Cheap bed frames twin

When i look for horror, I'm not necessarily looking for the most scary or gory experience, but the most fascinating, and in horror, nothing fascinates more than supernatural concepts that works on spirits, ghosts, human nature, and the mysteries of the soul. And also, curiously, "love".
Silent Hill 2 and Fatal frame series are the best examples i can come with up now. The horror goes beyond the creepy stuff happening, it evolves around something more 'spiritual' about the characters, even if a more simple way. Like Silent hill 2 be about James and his wife and the good and twisted stuff that happened between them. Fatal frame 2 playing on the relationship between twins, especially with that bittersweet ending, or Fatal frame 3 playing on the loss of someone. I love that melancholic/bittersweet flavor within the horror. But it seems really difficult to find something on that style.
And of course, stories that are just tragic without that playing any deeper role in the story, it's not of my interest

I’ve (47F) been married for 22 years and my husband (48M) works incredibly hard and is so dedicated to his job. He gets up at 6am, either drives to the office or works at home rarely takes a coffee or lunch break and finishes in time for dinner around 6.30pm. On most nights he’ll start working on his laptop again after dinner until maybe 10.30/11pm and then come to bed. I’m a stay at home mom to 2 teen kids and I make dinner every night, run the kids around to school, sports etc. I have a volunteer job which gives me something valuable to do during the day apart from keeping up with housework and food shopping.
I get so frustrated but mainly upset that he won’t take any time off in the evening and spend some quality time with me. We used to cuddle on the sofa and watch TV. But now I just sit next to him while he works. When he does put the laptop down he’s scrolling on his phone. I’ve brought this up with him so many times. He tells me he’s hardly ever on his phone or that it’s how he unwinds. I say he doesn’t seem to want to spend time with me and he says he has to work in the evenings sometimes and anyway what’s the problem cos he’s sat right next to me. I’ve pointed out that sitting next to me (whilst working) and actually being engaged in conversation or just being with me is a very different thing. I’m constantly told I’m overreacting and that he is just busy with work. He says he’s hardly away from me. He fails to get that being in the same house versus actually being ‘present’ for me makes a huge difference.
What’s made me post is that I’ve been sick all week. It’s just a cold but I’ve felt lousy and just sat in bed and napped most of the day. I’ve still made the kids lunches and dinners. Yesterday he was working from home and he went to his office room at 6.30am. I ran the kids to school and then went back to bed. At 11.30am I heard him go to the kitchen. I thought he might be making me a drink so went downstairs. He was sat watching tv with lunch and a drink. I asked why he didn’t come and check on me and apparently he ‘didn’t know where I was’. I then made my own drink and asked if he wanted one. ‘Yes please’. Even my teen daughter said to him jokingly when she found out he hadn’t looked after me at all - ‘you’re a terrible husband’. He just said that he didn’t realize and that he was working. Not once offered to make a drink or dinner or even give me a cuddle.
I just feel like he’s obsessed with his job and cares little for me anymore. I’m just not his priority. He totally doesn’t get why I feel like that. He used to take care of me when I was ill. Just like I took care of him when he’s been sick. I feel like I’m really in a difficult place to criticize as I don’t have a paid job so if I complain I am ungrateful for the life he is paying for us to have. I know that’s ridiculous.
He was away for 2 weeks recently and when he got home things felt good for a couple of days but then it quickly went back to normal. I regularly tell him I’m unhappy and wish we had more time together but nothing changes and he says I’m just overreacting.
He goes out for a drink on Friday’s with a work friend and I’m fine with that cos he really has no recreational interests or social life -just work. But he manages to leave work at 3.30 on Friday’s for drinks but never takes time off for me. He says it’s important for him to go out with this guy as they talk about office stuff. I’m going to try and talk about how I feel again tonight but I’m still sick and frankly I’m so exhausted with everything. I never get anywhere- nothing changes and I’m left feeling like it’s my fault. Also the kids are around and I always get upset during these conversations and I don’t want them hearing that. Maybe I’m just in the wrong frame of mind after being ill all week but I thought I’d post and see if anyone has some advice for me.

Recently my now ex gf (f22) and I (m27) broke up, after dating for just under two years. Have been separated now for two months. We did the whole give each other our things back and blocked each other on everything deal as two people normally do but, we used to live together, and she still has the mattress/frame that I purchased on credit (2k worth) and am still paying it off. Originally, and probably a dumb move, I told her just to keep it. She has a message telling her she can, so she can prove that I did say it. At first, I didn’t want her to go without a bed as I moved out and in with a buddy, who had a furnished room. Now, I am tired of having to spend money on a bed every month for someone who is becoming a stranger in my life. There is no chance of reconciliation, and I know I am still blocked on every way to contact her, expect maybe email. I would like my property back, but in doing so, I know it will cause drama and get ugly. What can I do here? Can the police be involved? Should I just cut my loses? Did I ruin any chance of recovering what I’m paying for and in my name because I said to keep it originally?
TDLR: Ex has my bed that I am paying for, originally said to keep it, what are my options getting it back legally?

What kind of person am I dealing with here?
I’m (30M) constantly being reminded of how narcissistic and egotistical I am by my SO (28F).
Something that really jumped out at me the other day was my partners want for me to fail. I only have a few examples right now since I’ve only just opened my eyes, anyway here it is.
Ex 1. A few days ago, my SO and I took our sons (6 weeks and 3yrs) outside (large property) to play with my 3 year olds new toy plane (foam). SO held the new born and sat on a seat under the verandah and I ran around with my 3 year old, catching and throwing with him.
The wind managed to get a hold of the plane and it end up on top of the shed, which is about 12 foot high. I grabbed a stool/chair and a broomstick and proceeded to attempt to knock the plane off the roof. My SO came out onto the lawn and watched me fail at getting it down, which actually grade her smile and slightly happy… she then chuckled “come on babe, rise up to the occasion” in a condescending tone.
I returned the stool and broomstick and came back with a heavy ratchet strap which I through over the toy plane and pulled it down in a few attempts. To which she replied “You only did that because your ego was hurt”, which I ignored.
Ex. 2 A few days prior to ex.1, something similar happened. We were in bed as a family in the early morning (7-8am). My 3yr old has a plush donkey, that him and I were playing with. I pretended the toy was flying up to the photo frame and threw donkey above my head. He hit the top of the frame and fell down to the bed again - I kept trying because I wanted him to sit up there (childish yet amusing for the young one).
My SO decides to say “You won’t get him stuck up there, it’s impossible - the donkeys head is too heavy” to which I say “Yes, he will I’ll show you”. I proceed to throw donkey for 2-3 minutes and then finally he gets stuck and stays up there. SO replies “You only did that because you needed to prove me wrong because you’re egotistical”
My question is… since when did it become frowned upon to prove someone wrong because you know you are capable of something?
It’s like she wants me to fail or prove me wrong….
TLDR; SO gets enjoyment out of proving me wrong or watching me fail

I've been looking for months for parts,cases ect and I can't find any cheap parts for a low end gaming pc, it's the graphics cards that are going off limits for the budget but if there is no good ones then i might get the the new Icore one (BTW is there any good monitor for the frames that I'll get with the build? Also it's ok if it goes up to 900€ max without monitor ofc)

Recently my now ex gf (f22) and I (m27) broke up, after dating for just under two years. Have been separated now for two months. We did the whole give each other our things back and blocked each other on everything deal as two people normally do but, we used to live together, and she still has the mattress/frame that I purchased on credit (2k worth) and am still paying it off. Originally, and probably a dumb move, I told her just to keep it. She has a message telling her she can, so she can prove that I did say it. At first, I didn’t want her to go without a bed as I moved out and in with a buddy, who had a furnished room. Now, I am tired of having to spend money on a bed every month for someone who is becoming a stranger in my life. There is no chance of reconciliation, and I know I am still blocked on every way to contact her, expect maybe email. I would like my property back, but in doing so, I know it will cause drama and get ugly. What can I do here? Can the police be involved? Should I just cut my loses? Did I ruin any chance of recovering what I’m paying for and in my name because I said to keep it originally?
TDLR: Ex has my bed that I am paying for, originally said to keep it, what are my options getting it back legally?

I lay in bed every night, still. Not the calm sort of position or idea of “still” as a person might think. I lay unmoving, gripped by an palatable fear that puts weight into the air like smoke. My chest heaves with every breath as I attempt to remain silent. When the lights are off in my 785 sq ft apartment, the air buzzes with the sounds of an unknown electrical energy source, probably my refrigerator. Once the light switch by my front door is turned off, if I take 15 large steps I can reach my bed in time. Just barely, in time. It gets so dark so fast I can barely see, but I know the way to my twin bed by heart. I’ve lived here for over a year now, almost two. The person who keeps crawling out from behind my washer and dryer, soaking wet covered in what I can only assume to be sewage, sneaks out only to do two things. Smash any light source in my home, as I unfortunately discovered when I left my TV running one night. Once there is no light, no sound, no proof of life, they walk over to my bed and stand above it. They simply stand, hunched over, staring. No expression except a grimace, looking as though they are disgusted. Under normal circumstances I would have killed or maimed this disgusting individual for intruding my home. However, the first night it ever happened I was entirely asleep, I only caught what happened due to a camera placed in my livingroom. The next night it happened again, the individual had changed. The first time it had been a man, the second time a woman, the third time a child who I could only assume as being no more than 11 years old and so on. They always change, and whatever it is, whoever they are, they don’t want me to ever leave.

Out of a toxic ego-death inducing relationship , I spent a couple years getting to know myself , working on my inner child shit , and hating dating apps ofc . My current gf was honestly the last ditch “wtf not “ message on bumble where I joked about getting a couples massage for our first date .
After a lot of texting back and forth, I actually planned a dinner like a grown up 🤵‍♂️and since we live in the same area she was gonna meet me at my place , and we were gonna walk to the restaurant at sunset 🌅 cute af idea I think . She pulls up , and I go in for a hug hello and she just starts making out with me . Didn’t make the restaurant but we been a few times since . Dating 6 months now .
My entire breakup left me realizing I was overextending myself to people who didn’t deserve it , just to validate myself . This girl appreciates parts of me that nobody has ever identified and articulated (outside of my own head when I’m feelin myself).
I moved into my new place in San Diego a couple years back , and furnishing my own place as a single male was the most surprising form of self care and discovery about myself 😇 especially when healing from a toxic breakup that makes you question who you are. l love my place , but tbh I never been a HANDY person . I got the nicest apartment , that I’m super thankful for , but my lack of handiness and also ADHD had me LACKING af in the 2 key areas girls judge your spot: - my mattress was on the floor until a 3 dater from Hinge built my bed frame like a fuckin DIY queen 👸 - Monster TV not mounted and sitting on floor …the last thing that really screams Bachelor Pad”
Anyway , my 37th birthday is Sunday. I usually am so worried about other people in my life’s birthday that I normally dgaf about mine . This girl has dated me for 6 months without saying a single snarky thing about the TV. She hasn’t said shit fellas ! That deserves props right there . She even tried to spin it as preferable to the status quo to make me feel better 😂😂😂. Yesterday, she knows I’m on PTO bc my dad visited to stay overnight for the first time .
She says “I need you out of your apartment at 11am no questions please trust me “. I go to the gym and she had that TV mounted and my place was spotless 🥰🥰🥰
Besides the other amazing aspects about who my girl is as a person , this level of thoughtfulness is like an every day thing with her that makes me really fucking thankful to have her in my life. Major ups to Miss Julia 🏆

On the app we met you can't browse profiles that haven't been active within the last hour. Unless you still have their messages or the contact in your favourites and I hadn't been active on the app for 48 hours. So that means she kept my messages and/or has me in her favourites. I still have my premium account so I can see viewed me. Maybe she doesn't know that. Maybe she does and she's deliberately trying to "hoover" me. Because one time I caught her viewing my profile twice back in early November and I messaged her "hey stranger" and she didn't reply.
I suspected since we first met that she might have Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). I had an online relationship with a woman in 2011 who had diagnosed BPD. And all my exes share similar characteristics to her. I attract crazy and am attracted to crazy. Though this woman in particular is the most sane person I've been romantically involved with. I've read that Quiet BPD is more mild and it's more common for people with this subtype to ghost and have a dismissive-avoidant attachment style. Whereas people with Classic BPD are more likely to be clingy or verbally abusive (I've dated women like this before). Which might be why I developed feelings for her I guess. She was just the right amount of crazy that I needed in my life. In terms of making me feel alive but not stressed.
In the beginning it was just sex. We made out and we blew each other in my car on the first "date." I have fuckboy tendencies admittedly and we were overcome with lust. After losing weight and hitting the gym last summer, I gained confidence and started to dress and cut my hair like "Chad" and embraced my inner fuckboy. She was the most passionate kisser and lover I had. She mentioned that I was a great kisser. I fed off her energy for me. The oxytocin just came at me fast when we kissed. I felt lust but also tenderness and affection towards her. I hadn't felt that way in 6 years. When I had a 8+ month relationship (this one IRL) with a woman whom I strongly suspect had BPD based on her behaviour.
I'm an autistic, socially awkward, introverted shy guy and she brought me out of my shell. She called me daddy (there was quite a bit of an age gap between us. She was 25 1/2 and I was about to turn 37). She was like a succubus but also the girl-next-door. I saw the hunger and desire she had for me in her eyes. She said that I was hot. And mentioned that when she saw my profile on the app, she showed her friend and was like "he's so hot." She made me feel like a Chad Incubus God. I loved the way I made her smile and laugh. When she asked about my major and said I had majored in Psychology, she asked me if I can tell that she has mental problems and she laughed. She was radiant. When I noticed how beautiful she looked in the moonlight about 20 minutes after she took my load in that dimly-lit parking lot, I thought to myself, "that's wifey right there" and held her hand.
She'd text me every day. Multiple times a day. She'd initiate most of the conversations actually. The next day she asked me to come see her again. lol. And I did. She was moving fast and this made me suspect she has BPD even more. But I thought, "If she does have BPD like my ex, I'm going to enjoy this ride while it lasts." The second "date" was great too. She remarked how passionate I was when we were making out. I said she was a bad girl while we were dirty talking. She said, "I'm bad, I'm bad, you like it." hnnggg. The third time I saw her, she was staying at a hotel for a friend's wedding. I went to go visit her. It was my birthday. I had an anxiety attack, I have generalized anxiety disorder. And she held my hand, kissed and cuddled me. And assisted me during my attack and calmed me down.
She talked about how mental health is important and said she's supportive of me. And in my head I was thinking, "Shit, I'm feeling exactly how I felt about my ex right now. But I know it's too soon to fall in love." I have been ghosted before for having an anxiety attack so that is a big thing for me. We held hands in public together. We practically made love all night. While we were in bed she said that I'm all yours, you're all mine. Your cock is all mine, mine is all yours. And I agreed. I literally stopped talking to other girls after I met her IRL and deleted the apps before the third. Yeah I know big mistake in hindsight. I told her that I was crazy about her and that she made me feel alive. And she said the same. I was afraid I'd come across as love bomby myself. I was like high as a kite on oxytocin. Thank God I wasn't rolling molly or anything like that because I'm afraid I would have dropped the L word if I had no inhibitions. The way that I felt relieved of my inhibitions when I was with her scared me. We didn't get much sleep. I stayed the night. Showered together. I left in the morning. Afterwards she talked about how romantic our night was.
Afterwards she said it would be nice for me to take her out for dinner sometime. I said I'd love to. Near the beginning of the first "date" she suggested being FWBs but I wanted more anyways and I was 100% confident that this is what she wanted. She had to cancel dinner plans because she had to stay late at work that week. But we had some time to get bubble tea later in the week. She talked about all these couple type activities she wanted to do with me in the future. Which in hindsight might have been future faking (which is what you see in people with BPD or NPD). But my mood was all 🥰 at the time. She said that she cared about me.
On the last date, she was in a downer mood because of work stress. I was keen to cheer her up. I might have said or did something that upset her on the last couple dates. But she pretended like everything was fine. The first tell that everything was not fine was when I caressed her haiface while stopped at a red light and she recoiled. I've done this before with her while we were making out and in bed. And given her energy up until now smiling and laughing with me and how she'd always send me selfies of her smiling and looking so happy, even I couldn't miss the shift in her energy and I'm autistic ffs. In bed while I was feeling really good I said, "you're my woman." She said, "say it again", I repeated myself. She said "say it again!" Haha. So I thought things were good with us again. Immediately after I came, she got dressed and I was thinking "bruh. I recognize that (right before I have been ghosted by other women before)."
I wanted to take her somewhere to eat. But she didn't want to get a sit-down meal, she wanted fast food. Man. After the date she sent me a nice selfie of her where she looked happy. So I figured all was well. But tomorrow, she doesn't hit me up. That is so unlike her. So I text her at 7pm. She's still working. We had a nice text conversation later that night. Maybe one thing I said in text upset her. But she didn't communicate that to me. I tried to do an experiment to see if she'd reach out to me if I don't reach out to her first. And for 48+ hours she didn't attempt to reach out to me. I also re-downloaded the app and lo and behold she was on there. Even though we had a verbal exclusivity agreement.
So I text her three days later early in the am (lol) because this was on my mind and I couldn't sleep saying I noticed a shift in her energy and asked her some other questions including why was she on the app and I repeated what she told me in bed verbatim with regards to exclusivity. What happened? She said that was just in the heat of the moment during sex and wasn't an exclusivity agreement. Bruh. She also said that we mostly just hooked up, she didn't know if it was serious or not between us. I replied saying thank you for clearing things up and apologized for making things awkward. I just thought that she was upset with me or got the ick.
And then I never heard from her again after that and I fully expected to be ghosted after that and I was right. I gave her 9 days of space to see if she'd reach out to me. I watched Bros in theatres and might have listened a bit too much of Marvin's Room, keshi and Weston Estate so I just said fuck it I'm going to text her anyway and reveal that I had caught feelings for her. What did I say or do, why her did her mood shift, what happened? No reply. I tried again a couple days later saying I regret upsetting her if I did. I didn't mean to. I regret losing her in my life. I told her that she made me feel alive (I previously said that to her before when we were seeing each other and she was elated then). No reply.
My black pill buddies on the internet warned me back when I was seeing her that this girl would break my heart and push me deep into the black pill given the circumstances in which we met. Because she gave me head in my car on the first "date" and therefore she's not a proper lady and such. And I told him, "nah man, that's slut shaming." I see that she's still on the app we met 6 months later. And my inner demon just flies me into black pilled rage. My demon conjures up images of her hooking up with all these Chads off the app like she did with me. My inner demon was telling me she doesn't even think about you, you're nothing to her, the memories you shared meant nothing to her, you're just another cock in a cock carousel to her. I had feelings for her and didn't treat her like a fetish like those chasers. And she never told me what I did wrong or if there was another guy.
But then when I looked at her IG (set to public) in search of answers I saw that there was a lot of mental health issues going on with her that she didn't disclose to me. She has Depression, insecurities (she did indirectly reveal one insecurity to me), doesn't love herself, says that she has the tendency to self-sabotage. She mentioned falling in love and out of love in the past year and feeling heart break. If I ever broke her heart, she didn't give me the memo. So my inner demon was like "I bet Chad broke her heart, you're not even a blip on her radar, hahahaha." She talked about how she will hold the memories dear to her heart forever. And my inner demon was, "is she talking about you or is she talking about Chad? hahahaha."
It's more comforting in a way for me to assume the worst and hate her because that would give me maximal closure. It's the fucking worst when I see that she still checks my profile. Because that gives me hope that she feels the same way about me. Like she says, she has a saboteur inside of her. Just like I do. People with BPD have a simultaneous fear of abandonment and fear of engulfment. And self-sabotage is definitely a characteristic of BPD.
I think when I caressed her haiface in that last date, shit got too real for her and she ran away. To avoid the potential for future abandonment. A lot of straight men on Grindr where we met are only interested in transwomen for casual sex. And would be embarrassed to be seen with a transwoman in public. Probably why she reads books like How To Date Men When You Hate Men. While I went on dates with her, held hands with her in public, etc. I also didn't disclose to her that I was mildly bisexual. She thought I was completely straight. I didn't disclose because some transwomen only date straight men.
It could also be she thought I was a love bombing narcissistic fuckboy who wasn't serious about her. But how could she not know how I felt about her when I made it clear? I've only felt this way about someone else twice, including the old ex with BPD. On Grindr when we first met she had on her profile she was looking for "right now" in addition to a relationship and dates. But then a month after she ghosted me, she removed the "right now" bit on her looking for. lol. So I gave thought to the possibility she thought I was on some fuckboy shit and broke her heart. If she does have BPD and I triggered her fear of abandonment, it is what it is. I can live with that, move on and heal. It's not about the fact that she isn't in my life anymore. It's the ambiguity of how things ended.
I've tried talking to my last therapist last summer about that old ex with BPD. And my therapist cut it short, told me just don't date women with BPD and basically changed the subject on me. lol. I definitely had a trauma bond with that past ex and this trauma bond has kind of transferred to this girl. In addition the two other dysfunctional relationships I had after her. Like yeah I have the common sense to know that untreated BPD is bad news. But the trauma bond is still there. The only women who I manage to connect with are women who have traumas. And it doesn't help that psychotherapy is expensive here and that I have to pay huge premiums to get psychotherapy coverage. My friends provided little emotional support and my father and sister provided no emotional support.
The trauma bond (for those who aren't familiar with them) works like this for me: I know 100% if she texts me out of the blue, I'm going to go see her and sleep with her, be emotionally involved and if she has untreated BPD it's not going to end well for me. It's like addictive behaviour. After she checked out my profile, I saw some old selfies of her she sent me in her messages. And I contrasted that with the dark stuff she posted on IG and thought to myself, "she was so happy when she was with me. I had no clue she suffered from mental health issues." And then I just started crying involuntarily. My casual sex experiences feel so hollow compared to how she made me feel. Even though it started with casual sex. When we first hooked up, I had no expectations. I was feeling depressed striking out on the apps. I gave it a go. I thought she was just going to be a cheap fuck for me to lay and then oxytocin came at me fast.

I’m hoping for input on if I’ll be missing anything after I wrap up my mods. I really have no experience with off-roading especially in these things so it was a little bit of a budget build so if anything is a glaring issue to go cheap on lmk. I want to not have to fix stuff more than half the time I wheel. My current or planned mods put me at about 4,100 lbs loaded.
Open Hp Dana 30 widened to WJ width with WJ shafts and brakes then externally sleeved with 1/4 2.5 in id steel, and gussed. Mini spool 8.8 with 31 spline. Extended brake lines. Tender spring and coilover divider up front to lift the front 2.5 in. 1 in extended rough country short arms with the LCA modified to be straight. Stock leafs with some lift via bigger axle tubes 2 in lift shackle (no lift relocation as well). 12 in travel universal smooth bilstein shocks up front with prothane bumps and limit straps to match. 14 in travel universal smooth bilstein shocks in the rear with the “frame” notched to get full up travel with progressive bumps and straps to match. Cavfab 2in stretch track bar mount. (Unknown) aftermarket track bar. Diy front and rear steel bumpers. Hybrid DOM 1 5/8 .125 wall cage. DOM 1 5/8 .120 wall front and rear fenders. T case skid plate. External trans cooler. Full aluminum rad. 180 deg t stat. Stock E fan replaced with a 96 and wired to start when the cars starts. Hood louvers. Cheapo 33x10.5x15 front mud tires. Cheapo 33x12.5x15 rear “mud tires” on bead locks. No abs. “Frame” reenforced both sides behind stock power steering.

I only eat breakfast and dinner (I eat dinner at like 4:30ish usually and that tides me over till bed) so I shopped for two meals a day plus a snack. Including some bottles of coke that were on sale, I managed to get some decent meals breakfast and dinner for about 4.50 a day. It is the same meal every day which I will be changing up with leftovers/anything my roommate chooses to make and share. Dinner is sausage with pierogi and saurkraut and breakfast is an egg and cheese breakfast burrito with salsa verde. The sausages were on sale for like, 13 bucks for 14 sausages which was lucky for me and I found a dozen eggs for 5 bucks. I'm planning to pick up some beans to make refried beans with soon (ran out of room in my bag to carry the stuff home) and I also got some cheap honey-roasted peanuts to snack on/feed my sweet tooth. Are there any good online resources I could use to buy stuff? I know amazon can upcharge quite a bit.
EDIT: to avoid more concerned people we had fruit at veg at home already luckily so I didn't have to pick them up.

Chapter 23: 2008: A Shawn Odyssey
Boys: Shawn
Girls: Courtney, Heather, Shawn
Episode 23: 2008: A Shawn Odyssey
"Last time on Total Drama Action," Chris said over a shot of the film lot. "In a world they didn't create," the four teens were shown waking up in the forest, "two honorable warriors," Shawn and Lindsay's fight was shown, "and two foes battled it out for Kung-fu supremacy," Courtney and Heather were shown fiddling with their joysticks.
"No mountain was too high," Heather and Shawn were shown climbing. "No aquatic creature too viscous," Courtney was shown fighting a jellyfish.
"In the end, Shawn won the reward," the theorist was shown fighting the Sasquatch, "but lost his alliance with Courtney," he and Courtney were shown ending their partnership.
"But it's gonna take more than puny alliances to survive this week," Chris told the camera as it flashed to his close-up, "on Total! Drama! Action!"
XXXXX
The episode opened on a shot of the full moon. A rat walked on-screen in front of the camera as a grandiose tune started to play. The rat sniffed the air then scurried along what was revealed to be the top of a large speaker. The music reached its climax, and the speaker shook so much the rat fell off behind it.
The shot pulled out to show the cast trailers, both flanked by speakers as tall as they were. Further to the left was a tall blueish-green monolith-like set piece. The lights inside the trailers flicked on and the complaints of the castmates echoed out of them. The doors opened, showing the girls filing out; Courtney, then a hunched over Heather, then Lindsay at the end, all three in their pajamas. The camera cut over to the guys' trailer as Shawn exited similarly. The survivalist paused briefly to yawn and stretch his arms, and the camera moved back to the girls.
"What is wrong with those mattresses?" Lindsay asked. "It's like they were full of rocks."
Confessional: Shawn
"I slept on Noah’s bed, so I don’t have the same back problems that the girls do," Shawn said. "The layers on it are super soft."
Confessional Ends
The remaining four met up as a group. Heather looked over to see the lone male scratching his butt and armpit at the same time.
"Can you believe this guy?" Heather commented.
"What a neanderthal," Courtney said.
They looked over at Lindsay, who noticed the monolith off to the side, and pointed at it with a few animalistic grunts.
The shot cut to the top of it, the moon still visible behind it. The camera panned down to its base where Chef sat in a leopard-print loincloth banging on an upside-down soup pot with a couple bones as though it were a drum. Both the castmates and Chris, also wearing a leopard-print loincloth and with his hair unkempt, approached the monolith at the same time.
"Good morning, cast!" Chris greeted as Chef stopped playing. "Or should I say, good middle of the night? Hope you're all well-rested and ready to boldly go where very few men and even fewer ladies have gone before!"
"Wait," Shawn spoke up. "Didn't we already do the caveman movie?"
"We did, Shawn," Chris answered, "but we had to reuse the costumes since my astronomical salary accounts for oh, roughly ninety-seven percent of the show's budget."
"Chris," Heather said, "it is the middle of the night. Can't we do the challenge in the morning?"
"No can do Heather," Chris replied. "While today's movie genre may start at the dawn of time, it quickly moves up, up, and away!" The camera panned up to the night sky as a shooting star flew in front of the moon.
"So we're doing space movies today?" Lindsay asked as if she already knew the answer.
"What was your first clue, Linds-iot?" Heather told her.
Confessional: Lindsay
"I've been called a lot of things, such as moron, dimwit, idiot, and much more," Lindsay said. "I've been trying to prove myself, and no way am I letting Heather drag me down."
Confessional Ends
"Awesome!" Shawn cheered. "I love sci-fi movies."
"Don't you get enough science fiction from those movies you binge watch?" Courtney half-insulted, half-asked the boy.
"Don't you get enough pleasure from looking down and nagging on us?" Shawn retorted.
"Listen up, space cases," Chris interrupted. "You'll soon be facing some out-of-this-world challenges, but first..." He quickly ducked away, and the camera cut to him pushing away the monolith to reveal four small boxes set on a table behind it. "I have a very special surprise for you," he told the cast. "Each of you has received one special item sent to you from the outside world. Which by now," he picked up one of the packages and tossed it to Lindsay, who caught it before Heather was tossed her own gift, "must feel like a distant planet."
He tossed another one like a football and it was caught by Courtney, with Shawn also shown to have received his gift.
Shawn opened his, and looked at a silver tinfoil hat shaped like his beanie with excitement. "My tinfoil hat!" he cheered. "Nice!"
"You have a tinfoil hat?" Lindsay asked.
"Yup," Shawn answered. "It keeps the aliens from reading my brains and what I think."
Confessional: Shawn
"I used to wear this thing all the time," Shawn told the audience. "Unfortunately, my dad confiscated it since it made me look weird and unusual to others. Afterwards, I decided to get the beanie I’m wearing right now."
Confessional Ends
The shot cut to Lindsay as she opened hers and smiled. "My pom poms!" she exclaimed. "My cheer team didn't forget about them!"
The camera cut to Courtney and Heather, both having opened their boxes. The former took out a picture frame and let out a choked sob.
"What's wrong?" Heather asked. "Did you get a photo of a bad hair day?"
"Just… I need a minute," Courtney claimed.
Confessional: Courtney
Courtney had her picture with her. "When I was head of the school debating team, my partner walked out on me during the biggest debate of the year because she felt I wasn't being a "team player". I went on to win it without her! Take that, Brittany Reed!" She revealed her picture, which was her in the middle of a speech. "This photo is a reminder. If you want something done right, you do it yourself!"
Confessional Ends
Heather finally managed to open her box and pulled out a green jawbreaker. "A jawbreaker? How is this a prize?" She asked in frustration.
"I don't know, but sweet things usually go to sweet people," Courtney insulted.
"Damien must have delivered this to me!" Heather growled.
"Who the heck is Damien?" Courtney questioned.
"He's my little brother," Heather answered. "That twerp likes to pull pranks on me every chance he gets. He's almost like Sadie."
"What else were you expecting?" Courtney wondered.
"He could've given me my trophy for the annual ballet contest I participated in when I was eight," Heather grumbled.
Confessional: Heather
"I'm still going to keep this jawbreaker," Heather said as she held it. "Damien may have sent it as a joke, but I won't let him have the last laugh."
Confessional Ends
"Alright gang," Chris addressed the cast, "time to blast off to the great unknown. Everyone knows a good outer space movie has three things in common. One, the zero gravity is always a trip. Two, the G-forces are killer! And three, everything is recycled in space. Including number one, and number two."
"Gross," Courtney winced.
"Eww," Heather said in disgust.
"Which brings us to our first challenge," Chris continued. "I'll meet you at the thrill ride set in ten minutes."
The cast looked at each other in confusion. "Did he say thrill ride?" Lindsay asked.
\
The scene briefly flashed to the full moon behind the water tower for a moment before flashing away again to a close-up of the host, back in his normal clothes.
"The way to achieve zero gravity," Chris explained to the contestants, all of whom have also gotten dressed, "is to fly a jet on a parabolic course. With large vertical climbs, and even larger vertical drops." The camera panned across the faces of the cast, all of which looked freaked. "But with the price of jet fuel today," the scene flashed to a makeshift space shuttle tied to what looked like a roller coaster cart at a boarding platform, "we're gonna simulate the effect on this makeshift space shuttle!"
The shot flashed away again, the camera now panning up a spaceship-themed roller coaster set among several other theme park attractions. "Which will hit the optimum speed needed to keep you all in a perpetual state of zero gravity," the host explained before the shot cut back to him and the cast.
"Are we going to get killed?" Lindsay asked. "I won't go in if it will."
"Is that thing even up to code?" Courtney wondered.
"Your first outer space challenge will be to spend the rest of the night on the shuttle sleeping in zero gravity conditions," Chris told the cast.
"That doesn't sound so difficult," Shawn said with a pleased expression.
\
The footage flashed ahead to a close-up of an intercom speaker as the host's voice came in over it. "Y'all might wanna hold on to something bolted down," Chris told the cast as the camera pulled back to show them holding pillows in their hands, "'cause we're almost ready to launch!"
"Yes!" Lindsay cheered.
"He said launch," Heather told her, "not lunch."
"I know," Lindsay explained. "I just can't wait to be flying inside a spaceship."
The shot cut back to the intercom as an engine was heard starting up over it. "In five! Four! Three! Two! One!" The camera cut outside as the space shuttle strapped to the roller coaster cart shuddered to life. "Blast off!" At Chris' ecstatic signal, the shuttle's engines flared on and the contraption took off along the track. It quickly reached the main peak as the castmates screamed in terror, and the scene cut back inside.
"If I'm gonna die, at least make my death look cool!" Shawn yelled as he clenched his eyes shut. The camera began to pull back from his close-up as he slowly opened his eyes, looked around, and smiled. He and the other three were now floating inside the shuttle's cabin. "How about that? We're floating in mid-air!"
"Alright astronauts," Chris told them, the camera cutting from a close-up of the intercom to the host lounging in his chair at the monitor room watching the cast on the monitors, "it's gonna be a long night. Better get some sleep!" He pressed a button on the keyboard and added "If you can!" The monitor screens switched from Heather and Shawn to Courtney and Lindsay, and the host accepted a cup of coffee from Chef with a laugh.
\
"Can I borrow any of your pillows?" Courtney asked as she floated around. "I lost mine."
"That's your own fault then," Shawn relaxed on his pillow. "You lose it, you deal with it."
"Fine," Courtney looked away from his former ally. "We are floating in mid-air, so I won't complain… much."
Confessional: Lindsay
"Courtney and Shawn are at each other's throats just like me and Amy," Lindsay said. "There's only one person who could've made them split, which is obviously Heather."
Confessional Ends
The scene returned to a shot of a jawbreaker floating in the air, then panned out to show that Heather was chasing after it. "If that jawbreaker wasn't so big, I would be able to stash it into my pocket!" She said as she floated past Lindsay who was looking at her pom poms.
"At least what you got is tasty," Lindsay said. "I can't eat or lick my pom poms."
"Good thing you're smart enough to know what's edible," Heather snootily responded.
"If they were taffy, I'd likely eat them," Lindsay responded.
Confessional: Heather
Heather was focused on filing her nails. "I assume I'm the favorite to win. I mean, look who's left. A control freak, a smelly nut, and a dumb blonde. And the only thing Lindsay has going for her is that she hasn't made any enemies. Whoop-de-doo! We're not here to make friends. We're here to win." As she talked, she snapped her nail filer in half. "And that is exactly what I plan on doing."
Confessional Ends
The scene cut forward to the castmates as they slept peacefully with their pillows. This only lasted for a couple seconds before an alarm started to sound off loudly, and the lights in the cabin flashed red as the four teens woke up. "This is Houston," Chris said over the loudspeaker, "and you have a problem. You've been hit by an asteroid, and your guidance system is toast!"
"What do we do?!" Lindsay asked in a panic.
"I've watched Race to Save Space 3 before I came to this show," Shawn said. "We have to override the navigation controls."
"Quick!" Heather cried. "Someone grab the joystick thingy!"
Courtney sprung off a nearby wall and darted towards the shuttle's main computer. She grabbed onto a central joystick as she floated by, then planted her feet on the desk and pulled. The camera zoomed in on it and after a few moments of effort the stick moved to the side, shutting off the alarms and returning the lights to normal.
"Way to go Courtney!" Lindsay cheered.
"Nice job," Shawn said.
The camera zoomed in on Heather's jawbreaker as it drifted closer to a small window. It hit the window, cracking it slightly. The camera pulled back again to show it pushing back forward, but the force of its push-off caused the glass to shatter soon after it floated away. The air immediately began to be sucked out of the cabin, and the lights flashed red once more as Heather looked at the broken window with a shocked look.
Confessional: Heather
"At the very least, I can say that I'm not to blame for the window breaking," Heather claimed.
Confessional Ends
Heather, Courtney, Lindsay, and Shawn were shown floating in front of the shuttle controls. "Uh-oh!'" Chris announced jovially over the intercom. "Looks like you have a hole in your fuselage!" He laughed, and the camera panned across a closer shot of the four teens' faces. "You have exactly t-minus-ten minutes to plug the hole, or you'll run out of precious oxygen."
"We have to plug the hole!" Heather yelled.
"We just need something big and form-fitting!" Courtney replied.
They all turned to Lindsay. "Why are you looking at me?"
"We can use your pom poms to fill the hole," Heather said. "It's either that, or death."
Lindsay gave them a brief look and sighed. "They are valuable, but I can get new ones after the show ends."
The scene flashed back outside, the sun already up and the shuttle-coaster still flying along its track. The camera cut to the boarding platform as it finally came to a stop, and Chris was standing in wait as the shuttle door burst open with a puff of steam. One by one, the castmates fell out of it. Lindsay was first, then Courtney, then Shawn; all landed on top of one another in a heap. Heather was the last, and was the only one who maintained her balance.
"Will somebody help me down, or will I have to do it myself?" Heather huffed.
"Go with the second option," Lindsay replied. "There's a ladder in front of you."
Heather rolled her eyes, but climbed down the ladder.
The camera cut to Chef standing outside of the broken window, Lindsay's pom poms sticking out of it. "That was smart, sealing the breach with those pom poms," he said while pulling them out.
"It was my idea," Courtney claimed. "No sweat to it."
"You just love to pat yourself on the back," Shawn rolled his eyes.
Confessional: Shawn
"I really hope that I can get Courtney and Heather out," Shawn confessed. "Lindsay's the only one I'd like to face in the finale."
Confessional Ends
"Nice going Lindsay," Chris told her. "It was your pom poms that saved the group."
"Yes!" Lindsay jumped in Victory with her pom poms on."
"What?" Heather gaped. "I was the one who suggested we fill that hole!"
"Lindsay was the one who actually plugged in the hole," Chris said. "As a reward, she'll get to decide the order of who goes first to last at the next challenge!"
"I got it," Lindsay exclaimed. "The order is me, Courtney, Shawn, and Heather."
Confessional: Lindsay
"I don't know what the next part of the challenge is," Lindsay confessed, "but making sure Heather participates last was just too good to pass up."
Confessional Ends
\
(Commercial break)
\
The footage cut forward to a shot of the sun over a few of the film lot's fake buildings near one of the studios. The wind was shown blowing a few pieces of paper along the road between the studios, then the shot cut to and upward pan of the fake hill. The camera cut back to the front of a studio as its garage-like door began to open.
A few feet were briefly shown behind the door before the camera moved inside, showing the silhouettes of the four castmates against the light flooding in from outside. The feet were shown again in an angled profile as they began to walk outside, and the shot moved up to show the four staring forward. Lindsay was first, then Shawn, then Courtney, then Heather.
The camera switched to a face-on shot, panning right across the castmates and stopping at Lindsay. A record scratch was heard as Chris ran across the shot with a scowl on his face, the teens following him with their eyes.
"Enough messing around," Chris said before the scene changed to the usual side-view as he addressed the contestants. "Alright gang, if you thought spending the night in zero G's was a stomach-churning experience, then you're gonna love this next challenge! Who can last the longest on the G-force Trainer?" The castmates were shown watching cautiously. "Or as I like to call it," Chris said before the shot quick-panned further to the right, "The Vomit Comet!" The machine he was referring to looked like a bulbous, oversized, and legless space suit attached by a hefty arm to a smaller wheeled cart.
"If you thought you were under pressure before," the host said giddily as the camera panned up a close-up of the suit, "wait 'til you feel the effects of four times Earth's gravitational force!"
"We just ate chili for lunch," Heather said. "This won't be good."
"That was a bad call," Lindsay agreed.
The shot quick-panned over to Chef Hatchet who was standing by a bubbling pot on a small table. "Plenty more where that came from," he told the camera while tapping the side of the pot with a ladle. The camera zoomed in for a close-up, showing a foul-looking vomit-green stew filled with a variety of bones, old socks, and octopus tentacles.
The focus moved back to Chris. "Remember crew, Lindsay's already picked the order, so she's up first."
"Wonderful," Lindsay said with a smile as she approached the machine. "I didn't know we were gonna barf inside this thing, but now that I know the order and I'm going first, I don't have to worry about getting covered in other people's barf."
Courtney quickly grew uncomfortable. "Uh, what's the order she picked for us."
Chris donned a villainous sneer. "You're not going to like this. After Lindsay goes Courtney, Shawn, and last but not least, Heather."
"WHAT!!??" Heather screeched. "Can I trade places with someone?"
"Too late," Chris said. "The order is set."
Heather shot daggers at Lindsay, who smiled innocently and shrugged in response.
Confessional: Lindsay
Lindsay was shown laughing to herself for a couple of seconds. "It's going to take a long time for her to wash the puke off!" She resumed her laughter.
Confessional: Heather
"When this is over, I'm going to kill Lindsay…" Heather shot the camera a deadly glare, "...right after I take a long shower!"
Confessionals End
The scene skipped to Lindsay as she was about to climb the G-force training suit. She looked over and said "This will almost be like the Hurlinator back at the carnival."
"But unlike that heap of junk, you’ll actually hurl inside that suit if you’re unlucky," Chris taunted.
Lindsay dropped into the suit and closed the helmet shut. "Have a nice spin, Lindsay!" Chris said with a wave before pressing the buttons on his stopwatch and remote control simultaneously.
The machine immediately started to move, and Lindsay began cheering out of fun and enjoyment. A bird's-eye view showed the arms rotating rapidly about the wheeled cart it was attached to. The camera cut to a close-up of the viewing window on the helmet, where the blonde's face could clearly be seen. Her happy expression changed to struggling to contain her vomit. She forced it down and exclaimed "Let me out!"
Chris obliged by pressing both buttons again, and the machine slowed to a stop. The helmet swung open and Lindsay pulled herself out. She was frazzled, but she didn’t throw up on herself.
"15.4 seconds!" Chris read off from his stopwatch with a grin. "Pretty impressive for a first run, and despite my theory, you did not hurl!"
"I did not want to smell bad," Lindsay groaned and fell over.
Confessional: Lindsay
"So I have this friend who ate twenty corn dogs as a dare," Lindsay confessed. "When we were inside the car, she started to throw up, and some of it got on us. I'm never eating a corn dog again."
Confessional Ends
"Alright Courtney, you're next," Chris told the control freak who approached him and the training suit. "Lindsay managed to keep her lunch down, so at least you'll have a dry run."
\
The scene flashed forward to Courtney in the suit, already looking nervous. "Let's get this over with," she said before the helmet swung down over her head.
Chris smiled and pressed the button on the remote control, and the camera switched over to the bird's-eye-view of the machine. The rotating arm rapidly built up speed, and unlike Lindsay before her, Courtney immediately screamed in terror. Another viewpoint change showed the panicking type-a through the helmet's viewing window, then back to the bird's-eye-view. The sound of vomiting was heard and the shot cut back to the host.
"27 seconds on the dot!" Chris announced.
"Am I in the lead?" a messy Courtney wondered after climbing out the suit.
"No," Chris answered. "I'm deducting ten seconds for puking."
"That was totally disgusting!" Courtney muttered. "I hope you can handle it, Shawn."
"I've dived through garbage and covered myself in fish guts once," Shawn shrugged her off. "This is nothing I can handle."
"I don't want to say it, but your determination is admirable," Courtney said.
"It's down to you two," Chris told Shawn and Heather. "Shawn, your slightly soiled chariot awaits."
\
"Ready or not, here I come," Shawn got in the suit.
"He's got high confidence," Chris told the camera. "Confidence that's going to disappear." The helmet closed, the buttons were pressed, and the machine began to spin.
The camera cut to the window of the helmet, showing Shawn screaming in panic. Sooner or later, ominous rumbling came from inside the suit and his cheeks bulged.
The scene cut back to Chris just as the sound of puke was heard, and the host stopped both watch and machine. "Whether Shawn will shower or not is up to him," Chris commented as the conspiracy nut exited the suit covered with vomit. "But he will definitely smell like his own lunch now. After the ten second deduction, he comes in at a grand total of 20 seconds."
"Thanks for choosing me to go last, Lindsay," Heather spat at her. "Two people threw up, and I have to be surrounded by their puke."
"Heather, you're the last one," Chris slyly said. "Unless you want to lose out on winning invincibility, I say you get inside the suit now."
Heather looked at the others and narrowed her eyes. "I'm not forfeiting."
Confessional: Heather
"The things I do to keep myself in the game," Heather rolled her eyes.
Confessional Ends
"This is so gross," Heather said in disgust as she got in the vomit-covered suit. "Start it already!" Heather yelled before slamming the helmet shut.
Chris pressed his two buttons. As with the others the camera switched first to a bird's-eye view of the machine as it began to move, then to a close-up of Heather's face through the helmet. Though she was wincing from the bits of vomit dripping down her face, she kept her determination still and wasn't about to quit.
The shot cut outside to the host and the other three castmates as they watched. Chris was focused on the stopwatch in his hands, Shawn was uninterested, Lindsay was nervous, and Courtney was scared.
"She's going longer than I thought she would," Chris said.
"Just barf already!" Courtney shouted.
The sound of vomiting was heard. The camera zoomed in on Chris again as a smile formed and he clicked his buttons, and the machine came to a stop. "That's time!" he called.
"Did I win?" Heather asked after swinging open the helmet and flopping over the side, vomit all over her head, chest, and mouth. "I know that was more than 27 seconds."
"35 and a half seconds! A new Vomit Comet record!" Chris told her.
"I know what this means," Heather grinned in victory.
"Since she lasted the longest inside that machine, I declare Heather the winner of today's challenge!" Chris announced.
"In your face, everyone!" Heather taunted the other three contestants.
"Can you mock us from far away?" Lindsay held her nose.
"We would like to be away from you," Courtney said.
"Never thought I'd say this, but I agree," Shawn stepped back. "You stink really bad, and I have horrible hygiene."
"That's just the smell of victory," Heather said.
A sudden whistle caught the group's attention, and they looked over to see Chef standing on a stepladder calmly slicing a carrot over the open suit. "Hope y'all like gumbo!" he told them before resuming his work.
The camera panned across the castmates and host as all wretched in sheerest disgust.
\
The scene flashed to Lindsay in the girls’ trailer alone. She had a pencil and paper and was seen writing on the paper but what it said was unknown.
"This should be about it," Lindsay said once she was finished.
She folded the paper hamburger style and left her trailer.
Confessional: Lindsay
"You're probably wondering what I'm doing," Lindsay said. "Courtney and Shawn can't stay mad at each other forever. They are a great duo, even if they're total opposites. This may cost me my spot in the game, but if it means repairing a friendship, I'll take that risk because friendship is magic and more important than money."
Confessional Ends
It was soon night time, and after focusing on the moon, the camera panned down to reveal that Shawn was standing near the tree he slept in.
"Lindsay said to meet here," Shawn said. "I don't know why, but I ain't gonna question her."
Soon Lindsay and Courtney both walked to the scene together and Lindsay smiled. "Good to have you both here."
Shawn was stunned to see Courtney. "Why is she here?"
"Why is he here?" Courtney asked in a startled tone.
"I brought you both here so you two could talk," Lindsay smiled brightly.
"I don't want to talk to a deadbeat survivor who can't act normal for more than a minute!" Courtney complained.
"I refuse to be with an uptight politician that thinks only about herself!" Shawn shot back.
"At least I have public decency!" Courtney shouted.
"At least I don't complain when things don't go my way!" Shawn yelled.
"SHUT UP!" Lindsay cried out furiously, earning her shocked looks from both Shawn and Courtney. "You two are clearly crushed and hurt over something really upsetting because if you were not, you wouldn’t be fighting! I’ve seen how close you both are, and I know that a small argument couldn’t be the reason you broke up." Courtney and Shawn's anger diminished as she spoke. "Something big happened but if I were to guess, Heather had something to do with it. Now please just tell each other what happened without screaming at each other!"
Shawn took a few deep breaths before speaking. "Last challenge, Heather told me about Courtney using me in order to make it to the finale."
"Why did you listen to her?" Courtney asked.
"She had a recording of you talking about it with your own voice," Shawn said.
"What exactly did the recording say?" Courtney demanded.
"Don't act so confused," Shawn said. "You said that working with me and Noah was practically torture for you and that you’ll be glad to ditch me once you claim the million!" he brought up angrily.
"If that's what you heard, then you're way wrong," Courtney glared. "I have a vivid memory, and I don't recall saying those things."
"But I heard your voice in the recording," Shawn raised an eyebrow, starting to rethink what he heard.
"I'm starting to think that someone impersonated Courtney's voice just to make her look bad," Lindsay chimed in.
"Shawn's a boy, and no way can you match my octaves, so that means Heather set me up!" Courtney grit her teeth.
Shawn then widened his eyes before groaning. "Your voices are pretty similar."
"See I told you. Heather caused a rift between you guys just like she did to me and Amy," Lindsay said.
"And I fell for her lie," Shawn admitted. "How stupid could I have been?"
Courtney’s gaze softened a bit before saying, "Well… you’re not the only one who’s fallen for it before."
"We've let her come this far," Lindsay continued. "And now that she has invincibility, we can't kick her out today. I just want you two to make up and vote together again."
Shawn and Courtney both turned to Lindsay and Shawn piped up, "But that means you’ll be on the chopping block."
"Friendship is worth more than a briefcase filled with dollars," Lindsay said. "Courtney, you can be really bossy. And Shawn, you can be really messy. But you've come this far. Don't break up your partnership just because of a mean girl."
Shawn looked at Courtney. "I shouldn't have let myself be tricked like that."
"I don't blame you," Courtney said. "I have been acting crazy the last few days. I just wanted to win."
"If I’ll be honest, I missed working with you. It’s not as fun working alone as it used to be once I started putting my faith in others," Shawn admitted.
"You want to patch up our alliance again?" Courtney held out her hand.
"Absolutely," Shawn shook her hand. "I won't let anything break us up again."
Lindsay watched the scene with happiness. "It's nice to see you two comfortable around each other. Jo and Brick are really lucky to be dating you two, if you're actually dating."
Confessional: Courtney
"That was really cool of Lindsay to patch up my friendship with Shawn," Courtney admitted. "I've been taking her for granted up until this point, and I won't think ill of her again."
Confessional Ends
[A grand theme played as the camera zoomed in on the amphitheatre. Several film strips of the host's highlights from the previous season flew past the screen, then the camera panned out from a solid gold screen to show a Gilded Chris.]
\
The camera flashed into a shot of the night sky. "And four," Chris said as the camera panned down to the amphitheater, "shall soon become three, as we bid farewell to another cast member. Everyone, cast your votes."
The shot cut to the cast members in the bleachers. Courtney and Shawn were on the top row and Heather and Lindsay on the bottom.
Courtney sighed before casting her vote.
Lindsay thought for a second before she made her vote.
Shawn shrugged and casted his vote.
Heather smirked deviously and then made her vote.
The scene flashed to a close-up of the three gilded statuettes on a tray held by Chef, who was wearing his formal pink gown once again.
"And the Gilded Chris goes to...," Chris began to read from his envelope, "Heather and Shawn," the two were shown catching their awards. Courtney and Lindsay were shown in a split screen and they both braced themselves.
"And the last statue goes to…" Chris said slowly as the music reached its peak, "No one yet!"
"What's going on?" Lindsay wondered.
"It seems we have a situation similar to episode fifteen," Chris told them. "Courtney and Lindsay got the most votes at two per contestant."
"Not again!" Courtney moaned.
"Is there going to be a tiebreaker?" Lindsay asked.
"You bet your boots there is," Chris said and turned to Chef. “Got any gumbo left?”
“Two pots full of it!” Chef cackled. “What do you want with it?”
“In order to stay in the game, Lindsay and Courtney have to eat a pot filled with Chef’s very own gumbo!” Chris declared to them.
“You do know that Chef made it with our own vomit!” Lindsay proclaimed.
“I know. That’s what makes it fun. For me!” Chris laughed.
“If I have to do this, then bring out the barf-bo,” Courtney shivered.
\
The scene switched to Courtney and Lindsay on the stage of the amphitheater. They were sitting on chairs while holding pots of gumbo and large spoons.
“Now remember,” Chris walked over to the two. “If you don’t finish your pot, you’re not going into the final two. Got it?”
“I did come this far,” Lindsay said.
“I’ll accept the challenge. I won’t give up when I’m this close to the finale,” Courtney said.
Heather and Shawn were watching from far away. “I’m rooting for you, Courtney!” the latter cheered.
“Whoever loses or wins, I don’t care,” Heather said.
"And… go!" Chris started the tiebreaker.
As soon as he said those words, Courtney and Lindsay began putting gumbo into their mouths. Courtney was rapidly scooping the meal while Lindsay was sipping on it. Both girls were repulsed, but they still wanted to be in the game.
Lindsay saw that Courtney was halfway done with her pot, so she started to follow her path and scoop up the gumbo in hopes of catching up to her.
Just when it seemed like Courtney was about to finish, her stomach started to grumble from what she'd eaten. She tried to fight it, but eventually, she puked inside of her pot.
Seeing that she had an opportunity to win, Lindsay opened her mouth widely and poured the gumbo in. Afterwards, she placed her pot down.
"I'm finished!" she declared, only to feel nauseous and barf into her pot.
"Man, you girls are sick!" Chris teased them. "Regardless, Lindsay's still in the game, and Courtney just went from 22nd to 4th place in two seasons!"
"Drats!" Shawn complained.
Both girls have finished throwing up. "Looks like you have to go," Lindsay told Courtney.
"I know," Courtney moped. "I almost got to the million dollars, and I've never been in 4th place before."
"At least you did much better than before, and you're not wearing a chicken hat this time," Shawn said.
Courtney smiled in response. "I wanted to win the season, but I did learn to value friendship and cooperation, and like Lindsay said, those are more worthy than cash."
"I'm just glad you're not being mean to me for once," Lindsay said.
"We'll take down Heather and be the final two," Shawn said. "We promised Noah, and we're also promising you as well."
"Not sorry to interrupt," Chris got between them, "but Courtney should be getting going right about now."
"Shove it, McLean!" Courtney shoved Chris to the floor with one hand. "I'm saying goodbye to my friends, but I will enter the Lame-osine soon."
\
The footage skipped ahead to Courtney standing near the limo. She saw Lindsay and Shawn waving goodbye to her. After returning the gesture, she entered the limo with a smile on her face. The limo's tires revved up and sped off into the night, leaving behind two trails of fire.
Just as Shawn and Lindsay were about to go to their trailer, they were stopped by a snobby voice.
"Love to stick around, but it's been a long day and I'm gonna hit the showers," Heather bragged and got off the stage. "Great work, everybody."
While Lindsay rolled her eyes and left, Shawn stayed back, but had a face filled with anger and vengeance.
\
The scene cut to a shot of the washroom. Inside, Heather was bathing herself and humming a tune.
Unbeknownst to her, Shawn snuck to the side of the bathroom. He had a barrel filled with gumbo with him. After placing it down, he hooked the shower pipe to the barrel, wrapped it with tape, and turned the wheel to let the gumbo flow through.
Heather was heard screaming once the gumbo rained on her. "What the... Ew! Ugh, oh! Is this sewage?! Stop it! Stop! Oh! No!"
Seeing that his job was done, Shawn laughed to himself and turned in for the night as Heather continued to scream in anguish.
Chris popped up into the camera's view. "And you'll see how our remaining contestants suffer next time on Total Drama Action!"
(Roll the Credits)
\
(Bonus Clip)
"I want Shawn to win Season 2, but I won't mind if Lindsay does the job for him," Courtney said inside the limo. "She's pretty capable of handling herself, and I did hear about her plan to become the Queen of France, which I kinda want to see come to fruition." The C.I.T. laughed for a few seconds. "I know my parents want me to succeed and thrive for victory, but I'm certain that they'll see how far I've gotten in the competition and be proud of it. That's not to say I won't quit trying. I just have to never give up."
16th/15th: Harold
16th/15th: Dawn
14th: Lightning
13th: Sky
12th: Jo
11th: Beth
10th: Brick
9th: Duncan
8th: Mike
7th: Amy
6th: Rodney
5th: Noah
4th: Courtney

Where do you recommend buying high quality closet doors? I removed the old bi-fold ones when re-doing my floor, now need to get something new. I would like mirrors, with either wood or extruded aluminum frames. Seems like most of the stuff at the big box stores either feels really cheap, with sheet metal frames. Openings are very stand at 72" x 81.
Also, right now the sides of the closet frame are just textured sheetrock. What are the thoughts on putting 1x6's around the opening then adding matching trim, so that it looks more framed out and matches my doors?
Thanks for the input.

Almost a week ago, I found a single bed bug nymph in my bed frame. Since then, exterminators have inspected my apartment a d sprayed, and then they inspected other units in my building. Of the six, it turns out that two have an infestation, which might be how I picked up the single bug. Exterminators are coming back in a week to inspect again, spray, and presumably work on the two infested units.
That being said, I've bought interceptors, a lot of rubbing alcohol for coats and shoes, I'm going through my laundry, bought light sheets, vacuuming, and generally taking every precaution I can. The one thing I'd really like to do is clean the poop off my bed frame so I can better detect if I have any newcomers.
I tried soap and water, then the yellow Mr Clean when that failed. Neither worked. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm two seconds away from painting the spots so I know if/when new ones show up.

Hi, i am replacing the trigorilla mainboard in an anycubic chiron with a makerbase robin nano v3.0. I got everything but z axis homing working. Whenever I home Z the printer will home xy, then move to the center of the bed for safe homing, and then only the z motor driver will move.
In marlin 2.0 I enabled z2 driver in config.h and in config_adv.h I enabled dual z axis endstops. I am using the Z and E1 drivers on the board. If I manually move the z axis up or down both Z and E1 move fine. But the homing only works for Z and twists the frame.
Any help is appreciated, thanks!

hi there! over the course of the last several months, i’d had reason to believe i’d come into contact with the fae and that there was one in my bedroom specifically. an entire 800 paged book being moved from its shelf and put under my bed (funnily enough, the only one about fae), many quarters appearing, shiny objects mysteriously disappearing and reappearing, living room blinds blowing around when the door wasn’t open and no fan blowing wind around inside. even my xbox controller was taken off of its holder and i found it tucked against the edge of my bed frame the next morning. i’m still a baby witch and it was one of my close friends who figured out that with all the tricks being played on me, it was probably the fae. however, they’d gone relatively quiet over the last month or two and i’d assumed they were gone. i had originally done a cleansing under the guide of my friend who hadn’t figured it out yet, but once we had, i invited them back into my space as long as they respected it and the space of my family.
anywho, as of about three weeks ago i’ve been waking up with scratches that i originally thought were either from me or my dog. they’re always three main ones very close together, and another fourth one off by maybe a centimetecentimeter and a half, but always parallel to the first three. the first set was over my left breast, the second over my lower stomach, and the third on my back that i’d only noticed once it was already almost healed. until last night when i obtained my fourth set while i was awake. at about 5am last night, my lower left leg started to feel some pretty bad pain and it only continued to worsen over the next five or so minutes. my dog (she’s just a little chihuahua) was curled up in my arms, and my legs were straight out. i was not itching myself. i already had a feeling they were scratches when i finally lifted up my blanket to look, and sure enough, another set that matches the description. but this time i knew it wasn’t me or my dog.
would the fae attack me like this, even though i’ve done lots of research in order to be able to respect them and thought i’d done a good job so far? or could there be something else messing with me?