The Advisory

This week we help two sisters repair their relationship... with a little bit of cat fishing, but just a little bit.

We also find love on missed connections, uncover our girlfriend's secret pen name after finding out she writes erotic fiction under a pseudonym, David writes saucy fiction on the fly, we put the blame on a viewer and Tom Hiddleston's Loki stops by the pod.

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This week's feature advice seeker asks:

Me and my sister used to be close, but when I was 5 and she was 7, I got sick up until I was 15, which required me being in a hospital.

Because I was sick, my parents often stopped her from doing normal things on my account; at first, I was ok with her doing kid stuff. But at one point I got bitter and kind of guilt-tripped my parents and her to make her stay with me, and I did that up until I was 12. At this point I noticed that it was leading to a strain in our relationship and her hating me, so I tried to get back on her good side because she was no longer enthusiastic to stay with me like before, when we would play games and she would sing and do things with me.

I tried to convince my parents to let her do other stuff because she would come back from school then spend 5 -7 hours with me then go home and that cycle would repeat itself. But my parents still insisted on it and thought I was being brave, even though I would beg them to let her have a life.

When I turned 15, I had surgery and was doing better, but I was still dealing with some side effects from the drugs I was taking, but that only lasted for a year. My parents had finally let my sister do things that she wanted to do. This was like midway through her junior year. But the damage was already done.

She had stopped communicating with me and my parents. Like when we'd sit down to dinner and she'd only say one word to my parents and then lock the door to her room. She did not have any friends; she told my aunt, and my aunt told my parents, because she was worried about her mental health. My parents tried to do family therapy before she left for college, but she still didn't communicate (she can literally spend a whole month without saying a word to anyone).

When she went to college, she cut off our parents and me. She changed her number and everything. Last year, after doing some research, I found her on Instagram (she seemed much happier there), found out about her university, and applied there. I wanted to rekindle our relationship now that she seemed to be in a better mental space.

Last semester, I contacted her through her university email and told her we could meet for coffee. She ignored all of my emails. This year, I decided to be more direct, so I went to her student organization and told her hi; she ignored me, but her friends asked who I was, and I told them I was her sister, and they seemed surprised because she didn't mention me. She then told me we should go to a cafe where she chewed me out for picking this university (she referred to it as her safe place). I am now feeling like I may have gone about this the wrong way, but at the same time, I just wanted us to be close again.

How do I get her to connect with me again?

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If you have a question, send us an email at [email protected] or shoot us a DM on:

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This episode was streamed live on Twitch and YouTube on 20.04.23.

00:00 - It begins

02:19 - Missed Connections

18:20 - David’s car crash meet cute

24:17 - Question: My girlfriend won’t reveal her secret erotica novel pen name

26:45 - David gets confronted

28:29 - Back to the question

39:35 - Differentiating your erotic fiction

46:59 - David writes his own saucy fiction

51:22 - Feature: Stalking your sister to repair your relationship

1:04:50 - We place the blame on a viewer

1:13:09 - Tom Hiddleston’s Loki leaves a review

This week's episode serves up a heaping helping of advice to the guy who moved to a new city and faked confidence so hard that he got addicted to performing his new fake persona that it made him think he was a narcissist the whole time.

We also chat the very best in alternative investment vehicles found on Facebook marketplace, pet sitting for your co-worker who’s under paying you so you hit them with a vague ransom and then start your own cat sitting empire, and saying soz to Osh.

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This week's feature advice seeker asks:

So, M26 here. Last year I moved to a new city and decided to try being more extroverted since no one here knew the shy guy I used to be. It’s been a little over a year and I faked until I made it alright. I’m now very talk active and look forward to engage in any social activities. I have always considered myself as an introvert who disliked social gatherings, and thought it was impossible to go from intro to extro just like that. I’m still not sure what’s going on inside my mind and that’s why I’m posting here. To ask you to help me understand what might be going on.

The thing is: I’m now kind of addicted to being social. I love to perform this new persona I invented for myself. It feels very pleasant. But as the same time, I get in this fight or flee mode, like adrenaline or idk, and it’s hard to turn that off when I get home. I keep overthinking everything I said over and over, feeling great about when I made everyone laugh, feeling horrible when I realize I said something silly/stupid… I’m afraid I’m getting too obsessed with this: my image, how people see me, what they think of me etc. To the point I’m afraid I might be turning into a narcissist.

I can’t sleep properly because I’m so preoccupied with this stuff. I don’t feel like reading (something I did all the time on my introverted days) or do anything that demands introspection anymore. I’m always anxious to go out and talk to people and give my best performance. Also, I get utterly bored when people are talking about something I’m not involved in some way. It’s not that I need to be the center of attention, nor I need to be talking about myself. I just need to be an active participant of the conversation. Let’s say some people are talking about some memory they share that it’s not something I can talk about so I have to only listen, I get so bored I have to detach myself from the situation and go to the bathroom or smoke a cig.

Am I becoming a narcissist? Can anyone here relate to this? I’m very confused about myself right now, like truly scared I have always been a narcissist and didn’t know. It’s true I always felt like I had a great potential and charisma hidden inside of me, like I was special. A special person. And I was somewhat frustrated that I didn’t get to show people that. This is pretty much a narcissist trait, right?

Should I try to refrain myself from this and try to go back to my old me? I was defininetly more “in peace” generally speaking, although my life was way less interesting. I’m just afraid of keep feeding this little monster addicted to their self image, KWIM? Or maybe this is happening bc I’m going against my true introvert nature?

Thanks in advance for anyone taking the time to share some thoughts..

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If you have a question, send us an email at [email protected] or shoot us a DM on:

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This episode was streamed live on Twitch and YouTube on 13.04.23.

00:00 - It begins!

03:39 - The best alternative investment vehicle

05:42 - David has ‘Sword Guy’ energy

10:54 - Master Grief Promo

12:24 - Question: Pet sitting for your cheap co-worker

17:49 - Vague ransoms to get that money

25:05 - Starting our middle-man cat sitting company

28:34 - The Osher side bar

32:54 - Feature Question: Addicted to faking my confident persona

43:45 - David McNeill presents My Life is a Lie - The Performance

48:26 - David does a whoops

54:00 - Outro

55:52 - Mario stops by the pod

On this Easter special episode we ban our brother’s party hijacking wife from Easter, we help the less fortunate while guilt tripping our selfish sister, we fake out the family after they left us with the cooking for a 22 person party, we ruin the Easter egg hunt for a money hungry speed runner and spoil the holidays for everyone by getting into a debate with a 9 year old and losing.

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This week's feature advice seeker asks:

A little background. I (28m) live in a big city and yard space for entertaining is a luxury. I inherited 10 acres of land from my grandfather which he bought in the 70's. It's a dream location for an easter egg hunt and 90% of family events are held on my property. There are 2 houses on the property. My house that I had built 2 years ago and my grandfather's house which has remained untouched since he died.

I am an Atheist and you will not catch me in a church but I have no problem celebrating religious holidays like Easter if there is food involved. My dad and his wife are more active in church than most of the family. My family was getting together for Easter and my dad asked me as a favor to let his wife invite her church friends for an egg hunt after lunch. I reluctantly agreed.

This pious kid who I thought at the time was 12-13 from his size but I found out later he is 9 asked me why I never go to church. Keep in mind I have never met this kid in my life so I can only assume he has heard something about me from my stepmom. All I said was church was not my thing. He asked why not. I said a different view point and he wanted to know what religion I was. I said I do not belong to any religion and I consider myself an Atheist. He asked what that is and I said I do not believe in a higher power. From that conversation he told me I was a devil worshiper. I was like wtf??!! I told him I sure was and in the house he would see my animal sacrifices mounted on the wall. I told him everyone thinks I got those deer from hunting but they really are sacrifices. This kid lost his shit. He ran screaming to his mom saying I was a devil worshiper and sacrificed animals. He was crying with snot running down his face.

At first my dad and stepmom did not get what the kid was saying because I don't hunt. The deer mounted on the walls belonged to my grandfather. My dad asked why this kid thinks you are a devil worshiper who killed deer. I told him the kid was nosy and made assumptions that I agreed with. I got yelled at by this kid's parents. They are yelling at me red faced and I cannot stop laughing telling me about my prosperity and that I’m evil. I told them to go take their superstitious bullshit off my property.

I am catching so much hell. Drama llama stepmom is saying I have humiliated her in front of the entire church and she will never forgive me. I told her I don't care and reminded her I only tolerate her. My dad wrote a public apology on his fb on my behalf. There was some backlash from the family and he deleted it. I feel a family meeting coming on which I won't subject myself to.

Am I the asshole for agreeing with this little brat about his assumptions? I really think they overreacted… I might have taken it too far with the deer sacrifice.

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If you have a question, send us an email at [email protected] or shoot us a DM on:

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This episode was streamed live on Twitch and YouTube on 07.04.23.

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00:00 – It begins!

01:02 – My 60 year old Easter egg

17:10 – People get down with statues?

20:05 – Question: Surprise Easter dinner and the cooking criticism

29:56 – Question: Interference on the Easter egg hunt field

33:42 – David’s corporate egg hunt debacle

42:34 – Back to the easter egg hunt question

56:47 – Feature Question: Satan’s Easter Egg Hunt From Hell

1:14:35 – Question: Easter Egg basket for everyone but my family

1:27:17 – Question: Spread sheeting girlfriend and the Easter egg hunt

1:40:49 – Outro

1:43:38 – Shia LaBeouf stops by the pod

Join us on the journey of toxicity as we crack open a couple of toxic friendships, expose friends with crushes on your partner and figure out what to do with this damn stethoscope!

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This week's feature advice seeker asks:

My friend of 9 years has always had a crush on my partner of 11 years.

He told a mutual friend that if we ever split up, he would quite happily try to get with my partner. I found out and confronted him about it and he apologized. That was several years ago.

A few years have passed and we are now friends again. We’ve been going to airsoft together. However, recently he’s come round for dinner and my partner (still the same partner) mentioned that I was supposed to put up a shelf several months ago.

He asked where my drill is and then put the shelf up. He then paid for dinner to be delivered as well.

The following week we were watching TV and waiting for dinner in the oven. He asked my partner if there was anything he could do to help, like taking out the trash etc.

Am I being paranoid? Or is my so-called friend trying to show my partner what she is missing out on?

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If you have a question, send us an email at [email protected] or shoot us a DM on:

⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠

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This episode was streamed live on Twitch and YouTube on 30.03.23.

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00:00 - It begins!

00:53 - Getting toxic already

03:17 - Question: My friend's boyfriend liked me first

17:10 - David gets toxic

21:17 - Repairing our friendship with team building exercises

28:42 - Testing our friendship

30:07 - Feature: My friend has a crush on my partner and is trying to win her over

47:06 - Question: My nurse sister can't have my sentimental stethoscope

1:04:38 - Outro

1:09:30 - David does Keanu Reeves

Come with us now on a journey through haunted maccas drive-thrus, spying neighbours, vegemite debates, standing up to bosses, and magical video ezy vhs tapes.

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This week's feature advice seeker asks:

I have recently started my first job (I'm 32, so I'm a bit late to this) at a high school. I work as a catering assistant at a school. So we serve kids food, clean, do dishes, set up, everything. It is busy work. I suffer with anxiety and I am getting better with every shift! I am a good, hard worker and receive compliments from my co-workers because they know I am new to this all.

The thing is, one of my bosses keeps seeming to pick on me. She is always in a bad mood. Always criticising things I might be doing wrong. I got in trouble because she said steak was facing the wrong way in the tray, and I didn't put it in there.. It was the chef. The way she speaks to me makes my hairs immediately stand on edge when she wanders into the room. She'll do this at random times and I feel like she is coming for me every time. I am a quiet but polite person. I don't like conflict. But she makes me really on edge and I get nervous if she is there.

If she does this again, Is it okay of me to say to my boss that I do not appreciate being spoken to that way? Or how can I stand up to her or is it not recommended?

I am from Australia and I'm what we call a Casual worker. I heard basically they can fire you without a concrete reason. So I am worried that I will get fired if I stand up for myself.

This boss is always stomping her little feet around and criticising us and says we stand around and do nothing, which is absolute BS. We are short on workers and do extra workloads every single day and don't stop.

Can someone please give me advice?

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If you have a question, send us an email at [email protected] or shoot us a DM on:

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This episode was streamed live on Twitch and YouTube on 23.03.23.

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00:00 - it begins

00:55 – James looks a little different

08:15 – How not to make a slicing sound

11:01 – Question: how do I stop my neighbour from spying on me?

19:45 – Marmite is obviously better than Vegemite

31:58 – James and the haunted McDonalds

38:12 – Feature: Biting back, a lunch room revolt

52:00 – David has a break down

59:14 – Let’s all learn some wrestling moves

1:04:59 – Outro

1:08:00 – James makes David do a mickey mouse

We're serving up a heaping helping of advice on this week's episode! We're solving crimes at the gym, finding boring girlfriends, starting our own dating app and trying to figure out what to do when our co-worker writes a p*rno and promotes it at work.

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This week's feature advice seeker asks:

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If you have a question, send us an email at [email protected] or shoot us a DM on:

⁠Youtube⁠ | ⁠TikTok⁠ | ⁠Instagram⁠

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This episode was streamed live on Twitch and YouTube on 16.03.23.

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00:00 - It begins!

00:40 - James is driving home

03:45 – David attempts to fill

06:24 - Where digital Dana lives & the crimes of David's mobile

08:28 - Question: Showerheads at my gym keep getting stolen

22:20 - Question: How can I meet a boring girlfriend?

32:23 - We start our own dating app - Snooze Fest: Boring is Better

44:08 - Feature: My co-worker wrote a p*rno

1:06:20 - How David sells his book

1:19:40 - A poem about a man named David who can't write poetry

1:20:45 - Outro

1:22:38 - Who was that?

It's a scandal-filled episode this week! We’re chatting about the dangers of a third party listen, getting away with stealing from your job, painting rented walls, and the ultimate way to silence your neighbours barking dog.

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This week's feature advice seeker asks:

We just recently rented out a new home, while looking at the house the neighbors dog didn't bark the 2 times we were out here and so we thought that the dog was going to be quiet.

Well the past 2 weeks our neighbors dog has started barking at 4 in the morning waking our 10 month old baby up. Our roommate is sick of it and I'm tired of waking up at 4am every morning.

My husband wants me to go over there and talk to them, but I have extreme social anxiety. I don't even know how to approach the topic without coming off as aggressive or sound like they're "doing it on purpose" because I know they aren't.

I need some advice on either how to approach this or if it would be better to send my husband over to talk to them about it. I don't know if this is important information but they're 2 county officers. Neither are k9 units but it is a German shepherd.

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If you have a question, send us an email at [email protected] or shoot us a DM on:

Youtube | TikTok | Instagram

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This episode was streamed live on Twitch and YouTube on 10.03.23.

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00:00 - It begins!

01:15 - Our new slogan

03:30 – Question: I’m stealing from work, help!

10:00 - The dangers of third party listening

26:27 - The boys go to a gig

33:30 – Feature question: The Barkaholic Dogs

49:14 - The boys have a disagreement about The All American Rejects

1:01:13 - Question: My husband wants to repaint the walls

1:17:08 - Outro

On this week’s episode we’re chatting about hate comments, online endorsement deals, getting back at your food stealing roommates, the boss who's photoshopping your social media and who is killing the cinema.

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This week's feature advice seeker asks:

I recently started working at a respected firm in a niche industry after graduating from college. The firm had no social media presence until my manager, Elizabeth, was hired last year. Elizabeth set up social media accounts for the firm, and since she was the only one who knew how to run them, she was put in charge of the accounts. However, there is something Elizabeth is doing that is causing problems with our clients and in general. She Photoshops herself in photos posted on our social media accounts, making herself look taller, thinner, and even changing her eye color or chest size. The Photoshopping is obvious, and she has even accidentally given herself an extra arm or hand in some photos.

Clients and people from other firms have called us out for this deception, and I believe it is damaging the firm's credibility. When I asked Elizabeth about it, she said that I should understand how hard it is for women who have body issues when the standards of beauty are impossible. The firm's owner and others at the firm are not aware of what she is doing, as they do not have any social media knowledge.

I am worried about the firm's reputation and want to make the higher-ups aware of the situation, but Elizabeth got angry when I asked her about it. She has been with the firm longer and has a better relationship with them. I am not sure how to approach this situation without causing conflict. The firm is losing credibility and business because of Elizabeth's actions, and it is essential to address this issue.

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If you have a question, send us an email at [email protected] or find us on:

Youtube | TikTok | Instagram

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This episode was streamed live on Twitch and YouTube on 02.03.23.

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00:00 - It begins!

01:50 - Our first hate comment

09:50 - Our first endorsement deal

20:10 - Question: How to stop your roommates from eating your food

41:13 - Feature: My boss is photoshopping our social media

1:04:50 - People are ruining the cinema: a rant

1:16:41 - Outro

1:22:54 - Perfecting the Rove outro

On this week’s episode we’re chatting about getting DMs from famous people, ditching boring bachelorette parties for cheap T-Swift tickets, treating people like people, and the hot new trend CRV (cutre raspy voice).

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This week's feature advice seeker asks:

My college friend is getting married and has planned an expensive but boring bachelorette party, and I'm questioning whether it's worth the money and effort to attend.

This friend lives close to me but always seems to have excuses whenever I try to hang out with her. Recently, I went through a divorce, and she promised to help me fix up my house, but she backed out at the last minute.

Meanwhile, my other friend just offered to buy me discounted Taylor Swift tickets, which would be a dream come true for me and my little sister. We're both huge fans and have been daydreaming about attending her concert.

If I skip the bachelorette party, I could surprise my sister with these tickets and save a lot of money. Honestly, the bachelorette party doesn't sound like it's worth the investment since the itinerary is dull, and I could do most of the activities at home.

I'm torn and need some honest advice.

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If you have a question, send us an email at [email protected] or find us on:

Youtube | TikTok | Instagram

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This episode was streamed live on Twitch and YouTube on 23.02.23.

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00:00 - It begins!

01:00 - Shameless self promo

03:35 - Question: What to do when a famous person DMs you

23:25 - Saving a service worker and treating people like humans

27:49 - UK disappearance becomes creator content

38:52 - David's not a fan of anything

40:15 - The hot new trend of cute raspy voice

57:42 - Feature: Ditching my friend's boring bachelorette party for Taylor Swift tickets

1:21:20 - The best worst place to meet people

1:22:44 - Pickup artists banned from Sydney book store

1:29:10 - Outro

On this week’s episode we’re joined by Pat from A Method to the Madness podcast to chat about solutions for your roommates stank cooking, american psychos vs australian weirdos, how to get your wife to accept your hobby as your job, and why the burgers are in fact better at Hungry Jacks. 

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This week's feature advice seeker asks:

I have been in a happy and fulfilling relationship with my wife for five years, and we have never argued to the point of a breakup or divorce. However, a recent incident has caused me to question the health of our relationship.

Despite my passion for aviation and spending thousands of dollars on flight textbooks and sim gear, my job as a manager for a restaurant chain does not accurately represent my skills and knowledge as a pilot. During a barbecue at my wife's coworker's house, my wife introduced me as a restaurant manager instead of a pilot, which made me feel disrespected and insecure.

We argued about this, and my wife argued that I don't deserve to be called a pilot because I'm not a professional pilot. I feel that she is insensitive to the hard work and dedication I have put into my hobby, and it is too much to ask to be respected for it.

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If you have a question, send us an email at [email protected] or find us on:

Youtube | TikTok | Instagram

You can listen to A Method to the Madness on:

Spotify | Apple | AMTTM Website

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This episode was streamed live on Twitch and YouTube on 17.02.23.

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00:00 - It begins!

02:51 - Question: My roommate’s cooking disturbs my girlfriend

36:00 - American Psycho or Australian Weirdo

52:50 - Feature: My Professional Hobby

1:10:05 - The burgers are in fact better at Hungry Jacks

1:26:16 - How to become a professional pilot in 2023

1:28:13 - Outro