I have a story where the mc building his harem. And the mc ofc set up the fmc(its fmc because the mc had a relationship about 6months then now he gonna test her) if shes loyal or not. Some of the woman actually gets saved by the mc where fmc gets almost raped (like the antag penis is about to penetrate her but the mc prevents it by instantly cutting the antag penis [ one of the part of he saved one of them some are even funny and cool ] ) before they got into the relationship. the test has difficulties and the last test is if she can defend herself from being raped ofc the last test doesnt matter if she already failed, just to the point where fmc tries to ntr the mc ultimately by purposely letting mc sees her getting fucked cause she wants to be seen by her bf or such just like any other ntr fmc(the reason why mc tries to get to that point is that it can backfire even painfully for them), ofc if she didnt get to that point after a month, mc will just dump her and send her the pics [keep reading]) Note: if she fails any of difficulties of the test like 5 difficulties/level shes already dumped by the mc, ofc the difficulties depends on the strength and capabilities of the fmc./woman The thing is the mc is actually building a very faithful and loyal trustable harem/women and so strong even that they can defend themseleves from any harm and such with their strengths (mc ofc was already being cautious and did all the possible outcomes like if someone tries to hypnotize, so mc upgraded his abilites/hax so he can now about such, where ofcourse mc will protect them if really needed and has like a tracker in every one of them so the women can activate it if they feel a danger, mc can instantly teleport since its like a party(rpg stuff where u can see ur party health and such even has features, but in here theres many features that they can teleport to each other and know each location (theyre in a rpg game). Then lets get back to the test. Then the fmc ofcourse fail then all the ntr shit then the fmc sends a record of her enjoying it then, mc comes back with a picture with many lovely women (ofc the first to come to his harem is just him saying its all a test and how stupid the woman is and how he just dodged a bullet and factual stuff that hurts her whole humanity). In the picture theyre in bed with a big smile with a very wholesome look to indicate that shes nothing after failing all that test (comedic smile so the fmc knows shes actually a joke all this time and theyre laughing for her being an unfaithful woman).
This is a whole story indicating what happens if u fail his test and the other stories is where the women hes in relationship with passed the test(wholesome one), and others is how they got strong and such and how they get stuff they have and how they defeated some boss and stuff and other story is how he got transported into an average isekai world (rpg and such). Its a whole series basically and i was only supposed to post the idea of the "test" but my brain was enjoying it and wanted to secure the loyalty and faithfulness that i made it into a whole series.
Holy cow im sorry bruh, i hope this still makes sense since i kept editing so many words i said just so i can say what i really wanna say, but it seems its still not enough.
Lol hope this whole stuff i said makes a bit of sense please try to understand and tell me if u dont understand a part 😅

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A staredown soon ensued.
One that neither of us seemed to be willing to let up on.
But as far as staredowns went, this one was pretty evenly matched as neither of us really had the ability to ‘blink’, or at least as far as an outside observer could see.
My whole schtick was pretty obvious, the tinted lenses were more or less just doing the job for me, taking blinking out of the equation entirely and adding a solid plus ten to my intimidation base stats.
The shadowy cloaked figure’s approach was just downright bizarre though, as instead of eyes, there were just these two trapezoidal ‘lights’ that I assumed were supposed to be a placeholder for his actual eyes hidden somewhere underneath the shadowy void casted by his hood.
A void which was downright pitchblack, and completely impenetrable to the naked eye.
The figure gave off a surreal vibe as his rogue-like attire, coupled with the hood and the impenetrable shadow it casted, looked like it’d been ripped straight out of a Castles and Wyverns art book or a high-fantasy comic. The pitch-black void that obscured his face, and those two trapezoidal eyes that hovered and shifted with increasing scrutiny, just didn’t look real.
While most would leave it at that, I wasn’t one to leave a mystery hanging, I was a human with an entire visual sensor suite to work with for crying out loud. So before I even knew it, I reflexively went to activate my night-vision cameras. Only to see that the shadowy effect covering up his face was still there.
This led me to only one solid conclusion.
ALERT: LOCALIZED SURGE OF MANA-RADIATION DETECTED, 140% ABOVE BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS
A quick localized environmental scan made it clear to me that this was yet another one of the Nexus’ weird mana-fueled acts of tomfoolery.
“What say you, first years? Are you here for healing, or are you here for a visit? For as I have stated, the healing wing is not accepting visits at this point in time.” The hooded figure answered with this strange mix between a sing-song voice and an attempt at sounding gruff and gravely.
“We have an unfulfilled point of personal privilege that requires addressment.” Thacea stepped up to the plate, promptly placing herself by my side, then taking several steps forward. “Along with an unresolved conflict which requires immediate resolution by the party with which the aforementioned point of personal privilege was evoked but was halted due to unforeseen circumstances.” The princess began flexing her courtly-talk with the hooded figure, which clearly seemed to have some effect as he reached up a single gloved hand up to where his chin should be, only to have his fingers disappear as soon as they entered the dark shadowy effect currently covering up his face.
“And with whom is this unresolved matter incurred?” The figure inquired plainly, though the way he spoke shifted to something a bit more accommodating, perhaps even a little bit more hospitable than the gruffer tone he’d initially directed towards me.
“An apprentice, good sir. Apprentice Larial to be precise.” Thacea clarified politely, using what I could only describe as this flighty, chirpy, almost haughty tone of voice that was an exaggerated version of the cadence she used during our first interactions together.
“Hmm…” The hooded figure replied with a concerned grumble. “I was going to waive this particular matter, allowing the fair lady-” He paused, before making a point to stare at both me and Thalmin. “-and her two knights to pass on through, under the points of exceptional circumstances.” He continued in a less restrained, more flighty cadence. “However, you must excuse my inability to do so, my lady. My hands are currently tied via the powers that be, and I simply cannot grant your request.” The man began weaving a string of apologetics, giving Thacea a genuine and polite bow in response. “I must apologize for this discrepancy in expectant decorum.”
This didn’t make things any better for our circumstances though.
And it was clear Thacea understood this as she continued pressing forward.
“May I have your name and title, my good sir?” Thacea chirped lightly.
“Appointed-Deputy Magistrate Sir Arlan Ostoy, Senior Apprentice of the Transgracian Academy for the Magical Arts. May I have the honor and the privilege of requesting your name, my fair lady?”
“Princess Thacea Dilani, of the Aetheronrealm, First Year and Scholastic Peer of the Transgracian Academy for the Magical Arts.” Thacea replied with a full bow, and a half-curtsy of her own.
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance.” The shadowy figure bowed yet again.
“The pleasure is all mine, Sir-Magistrate.” Followed by yet another bow by Thacea.
There was some serious song and dance going on here, and one that I was observing with bated breath.
“Might I inquire further as to the particular reasoning behind this unfortunate and unseemly inability to respect the rights of expectant decorum?” Thacea quickly shot back.
“As I have alluded to, your highness, the powers that be prevent me from furthering the natural solution to your particular grievances. If this were any other instance in time, at any other location or place, I am sure this matter would have been resolved in an expedient and timely fashion. This situation, as you have alluded to yourself, results from a very particular set of unforeseen circumstances. Circumstances which currently dictate my actions in a manner which just so happens to be in conflict with your points of personal privilege, your highness.” The man’s posture, the way he stood, even the way he talked seemed very particular when addressing Thacea.
It was at that point that something changed. I didn’t know what, and I wasn’t sure why, but Thacea seemed to be shifting towards a tactical retreat, as she clacked her beak several times before addressing the both of us. “This is absolutely preposterous, I will need a moment to clear my mind but when I do return…” Thacea turned towards the magistrate/guard/apprentice person yet again. “There will be words exchanged.”
At Thacea’s prompting, we all left the room, but not before slamming the door behind us shut in a similar manner to Ilunor’s drama-filled exits.
We continued walking away from the medical wing at a steady pace, until another privacy screen was suddenly brought up.
ALERT: LOCALIZED SURGE OF MANA-RADIATION DETECTED, 275% ABOVE BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS
“I have a plan.” Thacea began. “And this is entirely relying on you two having the physical prowess to back up your military backgrounds.” She continued ominously.
“Oh princess, you sully the Havenbrock name if you believe my mercenary heritage is in any way, shape, or form a mere decorative mantlepiece.” Thalmin responded with a sarcastic, yet excitable tone.
“I assure you, Thacea, I think my training has almost every eventuality accounted for.” I added with an affirmative nod.
“So what’s the plan?” Thalmin barked out excitedly as we stopped right in the middle of this long, wide hallway connecting the main castle with the medical wing. Thacea was quick to answer this question by wordlessly gesturing to a lone door on the right side of the hallway.
Windows lining either side of the hallway made it clear that this entire structure was just an elevated bridge connecting the main castle to an entirely separate compound.
This made the presence of a door smack-dab in the middle of its length sort of bizarre.
Upon entering it though, we were treated to an open-air rooftop terrace with a few seats and benches. The whole outcropping gave us an unparalleled view of the roaring waterfall beneath the Academy, and a direct line of sight to the medical wing and its five distinct towers.
The princess continued walking silently as we reached the edge of the terrace’s balcony, overlooking the sheer cliff face at a height that more or less put me in mind of your typical open-air rooftops on your typical Acela Corridor skyscraper.
“I’ve observed that the medical wing seems to consist of a large tower-atrium, with several more towers connected to it via additional corridors. Similar to spokes on a wheel. As you can see from this vantage point, it seems as if most rooms have private balconies. If we cannot make our way to the apprentice via conventional channels, then I plan to reach her via more unconventional means.” Thacea turned towards me with a hardened look in her gaze. “Emma, is your… insect artifice ready for use?”
My eyes widened at that, as I nodded affirmatively. “Just for the record, we call it a drone.” I quickly corrected Thacea. “But, yes, I can designate individuals and targets for it to track down or follow. However, I can’t just have it poking around in every room since there’s no guarantee that the drone will be able to get a lock on them. There’s too many variables involved that would get in the way of the drone actually being able to zero in on a person’s face. From the beds facing the right way, to bandages possibly covering up her face, to-”
“I don’t want your artifice to observe every balcony and window, Emma. That will most certainly take too much time, and as you’ve stated, there’s no guarantee of actually identifying a face considering the multitudes of factors involved.” Thacea interjected. “What I plan to do is to return to the Deputy-Magistrate, and to attempt to reach a compromise that he will abide by. I plan for him to take us, or rather, your drone straight to the apprentice.”
“And how will you accomplish this?” Thalmin whined,his head tilted in curiosity.
“I will draft a letter, addressed directly to the apprentice, and request that it be taken straight to her room. This way, the Deputy-Magistrate will in a sense be able to accomplish his obligations to the Expectant Decorum, and in doing so he will lead your insec-, drone, straight to the apprentice’s room.”
I stared at Thacea with wide eyes, as her back and forths with the deputy-magistrate began taking on a completely different meaning in this new light.
“That way, we can find out exactly which room the apprentice is in.” I replied bluntly.
“Correct. However, from there, I cannot say my plans are in any way foolproof.” Thacea replied with a sullen coo.
“Well go on, princess, it sounds pretty good so far!” Thalmin urged.
“Ascertaining the apprentice’s room is only half of the stated objective. Actually getting there is another matter entirely. Because depending on where the apprentice is located… my idea for the latter half of this quest involves you two scaling your way towards her room.” The princess spoke with an immense level of trepidation. “On the exterior aspect of the castle, if that needed to be said.”
My heart skipped a beat as the princess laid out her plans. I looked across the absurdly spindly hallway-bridge that this little terrace was somehow attached to, and towards the five towers that made up the medical wing.
Thalmin did the same, although his face seemed to indicate that he was at the very least, considering the plan at least somewhat seriously.
“Alright.” I muttered out loud, instinctively trying to place a palm on my forehead, only for the glove to bonk straight off. “I have several ideas. First, we might be able to do this remotely. I’m thinking once we find out which room she’s in, we fly in a larger drone, one carrying with it a deployable holographic projector or some other two-way communications device so that we can talk to her remotely.” As soon as I spoke that idea out loud however, things started to fall apart. “But because of how thick the walls are, and considering the distance between the tower and our dorm, I might have to deploy repeaters in order to daisy-chain the connection all the way back to the dorms. I mean, we can’t just set up shop out here in the open after all. At which point we’d have a continuous chain of signal-repeater drones flying all across the Academy… which wouldn’t be ideal. No, scratch that, that won’t work.”
The pair stared at me with varying degrees of confusion, but seemed to have collectively decided to ignore the idea after I’d scrapped it.
“I say we just climb it!” Thalmin yelped out, but not before another idea hit me. One that could work, but that required me consulting Thacea first.
“I mean, we could, but…” I turned to face Thacea. “What’s the Academy’s policy on noise? Or rather, do you think we could get away with something really really loud, buzzing outside of the towers?”
Thacea once more stared at me with a look of just utter confusion, but shrugged it off and went with it anyways. “I would highly recommend against generating too much noise for this particular quest, Emma. It would most certainly garner a lot of unwanted attention.” Thacea spoke plain and simple.
I couldn’t help but to groan internally in frustration at that.
That makes flying over there a no-go… it would’ve made things so much easier though…
“Alright, well, that more or less places us in a very awkward situation with not a lot of options available to us, huh?” I thought to myself outloud again, as I craned my head over to an excitable Thalmin.
“I guess I have to climb on over.” I stated in no uncertain terms.
“Wait, I?!” Thalmin responded with a shocked and incredulous bark. “There’s no way I’m allowing you to climb over there yourself without assistance or-”
“Thalmin, there’s no need for you to climb on over with me.” I interjected. “This whole mission is hedged on me talking to the apprentice one-on-one. Remember the gardens? The apprentice wouldn’t allow you anywhere near us when we started talking. It’d be a waste of time, energy, and more importantly… a huge risk to your safety. I don’t want to risk your life needlessly, Thalmin. Not especially for a fight that isn’t your own.”
“Well you’re part of our peer group, so it’s my fight as well.” Thalmin replied with a dejected growl, but eventually relented. “But you’re right, Emma. I hate to admit it, but you’re right.”
I nodded at Thalmin’s slowly. “Besides, there’s an important job I need you to do.” I began scrounging through one of my pouches, and began palming for my spare in-ear earpieces. “I need you on lookout, to keep me aware of anything fishy developing in case I need to pull out.”
Thalmin looked over the side of the terrace, towards the raging waters beneath this side of the Academy as he let out a sigh. “That shouldn’t be too hard. Hardly anyone will be passing by this terrace, and beyond that there’s no way anyone can spot you from below, given there’s nothing but the cascading rapids below us. There’s no one that can spot you from here, save for perhaps the foxes in the library. We’re most certainly on the right side of the Academy for this quest, that’s for certain.” Thalmin pointed at the library in the far distance.
“Oh, I’m not too worried about anyone seeing me. I’m more concerned about someone compromising my extraction point, i.e. this little terrace here.” I acknowledged.
“But, surely you must be worried about someone seeing you scaling the walls…” Thalmin scanned me up and down, as if wanting to comment about my size but- “You’re massive.”
“Okay, first off, rude.” I spoke sarcastically, and raised both hands up for added effect. “But in all seriousness, I have another device that can mask my visual presence.” I pulled out a plastic-like poncho from one of my pouches, activating it, and revealing its active-camo properties as it projected whatever was behind it, albeit with some imperfections. “It isn’t perfect, but from afar it should actually work pretty well.”
Both Thalmin and Thacea stared at each other in utter shock as they saw this.
“A mana-less-”
“I think… this is a matter worth discussing another time, Princess.” Thalmin interjected with a polite exasperated breath. “But I expect a good explanation for this one, Emma.” Thalmin pointed a finger right at me.
“In any case, I will be diverting the Deputy-Magistrate’s attention by preoccupying him with needless and vapid chatter. This should take attention away from the apprentice and your intrusion, Emma.” Thacea quickly added, and promptly tied this whole impromptu operation up nicely.
“Alright, let’s get this show on the road then. We’ll head back to the dorms and get that letter drafted so-”
“Already done.” Thacea interjected, bringing up a parchment that she promptly began sealing into an envelope.
“Wait, when did you-”
“Whilst we were talking, I used a dictation spell. The letter is written and signed.” Thacea spoke nonchalantly, as she held a neatly sealed envelope in one of her talons.
“Wait, what, when did you, how did you-?”
“I carry a quill and extra parchment in my bag of holding. This is to account for any eventuality where a statement in writing, a legal affidavit, or a notarized letter may be required.” Thacea responded a-matter-of-factly.
“Alright then.” I tapped the pouch with the INFIL-DRONE, the small little thing peeking its head out much to the visible disgust of the pair. “So we’re ready for phase one of the operation. Misdirection and information gathering. We’ll go in, drop the letter, and have the drone do its thing. After that, we wait for the drone to return, and we’ll take it from there on whether or not we can continue with Phase Two: penetrating the enemy lines.”
“What would be stopping us from continuing with phase two?” Thalmin quickly asked.
“Well, simple. If the apprentice is still conked out from her injuries, there wouldn’t be any point in attempting to meet her. So hopefully, she’s going to be in a good enough state to talk to. We’ll know when we get the drone footage back.”
“Fair point.” Thalmin nodded.
“So, is everyone ready to begin?” Thacea asked.
A series of affirmative nods later, we began our quick walk back over to the atrium.

The Transgracian Academy for the Magical Arts, Extraction Point Alpha (Open Air Terrace Overlooking the Medical Wing). Local Time: 1420 Hours.
That took way more time than I’d initially thought.
In fact, it took so long that I was beginning to wonder how two people could have an unending conversation where nothing of value was spoken and nothing of value was gained.
It was basically elevator small talk, but written by the same writers who wrote Bridgerwesson Lane, and adapted to a theatrical release with a trilogy that ended with a movie arbitrarily cut up into a two-parter.
I honestly zoned out for a few moments during those hours, as I decided to use the spare time to review the grappling hook and mountaineering gear I’d be using on this little quest.
Eventually however, the Deputy-Magistrate relented, at which point I let loose the INFIL-DRONE to do its thing.
It’d been twenty minutes since we left and made our way back to this open-air terrace, and all of us were waiting with bated breath for the results the drone had in store.
“So, how fast can that drone of yours fly anyways Emma-”
Thalmin was immediately cut off as the drone in question buzzed right by his ears, causing them to flick this way and that, before flattening out entirely.
“Speak of him and he will come.” I chuckled, as I outstretched a gloved hand over for the little drone to perch atop of.
Once again, the pair stared at it with a look of mild disgust, and then panic as it crawled all the way back into its docking port, and began uploading the data we needed.
“Alright, let’s see what we have here.” I spoke to no one in particular before shifting my attention to the EVI. “EVI, isolate and replay relevant footage, and calculate the target’s location.”
“Acknowledged, parsing…”
“Location Parsing. Footage isolated. Play Footage?”
“Affirmative.”
I immediately pulled out my data-tab for the gang to be able to watch as well, as the footage began just as the Deputy-Magistrate, and by extension the drone, arrived at the apprentice’s room.
The door, and all details posted in the front were all captured, and so too was the state of the apprentice revealed to us in short order as I braced myself for a mangled and bandaged-up mass of broken bones.
What I instead saw, was… still a heavily bandaged up figure. However, the most important thing was that they were awake.
And what was remarkable, was the fact that they were able to move without assistance. As the apprentice reached over to receive the letter wordlessly, shifting a bit in bed as she did so.
“This is a letter addressed from a Princess Thacea Dilani of the Aetheronrealm. I have fulfilled my duties and obligations as per the Expectant Decorum. I will now take my leave, Apprentice Larial.” The deputy-magistrate spoke with the same air of overbearing properness, seriously making me consider whether or not this was how he was all the time.
Whatever the case may be, the apprentice seemed to be healed enough to move her arms at the very least, as she grabbed the letter and spoke hoarsely back in response. “Thank you Senior Apprentice.”
There wasn’t much to the footage beyond those interactions, but it was good enough for the purposes of this mission.
“Alright.” I spoke, as I pocketed the tablet. “We have our answer. The apprentice seems healed up enough to speak to, so phase two of this operation is a-go.”
The pair nodded in response, just in time for the EVI to be done with whatever calculations were needed to determine the apprentice’s precise location.
I turned to the tower, as the room and its balcony was highlighted.
It was just about five stories above from where we were.
Meaning it’d be a hell of a climb.
“The room’s about five floors up.” I announced with a sigh.
“Are you sure you can make that journey, Emma?” Thacea responded worryingly. “I… I will be honest, Emma, I am having some second doubts about this whole idea. The concept just came to me as flying between tall structures and towers is just second nature to us Aetheronrealmers. Considering the heights involved, and your inability to fly, I’m wondering if this whole quest was a folly of my own shortsighted-”
“It’s fine, Thacea.” I cut the avinor off. “I can do this, trust me.” I placed a single hand on the princess’ shoulder, and squeezed it once for effect.
Meanwhile, the EVI began doing what it did best: attempting to minimize the risk associated with my hairbrained schemes, as it deployed the suit’s primary lookout drone in order to start mapping out the best possible route forward.
This spooked the pair yet again, as they both jolted backwards.
Thankfully, the drone was deathly silent, so it shouldn’t bring too much attention to it.
It was at this point that I brought out a pair of earpieces I was scrounging my pouches for earlier, one for Thacea, and another for Thalmin.
“These will help you stay in contact with me throughout the climb.” I stated plainly, as I attempted to latch it onto my own ear for demonstrative purposes, only to realize that I could not, given the suit was in the way.
I sighed, as I turned towards Thalmin. “Do you mind if I put it on for you?” I asked sheepishly.
“Erm, what is it, Emma?”
“It’s…” I paused, as I attempted to find the best way to describe this without taking up too much time. “It’s a communication artifice, Thalmin. It’ll allow us to talk to each other remotely, relying on that drone there-” I pointed at the lookout drone still flying away from us. “-to relay our voices to each other.”
Thalmin, as expected, looked at me with an expression of partial dumbfoundedness whilst Thacea seemed completely transfixed by the earpieces I held in my hands.
“So it’s like a hearing-sense?” Thalmin responded with a questioning bark.
“Look, I’ll just demonstrate.” I managed out with a sigh as Thalmin reluctantly nodded and allowed me to begin hooking in the earpiece, looping it around his fluffy triangular ears.
This inevitably resulted in my hand brushing over the lupinor’s fluffy head a few times, which seemed to elicit some large tail-wags and a dulcet rumble.
I tried to ignore that, as I pulled back and began demonstrating. “I’ve turned off my speakers, can you still hear me, Thalmin?”
“Yes, I can.” The lupinor spoke after clearing his throat.
I turned my speakers back on immediately after. “Alright, I’ll get into the specifics of how it works later, but as for now, just know that I can hear whatever you say.”
“I’m afraid I don’t think that artifice will be compatible with my… anatomy, Emma.” Thacea spoke calmly, as she pointed at several aspects of the earpiece that required an actual ear canal to fit into, and an earlobe to loop around.
“This complicates things a bit, but it shouldn’t be too difficult. How long do you think you can keep up the distracting conversation with the deputy-magistrate for, Thacea?”
“We just went through several hours discussing nothing in particular, I can most certainly continue that trend from dusk till dawn.” The avinor spoke confidently, and frankly, rather proudly. “The issue lies not in how long I can manage to maintain the conversation, but in how long it will take you to accomplish this quest, Emma.” Thacea shot back.
“An hour.” I nodded confidently. “Twenty minutes to scoot my way over there, twenty to talk to the apprentice, and twenty to get back.”
“I’ll make that two hours then.” Thacea responded without a second thought. “We need to account for potential complications, and an extra hour of senseless dialogue will most certainly not be an issue for me.”
With an affirmative nod from me, and an approving glance from Thalmin, I now turned towards the exterior of the two hundred foot corridor leading to the concourse, and the extra five hundred feet it would take to get from the atrium to the tower in question.
It was at that last minute that the EVI brought out another suggestion, one that was formulated with the aid of the new datasets provided by the FEBNPMS lookout drone that had been busy mapping out the best route forward.
It was… an inherently riskier approach, one that my aunt would definitely not approve of, but it definitely beat scaling a wall and wedging spikes into it.
“Actually… I have a better idea than simply scaling the walls.”

The Transgracian Academy for the Magical Arts, En Route to Medical Wing Tower C, Room 705. Local Time: 1430 Hours.
“Grapple secure.”
I will never forget the feeling of falling.
The very wrong feeling that came with leaping off of solid ground into empty sky, of suddenly seeing and feeling the world whizzing by me.
It was a visceral feeling, a gut-churning sensation, dominated by an overbearing sense of impending doom that takes over your terrestrial brain that wasn’t designed to feel the ‘freeing’ sensation of being unbound to the ground beneath you.
Leaping over from the edge of the terrace was the worst part of it. But after that tentative jump, things started to become just a little bit easier.
The Academy’s proclivity for over-aggrandized architectural design would finally serve a purpose beyond just decorative aesthetics.
Because it was clear that the walls weren’t really designed to ward off anyone daring to scale them. As there existed several, if not hundreds of these little greebles and outcroppings that served no purpose but to act as decorative pieces on the side of the castle. Some held stone flowers, whilst others had lamps or other light pieces of varying designs.
No matter what they were, or what meaning they held, all were equal and valid targets in the eyes of my grappling hook.
As I dangled there from the first outcropping, held in place by a single high-tensile cable, I looked up to see Thalmin looming over the edge “EMMA?!” I heard him shout in a panic. It was clear that he was unable to see anything, as my light-refraction cloak was currently doing its job well.
“I’m still here, Thalmin. You can’t see me but I’m dangling from this weird outcropping that looks like an overinflated vase.”
“NEXT TIME, BE SURE TO INFORM ME AS TO THE NATURE OF YOUR IMPOSSIBLE ARTIFICES BEFORE USE, UNDERSTOOD?!”
“Of course. You’ll know if I’ve fallen if you hear a long scream followed by a large splat.”
“That’s not funny!”
I chuckled nervously in response, before turning to face the grueling, gut-churning journey ahead of me. “Humor’s my way of dealing with stress, and trust me, I have a lot of stress to work through right about now.”
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(Author’s Note: Hey guys! Time for some unconventional solutions courtesy of Emma and the gang! We're going to meet the apprentice one way or another! I hope you guys enjoy! :D The next Chapter is already up on Patreon if you guys are interested in getting early access to future chapters!)
[If you guys want to help support me and these stories, here's my ko-fi ! And my Patreon for early chapter releases (Chapter 34 of this story is already out on there!)]

These are for pick-up only, as most things are too bulky to reasonably ship. If you're interested, DM me directly and I can give you a better idea of my location within the Boston area!

• Wedge pillows for elevated sleeping
  • Configurable for multiple heights (especially when you add the extra knee pillow into the mix, you can get pretty creative with the configurations)
  • Lunix LX6 3PCS Wedge Pillow System
    • https://lunixinc.com/products/lx6-3pcs-orthopedic-bed-wedge-pillow-system-navy
  • Lunix LX14 1PC Wedge Knee Pillow
    • https://lunixinc.com/products/lunix-lx14-1pc-wedge-knee-pillow
• Grabber tool for reaching things on high shelves
  • Useful for solo recovery
  • Unger 36 inch. trash grabber
    • https://www.homedepot.com/p/Unger-36-in-Nifty-Nabber-Trash-Picker-Grabber-92134/100353536
• Folding shopping cart
  • I actually used this for getting my laundry to and from the basement laundry room
  • (This isn't the exact brand I have, but pretty close)
    • https://www.homedepot.com/p/DMI-Folding-Shopping-Cart-640-8213-0200/203284005
• CVS-Antiseptic Skin Cleanser (CVS brand of Hibiclens)
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I’ll be seeing her next week! She will be driving down for a sleepover! I can’t wait. For context, she lives far away, so I don’t see her except maybe once every two months. She decided to skip a big event cause she said this war more important. Hopefully we’ll sleep together again! Platonically. Usually when we are at sleepovers we will sleep in the same bed/under the same blanket and cuddle. Additionally she asked for us to perform a song together for something we’re going to. The best thing is she chose to room with me for a whole week. I am so excited. And is it normal to really love your crush in a platonic way? Like barely any of this is really romantic, I just can’t wait to hang out with her.

Myself and my two friends (18 m) are 2nd year engineering students coming to Hyderabad for an internship for 1 month( june to july) from chennai. We can take a PG for accommodation, but we're looking for a small house (1 big or 2 rooms) to stay in for around 8k in rent just for a month. We're just trying to minimise the budget for staying, so we're going with this plan. Our intern's workplace location is Kanchanbagh, so anyone can suggest any ideas for looking into homes nearby or even places nearby to travel daily. And since we were just staying for a month, is it possible to find a house without making an advance?

We just moved into the top floor of an apartment building a month ago. Our downstairs neighbour left us a note complaining about loud banging noises coming 24/7 from our apartment.
Initially we thought it was the washing machine or dryer so we haven’t been running it for the last couple of days. However, the downstairs neighbour just came up with security (it’s 2 am here rn!!!) saying that we’re being noisy. However, for the last hour we’ve just been quiet (I’ve been on the couch in the living room listening to music - quietly- and reading, my partner has been in bed asleep). The noise was apparently loud enough to wake their baby.
The floor is carpeted and we don’t wear shoes in the house. It’s possible that it could be from our footsteps, but we’ve just been walking around normally during the day. I don’t know what to do - obviously we don’t want to cause such auditory distress to the neighbours, but also we have the right to quiet enjoyment of the apartment and should be able to walk around whenever we want. We’re not stomping around or anything, and the heaviest person in the apt is 250 lbs (which is big but shouldn’t be THAT disruptive).
Also the previous tenants here also would have walked around, and it apparently didn’t disturb the downstairs neighbours. So again regular footsteps shouldn’t be an issue? We also didn’t receive any complaints in our respective previous apartments.
The building manager is going to investigate whether there’s an animal in between the floors, but I was just wondering if there was anything else it could be? What more could we do to mitigate the noise?

I just woke up confused and like I ran a marathon. It started with me and my freind she slowly began to ignore my and only see a boyfriend I never met . I became all alone and then I was in a hospital room they told me to admit I was crazy. Then the nurse walks in and says " hmm no one's admit that there crazy before" but I didn't talk to them. They gave me pills and said I'll be fine but I wasn't crazy. After I took a pill I began to go in and out of hallucinations. One of the put me I my house where I did a scripted YouTube video. But ended up have worse hallucinations init and as I tride to hide it , it got worse. Part of my dream repeated where I was in my house and made a video but with small change. Then I repeated for the last time I walk into the video room and see all the actors piled up dead but there was one person who was not she looked mid 20s and had a 60s styled hair with a menacing smile and scary aura I ran and soon saw zombies I ran and got biten. The game like dream repeated I ran and saw three people who I couldn't tell where zombies or not I snapped the neck of one of the teen boys and felt shocked and guilty he looked normal like the illusion fell the other two boys ran. I had braces at this moment that where not there before fall out as well as some dimonds.. I saw the lady slowly chasing me through my house. I looked out side and saw snow like never before. I ran all the was to the other side of the house and before I could lock 4 doors like before she was there I looked at her and asked to leave this dream. she grew dark purple wings that where now apart of a dress on her she glew and and every thing slowly became what but a few would she said as she left where written on the glowing back ground don't forget I'm then I faded before I got her name and I popped up out of bed her name had a o or k in the beginning and two ll it was a short name 4 or 5 letters maybe. I felt like I just lived through a gods game I dont know to be mad at her or thankful for her waking me up. I have no idea what all of this means and if anyone knows please tell me. Ps. I didn't take any medication or substance before this.

(sorry for my bad english, its not my first language) I have a soon to be 1 year old dog, she was a stray and we took her in when she was 2 months old. She has her own space (a room but instead of doors, we installed a 1m tall gate ((don't worry she only goes inside when she has to eat or sleep)) but every night before bed my dad and I will have to pass by her and we can't help but to pet her before brushing our teeth and going to bed. She's quiet when she's alone in there but THIS GIRL- I have no idea why but whenever we try to pet her and say goodnight to her, she will ALWAYS. ALWAYS starts facing the other way and give us her butt or she'll start growling and barking at the ceiling. Anyone knows why?

We just moved into the top floor of an apartment building a month ago. Our downstairs neighbour left us a note complaining about loud banging noises coming 24/7 from our apartment.
Initially we thought it was the washing machine or dryer so we haven’t been running it for the last couple of days. However, the downstairs neighbour just came up with security (it’s 2 am here rn!!!) saying that we’re being noisy. However, for the last hour we’ve just been quiet (I’ve been on the couch in the living room listening to music - quietly- and reading, my partner has been in bed asleep). The noise was apparently loud enough to wake their baby.
The floor is carpeted and we don’t wear shoes in the house. It’s possible that it could be from our footsteps, but we’ve just been walking around normally during the day. I don’t know what to do - obviously we don’t want to cause such auditory distress to the neighbours, but also we have the right to quiet enjoyment of the apartment and should be able to walk around whenever we want. We’re not stomping around or anything, and the heaviest person in the apt is 250 lbs (which is big but shouldn’t be THAT big).
Also the previous tenants here also would have walked around, and it apparently didn’t disturb the downstairs neighbours. So again regular footsteps shouldn’t be an issue? We also didn’t receive any complaints in our respective previous apartments.
The building manager is going to investigate whether there’s an animal in between the floors, but I was just wondering if there was anything else it could be? What more could we do to mitigate the noise?

Credit for the original story goes to u/spacepaladin15.
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Memory transcript subject: Trish, Venlil civilian
Date [Standardized Human Time]: February 30th, 2177
Location: Lower sprawl of City 23, Venlil Prime
The blankets haphazardly twisted around Trish felt like steel chains. The Terran grandfather clock on the wall dutifully marked each second of her prison sentence. Her eyes hurt from exhaustion, and it was all she could do to keep herself from lashing her tail hard enough to fracture it in frustration.
Several long, pointless hours had come and gone as she sat, self-immobilized with blankets in an attempt to sleep. But sleep did not come. There was a sick feeling of apprehension balled up in her stomach, a cold weight in her soul which silently sentenced her to sleeplessness.
Her instinct, that feeling of a frigid vice around her waist, could usually be counted on as a guiding star that commanded her to act decisively. Right now, it was commanding her to stay awake and alert even as the hours dragged by. Out of respect for its “wishes”, she had abstained from taking any sleep-inducing medication, but her meager patience was quickly waning. Simply sitting there in silence was nothing short of torturous.
The thought of how exactly they’d feed the Arxur still hung over her head like a guillotine, the evening’s furious debate having brought them little closer to a solution. Acquiring any organ-cloning tech would be a nightmare, not to mention the steep cost of life incurred from stealing rare medical equipment. There wasn’t exactly an abundance of wildlife for it to hunt. Maybe some DIY-biomedical tampering could expand its diet, but accidentally condemning it to an agonizing death was far more likely.
Perhaps their fixer had some advice to share. There were only a couple ways she could’ve gotten her hands on a fertilized Arxur egg, and her constant insistence on keeping hidden in every way pointed towards one obvious possibility. How exactly an Arxur had survived the fall of Wriss and stayed clear of the Federation’s all-seeing eye for so long, Trish couldn’t even begin to guess. But if it was possible for her, it would be possible for them, and she might have useful advice for keeping the hatchling fed that she garnered from personal experience.
That said, she couldn’t be blunt in her questioning. If their encryption was broken, they were most likely dead either way, but better to be cautious anyway. Most likely, this abundance of caution was how someone actively fleeing the Federation had to operate in all aspects of life.
Something in Trish’s chest protested. To hell with caution. She wanted to see their reptilian sponsor face-to-face, even digitally. Look her in the eye. If she was right, at least; if this was truly her own offspring she was entrusting them with. It would be hell to set up, and a completely pointless risk for both of them, but some things couldn’t be justified with—
A sudden crack of thunder tore through her thoughts, a rough noise which echoed from the bar above. She further entombed herself in blankets for comfort, letting the warm weight…
Not thunder. A gunshot. Someone had fired a gun upstairs.
Trish was out of bed and shaking someone else awake before her thoughts could catch up and form a plan of action. With her mind still reeling, instinct had taken hold, dragging her by the pit of her stomach to act. It issued clear, firm commands which she followed unthinkingly while her own conscious mind couldn’t keep pace.
Act quickly. Get everyone awake, and get them to the fire escape at the end of the hallway. It didn’t much matter if their assailants found the entrance to the Den or not; flames would start pouring down the stairs any second. They wouldn’t have time to gather belongings. Except her pad; if they found her pad, there’d be no escaping them even if they got away. Grab it. The fire would cleanse the rest of their tracks well enough to not be worth spending extra time.
Tressa was already up and alert, pistol drawn and taking aim at the door while crouched behind a couch in the living room as cover. Besides him sat the backpack, with the egg and incubator still inside. James stumbled out of his bedroom, being dragged out by a jet-black Venlil two thirds his size with such force that Trish was slightly worried she might hurt something in his arm.
When he saw the bag, he tore himself from her grasp and ran to the living room. After slinging the backpack over his shoulder, he rushed back to the hallway with Tressa in tow. Sasha was slipping her flame jacket over loose sleeping clothing, still blinking sleep out of her eyes. She didn’t see Burai anywhere; apparently, he’d slept straight through the noise. Trish was halfway to his room when she remembered that he hadn’t gone to sleep at all. He was upstairs, cleaning the bar.
​
He was upstairs, where the gunshot had echoed from.
Trish’s mind screamed in protest, but her body kept moving down the hall toward the fire escape. They were out of time. They needed to run. She tore open the fire escape hatch with force, praying that their assailants didn’t have the neighboring alley locked down too. The ladder swung down, missing her snout by a hair. Her limbs moved with a frantic, manic power, dragging her to the surface and forcing her down the street. Somewhere in the back of her head, she felt a pang of thankfulness that she didn’t feel fire on her back as she ran.
—
They stopped running by the time Trish was out of breath. She’d never been too fit even for a Venlil, and her endurance was meaningless compared to their human companions. However, in the dense decaying maze of the sprawl, even a few city blocks was plenty to lose anyone chasing. They gathered in the relative privacy of a burned supermarket, breathing heavily through cloth masks to block out the ash that poured from the walls in unrestored buildings.
Nobody spoke a word. There was nothing to say.
In better times, Trish might’ve broken down into tears, but right now adrenaline forced her into a sharp focus. They were still being hunted. Their options were slim, and growing slimmer every second of inaction.
“Tressa, did you bring your pistol?”
The words came out as choked and barely audible beneath the suffocating cloth that protected her lungs, but it was enough to break the silence. The rest of them jolted out of their stupor, minds visibly refocusing to tackle the problem at hand.
“...Yeah, but it won’t be enough to fight them off. I heard multiple sets of boots up there. If these are exterminators, it’s probably a squad of five. I can’t take that many with just a handgun.”
“It doesn’t matter either way. Kill them, and they’ll just send more. We need to run.”
“And run where, exactly?” James coughed a few times and readjusted his mask before continuing. “There’s nowhere the Federation doesn’t have eyes. Nowhere on Venlil Prime, at least, and we’d have better luck standing our ground than trying to board a ship offworld.”
“...a ship?”
“Yeah, walking into a spaceport is just asking to be— Trish?”
“...there’s a ship… there’s a wrecked UN ship on the dark side of Venlil Prime. It’s not too far from here, but far enough that nobody would ever bother checking out there. I’ve been inside it a couple times. There’s still working lights.”
Tressa muttered to himself, considering their prospects. “Working lights… imagine I could get heat working too. It probably has enough water onboard to last until we can dig a well. I… I could maybe even clone meat if they had Zurulian medical tech. You think we’d be safe there?”
“I don’t think there’s anywhere else to go.”
“And you never thought to tell us about this before now?”
“It never came up.”
James paced nervously, kicking up plumes of dust. It hung in the air for a brief moment, swirling dramatically in the cold light of a fluorescent lamp, before resettling as he leaned against the wall. “So you want to drag us to the dark side of Venlil Prime… Jesus, Trish. I thought there was a reason nobody bothered settling out there. Or at least a reason they didn’t scavenge those wrecks. Hell, even people like us avoid it.”
“There are settlements on the edge, and scavengers comb the darkness up to about a paw’s travel out. But no light means no farming, scarce power, and unyielding cold. Unless you just happened to find an abandoned ship with backup power still burning, it’s a death sentence. The Federation won’t look for us there.”
“...and you ’just happened’ to find one, huh?”
“A friend of mine— no, I’ll tell you about it later. We need to get moving now.”
Sasha sat up, brushing a layer of grime off her jacket. “We need to go back for Beast. No way we can make the journey out without her. Unless you think you can hotwire something, Tressa..?”
“Not a chance. Then again, our chances of retaking Beast seem pretty slim too. Do you have a plan for doing this, or is your ‘plan’ to throw me at them and hope I have more bullets than they have flamer fuel?”
“No. We’ll all go together, and try not to pick a fight we can’t win. Slip in, grab Beast, get out.”
“That’s not a plan, and you know it. That’s wishful thinking. If your best plan is ‘walk in and hope they don’t see us’, then we’re walking to our deaths.”
“If you have a better idea, let’s hear it. Until then, walk faster. The longer we’re gone, the more likely they’ll burn our escape to slag before we return.”
Tressa grumbled, but failed to make any coherent objection as he rose to his feet. He checked his pistol over, making sure ash hadn’t wormed its way into anything vital before slipping it back under his coat as the group stepped out into the street.
It was a common work claw, so the more ruined areas of the sprawl were near-empty. The only sign that people lived here in any capacity were the streetlights and a distant hum of life from more central streets and walkways. Not that their little entourage would draw much attention anyway; out here, ragtag herds of misfits were about as common as the burned-out buildings that permeated the land.
Their little ragtag herd of misfits wouldn’t hardly be missed if they went up in flames. Not by anyone important, that is; a few regulars at the Tipped Quill might be disappointed and some exterminator officer’s spreadsheet would need updating. The world would continue on without them. The world was going to continue on without them. Tressa was right; they were marching to their deaths.
---
[First] [Previous] [Next]

I feel so sad. He felt like I was keeping our dating a secret yet never had a proper conversation with me about it. We weren’t exclusive yet. Dating 2 months. Pulled away at the end.
His first breakup text to me:
Hey I went hiking. But that is ok about tonight. It’s probably for the better. I keep wanting to talk but maybe texting will just have to do. I feel like there are too many red flags here, on both sides, couple that with us having different interests and desires I’d rather we just be friends before it gets too serious or exclusive.
I told him let’s talk about it over the phone since he always said that’s better than text.
He said:
Hey, I hope whatever you are doing tonight is over now. Anyway I don’t want you to think I’m ghosting you. But I’m not really sure what more to say. Talking today I didn’t think would have been a good idea but if you want to chat in the coming days I will.
I didn’t respond. He said:
Noticed your notifications have been silenced all day. What is a good time to call? At hiking I couldn’t mention us. It confirmed to me something’s off. It’s been two months, 1300 dollars, but I don’t know your real name, where you live, your money situation, friends, work. Everything’s secret. You want adventures but we can’t do social events and we skip activities. Except dinnelunch. Haha and I don’t even like dinning out. I go for you. I actually really like you. Or, who I think is you? The secrecy was understandable. Seems like men have treated you terribly, but they’re not me. Why are we hiding? Are you embarrassed? Is it the other men? How do I explain what I’ve been doing for two months? I feel confused, hurt, taken for granted. I’m not a man from Tinder. I’ve never lied to you. I didn’t mean to sound so definitive but if we can’t be on an even and open level, despite my feelings for you, Id rather just be meetup friends because I can’t keep lying to my friends.
I called him and we talked. He sounded stressed. I told him that it isn’t good to just break it off without having a real conversation. It sucked because we were talking late at night and in person would be better. He said “am I ever going to hear from you again?” I said for him to text me tomorrow that I had to go to bed (it was around 1am), next day (yesterday) late afternoon he texts me this:
Hey, upon reflection I feel like some stuff said last night came close to gas lighting. I know my texts showed a lack of seriousness to you but your answers to all of my concerns were that we’re not exclusive or serious yet, or, that I was not seeing things correctly. I feel there’s a double standard and I’m convinced more than ever it isn’t going to work. Thank you for the past two months. I really do hope you meet your person. I understand friendship is off the table so I won’t contact you again. Please take care.
I didn’t gaslight him. I am not a manipulator. I genuinely cared about this guy and saw a future eventually but I was taking it slow. We both shared vulnerabilities. He told me over the phone that I know way more about him than he does me. I told him I told him more about myself than I have told anyone.
I don’t understand. Like he shut me down and shut me out. All I want to do is talk to him in person. I replied to his last text that I wanted to see him and talk to him in person. He silenced my calls but I am not blocked. I tried calling and no answer. No response yet to my text.
Can anyone here give me clarity? I truly liked him
TLDR both 35 was dumped over text and need clarity and help on what to do next

I feel so sad. He felt like I was keeping our dating a secret yet never had a proper conversation with me about it. We weren’t exclusive yet. Dating 2 months. Pulled away at the end.
His first breakup text to me:
Hey I went hiking. But that is ok about tonight. It’s probably for the better. I keep wanting to talk but maybe texting will just have to do. I feel like there are too many red flags here, on both sides, couple that with us having different interests and desires I’d rather we just be friends before it gets too serious or exclusive.
I told him let’s talk about it over the phone since he always said that’s better than text.
He said:
Hey, I hope whatever you are doing tonight is over now. Anyway I don’t want you to think I’m ghosting you. But I’m not really sure what more to say. Talking today I didn’t think would have been a good idea but if you want to chat in the coming days I will.
I didn’t respond. He said:
Noticed your notifications have been silenced all day. What is a good time to call? At hiking I couldn’t mention us. It confirmed to me something’s off. It’s been two months, 1300 dollars, but I don’t know your real name, where you live, your money situation, friends, work. Everything’s secret. You want adventures but we can’t do social events and we skip activities. Except dinnelunch. Haha and I don’t even like dinning out. I go for you. I actually really like you. Or, who I think is you? The secrecy was understandable. Seems like men have treated you terribly, but they’re not me. Why are we hiding? Are you embarrassed? Is it the other men? How do I explain what I’ve been doing for two months? I feel confused, hurt, taken for granted. I’m not a man from Tinder. I’ve never lied to you. I didn’t mean to sound so definitive but if we can’t be on an even and open level, despite my feelings for you, Id rather just be meetup friends because I can’t keep lying to my friends.
I called him and we talked. He sounded stressed. I told him that it isn’t good to just break it off without having a real conversation. It sucked because we were talking late at night and in person would be better. He said “am I ever going to hear from you again?” I said for him to text me tomorrow that I had to go to bed (it was around 1am), next day (yesterday) late afternoon he texts me this:
Hey, upon reflection I feel like some stuff said last night came close to gas lighting. I know my texts showed a lack of seriousness to you but your answers to all of my concerns were that we’re not exclusive or serious yet, or, that I was not seeing things correctly. I feel there’s a double standard and I’m convinced more than ever it isn’t going to work. Thank you for the past two months. I really do hope you meet your person. I understand friendship is off the table so I won’t contact you again. Please take care.
I didn’t gaslight him. I am not a manipulator. I genuinely cared about this guy and saw a future eventually but I was taking it slow. We both shared vulnerabilities. He told me over the phone that I know way more about him than he does me. I told him I told him more about myself than I have told anyone.
I don’t understand. Like he shut me down and shut me out. All I want to do is talk to him in person. I replied to his last text that I wanted to see him and talk to him in person. He silenced my calls but I am not blocked. I tried calling and no answer. No response yet to my text.
Can anyone here give me clarity? I truly liked him
TLDR both 35 was dumped over text and need clarity and help on what to do next

I feel so sad. He felt like I was keeping our dating a secret yet never had a proper conversation with me about it. We weren’t exclusive yet. Dating 2 months. Pulled away at the end.
His first breakup text to me:
Hey I went hiking. But that is ok about tonight. It’s probably for the better. I keep wanting to talk but maybe texting will just have to do. I feel like there are too many red flags here, on both sides, couple that with us having different interests and desires I’d rather we just be friends before it gets too serious or exclusive.
I told him let’s talk about it over the phone since he always said that’s better than text.
He said:
Hey, I hope whatever you are doing tonight is over now. Anyway I don’t want you to think I’m ghosting you. But I’m not really sure what more to say. Talking today I didn’t think would have been a good idea but if you want to chat in the coming days I will.
I didn’t respond. He said:
Noticed your notifications have been silenced all day. What is a good time to call? At hiking I couldn’t mention us. It confirmed to me something’s off. It’s been two months, 1300 dollars, but I don’t know your real name, where you live, your money situation, friends, work. Everything’s secret. You want adventures but we can’t do social events and we skip activities. Except dinnelunch. Haha and I don’t even like dinning out. I go for you. I actually really like you. Or, who I think is you? The secrecy was understandable. Seems like men have treated you terribly, but they’re not me. Why are we hiding? Are you embarrassed? Is it the other men? How do I explain what I’ve been doing for two months? I feel confused, hurt, taken for granted. I’m not a man from Tinder. I’ve never lied to you. I didn’t mean to sound so definitive but if we can’t be on an even and open level, despite my feelings for you, Id rather just be meetup friends because I can’t keep lying to my friends.
I called him and we talked. He sounded stressed. I told him that it isn’t good to just break it off without having a real conversation. It sucked because we were talking late at night and in person would be better. He said “am I ever going to hear from you again?” I said for him to text me tomorrow that I had to go to bed (it was around 1am), next day (yesterday) late afternoon he texts me this:
Hey, upon reflection I feel like some stuff said last night came close to gas lighting. I know my texts showed a lack of seriousness to you but your answers to all of my concerns were that we’re not exclusive or serious yet, or, that I was not seeing things correctly. I feel there’s a double standard and I’m convinced more than ever it isn’t going to work. Thank you for the past two months. I really do hope you meet your person. I understand friendship is off the table so I won’t contact you again. Please take care.
I didn’t gaslight him. I am not a manipulator. I genuinely cared about this guy and saw a future eventually but I was taking it slow. We both shared vulnerabilities. He told me over the phone that I know way more about him than he does me. I told him I told him more about myself than I have told anyone.
I don’t understand. Like he shut me down and shut me out. All I want to do is talk to him in person. I replied to his last text that I wanted to see him and talk to him in person. He silenced my calls but I am not blocked. I tried calling and no answer. No response yet to my text.
Can anyone here give me clarity? I truly liked him
TLDR both 35 was dumped over text and need clarity and help on what to do next

My grandma lives in an assisted living. I do her laundry.
The facility has someone who cleans her apartment a few times a week.
When I do my grandma’s laundry, I pair up her outfits to make it easier on her.
I have clothes that are out of season on the shelf above her hanging clothes and in the drawers. Sometimes my grandma will go rogue and start digging clothes out of her off season clothes, but does not wear them. Probably leaves them on her bed though. She has dementia, so asking my grandma to put the clothes back away isn’t really an option.
The girl who cleans her room takes any/all clothing and puts it in the hamper, dirty or not. Since my grandma has frequent accidents, I have to wash everything in the hamper. The amount of clean clothes sometimes outnumber the dirty ones.
Note…I don’t ever see this girl as I am at work when she is there.
How do I word a note tactfully to stop putting clean clothes in the hamper? TIA.

I (23 F) recently visited home for my dad's birthday. I have sort of a complicated relationship with my family. Sometimes I go home and it's a great visit and I leave feeling loved and wanted and like I'm going to miss them. Sometimes I go home and I feel like it's a total shitshow and I leave feeling relieved to be away from them.
For context, I'm the oldest child of three. Growing up, I had mental health problems that were never spoken of or dealt with. I had bad social anxiety disorder and low self esteem, panic attacks, etc. It was always viewed like I was just socially immature and that I needed to grow up and get over it. I was left out in school, sometimes made fun of, etc. It's hard to explain in one post but my mother contributed to those issues a lot. She also has mental health problems (depression, anxiety, obsessiveness, etc) but instead of getting help for it although she has the resources and means, she pretends nothing is wrong with her. There's more to that story but I'll stop there with that. My mother can be very critical, judgmental, and I think she is immature for her age (51).
I have been to therapy now and I go regularly to try to better myself, even after I've gotten over the anxiety disorder. I live a "normal" life now-I've graduated undergrad and I'm about to graduate graduate school, I have an internship, a partner, and a few friends. In my day to day life, I generally get along with everyone and am an agreeable person. I am not a negative or rude or argumentative person in my daily life. I'm actually the opposite and can be too much of a people pleaser and too demure.
However, sometimes when I go home, I feel triggered. I feel like I'm regressing back to being fourteen and feeling unwanted and unappreciated in my family. I can recognize I'm getting triggered but have a hard time dealing with it. I feel like the black sheep in my family just because I'm not a conservative MAGA Christian, I am going into a career field that is less black and white and more theoretical, and I just remember how alone and ostracized I felt growing up by everyone.
Yesterday, I was in the car with my mom and my younger sister. I was having a good time. We were going to pick up my dad's birthday cake. My mom was complaining about his cake costing twenty five dollars, saying it was too expensive etc, even though she has been a stay at home mom for over twenty years and my dad makes the money (and they have plenty of it). When she got out of the car, I casually remarked to my sister "Mom can be cheap." Now, I did not say it in a hateful or derogatory way, but in a joking manner. It is a running joke in our family that mom is tight with money. That's all I said.
When we got home, I went inside the house first, blissfully unaware. I started making myself lunch. My mom comes in the house, gives me a very hateful look, and says, "Why are you so critical about people?" She said it in a very hateful way-the way she usually always has said criticism to me. The way she said it made me feel small and disliked. I had no idea what she was talking about. Completely taken aback, I said, "What are you talking about?" And she said that my sister had told her I was talking shit about her, basically. I said I had no idea what she was talking about because I didn't even remember calling her cheap because to me, it wasn't a big deal.
My sister gets mad at my mom for telling me she had told her. I start defending myself, saying yes, I had called mom cheap, but it was in a joking way and why is it even a big deal? I start to get really upset. I don't know why. I know it's a childhood thing. I started crying about it after they left the room. I hardly ever cry-I can count on one hand the number of times I cry in a year. But something about this triggered some core wound. I'll talk to my therapist about it next session lol. I think it has to do with my sister. She is younger than me and so I feel stupid and immature being upset by her knowing I have years on her. But she is a difficult type of person for me to feel close to. She's spoiled, gets whatever she wants, is a popular cheerleader type, and looks down on me. Every time I come home, she has something snarky to say about what I'm wearing, something I'm doing, etc. I know she reminds me of girls that bullied me in middle and high school. It's sad when your own sister reminds you of that. I always try to be nice to her. I comforted her when she was going through a tough time two weeks ago. I always buy her thoughtful birthday and Christmas presents. But I just told my mom, I do not think I can talk to or hang out with her right now. Obviously she was trying to start drama, because why else would you do what she did?
I felt stupid and immature for getting upset about such a trivial matter. I still feel that way. But also, I can recognize my mom handled it badly. Instead of coming to me and saying, your sister told me you said this, it hurt my feelings, did you and why did you say it? She just accused me of it in a very hateful way. It ruined the day for me, over something that I didn't even say to be hurtful or critical, just as an offhand joking remark.
If you read all of this, you might be thinking I sound immature, and yeah, that's how I feel when I go home half the time, despite feeling normal in everyday life. I feel like I regress. And that's why I only go home for holidays and birthdays. I love and get along well with my dad and my brother and it's sad that I have a harder time with my mom and my sister. I could make a whole separate post about my mom, she has so many undealt with issues.
TL;DR: feel like I regress to a triggered teenage mindset when I go home. Just need to vent and process it.

I’m using the Halo Bassinest cosleeper next to/tucked above the side of our bed for my youngest who is 3 months + 2 weeks old. It says on the thing (the warning label) to “stop use when the child is showing signs of being able to pull up, rollover, push up or sit up unassisted, or is able to move out of the security of the walled sleep area.” My baby is starting to twist around in almost a full circle and she rolls onto her side (ending up sleeping on her side) but not her stomach yet. I know it’s only a matter of time before she will likely fit the description of this label but it’s been a little while since my oldest was this age so I forgot how long I have. I know time flies though so I’m thinking maybe better be safer than sorry and just stop using this thing but the problem is we are moving shortly so already packed up her crib into our storage unit (thinking was just easier to make room that way). My baby is exclusively breastfed right now and the night feedings are just easier with this kind of cosleeper attachment and also she likes it better than her crib. Any thoughts and suggestions welcome please. For my oldest, he cosleeped at night with a foldable bassinet that went in between us on the bed for a while then would sleep in this expensive Swedish minimalist triangular roofed bassinet that did not attach to the bed before coming into our bed between us without anything (which was dangerous, inconvenient, and annoying) but he was way worse with night feedings. Anyway I mention all this because I don’t want my daughter to have dysfunctional sleeping, wondering what I can do for her for now to feel more safe about where she sleeps while the crib is in storage.

I’m using the Halo Bassinest cosleeper next to/tucked above the side of our bed for my youngest who is 3 months + 2 weeks old. It says on the thing (the warning label) to “stop use when the child is showing signs of being able to pull up, rollover, push up or sit up unassisted, or is able to move out of the security of the walled sleep area.” My baby is starting to twist around in almost a full circle and she rolls onto her side (ending up sleeping on her side) but not her stomach yet. I know it’s only a matter of time before she will likely fit the description of this label but it’s been a little while since my oldest was this age so I forgot how long I have. I know time flies though so I’m thinking maybe better be safer than sorry and just stop using this thing but the problem is we are moving shortly so already packed up her crib into our storage unit (thinking was just easier to make room that way). My baby is exclusively breastfed right now and the night feedings are just easier with this kind of cosleeper attachment and also she likes it better than her crib. Any thoughts and suggestions welcome please. For my oldest, he cosleeped at night with a foldable bassinet that went in between us on the bed for a while then would sleep in this expensive Swedish minimalist triangular roofed bassinet that did not attach to the bed before coming into our bed between us without anything (which was dangerous, inconvenient, and annoying) but he was way worse with night feedings. Anyway I mention all this because I don’t want my daughter to have dysfunctional sleeping, wondering what I can do for her for now to feel more safe about where she sleeps while the crib is in storage.

I’m using the Halo Bassinest cosleeper next to/tucked above the side of our bed for my youngest who is 3 months + 2 weeks old. It says on the thing (the warning label) to “stop use when the child is showing signs of being able to pull up, rollover, push up or sit up unassisted, or is able to move out of the security of the walled sleep area.” My baby is starting to twist around in almost a full circle and she rolls onto her side (ending up sleeping on her side) but not her stomach yet. I know it’s only a matter of time before she will likely fit the description of this label but it’s been a little while since my oldest was this age so I forgot how long I have. I know time flies though so I’m thinking maybe better be safer than sorry and just stop using this thing but the problem is we are moving shortly so already packed up her crib into our storage unit (thinking was just easier to make room that way). My baby is exclusively breastfed right now and the night feedings are just easier with this kind of cosleeper attachment and also she likes it better than her crib. Any thoughts and suggestions welcome please. For my oldest, he cosleeped at night with a foldable bassinet that went in between us on the bed for a while then would sleep in this expensive Swedish minimalist triangular roofed bassinet that did not attach to the bed before coming into our bed between us without anything (which was dangerous, inconvenient, and annoying) but he was way worse with night feedings. Anyway I mention all this because I don’t want my daughter to have dysfunctional sleeping, wondering what I can do for her for now to feel more safe about where she sleeps while the crib is in storage.

So I wanna to have better experience with my boyfriend when staycation at hotels, and planning to have king size bed (I ordered online), are staff and the receptionist gonna looks at us weird, or they just gonna approve the request, and give us king-sizes bed room?
P.S: I am having holiday in Indonesia, (i know it's lgbt non friendly country, but i curious if the hotels bit different)
Thanks in advance, happy pride month! 🌈🌈