Video of guy cutting his balls offideo of guy cutt

As a young teenager my dad had this stereo. I’d get some time at home with his setup I’d put a record on, crank it up and love it. For years it didn’t matter, family, work, and obligations! Played with sound, surround sound, cd’s, whatever seemed popular. Time passes, the those simple times come to mind. So starts my pursuit of that sound, that feeling. Now the beginning of this soon to become chase predates today’s access to information… internet, or maybe my grasp of it. I make my way to a local audio shop… the creepy little salesman is in heaven! I walk out with a Yamaha receiver, Yamaha cd player, and a cool looking pro-ject turntable, and a set of paradigm speakers. Wire it up, add some cd’s, a little vinyl…. Unreal, I was crushed, horrible. The sound disappointed me so badly, I shut it off. Not a clue, it’s a stereo .. right. Back to the salesman. Solution? Speakers!!! Let’s get you these! Next thing you know, I’ve got a set of Klipsch RF-7’s in the living room. Better!!! But the sound??? It’s really exhausting, piercing, still not there. Just, no balls, no depth, no top end. Back to the salesman. Well the reciever only puts out a hundred watts. You need more power!!!! Ok? How do I do that? “Well you need this” an Anthem power amp! “Ok” Damn! Things have come to life now, I’m happy? It’s still “bright” pitchy. Still exhausting and just not making me happy. But 5 or 6 years go by and little changes are made, but interest drops and music is just OK. Things change, life moves on, and the opportunity for a music room comes up, interest peaks out again, and the rabbit hole comes into view. Times have changed and the internet comes into play. Thoughts drop back to my teenage years and dad’s stereo. Reading through reviews, forum sites here on Reddit etc. I realize, damn, the old man must have been pretty cool! Pioneer SA-7500 Pioneer tape deck (who knows what model) HPM100’s Technics Turntable Some crazy graphic equalizer. 1978, that was some pretty cool stuff! Not wanting to get involved with the complexity’s of vintage, but I’ve got to be able to capture that sound, right? During what I realize now was a journey, the RF-7’s are gone, to big, ugly, and took to much room away from my girl!!! Not to mention the brightness, god those tweeters beating my eardrums. Still got the Yamaha, the Anthem back in the box. Settled on a set of Wharfedale Dentons without the power amp for casual listening. Now during this time of non pursuit things have changed. Technics is back, old school speakers are available. Rock boxes are back in vogue. Scoured the internet, read reviews until my head hurt. Audio store and creepy salesman is long gone. Thank god! Speakers that is what I need! Ordered a set of KLH model 5’s. Back order. Frustration grows… now the good people at KLH want to help! I’m dealing with Dave, the CEO of this speaker company! He sends me a pair of Model 3’s, to get me by until the 5’s come available! Great people, by the way. Hook em up to the Yamaha and the Anthem… horrible, horrible, right back to the Klipsch thing. Vintage, that’s got to be it!!! Only solution. Marketplace here we go, bought a pair of 70’s vintage Kenwood rock boxes. Wow, now we’re getting there! Sounds great to these now 60 year old ears, but still bright, pitchy, tiring. Time to get serious. “I’m going to do this, how hard can it be?” More internet time, more research, more pain in the center of my skull. I’ve come to realize that there is a lot to this stuff. Enter Marantz… all this dissatisfaction… speakers. It was an obsession. Natural sound… warmth… analogue. I am not what I would call an audiophile? Just a guy wanting a sound!!! Pulled the trigger, ordered a Marantz model 30 integrated amp… warm? Gotta be better right? Marantz model 30 Technics SL-100c Nagaoka mp-200 cartridge Still got the Yamaha cd player REL classic-98 sub… to help the now gone Dentons! All hooked up to the vintage Kenwood speakers. Whoooo. Awesome, I’m feeling it…. But those speakers kind of muddy (my word btw)… hook up the KLH model 3’s. These model 3’s are amazing!!! Absolutely amazing. Maybe 100 hrs. on them, broke in now. The positioning there! Sub virtually defeated. Teamed up with this Marantz model 30, using the internal phono preamp. Records are beautiful. CD’s fantastic. My god, I’m there deep in the rabbit hole…. Completely satisfied, this setup has brought me back to those stolen days with dad’s system. The KLH model 3’s are beautiful, I could stop right now, but the model 5’s will be here in July! Who knows what kind of listening pleasure those bad boys will bring!!!! Lesson’s learned? I’m not a Yamaha natural sound guy. Not real a sub lover! Marantz model 30 perfect KLH great people, great stuff! Next moves, those model 5’s The Marantz SACD-30 next and start playing with streaming stuff!!! Stay tuned…

I just got back from the Black and Gold Kickoff game and I have some thoughts.
Bo and Tim looked great and had good chemistry. I have no concerns with his health with how he looked. Tim was basically uncover able no matter who was on him.
Powell looked like a rookie again. Hard to judge him too harshly against Bo because he was out there with the second team and no one was really open. Still I'm really glad Bo looks back and healthy.
Shemar Bridges looked really good. Big, physical and able to get open.
Kaylon Geiger looked good underneath and explosive with the ball in his hands.
I'm not concerned about James Butler's back up as Greg Bell looked great hitting the holes and Calvin Tyler Jr looked good coming out of the backfield catching passes.
Omar Bayless looked like he can step up and fill the void left by Godwin.
Vedvik looked bad kicking field goals but when he and Flint were punting he actually looked better which I was surprised by, though maybe they were working of separate things.
Rookie Mitchell Townsend impressed me at LB. I won't be surprised to see him contribute on defense at some point next season.
Of note there were a lot of guys not in pads so we couldn't see how they looked: Hakunavanhu, Brubacher, Dayton Black, Figueroa, Kyle Wilson, Camren McDonald, Dawson Pierre, Sunderland, Peters, Barlow, Robinson, Hewitt, Butler, Liegghio.
If anyone else was there I'd love to hear other people's thoughts!

Before i say anything, i am not at all a good writer, so excuse the really bad writing plz. For content, I was out with my best friend and her sister at a McDonald’s. We were just eating our food and waiting on a drink i had ordered. A guy walks in and waits in line, i began talking to my friends about how cute he is, and that he’s just my type. My friend convinces me to go get his instagram, i go up and stand in line close-ish to him. After a moment i ask him his age, he turns around and tells me he is 18, i then say nvm because I thought the age gap might be too much for him but he asks me what’s wrong, so i tell him my age and we both have an “ohh” moment. After a bit of silence, he keeps looking back at me as if maybe he wanted to talk, i say fuck it and keep asking him questions(not many) before asking for his instagram and hes engaged in the conversation and also gives me his instagram no hesitation. I say bye after getting my drink and tell him ill text him later. To cut it short, an hour later im in the area still so i text him and ask if hes still around. He responded saying yes and i ask if he wants to meet up but im with a few people (I didn’t want to go anywhere alone with a stranger and my friends are about a year older than me) he leaves me on seen, after a few minutes I apologize and got left on seen again. Its the next day and he liked my story twice, so i was a bit upset and texted him again, asking why he left me on seen. Now im waiting for a response or to get left on seen again.

So, a parody song guy I found had a parody of Stacy's Mom and I remember reading a post awhile back looking for this and it was found but fir the love of me I can't find it or the post on here about it.
Basically its a short fic where Izuku became a musician and has a hit song - Kachan's Mom. Iirc he got Dabi and Toga to be in his band and the music video has Mitsuki with Toga playing "Kachan"
Basically it's the song is a huge hit, 1-A loves it, and naturally it annoys Bakugo.
Was just really funny and I'd love to read it again.

I’m a black woman. I’m 19.
In my final year of high school, I was very attracted (squealing in the hallways type attracted) to a 1/2 black 1/2 white boy who looked something like this: https://www.instagram.com/p/C7KQAa9PmSA/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
I had a crush on another 1/2 black 1/2 white boy (dark brown eyes, very light - almost white - skin, though I actually don’t think that was a factor in the attraction) from 9th-10th grade who was a little above average. But I was no longer attracted to him by 11th grade after he became average looking. He was also an atrocious person, which of course was a factor in the attraction fading.
My 11th grade boyfriend (December 2021-March 2022) looked something like this: https://www.instagram.com/p/C7KQAa9PmSA/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== and https://www.instagram.com/p/C7KQ9ttPLl0/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
I am no longer attracted to my 11th grade boyfriend, although I recall that when he first pulled down his mask I was certainly attracted to him. Beforehand, I wasn’t sure. He also proved to be a bad person (disrespected my sexual boundaries multiple times.)
The darker skinned black boy in the middle is someone I would go out with if I liked his personality/if he approached me, I like his hair: https://www.instagram.com/p/C7KQ9ttPLl0/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
I also subjectively find the guy in The Beach Boys music videos to be very cute, like “oh that’s my dream guy” type of cute: https://www.reddit.com/VindictaRateCelebs/s/BwVR18np6S
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okay okay before everyone comes for me, let explain this weird and twisted situation. i (25f) have been friends with this girl who we’ll call abby for a few years now. we’ve gotten super close and never had any problems. this past year, around september she started to this guy (25 M) who we’ll call Ben. the thing about ben is that we have been friendly with each other for over 7 years ago. not friends just friendly. when abby and ben started talking i thought it was the cutest thing ever and i fully supported it. in fact abby’s sister and ben’s brothers had also been some sort of friends. now abby and ben had been talking for a few months now via snapchat and group facetime’s (i was not apart of these, as per my requests) and ben still hadn’t asked abby out. abby began to get impatient and so she asked me to step in and start talking to ben to see what was up. this is what led me and ben to start actually talking, but all we talked about was abby and schoolwork since we were in the same class. now valentine’s day rolls around and ben asks me for money to buy abby a rose and i happily agree and he does this and asks her to be his girlfriend. this all happened privately between them to might i add. however, abby did not tell me the details about what had happened until a few weeks later. she said that ben had told her that he has severe depression and was scared about getting into a relationship due to that. abby said that she reassured him and said that it would be fine and she wouldn’t tell anyone. yet about two weeks after that he sent her handwritten notes that were actually the sweetest and saddest things ever describing in further detail about his depression, attempt, and how abby was his light. now this is where the problems start. abby is not the sentimental or hug type and this threw her off a bit. she also has issues regarding other people’s feelings. now instead of keeping those notes to herself, she went around and told our whole friend group about it and his ‘issues’. of course this threw me off a bit but i was able to get over it. fast forward a month and ben is highly invested in their relationship but is clingy and sends her couple videos that abby finds to be gross and this is when the shi talking begins. she literally told me “i got what i wanted but it was not what i expected” basically ben was giving his all for them and abby couldn’t even text him back. ben said that one day he decided to do a test to see if abby would text him first and so he didnt text her first and for three days they did not talk. right before winter break abby tells me that she wants to break up with ben and im upset but want to be supportive of her decisions. however instead of meeting with him in person and talking about it, she has our other friend write a break up text that basically says that he has mental issues and isn’t ready for a relationship. this was something that i couldn’t agree with and i lightly told her which she brushed off. the thing is now, that me and ben are still taking and im realizing how sweet he actually is. of course abby has never been brought up in conversation as if could be a sore topic for him. but we’ve really had great conversations and laughs. i do tell abby about some of them and she makes jokes about how im the next person he is going to “go after”, but she’ll laugh and then call him ugly and fat. i’m realizing now i might actually be falling for ben because the other day we were accidentally matching football sweatshirts and he made a sweet comment about it. im not sure what to do and if i should keep talking to him, because im not even sure if he’s over abby. i’m no planet would i ever want to betray my friend like that, but at the same time, ben was not treated properly and was honestly so misunderstood which i am realizing now.

I have moved from my small home town to a city and left my partner and my dog whom I really love. We have been together for 3 years. (I’m 22 he is 27) I’m now living with my brother and his missus in Sydney. They kindly let me live in their spare bedroom. I wanted to leave my home town because I wanted to be closer with family (my family lives here except for my dad) as well as seeing what it is like to live away from my home town, I got kind of sick of living in my home town and just wanted to spread my wings a little. I just had this itch to do so. Just needed a change. Maybe try and find myself a career or a job that’s not cleaning. I felt like it would be good for my self confidence. I was unemployed for the first month but then finally got a job as a Dental Assistant trainee. I’ve only been working since middle of March. It is a 45 min drive to and from work and I’m only getting paid $23/hr 3-4 days a week. It’s actually such a shit job tbh with you. I’m really struggling with it all financially, I just got my car serviced and there’s like 10 things wrong with it and if I get it fixed I will be paying more than what it’s worth. On top of that I feel so stressed more than ever living here in sydney. The more I live here the more I hate it. I’m depressed as well. I don’t know what I want to do as a career, I am lost. I have no direction in life or passion for anything. People my age have already completed their uni degree and are making 6 figures. Thinking about moving back in with my boyfriend in my home town but don’t know what that will bring me for my future. He reckons we will put our money together and buy a house? How is that even possible when houses are $1M. I don’t have any skills other than cleaning and working in a fish and chip shop. I’m so hopeless. How would I be able to support him financially as well if I can’t support myself? My family is against me moving back there because they see no future for m in the small town and with that guy. Let’s be honest when I was having fights with him I would go to my sister or brother to vent. And it’s probably made him look like a bad guy. He’s a good guy. Because I vented to them about him, they may be biased if I asked for dating advice. I feel this tug of war between my family and my boyfriend. But I feel like if I would be moving back, it would be out of guilt and a “give up” on myself. He s probably going to be like I told you it wouldn’t work out and you didn’t listen to me. Another huge hit to the self esteem. I have experience childhood trauma with a broken family and it’s like I’m reliving it because I’m torn between people and places. I remember when i was a kid I would feel guilty being with one parent and vice versa. I feel so shit about myself and like a complete failure. I just don’t know what to do. People say that people end up like their parents and my boyfriends dad is very narcissistic and he literally tells you that he is better than everyone and smartest. He’s pretty cluey though. Also a womaniser. I do see a lot of his dad in my boyfriend. My gut is telling me that he’s not the right person to marry. But living here in sydney is giving me so much stress. Maybe I cut ties with everyone and move to another city? But I feel like no matter where I go my depression will follow me. I have no friends or unbiased family to ask advice. Bf is putting a timer on and saying he’s not going to wait for me and just stick around for me to fall back on if things don't work out. that is how he said his feeling. i feel like a terrible partner for making him feel this way. i would be letting down my siblings and family if i go back to my home town and live with him. what is the right thing to do? I have no clue. I’m literally sitting here in my room like a red hot mess.. people would probably think I’m on crack, haven’t slept.

Does anyone know which video had the story of the guy swallowing his fish and Charlotte makes a yuck sound and the inside of her mouth looks like an aquarium? I saw it on youtube a few weeks back and wanted to show a friend, but I can't find it again.
Thanks!

I have moved from my small home town to a city and left my partner and my dog whom I really love. We have been together for 3 years. (I’m 22 he is 27) I’m now living with my brother and his missus in Sydney. They kindly let me live in their spare bedroom. I wanted to leave my home town because I wanted to be closer with family (my family lives here except for my dad) as well as seeing what it is like to live away from my home town, I got kind of sick of living in my home town and just wanted to spread my wings a little. I just had this itch to do so. Just needed a change. Maybe try and find myself a career or a job that’s not cleaning. I felt like it would be good for my self confidence. I was unemployed for the first month but then finally got a job as a Dental Assistant trainee. I’ve only been working since middle of March. It is a 45 min drive to and from work and I’m only getting paid $23/hr 3-4 days a week. It’s actually such a shit job tbh with you. I’m really struggling with it all financially, I just got my car serviced and there’s like 10 things wrong with it and if I get it fixed I will be paying more than what it’s worth. On top of that I feel so stressed more than ever living here in sydney. The more I live here the more I hate it. I’m depressed as well. I don’t know what I want to do as a career, I am lost. I have no direction in life or passion for anything. People my age have already completed their uni degree and are making 6 figures. Thinking about moving back in with my boyfriend in my home town but don’t know what that will bring me for my future. He reckons we will put our money together and buy a house? How is that even possible when houses are $1M. I don’t have any skills other than cleaning and working in a fish and chip shop. I’m so hopeless. How would I be able to support him financially as well if I can’t support myself? My family is against me moving back there because they see no future for m in the small town and with that guy. Let’s be honest when I was having fights with him I would go to my sister or brother to vent. And it’s probably made him look like a bad guy. He’s a good guy. Because I vented to them about him, they may be biased if I asked for dating advice. I feel this tug of war between my family and my boyfriend. But I feel like if I would be moving back, it would be out of guilt and a “give up” on myself. He s probably going to be like I told you it wouldn’t work out and you didn’t listen to me. Another huge hit to the self esteem. I have experience childhood trauma with a broken family and it’s like I’m reliving it because I’m torn between people and places. I remember when i was a kid I would feel guilty being with one parent and vice versa. I feel so shit about myself and like a complete failure. I just don’t know what to do. People say that people end up like their parents and my boyfriends dad is very narcissistic and he literally tells you that he is better than everyone and smartest. He’s pretty cluey though. Also a womaniser. I do see a lot of his dad in my boyfriend. My gut is telling me that he’s not the right person to marry. But living here in sydney is giving me so much stress. Maybe I cut ties with everyone and move to another city? But I feel like no matter where I go my depression will follow me. I have no friends or unbiased family to ask advice. Bf is putting a timer on and saying he’s not going to wait for me and just stick around for me to fall back on if things don't work out. that is how he said his feeling. i feel like a terrible partner for making him feel this way. i would be letting down my siblings and family if i go back to my home town and live with him. what is the right thing to do? I have no clue. I’m literally sitting here in my room like a red hot mess.. people would probably think I’m on crack, haven’t slept.

Maybe I'm going to change my mind later, considering that one of the key features of the first game was the timeloop and ability to replay the game multiple time and have at least some differences that greatly impact your experience (althought, seems like this time the game is a lot more standardized linear narrative with saves).
At the same time, while I liked some of the more mature themes, the improved artstyle and general gameplay feel, and Riley to be a compelling main character with an interesting background, some of the other story elements feel a little bit dull compared to the original, and in certain points it kinda feel, dunno how to describe it, empty? It's not terrible, but doesn't really reach the highs that it could have with the material they present us with the sequel.
Walkie talkie mechanic is a cool addition, but at the same time most of the dialogue options and characters you can interact with feel very basic and sparse. I would really like to have more interactions with people like Shelley, or Maria or Nick the sailor, just to break out being 90% of the game alongside Jacob. Speaking of, I felt like his character was fine at first and while I didn't hate him, he became stale quite quick into the game, to the point that I wished for a sort of break with literally someone else of the characters you could talk with the walkie.
By contrast, the radio feel quite unused. I was surprised by the lack of anomalies you could interact with it, and when the game introduces the time rifts (at the start, in the cave system and in the Garland ghost town) that's it, you use it once to pass to an area to the other and aside from the cool factor it doesn't come up ever again, which felt like a lost opportunity.
The cult subplot about Parentage feel barebones of the and a bit patched inside the general narrative, to the point that I felt you could totally remove it from the history of Camena and you wouldn't miss anything. The thing is, I liked the idea of the main human antagonists being a bunch of socially ankward kids bonded toghever by their own traumas (Violet has a alcoholist mother, Olivia lost her parents in a plane crash ect..) that stumble into the Edwards island anomalies/Sunken much in a similar way as the original cast and decide to larp as some sort of mini-cult hoping that they can change their life around. It's a lot simpler but IMO feel like a nice change on the "town with a weird cult" trope.
When they got to the Church and we have the big revelation that Alex and co. have been inside the time loop all this time and now are part of the Sunken, I thought it was a very good moment and I was intrigued by the bold idea of them now acting as sort of antagonistic force, but it pretty much becomes null once Alex "splits" to differentiate from the Sunken crew, which felt to me like a very safe backtracking to keep the original cast "the good guys" and the Kanaloa crew "the bad guys", even if they both are into the same situation.
Also saw a thread pointing out A LOT of cut characters from the main story or areas like the small garage under Jacob's house that feel like they have been cut from the main story. It makes me wonder if Oxenfree II had a comparatively messier development opposed to the first game and got caught in multiple rewritings and retooling of the original story.
There are other issues I have with the main story and general gameplay, but I might wrote them down later. Needless to say, the game wasn't terrible, in fact I quite enjoyed some gameplay elements, characters and tecnical improvements over the original, but at the same time it felt a lot more dull and didn't hit as strong even when I thought there was some cool stuff that could have used some more work.

I was looking at his videos sorted in most popular order, because I wanted to see what his most viewed videos are (top is hard rock nick with 17 million views)
But as I scrolled down, I noticed something. Out of his 418 videos, only 46 of them have less than his subscriber count. Obviously a lot of these are his first few videos on the channel that were just skits. But NONE of his videos from the last year have reached 4 million (his current subscriber count is 4.18 mil). This kind of concerned me, because so many of these are easily in my favourite drew videos. Horror movies only has 3.4, endings of Christmas movies only has 2, my favourite guy on Instagram has 2.1.
This is all while 89% of his videos have at least 4.2 million.
Obviously this isn't the most accurate way of measuring popularity, because this doesn't account for future viewers, but it worried me.

I have moved from my small home town to a city and left my partner and my dog whom I really love. We have been together for 3 years. (I’m 22 he is 27) I’m now living with my brother and his missus in Sydney. They kindly let me live in their spare bedroom. I wanted to leave my home town because I wanted to be closer with family (my family lives here except for my dad) as well as seeing what it is like to live away from my home town, I got kind of sick of living in my home town and just wanted to spread my wings a little. I just had this itch to do so. Just needed a change. Maybe try and find myself a career or a job that’s not cleaning. I felt like it would be good for my self confidence. I was unemployed for the first month but then finally got a job as a Dental Assistant trainee. I’ve only been working since middle of March. It is a 45 min drive to and from work and I’m only getting paid $23/hr 3-4 days a week. It’s actually such a shit job tbh with you. I’m really struggling with it all financially, I just got my car serviced and there’s like 10 things wrong with it and if I get it fixed I will be paying more than what it’s worth. On top of that I feel so stressed more than ever living here in sydney. The more I live here the more I hate it. I’m depressed as well. I don’t know what I want to do as a career, I am lost. I have no direction in life or passion for anything. People my age have already completed their uni degree and are making 6 figures. Thinking about moving back in with my boyfriend in my home town but don’t know what that will bring me for my future. He reckons we will put our money together and buy a house? How is that even possible when houses are $1M. I don’t have any skills other than cleaning and working in a fish and chip shop. I’m so hopeless. How would I be able to support him financially as well if I can’t support myself? My family is against me moving back there because they see no future for m in the small town and with that guy. Let’s be honest when I was having fights with him I would go to my sister or brother to vent. And it’s probably made him look like a bad guy. He’s a good guy. Because I vented to them about him, they may be biased if I asked for dating advice. I feel this tug of war between my family and my boyfriend. But I feel like if I would be moving back, it would be out of guilt and a “give up” on myself. He s probably going to be like I told you it wouldn’t work out and you didn’t listen to me. Another huge hit to the self esteem. I have experience childhood trauma with a broken family and it’s like I’m reliving it because I’m torn between people and places. I remember when i was a kid I would feel guilty being with one parent and vice versa. I feel so shit about myself and like a complete failure. I just don’t know what to do. People say that people end up like their parents and my boyfriends dad is very narcissistic and he literally tells you that he is better than everyone and smartest. He’s pretty cluey though. Also a womaniser. I do see a lot of his dad in my boyfriend. My gut is telling me that he’s not the right person to marry. But living here in sydney is giving me so much stress. Maybe I cut ties with everyone and move to another city? But I feel like no matter where I go my depression will follow me. I have no friends or unbiased family to ask advice. Bf is putting a timer on and saying he’s not going to wait for me and just stick around for me to fall back on if things don't work out. that is how he said his feeling. i feel like a terrible partner for making him feel this way. i would be letting down my siblings and family if i go back to my home town and live with him. what is the right thing to do? I have no clue. I’m literally sitting here in my room like a red hot mess.. people would probably think I’m on crack, haven’t slept.

Hey! This post is mainly about roleplaying online, but there are things involving D&D too. I hope it is okay to make a post like this! If anyone wants to use this story for their video, feel free to.
Disclaimer: I talk about self worth a lot, and how I harmed myself mentaly by thinking how worthless I was. Also there is a subtle mention of my self harm past. Just in case someone has problems being confronted with this!
Disclaimer 2: There is a transphobic comment coming from a person, that I don't see as to bad, but some might see as worse than I do. Also there is transphobia towards genderfluid people, so look out for yourself.
Disclaimer 3: This person is NOT transphobic, but they were pretty uninformed and unsensitive. This doesn't make it better, but I clearly want to seperate transphobic statements from being actively hateful towards trans people.
So I was roleplaying ever since 2016, when I was 14 years old. A few years later, I met a guy, which I'll call Chris in the context of this post. Our first time meeting online was tied to some drama. For roleplaying, we made wikis for our characters, and often would use existing characters from games and medias as a design reference. When I used a reference, Chris was really pissed, because he announced that he would use this character a few dqys ago, and I was already writing a character with that as their reference. I knew he planned that, and didn't say anything, thinking it would be better to just speed it up. Dumb decision of me, rough start, but soon we'd get along. It was pretty fun, we were both sorta the memeish people, and he seemed to be a nice guy.
We soon became friends, after I went into an RP break. During that break I needed to sort things out, due to covid and my outing as a trans fem, and a difficult relationship with my parents. I had a bad case of... thoughts and it hurt my self awareness, and self view on my "worth in life", but once that was sorted out, I decided to play again, and went into a older Roleplay, hosted by Chris. There were still some leftovers of lacking self love, though it got eventualy better during roleplay. Soon I realized that Cris and I would argue often about the simplest things. I decided it was not a big deal, and we would get passed these issues, sometimes without resolving it, sometimes with me being able to lay my stubborness away, which I am not proud of. In the cases in which he started the fight, I sometimes felt gaslit into thinking that I was the problem. It hurt my vision of my own worth, and I started to skill evasion, to not talk about certain things, just not to get reminded of how "worthless" I am. Sometimes I told Chris about this issue, and he'd be empathetic, but calmly said I need to work on it. He had a lot of self love, it felt like he couldn't understand my issue, but I don't know anything specific, after all I can't look into someones head. I think he meant well, but it felt unsensitive, and unempathetic at the end.
The roleplay he hosted took place in a big world, with a really awesome lore, not only in terms of world building, but also in terms of characters and species. The big issue I had was, that Chris introduced enemies to me, that he planned to be introduced in the roleplay way later, while he planned more and more main enemies to exist. As far as I know, the first main enemy still is the main enemy, despite being introduced for almost 4 years now. And paired with his situational motivation to roleplay (which is completely fine generaly, but then we'd need a solution for the main enemies), and his and my tendencies to create character after character (I had 63 characters for that roleplay), we never got to progress, and instead thickened our own characters plots.
One situation was pretty odd. When coping with trans discrimination, I often write stories or characters, that faced these problems too. That way I often felt like I could make it out of my strange situations too. I made a character that I was really proud of, gave her a trans fem backstory, that was one of the better one's I have written at that time and made her a badass, etherial bookworm with magic powers. Chris said that her issues with her trans discriminatory parents would be unrealistic, due to the utopic monarchy they'd live in, and because his queen character could change trans peoples bodies if they'd like to, by using magic. It was honestly weird, because I didn't know if he was supportive there, or unsupportive in that moment, but I know that it made me sad, and I stopped making her trans identity imoortant to progress the plot between her and her parents. This was also a character he often talked down, and Chris often stated his dislike towards her. (That was not of transphobic background, he just didn't like her character and I guess her skill set)
I also made a character that could shift from male to female, and the other way around, based on the skills used. It also was a solution for me wanting to use two design references without having to chose one, and dable into non-binary umbrella story writing, and play a genderfluid person, because I never did that before. After researching on those gender identities, I was hyped to try it out. He also stated, that he thought her being female-only would be cooler. My mind told me, that we potentialy would have this conversation more often, so to not get annoyed by him later on, I changed that person into a cis-female, which I think was really sad.
We had a solidified group of 5ish players that often did stuff together on discord. Sometimes some other people would join our discord server and talk. Daily roleplay players were peaking at... idk 10-15 players probably. Chris, me, and Arin (a friend of us, not his real name) often would hangout in the discord, talk about the roleplay and some funny, silly stuff. Memes were made, we made fun of each others characters (consentualy) and talk about nerdy shit often. At one point, we'd make silly tier lists, which I sometimes took to serious, because most of them were just silly stuff and I got offended by those... which I am also not proud of and have apologized for.
The only exception in which things were rather weird, were the power scale tierlists. My characters usualy got ranked into the higher middle spots, but sometimes I felt like Chris would talk some of them down a little. Having some characters be weaker was sometjing I was always open too, sometimes I would make younger and unexperienced characters after all. Even if he didn't talk down on my characters (which is possible too, those tierlists were subjective after all) then he definitely did with others. Other players characters we wouldn't regularly play with, were seen as weaker, which I thought was weird. Knowing all of those characters was impossible, because there were 120ish at the time, but they were still ranked, and the tierlists were publicaly posted in the roleplay chat. Some people got offended by that, which I can understand.
There was some out of rp stuff too, that annoyed me about Chris. Often it was about being the #1 simp of media character X, Y, Z... you name them. It got pretty out of hand, but once I told him directly, that I think that this attitude was annoying, and that he can't look at other people and be like "Yeah, this person doesn't love my waifu as much as I do", and that it was a weird thing to rank ik the first olace, it got quiter in that region.
Sometimes we argued about music, and he tried to come off as more informed as me, a metal/death screamer, and djent guitarist, with music theory as a hobby. And I'm not trying to say he couldn't, but he said some very uninformed stuff, and tried to gatekeep... I guess the subject "Favorite music"? by saying stuff like "People who don't know their favorite songs lyrics obviously don't have that as their favorite". That statement is weird, because as a guitarist, in some songs I pay more attention to the guitars more, than the lyrics. Especially because I have ADHD and often get distracted when trying to listen to song lyrics. We both regularly listened to japanese music too, which we both can't speak nor understand. It'd bring me down into thinking, that I might not be a great musician, or that I was to radical when someone hurts my feelings, or simply says something weird and uninformed. But I showed this to other friends, and they said that I was not. Even Arin often would find the reason for the arguements rediculous, and 9/10 times it was coming from Chris.
Arin would soon start to feel like me and Chris fighting would be nothing unusual, and that was a reality check for me if I ever had one. At some point, I realized when I got into a different discord server, and was being more involved with my real life friends again, that something fell off in the friendship between me and Chris. But at that time, me, Arin and Chris prepared a pirate setting D&D campaigne, which I was extremely excited about. I used to play D&D when I was 15-16 years old, and remembered having fun, so getting back to it was a great thing for me. I made a female babarian, weilding a sword and a axe, with a high roll of 15 strength, and was really happy with her. Her backstory was sorta basic, but it was still tragic and it was good enough for me to enjoy. I roughly remember, it was about her losing her family, and her becoming a mercinary, that would be part of a two people pirate crew now, because she got payed to.
All of this was for nothing though. Me and Chris fought again. The fight was about a word, that I used in a romantic context, him not knowing the word, and after googling the definition, thinking it couldn't be used in that situation. Both of us would get stupidly mad. He said some really hurtful shit, saying that I would weigh my friendships now, and that my new friends would be more important to me now. Me, Chris and some other frienfs had a Gartic Phone session coming up, hosted by me, and we didn't talk before or after that, because I told him that I need distance to sort things out. But sorting things out would mean to finally distance myself from him this time, and thus I ended the friendship.
The D&D campagne dropped, I spent more time with my other friends, and... never got to play D&D ever since. (It's been 2 years now) The same campaigne was DMed by Arin later on, when his girlfriend took my place instead. I can understand Arins decision, and we are not in bad blood, he is still my friend. Yet it felt like a kick in the face, because all my friends would have a campaigne now, and I was left in the dark, noticing people get to play D&D left and right. And his girlfriend told me that she thought Chris was really exhausting to play with too. To be gair though, I never adressed this issue with Arin, because he is constantly DMing for 2 years now, in a group with Chris. I feel like telling him this would make things either worse, and it feels like I'd pushy.
What was worse though, I talked to Chris nearly every day, leaving me with a feeling that something really important was torn away, because I ended the friendship. It felt like I did something stupid again, and I felt worthless again, until I got told otherwise. I tried coming back to that specific roleplay multiple times again, and roleplay with a friend of me and Chris, even trying to be in contact with Chris again. He has definitely changed, but after a few weeks of contact, I decided we couldn't stay in contact, and slowly let the contact slip away from us, without starting any fight. Any attempt for roleplay is ruined for me now, but I think I'd give D&D another try.
I definitely did some stupid shit too, because I got really emotional. But after building a wall between me and Chris, I noticed that a lot of the crap in our friendship was not just coming from me. That I was allowed to love myself too, and that he gaslit me often. I'm not sure if I ever get back to pure roleplay, but after 2 years, I am willing to give D&D another chance, after feeling left out for such a long time now.

Well, I'm speechless. I've seen a real fucking ghost, period.
So, I was playing Tale of Iyo: Chapter 2 in Nightmare mode with some randoms. It was my first time playing that mission, so I had no idea what I was getting into... None of us had a microphone, so there have been times when I just wanted to curl up and cry :)
However, while one of the randoms and I were fighting for our survival with every thrust of our swords, I started to notice the other two guys (an assassin and a samurai), and I realized that they were disintegrating every enemy with a single thrust. As soon as they touched an enemy, it will fucking die, it didn't matter if it was with the bow, with a kunai..... It didn't matter. It was as if they were the main characters. Two characters from Kimetsu No Yaiba.
At that point, I was a little hesitant about what I was seeing; we had all entered the game with 110 ki, and these two had suddenly become Miyamoto Musashi. But then I started looking at their health bars? THEY HADN'T LOST A SINGLE PS IN THE WHOLE RUN!
At one point, after about 2 hours of absurd restarts for failed puzzles, the samurai must have gotten tired, because he started spamming Hachiman's Fury all the time to move faster without cutting a damn hair. Note that he was so desperate that in the part where you were supposed to purify the obelisk, he stopped hiding his omnipresence and started teleporting to the crystals to bring them back to the obelisk. Within 10 seconds, he had already placed 3 of them. Needless to say, he and his partner finished the game with 370 and 280 kills and 0 deaths, while the other and I finished with 13 and 36 kills and about 16 deaths each...
I still don't understand what the fuck I just saw. After that game, I met a Ronin in a run of Survival (Nightmare mode too) who must have gone through the same pilgrimage on the way to the sword as these two, for fuck's sake...

Snail: Dedede! King Dedede! The most greedy, tyrannical, and goofy penguin in all of dream land!
Bowser: Self made ruler of the land and by that I mean he kicked everyone’s butts and nobody could stop him! He took all the food in dream land! He’s starving a planet the fuck-
Snail: King Dedede would smash anyone who stepped in his way as massive ego boosts for the unrighteousness and undeserving king! All until a certain Star Warrior name Kirby came along!
“Hiiii!”
Bowser: Kirby kicked Dedede’s ass not once but TWICE! And in one game geez dude he didn’t even have copy abilities yet that’s sad!
Snail: But even still Kirby showed the king… kindness?
Bowser: This really changed Dedede’s view on things by the next game he tried saving dream land! I mean while looking like a dick because he sucks at asking for help but he’s trying!
Snail: While it would take time Dedede was on the path to redemption! But he’d have to be strong!
Bowser: While not as strong he fought with and alongside Kirby on multiple occasions! And even defeat Magolor and his ship! Magolor’s ship could cross another dimension a higher dimension that exists above time and space! And even destroy another dimension!
Snail: And while he had his trust hammer to clobber the bad guys and that there Kirby he wanted a bitttt more!
Bowser: Like the invincible Candy that can make King Dedede entirely invulnerable for a short period of time! Or his jet hammer that has missiles! And is a flame thrower!
Snail: Even with mask and hammer King Dedede is a king… SO HE HAS AN ARMY! Like his snail servant super cool right hand man! Escargon! He’s not much of a fighter… but he and Dedede have a car with a canon on it!
Bowser: What about the Waddle Dees! You got ones with spears, a guy with a bandanna, umbrellas, cars, they the waddle boys!
Snail: Of course they aren’t very strong or competent fighter with Bandanna Waddle Dee being the only notable exception but they are all extremely loyal to their king to the bitter end! No matter what! And Dedede loves all of them willing to put his life on the line to save them!
Bowser: In order to keep him say he learned a ton of powers! He can regenerate after being stabbed or come back as a ghost by absorbing life force! He can fly! And inhale his enemies and spit them out!
Snail: A lesser version of what Kirby can do! Because King Dedede always wants to one up Kirby!
Bowser: Why do that when the King has his own abilities and weapons that are just as cool! Like bombs! Every good game villain like us needs bombs!
Snail: His mask amplifies his own power greatly and he can shoot electricity out his hands to paralyze people!
Bowser: He can summon the monster of the week from Nightmare enterprises although don’t expect him to pay!
Snail: Lovely! Ya know too think all this cuz he was beefing with a baby.
Bowser: King Dedede’s intelligence may seem below average but it’s far from it, he is a master fighter with experience fighting aliens, robots, alien robots, gods and bug queens! And even drive giant mechs like the the Dedededestroyer Z! A giant mech with more missiles and a hammer arm! It’s huge!
Snail: What a self absorbed penguin! But he’s there for his friends thick and thin! While before he was unwilling to allow Kirby to help him, he went from that to be fine cowering behind Kirby and being happy to see his now friend.
Bowser: Maybe Dedede ain’t so bad! Like when he got double mind control in forgotten land! He became stronger than ever but didn’t care that he lost!
Snail: But when a giant bunch of animals attack our heroes and a Waddle fell behind Dedede tossed that Waddle to make sure he was safe with Kirby and was ready to put down his life and fight alone to protect his friends and subjects
Bowser: And hey he survived! What a legend! He may be kind of a jerk at times but he’s a caring jerk!
Snail: I think Dedede shows us all why we should be kind because one act of kindness can change the worst people for the better!

Bowser: In the world of Hazbin Hotel where angels purrge Hell once a year none can hold a candle in terms of crafty building as Sir Pentious!
Snail: While he may not be as smart as me he’s a very dangerous man! Sir Pentious is a sinner and they’re people who died and of course, went to hell!
Bowser: Very bad ones! While it's unknown how he died we know when! Back in 1888! He's a whole sas steampunk inventor so he had time to learn how to make hell weapons I guess!
Snail: Sir Pentious as a sinner has all the regular sinner powers you'd expect! He can regenerate missing arms and he's immortal as a never-aging demon, without death, as a possibility for him cuz he ya know died.
Bowser: He was a ruthless crime lord who survived the complete vaporization of his airship a feat that would have required him to tank 104 tons of TNT! And he's considered a physical wimp in hell! Oh yeah, he has an airship!
Snail: It comes equipped with lasers, giant thrusters, and more lasers! And even a holy laser!
Bowser: His minions are the Egg Boiz they are egg people who are fierce and loyal they also have electricity guns!
Snail: Sir Pentious wields a chain for combat as well as a spider like well… arm thing? I'm not sure what this is.
Bowser: He may not be the best in hand to hand but he still has the hands and even if he struggles he can use his many eyes over his body to shortly stun or hypnotize you! Combine that with a poisonous bite and he’s no push over! Well maybe he is but-
Snail: He should also be far superior to imps like Blitz! Who can fight robots who can dodge sniper shots at Mach 9! Making Sir Pent very very fast!
Bowser: He really just wanted to be an overlord a ruler of hell but instead he was manipulated by a group of overlords and force to spy on the Hazbin Hotel where sinners get redeemed!
Snail: But he got caught extremely fast and got told to Low Tier God himself by his boss! But god damn the Hotel was nice enough to let him get redeemed! He made friends, joined them in bondage, and crushed on the fire bomb! Cherry Bomb!
Bowser: But to save her and the rest of the hotel he gave his life to stop Adam and shoot a laser at him! The same Adam who could cut mountains! No, he got killed before he could hit but even Adam admits it could've gotten ugly if he was hit!
Snail: And hey for his good actions he went to heaven! I’d say this Hazbin turned his afterlife around pretty damn well!

5 months post-break up. I’ve posted in detail about this many times but in summary, my ex (29M) and I (27F) were long distance for 2.5 years. I was at the stage of sorting visas/jobs to move to him when he said he wasn’t ready to commit or be in a relationship. Really devastated me and flipped my life upside down at a critical point of my life. He breadcrumbed me hard the first couple months. I blocked him for a while. April 3rd, we started talking again and we both said our feelings were still the same and were open to the idea of seeing where things go. All of a sudden he shut down again and we stopped talking April 13.
I messaged him on April 29 and he said he doesn’t feel the same way, doesn’t love me, miss me or feel sad etc. He wants a relationship with gender roles. A full 180 in a couple of weeks. He also said he hadn’t been with anyone new. A couple of days later, his family blocked/deleted me off social media which actually really upset me and seemed so out of the blue because they were liking my posts just a couple of weeks before and I had a good relationship with them. I was so confused. Obviously, one didn’t get the memo and I saw a video they posted of my ex with his new chick at a family dinner on May 10. I think that was the worst moment of this whole breakup because there was no warning and he lied and told me he hadn’t been with anyone less than 2 weeks before. I didn’t expect it at all.
I did some digging and this girl is 21/22, still in college. He started following her mid April, right when he shut down again with me. This guy has a fear of commitment and the mind of a little boy so someone that young and inexperienced who hasn’t figured out their life yet is PERFECT for him. He’s got about 5 years to figure his shit out before she starts asking to settle down. At first I was inconsolable that he moved on that fast and forced his family to block me so I wouldn’t see. It wasn’t to protect my feelings. It was to protect his guilt and reputation. I was plagued with the thoughts of “does he say the things he said to me? Does he call her my pet names? Has he taken her to our places?” But honestly now, I think this has really helped me move on. What a LOSER! It’s actually hilariously embarrassing 😂 All the tears and intrusive thoughts about this pathetic human who doesn’t give a damn about me. I’m sorry but your feelings cannot change that quickly. You can’t say after months you still feel the same way and want to maybe try again and then 10 days later, your feelings are dead. This man has so many issues that he has not worked on so I’m sure this relationship will fizzle out as he is incapable of having a healthy one. I really was struggling with no contact but I have no desire whatsoever anymore. I’m not sure if he knows I know. But why lie? That’s the part I don’t get? You can tell me how little I mean to you, so why not say you’re seeing someone new? What is wrong with him???
Anyone have a similar experience? Do you think he’s really gotten over me or is this a distraction? He’s severely avoidant. He literally told me “I’ve been pushing down feelings my whole life, this was just another I needed to overcome”. Part of me feels he’ll reach out one day and part of me wants him to so I can laugh in his face. Anyway, I’m off to disappear into the abyss. Good luck you POS. Thanks for nothing.

The episode resumed on a shot of Zee and Jo, their skin tones back to normal, running up to a smiling Chris. "Welcome back," he told the camera. "Zee and helper Jo are the first to arrive here, at the world's largest mud puddle!" The camera pulled back, revealing that the trio was standing near the edge of a large lake of burbling mud, a measuring stick rising out of it at the nearest edge.
"It's eight feet deep," Chris explained over a close-up of the measuring stick showing the mud reaching up very nearly to the 8' mark, "and 200 yards across. And," the camera quick-panned to the far right side of the 'puddle', "since it's too thick to swim through," the shot cut back to the couple and Chris, "the only way to the other side is with one of you piggybacking the other."
"Umm...," Zee said hesitantly, sharing a wary look with Jo, "doesn't that mean the person on the bottom..."
"Will drown?" Chris finished. "Yes."
"What?!" Jo said in wide-eyed shock.
"Unless they use this garden hose!" Chris added, a light chime playing as he held up a length of green hose.
Zee let out a breath. "Okay then. Guess I'm on the bottom, then."
Jo's eyes widened a bit in a brief bit of surprise, and she looked at her partner. "I should be objecting to this since I'm supposed to be the helper, but hey. No heavy lifting from me."
"Yeah…" Zee agreed half heartedly.
Confessional: Zee
"I was able to hold Jo onto my back while we were skiing," Zee told the confessional. "I can still do the same while under mud."
Confessional Ends
"I know that I said you were weak in the past," Jo said, "but that was until I saw that you were able to make it this far in the game."
"You thought wrong about me," Zee replied. "I wasn’t active at first in challenges and finding food, but with Julia eliminated, I was able to grow and become a finalist."
Chris suddenly stepped between the two. "How touching. Now start the challenge."
The scene cut to Zee and Jo jumping into the mud, the former disappearing below its depths while the latter, on his shoulders, held up the length of the hose. They started moving forward, and the camera panned back to the left to show Harold, Scarlett, and Chris holding up another length of hose.
"Yeah, I'll be on top," Harold stated.
"Pardon me?" Scarlett countered, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't trust you not to let me drown," Harold told her. "Self-preservation comes first."
Scarlett groaned. "That's fair," she said, taking the hose from Chris, "but if you let me suffocate, I'm dragging you down into the mud with me."
"Crustal," Harold deadpanned, and as Scarlett crouched down, she jumped onto the brainiac's shoulders. Scarlett stood back up and put the end of the hose in her mouth, and she jumped into the mud.
The tense music faded away as the camera moved onto Chris, the host sighing as Chef walked up. "You think the mud was a bad idea?" Chris asked. "It's a little quiet… oh yeah," Chris said as if in sudden realization, "almost forgot about the Peanut Gallery. Bring 'em back in!" he said into a walkie talkie he only then pulled out.
Moments later, the wind kicked up around them, and the camera zoomed out to show the large helicopter flying in with the former contestants still hanging – and screaming as they swayed ominously – below it. "Would you let us down already?!" Leshawna shouted angrily. "It's freezin' up here!"
"Yeah, I want to cheer for Zee!" Julia chimed in.
"If I wasn't tied up right now, I'd have half a mind to pound you!" Duncan shouted at the host.
The camera focused on DJ. "Hey, Chris?" he looked forward and asked loudly. "Just bring us down before anybody else gets miffed at you!"
"No, and I don't care," Chris answered with a calm smile, until Chef whispered to him. A flat note played over a close-up of Chris staring blankly at him. "Huh...good point," he admitted. "Ooh!" he said with a sudden grin. "I just had an idea!"
A flash took the scene to Zee and Jo, the tense challenge music resuming at a low volume and slow pace in the background. They were still slogging through the mud, Zee out of sight but Jo only submerged up to her stomach. She looked back over her shoulder, smiled, then said "Keep going!" into the piece of hose she was holding. "They're way far behind!"
Confessional: Zee
"So as it turns out," Zee said, "being submerged in the mud is kinda like being trapped in the dark. But there aren't any animals below to scare me."
Confessional Ends
The music ramped up as Jo suddenly stopped moving, then seemed to turn around and start moving back towards the start. "Uh, Fruit Loop?" she asked into the hose. "We're going the wrong way!"
The camera cut to Harold, looking somewhat bored as he held the hose atop Scarlett's shoulders, before noticing the other team and frowning. "Why are they coming this way?"
"Ugh! They're too safe to sabotage each other!" came the sudden voice of Chris McLean, the camera cutting to him standing in the show's jeep with Chef at the wheel, speaking into the microphone of the jeep's loudspeaker. "Deploy the 2.0 model!"
The shot cut back to Harold and Jo as they looked around with strange expressions, the sound of something like a rocket taking off coming from somewhere in the distance. They looked up and to the left, and the camera shifted to their viewpoint to show a large object shooting up through the sky overhead...
...then abruptly diving towards them, revealing itself as a red-eyed robotic bear with small jet engines coming out of its back. Harold and Jo screamed as their respective partners continued in their previous directions, getting out of the way as the Bear landed in the mud. It hit with enough force to cause a wave of mud, which shot all the way across the puddle carrying the finalists and their helpers along for the ride. All four immediately began to cough upon landing in a muddy heap.
Confessional: Harold
"At least I have a better shot," Harold said. "We're tied right now, but who knows what other tricks Chris has up his sleeves."
Confessional Ends
A close-up of the nozzle of a fire hose in Chef's hands preceded him blasting the muddy finalists and helpers with water, all four screaming where they'd landed on the shore of the 'puddle'. Moments later, the water was shut off, leaving them drenched but clean.
"We're all tied up," Chris announced with a smile. "Perfect time for a little break. First, let's bring in the Peanut Gallery again." He took out his remote and pointed it at a patch of ground nearby, a hole opening up in it and a rather shoddy-looking set of stadium seats shooting up out of it with the ten former contestants seated – and still tied-up – in it.
"Sha-finally," Lightning said, the shot cutting to him sitting in the top row with B, DJ, Duncan, and Max and Leshawna, Ella, Julia, Sammy, and Amy in the bottom row. "Are we gonna get to watch the rest of the challenge now?"
"Yup!" Chris answered with a happy smile, pressing the button on his remote again so that a large widescreen television emerged from another hole in the ground near him and the finalists.
"Will you untie us too?" Ella chimed in.
Chris huffed. "Whine, whine, whine," he said in annoyance. "Don't I do enough for you kids as it is?"
"No," all fourteen of the season's cast members replied at the same time.
A flat note played over a close-up of the host pursing his lips. "Yeah, I owe Chef twenty bucks about that," Chris said, the camera zooming back out again to show the finalists and helpers. "Everyone, grab a seat," he instructed, and the four reluctantly sat down on the logs lying behind them. "I'm gonna show you some of my favorite clips from the show..." He pointed his remote at the TV, and the shot focused in as it switched on and started to play footage of a confessional...
"Dunderhead was already pretty useless," Jo complained. "But now he's making moves on one of the actually decent players on the team? Not on my watch!"
The camera cut in close to show Jo pausing and looking back. "Something on your mind, Anti-Squeakerbox?" she asked, the camera shifting to show B peering at her and shaking his head.
“It's not what you think it is," Jo told him. "As long as they are on this team, Julia and Zee will not date."
“Not exactly how I wanted the elimination to play, but hey. Julia’s gone and with Zee still in the game, I could manipulate him into doing whatever I say,” Jo grinned.
The footage paused, and Chris leaned out in front of the television with a wide and mischievous grin. "Seems like there isn't a shipper on deck…" he said impishly.
"So you were trying to keep me and Julia apart?" Zee said as the camera moved to him and Jo, his eyes wide with shock. "Does this mean that...,"
"Yup. I convinced Julia to quit," Jo replied. "I didn't expect her to fully go through with it since I was gonna vote you out!"
"I can't believe you'd try and do that!" Zee said with a glare!"
"If I didn't do what I did, then you two likely would've blown challenges for us like the dueling one!" Jo argued back.
The camera focused on Julia in the Peanut Gallery. "I was trying to defend my boyfriend, but sure," she said dryly.
"I'm just worried what Chris is gonna show from Scarlett," Sammy said. "It looks like he wants to mess up the finalists and their helpers..."
"Maybe he won't show anything?" Amy suggested. "I mean, it's not like Scarlett and Harold were that close to begin with."
The shot cut back to a smiling Chris. "Oh, don't worry, I have no intention of leaving those guys out of all this fun," he said happily.
"I don't see how," Scarlett said. "Harold already knows everything about me now. I’m practically an open book."
Chris laughed. "Seems you forgot that the cameras are always on. So here's some more juicy information that everybody gets to hear." The screen on the TV went from static to a scene from the fifth episode.
Scarlett herself grabbed the dueling stick Ella retrieved, fished an electric eel out of the water, and tossed it to Max. "Max!" she cried, and her teammates looked at her in confusion, prompting her to pretend that she had coughed. "Pardon me!"
“The plan was for Max to be the only one not in the trap, so the team would know he built it and vote him off!” Scarlett confessed.
"I overheard Leshawna and Harold's conversation when they were foraging together, and Leshawna being on to me is something that I refuse to let happen," Scarlett claimed. “Zee's really gullible enough to deceive, and I'll try to talk to Ella.”
A deep, dramatic note was struck over a shot of Harold in shock. "So it was you who got Leshawna eliminated!" he scowled in Scarlett's direction.
"I wasn't ready to come out just yet, and between the two of you, you were less likely to warn anyone about me!" Scarlett retorted.
"So all this time, Scarlett was aiming to usurp her master!" Max ranted.
"I don't blame her," Leshawna commented. “As much of a pain as she is, I would've done the same thing and sent your annoying behind home.”
"Okay," Chris said happily as the shot moved onto him, "I'm sensing some major hostility and I'm liking it. I'm out of popcorn, though, so we should probably get back to the challenge."
"Seriously?!" the finalists and helpers alike exclaimed.
"Obviously, the helpers aren't gonna be very helpful anymore," Chris replied. "So, instead of helpers, Jo and Scarlett will now be hinderers." As he spoke, Chef walked back into view with a pair of video game controllers, tossing one each to Scarlett and Jo. "The island is now back online," Chris continued, "and, with these controllers, they will be able to throw up obstacles to throw you down, or, completely crush you."
The shot cut to Scarlett as she looked at her controller and smirked. "Good to know."
"Looking forward to it," Jo said in determination.
Harold and Zee gulped, and Chris laughed. "That was the good part," he said. "Let me tell you the bad part. You have ten minutes to finish this challenge," he told Zee and Harold. "If neither of you do, Scarlett and Jo get to split the money."
"Dude, what?" Zee said in shock.
"You can't do that!" Harold protested.
"I can! I will! I am! GO!" Chris announced, blowing his airhorn right in Chef's face, earning an annoyed sigh from the man. Harold and Zee immediately ran off, but the camera cut to a close-up of a thoughtful Jo.
"Well...I want the money, but I'm not really comfortable with how this is set up," Jo said to herself. "But...I guess it wouldn't be too bad if I just made this a little more challenging for them..."
"Do what you want," Scarlett said, the camera panning over to show her grinning darkly with her controller in hand. "I'm getting my justice."
Confessional: Jo
“And I thought I was an underhanded person,” Jo mentioned to herself. “Velma has less morals than me and Gnome Master.”
Confessional: Scarlett
"I was snubbed in the last episode," Scarlett confessed. "And now that I've been given permission, I can stop the finalists from winning without getting electrocuted!" She pulled out the remote from the seventh episode. "I don't even need this device. I have a controller to do the job for it."
Confessionals End
A few quick drum taps opened up a deep and dangerous challenge theme, the scene returning to Zee and Harold sprinting across the open field only to gape in shock as the pine trees in the background starting launching like rockets.
"What the heck?" Harold said. "Rocket trees?"
One landed right behind them, forcing both finalists to roll forward out of the way. "This island is wild!" Zee cried as the two continued running, more and more trees landing behind them like massive spears.
The two were shown together in a brief close-up, raising their eyebrows in surprise. A quick-pan ahead revealed the landscape changing, trees and rock formations rising up out of the artificial ground to form a large, dense barrier.
Harold jumped ahead of Zee as they climbed over the first big rock formation.
Zee vaulted downward and dashing forward along a lower 'path' among the rocks. Just as he was about to jump down onto grass, however, a boulder shot upward – and he landed on it groin-first. A close-up showed him letting out a high-pitched squeal of pain.
Harold's wince drew the camera's attention back upward to show him leaping from a boulder and grabbing onto the branch of a tree, only for the tree to suddenly shoot back down into the ground – causing him to yell as it dragged him down and slammed him back-first onto a fallen log.
Zee gave him a quick concerned glance as he jumped onto the same log, then upwards onto a rock formation before climbing onward and to the right and out of sight.
The scene cut back to the hinderers, both still working their controllers with Scarlett still looking considerably happier about it. "No need to change what works," Jo said uncertainty.
"What happened to that cutthroat attitude you've been displaying?" Scarlett asked. "Don't throw it away when I can get something out of it. And lower some of those trees. They're giving them too much cover from this storm I'm whipping up."
The camera panned onto the monitor to show Zee and Harold struggling against a powerful wind as they walked through what looked like a dense forest as leaves, dust, branches, and various small woodland animals blew past them.
A focus on the monitor's screen transitioned the scene back to the challenge. "I think...I can see the finish line in the distance," Zee said, pausing for a moment as he struggled against the intense gale.
"They're not making this easy on us," Harold commented.
The pair briefly passed behind a thick and mossy pine tree, the camera zooming in slightly as they reappeared. "Would you?" Zee asked.
"...I guess not," Harold answered after a moment.
The shot cut back to the Peanut Gallery to show them watching with worry and anticipation. "C'mon, Harold," Leshawna spoke. "Just hang in there."
"I know you can win this, Zee," Julia said. "You deserve it after everything."
Then the camera cut back to the hinderers, Chris standing next to their monitor with his hands behind his back and a smile on his face. "Ooh! They're getting close!" he said excitedly, prompting Scarlett to scowl and Jo to frown.
Once more the scene moved back to the finalists, their arms raised to buffer themselves against the winds – snow beginning to fall and lightning beginning to crack in the background - with Harold in the lead. "Two minutes left!" Chris called out over the island's loudspeaker. "Two minutes!"
"I...," Harold said with glee. "I think I can make it!"
"Not if I can help it!" Zee shouted, speeding up as the dense trees around him and Harold began to recede into the ground – and the tense and dangerous challenge music resumed. "If I win, me and Julia can go out and change the world together."
"I have to win this," Harold told him. "I've been undervalued and looked down on by my peers, friends, and even my family. I need to prove my might."
The snowy ground below their feet began to crack. A hollow sound played, then all at once, the ground shot up under them, earning startled yells from both. The shot soon cut to the new peak they were standing on rising up into the sky, then stopping.
"Drats..." Zee muttered, both finalists looking down with wide eyes. his final word echoed as the camera zoomed out, revealing the snowy mountain they were now at the top of.
The Peanut Gallery was shown gasping, as were Jo, though Scarlett was smiling as their misfortune. "Twenty seconds left...!" Chris said as the camera moved on to him looking at his watch.
The shot cut back to Harold. "I guess it's over," he sighed. “Scarlett wins after all.”
Zee noticed a bulge in the snow beside him. The boy shoved his hand into it and pulled out the phone Duncan stole from Chris. "I don't know how this got here, but we have to get down. Start stomping the ground."
Harold nodded and stomped on the ground at his feet, and after a few cracks, Zee hurled the phone down, breaking the device apart. Their eyes widened as the mountain began to crumble under them, and the ground imploded in on itself.
"Six! Five!" Chris began to count off, the music cutting out save for a single plodding note to highlight each number. "Four!" The camera panned onto the television, showing both finalists tumbling through the snow and rock. "Three! Two! One!" The shot cut to the finish banner, then zoomed out to show the avalanche stopping just under it – with neither finalist in sight. "GAME OVER!" he announced, blowing on his airhorn as a subdued but triumphant riff played.
Jo stood up in surprise, and Scarlett started cheering.
"My mission was a success!" Scarlett said in victory. “Now hand over my well-deserved prize!”
"Congratulations Jo and Scarlett," Chris said with his usual smile. "Revenge is sweetest-" he glanced at the monitor- "ohhhhh, what have we here?" he said with a sudden look of shock, the music cutting out as he pointed at the television screen.
A sharp note played as a familiar hand stuck out of the snow lying just past the finish line and waved. Scarlett's jaw dropped in shock, and Jo let out a sigh of relief.
The scene cut to the finish line, the camera pulling back a little ways as Chef walked up with a stretcher, dressed as a female nurse. Leshawna ran onscreen and pushed him out of the way. Chef flew off frame with a shout, and Leshawna grabbed the arm and pulled, freeing a shocked and snowy Harold from the aftermath of the avalanche. "Oh," he groaned, looking around as Leshawna dropped him on the stretcher, "what happened?" he asked as the victorious music began to play again with much more enthusiasm.
"You won, Ginger Baby!" Leshawna answered with a smile, the camera pulling out even more to show Harold looking back at the finish banner.
"I did it!" Harold said excitedly. "Harold Norbert Cheever Doris McGrady V has claimed victory! Boo yah!" he raised his arms and cheered, the shot cutting away to show all of the Peanut Gallery cheering.
“We weren't able to talk to each other as much, and it's clear we like each other as more than just friends, but how about we hang out a little bit back home and see where things go?” Leshawna suggested.
“As long as we don't rush into a committed relationship, I'd like that,” Harold smiled back.
The camera panned to the left to show Julia frantically pulling a dazed and half-conscious Zee from the rest of the avalanche, and picking him up onto her back.
"Julia," Zee said weakly, "I'm sorry that I-"
"Be quiet," Julia said with a weak smile as she carried her boyfriend over to the stretcher and set him down next to Harold. "You need to rest."
"But-" Zee tried to say.
He was cut off by Julia grabbing his head and kissing him full on the lips. "You didn’t win the money, but we can still provide for the world in our own ways, and with the power of love," she said with a smile as she broke the kiss, leaving Zee looking dopey.
The capstone theme began to play as the footage skipped ahead to a shot of the open sky, the double-rotored helicopter soon flying up into view. "That's it for this very, very off season," Chris began, standing in the open doorway with Zee and Julia sitting on the edge letting their legs dangle freely with Julia leaning into Zee; Harold and Scarlett standing on either side of Chris, the latter annoyed and the former grinning while holding the suitcase full of money to his chest; and the rest of the cast, crouching down and peering over in the gaps between and behind the rest, constantly jockeying for position as they tried to get one last shot of themselves on camera.
"This is Chris McLean, saying if you can't stand the pain-" the handsome host continued, the shot cutting in closer- "stay off the Total! Drama! Paaaahkitew Island!"
"RE-VENGE!" Max suddenly yelled from behind Scarlett, shoving her out of the helicopter, and the brainiac screamed as she fell.
The camera lingered on the dumbfounded looks of Chris and the other ex-campers, all of them staring at Max in shock. "This is how a traitor should be rewarded," he said, crossing his arms and closing his eyes defiantly.
The ex-campers and host burst out laughing, and a fun and energetic tune started to play. The camera panned over to the windshield to show Chef laughing along with the rest of the cast from the pilot's seat, and the helicopter flew away.
The music soon faded away, though, and the scene quick-panned down to show a screaming Scarlett landing in the giant mud puddle. She quickly surfaced with a shocked splutter, and pulled herself out onto dry land. "How am I going to get home now because of those imbeciles?!"
A few ominous notes were struck, and a ferocious growl caught Scarlett's attention. She looked up, and the camera zoomed out to show Scuba Bear 2.0 standing over her, eyes red. "Heheh," the brainiac laughed nervously. "You're not going to hurt me are you?"
The scene abruptly cut outward to the full long-distance shot of the island, the ominous music ending as Scarlett's scream and Scuba Bear's snarl echoed across the lake.
(Roll the Credits)
Lightning - 14th
DJ - 13th
Amy - 12th
B - 11th
Julia - 10th
Max - 9th
Leshawna - 8th
MERGE
Jo - 7th
Duncan - 6th
Ella - 5th
Sammy - 4th
Scarlett - 3rd
Zee - 2nd
Harold - 1st

I 29f am seeing a guy 35m who lives with his ex... I just found this out on date #2.
I like him a lot, personality wise he's everything im looking for and seems amazing so makes sense he was in an 8 yr relationship before this. Hes so easy to talk to. He has been "single" a year but going through a legal battle about the sale of him & his exes home. He can't really afford both his mortgage and rent despite having a good career (NYC), so I that's why he's waiting til it gets resolved to buy a place of his own. He says he stays at his parents a fair bit when he's not at work and does his best not to see his ex, but they obviously must still communicate to a degree and see one another. Apparently they both grew apart over the years but it wasnt toxic.
I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around it but don't want to say bye to someone I finally click with (been out with so many guys over the past few years and didnt like anyone as much as him). I live at home rn until the end of summer (I was in grad school til now), so I wouldnt take it anywhere sexual w him til I get my own place. But I don't really know how i'd feel if we did take it there and then he goes home and stays in the same home as his ex. It sounds like the legal stuff, buying a new place and entire resolution could take a year.
Would it be insane to continue dating this guy? Ive never had a really serious relationship so this is so foreign and unexpected to me. I do have friends who broke up with guys they owned with, but they simply came to an agreement & cut ties even if it financially sucked. If I was in his circumstance Idk if i'd date. He noted other girls he went out with were too put off by this to continue which he understood. Im open minded and we set up a 3rd date since we click so well, but now im feeling really anxious about it as I want something serious and don't bring baggage like this at ALL. Then again i'm not sure im gonna be able to find the right person for me. Its so rare that I click w someone. WWYD?

Boys: Harold, Zee
Episode 13: Lies, Cries, and One Big Prize
"Previously, on Total Drama. Zee, Scarlett, and Harold created their own challenges!"
"Zee went with balancing, which bit big time for Scarlett and gave Harold the shock of his life."
"Harold's treetop race was more entertaining than a sawing monkey. Surprisingly, Scarlett won the challenge, and Harold fell from grace and the trees."
"So, it all came down to Scarlett's challenge: a trivia challenge about the former competitors. Zee didn't have too good a start, but quickly earned himself a spot in the finale."
"It all came down to a final question, and one that Scarlett ironically got wrong. Bye-bye!"
The montage ended with a flash, showing a close-up of Chris in front of a bare rock wall. "Down to two from three," he said, holding up three fingers but lowering one of them, "cause now we're Scarlett-free. But," he lowered another finger, "it'll still be neat to see who gets beat," he punched his open palm. "So! Grab a seat. There's one million bucks on the line," the shot cut to a robotic arm lifting up the open suitcase full of prize money against a radiant orange-and-gold background. "Iiiiiit's finale time!" Chris said as the shot cut back to him.
"On Total! Drama! Paaaaaahkitew Island!"
(Theme Song)
A deep note played as the episode opened on the bunker, the sky dark and the crickets chirping. A deep sigh issued forth from it, and the camera soon cut inside to show Harold tossing and turning in his bed. He got up and grabbed a pillow from the bed above him and closed his eyes with a smile, only to open them and sigh again.
Confessional: Harold
"It's no use," Harold sighed in the confessional. "I just can't get to sleep. I'm too anxious about tomorrow. I don't know if Zee is having the same trouble as I am..."
“It’d be cool if I win the last challenge. Just think about how much better my life would be. No more wedgies, wet willies, and toilet face plunges, my peers would respect me more as a million dollar winner, and I can invest the money in a way that’ll make me more than the show has to afford.”
Confessional Ends
The static cut away to show Harold turning his back to the camera with another sigh, then the shot cut to the inside of the barn to show Zee sleeping peacefully and snoring rather loudly.
Confessional: Zee
"This is a high stress situation, but I’m able to get some rest in order to ease it," Zee explained. "Even if it’s a million dollar competition against Harold."
Confessional Ends
An angelic sound played as the shot returned to a close-up of Harold, his eyes blinking blearily to sleep as the light of dawn streamed in through a window high on the wall above him.
Just as he and the music seemed to reach a peaceful rest, the wail of an airhorn pierced the walls and forced Harold back into wakefulness, his eyes snapping open wide and bloodshot. "Harold and Zee," Chris announced over the camp loudspeakers, the screen splitting in two with a shot of the good vibe guy blearily waking up sliding in on the left. "Meeting area, now!"
The scene flashed to Zee and Harold standing before Chris in the open meeting area. "Yes! Today, I fire one of you from a cannon," he greeted excitedly. "And then start my vacation."
"Plus you'll hand one of us a million dollars," Harold added with a grin.
"I haven't forgotten, dude," Chris said in annoyance. "I'm just focusing on the parts that bring me the most joy. Okay?"
"What's the challenge?" Zee asked. "Is it physical or have you decided on something else?"
Harold grinned. "Total Drama finales are always physical," he said. "And while I am classified as a brain, I'm afraid I have more fighting skills than you."
"Don't get too overconfident just yet," Zee warned. "I might surprise you."
"If I may continue?" Chris interrupted, his annoyed expression soon dropping. "Your final challenge is so demanding, the lawyers insisted each of you get a helper. Ehh," he shrugged, "it's not a horrible idea. I mean," the shot cut to the finalists as they watched him, "maybe they'll be able to help us find your bodies!" Zee and Harold shared a brief but wary look. "So, which of the past contestants would you like as a helper?" Chris asked, stepping over to them.
Confessional: Zee
"I'd prefer Julia," Zee told the outhouse camera. "She's really rad, and we work well together. But I wouldn't be too upset over having anybody else as a helper. Well, except for Scarlett."
Confessional: Harold
"It's no surprise that I'd prefer Leshawna over anyone else," Harold confessed. "She can handle her own battles and objectively speaking, she is the most physically attractive girl this season. I just wish that we were able to talk to each other before she left."
Confessionals End
"I choose Leshawna," Harold said with a smile as the static cut away and a triumphant tune played...for a few brief moments.
Chris chuckled. "'Choose'?" he repeated, laughing again. "Nooo, no no no no no no no...," he told the finalists.
"But you just asked us-," Zee pointed out in confusion.
"I know," Chris conceded, "I asked you who you wanted, I did that to be mean." He laughed again as the sound of squeaky wheels approached. "Your helpers-" the camera pulled back to show Chef pushing a large widescreen monitor up to the host on a cart- "will be selected thusly! When you press this button," he held up a remote control with a single red button on it, "the possible helpers will flash across the screen." A game show jingle played as the shot cut to the monitor, now showing the portraits of the eliminated contestants rolling down across the screen as if on a reel. "Whoever's face it stops on, is your helper."
The reel stopped on an image of Scarlett after drinking Juggy Chunks. "What happens if we land on someone we don't want?" Harold asked.
"You each get one chance to pass and spin again," Chris answered with a wide grin as the sound of a helicopter grew louder. "And just to make things even more interesting," he added, growing more and more giddy with each moment, "I've brought all the helpers out to watch!"
"RELEASE ME, YOU CRETIN! I DEMAND IT!" shouted a familiar voice.
Harold and Zee gasped as the music spiked, and the shot cut to the same dual-rotor military helicopter that Chris and Chef had taken shelter in during the island's malfunctioning as it flew in overhead.
Then the camera panned downward to show the twelve eliminated campers dangling under it tied up in ropes – Max on the far left, then Amy, Sammy, Duncan, Ella, B, Lightning, Scarlett, Julia, DJ, Leshawna, and finally Jo on the far right.
"What's the big idea, McLean?!" Jo shouted hatefully, the shot cutting in close to her and Leshawna.
"Yeah," Leshawna chimed in, "why do I gotta be hanging next to her!" The two girls locked eyes and glared.
"I don't think that's the issue here..." DJ said, the camera panning onto him.
"I personally don't mind being tied up like this," Julia said in a positive tone, the camera pulling back to show her smiling. "I'm just happy to see my boyfriend in the finale."
"I didn't even want to show up, but I would appreciate it if I was actually seated," Scarlett said in a grumpy tone.
"Sha-yeah!" Lightning agreed as the camera panned onto him. "Chris, these ropes might cause Lightning some bruising. Can we get them loosened a bit?"
Scarlett gave Lightning an incredulous look. "You do realize that if the ropes are loosened, you'll fall?"
"Lightning will just get back up again," Lightning told her obliviously.
The camera cut back to B. It lingered on him for a few moments as he awkwardly looked from side to side, then directly at the camera as he smiled coolly.
"Despite this drastic situation we're in," Ella sang after the song panned to her, "I still want either Zee or Harold to win~!"
Another pan to the left showed Duncan watching her. "My money's on Harold," he said, shrugging.
“And how come?” Ella asked.
"Zee's cool and all, but I just know the dork better," Duncan answered.
"Really?" Geoff asked, raising a eyebrow in disbelief. "Are the shows in Jersey really that terrible to watch?"
"They are if ya don't have tickets!" Anne Maria answered happily.
Yet another pan put the focus on Amy and Sammy. "Are you still not going to apologize for how you've treated me ever since we were little?" Sammy asked.
"And why should I?" Amy replied in slight irritation.
"Because I put you in your place and pointed out your own flaws," Sammy explained. “The least you can do is be humble a bit.”
"You may have gotten further than me, but you still didn’t win the season," Amy bragged. “You're a bowl of mush, and I'm a parfait, which is French for perfect.”
“So what's French for bossy blonde cow?” Sammy taunted with a smirk. “I know! Vache blonde autoritaire!”
"You are so going to get it," Amy growled.
The camera pulled back to show Max clenching his eyes shut in pain. "Would you two identical ladies cease that annoying racket?!" he finally yelled with another force to startle Amy and Sammy into looking at him. "Thank y-" he began to say plainly before Amy smacked him in the head. "Hey!" he said, cringing at the hit.
"Okay," Chris said, the music turning slow and plodding as the camera cut back to him, Zee and Harold. "Now that the Peanut Gallery has had a chance to reintroduce themselves, let's move on."
"Whoa, hold on a minute," Zee held up a hand to interrupt. "Why? How? When?"
"Uh, you're gonna have to be a little more specific there," Chris told him, raising an eyebrow.
"He means why are they all tied up?" Harold translated.
Chris let out a long, irritated sigh. "Fine," he said. "I'm keeping them tied up and in plain sight so we don't have them float towards the sun, okay?"
"No," Harold said bluntly.
"Not really," Zee replied.
"Whatever," Chris told them, his brow creased in annoyance. His expression then changed into a smile. "Who goes first will be decided by a coin toss," he explained, taking out a coin and flipping it towards the campers.
It hit Zee in the eye. He yelped in pain, rubbing where he'd been hit.
"Zee wins!" Chris happily announced. "Let's see who you get," he said as the game show jingled played again.
The shot cut to a close-up of the monitor as the portraits began to scroll past, Zee uttering a series of grunts as she watched off-screen – some hopeful, some annoyed. "Okay, stop," he said after a few seconds, the camera moving to him as he pressed the button on his remote.
The simulated reel stopped on Jo. "Not who I wanted at all," Zee said in disappointment as a triumphant jingle played, "but I got what I got and I'm not gonna throw a fit."
"Harold," Chris said, the camera moving back to the finalists as the dweeb pursed his lips, "you're up."
The game show jingle played, and the portraits started flashing across the monitor again – until they stopped on Scarlett. "No..." Harold groaned.
Confessional: Harold
"I knew the odds of getting Leshawna were slim," Harold confessed. "But I want a helper who would actually assist me."
Confessional Ends
An odd note played as the shot cut back to Zee, Harold, and Chris, the latter two sharing a look. "I'd like to spin again," Harold said.
"Have at it," Chris replied, the shot briefly cutting to the pictures flashing across the monitor again.
Harold pressed the button, and sagged in defeat – and the camera cut to the monitor to show that it had landed on Scarlett again. The camera moved in front of Chris as he gave her a mischievous look. "Scarlett again?" he asked in fake shock. "What are the odds?"
The camera pulled back as Chris turned to the right and nodded at Chef, who returned the gesture and walked away. "Okay, looks like Zee gets Jo and Harold gets Scarlett," Chris said, nodding toward the helicopter. The ropes tied around the two chosen helpers abruptly came loose, causing both to fall, but while Scarlett landed in an awkward flop, Jo simply tucked her legs in and rolled as a light but triumphant tune played.
She got back onto her feet just as Zee walked up to her. "Hey Jo. I know we haven't gotten along-" Zee said.
"-but since we're partners, we're gonna have to try and tolerate each other," Jo replied. "Yeah, I know."
Confessional: Jo
"I'm not in the game any more, which still sucks," Jo explained. "But Chill Pill managed to subvert my expectations. He lasted longer than I thought he would have. And if I have to work with him, then so be it."
Confessional Ends
The camera panned to the right as Scarlett snorted and stood up. "I strongly refuse to partake in this," she said, the shot cutting in close as she brushed the dirt off her shirt then turned around.
She took a step, and walked right into Chef, who snickered and locked a thick metal collar around the quiet brainiac's neck.
"Let me guess. You're going to shock me if I don't play along, right?" Scarlett asked in annoyance as she tugged at the collar.
"You'd think that," Chris said with a mischievous smile, "but this is actually something different. In case you somehow ended up as one of the helpers, I had a special collar made that'll tranquilize you if you don't play along," he finished with a smug look.
Scarlett groaned in annoyance. "Fine."
"Hey, as long as you don't just bail, I'm cool," Chris told him.
"I'm not," Harold interrupted with an angry look.
Confessional: Scarlett
"Unless I want a voltage surprise like the ones I received in episode four," Scarlett told the confessional camera with disgust, idly tugging at the collar around her neck, "I'll help Harold with his goal of winning the one million dollars. That doesn't mean I have to be happy about it."
Confessional: Chris
"Am I full of good ideas or what?" Chris chuckled in the outhouse camera.
Confessionals End
"So," Chris said, the static cutting away to show him walking towards the two pairs. "Reunion's over? Good! It's time for your final challenge. I have endearingly titled it, 'The Double Duo of Deadly Dying Death'!" A dramatic spike in the music, reverberated voice, and zoomed-in and angled shot all combined to make the revealing of the title particularly dramatic.
"That sounds dangerous...," Zee said worryingly.
"It's supposed to be dangerous, Dodo Brain," Jo groaned.
Confessional: Zee
"Now I'm wishing I did use my second chance like Harold did," Zee confessed.
Confessional Ends
"Now since Blaineley snuck back onto the island and changed it completely by wreaking havoc in the secret underground control room..." Chris began to explain.
"Umm, hold on," came the voice of Julia, the camera panning back up to the still-loitering helicopter. "What did you just say?" she asked in confusion.
"Wait, you didn't know that?" Duncan asked. "I knew I was forgetting something."
"Host!" Max interrupted, drawing the focus to the other end of the line. "I demand you explain this!"
"No," Chris replied in a deadpan tone. "As I was saying," he continued, putting his bland smile back on as the background music became deep and tense, "we've yet to explore all the wonderful and bizarre new dangers the island's new landscape has to offer. Until now. Harold and Zee," the shot cut back to the two pairs, "with assistance from your helpers-" Zee and Jo shared a frown while Harold and Scarlett shared a glare - "you will race across the island. First one to cross the finish line will receive," Chris turned to the side and grabbed the prized suitcase from Chef, the music building up grandly as he opened it to reveal its glowing contents, "One! Millions! Dol-lars!"
All four teens started cheering.
"All you have to do is survive a 2000-foot plummet from an ice cliff," Chris joyously explained, the camera cutting to the slender peak of a snowy mountain before quick-panning away, "successfully learn to breathe while submerged in mud," the camera panned across a bubbling lake of mud before quick-panning away again, "and then sprint two miles across a wide-open field where," the shot now panned across a seemingly ordinary and empty field, "I'm absolutely sure no harm will come to you."
The shot cut back to the cast as Chris began to laugh raucously for an extended period of time. "The point I'm making," Chris said once he'd finally finished, "is that there's a decent chance you may not survive this."
Both finalists and helpers groaned warily. Then they were each tossed an orange helmet.
"For the first part of the challenge," Chris explained, "the lawyers insisted you wear helmets to protect your brains." The shot cut to him and Chef. "I mean who knows. Someday, you may start using them." The roar of the nearby helicopter suddenly increased, the added wind whipping up a cloud of dust around the men. "When you get to the top of the mountain, it'd be a good idea to build a bobsled," Chris instructed, "or, it'll be a very rough ride down!"
The show's smaller red helicopter was shown flying over, the larger military one flying away with the rest of the former campers still attached. "Grab a rope!" Chris said, the camera panning down the four ropes hanging from the helicopter to show them dangling just above the finalists and helpers. "Your challenge begins...NOW!"
The four grabbed the ropes in front of them, and to a sudden bit of challenge music and a blast of the host's airhorn, the helicopter flew off dragging the startled teens along with it.
"Good luck! Stay safe!" Chris called out after them. "Are things I'd say, if I cared!"
The footage flashed ahead to the top of the snowy peak, several boxes and barrels of various junk – including what looked like several sets of skis – already waiting at the top. The small helicopter arrived momentarily, and the shot cut to its four passengers landing in the show – Jo and Zee on the left, Scarlett and Harold on the right.
"We're supposed to build a bobsled out of this junk?" Jo asked in disbelief.
"No," Zee corrected as he grabbed a pair of skis, "Chris just said it would be a good idea." He tossed the skis onto the ground and stepped on them, a tense challenge tune playing in the background. "I have a different one, so hop on."
The shot cut to a close-up of Jo grinning, then to her jumping onto the skis behind Zee. "Let's do this!" she said as they began to slide forward down the slope and left the scene.
The camera panned onto Scarlett, holding a pair of skis of her own. "We should get moving!"
"What's to stop me from believing that you won't shove me off the skis?" Harold asked, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.
"I have this wretched collar on. Shoving you is the last thing I want to do. Now get on!" Scarlett told him angrily.
"Fine," Harold said, rolling his eyes and walking over to where Scarlett was already waiting on the skis and got ahead of her. The challenge music rose up again as they leaned forward, and started to slide.
The shot cut to Zee and Jo looking back over their shoulders with grins on their faces. They promptly skied through a tall mogul, slowing them down a little and covering Zee's eyes in snow. "I can't see!" he shouted, clawing at the packed snow as they began to swerve.
"Quick, to the left!" Jo shouted, one hand around Zee's waist and one point ahead of them as they swerved away from the camera around another mound of snow. "Now right!" Jo directed, the two swerving back towards the foreground. "Left!" She shouted, but they just sped through another mogul earning a scream from the jock-ette.
Confessional: Jo
Jo was blue from the cold and shivering heavily.
Confessional Ends
"Well isn't that the best thing that's happened today!" Scarlett taunted as the scene cut back to her and Harold.
"Yeah, well, we're gonna be next if we don't keep dodging these things," Harold pointed out as they began to swerve around the moguls as well. "And I want to try and get ahead of them while we can."
The music ramped up dangerously as the dweeb and brainiac slid towards another mogul. "Left!" Harold shouted.
"No, right!" Scarlett replied, the two leaning to the opposite direction, swerving nowhere, and plowing right through the mound. "Aagh!"
"Scarlett!" Harold growled as they started swerving wildly, snow covering both their eyes. They clipped the side of another mogul, sending themselves into a screaming spin, hit a third mogul, and came out tumbling end over end.
The shot cut to the bottom of the slope, the music leveling off as what looked like a mogul on skis slid down. The camera zoomed in as two patches of snow fell away to reveal Zee and Jo inside, the two moaning and blue in the face. "Zee, we need to move," Jo weakly told her partner, "before-"
A massive snowball suddenly ran them over, breaking the snow but leaving the good vibe guy and jock-ette lying in a puddle of melting snow. A crash was heard off-screen, but the camera lingered in place as Jo groaned and stood up. "Let's go," Jo told her partner. "You're still in this..."
"...yeah," Zee said as he caught his breath. "Yeah!" he said, more energetically this time. "I've got this!" he declared before charging forward, the shot cutting to Jo as she smirked softly then raced after her partner.
The camera followed them along for a few seconds until they reached a heap of snow, skis, and dazed-looking teens, which the shot immediately focused on. "What happened?" Harold shot at his partner, the dweeb lying upside-down half-trapped in the snow. "I told you to go left!"
"And I told you to go right!" Scarlett countered, her head sticking out the right way up but her legs sticking out over it.
"Yes, but I'm the one in charge!" Harold replied. "You're supposed to be helping me!"
"I was steering!" Scarlett said before the snow holding her up crumbled away, causing her to fall over with a startled gasp.
Harold sighed in aggravation before a small pile of melting snow collapsed onto his face.
The scene cut away to show Chris and Chef sitting in lawn chairs eating popcorn as they watched the challenge feed, the host promptly pausing it with a beep and looking at the camera. "This finale's out of control!" he said excitedly as the capstone theme began to play. "Zee and Jo got run over! Harold and Scarlett can't stop arguing! And all of them just plowed through like a ton of snow!"
"Stay tuned, "he continued, the shot moving away but the host quickly popping back up in front of it. "Someone is leaving here a millionaire. It's the finale of Total! Drama! Paaaaaahkitew Island!"
(Commercial Break)

I cant feel pain if i dont exist. I would much rather have never been born but beggars cant be choosers so i might as well make do with the next best alternative. I have existed for 21 years, i have no prospects, no close confidants aside from the one person whose heart i broke and in turn broke mine, and no sense of direction or motivation. I made a choice i thought would protect her from pain and disappointment, and ended up causing so much pain and disappointment she could no longer bear the idea of being with me. She could no longer see a future for us. We had spent so long discussing possible futures, destinations, careers, even fucking pets, and in one moment i ruined that reality, or possibly rather revealed its unreality. If she couldnt accept me at my worst, most shameful state, did she deserve to see me at my most proud? If there is a God he, she, or whatever fucking pronouns they use are a cruel manipulator on a cosmic scale. 1.5 years may be a blip in the eyes of some master creator but im barely 2 decades old and this shit has been a massive fucking chunk of my life so far. I know theres other people, i know the key to happiness is working on myself, but why should i even fucking bother when all i want is to devote my life to her? Some find solace in religion, praising and worshipping whatever deity some guy thousands of years ago pulled out of their fucking ass and maybe that brings them peace. I wish it did for me. I wish i was able to keep believing that some guy in the sky created an entire race of sentient beings out of fucking dirt and then somehow had a son with one of these dirt gremlins for the sole purpose of this son dying ‘for the sake of our sins’. I wish so badly this made sense to me. Maybe then i could direct all my energy to that and find purpose in it. But i dont. And i cant. It just makes no sense to me. Id rather put my energy and soul into someone i can perceive, after all perception is the only confirmation of our reality. I cant see some sky daddy up in the clouds, but i can see her. I worshipped her, i praised her. If there was a God it took shape in her. They say he made us in his image but the only proof of that i can see is corrupt, selfish, and altogether destructive to itself and the world he supposedly created for it to foster. If we are the image of God then he is a vile, ugly, sadistic being. I remember learning in school about tragedies, and their main defining trait is that they revolve around the downfall of the protagonist due to a flaw of their own they were unable or unwilling to overcome. Humanity is a fucking tragedy. The only animal cursed with the knowledge that we are slowly decaying. What kind of existence is that? Im supposed to find purpose knowing im just a sack of atoms with an unknown expiry date? How do i live knowing everything and everyone around me will not only cease to exist at a certain point, but if our mess of a species manages to make it into any sort of distant future, most of us arent even likely to be remembered? I hate sentience, i hate existence, and i hate pain. I hate the way my heart aches when i see her. I cant seem to escape this prison of affection she has me in. i hate that i let myself be so vulnerable and then hurt her so badly she can no longer be vulnerable with me. I worked so fucking hard to earn her trust. It was a fucking grueling experience. And i would do it all again if given the chance. The looks of mistrust turning to a deep reliance, as i slowly peeled away the layers to her soul. She used to describe her trust as eggs she was putting in my basket, and the day she said i had all her eggs might have been the most loved i ever felt in my life. 2 weeks ago she told me i broke one of her eggs, and she had to take them back now to protect them. I dont think ive ever felt so much pain and remorse as i did in that moment. Not only for hurting the person i cared about most, but because i have to live with the fact that that unreality we had built together would stay that way, and it was all on me. I hurt her, and i hurt myself. I know theres probably someone out there with more shared interests, with more quippy one-liners, possibly someone im even more attracted to physically. But i just dont fucking care. What point is there in chasing that when it could all get fucked like this? I cant do this again. I wont do this again. Its too much. I think i might be done. One of these days i might finally get the fucking balls to do it. ive been so scared for so long. The afterlife, my family and friends, her. But fuck it. My parents see me as the problem child, and they wouldnt even be fucking wrong. My siblings barely know me and i barely know them. Visiting home is like a hotel where im constantly reminded of how much of a failure i am and all the ways everyone around me is better. And im genuinely not even jealous. I could care less about any of my cousin’s lifestyles, or my sisters much better academic performance and artistic skill, or my brother’s athletic prowess. I really am happy for them, they all deserve it and more given the work theyve put in. The only thing i give a shit about is the fact that i get treated less because of these things. I just want to be able to live my life without being put down for choices that im happy with. I just want genuine fucking support, and when i fail to not have it shoved in my fucking face as if i dont already feel like enough of a shit sack. I dont need a 6 figure salary i need a fucking support system. A small but significant part of me holds a deep resentment for my parents for actively choosing to bring me existence. When i get the fucking chance i might just have to take that existence into my own hands and strangle it away, but for now im too much of a fucking pussy to try. I dont even know how id do it. I want it short and painless, almost instant if possible. I dont want any chance of survival in the form of life support, so maybe looking into a dnr would be useful but i dont even know where to start with that. Ive heard of a trick with the car exhaust, but i dont own a car and i dont want anyone finding my dead body in their vehicle. I just want an easy death, life has been hard enough. I feel like im tipping over the edge