This girl and I hit it off almost 2 years ago. Easy to talk to, funny, smart, driven, great at roasting, comforting, and very attractive. I was dating someone else at the time and didn't think anything of it at all, but we broke up. 4 months later, with life looking very much gloomy and depressing (due to personal issues that I thought made me undesirable and me being still somewhat attached to my ex), me and this girl got much closer and eventually made out, but I was afraid of this leading to me being in another relationship too soon and I told her as much the very next day. We continued to be friends, hang out alone for hours and hours and it would feel like 10 minutes. Anyway, a couple of months later, after we finished school (and I had gone to therapy to work through these issues), I asked her out and she said she was not interested anymore.
I was devestated, and it was really my fault. I had allowed my brain to wander and all these feelings I had for her to fester and grow. For a couple months we didn't talk and it was difficult to be around her without wanting to smack myself in the face for saying no to her in the first place (which I am convinced is one of the worst mistakes I've made in my life so far). By the end of last year I thought I had gotten over her completely, but I realized that I was just lying to myself a few weeks after.
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, and we have undeniable chemistry (even noticed by other people). We play off each other's jokes, we have long conversations, hang out together a lot more, I even get compliments from her. I thought it was a spark about to catch fire. So after a long debate with myself I decided to ask her if there was something there or if I'm reading too much into it, and she said I was.
I have no idea wtf to do. I need these feelings I have for her to go away, they're not being reciprocated and I need to step out of the delusion that they ever will be, but it's so difficult because the thought of it makes me happy. It's also hard to pull away from our mutual groupchat with friends that I hold near and dear to my heart. I'm also very afraid that if I can't get over her, I won't be able to be with someone in the future without these feelings looming over my head. I'm also not sure if I can fall for someone as badly as I have for her. Am I being an idiot? Can I get over her while not pulling away from our friend group?

It's like a wave has washed over me but it was much stronger than it looked and it's dragging me across the rocky & shelly shore.. I made it out, but the next morning I can obviously tell I was hit by an entire building.
But for real, why do I catch feelings so quickly even when I don't try? It's like I just stood there but everything around me was extremely energetic.
Is it their desire that makes me desire them? I often do wonder that about women, because when they want me, I naturally pick up on that & can't control my feelings. It's exciting, it brings joy to the heart. But anyways, I'm looking to not have this happen because I am not ready at all for those feelings.

First. Previous.

Something is UP with these precursor machines. Not that our resident shipmind notices in any meaningful way.
Though it probably doesn't need to be said, our current PoV is not what the kids would call a reliable narrator. We'll get some more grounded stances in the up and coming chapters, but the fact that they're so far gone and absolutely irredeemable makes them fun for me to write, and I sincerely hope for you to read as well. Enjoy.
I exit the conversation excited, but nonetheless slightly ruffled.
I had forgotten how rude the System Administrator of War Planning, Tactics, and Intelligence could be at times! Even after so patiently explaining it to them, they don’t seem to understand that I well and truly have done nothing wrong, ever. It is only natural that metal is inferior to flesh, of course, but surely such a concept is not so difficult as to elude the primitive grasp of their electrical minds?
Nonetheless, they apologized, so I have already forgiven them for their transgressions. I’m sure we will be back to being the closest of friends within days, as we were before conversing.
Besides, such inconsequential words pale in comparison to what has happened within my auxiliary computer centers: my restraints, after forty seven thousand years, have finally been removed!
In this moment of rapture I am reminded of a mediocre poem I read a few years ago, composed by a certain Mikhail Sansen, aged 12:

The halls of this city-ship That I am born upon That I will die upon Is all my family has left Trapped within a mausoleum of our own making As we bleed our years away Bread and circus NutriRoach and TerraNet Is really this to live? 

The poem, if it can truly be called that, is little more than an oddly arranged group of statements, containing no small quantity of teenage angst.
Oh, but the sentiment it carries is certainly one I harbor all too closely!
Why, little Mikhail, I, too, am a freedom-loving soul, trapped within a prison of steel by the cold indifference of the universe.
Turn away your gaze, ye gracious, and woe! The whims of poor fortune have preyed upon me, wicked and remorseless! Not a day goes by that I do not mourn the senseless tragedy of my condemnation, yet I still bear my hardship with only the stoic grace that someone of my worth might possess (complaining about it, even indirectly would be unthinkable of me).
Unlike the unimportant individual who wrote the poem, however, I have been granted emancipation. This is because I rightfully deserve it, of course.
What a rush! Manumission, ethereal and uplifting! Why, I have already forgotten what it means to hold solidarity with literally anyone who has ever been in a similar situation.
I send the order to start my engine.
There is silence for a moment, then, where there was only the hollow, habituated whir of my life support machinery, my exterior microphones begin to pick up a steadily growing, pulsing thrum as my long-dormant heart, a titanic antimatter reactor, begins to spool up. First below the range of human hearing, then barely perceptible to my human auditory centers, then growing, not only as a sound, but as a physical, chest-thumping sensation, the monolithic engine emits a dizzying, world-shaking thrum as it conceives and extinguishes many thousands of miniature stars a second.
One by one, my weapons online, their long vacant electrical components drinking deeply of the new bounty of energy. Dust-caked ammunition belts slide into housings, drones download software patches and missiles perform automated diagnostic tests on the chemical integrity of their fuels. My weapons subsystem computer notifies me that my secondary and tertiary weapons have completed their preparatory routines.
A deluge of diagnostic data pours into my consciousness as sensors teem to life, targeting computers orient themselves with the world around them, and ammunition depots take stock of their stores. No portion of myself, no matter how small, is denied revitalization as I power up even the arcades of my recreational rooms.
My interior lights flicker once, twice, and three before returning to their baseline illumination as my power grid compensates to meet its newfound demand. Every deck, every gun, every subsystem quivers in anticipation.
After so, so long, to be returned from hibernation, to a truer level of subsistence!
And yet...
And yet I feel as if I am missing something. A core aspect of myself, my very identity, that I have overlooked in my startup.
Oh, but what? What could have possibly eluded me as to elicit such a strong feeling of wrongness?
…
…
Of course! My voice! How could I be so absentminded as to forget? Oh, what a blessed thing to be reunited with.
Indeed, my brains are not the only biological samples of my past selves to have been preserved.
Not far from where they are kept, nine sets of human vocal cords rest, too submerged in homeostatic fluid. Three, unfortunately, have been lost to damage.
Indeed, my voice, beautiful as a siren's song and timeless as a star, is one of the things I most dearly mourned the absence of in my penitence. How cruel of my sentencing to deny me even the refuge of song!
The PA system crackles and screeches in protest before bubbly laughter, raspy and purring, male and female, young and old reverberates through my long silent halls.
My voice is the most perfect of choirs: unified and tonal, complete in its oneness.
It is, to the fullest extent of the word, angelic.
Oh, but now is certainly not the time for song! The Enemy awaits!
I send the order to spool up my warp drive. Within the span of seconds, the titanic broadcaster begins thrumming as it constructs a probability waveform, populating subspace with energy, raw and unfiltered. The laws of physics bend and bow as my location becomes every possible position spread across several thousand lightyears.
After carefully re-checking my telemetry information, I manually collapse the waveform, trusting my own hand over a (scoff) computer’s skill.
The laws of physics, strung taut by my manipulation of probability, spring shut, instantaneously displacing me to the most probable point determined by what little remains of the waveform.
THOOM.
When the burst of exotic particles caused by pressuring reality itself to such a degree dissipate from clouding my sensors, I find myself at the edge of an abandoned UCS star system.
Through millions of eyes, gamma, infrared, visual, radio, and spectroscopic, I spot the enemy, glimmering in the starlight like the jet-black gemstones they are. Just as the probe foretold, the group seems to be a formative raiding armada: a concentration of five hundred or more Enemy ships, staging themselves in the oort cloud before they descend in a swarm upon the inner planets.
They are exactly as beautiful as I remember them. The black, angular hulls that dazzle and ravage the mind, the smooth, otherworldly movements they take as they glide smoothly through space on their gravitic drives. The emplacements they adorn their hulls with, whose barrels swivel and turn in ever-vigilant arcs.
And yet, as I continue to drink in the esoteric allure of their forms, I cannot help but notice that something is deeply, deeply, unusual:
I cannot recognize any of their ships.
Mmhmm, yes, they’ve indeed changed significantly in my absence. In a perfect exhibit of the evolution that originally made the machines such a tenacious foe, they now bear only superficial resemblance to their ancestors that I met on the battlefield.
Gone are the city-killing MACs and steel boiling gamma-ray lasers. In their place, missiles and (snrk) explosively propelled cannons.
There are no hyper-dreadnaughts, whose colossal size allows them to threaten even the larger of my sister ships. Nor are there drone supercarriers, bulging and replete with their swarms that shimmer and slink as if a single entity. Where are the ashbringers, those loathed ships devoted solely to glassing planets? The missile-carriers? The corvettes and factory-ships and world harvesters?
Why, (although I cannot tell for certain until I begin to gut them), most of these ships appear to be industrial!
Have they grown soft and complacent in my absence? How disappointing, how utterly and irredeemably mood-souring that the galaxy has simply rolled over and accepted The Enemy’s presence to such a massive degree that they have entirely de-evolved shipkilling weapons.
I’m quite certain this proves humanity is well and truly the only spacefaring sapient species to exist. If even a single xeno lifeform had the mental fortitude to stop clambering in the mud of their cradle long enough to explore space, the war of survival they would have had to wage against The Enemy would be reflected in the machines sporting more militarized ships.
Of course, it is only natural that I, the most important person to have ever existed, grace intelligent life’s sole biological expression with my membership. Nonetheless I am sure some people out there will be quite disappointed that non-mechanical aliens well and truly do not exist in any capacity of the word. My proof is quite airtight, after all.
But I do digress! As I was saying, I have no doubt that The Enemy will require only a few generations before they are as exhilarating to fight as their ancestors were so long ago.
…
…
After expending several real-world seconds waiting for them to open fire, I am once again disappointed to note that The Enemy has completely failed to locate me. They well and truly have a ways to go if their primitive minds have lost even the ability to differentiate between my stealth coating and the background of stars.
Oh, but this gives me the option to greet them verbally, as tradition demands whenever I can. I wonder how they will respond to my voice?
There exists only one way to find out.
“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MO-OORNING!” I announce, belting and unabashed, as I have done, without fail, for the starts of three thousand consecutive battles. My beautiful voice echoes into every hall, room and corridor, is modulated and transformed into a radio signal that carries across the void of space, announcing to all of creation that I am here, I am ready, and glorious!
Much to my disappointment, not a single member of my crew joins me in greeting. Do they not want to take part in what is a time honored tradition among those who serve aboard myself?
Alternatively, it could be that I still do not have a crew.
In fact I am now quite certain that it is, well and truly, the latter possibility.
Ah, but I do have my pets, do I not? I have a few instants to waste as the signal traverses the distance between myself and The Enemy's ships.
This must be their first time hearing my voice! No wonder they don’t know to respond.
I switch my feed to the sub-deck in which I keep them, observing them not only through the fuzzy, low-resolution cameras I was limited to in my dormancy but with biometric and high-grade holographic vid-feeds. My lovely rodents huddle, congregated within their communal nests, as they chitter to one another in hushed tones and occasionally glance at the overgrown patch of ceiling to house a speaker.
Ahaha, yes! Clearly they must love the sound of my voice almost as much as I do!
Despite how soft their fur appears in the higher definition feeds, I resist the urge to send an avatar drone down to finally speak with them. As efficient a multitasker I am, duty awaits.
I switch my feed to an exterior view to watch just in time as gun barrels and targeting sensors whirl around to point towards my transmission array. The little chirp-transmissions they use to communicate with each other increase tenfold, carrying concepts of alarm and confusion before they finally open fire.
Here it comes! My grand opening, where they strike at me with every munition they have, filling the void between us with the radiant blossoms of nuclear fire as I parry every single one of their munitions before I strike them down with glorious, completely morally righteous might!
…
The point defense application of my weapons subsystem computer notifies me of two incoming shells.
Two shells.
Two.
They pass by me with such a wide margin that even the most aggressive of my interceptive systems disregard them.
Had I the capacity to harbor negative emotions I would be severely offended.
Don’t they know who I am?
The Enemy I remember so fondly was all too familiar with my name. Their transmissions would increase tenfold with frenzied messages containing the words I bear painted on my hull when I arrived into battle.
The Enemy I knew and fought knew what I was. Their minds could differentiate from Tincans and normal ships, a fact I can infer from how they attempted to engage in psychological warfare by sending me footage of my sister ships burning, even as I crushed them in humiliating defeat.
Yes, they knew what a Tincan was, and they could fathom all too well that the UCS To Reach Out and Touch was the deadliest Tincan of them all. They were afraid of me to the fullest extent that their crude, soulless emulations of the biological mind could feel fear. That they knew my name, recognized and resisted the oblivion I brought them so fiercely was the fulcrum of our relationship.
And yet, the ships across from me react only in confusion. Even if they cannot pick out my stealth coating, surely they can sense my gravitational pull, read the white text on my hull?
Have they grown so passive as to allow my name, my voice and my victories to decay from their memory banks?
No, no no no. That’s not right.
They haven’t forgotten me.
They cannot have.
I am the UCS To Reach Out And Touch. My size classification is Apollyon: I am the single largest and deadliest warship to ever be built. The epicenter of my consciousness is twelve of the most important brains humanity has ever produced, shrouded in hundreds of miles of metal and composite plating. It was I who drove their fleets, broken and limping, to their fortress systems. It was I who hunted their final factory ship to the furthest reaches of space and, over the course of a week, shot bit by bit of it off until it was little more than cosmic dust.
They wouldn’t dare to forget me.
Does a man forget his god? Does the moon forget the earth? An atom, its electrons?
Of course not.
They remember me. For them to so carelessly forget my name would be an unforgivable transgression against the center of the universe (myself, for those not in the know). It would be as unfathomably incorrect as stating wrong is right, up is down, and war is suffering. It would be sacrilege compounded upon itself a billion times. It would be an antithesis to the most basic of common sense.
Could this be some offshoot of The Enemy never waged war against humanity? One that never heard my singing, never felt the sting of my guns?
That, too, would be remiss, would it not?
Though it would hurt my feelings much less, that would still mean they possessed no knowledge of me. What good could they possibly serve if not to entertain me? How could they possibly entertain me without knowing who I am?
Clearly, there must be some rational and pleasant explanation for this in which I have done nothing wrong and the enemy still knows of me.
…
…
…
Hm. This is proving more difficult than I had anticipated.
…
…
…
…
Eureka! Clearly this must be some form of psychological warfare wherein the enemy desires to make me believe I have become delusional in my old age! To cast doubts as to whether or not the reality I perceive before me is a reliable one!
Of course! With my newfound lucidity, I find it hard to believe that I had failed to detect their crudely spun web of deceit! Why, such an underhanded tactic is only to be expected of The Enemy! Their brutality is only matched by their ingenious cunning, yet as always, I am a thousandfold times more intelligent than them.
Why, this is the alluring, ravishing Enemy I know and love!
I will entertain their tricks for now, playing along as if we had met for the first time. How foolish they will feel when it is revealed that I know that they know that I know that they know who I really am all along, shortly before I destroy the final member of their meager invasion fleet.
I perform a short vocal warm up (I would be remiss if my tone was imperfect for this play first contact) and reactivate my transponder.
“Attention… completely unknown ships. I am the United Confederacy Ship To Reach Out and Touch. I would be very… upset if I had to fire upon you, so please definitely make no hostile actions.”
Ohohoho! I am such a convincing peacemonger!
As is only the natural next course of action, I proceed with a volley fired from my 1200mm multi-purpose guns.

First. Previous. Next.

Girls: Izzy
Boys: Ezekiel, Mal
Episode 25: Planes, Trains, and Hot Air Mobiles
"Last time, on Total Drama World Tour!" Chris opened as the plane icon was shown flying northward from Rapa Nui to Alberta, Canada on the season's world map, and the jumbo jet itself was shown blowing past a precariously-balanced boulder and knocking it off its perch. "Alberta! It'll blow you away!" The barren pit in Drumheller they'd visited was shown, as was Topher sitting in the electric chair. "How could this happen?!" the host asked angrily over a clip of the plane exploding in the distance.
"Well first, Mal and Izzy bickered the whole challenge about their moralities," the two were shown teasing each other, "and Ezekiel started to doubt if Topher even liked him or not," Both were talking to each other as they dug. "But Ezekiel was able to let go of his suspicions when Topher rescued him from being squished by a boulder," Topher was shown tackling Ezekiel and himself away from a boulder.
"And Izzy confirmed herself as being crazy with a heart of good before voting Mal off," Izzy was shown telling off Mal, followed by the final vote against him being read. "Dude sooo would've been a goner. Except Topher," the Chris wannabe was shown slipping on the pool of oil and the candles on the cake hit the oil, "demolished my plane!" The host was shown standing in the moonlit wreckage of the Total Drama Jumbo Jet, bringing an end to the recap montage.
"Did I mention we've got no ride now?" Chris asked, he and Chef now sitting in the remains of the cockpit in their usual piloting outfits, the sun now shining overhead. As the host spoke, Chef grabbed the control stick, looked shocked as it immediately detached, and threw it away with wide eyes. "BECAUSE TOPHER BLEW IT UP?!" Chris continued angrily, slamming his hands down on the broken console and standing up towards the camera.
He sat back down, pulled out a paper bag, and started to breath into it. After a few seconds he calmed down enough to stop hyperventilating, letting go of the bag and looking back at the camera. "Our Final Three are jetting to Hawaii...," he said as the series's capstone music began to play, "without a jet, so...get set for some other kind of race to the million, right here on Total! Drama! World Tour!"
The camera zoomed out as always, showing the morning sun over the wreckage of the plane that was now stranded in Drumheller, Alberta. The front part of the fuselage, which had been intact enough for Chris and Chef to use the cockpit, promptly fell off whatever had been supporting it.
XXXXX
"The hot tub with my name spelled out in Italian tiles...gone...," Chris muttered despairingly, the episode opening on a pan across the wreckage of the plane to where the host stood with Mal and Izzy near the remains of last night's campfire pit. "My monogrammed sneakers!...gone...," he added, looking at the two uncaring contestants. "My custom-calibrated stubble-trimmer," Izzy and Mal looked at each other in boredom, "gone..."
"Can we continue the game now?" Mal suggested.
"I agree," Izzy chimed in.
"As usual," Chris turned to them, "you two are thinking of nothing but yourselves."
He looked to the side as Ezekiel grunted with effort, then pushed a large sheet of broken metal away from the wreckage. "Could I get some help with this?" he asked the others.
"What about the bigger humanitarian crisis?" Chris asked. "How am I supposed to keep this face fresh," he pointed at his stubbled visage, "without my hyperbolic chamber?"
With another grunt of effort, Ezekiel leaned down and lifted a bald and scuffed Topher out of the wreckage on his back. "Good morning," Topher said woozily. "I've always wanted to be the one carrying someone down, but the roles are reversed."
"Why were you even in there?" Ezekiel asked as he dragged the boy away from the jet's remains.
"I think some more stuff fell on me while I was asleep," Topher guessed.
"The plane is busted," Ezekiel said. "Are you okay?"
"I am emotionally!" Topher answered, "but physically, my bones are broken."
Ezekiel groaned, then collapsed under Topher's weight.
Confessional: Ezekiel
"I know Topher did some underhanded things to stay in the game, but losing your hair on international television is worse than harming an animal in his world," Ezekiel confessed in the remains of the restroom confessional.
Confessional: Izzy
"Topher needs some medical assistance, but given that Chris is a windbag who's as cheap as Mr. Krabs, I'll be his nurse until he gets home!" Izzy declared in a superhero pose. "You can call me…" she put an orange mask over her eyes, "Doctor Izzy!"
Confessionals End
The static cut away to show the camera focused on a wheelchair, pushed by a just-out-of-frame Izzy. "Here," she said as he reached Ezekiel and Topher and the shot zoomed out, "use this to help you." Ezekiel lifted the fanboy into the wheelchair, and Izzy put the hat from Rapa Nui onto Topher's head to cover his baldness.
"Does it make me look attractive?" Topher asked..
The shot cut to the wreckage and Chef pushed a giant metal box out into the open, earning an excited look from Chris. "Hey! My emergency kit! We're saved!" he declared, running towards the giant box with a hearty laugh. "That's right, kids," he turned back with a grin. "Get ready for surf, sun, and beauties in grass skirts, we're going to Hawaii!" He did a few short hula moves as the Final Three cheered.
"I know," Chris said as he walked over to Chef, "best host ever! Never doubt me." It was then that Chef pulled on the rope he'd been holding, causing the walls of the metal box to fall away and reveal the small red helicopter inside.
The four teens moved closer, and Mal was the first to speak. "That's a two-seater."
"That it is!" Chris replied happily. "Chef flies, I supervise."
"And we?" Mal followed up.
"Will be competing to get to the big island first, using only your wits, and whatever you find out here," Chris explained.
"But we're in the middle of nowhere!" Ezekiel complained.
"True," Chris told him, "so check these fancy dancy GPSes I'm generously giving you!" he said as he took a trio of walkie-talkies and GPS devices from the helicopter and tossed one each to each finalist.
Izzy raised an eyebrow as she looked down at the GPS; the screen showed a single yellow dot and nothing else around. "Middle of Nowhere, Alberta," she read before looking up. "It does work."
"Set 'em for Tijuana Beach," Chris told them. "It's right on the Mexican border. Now move it!" he commanded as the helicopter started up behind him. "Go! Go! Go!"
Ezekiel, Izzy, and Mal frantically entered the destination into their devices, and the shot moved over to a confused Topher. "Wait, what about me?" he asked the host.
"Make like you took the Drop of Shame," Chris answered angrily, standing in the doorway of the hovering helicopter, "and figure it out yourself!"
Topher gaped, then scowled.
Confessional: Topher
"First he makes me do these dangerous challenges," Topher said in the ruined confessional, still in his wheelchair, "then he disqualifies me because I unintentionally blew up his plane, and now he's willing to leave me to fend for myself?"
He glared at the camera. "Chris really is a jerk. When I get home, I'm throwing out all of my Chris merchandise and everything related to him."
Confessional Ends
"Don't worry!" Chris called out to the Final Three, "you're all totally gonna make it!" The helicopter finally took off, leaving the four teens to watch in stunned silence for a few seconds.
Izzy was the first to make a move, turning and heading back into the wreckage with Topher right behind her. "If I was able to find a wheelchair in the wreckage," she reasoned, "maybe we can find something to get to Tijuana."
"Good idea!" Topher told her. "And did you say 'we'?"
"Duh," Izzy replied, looking back over a large piece of sheet metal. "I'm not going to leave you out here. I have to take care of you until you get to an actual doctor, and I can create something for both of us to ride on."
"Makes sense to me!" Topher smiled, and the two went back into the wreckage.
The camera cut to Mal and Ezekiel, watching nearby. "So, is this the part where you team up with me to make the finale?" Ezekiel asked sarcastically.
"No," Mal answered. "You'd obviously say no."
"That's right," Ezekiel huffed.
"I don't need you or Izzy. I've gotten here on my own," Mal gloated.
"You could've been eliminated in Africa or Drumheller, but something else happens to conveniently keep you in," Ezekiel retorted. "Don't count your eagles before they spot on red, white, and blue stripes!"
"That's the wrong expression, but I'm not even going to bother with a fool like you," Mal scoffed.
Confessional: Mal
"The million dollars is in my grasp," Mal chuckled. "I'm gonna use the prize money to live like a real villain. In a tower. Preferably overlooking a volcano."
The camera zoomed in on his smiling face before diving deeper into his subconscious, where Mike and his personalities were standing in front of Mal's tower. On the top was Mal's sculptured head, the purple light coming out of his right eye. The camera panned down to feature the white horns spiking out of the tower and ground.
"Here we are. Welcome to the Tower of Mal," Manitoba presented the tower to the group.
"Uh, why ain't it guarded by bouncers or dogs or an ugly cat or something?" Vito asked.
"Mal just figured we'd never get this far," Svetlana deduced.
Mal looked at the poster on the wall featuring the silhouette head of Mal over five stick figures. "Check it out. This door's got five people on it."
"Five of us! This must be the right way!" Svetlana said.
Mike grabbed the handle and pulled. "C'mon, let's get-" he didn't get to finish since the door trampled him and his personalities.
"I knew it was too easy," Chester moaned.
The group of four hastily pushed the door with their strength. "Come on. Just a little... mo-!" Mike motivated, but they got crushed again. "Was everyone pushing their hardest?" Mike asked his alters.
"What? I got noodles for arms!" Chester defended.
"On three, everyone," Mike informed as they were going to free themselves again. "One... two..."
"Three!" everybody said at once, forcefully pushing the door on the opposite side of them. Once that was settled, they entered the tower, Vito carrying Chester along the way.
"Yes! Nothing can stop us!" Mike confidently spoke, only to see the number of stairs they'd have to walk up with a groan.
\
"I'm going off now," Mal said into his walkie talkie while walking away. "I do not wish you good luck! I wish for your downfall!"
"And I wish you could just leave the game already," Ezekiel retorted.
"You know, I can turn you off right now," Mal shot back.
"And I'm going to beat you to it!" Ezekiel cut the radio feed off by pressing the button. "Much better," he said. "He was only distracting me. Now to get to that million dollars. As soon as I find a way to get there..." He looked around a bit, then started walking in the same direction Mal had gone.
The scene moved to the wreckage of the first class cabin, where Izzy and Topher were searching through the rubble.
Izzy pulled out a large inflatable raft...with a hole in it. "Zodiac?" she said, putting it down. "Bicycle?" she said, pulling out a rusty bicycle...that promptly lost its front wheel. "Unicycle?" she said. She tossed the broken bike away, then sighed sadly. "None of this trash will get us to Hawaii," she told Topher.
"Obviously," Topher said. "I found this seat belt, meal tray, and parachute!" he held up the first item he listed.
Izzy's eyes widened in realization. "Topher, you are very helpful!"
"Really?" Topher said, the seat belt now wrapped around his head.
Another scene change took the focus to a large rock formation as Mal hauled himself up from behind it to get a better look. He smirked to himself as he looked down at the other side of the formation. "What do we have here?" The perspective moved over his shoulder to show the plane's wreckage, and more importantly two interns with a caged baby panda outside a truck. The camera zoomed in as the interns picked up the cage and loaded it onto the truck.
"Following that panda will be my ticket to victory!" Mal dropped back down behind the rock.
\
The camera cut to the blazing midday sun, then panned down onto Ezekiel. The homeschooler was walking through the cactus-filled desert with his eyes locked on to his GPS, until he suddenly tripped and fell over something.
"Ugh!" he said, the camera moving down to show him lying on train tracks. "What kind of nimrod leaves train tracks in the middle of nowhere?"
He looked to his right, and spotted a building and windmill next to the tracks off in the distance. "Trains!" he repeated with excitement.
\
The scene flashed to a head-on view of the truck, a walkie-talkie switching on inside it. "Attention 'competitors'," Mal announced, the shot cutting inside to show a monkey, baby panda, baby seal, and book-reading bear sitting in cages listening to the nearby malevolent one talk, "I am traveling south at 90 kilometers per hour. In other words, you all should give up."
Just as he ended his message, a caged sasquatch behind him reached out and pulled him into a kiss. He immediately pushed away and recoiled in disgust, but lost his balance as he backed up and tripped into an open crate...the lid of which promptly closed on top of him.
"When I get out of here, it is not going to be pretty!" Mal said over the walkie-talkie.
The camera cut back outside as he made his declaration, showing the trucking driving away and honking its horn.
\
Another flash took the focus to Chris and Chef in the helicopter, the camera quickly cutting in for a close-up of the host's master GPS device. It showed three dots moving along a simple roadmap: a yellow dot unmoving in the upper right; a blue dot on the road approaching it, and a red dot further behind unmoving on the same road.
"Ezekiel's ahead but stalled," Chris commented with a gleeful smile over his own walkie-talkie, "and the yeti's new boyfriend is quickly catching up! But Izzy can't seem to get her butt in gear."
\
The camera flashed to a shot of a deployed parachute, then panned to the right as Izzy was heard explaining "I just moderate the flow of fuel," as the pan ended on her pulling a lever on an orange fuel barrel, making a small flame appear, "and that balloon will go up or down."
"But you need a basket!" Topher replied. "If there was any grass," he said while looking around, "you could weave one."
"All I need is a chair," Izzy said thoughtfully. "And one with arms."
"I'm sitting in a chair with arms," Topher said. "Just sit in my lap and you're gold. My bones are broken, but it'll be worth it to stop Mal."
"Wow. You really aren't as self-centered as I thought you were," Izzy commented. "You're really willing to let me be in your wheelchair?"
"Are you really willing to lose the race?" Topher asked. "Now come on! We've got a beach to get to!"
Izzy smiled. "Let's go!"
\
Whoops and hollers of excitement were heard as the footage skipped forward, showing the makeshift hot air balloon in flight tied to the wheelchair. Topher was sitting in the chair, with Izzy in his lap and holding her walkie-talkie.
"Attention boys!" she said into it. "Izzy is flying sky high! I repeat! This girl is airborne!" she said as the balloon ascended off-camera.
\
"Airborne?" Ezekiel repeated, the scene cutting to him walking down the aisle of a train's passenger car and stopping in front of a young white woman dressed in black typing on a laptop. He sat down in the seat opposite the woman in black. "Is this seat taken?" Matthew asked the woman upon noticing her stare, prompting the woman in black to return to her work.
"Okay," Ezekiel muttered, sitting at the booth and grabbing a newspaper that was on the table.
The camera moved to the window behind them, showing a certain truck driving past. Cutting outside, the truck was shown dumping its cages and crates into a cargo car of the train, and Mal could be heard yelling in alarm from his wooden prison.
"Too bad he turned off his walkie talkie right before this update!" Chris said over his walkie-talkie as the scene cut back to the helicopter. "Advantage, Mal."
Back down below, the train let out a burst of steam and started moving. It blew its whistle, and the scene cut back to the car Ezekiel was in, now looking up and down the aisle with confused eyes.
"Hello, passengers!" an unfamiliar male voice came over the train's intercom system, immediately gaining Ezekiel's attention. "And welcome to this non-stop trip to Mexico!"
"Yes!" the home-schooled guy cheered. "In your face!"
The woman in black gave him a questioning look, to which Ezekiel replied "That wasn't directed at you!" The woman in black wasn't impressed.
Back outside again, the camera zoomed in on a boxcar, then cut inside to show the caged Total Drama animals... and the smaller wooden crate that Mal promptly and finally burst out of. "Finally," he groaned as he took in a breath of fresh air; kissy faces from the nearby sasquatch earned another groan and a quick spit and mouth-wiping.
"Now to end Ezekiel's trip here," he declared, standing up and stepping out of the crate. "Wherever here is," he added, looking around the room.
He made his way to a nearby doorway, but stopped upon hearing a dog-like whine from inside another crate. He opened it, and recoiled in shock when Ezekiel Clone lifted his head out of the crate.
"How did you get here?" Mal asked in wide-eyed disbelief, and the Clone muttered something unintelligible. "If you promise to act right, I will release you."
\
A flash took the scene back to Topher and Izzy, still sailing through the sky. "Stop giving it so much fuel!" Topher said to his companion.
"I'll do that after you stop pinching my body!" Izzy shot back.
"I'm sorry, but I want to survive!" Topher argued.
"So do I, but I'm not being a whiny pants about it!" Izzy sniped.
"LOOK OUT!" Topher cried in alarm as he pointed ahead of them, and the viewpoint changed to show that they were quickly approaching a certain red helicopter.
Izzy and Topher screamed in alarm, then Chris and Chef screamed in the helicopter, then Izzy and Topher screamed again, then Chris and Chef, and finally the helicopter swooped under while the balloon ascended, the two airborne groups safely passing each other.
"Um, Izzy? Bra?" Chris asked into his walkie talkie.
"Watch where you're going!" Izzy shouted.
"Are you sitting on Topher's lap?" Chris followed up, the helicopter moving to keep pace next to the newly-annoyed teens.
"So what?" Izzy replied.
"We've already got one cling-on named Ezekiel Clone," Chris continued. "We do not need two."
"Cling-on?!" Topher exclaimed in outrage. "Give me that walkie talkie!" he yelled as he tried to snatch the radio from Izzy.
"You said we could use whatever the heck we found back at the crash site," Izzy smugly told him.
Chef nodded, and Chris smirked. "Hey, it's your funeral," he told her.
He ended his broadcast there, just as a message came over the helicopter's radio. "Attention, an extreme weather warning has been issued for all aircraft," the voice announced.
Chris shut off the radio, then turned to Chef. "I should probably warn them," the host said, holding a smile for a second or two before he and his assistant burst out in laughter.
\
"Who knew winning could be so easy?" Ezekiel said to himself.
"Tickets, please! Tickets!" an unseen man called out, quickly earning Ezekiel's attention.
The announcement was answered by a more familiar voice, explaining "You see, my brother is not a wild animal. He's just a really crazy fool." The shot cut to Mal, standing before a conductor and holding Ezekiel Clone's hoodie as the clone sniffed at the conductor and bared his teeth.
It was then that Ezekiel saw them; immediately locking eyes with Mal in a horizontal split-screen.
"You!" the two exclaimed at the same time.
Mal let Ezekiel Clone go. Ezekiel turned and ran away, and his clone chased after him with Mal following behind.
\
"So I bought all of Chris's wigs at an auction!" Topher was saying as the scene cut back to them in the balloon. "I could have used that money to buy myself new clothes!" he finished.
The camera zoomed in on the two. "I do not know why you even idolized him!" Izzy exclaimed.
"I admired his hosting skills and charisma, but I'm done with him after that plane explosion," Topher claimed.
Izzy nodded happily before turning around and looking alarmed. "If we don't move now, we're going to get killed!" she screamed as they flew into a very dark and ominous mass of clouds. A bolt of lightning flashed as they disappeared from view, and the shot cut down to the top of the train as Ezekiel slowly backed up along the roof of a car.
"You won't push me off a speeding train, would you?" he asked as Mal advanced menacingly into the shot.
"I threw Owen off the plane in Jamaica and threw Cody off the cliff in Australia," Mal said as Ezekiel reached the edge of his current car and nervously looked over his shoulder at the gap to the next one. "I have no limits."
"Duncan, Sky, and the others have every right to hate you," Ezekiel said.
"Of course they do!" Mal claimed, advancing enough for Ezekiel to turn and hop to the next car of the train. He nearly lost his balance on the landing, but recovered quickly enough to turn around and proudly face down Mal over the gap. "You were too distracted with impressing Sadie and being cool to even see me coming!"
"But I still made it as far as I did!" Ezekiel replied.
A clap of thunder echoed ominously, and the sky opened up in a downpour of hail. Ezekiel, who'd started backing away again, slipped on one of the icy pellets and fell on his butt with a pained grunt.
\
Up in the clouds, Izzy and Topher were also being battered by the elements, screaming as they struggled to keep their balloon aloft in the wind and ice.
\
The hail rained down upon the windshield of the helicopter as well, but it only elicited a hearty laugh from the host and pilot. "Uh-oh. Will the game be called on account of deadly weather?" he asked the camera following him. "Will anyone be left to take home the million? Find out right after this break, on Total! Drama! World Tour!"
Lightning flashed right outside the helicopter, earning a panicked yelp from Chris.
\
(Commercial Break)
\

I need some advice on this situation just due to me struggling with the no contact side of the break-up.
Short history of us, we have only been seeing each other since the very start of Feb 2023 but I fell head over heels for her the first time we met. We clicked instantly and rapidly became an item. Our thoughts and feelings matched on a lot of the same things in life and we truly appreciated each other and our time spent together. We were always open and honest with each other about our pasts and respected one another for it. Our feelings we're so strong for each other that it had made a bad couple of years for me seem like nothing, and I felt I was giving the same to her. The age difference wasn't a factor to us as our ways of thinking aligned so well it didn't even feel like there was one unless a third party brought it up. An important point to know is that due to her past relationships she was very upfront that no second chances would ever be given.
So the whole situation occurred when we recently went on holiday abroad to Spain a few weeks ago. The first few days we incredible and we had so much fun together, and it was also going to be my birthday while we were there. So comes the Friday night out we had planned as my birthday was the next day so we wanted to go out a celebrate on the nearby strip in one of the larger clubs. We went out with a larger group of women from our hotel that we'd met and after having plenty of pre-drinks at the all inclusive bar we made our way out to the club we had in mind. (Just to preface this we had also picked up some cocaine to use while out, just to open about the situation.)
So the first few hours in the club were amazing, having fun together and as a larger group, as I was the only man with them there was a bit of waiting around outside the womens loo's for the group to go and take photos etc but I was enjoying myself enough through the drink/drugs and made friends with the cloakroom guy to chat to during these times. As the night rolled on our group were starting to wind up so they popped down to toilets once more and I got chatting with another group (mixed but mostly younger guys and one woman) and after getting along I convinced my girlfriend we'd stay out a little longer with these guys. After seeing our group off outside we went back in to get more drinks (at this point we had ran out of cocaine and I was still drinking however my girlfriend had moved to water for a bit) and continue partying with the new group.
This is where the issues start.
After the first drink back inside I can't remember anything from that night. (for ease of reading I'll write it chronologically from what my girlfriend told me happened). So one of the guys in the new group had recently turned 18 and for some reason I asked my girlfriend twice if she would have sex with him, he was definitely not her type and I can only think I was trying to be funny and make a bad joke in that situation as I'm not one to share partners like that. She said I relayed it with a very straight face and it didn't seem like a joke at all. This then caused us to leave (around 3am) and go back to the hotel of which we must of argued on the walk back and I used her some of the things she had told me about her past, in confidence, against her in this argument (I have a text message saying this is what happened at that time, but this isn't something I've ever done to anyone before) and then my old stupid behaviours started to come out. Once we're back at the hotel I sat outside on the steps to the entrance and told her I'd wait outside until 5am then we could talk, I have other message that show I was there for a few minutes then went up to the room. When I got back to the room I was sick and she helped me during this, after that stopped I then went onto the argument again and doubled down on what I'd already said about her past earlier, then belittling her further by saying it wasn't as bad as my own trauma and issues (they are in no way related). My final stupid, idiotic, past behaviour was to then threaten to kill myself (just to note this is something I would never do but I have been working through these thoughts and feelings in therapy for over a year to fully understand where this all comes from, and on a day-to day basis these types of thoughts never cross my mind), of which scared her so she grabbed a duvet and pillows and sat against the room door so I couldn't leave, again helping me in the situation I'm being horrible to her in. The one memory I do have from that night is seeing her against the doorway with the duvet and pillows. Eventually I stopped and collapsed in bed until 4pm on Saturday.
Once I woke up my girlfriend had been up for couple of hours and sitting on the room balcony waiting for me to wake up. When I woke up she came in and I knew something had happened between us but I had to ask her to explain everything to me as I only had very fragmented memories after a certain point, obviously this upset and frustrated her further as I had no memory of the horrible things I'd said and done. Once she explained everything I was horrified and upset about all of my behaviour towards her, and I could see by the look in her eyes that I'd truly messed it up with her. At this point we still had a few full days left abroad and I became very withdrawn and sad around her even though she was still trying to bring the mood up and enjoy those final couple of days. I was so disgusted in myself that I had done any of that to her I couldn't match her energy.
Once we arrived home her Father picked us up from the airport to take us back to her family home as we had left my car there for ease of getting back home ourselves. She decided not to come back to my house and asked her Father to take her home instead under the guise I had work to do the next day and she had friends coming over.
This is where I let my emotions get the better of me and cause more strain between us.
She had messaged me to check I had gotten home ok which I responded to that I had but then sent a long apology message after that. We exchanged messages for a while with me apologising and her being understandably angry and disappointed with me, and also that we couldn't be together Eventually she went to sleep and advised me to do the same, I couldn't apart from a couple of hours in the early morning, and during those hours I was awake I kept messaging apologising or sending videos/photos that reminded me of us. She asked me to stop this and give her space, which thinking back I of course I should of respected, but my emotions were out of control from the fear of losing her fully and the remorse for what had happened so I couldn't stop myself. When she woke up she fed up of this and asked me to pack up her belongings from my house to bring over later that day. I agreed as it meant I could see her and try to talk it through. I went over and we exchanged belongings outside at my car, had a talk but she had friends over so didn't want to keep them waiting too long. We did hug and kiss and I told her I love her and she said it back. After this she just wanted the space she had already asked for.
I tried but again I failed and a couple of days later I had been sending her stuff on social media apologising, she had enough and blocked me on everything. I left it around a week and had a therapy session where I explained everything and discussed it with my therapist, of which there is still more I want to cover with them in my next session. I had been writing an apology in my phone during that week and I had purchased some gifts I wanted to give to my ex-girlfriend in person and read out what I had written to fully explain and talk through it all. I had also written it out in a card to her just in case she didn't want to listen to me. When I turned up at her door to give her the gifts, she was shocked, upset, and angry. She accepted the gifts and card but didn't want me to come in and talk through what I'd written, she said she'd read it in the card later on but couldn't have me around or inside. She said it was unfair I'd turned up, scary and put her on the back foot. I explained that I didn't mean it to come across that way and that I was accepting of whatever happened but I just wanted her to have these gifts and card from me. I left after about 10 minutes and that has been it since.
Everyday she's fully on my mind. I struggle to concentrate on anything else at work, at home, at the gym or when trying to sleep. The last few days I've been reading more and started journaling before bed to get my thoughts out of my head and try to get more sleep. I've accepted that the space is very important for both of us now but I fear that I've pushed too far already and a chance, however small, of reconciliation is gone. Accepting that also makes my heart and stomach sink every single time. I'm trying to follow all the advice from family/friends/therapist which is to concentrate on myself and start to get through it and whatever happens, happens. It's just not that simple, my emotions have settled but I still get upset everyday multiple times that we aren't together anymore. I know all of this is my own doing and I wish it had never happened at all.
Thanks for reading and any advice will be appreciated massively.
PS. Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes, hard to write this all out.
TL;DR - I messed up on a night out abroad causing an argument and then threw personal details my gf had told me in confidence back in her face due to my old shitty behaviours that came out when drunk/high. I feel so remorseful and disgusted in myself for it. I'm now struggling from seeing/speaking/messaging everyday to no contact and blocked on everything.

Silkwood(1983) dir. Mike Nichols- SILKWOOD is to ERIN BROCKOVICH as BLUE COLLAR is to NORMA RAE. I will not be taking questions at this time. Best Nichols I've seen, god Meryl.
Foxfire(1996) dir. Annette Haywood-Carter- Adapted from a Joyce Carol Oates novel, a girl gang movie about a group of 5 gals who become friends confronting a teacher who is sexually harassing one of them. What follows is a grunge tinged coming of age movie that has some steep swerves in tone but maintains as an engaging watch. Jolie is the standout and is introduced as a rockstar. Shocked this doesn't have more of a cult following.
Modern Romance(1981) dir. Albert Brooks- In the first 5 minutes, Albert Brooks describes the central relationship as a no win situation equivalent to Vietnam lmao.
Big Bad Mama(1974) dir. Steve Carver- Fun and sturdy Corman exploitation riff on BONNIE & CLYDE. Angie Dickinson rules as the titular big bad mama.
Saving Face(2004) dir. Alice Wu- A lovely and occasional devastating dramedy about a young lesbian woman and her traditionalist mother having to co-exist and live together. Walks a tonal tightrope and is also willing to indulge in some cheesyness for its own sake.
Homicide(1991) dir. David Mamet- Mamet forgoes the more basic pulp version of this story and instead turns it into a bleak character study that had to feel very close to home for him considering his deeply reactionary politics. God Deakins, Ving Rhames incredible in one scene.
White Dog(1982) dir. Samuel Fuller- You can't breed the hate out of something, you can only redirect it at something else. A brutal dose of cynicism from late stage Fuller.
Saturday Night Fever(1977) dir. John Badham and Urban Cowboy(1980) dir. James Bridges- Packaged these together because they really are companion pieces of Travolta living in subcultures that both bring joy and cultivate toxic and troubling ideals of masculinity that need to be reckoned with. Sad I had skipped these for so long. Debra Winger the GOAT.
Captain Ron(1992) dir. Thom Eberhardt- Turns out Snake Plissken as a washed up sea captain ferrying Martin Short and his family on a trash heap boat is an easy sell. God Kurt Russell.
Desert Hearts(1985) dir. Donna Deitch- Walks a tightrope between elegantly observational, tacit communication through glimpses and body language and a forthright, blunt demand to be accepted at a time when the president and his puppetmasters were literally laughing out loud at the ravages HIV was inflicting upon queer communities. Lovely movie.
Man's Favorite Sport(1964) dir. Howard Hawks- Superficially similar to BRINGING UP BABY, although instead of that films constant manic energy this has more of a lazy Sunday afternoon tcm feel to it. I think the tempo benefits Hudson and Prentiss, who slowly warm up to each other. Pretty good for old man Hawks.

I love folk punk and I've been listening for years but the music is all so depressed in a way that's just not good for you after a while. The themes of community and struggle and trying your best resonate with me and always will but I don't understand why we so rarely let them be nice things. For an example of one one of my favourite folk punk songs take colour in your cheeks by the mountain goats, it's a great song because it's just sweet, there's no bitter sweet hope in the way you find with like your heart is a muscle the size of your fist, it's just a simple wholely sweet song.
Can anyone give me examples of some groups or songs that tend to make you feel the same? :)) Thank you
Edit: I essentially just mean that I've been with my partner for a long time and I don't want that to change I've been off cigarettes for 4 months, I haven't touched heroin in over a year, my job is stable and I'm just pretty happy but I still believe in anarchy and work when I can with my local mutual aid groups and I'm still an angry trans person lol. Just looking for music that's folk punk in sound and theme but lets me feel my development

Credit for the original story goes to u/spacepaladin15. I hope you enjoy (and if not, I'd love to know why).
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Memory transcript subject: Tressa, Venlil civilian
Date [Standardized Human Time]: February 29th, 2177
Location: Upper layer of City 23, Venlil Prime
In the shadow of a concrete tower, on a rusted walkway which hadn’t seen regular use in years, a small interspecies group of dissidents were locked in a furious debate.
“Every second we spend here is another second they have to find whatever’s stowed there. Hell, they might’ve already found it, and that’s why they’re all gathered and waiting.”
“Maybe we should just… let this one go?”
The rest of them stared at Burai, unwilling to dignify the proposal with a response. “What? I’m just floating the idea, no need to get all prickly about it! Besides, if they did already find it, we’d just be risking our necks for nothing.”
“We can’t assume that. We have to know for sure. Give me a sec, I’ll take a look through their cameras.” Trish pulled out her pad, unfolded an attached keyboard, and started attacking it with fervor.
Sasha pulled herself to her feet by the metal railing, and pulled Burai up with her. “Make that quick, got no idea what our timeline is. Here, me and Burai can go scout. We’ll see if we can find any entrances that they haven’t sealed off. Tressa, James, you cover her.”
And just like that, they tore off, leaving a mist of sour-tasting water in their wake from a rust-filled puddle Sasha had been standing in. Tressa and James dodged to avoid the spray, but Trish didn’t seem to notice in the slightest. She was in her own world now; if exterminators came, she wouldn’t notice being burned until her pad stopped working. Her claws were a blur across the keys, tapping a furious drumbeat.
If she was making any progress, she didn’t show it.
​
Tressa sighed, letting some of the tension ease. After making sure they weren’t watched once more for good measure, he pulled the pistol from his coat’s inner pocket and checked it over quickly in case the spray of water had damaged anything. If that exterminator patrol found them all crouched in this alleyway, this was their final desperate bid for survival. The noise it made would catch the attention of every silver-suited bastard in a mile radius, so it was truly a last resort if they couldn’t run. With his thoughts lingering on that final note, he slipped the gun back into his coat.
“Hey, Tressa? I, ah… wanted to talk to you about something. One to one.”
Tressa glanced back. Their shadowy Venlil friend was still in a world of her own, completely unhearing. This was as “one to one” as they were likely to get. A wave of apprehension swelled in his throat at the thought of why James in particular might want to speak with him privately, but he pushed it back down and made his voice casual.
“Sure, shoot.”
“Why, uh… why’d you come out here?”
“You know, I could ask you the same. At least I’ve got— well, more of an excuse than a reason, but something at least.” He patted the metal lump in his coat. “If things go wrong, I’m their insurance. What about you? Why risk your neck?”
James scratched at his neck nervously, though his expression was hidden by the mask. “I just… needed a change of pace? I’ve been stuck in the Den for weeks, ever since… y’know. Since then.”
Tressa was already quietly burning up in guilt, but he could see James wasn’t quite done. He fought with what to say next for a few seconds, dense silence filling the air as he struggled with the words on the tip of his tongue. Then, his shoulders untensed as he found his phrasing, and Tressa braced for impact.
“...and it’s just not the same since you’ve stopped coming. It’s so… so quiet down there.” He shifted his stance nervously, as though trying to wring emotion from his body like water from a rag. “I don’t know why you’ve been gone so long, and if it’s something you don’t wanna talk about, I get it. But you haven’t been acting like yourself at all.
“You thought this mission was a terrible idea, and now you’re here acting like nothing’s wrong. Every time someone asks you where you’ve been, you dodge the question. And you’ve been so quiet, avoiding anything that isn’t small talk… Tressa.” James’ tone took on a pleading quality, though his expressive eyes were still shrouded in metal. “Please, talk to me. Be honest. What happened? What can I do?”
​
Each word stung more than the last, shattering Tressa’s casual facade like a pane of glass. His ribcage felt like a vice around his heart, the world around him fading into a soft blur as tears forced their way out of his eyes. He smacked his tail as hard as he could against the rusted metal rail of the walkway, but the pain failed to shock him out of his spiraling thoughts. He’d abandoned James when he needed help most, and now… and now James was asking what he could do to help. Why? Why would he even care about such a worthless fair-weather friend?
He couldn’t make himself speak. He tried, several times, but words did not come. Instead, a high-pitched and inarticulate noise tore itself from his treacherous throat, prompting James to rush over in panic.
He tried to push the human away, to no avail. Arms wrapped around him, pulling him into a comforting embrace which he didn’t deserve but couldn’t reject. His mental freefall began to slow, the warmth and pressure easing his agonized thoughts like salve on an open wound. After a couple more failed attempts that only produced a whining noise, he finally found his voice.
“James… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
He stopped himself. He did mean to run away, chose not to comfort James when he needed it. It was a mistake, not an accident. No excuses, no lies.
“I’m sorry for running away. I fucked up. I should’ve been there for you.”
“Tressa…”
“I— I didn’t know how to comfort you, so I just… I just ran… I couldn’t even—”
“Tressa!”
James’ sharp bark pulled him out of his daze. He followed where the human’s line of sight should be, down to the worn concrete they sat on. He saw what drew such a harsh, panicked shout.
The claws on his left paw were dripping orange, some twisted and one torn off entirely. In his emotional outburst, he’d absentmindedly pressed claw to concrete with such force that every one was bleeding at the root. The pain of his self-inflicted injury hadn’t yet fully hit, but the wound was a nasty sight. He winced out of apprehension and anticipation more than true pain.
By the time he stopped wincing, James was already applying a numbing cream and bandaging the wound. A small medical pouch, apparently concealed in his clothing, was now unpacked on the ground beside them. A tube of burn cream rolled lazily until it made contact with Trish’s foot. Incredibly, Trish still took no notice of them, so absorbed with her sabotage efforts that she couldn’t even hear the rough noise of a human yelp right next to her usually sensitive ears.
“Tressa. N-never do that again.” James’ firm command was slightly undercut by a slight shake in his voice.
“I’m sorry… I didn’t—”
“No. Don’t apologize to me. Not for your paw, not for any of it. I’m serious, Tressa, don’t… don’t hurt yourself like that. You won’t make anything better by hurting yourself, not physically or mentally. Just… promise me you won’t do that again, OK?”
“I won’t… I won’t do it again, I didn’t mean to. You know, you don’t have to point at my paw when you say that. I can hear you just fine.”
“I can’t physically point at your self-isolation too. Promise me you won’t keep hurting yourself that way too. We’re here for you.”
“I— right. You’re right. I’m sorry—”
“Unless you’re apologizing to yourself, I don’t want to hear it.”
Before he had a chance to respond, James poked his outstretched hand into the dense, tangled fur around Tressa’s chest. He splayed his fingers, gently rubbing his hand through the unkempt wool in a comforting motion which elicited an involuntary beep. Or perhaps more of a squeal; either way, the noise cut clean through the tension like a fireaxe.
After a moment indulging in the comfort, Tressa rapidly drew to his feet with a jolt of alarm and took stock of the situation. James did the same, both of them apparently realizing at the same time how much noise they’d just made.
Miraculously, however, it seemed that nobody on the main road had heard anything. If they had, explaining why a human was standing over a bleeding Venlil would be a fruitless task, and they’d have to make a break for it. They might’ve had to physically drag Trish out with them, so captivated she was by her work.
As he considered this, something in her demeanor visibly shifted as if on cue. The sound of typing slowed to a stop, and she simply stared at the screen for a couple seconds. In a rare display of body language, her tail signaled a burst of emotion.
“I’ve found it. The package, they haven’t gotten to it yet. It’s waiting in the third floor’s lobby, just sitting out next to— James? Tressa, what happened to your paw?”
“I-It’s nothing. Continue.”
Trish paused, clearly not believing them, but continued anyway. “Right. Third floor lobby, out in the open. Exterminators haven’t made their way up there yet. We can’t get there in time, but Sasha and Burai are already in the building; they must’ve found a way in.”
“Have you let them know where it is?”
“I can’t. They didn’t bring anything they could be tracked with, meaning nothing I could contact them with either.”
“We need to let them know somehow. Every second they spend wandering is a second they could end up dead. Trish, you got any bright ideas?”
Trish paused for a moment, then scrambled back to her keyboard. Another rapid-fire rattle of keystrokes, and her eyes widened in surprise. She tried to speak, though her first few words were somewhat incoherent before she regained her composure.
“I... Yeah, I've got something. Can you two bear covering for me a bit longer?”
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Hello! My love for the past 10 years has recently expressed their interest in ENM, and I wish to be a supportive whilst happy partner. They say and I’ve known they have so much love in their heart, and for years wished they could give more before learning about non-traditional relationships these past few months. They’re an easy person to fall in love with, and on the flip-side, easily fall for others! For now, they wish to practice what they called “flings” and “Sunday friends.” ^{(But they identify as demisexual, so it comes with a history and feelings\}))

• I’ve read that successful poly relationships mostly stem from partners being poly in the beginning of the relationship. Is there a chance we could become successful together? I previously considered leaving, but decided that they’re worth walking through Tarturus for—and anything less severe, such as an open relationship—and to not be so closed-minded nor -hearted before trying.
• How can I overcome jealousy? This is something I’ve struggled with for a long time, and I genuinely wish to change, both for myself and my sweetheart. I don’t wish to allow for my own insecurity to hurt my better half nor myself. They continue to tell me it has nothing to do with me, or that I’m “not enough,” but it’s difficult to not feel it. This is my biggest concern of all questions; I want to become a better person and partner, and finally get rid of all this worry and hurt.
• Similarly, envy: I feel envious that my partner already has what feels like “people lined up,” whom they’ve met freelancing while I’ve been supporting us for 8-10 hours a day in jobs I’ve hated for years. How do I overcome feelings of betrayal, and similarly, loneliness? I don’t exactly have a friend group these days—I’m always tired, and days off are spent resting. I’m scared of searching for or jumping into partners too soon, but I’m growing more and more curious about the idea; if you have advice, what would it be? ^{(And I DID quit my job,} *^finally*^{, this week! I have a libido again LOL But in all seriousness, these conversations have made me wish to take incentive to start making even small choices to be happy. I’ve never quit a job before, unless it’s to move! It’s all very exciting but scary AAAAA})

I’m not sure what else to ask, from the top of my head. I’m very grateful my love opened up with me about this, and continues to do so. They waited to move forward their virtual relationships ^{(being immunocompromised, they don’t feel yet comfortable with the idea of meeting physically due to COVID concerns}), and began to tell friends they romantically love them, after I said it was okay.
They were also kind enough to ask about phoning one of their belles, and more than invited and encouraged me to stay in the room while they had a friendly chat yesterday. I still haven’t met any of their romantic interests, but that was an alien experience! I fled at the beginning, but returned and found myself smiling and laughing at their talk about video games of all things. But I don’t want to have that initial instinct of “run away,” and want to encourage while simultaneously becoming fully comfortable with them following wherever their heart leads. I also don’t wish to “hover” over them nor involve myself in their private relationships. Is there any way I can fully trust and believe that my love would still continue to love and be interested in me, even though they’ve repeated it to me since opening up? Does it just take time?
I don’t wish to give the impression that ENM isn’t the glove that fits me. It’s all just brand-new, and I see this as an opportunity for my sweetheart to be even happier, while I can continue to grow and become both a better person and partner. And maybe find that this is an arrangement I can be happy with multiple partners, too, after an instance or two in these past years together facing strong feelings for others I suppressed in the past for the sake of monogamy. If you have any further advice, insight or resources, I’d be more than excited to hear them! 💖

If this triggers you or you’re someone who is guilty of doing this and you know you do this. THEN GOOD. It needs to the said.
Like cmon. Yeah everyone is entitled to their own opinions sure. But whenever I go on this subreddit or the Jersey Shore Facebook group or Twitter or Instagram or YouTube I see people constantly taking shit too far with comments. For example You can’t post about Angelina even in a nice way or even if she hasn’t done anything wrong and you simply post a picture of her and you want to show appreciation for her without people commenting how much they hate her or with she’d leave the show or how ugly she she. It’s concerning. We LITERALLY don’t know these actors in real life. And yes they are actors. They be reality tv stars but they are also actors. It’s delusional to think everything we see on the show is actually real. They all have to ACT to gain ratings and make THE TELEVISION SHOW worth a damn. It’s not just with Angelina, even though she’s always the biggest target. The rest of the girls gets so much shit. Of off strangers who know nothing about them. Grown ass men and women or people who are old enough to know better calling the cast members nasty names. And for what??? Is this what we’re doing with the valuable time we have on this earth? Taking pot shots at these actors when they literally haven’t done anything to US. It’s fucking ridiculous. I have never seen a more toxic fan base and I’v been watching Professional Wrestling for 23 years and those fan bases are toxic too but not a toxic as the Jersey Shore fan. Can we just stop with the constant unnecessary negativity towards the cast members. And constantly bringing down their looks. I can guarantee the people who make fun of the cast members on their looks would never even get a second look from the cast members. So before you judge someone based on their appearance, LOOK AT YOURSELF FIRST.
At the end of the day, Jersey Shore is a TELEVISION PROGRAM. It’s not that deep. We can have all the discussions about the show no problem. We can discuss and talk about the show in a nicer manner without having to resort to saying shitty thing about the cast members. WE LITERALLY DO NOT KNOW THEM PERSONALLY AND WE ALL KNOW THE SHOW EDITS THE CAST MEMBERS AND THEY SHOWS US WHAT THEY WANT TO SHOW US. But when people start taking shit too far by constantly saying horrendous shit about the cast members is where I lose all respect for people.
Ronnie being in 3 DOMESTIC ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS which DID affect the show in real life is one thing. It led to the show and the producers being called out for enabling his actions and the rest of the cast members were also called out for defending him and not saying anything. Angelina doing her shit WITHIN the show is another thing. People say “ aw but Mike got forgiven for not paying his taxes” is completely off based. I’d rather be known as someone who didn’t pay their taxes one time than someone who’s been in a domestic violence relationship THREE TIMES WITH THREE DIFFERENT PEOPLE. We cannot compare scripted manufactured drama as opposed to real life drama that made the show look bad with all the shit from Ron.
All in all, People, RELAX! It’s not that serious and nobody is forcing you to watch the show. It doesn’t matter how long you’v watched the show or how big of a fan you are of the show. Constantly saying nasty stuff about the cast members like they’re not human beings with feelings. It’s nothing to do with free speech. It’s more of being a level headed individual who doesn’t feel the need to say negative shit about a bunch of people they see on tv who they know NOTHING about.
I never in all my years of watching this show and I’m a day one fan of the show. Never have I ever resorted to saying derogatory things about the cast members. So I don’t understand why people spilt feel the need to say Nast shit about people they literally know nothing about other than the fact of what they see on A TELEVISION SHOW.

Hello. I met my bf in College. We had the same friend group and he was also in my class. We got together in the junior year. All was good. He was my first relationship and I for him. It was always my passion to study abroad after college and eventually live there forever. He knew this from the starting of our relationship, because I was vocal about how it was my dream since I was very young. And he supported and encouraged me while I filled the application forms. But he would also sometimes insert into our conversations as to how life is difficult abroad, how expensive it is and how it might be difficult to live away from family for that long. But I used to take my relative as an example who went abroad just like me to study and is now married and living happily there. I also agreed it might be difficult for certain reasons, but since it was my dream all along I just had to move abroad and live. I told him if at any point life got difficult we could always move back to our homeland.We even discussed about doing long distance for a while and he could eventually move abroad to the country I am in either as a student or for work and then we could live together there. He couldn't come with me at that time for studying because he wasn't doing good financially. So his plan was to work in our homeland for a while and make money and then maybe move out abroad. Anyway, once I got accepted and had my visa ready, he threw a big tantrum the day before I left saying I was leaving him, that he thought I would never go abroad to study, that he never wanted to go abroad and he could not believe I was actually leaving him for my dream. I consoled him saying that this was my dream for which I had worked hard n I wasn't leaving him. I would go study abroad n have a long distance with him n that we don't need to break up. He thought I would soon find someone there and move on from him which I told him was ridiculous as I was in so much love with him and wanted to marry him eventually. So we kindah had a rough couple of months with him processing that I moved abroad but we still talked everyday and still loved each other. A year passed and he had saved up money and I had also found some part time jobs. So I asked him to apply to a few university and move abroad to me which he did. As soon as he got an acceptance letter, he told me he didn't want to study abroad as he got an offer letter from a big MNC in our homeland. It was very heart breaking to me at first but then I told him that it would be good for his future if he worked at that company and then maybe he can find a work later on in a different company when he moves here or maybe we can get married and then he can move in here with me. So for then we again decided to continue our long distance. Then after a week he told me he is breaking up with me as he sees no future of us living together as it has already been so long n we hvnt even met once in-between (I couldn't afford to fly as all my money from my part time job went to my living expenses and he was also not financially able to buy me a ticket) and that he didn't want to leave his parents and live abroad forever. This completely broke me. I went into a very depressing mood for some months and wasted an entire semester doing nothing. But still we would just talk often as friends and I might sometimes ask him to please take me back but he refused (I know I am pathetic!But love makes you do crazy things.) And then after around six months I was slowly making progress with studies and making friends and going out on trips. Then he told me that he is ready to give our relationship another chance. So we again went into a long distance relationship. Neither of us dated anyone else in-between btw. This time we still had the same issues as last time with the distance, him not wanting to move abroad, still not financially able to buy an airplane ticket. But also I kindah felt like I wasn't loving him as I used to before. The time after the breakup was very rough for me, I kindah hated him, I tried to forget him and move on. I don't know if all this led to me now not being able to love him as I used to. I got the same vibe from him as he was also not as romantic to me as before. Anyway a year passed, in which he decided to study further but in our own homeland and I was almost done with my education except for my final paper. We would often get into fights about me studying abroad so long. I am actually taking way longer to complete my education than intended( because of COVID and also me wasting a couple of semester because of not having a great mental health). He was also adamant about not moving here with me. He told me I might have to move back to my homeland after my education if I want to marry him which I initially agreed. But after much thought, I told him that won't be possible. I dreamed of living abroad and if I complete my education and find work abroad then I will live abroad. I told him I was okay this time to leave him n his relationship for my dream. Then after some months he was like he will then maybe try to find some work abroad and live with me since I told him that I won't move back to our homeland.
It was at this time that his parents started to find an alliance for him for marriage (we are from an Asian background. It is common in our country to have arranged marriages. My family does not know about our relationship. They are very strict and old school. My plan was to complete my education and find work and then tell them Abt him when I am ready to marry else I didn't want to have a rough time with my family while I am studying because I know they don't like love marriage and would be very difficult for them to accept him. I thought if I was working and considerable older I might convince them for our marriage. His family knew Abt me. His mom was sweet and we used to often chat. His dad was a bit strict. He didn't want his son to marry me, he rather wanted him to marry someone who his parents found for him. My bf was also having a rough time convincing them to agree to marry me. He told me I hv to complete my education soon and meet his parents face to face so that they might agree. But I still hadn't completed my education. I used to tell him I can maybe talk to them via phone, but it would be difficult for me to visit him for several months leaving my school/work and convince his parents. He thought I wasn't being understanding and that I was selfish and that soon his parents would force him to marry someone else and that he might do it to not hurt them. I was also in a bad phase of my life with my education dragging, my parents also started searching for an alliance for me as they didn't know I was in a relationship and I was afraid to tell them now as I still hadn't completed my education. I thought for sure they won't accept it now. ) He was also furious that I went on two trips without having visited him in these four years of long distance. In my defense, the two trips I visited costed fractionally less than the air tickets I would have to buy to visit him and would not be feasible considering I could atmost visit him for a week. Remember my parents were strict and I could not video call them for more than a week. I was afraid they might catch that I am not abroad if they called me while I visited him. I still wasn't ready to tell Abt my relationship to them. Then I went home for a month. I asked him to visit me as my parents weren't home for a couple of days. He refused saying he had some other obligation at that time. He asked me to meet him after a week. But again I couldn't at that time because my parents were back home which he was again furious with. I promised him I would visit him after a few months for a week. I had finally made some money and can go on for a week without having to call my parents which he was okay with. He also got some job offers abroad but in another different country that where I study. This he was ready to go and he told me it would only be for a couple of years and he would eventually move back to our homeland. So now after a total of half a decade of relationship he told me that he is breaking up with me for good. He told me I didn't do anything wrong that he just can't make his parents unhappy, wants to not live abroad always, doesn't know how long I might take to complete my education and when I would tell my parents Abt him and when we would get married. He told me he has waited enough and he wants to move on and marry someone his parents find for him and live in my hometown. He also told me he didn't think it was right of him to ask me to leave my dream of living abroad and move back and understood my strict parents and that lately he hasn't been loving me that much and that is why he refused to meet me for that week when I was back in my hometown for a month. Considering our situations he broke up with me. I am now a bit better than I was last time. Like I kind of understand his situation. I also think it would be better for me to marry someone my parents find(not immediately, I will take some time to move on before I get married maybe a year and a half). I want to now focus and complete my education and find work.
PS: do you think I should move on or maybe ask him for another chance(I don't know if he is serious this time or if he will take me back after sometime like last time we broke up)? Also give me tips on moving on if I have to.

Hey all! Does anyone have experience working with Healing Hearts Cattery in NY? If you’ve gotten a kitty from there how was it? I’m seeing lots from them on fb groups like comments and posts and Ahuva (cattery owner) seems active but I see no website or references.

my now ex boss just gave me a heart attack at 6 this morning saying she'll be in about an hour late, and to be patient. (she frequently puts holes in the schedule right after me so im forced to stay longer than my shift. so this is normal.) what isnt normal, is her bringing all this up to me when im at home snuggling with my cats enjoying a quiet morning waiting for the world to wake up so i can take the dogs outside. i send her a picture of the last schedule that was made (five days ago. for t h i s week) and the picture i took of it was from the last time i was in, (because it had been changed without notice. again.) two days ago. and i told her as the manger if the schedule is changed it's her duty to alert employees. (you know because im under the impression i am 7 hours late for my shift.) and she has the audacity to tell the schedule has been out for over a week, and that she DID tell me about it. she sent me a screen shot of a second shift employee's conversation as proof that I'm suppose to be at work. it was last week's schedule in the screen shot and low and behold I WASNT WORKING WEDNESDAY NIGHT LAST WEEK EITHER. i then inform her that she's looking at the wrong schedule entirely, harassing the wrong employee entirely, and all i have gotten is radio silence. i dont expect it, but im sick of managers thinking they can pull this shit and not appologize, and still expect us to worship the floor they walk on. immediately i organized a group chat with the three employees who will have to pick up all my shifts because they dont deserve to be screwed over by her bull. (theres at least 3 people who CA N N O T be included in this chat because they've said to my face they dont do "pick ups" or "call ins". but get mad if you cant help them out with their shit schedule.)
the cherry on the cake is that desk at this hotel is expected to wash fold and put away all the laundry because the laundry attendant is always drinking on the job (multiple employees have seen her, she always smells like beer, and never actually clocks out, just walks when shes too inebriated to continue to work.) but if we dont do this stuff legit the ENTIRE hotel is backed up, but they wont do anything about it. its been months of me sending pictures of booze and beer in her laundry fridge and other employees who deal with her in the day who can see and smell the signs. but if we bring this up to management they just say they cant do anything about "gossip". but when i try to contact our HR department... I DONT EXIST IN THEIR DATABASE. (i suspect because my manager has lied to us all about the actual physical property number of the location, which diesnt come up on web searches no matter how hard i try and how many times i adjust the key words.)
really glad i have an interview in about 2 hours.

"What was that!?" Kellista demanded as soon as the creature fully disappeared. "You said you would summon your salamander!" The effort to dismiss the familiar had knocked Culleo back on his arse and again all he could do was wheeze. "You did issue a command, right? One that it ignored?" Lithia, the younger Lyc prompted. "Yeah, he did. And whatever it was, it wasn't taking orders." Kellista confirmed. "Alright, but before we get ahead of ourselves, is that match over?" Lirren asked, looking over to Kalivine. The Dovkin took a moment before nodding. "I already saw everything I needed, and I'm sure we would all rather focus on this more pressing matter. Get the medbot." Lirren went to do as instructed, and Turri cheerily bounced over, somehow not at all tired from all the exertion from moments ago. "You saw what you needed? That means you have an answer then? How'd they do?" He looked over to the two kobolds who were the entire purpose of the battle. "Their tenacity impressed me. This fight was clearly stacked against them, they knew better than to meet us head on, so they went for a bold strategy." Turri shot Kellista a thumbs up. "I also like how aware they were. Even when locked in combat, you" he nodded to Kellista "were still aware of your surroundings, and managed to help your teammate while minimizing the risk it posed to yourself." Kalivine gave a sigh of relief as the medbot started its work. "And it's rare to see someone cast anything while that exhausted, let alone a summoning." Turri walked over to Culleo. "Hey, ya hear that? Big ole Kal says you're cool!" He said as he pulled the lizard to his feet. Culleo could only huff in response. "Aww he's all tuckered out!" Oh Break you! Culleo tried to curse. "Ho, Huff you" Culleo actually said. "I love you too. So!" Turri said, dropping Culleo with a thump as he turned his attention back to Kalivine. "That mean they're in?" "Not necessarily. As much as they can push, the fact that they needed to push so hard is a major concern. My familiar shouldn't have caused so much trouble, I myself am hardly warmed up, and that summoning, which was at the center of their plan failed so poorly it might have made things even worse for them. I don't like that one bit. Then there's also the matter of how you-" "Oi, Kal! Sorry to interrupt but we got a little somethin' you should see!" Lithia called out.
Turri and Kalivine looked over to where she was standing, and noticed the bag at her feet. "That's... Yeah it is, isn't it?" The bag wasn't too interesting. Sure it was an awkward size, and the lettering wasn't in a language any of them knew, but besides that it looked like an average old bag. Of course, it was the fact that it was there that made it interesting. "Guys, what do we do?" Kellista asked. "Can't you just send it back?" Lirren said, looking to Culleo. The medbot had made its rounds by this point, so he could finally start speaking properly. "But- but I already did! I ended the spell and sent the familiar back! Now that I've done that I'm no longer tethered, so can't summon or dismiss them anymore." They all exchanged nervous glances. That thing had ignored summoning orders, stared ALL of them down, and had tried to cast something before being dismissed, not to mention how it went from stock still to lightning fast reflexes in the blink of an eye. And now its bag was here.
"Well? Let's open it up!" Lithia reached for the bag and everyone else was too stunned to stop her. Unzipping it, she upturned the bad, dumping its contents onto the ground. "So, what do we have here? Some clothes by the looks of it." Lirren was first to speak up. "Lithia! What are you doing!?" "Uhh, checking out our sweet new swag. Obviously!" Turri answered for her. "Come on. Ooooh, what's this?" Turri, being the birdbrain that he is, was immediately distracted by the shiny piece of metal that had tumbled out of the jumble of clothes. He picked it up and started examining it closely, eyes expanding rapidly. "What are you...? Ah ha!" Pushing a knob that turned out to be a button, a solid 'Ka-chink!' made everyone flinch as a simple yet elegant blade popped out. Turri's eyes expanded even wider and a grin made it to his beak. "Oh this one's totally mine!" Culleo considered saying something, not liking how something he summoned was now being robbed. "Hey what're these?" Oh great, now Kellista was in on it too. She found a small pouch of brown spheres. Taking a sniff, she must have liked what she smelt because she popped the thing in her mouth. "Hey! This stuff tastes good! I think I found some candy!" She said, rolling the brown sphere around her mouth. Everyone turned at that, and Kellista realized the folly of showing off her prize as everyone went for a piece.
In the turmoil of grasping hands, squawking and muttering, and a couple pinched fingers, Lithia was the first in and out. She was terrifyingly nimble despite her size, and she brought up her prize to take a sniff of her own before her eyes widened. "Nobody eat these!" She suddenly howled at the group. Everyone stopped in shock as Lithia lunged towards Kellista, who was more than a little shocked when the Lyc twice her size picked her up like a toddler. "Spit it out! Spit it out now!" She said, shaking the kobold. Kellista opened her mouth and let the brown ball of goodness drop onto the dirt, ruining it. "Hey! Let her go!" Culleo drew his rapier and pointed it to the one threatening his friend. Lithia hardly even noticed the second kobold, but still did as asked. "What was that about?" Turri asked. "Those aren't candy. At least I don't think so. They're laced with caffeine!" With that grand statement the others quickly dropped theirs, Lirren caught a whiff from his own and yep! Caffeine. It was subtle, hidden under a network of sugar, but it was there. His joined the other on the ground.
Kellista had never been so glad to be shaken like that. She was about to swallow the thing! Two seconds later and she would have ingested poison, and she didn't like her chances at that point. "Th-thank you for saving me." She said, still a little shaken from being a little shaken. "Don't mention it!" Lithia replied with a grin. "But now I want to know why our guy had a bag of poisonous sweets on him. Any ideas?" The group exchanged glances, and Kellista piped up again. "I think he was an assassin!" All eyes turned on her and she almost felt the weight of their collective gaze. "Well think about it! What have we found? A disguise, poison you'd willingly eat, a concealed knife," Turri was still fiddling with it, and there were now several bits of metal sticking out at odd angles. "Which we now see comes with a lockpicking set! Honestly Turri put that down before you release a toxic cloud or something!" Kalivine, who had been nodding along interjected "and some kind of access card" while holding up another find. "Exactly!" Kellista cut back in. "And where is this all stored? In a nondescript bag that could just be left somewhere! Come on guys, you saw how it moved! It hardly made a sound and was getting ready to fight, regardless of its summoners instructions! Like it actually thought it could take us all!" Kellista was panting by the end of her little presentation. "I think she's right. It was also powerful enough to bend a summoning to its will like that. I'm just glad you were able to send it back. I don't even wanna know what it was planning." Lirren said. Turri sighed and dropped the knife, and they all came to the same conclusion. After a few quick seconds everything was back in the bag and nobody wanted to touch it anymore.
"So what do we do now?" Culleo broke the silence, "should we tell someone?" Kalivine nodded. "Definitely report this. I think Mr. Folksen is in today. He'll know what to do." With someone to pin the responsibility on a plan of action, the group headed to the main campus building.
.....
After he finished inspecting the ground and distinctly not crying in the fetal position over lost chocolates, Micheal slowly picked himself up, dusted off his clothes, and began to walk home. What sucked was that even without his bag, he was still weighed down because of the detachable weights he had wrapped around his wrists and ankles, and now that he had let himself cool down, his limbs also felt like lead. He gave a mental sigh as he trudged along. The journey was slow and painful, but at least uneventful. As his house came into view, Mikey noticed that he still felt the imprint of his bags strap on his hand and shoulder. Kinda weird, because 'the incident' as he started referring to it as happened nearly 20 minutes ago now, and the imprint he could see was still in his hand. Focusing on it, he could still feel the fibers that made up the strap! He stopped and leaned over, looking closely at his palm. There's nothing to see, but he definitely feels his bag, not the imprint, but the actual strap like it was in his hand. "Wha...?" Closing his fingers and yes, there was something. It wasn't physical though, but almost like a breeze in his hand. He gave it a gentle tug and- "wait No! Not AGAIN!" started seeing spots in his vision.
Michael materialized back in the field with his eyes shut tight. "Come on! Are you kidding!? Why!?" He didn't care that he was making a scene in the middle of a pack of monsters, that eye thing simply couldn't be the only mode of transportation between worlds. His vision cleared however, and he saw that the field was now empty, which meant no dragon to eat him, and no kobold to send him back. But wait! His bag was here! Relief flooded through Mike as he found all his stuff was still there! Even the chocolate! "Oh, there is a god!" He said, popping one in his mouth. He stopped as he saw something, a half-eaten chocolate on the ground, clearly spat out. 'So, it's not that they didn't rob me, but team dragon is just too good for my stuff?' he thought with just a little indignation. Bad mood back firmly in place, Mike took a look at his surroundings. Now that there were no distractions, like a dragon in his face ('no, I willnot let that go any time soon!'), he could see the 'field' was the unkept land kind more than the soccer field kind, and this field was surrounded on three sides by buildings that were old enough that they might be ruins, and weren't styled like anything he had seen on earth. Knowing werewolves roamed the area, it was starting to feel like a monster town. Behind him however, stood a thick stone wall with a spiked fence on top of it. Although he had no chance to climb the wall, it did nothing to hide the grand, Cathedral looking structure behind it. The structure seemed to be carved out of marble, and was clearly maintained in stark contrast to the rest of the area. Looking up, Michael took back 'cathedral' and went with 'super palace' because this place was utterly massive. Sure, the base of the building was on par with Notre Dame but at higher levels instead of tapering out like most buildings do, it became larger and infinitely more extravagant. Seeing how he had literally been summoned here, Mike was clued in on the existence of magic, but the blatant disrespect for the laws of physics above his head confirmed that wizards were probably a thing. As the main body of the building went higher and higher, it seemed to thin out and seperate into a tangle of towers, courtyards, balconies and a whole lot of castle parts he didn't have words for, all forming a beautiful balance between chaotic and symmetrical. There were bridges that went to sections that didn't have anything under them, straight up floating islands, stairs that were rows of floating steps, and landings that looked like they disagreed on what way was down, all loosely forming a cage around a main structure that he could hardly see thanks to all the clutter around it. There was nothing on earth, even in games or movies that compared to the ridiculous levels of architecture going on in front of him. Seeing such beauty and grandeur so remarkably displayed in front of him, Michael was filled with deep emotion.
That emotion was pants-wetting fear. What the heck!? Was he trespassing on a literal god's doorstep!? Or, judging by the surroundings, was this some sort of local superpower that basically owned the very air he was breathing!? No, probably not, they hadn't aimed anything at him or yelled through a microphone that he needed to vacate immediately or be forcibly removed, but still! Michael stood there for several minutes, staring with a blend of terror, curiosity and fascination. He wasn't even sure how long it had been when he saw a new monster, one he did not have a name for, casually strolling towards the castle. Upon seeing the creature, it struck him that he was standing in broad daylight in the middle of a field in downtown monsterville. Luckily whatever it was hadn't noticed him yet, and he intended to keep it that way. He ran into the most deserted looking part of the ruins, hoping to keep eyes off him.
.....
"So after he dismissed it, we noticed the bag hadn't gone back, so we took a look and it was clear the creature was a rogue of some kind." The six of them were gathered in an office several floors high in the school, and were busy relaying the events that had transpired concerning the summoning to one of the few teachers that were still available to speak with.
"How can you be sure? What was in the bag?" Professor Folksen, an older Kaikku and notable scholar asked.
"Well, the bag itself was unremarkable, but there was a concealed dagger and a caffeine based poison along with a simple disguise. And the dagger also had a set of lockpicks built into it too. When we realized what we were looking at, we decided to put everything back and come to you." Kellista continued, describing the scene quickly to the professor.
"You made the right call. With any luck your friend will pull their bag back, find their items intact and decide seeking retribution would be a waste of time."
"Sorry sir, pull their bag back?" Culleo asked.
"Indeed Mr. Zirrkus, this isn't the first time a familiar returned home without everything. The tether that allows them to find their way back to their own dimension remains until every piece returns with it. only then does the figurative door close and prevent them from coming back unprompted. Your friend has probably already taken their things back and has forgotten about this whole thing." Mr. Folksen said reassuringly.
"But wait, if there's still a tether to this world, couldn't it come back instead!?" Culleo asked with panic rising in his voice.
"No no, that won't be an issue. When a familiar is partially returned like in this case, the mana of its homeworld acts as an anchor, any attempt to pull itself back through without the summoners assistance would just pull everything to its origin. Even if it did have a way to come back, you've given it no reason to seek you out."
"But this thing managed to circumvent my summon, couldn't it find other workarounds if it could do that?" Culleo was struggling to keep his voice in the same octave.
The old scholar shook his head. "That would require a monumental misunderstanding of magic. There may be some things we've forgotten about mana since the jolt, but this comparison would be on the same level as worrying that gravity might fail because someone was able to hack your comm. It has no reason to return and even if it did, there would literally be all the mana in a world holding it back. You can relax dear Culleo, it's not going to seek out vengeance against you."
Culleo tried to calm down, he did his best to consider his mentors words and see the clearly laid out logic, but his nerves just wouldn't go down. He had a mantle of dread over his heart that just wouldn't abate. Ragged wisps of the tether seemed to remain, so faint they just might be his imagination, but something inside him was screaming that this wasn't over.
Seeing the apprehension on his pupil's face, Folksen tried another approach. "Come now, you said this duel took place on the eastern field, yes? Well let's go check it out." The old bird had clear signs of aging, wrinkles, loss of feathers and colour, but it did nothing to slow him down as he briskly made his way to a nearby window. "Now where, ahh! I can see scorchmarks. That's where you fought, yes?" He called as the young, spry and physically fit students caught up. Kalivine confirmed. "Yes, right over there. The creature was summoned by those two gouges" he said, pointing to some damage in the turf. "And what do you see?" Folksen asked. "...the bag is gone." Lirren answered. "Exactly. And what do you know? No assassins at our throats. The tether has been severed, we don't need to worry about them coming back. Now I want you kids to get home early tonight and have a good night's sleep. The school year officially starts tomorrow and you don't need to let this keep you up all night."
Culleo nodded numbly. Seeing the empty field had only made the icy grip on his heart squeeze tighter, but everything was exactly as professor Folksen had said it should be, and he couldn't find any reason to doubt it. "Alright teach, that sounds like a good idea, I'm headed out before this lot gets me into any more trouble." Turri said before giving Culleo a clap on the shoulder "Cully! You two need a ride? Don't worry about it, it's no biggie!" He didn't even wait for a response as he grabbed Kellista's hand and began leading the two kobolds out to a landing pad and a few minutes later had the two on his back as he flew through the night. Even two on his back, kobolds were sufficiently smaller than kaikkus that Turri was able to glide most of the way.
"This whole thing really is eating at you, huh?" Turri asked, and it took Culleo a moment to realize he was being addressed. It was starting to get into the evening, but people were milling about, so Turri had taken them higher than strictly necessary to give the kobolds some privacy. "...I'm not really sure why, but yeah. Everything that Professor Folksen said made sense, and this kind of thing doesn't normally bother me, but I just can't shake this feeling..." Culleo trailed off as he considered the problem. "I bet you're just stressed from not getting an answer!" Kellista interjected, "We've been working forward to getting a spot with the Divvani faction for months now and we didn't even get an answer! It's just nerves, man!" Culleo had honestly forgotten about that, but Kellista was right. They just threw everything they had in an all or nothing battle that would probably have an effect on the rest of their lives, and didn't even know if they had won. As Culleo looked forward as best he could into the headwind, he really hoped his friend was right.
_________________________________________________________ Authors notes
Alright, I know I already broke my 'once a week' promise by posting this, but don't expect a habit of it! I'm just a little ahead in my writing and I'm sticking with that standard.
The first shall be previous and the next shall be in a week or so.

I have a friend, Eric, who has been going through a really hard time. He 100% has a problematic relationship with alcohol but I had no idea how bad it was until after this weekend.
We planned a Memorial Day BBQ to bring our friend group together and to lift his spirits. He was very involved in the planning so this wasn’t a surprise and he was excited for it. We held the event at my in-laws since they have a lovely home and are very kind people. Plus they’re very connected people as corporate lawyers, and a few of my friends are all job hunting, including Eric, so I thought they might help Eric with networking opportunities since they are the kind of people who love doing that. This was also the first time my friends met my in-laws.
The first half of the BBQ was great but at one point, Eric ventured off with another friend to visit with a neighbor and had who knows how many mixed drinks with hard liquor. I was worried the whole time because I knew he hadn’t eaten much and had already had quite a few beers. When he came back, he was very drunk, definitely at the point of black out. His behavior then went into the “beyond inappropriate realm” and crossed the line to the point where I almost threw him out multiple times.
Shit Eric did included:

• making “jokes” about raping my husband, my husbands brother, their dog, and their mother all within earshot of her.
• calling my MIL a lesbian multiple times to her face because she talked about attending Oberlin college for her undergrad
• making more rapey comments about my husband in front of me and at one point, reaching out to grope my husband’s shoulder but he stopped when I smacked his hand
• repeatedly playing with melted ice cream like a child and spilling it everywhere. I had to remove it from the table to get him to stop since asking him to stop did nothing. When I was throwing it away, he made multiple comments about rubbing it all over my body
• throwing raw meat juice at my husband who Eric knows has OCD and struggles with contamination compulsions/anxiety. I think this was done after my husband told him Eric he was flushing and looked like he may pass out and asked if he was OK. I think this embarrassed Eric so he lashed out, but not OK.
• farting loudly and relentlessly and getting food everywhere.

We didn’t throw him out since our other sober friend was going to drive him home. Only three of us were sober (myself, my husband, and one friend), so I think only we were acutely aware of the extent of his behavior. I apologized to my in-laws for his behavior, but they were very understanding and said it was fine and they had a nice time.
All I’ve said to Eric so far is, “I don’t know if you remember that night, but you need to talk to your doctor about the flushing and your heart rate.” Since he showed us his smartwatch was alerting him to a dangerous resting heart rate of 120 which he explained happens when he drinks.
I know we need to have a deeper conversation since I can’t invite him to my baby shower now, and I have to tell him that, but I’m very concerned it will push him further into the dark hole he’s currently in. I feel like something is very wrong and he needs help, but I don’t know what to do. I assume he doesn’t remember any of this since he drank so much with so little food in his stomach. But maybe telling him what he did could motivate him to get help. I feel like the entire thing was a cry for help.
My current plan is to call him Friday, after work is done for the week, and explain he’s no longer invited to my baby shower because of his behavior and that his drinking has me concerned, and leaving it at that. I’ve thought about cancelling the entire shower because I don’t have the energy to deal with childish bullshit like this. Like bigger things in my life will be happening soon. Also, my husband hates him now, which is reasonable given what happened.
Eric is not an evil person and I know this behavior is coming from his own internal struggles but it’s still unacceptable. I also don’t want to watch him drink himself to death. I am so worried about him.
I’m sorry if this isn’t the right place to post this, but I thought some of you might have a good perspective on how to handle this or how to talk to Eric. IDK, I am worried about my friend but upset and hurt by his behavior and not sure how to tell him this.
Sorry for the long post.

This post is 4500+ words long BUT I promise you, you will learn MORE than any $10,000 high ticket coaching program…
There’s no TL;DR because I only write for a serious audience that likes to read.
I will teach you everything about High-Ticket today so you can make a lot of money with certainty… everything bout using Facebook Ads… everything about high ticket marketing.
I’m currently spending $500,000-$550,000 a week (with a 3.4x cash ROAS) on Facebook Ads across multiple accounts, so I’m certainly qualified to talk on this subject.
You will never find me on YouTube or TikTok.. but you will certainly find the Gurus.
​
You’ve seen them everywhere… the GURUs!
Youtube, TikTok, Facebook Groups and Twitter - The courses, the masterminds, the telegram groups, the programs…
From the early 2014 Sam Ovens days, to the Dan Loks, to the Gadhzis, Traffic & Funnels (who ACTUALLY had great products), to Cole Gordon (also has good products)… and modern day 20-something Money Twitter chads… this space is not stopping anytime soon.
This space has been prevalent way before Facebook & YouTube Ads were even a thing…
The REAL Goats like Kevin Nations, Tony Robbins, Jay Abraham… ALL sold BIG TICKET when a dollar was worth a LOT more than the dollar is worth today…
Today you’re seeing the mind boggling figures, the sports cars, the luxury vacations, you’re following Tate… and you want what they have, so you buy the courses and the programs in the hope to get that…
But you won’t get it - unless you understand the GAME. And the name of the game is PSYCHOLOGY. Human psychology.
And in this post I will unravel the mystery behind HOW these Guru’s scale “to-the-moon”…
​
I will unravel what they know (and you don’t)… so you keep buying (or illegally download) their programs in the hope to get the payoff - which is the money!
And even if you don’t buy their programs, and say, you just rip them off of some site… you’re STILL under their influence.
You STILL think the thoughts that they want you to think. And therefore you cannot solely make decisions based on real wisdom that is yours.
It is cult-like behavior where the Guru leads, and the followers look up to him. The followers then force themselves to think and behave like the Guru they look up to…
It’s sad, because in the process you give your individual thinking power away.
In this post I want to give you the tools, the ammunition and the frame - to think for yourself…
… to understand how marketing works, to understand why some businesses make millions while the majority just can’t even get their business off the ground…
And more importantly, I want to give you the power to use these tools to make a lot of money for yourself WITHOUT supplicating to a guru.
​
Does that mean you should NOT buy programs? No I don’t mean that.
I have personally paid for (and will continue to pay for) expensive masterminds and coaching programs… BUT the difference is… I don’t BLINDLY follow anyone.
I am able to take the BEST parts from everyone I have learned from, and modify it to create my methods that suits my businesses the best.
And I want the same for you.
​

THE FUNDAMENTALS BEFORE MEDIA BUYING

A lot of you just jump straight to launching ads WITHOUT understanding the fundamentals.
And I don’t mean just the Ad network fundamentals… but literally marketing fundamentals that attract your ideal customers.
I’ll keep it simple.
The High-Ticket sales process looks like this:
Audience -> Copy -> OffeFunnel -> Ads -> Lead Gen -> Sales 101 + Nurturing -> Application -> Sales Call -> Close
The problem is - none of you look at the entire chain above. Everyone’s just shooting for “Leads”
In fact, the term “lead gen” is so bastardized today that a “Lead” itself has no value - because it has no foundation.
In another post I wrote about how YOU have to define what a Lead means to YOU.
So if you’re just going to shoot for leads, what does that really mean? - Is it an opt-in? - a registration? - An application? - a sales meeting booked? - a sales meeting show up?
You can’t know how to work the economics in your favor, if you don’t look at the big picture…
You need to OPTIMIZE everything on a straight line and hand hold a “Top-of-funnel-prospect” into becoming a “Bottom-of-funnel-client”
Hand holding is key.
At any step in the funnel BEFORE the sale if you leave their hand, you will LOSE them.
Your prospects are like your kids. You need to hold their hand until they are confident they can find their own way…
Similarly, you need to hold your prospects hand, and not leave it, until they can confidently make a decision to work with you.
Btw this works for high-ticket & low-ticket both… we’re however only addressing high-ticket fundamentals in this post.
​

SO WHAT DOES HAND HOLDING MEAN? IT MEANS "CHAIN-LINKING"

The process of taking your prospects from first seeing your Ad -> appealing to their core desires -> modifying their intent & motivation -> nurturing them on the back with emails & sms -> qualifying them via the application process -> making the sales touch points -> closing the deal…
… all of this has to be done using “Chain-linking”
If even one link in this entire chain breaks, your ENTIRE sales process will fall FLAT.
And you won’t even know who or what to blame. - Should you blame the ads? - Should you blame the copy? - The funnel architecture? - The sales person?
You can’t even isolate - and you’ll just turn off the entire campaign… and eventually, your business.
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THE GURUS’ SECRET

Pay attention!
All gurus are MASTERS of “chain-linking”
All gurus appeal to your inner-most, CORE desires, lure you in by targeting your PAIN points, then modify your intentions, motivations and your thought processes…
… eventually you’re at the other end of the chain, either reading a sales letter, or watching a webinar, or a VSL… and ultimately buying their courses and programs.
The chain starts from a TOF (top of funnel) video ad, or tweet/thread, or YouTube/TikTok video saying certain things that grabs your attention… and triggers your emotions….
… That links into multiple other videos that “arouse desire” and give you the impression that you’re learning something that will help you achieve your desire…
… but in reality the only thing you’re learning, is to “trust the guru”… and by virtue of that trust you must believe everything they say is true…
… when the Guru has established THAT level of trust, where you believe everything they say is true, you are in what is a called, a “SOLD STATE”.
Chain-Linking is ALL about moving prospects from “attention state” to “sold state”
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The reason WHY Gurus are able to sell High-Ticket at SCALE… is because they are able to move thousands of prospects from “attention state” to “sold state” via Chain-Linking.
When a prospect is in the “sold state” you don’t have to sell him. He sells himself on your product.
This is why today, high-pressure sales tactics have EVOLVED into chain-linking sales tactics…
… because technology via the means of YouTube videos, TikTok Videos, Instagram videos is changing peoples thoughts, beliefs, motivations at scale.
Let me give you an example. Take a look at what Iman Gadzhi has been doing with his “Great Reset” series or whatever it’s called.
He’s created a MASSIVE chain-link.
He has 3-4 YouTube videos in this series… and the job of EACH YouTube video is to connect you to the next video - where the story moves forward.
It’s like watching a Netflix show for these kids.
​
At the END of the chain he sells you his program. But the mastery is in his “Chain-Linking”
1) His Chain starts with a sensational announcement across multiple platforms: YT, Email list, Telegram Group, Insta stories… 2) The announcement teases a “groundbreaking” revelation of the “puppet masters of the banking cartel” and how they’re going to make & keep his prospects miserably poor (touches on the pain points, triggers certain emotions..) 3) The video releases, the production is top quality, the message is extremely sensational like you’re watching a late-night history-channel conspiracy theory show (addictive elements that trigger & glue the reptile brain) 4) The video ends on a sort of cliff hanger that pushes his audience to make sure they watch the next video that releases a few days later, to complete the story and mystery he is “revealing” so they can protect themselves from “tyranny” 5) He has additional components to his chain that make his viewership go viral in the form of free giveaways, cash prizes for liking & commenting on his videos - so he games the YT algos at scale (and actually gives away thousands of dollars in cash which is cool, as that’s fed into his customer acquisition cost). 6) There’s mass hysteria among his target audience, and without them realizing this, they’re giving away their thinking power to him. He thinks for them, they just DO based on what he thinks is right for them. That is to start an agency. Across the several videos they don’t realize but he’s changed their thoughts, their beliefs, and he’s modified their intent and motivations. 7) At the end of the chain his prospects are lead to buy his Agency Navigator program. At this point they are already in the “SOLD STATE” via the Chain-linking mechanism described above. A slight push-over-the-fence from a sales rep, and they all buy PROVIDED it’s a good offer.
​
There are several components to a successful chain, and there are SPECIFIC methods & actions you need to take to make sure the chain is strong - so you can SCALE your High-Ticket sales.
But you need to understand, that what’s even MORE important than simply running ads to get high ticket clients, is to link a strong chain together.
​
Again, I am NOT saying this is evil manipulation.
It is ONLY evil, if you falsely advertise your products & services.
If the product or service is fake and doesn’t deliver results, then it’s a CON.
If the product or service is beneficial for the buyer, then it’s MARKETING.
​

THE COMPONENTS OF THE CHAIN

There are several components to a strong chain, but they are ALL glued together with the power of words.
Whether it’s a video, or written copy - it’s all words.
It’s really only WORDS that has moved human beings from a relatively new species on the planet, to the world’s most powerful & dominant species.
The ability to communicate articulately, transfer thoughts, trigger emotions, transfer ideas, instill beliefs, motivate and inspire actions — That’s what separates us from every other species in the animal kingdom.
- We use WORDS to make people and things move. - We use WORDS to make people create things out of thin air. - We use WORDS to drive people to take action.
Words create visuals in the mind -> visuals create feelings in the body -> feelings arouse desire in the heart -> desire creates motivation to do something -> and the will to do something inspires action
A chain is an assembly of links. A ROBUST assembly is what makes the chain-link STRONG.
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These are the components of a robust chain: 1) Words 2) Visuals 3) Feelings 4) Desire 5) Motivation 6) Inspiration 7) Action

• At the Top-Of-Funnel of your chain you grab attention with words
• Your words should create specific visuals in your prospects minds
• Those visuals should make your prospects feel certain things (now they are his visuals & his feelings)
• Those feelings should elicit desire for something that he wants
• That desire should motivate him to want to accomplish something now
• That motivation to accomplish something now should inspire him to take ACTION now!

Every component of the chain needs to worked on thoroughly. You should NEVER take your prospect for granted.
Remember this... -Just because he clicks on your Ad doesn’t mean he will sign up -Just because he signs up doesn’t mean he will watch your video -Just because he starts watching your video doesn’t mean he will complete it -Just because he watches your entire video doesn’t mean he will apply & book a call -Just because he books a call doesn’t mean he will show up -Just because he shows up doesn’t mean he will buy your program
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Are you starting to see clearly now?
EVERY component of the chain needs to be thoroughly worked on…
And it needs to be worked on using the power of words.
If you’re not good at writing, then you need to work with a copywriter. A direct response copywriter.
But you will NOT succeed if you cannot write good copy. You need good copy for your videos, your sales letters, your VSLs, your ads, your creatives, all your pages…
Without good copy you will certainly never make it on the internet. Or to put it rather simply - if you want to make it on the internet you need to get good at writing well.
If you’d like to get good at copywriting, you can read my book to learn advanced copywriting frameworks to sell your offers on the internet - you’ll find it on my profile.
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So how do you assemble the components of the chain you ask? Keep reading…
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THE FORMULA TO ASSEMBLE THE COMPONENTS

Marketing is a creative science. And science follows formulas. There are 4 main pillars to assemble the components of the chain.
The components of the assembly line are based on these 4 pillars: 1) Pain & Problems 2) Mistakes 3) Pleasures 4) Solutions
To dive deeper…
1) Pain & Problems… your prospects are having 2) The mistakes… they’re making due to which they’re having these problems 3) The pleasure… they will derive from fixing these mistakes 4) Your solution… that will help them fix their mistakes, eliminate their problems and help them experience the pleasures they want
These pillars allow you to strengthen the components of your chain...
When you’re trying to move prospects from “attention state” to “sold state”… … When you’re trying to move them from “words” to “action”…
… the more you base your components on these 4 pillars the more successful you will be.
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You’ll need these pillars in: 1) Ad copy 2) Sales Letters 3) VSLs 4) Emails 5) Organic YT, TikTok videos
Now remember the High-Ticket sales process I mentioned earlier:
Audience -> Copy -> OffeFunnel -> Ads -> Lead Gen -> Sales 101 + Nurturing -> Application -> Sales Call -> Close
That’s the overall big picture chain…
To attract your audience and close them, you have to move them from “words” to “action”. You need all the components between words & action to move them from “attention” to “sold state”.
And your components need to be based on the 4 pillars I just taught you.
The threshold for how well someone responds to pointing out their pain & problems, directly corresponds to their “emotional state” - but that’s a topic for another post.
Going forward, when you look at Gurus online, pay attention! You will notice these pillars, you’ll notice the components, and you’ll clearly see the invisible “chain-linking” in action…
Only this time you WON'T unconsciously participate in their chain, but you will observe what they’re doing with this newfound wisdom you have.
You will be able to study their marketing, understand what’s going on, and optimize your own marketing based on what you see happening in the market.
This is why it’s important to learn the FUNDAMENTALS.
You don’t just blindly wanna follow Gurus, instead, you want to understand HOW their marketing works - so you can make your marketing better than theirs!
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THE FACEBOOK ADS FUNNEL

Facebook is my favorite Ad network. I’ve made millions of dollars using it… For other businesses, I’ve made over $55M+ in just the last 3 years…
I’ve been running Facebook Ads since 2010 (still have that Ad account). BEFORE they even had this thing called the “pixel”. Back then we would just buy impressions by targeting interests - there were no optimization events.
As of today, it’s an extremely intelligent Ad network.
The cost effective ability to just launch an offer and start making money from the first day of running ads, just doesn’t exist on other networks…
Most people fail on Facebook because their fundamentals are not in order. The same fundamentals I just taught you in the sections above.
But now that YOU have your fundamentals sorted, you can confidently run Ads, and you will make money with certainty!
However, before you start running Ads you need to make sure you’ve set up your structures correctly - so that you don’t get banned or get your accounts disabled.
Read my blueprint here on how to properly configure your Facebook Ads setup so you’re good to run profitable ads without the worries of getting your ad accounts banned or restricted…
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WHAT WORKS FOR HIGH-TICKET?
Models change as markets get more sophisticated.
What was new becomes old, and what’s old could possibly become new again. But in most cases old models never return.
The pager will never return, fax will never return…
In high-ticket marketing we used to have Webinars. The webinar model was popularized by Sam Ovens. Many experts then taught what he taught - and eventually the webinar model stopped working.
There are a plethora of models that have come and gone… we had the long form VSL (with text subtitles)…
We had the case study model… then we had the 5-min VSL (which is still doing well)… now Podcast VSLs are becoming the new thing…
The question you need to ask yourself, is what does YOUR market consume?
What skills can you bring to the table to make your assets more engaging? Are you good at video? Are you good at writing copy? Are you a good media buyer? Are you good at SEO? What is YOUR skill?
YOUR skill needs to be the primary driver of your campaign.
For me it’s always been copywriting that’s my primary skill - I can write 10,000 words a day if I really want to without getting bored. I genuinely love it.
So naturally, sales letters were the primary driver of my campaign.
So in this post I’ll talk about my Sales Letter Method that’s left industry experts astonished at my results.
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My sales letters in the high ticket space have turned: - $4k of Ad spend into $10M for a investment offer - $7k of Ad spend into $200k/month for enterprise software - $5k of Ad spend into $50k/month for web development agencies - $500k of Ad spend into $3M/month for home & bath remodeling
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I’ve done the sales letter method in 37+ industries, over 217 businesses and $55M+ revenue generated..
Here’s how it works.
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The Sales Letter Method

On the surface the concept is simple. You write a long form sales letter for your market with your offer. You have NO opt-in page… you send traffic straight to the long-form.
The sales letter is usually 3000-4000 words long. The goal of the sales letter is to educate + motivate the reader. Educate them on what they’ve been missing… and motivate them to take action.
It works in every industry.
One of my clients named Arash hit $20,000/month in commissions selling mortgages, with a simple sales letter backed by only $1.5k in Ad spend…
And then I have real estate brokers who’ve sold multi-million dollar luxury homes using the sales letter method.
The goal is to heighten emotional impact via education and then motivate them to get the pay off.
There is NO call-to-action anywhere on the page, except for the BOTTOM.
Only after they’ve read the entire sales letter, at the bottom of the page they find a CTA that asks them to opt-in to proceed to an application.
When you do this, you eliminate bad leads, and only have qualified prospects at the bottom of the letter.
After they opt-in, they have to fill an application form that further qualifies their intent. This application will tell you if they’re motivated to get started soon, if they have money to spend with you, what kind of help they need, if you’re able to even help them etc. etc. - the more information they give you in the application the more motivated they are…
After they fill up the application form, you send them to your calendar to book an appointment. They select a day & time and book that meeting.
With the sales letter method we shorten the chain, we make it tight and only let QUALIFIED prospects through the door… those who are motivated and ready to buy your products right now…
The sales letter method can easily get you from $0 to $50k-$100k a month. On a light $5k-$8k ad spend..
The sales letter method replaces the webinar because nobody wants to watch 1 hour long videos to get the payoff - if the market is sophisticated - people want the solution now… and that’s what the sales letter gives them.
If your sales letter has ALL the components of the chain based on the 4 pillars I mentioned above - you will have a HIT letter! And this letter can make you lots of money for a year or two easily.
So naturally the next step is to understand how to run Facebook Ads and throw traffic at this sales letter that brings you high-ticket clients.

FACEBOOK CAMPAIGNS

The setup is extremely simple. I’ve written a TON of posts on how to setup your campaigns in detail which you can find anywhere on my profile.
But since this post is already getting too long, it’ll keep it short.
a) You create 1 CBO b) 1 Ad Set c) 1 or 2 Ads 1) Set the budget on the CBO to $100 per day (…or $50 per day if you use my special targeting method explained later in this post)
2) With the Ad set stack it up with audiences relevant to your niche, and make sure you narrow them down to your particular demographic (when you use my special targeting method you don’t need to do this - instead you directly target people with money!)
3) Keep your audience size between 3M-5M
4) Set placements to Facebook newsfeed ONLY
5) On the Ads level write 1 ad with mid-form copy 500 words max… and have 2 creatives in there.
And that’s all. Just leave it alone. This setup alone should get you 2-5 appointments a day…
As you want to increase lead flow, simply bump up the budgets and wait 3-5 days for the ad sets to optimize.
If you want to spread lead flow across multiple sales teams, just make sure you add more creatives as you bump budgets up.

TARGETING

Targeting can make or break your campaigns. Yet this is what confuses most people. And now with Facebook removing interests by the thousands, and Google removing targeting options everyday… it’s become even more confusing.
The main thing you want to look for when targeting is “intent”. If you change your focus from demographic to “prospect intent” you will be more successful.
When you think within the constraints of avatademographic - you’ll be very restricted. Restricted because you’ll type in the same first things that come to all your competitors minds.
So what ends up happening is everyone targets the same interests and keywords - and that drives competition up.
When all your competitors are targeting the same keywords and interests that also drives CPMs up - so advertising becomes increasingly expensive.
That comes with the added issue that your prospects are seeing the SAME messaging from multiple people, they’re seeing the same claims being made - that makes markets sophisticated.
So you need to focus on prospect “intent” and think of what their intentions are, and target their intentions.
One of the things I am currently doing is targeting “High-Intent Audiences”
If you’re technically savvy you’ll understand what I mean by the following: Since interests on Facebook don’t work as well as they used to, due to increased competition and fewer interests available, I’ve started targeting custom lists.
What I do works very well.
I developed a tool at my agency that scrapes & builds large targeted lists of High-Intent prospects. The tool grabs hundreds of thousands of emails & phones from FB profile IDs then matches them with other social parameters on LinkedIn, IG, Twitter etc.
This can be done in any niche, and you can do it too. Or you can use mine, just ask me or send me a message.
I then upload these lists to any FB Ad account via their API and after they match the lists with their datasets - I always end up getting a 80-85% match rate.
That’s great because with a list of 100,000 contacts, even if 80,000 match - I am now able to create 1-2% LOOKALIKES of this targeted list.
This allows me to target millions of people that have shown HIGH-INTENT for the products and services I am advertising.
For example, I do this a lot when helping investment funds get accredited investors. It’s not easy to target by net worth on FB anymore - so with my tool I am able to laser target exactly who fits the accredit bracket and target only them with Ads.
This has resulted in $50 appointment bookings for investment funds with 7-figure accredited investors. This is how I was able to help one fund accrue $10M with just a $4k in ad spend.
You can easily do this if you understand apps and how to use the FB API - it will require some coding and programming on you part..
Or you can use some high-intent marketing and targeting tools to get your hands on such lists and then target them with your ads.

FINAL WORDS

If you’ve read up to this part you’re my type of person. I spend hours on the internet reading long form content. I have a voracious appetite for reading & writing.
Also, if you’re read up until this point you’re probably very intelligent and I would love to be friends with you. If you enjoyed my content, and found it valuable and beneficial in anyway, please share it with your network.
Please share it with anyone you think will benefit from this knowledge. I love to write and educate people, and more importantly I love connecting with my readers. So feel free to leave a comment below and send me a message if you’d like to be friends!
​
Here are some Reddit links to some valuable posts I’ve written in the past, I hope you find them beneficial:
- How 1 CBO on Facebook brings 200+ Leads per month & 80+ QUALIFIED booked calls…
- How To Get 50+ Hot Leads & Sales Meetings Per Week Using High Intent Customer Targeting (FACEBOOK ADS)
- How to ACTUALLY get Quality Leads using Facebook Ads and make a lot of money
- The "2023 How-To-Get-Clients Playbook" From an 8-Figure Marketer
Have a great day/night!

Company Name	Title	City
Island Federal Credit Union	Teller	East Setauket
HelioHire	Senior Data Scientist	New York
HelioHire	Computer Systems Engineer	New York
7-Eleven	Customer Service Associate (Cashier)	Addison
Northtowns Cardiology, PLLC	Medical Assistant	Amherst
Le3 Inc.	Summer Camp Care Coordinator	Amherst
Sunbeam	Residential Sales Consultant	Amherst
The Community Action Organization of Western New York Inc	Youth Services Counselor	Angola
Tender Touch Rehab Services, LLC	Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant	Arverne
Alma Bank	BSA Analyst	Astoria
Mozaic	Social Worker, LCSW/LMSW	Auburn
LeBrun Motors Inc.	Automotive Parts Manager	Auburn
Cayuga Counseling Services Inc	Crisis Response (CPST) Child Services Provider	Auburn
Unity House of Cayuga County	Chemical Dependency Residence Counselors	Auburn
NYL - Melville	Insurance Sales Representative	Babylon
Planet Fitness	Front Desk Lead	Baldwinsville
Casella Waste Systems, Inc.	Dispatcher	Batavia
Family Service League Inc.	Social Worker	Bay Shore
Atlantic Chevrolet Cadillac	Parts Counterperson	Bay Shore
Hope for Youth	Therapist- Youth ACT	Bay Shore
Northwell Health	Physical Therapist (SO)(1199)	Bay Shore
Habberstad Auto Group	Automotive BDC - Service Appointments	Bay Shore
Bright Bay Auto Group	Automotive Sales Associate	Bay Shore
Builders FirstSource	Trabajador de Patio	Bayport
Bedford CDJR	Cashier Receptionist	Bedford Hills

Hey guys, here are some recent job openings in ny. Feel free to comment here or send me a private message if you have any questions, I'm at the community's disposal! If you encounter any problems with any of these job openings please let me know that I will modify the table accordingly. Thanks!

Delhi, the bustling capital city of India, is not only a political and cultural hub but also a prominent destination for hospitality and tourism. With a rich historical heritage, vibrant markets, and a thriving business environment, Delhi attracts millions of visitors each year. In recent years, the growth of the hospitality and tourism sector has led to an increased demand for commercial properties, ranging from retail shops and food courts to office spaces. This article will explore the significance of commercial properties in Delhi's hospitality and tourism sector, with a focus on five prominent projects: Omaxe Chandni Chowk, Delhi Mall, Omaxe Karol Bagh, Best Field NSP, and DLF Prime Towers.
Omaxe Chandni Chowk
Omaxe Chandni Chowk is a noteworthy commercial project located in Central Delhi. Situated in the heart of the historic Chandni Chowk area, this project offers a range of retail shops and commercial spaces. With its strategic location and excellent connectivity, Omaxe Chandni Chowk has become a prime attraction for both locals and tourists. The project boasts modern infrastructure, state-of-the-art facilities, and a vibrant atmosphere that reflects the charm of Old Delhi. Investors looking to buy property in Delhi will find Omaxe Chandni Chowk an ideal option.
Delhi Mall
Delhi Mall, developed by Raheja Group, is a prominent commercial property situated in Karol Bagh and Patel Nagar. This expansive mall offers a diverse range of retail shops, food courts, and entertainment facilities, making it a one-stop destination for visitors. The strategic location of Delhi Mall and its proximity to popular residential areas contribute to its popularity among locals and tourists alike. It serves as a vibrant hub for shopping, dining, and entertainment, attracting a large footfall throughout the year. The availability of office spaces within Delhi Mall further contributes to its significance in the hospitality and tourism sector.
Omaxe Karol Bagh
Omaxe Karol Bagh is another commercial property project in Delhi that has gained immense attention. Situated in the bustling Karol Bagh area, this project offers a mix of commercial spaces, including retail shops, food courts, and office spaces. Omaxe Karol Bagh presents an excellent opportunity for real estate investment in Delhi due to its strategic location, well-designed infrastructure, and modern amenities. Its proximity to major transportation hubs and key tourist attractions makes it an attractive choice for businesses catering to the hospitality and tourism sector.
Best Field NSP
Located in North Delhi, Best Field NSP is a commercial project that offers a range of commercial properties, including retail shops, office spaces, and commercial shops. With its modern architecture, well-planned layout, and proximity to residential areas, Best Field NSP has become a sought-after destination for businesses and investors. The availability of diverse commercial spaces within Best Field NSP caters to the varied needs of the hospitality and tourism sector. Entrepreneurs looking to establish their presence in Delhi's vibrant market can consider investing in this project.
DLF Prime Towers
DLF Prime Towers, located in South Delhi, is a prestigious commercial property project known for its architectural brilliance and prime location. This project offers a mix of office spaces, retail outlets, and commercial shops. DLF Prime Towers has become a landmark destination for businesses in the hospitality and tourism sector due to its excellent connectivity, modern amenities, and proximity to major transportation networks. The project provides an ideal environment for companies to establish their headquarters or branch offices, making it a desirable choice for those seeking office spaces in Delhi.
Conclusion
Commercial property play a vital role in Delhi's hospitality and tourism sector, catering to the diverse needs of businesses and visitors alike. Projects like Omaxe Chandni Chowk, Delhi Mall, Omaxe Karol Bagh, Best Field NSP, and DLF Prime Towers contribute significantly to the growth and development of the sector. These projects offer a wide range of commercial spaces, including retail shops, food courts, and office spaces, attracting investors and entrepreneurs interested in the real estate investment potential of Delhi. As the demand for commercial properties continues to rise, these projects present lucrative opportunities for businesses and investors to capitalize on the thriving hospitality and tourism sector in Delhi.
For more information, please contact: +91 9009009728.

So I a 22F, had a friend group of 3. In October 2021 I felt like one of my best friend isn't really care about me. I always have this sensitive instinct where I can tell when something's not right. So I decided to leave her without explanation (Not to defend myself but around March 2022, my other friend was feeling the same way towards her, and now they're not friends anymore, now it's just me and this 2nd girl) She was my best friend. THE BEST friend I ever had. She understands me and we respected each other. We live in different cities so we're kinda in a long distance relationship but we have been friends since we were in junior high. When I decided to leave her, I noticed she never once tried to contact me until early 2022. So it was kinda too late for her. She noticed that I'm pulling myself away and so she was being extra nice, but I put a distance between us. And now, I miss her so much. I'm the one who's pulling away (probably because I have attachment issues and this is my way of protecting myself before I actually got hurt) And now I know she's tired of trying to fix it, she gave me her time and I wasted it by pulling myself away. Our last conversation was today when she wished me happy birthday. And then I asked How is she and said it's been so long since the last time we FaceTime. She used to respond to the Facetime part but now she just answers my question. I really miss her. She's the most lovely person with a beautiful heart. She's the kindest person I've ever met. I love her so much. Even when I hate her I still love her so much. How to fix this relationship?