blather
better_deal
g h o s t there's always one somewhere, just not here 020305
...
the defeated ascetic hmm, interesting way to phrase it

i've never been someone's better deal

i wonder how it would feel:

would i get a malicious little thrill out of it to know that someone else had to take a fall? would that stoke my ego?

or would i count myself lucky and feel a pang of sympathy for the rival i've displaced, even knowing that whether they knew me or not they might despise me utterly
020306