closed its eyes for a moment, breathing deeply. “Let’s g-get this.” And with that, it headed towards the kitchen. As it left, it wiped its eyes.
I stared at Galya, completely floored. A gray. Crying. No, grays can’t cry. They don’t have emotions. They have two modes. Murder, and Stalking. They don’t feel panic or sadness or fear, I thought. But a small, creeping voice asked, Then what was that? I shook my head, trying to shake it off. That was fake. Manufactured. The apes must’ve been teaching the gray how to fake emotions. And yet, the voice persisted.
Galya didn’t notice me staring and instead walked up to Xertalis. Her snout scrunched up as she approached the filthy Veyrian, yet still attempted to speak to her.
“We uh, you should probably get showered,” Galya said. She stood as if she were uncomfortable.
Xertalis didn’t pick up on her discomfort. She flicked her ear inquisitively. “I know not what a… shower is. But I shall dine, for I am quite starved. My long slumber has taken all my energy.” As if to accentuate her plight, Xertalis swayed on her feet.
“Okay, then,” Galya muttered. “Um, well, let’s get you some clothes? Or a blanket at least?”
Xertalis tilted her head at Galya. “What are clothes?” She echoed my thoughts exactly.
“You know what? It’s fine. I’ll just go get a blanket.” Galya grabbed the primate’s paw. “Connor, c’mon.”
Xertalis sat down and watched as the two sped down the hallway. She looked around the room, her ear flicking as she laid her eyes on something new. She seemed particularly interested in the analog clock hanging on the wall. It wasn’t anything special. The numbers and the claws glowed faintly. The [seconds] claw ticked constantly. I swore I could almost hear it over the sound of the gray cooking in the kitchen.
The gray cooking in the kitchen, I thought, amused. I chuckled. The gray cooking in the kitchen. I let out a short laugh. The gray cooking in the kitchen! I started laughing uncontrollably. The absurdity of the whole situation finally got to me. I rocked back and forth, gesturing helplessly with my paws. At some point, my laughter turned to sobs. I put my head in my paws and cried, my tears running down my snout. The gray cooking in the kitchen. Oh, Myern, what am I going to do?
I looked up, and Xertalis was staring at me, perplexed. “What is thy sorrow? Why dost thou act in such a way?”
I gestured vaguely at everything in the room. “Wh-what can I say? I… I’m fucked! I have two p-predators—three predators—in m-my home, and I sure as Xyek c-can’t call the exterminators, otherwise I’ll b-be accused of harboring pr-predators!” I splayed my paws in front of me helplessly. “H-how in the ever living fuck did they g-get here?! The closest UN planet is-is-is—” I gesticulated wildly “—I d-don’t even know how far. Did they u-use FTL? But how did they g-get planetside?” I put my paws on my face and screamed. The sound came out muffled.
I looked up at Xertalis. I could barely hold her gaze, yet her eyes held undeniable sorrow and guilt… and an odd hint of fear. “I will explain,” she said quietly. “Everything. Just… wait.”
I put my paws on my chest and breathed deeply. I tried to calm my mind, yet it was near impossible. All these thoughts bouncing around in my brain like stray bullets. The voices telling me to run away screaming, and the voices telling me to stay and learn. Should I stay or should I go? Should I stay or should I go? Back and forth, back and forth! I wish I could make it stop. I wish I could just wake up, and wake up to a nice, hot bowl of oimal. I wish I wasn’t alone. I wish they were still here.
My thoughts were interrupted by Galya and the ape returning. The primate was carrying a blanket—one of the blankets from the guest room. It approached Xertalis and held it out.
“Sorry we took so long,” Galya apologized. “We sorta had to dig around for it, and we didn’t figure she’d like us going into her room.”
I cringed internally as Xertalis took the blanket and wrapped it around herself. That’s not going to wash out very well, is it?
“Thou are fine,” Xertalis said, taking the blanket. “I thank thou, for it is quite cold in here.”
The gray came around the countertop with a steaming pot in its claws. “You guys came back right in time,” it growled. It placed a pad on the table and set the pot on top of it. “I found some [brown sugar], thankfully, so it’s not gonna be too bland.” It hurried into the kitchen and returned with a bowl. “There were also some [apples], but there wasn’t any milk, so we’ll just have to do with water.”
The ape stopped Galya in her tracks. “You go and sit down, alright? I’ll help get the bowls and stuff.”
Galya stared at the primate for a moment. “Are you sure? This whole thing has been pretty stressful for you, I imagine.”
The ape made the same, strange chuffing noise. Except it somehow sounded… sadder? I tilted my head. “I’m fine. Just almost became a human flambe last night. At least the mattress downstairs was comfortable.” The primate glanced at me before moving into the kitchen.
Galya took a seat at the table. Xertalis sat across from her. “So you weren’t uncomfortable?” Galya asked.
I pushed myself up and leaned so I could see into the kitchen.
The primate shrugged and glanced at the gray. “Well, as comfortable as I could be while sharing a mattress with Godzilla over here.”
“Ha!” The gray barked, causing me to flinch. “That’s rich, coming from King Kong, Lord of Mattresses.”
My gaze bounced between the two nervously. Their words didn’t seem friendly. But… their tones. I didn’t know ape or gray social cues, but they almost sounded friendly. Yet another piece of a constantly shifting puzzle. Their moods seemed to have gotten better while I was having my breakdown, which struck me as oddly ironic. Slowly, I moved to the table and took a seat at the far end. The primate and the gray returned with bowls, spoons, and cups full of water, which were being transported on a tray.
I watched in surprise at how deftly the gray moved the cups to the table. I had only ever known gray to be clumsy and brutish. But there was almost an artistry to its movements.
“How did you do that?” I blurted. I cringed as everyone turned to look at me.
“Put the cups on the table?” It shrugged its shoulders. “I don’t know. Practice? I’m a waiter at the Toreros on main street.”
Toreros? That’s not a real restaurant, I thought, perplexed.
I watched as they passed the oimal around themselves. Galya, who was closest, pushed the pot and [apples] toward me. I sniffed it suspiciously. It didn’t smell any different, but I knew some drugs didn’t have a smell. But… I was hungry. Reluctantly, I served myself and pushed the pot away. Everyone began eating—aside from the gray. The fact that an ape was eating oats and fruit surprised me. I almost couldn’t believe it. And yet, there it was, right in front of me.
Xertalis scooped up some oimal daintily and blew steam off it. “I suppose I shall tell thou my story, and explain thy plight.”
The change of mood was palatable. The entire table stared at Xertalis, prepared for what she had to say.
“As I have said, I am Xertalis, the former goddess of time and space.” She raised her paw as the gray opened its mouth. “Many centuries ago, mortals believed in gods. They believed that they could bestow miracles, rend mountains and valleys to pieces, and offer enlightenment. Alas, those beliefs have faltered. That is why I am so weak.”
She took a slow sip of water.
“My powers have waned as mortals’ beliefs have waned.” She held an [apple] slice between her paws and turned it over. “I could not even age this fruit if I desired. If I tried to open a portal to your universe, it would kill me.”
The primate steepled its paws in front of it. “So how did we get here? Why did that book teleport us to… wherever the hell this is?”
Xertalis pondered the [apple] slice for a moment before popping it in her mouth. Once she had chewed, she spoke. “I would not rule out the fact there might be other forces at work. I might have been the goddess of time and space, but I am not the only deity with the ability to twist reality.”
The trio glanced at each other. “That’s not concerning at all,” The ape stated. “So… what do we do?”
“There is not much,” Xertalis said quietly.
“So we’re stuck here?” The primate cried. “Stuck in a universe where humans and gray are being genocided? Where the police shoot at innocent people? Where crazy bastards with flamethrowers run around?!”
“Wait,” Galya butted in, “what if we like, spread word of your existence?”
Xertalis stared at Galya. “And who would believe? Who would believe that a god walks amongst mortals?”
Galya tapped the table with her claw. “Uhhh… shit.”
“Well, there’s gotta be some sort of religious group somewhere, right?” The gray asked. “There’s the Church of Myern just down the street if I remember correctly.”
I flicked my ear affirmatively. “Yes, there’s a church. But… they might not be t-too fond of her eyes.” My voice faltered as they all looked at me. “Her eye placement? It’s abnormal.”
“So you’re telling me that normal Veyrians in this universe look like you?” The gray growled.
“Y-yes…?”
The gray rubbed its eyes. “Holy shit.” It held its claws up. “Look at this. I’m shaking.”
As the trio was processing what Xertalis had told them, she ate her oimal. Despite the fact she must’ve been starving, she ate slow and daintily, as if she had practiced eating in such a way for years and years. The fact she was eating calmed my nerves a little. But she’s a goddess—apparently—she might be immune to drugs. Or was she a goddess? Xertalis’ monologue confused me.
Nevertheless, I was hungry, and I didn’t function properly when I was hungry. I lifted a spoonful of oimal and ate it. The flavor caught me off guard. It was sweet and perfectly cooked; masterfully put together. I hadn’t ever expected oimal to taste as good as this. I found myself taking bite after bite.
The table was silent as everyone mulled over the information that Xertalis had disclosed. I glanced around the table. I felt a pang of bittersweet nostalgia as I watched the four of them eat. I physically recoiled in surprise. Galya glanced at me, perplexed, but I ignored her.
I turned over the feeling of nostalgia in my mind. It was strange. I shouldn’t be feeling this way about my literal enemies. And yet…
I looked at the wall opposite me. Among the paintings was a frame. And inside that frame, a family portrait. I stared at it for a long moment, emotions boiling in my chest.
You shouldn’t be feeling like this, Meyra, I thought half-heartedly. These are your enemies. They’d gladly rip you to shreds or stab you in the back if given a chance.
I glanced between the portrait and the small group at my table. It’s been so long… surely I could…? No. I took another bite of oimal, burning my mouth. I sipped my water quickly. No. That would be a death sentence. But the way Galya elbowed the gray and the primate playfully, and how they talked as if they were good friends…
Lost in my train of thought, I hadn’t noticed Xertalis had finished her food until she had stood up. “That was a most delicious meal,” she said. “I thank thee for thy culinary skills.” Xertalis bowed her head to the gray, who bowed its head in return.
“You’re welcome,” it growled. “It’s the least I could do.”
“I must now bathe myself. Where might your bathing room be?”
I pointed down the hallway. “Last door on the right. You can’t miss it.”
“Most appreciated.” And with that, Xertalis left the table.
I noticed the trio watching her as she left. I felt another pang of nostalgia in my chest. I immediately quelled it. Now wasn’t the time to be feeling sentimental.
The primate turned around. “She’s got an interesting way of talking, huh?”
The gray bobbed its head. “Yeah. But she’s a goddess apparently.” I tilted my head as I recognized the sound of skepticism in its grating voice.
Galya furrowed her brow and flicked her tail. Before she had a chance to speak, she was interrupted by Xertalis.
“I require assistance,” she said. “This bathing room lacks water.” She tilted her head slightly. “I know not how to draw it. Perhaps the girl could help me?”
Galya choked as she was taking a sip of water. Water dribbled down her chin. She recovered and turned to Xertalis, her cheeks tinted orange. “Uh—I’m sorry, b-but that’s like, not um… that—I don’t…”
Xertalis looked at the predators. “Perhaps one of the boys, then?”
I gawked as the primate’s face turned a bright shade of red. The gray’s face had grown noticeably darker as well. They glanced at each other and exchanged a silent conversation.
“Um, couldn’t—couldn’t she d-do it instead?” The primate pointed a long, gangly claw at me.
I stiffened. Me? I thought. “I-I can’t,” I blurted. “There’s, uh—I hurt my leg when I fell.”
“Your leg’s fine,” Galya said. She squinted at me. “It’s not really appropriate for kids to help an adult, anyway.”
“She just wants someone to help her figure out how the bath works!” I said indignantly. “That’s hardly inappropriate.”
“You’ll know how your bath works better than we do,” the ape interjected. “Besides, it is a little, uh, odd to make us do it.”
“But—” I began.
“I do not care who assists me,” Xertalis said in a low, steely voice. “Stop thy bickering and make thy choice.”
The trio stared at me. I stared back in disbelief. Did they want my heart to fail? Galya flicked her tail, indicating for me to hurry up. It was obvious that they weren’t going to move.
So it was all up to me.
I took a deep breath and clenched my paws. With great effort, I pushed myself away from the table. I tried to keep my breathing stable as I walked over to Xertalis. I avoided her eyes and motioned down the hallway.
“J-just this way,” I muttered. I glanced at the trio. Galya swished her tail supportively. The primate displayed its thumbs and bared its teeth. The gray whipped its tail across the floor erratically and flashed its razor-sharp fangs.
Suddenly dealing with Xertalis’ eyes didn’t seem like such a bad deal. Without another word, I speed-walked down the hallway.
Meyra, how in Xyek did you get yourself into this situation? I thought helplessly.
[Next]

https://www.timestelegram.com/story/news/history/2023/06/08/mohawk-valley-history-lafayette-owed-life-to-augustas-amos-parke70299078007/
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1825, 198 years ago
A tearful reunion
You can't miss Amos Parker. He is well over six feet tall. Some say closer to seven. Many say he was the tallest soldier in the American army during the Revolutionary War.
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This week, the now 63-year-old Parker enters Shepard's Hotel on Bagg's Square in Utica (really the Bagg's Hotel, but the name was changed while Abraham Shepard owned it from 1825 to 1828). Parker is determined to meet the hotel's distinguished guest, the Marquis de Lafayette.
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In 1777, while the Revolutionary War was raging, the then 19-year-old, tall, red-haired Lafayette left his home in France and joined the American army in its fight to win for the American colonies their independence from Great Britain. He fought in many battles and, in 1781, commanded troops in Yorktown, Virginia, when British Gen. Charles Cornwallis surrendered his army to Gen. George Washington, just about ensuring an end to the war and an American victory.
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On the night of January 30, 1948, Utica firefighters fought one of the most spectacular fires in the city’s history. Flames roared through “The Long Block” on the west side of Lower Genesee Street, between Oriskany and Whitesboro streets. The 3-alarm blaze was fought in temperatures 30 below zero. Seventeen firefighters were injured and 11 businesses damaged. Losses were estimated at $400,000.
Now, 44 years later, the 68-year-old Lafayette is back in America, touring the country as a guest of its grateful citizens. This week, after visits in Rome, Oriskany and Whitesboro, he enters Utica triumphantly via the Rome Road (today Lafayette Street). After a big celebration, he is in his hotel room, resting before continuing his journey east.
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Suddenly, there is a knock on the door and in walks the very tall Amos Parker. At first, Lafayette is puzzled, but then Parker begins to relate an incident that occurred at the Battle of Yorktown.
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As the fighting there raged, Lafayette ordered 25 of his men — including Parker — to remove a fence so that Lafayette could lead his soldiers through the breach. "Once you remove the fence," Lafayette shouted, "allow me and my men to ride through the opening. Do not fire your weapons!"
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More:Utica's Conkling leading figure at 1880 Republican convention: Mohawk Valley history
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More:Utica Independent Infantry Company prepares for war: This week in Mohawk Valley history
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More:Later known for illustrations, Saturday Globe began without: Mohawk Valley history
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The fence was removed and Lafayette and his men began to ride through. Suddenly, Parker spotted a British sniper aiming his rifle at Lafayette. Before the sniper could fire, though, Parker raised his musket and shot him.
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Unbelievingly, an aide to Lafayette had Parker court-martialed for disobeying Lafayette's "don't fire your weapon" order. He, of course, was acquitted when it was learned that by disobeying the order, he had saved Lafayette's life.
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Now, in a hotel room 44 years later, Parker and Lafayette relive the incident. They embrace and (a historian later wrote) enjoy "a heart-tugging event and weep" in each other's arms. (After the war, Parker settled in the town of Augusta in southwestern Oneida County and died there in 1842 at age 80. He was buried at the Parker (Augusta) Cemetery at the intersection of Augusta-Solsville Road and Anderson Road. A blue and yellow state marker there reads: AMOS PARKER, TALLEST MAN IN AMERICAN ARMY. SAVED GEN. LAFAYETTE'S LIFE. PRESENT AT THE SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS. BURIED HERE.
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1923, 100 years ago
Record at UFA
A class of 210 students receive diplomas at Utica Free Academy (UFA), the largest class ever graduated in the school's more than 100-year history. The Right Reverend Charles Fiske, bishop coadjutor of the Central New York Episcopal Diocese, addresses the students: "Why has the city of Utica paid for your education? … It expects to receive from you a return for its investment. You owe the community repayment for this debt. Not in money, but in service. You are expected to exercise a high standard of living, put forth an honest effort to make your neighborhood a better place to live and accept public calls of duty to serve your community with its charities and efforts to improve the public well-being."
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1948, 75 years ago
Utica in novel
Carl Sandburg, noted poet and historian, completes a novel that contains a chapter on Utica and the Erie Canal. He was in Utica a year ago to collect material for the novel: "Remembrance Rock."
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1973, 50 years ago
GE contract
The General Electric Aircraft Equipment Division in Utica is awarded a $1.3 million contract for a computer system for the Viking Orbiter, which will explore Mars in 1975.
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1998, 25 years ago
Morrisville celebrates
The village of Morrisville celebrates its 150th anniversary. It was incorporated in 1848 and named for its founder, Thomas Morris. He settled in the area in 1797 and built a house on the corner of today's Main and Cedar streets. His father, Robert, was a Founding Father from Pennsylvania, who signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
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Civita M. Allard, a registered nurse and an associate professor in the Health Services Department at Mohawk Valley Community College, receives the college's "alumna of merit" award.
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In American Legion baseball, Utica Post defeats Parkhurst Post, 13 to 3, behind the pitching of Chris Donalty (a four hitter) and the hitting of Eric Miller (3 hits, 2 RBIs). Meanwhile, Whitestown beats Lee, 6 to 4, behind the hitting of Jason Englehart, Mike Antanavige, Bernie Martin, Brent Wengert and Matt Maine. Steve Rice has two hits for Lee.
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The Genetaska Club of New Hartford elects Ellen Boerger as its president. Other officers include: Peg Mullin, vice president; Barbara Reinshagen, recording secretary; Sue Maher, corresponding secretary; Joyce Ebensperger, treasurer; and directors Joyce Goggin, Ada Ruhm, Ellie Lampert and Barbara Weaver.
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2013, 10 years ago
Pro hockey returns
Utica, after many years without a professional hockey team, has one again. The Utica Comets are in the American Hockey League, a minor league affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks in the National Hockey League. They will play in the Utica Memorial Auditorium. Robert Esche, a former goalie in the National Hockey League and president of the Mohawk Valley Garden, will operate the team. Mayor Robert Palmieri says the move fits in with his vision for a revitalized Bagg's Square and Harbor Point development. "What a great day for the city!" he says. "The emotion is overwhelming."
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The Greater Utica Sports Hall of Fame inducts Stan "Buddy" Evans, longtime baseball coach at Rome Free Academy and college football official; Bill Holowaty, originally from Mohawk, longtime baseball coach at Eastern Connecticut State University; Ed Wadas, a "super" supporter of local athletics and called the "candy man" for giving out candy at local games, especially in Whitesboro, Oriskany and New York Mills; and Tom Wells, multi-sport coach at New Hartford schools, especially known for his highly successful swim teams.
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Bobbi Jo Kahl is approved by the town board in Remsen as as the town justice.
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In American Legion baseball, Roberts Post defeats Whitestown, 3 to 1. Nate Palmer, a senior at Holland Patent High, strikes out 18 and gets the win. He is supported by the hitting of Kinsey Williams, Nico Ramos and Austin Mann. Whitestown's Jared Muraca pitches well, allowing only five hits.
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Trivia quiz
Next Sunday is Father's Day. Let's celebrate with a tough question. Name the man who was the son of a U.S. president and also the father of a U.S. president. If you can't name him, at least name the two presidents. (Answer will appear here next week.)
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Answer to last week's question: Richard Nixon was president when, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin first walked on the surface of the moon after landing in the Apollo 11 lunar module.
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This Week in History is researched and written by Frank Tomaino. E-mail him at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]).

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I have applied for a loan and they want to Verify My Income with a Profit and Loss Statement is that normal?
I am Trying To Get a Loan for 85,000 on the House that I bought 4 Years agao on a Lease to own contract it is down to 85,000 I have 40,000 to pay down I am self-employed and make a good income. I do have "Good" Credit it just hit that mark the only thing that I have that I wish I had never got is a mountain of Student Loans that always mess me up......So this is all kind of confusing to me. I'm used to contacting a bank or even online lenders and getting denied so quickly. I actually have decent credit; it just hit the "Good" range. I've been working on improving it for months. It was good in July of last year, and I wish I had tried to do this back then.Then around Christmas, my student loans appeared on my credit report again. What I mean by that is that last year, half of my student loans dropped off my credit because they were transferred to a new company, as I later found out. In July, I could have qualified for financing... Anyway, now I have to get the house financed. I've already spent $47,000 on it, including a new roof. The owners want to get rid of all their rental properties, and they have made it clear why they chose a rent-to-own contract instead of a land contract—it's easier for them to get out of...
Anyway, fast forward, I've been kind of freaking out for months because I received a $41,000 inheritance, I thought I could increase this significantly, with my business maybe even pay in cash. Well, It did not increase because I got sick so I still have the same amount if I had a few more months I could just pay in cash...... I was talking to my bank, but they kept telling me that I shouldn't have bills over $700 a month, or they couldn't help me...
I applied with ============== because I had a conversation with a loan officer there, and she kept calling and emailing me until I applied. Surprisingly, she didn't ask for the usual documents like tax returns, which most lenders require.
I told her that I run my own business and that's how I make money, and I file my taxes accordingly. However, she doesn't want my tax returns. She wants me to complete a Profit and Loss Statement or have a tax professional do it for me. I also mentioned that my debt-to-income ratio has always been a problem due to my student loans. She said that if my student loans are in an Income-Based Deferment Plan, they could consider that. In my case, I pay nothing towards the loans due to my income, even though it is not that low but I do have 5 Kids and she said they wouldn't consider the debt from my student loans at all because of that. She mentioned that typically they would use 1 percent of what I owe, which is a significant amount and would negatively affect my application. However, besides that, I only owe on one credit card, which I'm close to paying off. I don't have much credit anymore, except for a Secured CD that has significantly raised my credit score. Other than that, I have regular bills that I owe.
BECAUSE: This Bank is a Prime Lender she has my APR at 11.90% my payments are still up at 800 a month for 20 years She has The Loan Senario at 100,000 with my down payment and closing cost then the loan total shows 43,000
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However, she has been very brief in her responses, and when I ask her questions, she sends quick answers. I'm still a little confused. And she Just will not slow down and answer me or explain. Does this seem correct? Does it seem like this will work out?
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Is There a Better Way?
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Thank you for Reading all of this if you are still with me and know about this please any help and advice tips etc.... would be great PLEASE NO HATEFUL COMMENTS I am going through enough. I really just need help with this and NO BEFORE ANYONE SAYS FIX YOUR CREDIT FOR 6 MONTHS OR TRY TO GET A LOAN NEXT YEAR OR WHATEVER NOPE. I HAVE TO DO IT NOW!!!!! I HAVE TO GET A LOAN WITH IN THE NEXT 2 MONTHS PERIOD AND CLOSED ON. I WISH I COULD JUST GET THE OWNER TO TAKE 50,000 AND THEN PAY HIM MORE PER MONTH OR SOMETHING BUT HE IS SO AGAINST IT SO I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO MAKE THAT DEAL BETTER TO WHERE HE MIGHT ACCEPT I HAVE PAID HIM 47000 INCLUDING A NEW ROOF THE HOME IS WORTH A LOT MORE NOW THAN IT WAS.
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Anyway that seems so crazy to me if anyone on here can Help me tips tricks advice
Can you finance the house and I pay you back anything LoL I have 50,000 to pay down and can not get a decent loan I literally need 35,000 dollars plus closing costs I do not want to have to pay for this for the rest of my life so what can I do. In 20 years of this when I am so close to paying it off there has to be a better way........... Right??????
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Below is the email she sent me after informing me that she needed the Profit and Loss Statement, not my tax returns:
Hi ---------
Thank you for applying for your prequalification. I am hopeful that we can assist you with your home purchase. The scenario is for the purchase of a single-family home. If the scenario works for you, please send the following documents, and I can provide you with a prequalification letter.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Copy of Driver's license/ID
Income:
Profit and Loss Statement (attached for the most recent 12 months)
OR
Bank Statement Questionnaire and 12 months of bank statements (I have received bank statements)
2 most recent asset statements showing funds for down payment/closing costs
Six months of rental verification/housing history
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Thank You Again to any Help Advice Anything and for reading through me Rambling on and on....