#for being an utter dick to a bunch of 10 year olds just having fun

[hwestil]

I have no memory of how it started, but when I was in the 4th grade (age 10), it became a fad in our class to write 7 with the bar through it. Literally everyone did it. Then we had a substitute teacher from Ireland who, after watching us do this on the blackboard for our math lesson, gave us a harangue about how, being American and not writing our 1s with a notch at the top, putting a bar on our 7s was ridiculous and without purpose. In one fell swoop he utterly eliminated the habit in all of us because he made us feel so stupid.

Anyway, now my non-digital hobby involves frequently sending postcards to Europe. I bar my sevens (and notch and bottom line my 1s) to make the addresses more European-friendly (it does make a difference - the opposite also being true of notched 1s being mistaken for 7s when sent to the U.S.), and every time I recall that annoying random Irish man.

everyone who writes their ‘7’s with a little dash through them had a conscious moment of truth where they actively chose to write ‘7’ in that way and never stopped doing it like if you can’t clearly recall that fateful decision wyd

[bewitching-elizabeth-olsen]

Press/Gallery: Elizabeth Olsen Is Ready to Lead the MCU

An ambitious new Disney+ series might just give the strongest Avenger the happy ending she deserves.

  GALLERY LINKS

Studio Photoshoots > 2021 > Session 001

  ELLE: We can’t keep meeting Elizabeth Olsen like this. By “this,” I mean in the throes of catastrophe or bereavement, or, to put it plainly, when she’s an emotional wreck. In the 2018 Facebook Watch drama Sorry For Your Loss, Olsen assumes the role of Leigh Shaw, a young widow grappling with the unexpected loss of her husband and all the painful nuisances that come with death: the unbearable waves of sadness, the clichéd condolences, a grief support group that runs out of donuts. At one point, Leigh says through a cracked voice, “I’m just mad all the time.” It’s hard not to draw parallels to Olsen’s other angry character. After all, “mad” is exactly how 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron introduced us to Wanda Maximoff.

Defined by tragedy since her Marvel debut, Wanda (aka the Scarlet Witch) is an orphan with telekinetic powers. When not saving the world, she spends most of her time onscreen grieving the deaths of her parents, twin brother, or lover. Wanda’s never been allowed to fully exist outside the confines of her grief and anger, but with the launch of WandaVision—Marvel’s foray into serialized content for streaming—she may just be getting the happy ending she deserves.

Partly inspired by The Vision comic book, which follows synthezoid superhero Vision and his family as they move to the suburbs of Washington, D.C., the Disney+ series is an ode to the TV sitcoms we’ve come to love, with Wanda and Vision (Paul Bettany) basking in newlywed bliss—except Vision’s been very dead (killed twice, in fact) since the events of 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War. It’s unclear exactly how these starcrossed characters got to suburbia, but for now, it’s a delight to see the typically solemn duo sink their teeth into slapstick comedy.

“The show is like a blank slate for them,” Olsen tells me over Zoom, her light brown fringe a departure from Wanda’s red waves. The Scarlet Witch’s doleful glare is also long gone; in its place, Olsen’s eyes are wide with excitement. “Wanda and Vision’s journey to this point is a story of pure, innocent love and deep connection with another person,” she explains. “It was also very traumatizing. Tragedy has always been their story. In our show, we kind of wipe that clean and start fresh.”

But Wanda’s complicated past looms over WandaVision. Age of Ultron saw her and her twin brother, Pietro, initially opposing the Avengers (the siblings volunteered for a series of experiments with Hydra—a super evil organization within the MCU—after the deaths of their parents at the hands of Tony Stark’s Stark Industries) before switching sides to help save the Earth. The movie ends in victory for our superheroes, but yet another tragedy for Wanda when Pietro dies in battle. She finds comfort in the arms of Vision, an android created from the remains of Tony’s J.A.R.V.I.S. program, but even that bliss is short-lived. You see, Vision can only live with the help of the Mind Stone, which Mad Titan Thanos needs to take over the universe. In Infinity War, Vision asks Wanda to sacrifice him, and Wanda reluctantly agrees—but Thanos reverses time to gain control of the stone, killing the robot for a second time. Wanda’s pain is palpable: Imagine sacrificing the love of your life to save everyone else, just to watch him brought back to life and killed again—by the very villain you’re trying to defeat.

Though the thrill of playing a character with superhuman abilities is enticing for any actress, Olsen says it was Wanda’s internal battle with mental health that attracted her to the role in the first place. “[Joss Whedon] explained to me that Wanda Maximoff has always been this pillar of the struggle of mental health, from her pain and depression and traumatic experiences to how she completely alters the reality of the comics,” Olsen says of her early conversations with the Age of Ultron director. “The thing I held onto after reading the initial script was that she was not only powerful because of her abilities, but because of her emotions.”

In fact, MCU theorists would argue she’s one of, if not the, strongest Avenger. She can infiltrate the others’ minds to reveal their biggest fears (Age of Ultron). She can overpower Vision and send him plunging through several floors to break up a fight between warring superheroes (Avengers: Civil War). She can even bring Thanos to his knees, snapping his sword in half and forcibly removing his armor piece by piece (Infinity War).

Still, “they keep slapping her over the head with more grief,” Olsen quips.

As phase one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe began with the sound of clanging metal on May 2, 2008, phase four kicked off on January 15, 2021 with a kitschy 1950s sitcom theme: “She’s a magical gal in a small town locale / he’s a hubby who’s part machine / How will this duo fit in and pull through? Oh, by sharing a love / like you’ve never seen.”

With WandaVision, Marvel steers clear of the typical superhero trappings: no destructive battles at a Berlin airport or across the streets of New York City; no blonde-haired god time-traveling to other realms; no tree-like alien fight alongside a raccoon. Wandavision takes place after the events of Endgame in a fictional suburban town called Westview, and the biggest problem the newlyweds face in the show’s opening moments is creating a convincing backstory to get nosy neighbor Agnes (Kathryn Hahn) off their backs.

“They are just trying to fit in,” Olsen explains. “They’re trying to not be found out by their neighbors that they’re super-powered beings.” Now, if only we can figure out what the hell is actually going on. Olsen remains tight-lipped: “The reason it’s a sitcom shows itself later in the show,” she hints. “When Kevin [Feige] told me, it didn’t feel so bizarre. It felt like a great way to start our story.”

“With our show, you don’t know what the villain is, or if there is one at all.”

So, is Wanda stuck in the first stage of grief, denial? Has she altered reality as a coping mechanism for Vision’s death? Is she being held hostage by a terrorist organization (ahem, Hydra!)? One thing we do know is that someone is watching the couple and taking notes. At the end of episode 1, the camera pans out from a retro TV playing an episode of WandaVision (meta!) to show a hand jotting down notes. There’s a strange sword symbol on the notebook and a nearby control board, and in episode 2, the same sign appears on a toy helicopter lodged in the couple’s front yard. Later, when a mysterious beekeeper crawls out of the sewer on the couple’s street, the symbol is seen on the back of his suit. In its 20-plus movies, Marvel villains have always existed in plain sight. But with a new, less obvious darkness lurking at every turn, Wanda may have to return to her world-saving roots.

“Someone said to me when you watch any of these hero movies, you know when the villain’s about to show themselves, and you also have an idea of who the villain is,” Olsen says. “With our show, you don’t know what the villain is, or if there is one at all.” For now, WandaVision allows for glimmers of hope and optimism for Wanda and Vision, despite what darkness tries to threaten their happiness. “Wanda is trying to protect everything in her bubble, protect what she and Vision have and this experience,” Olsen says. “I think everything she does is in response to keeping things together.”

In addition to exploding the concept of the superhero onscreen, WandaVision toys with a different era of TV in each episode. The pilot takes viewers to the ‘50s with an episode filmed in front of a live studio audience, and Wanda dresses up in the quintessential housewife garb, not a hair out of place in her voluminous bob. By the time we click on episode 2, she trades in her apron and kitten heels for a more pared-down ‘60s look, while episode 3 gives a nod to the ‘70s, complete with a Brady Bunch-style staircase and a shag haircut for Vision.

While dressing up was the fun part, time-hopping through the eras required a lot of binge-watching old sitcoms to get the mannerisms down right. Olsen studied series like The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Brady Bunch, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Bewitched to “understand the tones of each era” and get a grasp of how Wanda and Vision should act as a couple. (One of her favorite TV pairings was Jane Kaczmarek and Bryan Cranston from Malcolm in the Middle.) She was fascinated by the way female characters evolved through the decades: “You have to learn appropriate manners—what’s considered being polite or proper. That coincides with women’s voices changing,” she explains. “I enjoyed challenging myself to match the syntax and the lyricism. I live in a very chest-register kind of deep voice. I had to remember not to bring it up at certain moments.”

For so long, Wanda served as a supporting character to Marvel’s biggest names, and the formulaic mundanity of the major theatrical releases made it easy to get comfortable. WandaVision offered Olsen a much-needed challenge. “I’ve only been working for 10 years, but there is this feeling where you start to get comfortable,” she says. “WandaVision was the furthest thing from comfortable for me. It felt intimidating. The character is a completely different thing.”

And fans hoping for a little Marvel action won’t be disappointed. “We still live up to what Marvel does,” she promises. “We just tell the story in a completely different way. It’s a very emotional, female story and it’s a story they haven’t told yet for either of our characters.” Whatever your theory is, keep the cliché condolences to yourself. No one will be uttering, “Sorry for your loss” in Wanda’s world.

Press/Gallery: Elizabeth Olsen Is Ready to Lead the MCU was originally published on Elizabeth Olsen Source • Your source for everything Elizabeth Olsen

[spongeguyandlelouchvibridankia]

The Milo Murphy’s Law Wiki Guy AU: Balthazar Cavendish Vs The World: Chapter 2: Prologue: The Best/Worst Almost Decision of His Life

“Put your hands up, fair citizens!”

 Green foliage, tall shady trees, bright sunlight, and clear blue skies…

 Yep.

 This DEFINITELY wasn’t boarding school.

 “Stick ‘em up! Come on!”, a young boy with fair brown hair and light freckles aimed his water pistol at a bunch of giggling boys, of thin and thick build, who stood in a line with their hands now raised up.

 “Oh no! Whatever will we do?”, a tall stick like kid named Marcus asked with a laugh, struggling to mean it.

 The bank robber, pacing up and down with a potato bag he had drawn a dollar symbol on, tried his best to glare at them, even though he too couldn’t take it seriously.

 “Shaddap!”, he yelled, in a pretend grown up voice, still stifling giggles.

 An air of anticipation permeated the area, everyone awaiting the truly fun part of the game.

 School uniforms lightly floated in the wind, a few leaves sticking to their trousers, as breaths were bated for the arrival of the hero of the game.

 “Come on, man! Come out!”, Kevin, a small sniveling kid with glasses yelped, and he got whacked by the muscular well built boy named Ronald.

 “Knock it off, Kevin!”

 “Sorry, sorry, the wind blew off my hat!”, a spirited young voice could be heard from behind the bushes, and finally, the game could be continued.

 “I give you by the count of five to give me all your money!”, the bank robber announced, and he waved his water pistol around, an attempted commanding tone to his voice which failed since he sounded so young.

 Leaves crunched under his black polished shoes as he pointed the water pistol at the boys.

 “5… 4… 3…”

 A leap in the air could be heard and some boys began prematurely cheering as a figure soared through the air.

 “2… 1…”, the robber said, tightening his hold on the pistol, preparing to shoot.

 “STOP, THIEF!”

 The voice was loud and heroic, echoing across the forest plain, and as he landed with a resounding thud, hip hip hurrahs were sounded by the “hostages”.

 The robber turned around, and despite this being out of character, he couldn’t help the wide grin on his face as he said…

 “Balthazar Cavendish…”, he uttered in pretend resentment, his pupils dancing with glee.

 “I say, it’s time for you rapscallion to head to the nick!”

 Clad in his school uniform, with the important addition of a flowing red cape that blew in the wind magnificently, Balthazar Cavendish, aged 10 years old, less dick headed, more obsessed with his father’s love, and somehow as confused about everything, stands tall in the grass, his honey blond hair and thick black framed glasses complimented by a heroic grin.

 He readied his fists of justice, a cowboy hat tipped just over his eyes, giving him a mysterious aura.

 He was happier than he had ever been in his short 10 years on the planet Earth.

 The Bank Robber and Cavendish circled each other, determined yet giddy grins plastered on their faces.

 “You ready to fork over the cash?”, The Bank Robber asked.

 “In your dreams, which you will have in jail!”, Cavendish retorted.

 The other kids crowed “OOOOH!” at the two combatants.

 “So, you actually think you can stop me?”, asked the Robber.

 “I don’t think…”, Cavendish started, posing fabulously.

 “I know…”, he almost whispered, but loudly enough for The Bank Robber to hear.

 The Bank Robber cocked an eyebrow and gathered up some spit, but he failed to spit on the ground properly.

 “You’re doing it wrong!”, Ralph pointed out.

 “Raise it from your throat!”, Edward instructed.

 “Really put your back into it!”, Liam advised.

 Finally, The Bank Robber let out a spit that pleased the audience, and he scowled at Cavendish, a twinkle in his eyes.

 Cavendish started to approach, his steps like those of giants, colossal and all important.

 “Oh! You’re approaching me? Instead of running away, you’re coming right to me?”

 Cavendish continued to approach, his face smug and brazen.

 “I can’t beat the stuffing out of you without getting closer!”

 The Bank Robber laughed “evilly” and grinned at his opponent.

 “Oh ho! Then come as close as you like!”

 And so, the two boys walked up closer and closer, silly smiles on their faces as time seemed to slow down.

 “Fight! Fight! Fight!”, the “hostages” cheered on, hoping to get in on the fight after the “main event”.

 Cavendish and The Bank Robber kept walking until they finally met, faces mere breaths from each other, foreheads touching, eyes up close and personal.

 “Give me your best, Balthy!”, The Bank Robber taunted, but he did so from a friendly, encouraging place.

 “Would I ever let you down, Ollie?”, Cavendish said, almost lovingly, before the two finally collided, “punches” and “kicks” exchanged in a scuffle of epic proportions.

 The other kids could barely contain their excitement, and soon, they all started to engage in the battle, mostly just laughing as they missed terribly.

 Over the top calls of “Hwah!” and “Take that!” and “Ora!” and “Muda!” could be heard as the boys showed a complete disregard to the conventions of combat.

 Their teachers and parents would not be pleased, but, really, when were they ever?

 Here, away from the stuffy classrooms and strict guide rules, away from the suffocating conventions and crushing expectations, they were able to be something so incredibly special…

 Themselves.

 Soon, though, they grew tired of the game, as kids do.

 However, they refused to end the fun they knew was short lived as it is.

 “C’mon, mates!”, Collin called out from the madding crowd. “Run to the trees!”

 “They’ll never catch us alive!”, Ryan boasted.

 “I’ll make sure they catch you dead if you don’t shut it, Ryan!”, Terrence chided.

 Still, the boys ran like animals, crowing and laughing and shouting as they spread out in the forest of Yews, climbing the ancient trees like agile monkeys.

 Cavendish tried to climb one, but unfortunately, his cape got stuck between his feet, and the rushing onslaught of hyperactive children obstructed him from reaching his intended location.

 “I can’t climb like this!”, he complained, annoyed by the constraints of his situation.

 Suddenly, he heard a loud whistle from the tree tops, and he looked up, his eyes darting around for the source of the sound.

 “Up here, Balthy!”, Ollie, or, well, Oliver, The Bank Robber, motioned for him to climb up to the branch he was on.

 But try as he might, Cavendish just couldn’t reach the first branch, it was just too high for him.

 Oliver’s hand, however, was not.

 “Thank you for taking Oliver Turing lifts! We lift, you join the ride! Going up!”, Oliver announced, and a less than amused Cavendish was carried up thanks to his friends arm.

 “I could have done it myself.”, Cavendish protested as he sat on the branch and pouted.

 “Cheers to you too.”, Oliver sarcastically replied as he punched his friends arm, making Cavendish smile just a little.

 “Careful with that arm! I need it!”, Cavendish fake protested, and he punched back, making Oliver blush.

 The two boys sighed and sat on the branch, the sun now beginning to set, its dark orange colors painting the sky with marvelous results.

 “This has been a good day.”, Oliver stated, and Cavendish nodded in agreement.

 “I mean, we broke a ton of rules and they’re going to murder us, but still.”, Cavendish added, and Oliver shrugged.

 “I don’t know. My dad’s pretty cool about this kind of stuff.”

 Oliver then added a little quietly, a little privately, like he was hiding a treasure…

 A secret…

 “He’s pretty cool about my stuff.”

 Cavendish didn’t really know what that was about, but he was too busy dreaming a familiar dream.

 As ever, he was a little too focused on himself to see the forest for the trees.

 He stood up on the branch and pointed at the horizon.

 “Oliver…”

 Oliver raised an eyebrow. “Oh, boy. First names… This must be important, Balthy.”

 Cavendish smiled back. “Of course it’s important. I’M saying it, after all!”

 Oliver rolled his eyes humorously. “Whatever you say, Balthy.”

 Cavendish resumed his sentence. “No, seriously, listen!”

 He pointed at the horizon again, his eyes sparkling with hope. “One day, Ollie, I tell you one day, I am going to be the GREATEST hero ever!”

 Oliver couldn’t help but laugh. “Balthy, you say that every day, and every day you fail all your classes.”

 Cavendish frowned, not wanting to be reminded of that. “It’s only the physical ones…”, he muttered sadly.

 “Yeah, as if your dad wants you to be behind a computer.”, Oliver joked, but Cavendish wasn’t.

 “Ollie! I really mean this! I really do want to be a hero!”

 His eyes were pleading, and Oliver knew that he was being serious.

 So he stopped joking and took on a sympathetic smile. “Sorry mate. I know you are.”

 Cavendish forgave him with a soft smile and he returned his gaze to the sun.

 “Just imagine it, Ollie! Real bank robbers, real villains, bowing down before my presence! Fear in their eyes! Respect in their surrenders!”

 Cavendish posed on the branch, nearly losing his balance but regaining it.

 “I’ll be the very best, like no one ever was! I’ll kill all the monsters and aliens and maniacal overlords!”, Cavendish boasted and promised with childish enthusiasm.

 Oliver grinned back. “Don’t forget us bank robbers!”

 “Them too!”, Cavendish nodded.

 He then resumed his speech. “And then… Then I’ll meet the queen! And I’ll get knighted!”

 He bowed slightly and then, with a quieter, more hopeful voice, whispered “…I’ll finally make my Dad proud…”

 And then he shouted out. “And I’ll be loved by ALL!”

 His voice echoed and echoed, his declaration of universal adoration for himself reverberating across the trees.

 Cavendish then almost slipped and Oliver caught him, setting him back on the branch.

 “Careful, Mr. Hero! Don’t want to die before the first day, now, do you?”

 Cavendish laughed sheepishly, and soon the two boys sat in silence, observing the setting sun, peaceful.

 Well…

 Almost.

 Oliver kept stealing glances at Cavendish, as if…

 As if he wanted to tell him something.

 “Balthy…”, he finally roused the courage to open his mouth. “…You say you want to be loved by all… But…”

 Cavendish didn’t need him to finish. “I know, Ollie, but my mind keeps changing!”

 He complained, his hands waving to all sides. “My Dad says it makes me weak and soft, but at the same time I can’t help but feel like it would be totally fantastic to be loved by everyone! You know?”

 Oliver smiled shyly. “Personally, I only need one person to love me.”

 Cavendish nodded. “Mums are pretty wicked.”

 Oliver shook his head, Cavendish missing the point as ever.

 Cavendish then put his arm around Oliver.

 “Thank you for being such a good listener, Ollie. I feel like I can tell you anything.”

 Oliver suddenly schooched a little closer, hands a little clammy, voice a little shy.

 “Balthy…”

 He was uncharacteristically quiet.

 Cavendish looked back at his friend with a cheerful smile.

 “Yes, Ollie?”

 Oliver took a deep breath and closed his eyes, bracing for impact.

 He had been preparing this question for months, ever since the two had met in boarding school and hit it off immediately.

 He had rolled it over and over and over in countless math classes, physical education classes and sleepless nights.

 God knows how many times his lips had uttered the unspoken question!

 And now, he was going to belt it out.

 What’s the worst that could happen? Untimely rejection, eternal pain and the small matter of depression?

 Well…

 Here goes nothing.

 “Balthy… Are you…”

 He gulped.

 “…Gay?”

 His heart skipped a beat as Cavendish’s face turned curious.

 “…No… No I don’t think so.”

 Oliver wanted to bury his face in his hands and burn all those teen magazines in the doctor’s office, when suddenly…

 “I mean… I’m not sure.”

 Oliver gave him a curious look in return.

 “Not sure?”

 Cavendish nodded slowly, thoughtful now, the still setting sun reflecting off of his glasses.

 “I guess… I mean… I honestly don’t know.”

 Suddenly he returned the question.

 “Are you?”

 Under any other circumstance, with any other person, Oliver would have denied.

 Only his dad knew, and he was sure that only he would understand.

 But here, in the shaded grove of the yew tree, with his best friend by his side, his face not judging but just wondering, he felt brave enough to say…

 “…Yes.”

 Cavendish smiled simply. “Oh, ok.”

 Oliver wasn’t sure why he was so worried. In fact, he knew that most of the world was quite more accepting these days.

 But perhaps it wasn’t Cavendish who was close minded…

 But his dad.

 “You don’t think it’s… Weird?”, Oliver asked, and Cavendish shook his head.

 “Nope! The world has changed for the better on that, Ollie!”

 Oliver smiled, but Cavendish frowned as he continued.

 “My world, though… Hasn’t.”

 Oliver was sure he knew what he meant, but he decided to let Cavendish explain himself.

 Cavendish’s eyes turned distraught and his body language resigned and melancholic as he talked.

 “My world smells of boot polish and gun powder. My world tastes of baked beans and disappointment. Its sounds are loud and disapproving, it’s closed and limiting like a cage with no exit. My dad would lose his mind if I told him anything like that.”

 “He doesn’t have much of a mind to lose, Balthy.”, Oliver joked, and Cavendish couldn’t help but laugh.

 The two boys grew silent again, only the wind breaking said silence.

 “…I think I might like both.”

 Oliver looked back silently and Cavendish looked back speaking.

 “I fancy Maura for example.”

 Oliver nodded, knowing this to be true.

 “But Mark’s pretty fetching too.”, Cavendish admitted quietly, feeling strangely ashamed, despite being next to his freshly out of the closet confidante.

 “So… You’re Bi?”, Oliver asked, twiddling his thumbs.

 Cavendish considered this, and shrugged. “I reckon.”

 Oliver nodded, but for different reasons. “Cool word.”

 The two kept staring at the distance.

 “…I want to be loved, and maybe by a man.”, Cavendish concluded, and he half laughed half sobbed.

 “My dad would kick me into the middle of a warzone for that.”

 Oliver turned to Cavendish, a little bolder. “Then… Fuck him.”

 Cavendish was startled by the rude language, and he turned to Oliver reprimending

 “Ollie! Watch your mouth!”

 “Why?”, Oliver asked, his bravery overpowering his insecurities. “We’re our own people, not the tiny soldiers marching to your Dad’s fife.”

 Oliver grasped Cavendish’s hands, making the young lad blush.

 “Balthy…”, Oliver started, his heart in his throat. “You said you’re not sure if you can have love. But your Dad’s wrong!”

 He got closer. “If that’s what he thinks, then he’s clearly a brain dead zombie with… With… With no brain, because life is all about love!”

 He neared Cavendish again, his eyes deep and his breath warm.

 Cavendish could feel it on his face and it steamed up his glasses.

 Most weird of all?

 He wasn’t totally against it.

 “Balthy… Balthazar…”, Oliver whispered, his fingers caressing Cavendish’s, making the spectacled boy warm.

 “Life… Is about giving and receiving love. It’s about…”

 Oliver implemented the message to himself for once.

 “It’s about accepting that you love others… And that they love you. And that you want to make others feel loved… And that… You deserve to be loved…”

 “I… I don’t know if I do deserve it…”, Cavendish admitted, but Oliver hushed him as he neared ever closer, lips almost touching.

 “…Well… You’ve got me fooled.”

 The two boys giggled, and, inches apart, closed their eyes.

 Lips pursed, hearts stopped, breaths bated…

 They got closer and closer…

 Until…

 “BALTHAZAR. T. CAVENDISH!”

 “Uh oh…”, Cavendish whispered, and he looked down to meet the absolutely furious face of his father, disappointment and disapproval knitted all over his face.

 Cavendish’s father didn’t need to say another word.

 His cold, hard stare said it all.

 Cavendish started to disembark the tree, and as he neared the ground he extended his hand to help Oliver down.

 But before Oliver could take the hand, it was pulled away as Cavendish was grabbed by his father, who tried to restrain the squirming child.

 “Dad, what are you doing?”, Cavendish asked, but Chief Cavendish wouldn’t say anything as he forcefully held his son, who kicked and swung wildly all over.

 “Dad, wait, I want to say bye to Ollie…”, Cavendish started, glasses now crooked on his head, confusion reigning supreme in his eyes.

 “You are.”, was the chilling answer, as the car doors were swung violently open and Cavendish was shoved in, the back of his head bonking the top of the car.

 “Ow!”, he rubbed his sore head, but clearly his father didn’t care, as he slammed the door, silencing poor Cavendish immediately.

 He then gruffly entered the seat, the thud of another slammed door making Cavendish jump in fright, a little too much in Chief Cavendish’s mind.

 “Settle the fuck down, boy!”, he shouted, and the car revved up, spewing out smoke that obscured Oliver from view, still on the branch, still reaching out his hand, in the blind hope it would be taken by Cavendish, who stared hopelessly out the car window, tears in his eyes.

 Cavendish would never get another chance to hold that hand.

 1.  Some of you will note that this chapter (and chapter 3) do not feel like they’re in the future. I delve deeper into this in the next chapter, but to clarify, the reason for all this is that Cavendish lives in a bubble of the past, and he doesn’t get to live in the future, unlike his B.O.T.T time travel companions.

2.  There is a definite contrast between this chapter and most. The rest are very depressing, while this one is almost relaxing. This is a lot because until the end of the story, these are perhaps the only moments where Cavendish is himself.

3.  Some might find the game the kids play to be pretty dumb and not very fun sounding, but there is a good reason: These children are boarding school attendees, ones who are forced to live traditional lives. In other words, any freedom is good freedom.

4.  The floaty, almost magical tone is quite fun in this one! In general, I liked making this chapter a lot, though it really began to flow when we get to the tree.

5.  There is an intended vibe from the opening scene of “Toy Story”.

6.  Cavendish, thanks to this story, has only become more complicated. He is egocentric, stuck up, pig headedly sure of himself, abject to criticism, averse to love and in general kind of a dickhead. However, his heart is good and he does mean well and deep down, he really wants to save people. He just needs some guidance and if he accepts the real Cavendish, he’ll be well on his way to becoming a true hero. I must warn you, it will take some time in this story for Cavendish to truly become a good guy, but don’t worry! He is a hero in the end!

7.  I don’t think, I know, is easily one of the main themes of the AU. Confidence is key to anything, and these deeply unconfident people need to learn this.

8.  “You’re doing it wrong” is a reference to Hermione saying this in “Harry Potter and the Philosophers/Sorcerer’s stone”.

9.  I really tried to get this slice of life British movie tone out of this scene. It was definitely different to my usual fare.

10.                   A yew tree is the oldest tree in the UK. Basically, symbolism of Cavendish still being held back by tradition and living in the past.

11.                   Cavendish getting stuck and needing help to get up (and complaining about it) is basically his whole arc: It’s not that he isn’t any good, it’s not that he has no skills. But no man is an island; If Cavendish wants a good life, he needs to accept love.

12.                   Oliver’s last name is a tribute to Alan Turing, another homosexual British man who suffered due to who he was deep down.

13.                   I must confess that I was thinking of making Oliver young Dakota for a while. However, not only would it be dumb, but also, Dakota has a… VERY tragic backstory, and let’s just say he could never go to England. Bits of this backstory are revealed here, and in future stories, you will find out all of it.

14.                   POKEMON REFERENCE IN ONE OF CAV’S LINES!

15.                   Monsters (Pistachios), Aliens (Duh) and Maniacal Overlords (The Master)

16.                   Notice that again, despite his heart being in the right place, Cavendish cares more for the honor and respect and adoration of being a hero, rather than the act of helping someone else.

17.                   Cavendish’s biggest conflict in the story is rather he should be loved or not. Thanks to his father, he is a toxic male, sure that he needs no one but himself, sure that emotion and kindness are weaknesses. The story demands that he learn to accept love, or he’ll lose.

18.                   Some might find the casual conversation about sexuality weird, but personally, I think kids are less particular about this kind of stuff until society or their families make them think it’s weird.

19.                   Reckon

20.                   I hate saying this, but as much as I like Oliver, he never comes back. This is one of the tragedy’s that shape Cavendish, and some scars never heal.

 If you thought this chapter was heavy… HOO BOY, WAIT FOR 3!

[jhope-seok]

I have a lot of things to say about Tinder.

This is a personal rant about idiot boys on tinder. So if you’d like to read my CRAZY FUCKING ESCAPADES IN THE DATING WORLD. PLEASE. GO AHEAD. CLICK READ MORE. IT’LL BE INTERESTING. And fun. To watch me implode then explode.

Warnings: mentions of sex/sexting, lots of cursing, men being disgusting--potentially triggering, and one angry ass woman.

Warning part 2: this is A LOOOONG ASS POST, probably with a lot of grammatical errors. It’s 2am. (just so we’re all aware, it’s about 2.3k worth of ranting plus pictorial evidence)

So here’s the thing about me and tinder. I’ve been on the thing since I was in college, probably around junior year when I really came into the realization of my sexuality/being a pansexual person. Keep in mind this was like.....5 or 6 years ago now. I was interested in exploring my options, exhausted from going to countless frat parties and having random makeout sessions with boys who never asked for my number, and/or went on to makeout with the next girl they found at the party. Over the years I have collected an INFLUX of over 1,000 matches. I am not saying this number to brag, I am saying this number to give you an idea of how much of a credible fucking source I am when I present my case. And my case is as such.

ALL MEN ON TINDER ARE THE FUCKING. ABSOLUTE. WORST.

For perspective I have also dabbled in the following dating apps:

OKCupid (absolutely horrid. don’t do it. the shit i went through on this app....just. don’t get me started. I could make a whole other post about the atrocities of this site)

HER (really sad option for lesbian/bi/pan/women looking for other women)

Bumble (pretty successful but forcing the woman to speak first is annoying as hell and then giving a STRAIGHT MALE ONLY 24 HOURS TO RESPOND. Utter hell.)

Hinge (just...downright annoying)

CrossPaths (for christians. Honestly a good idea. Poorly executed. Poorly advertised).

Badoo (honestly...what the fuck)

Coffee Meets Bagel (good idea; too complicated)

Skout (nope)

The Game by Hot or Not (i don’t remember using this but my phone says it’s in my cloud)

And probably some others I can’t remember

What you should take away from this list is that

I’m a needy bitch

I was VERY DESPERATE at times

And i’ve tried a LOT OF OPTIONS.

therefore: don’t comment on this saying: well this worked, well that worked, try this, try that. No. Tinder is still one of the only options that actually works consistently and will continue to work because it is one of the least complicated among the dating apps.

Now. To my point that all men on tinder are the absolute fucking worst.

Time for some examples.

I will not be using these people’s real names, because that’s just mean. So I will present them to you in cases.

Case #1:

Me and this man matched about a year and a half ago, end of 2016. We were unable to meet up because I had a bunch of plans going on--at the time I worked in a law firm and my commute was hell so i only had time to go on dates on the weekends. And being that it was december I was busy every...single...weekend. Which he was fine with! (Awww what a kind gentlemen). No.

He had made it pretty clear from the beginning that he was really only in it for the sex. which for me at the time was fine. I let him know that I didn’t just fuck around on the first date. I lived--and still do live--with my mother and so he couldn’t just come over whenever and i couldn’t just leave whenever i wanted to spend the night at his place in D.C. He said that was fine. However, apparently he was not fine with that.

We talked for a month, lots of sexting, lots of naked snaps, whatever, whatever, we were basically waiting to jump each others bones. But I had also told him that I did not fuck on the first date. I had a rule. I would not break that rule. Again, he said he was fine with that.

On our first date--in a CROWDED RESTAURANT--for brunch, he kept whispering to me about how he wanted to push all of our plates off the table and fuck me in front of all those people. I politely told him to shut up because there were people sitting less than two feet away from us and that was inappropriate for sunday brunch to be talking like that (how proper of me....). Anyways, I let him walk me to my car in a garage, and as we approached it he came up behind me and forcefully turned me around to kiss him. I was like “ooh how hot. I like this.” Anyways, I drove him to his car, we made out a little, then we went on our separate ways. We had a second date not much longer after that, where we had agreed to go out to dinner BUT that first we were gonna fuck in his car. So we met up in a garage and we waited for the cars around us to leave and then we made out, and i sucked his dick. I did N O T let him have sex with me because I was annoyed that he was trying to push me to it--he had a daddy kink--and kept saying “ooh how hard do you want daddy to fuck you”. I said “You can only fuck me when I say you can, and I say no.” thank god he respected my boundaries. So I sucked him dry, then he “MAGICALLY” got a call from his work calling him in. I barely heard from him after that. Because he told me I should come over and spend the night so we could fuck. I said no. He ghosted me.

Case #2--Who knows:

Soooo many fucking men. Have ghosted me. For no reason. Like we’ll have a good few opening lines. And then....nothing. Forever. Where in the FUCK DID YOU GO?! Did you find someone better? Did you grow uninterested with our conversation?! Did you forget how to speak the English language? Did you decide you regretted swiping on me? The worst is when they don’t unmatch you and then it’s just left there....hanging.

Case #whatever:

The fucking men who ask if it’s okay to text. And then don’t text.

I don’t even remember this dude’s NAME in the first place to omit it, but we got into an argument because he supports the store brand cheese puff that is America’s president, and I matched him only so I could yell at him (yeah I know...whatever...I like to prove my dominance and tell boys why they’re wrong. Also because half of the time I use dating apps just to have conversations with people because I’m bored). Anyways. we got in this heated debate and he was like “I like your fire, you should text me here’s my number ____” blah. So I texted him cause i was interested enough in our debate to continue it. THE BITCH NEVER ANSWERED ME. LITERALLY....FOR MONTHS. PROBABLY OVER A YEAR. And then out of fucking nOWHERE he responds like “hey who is this again?” Dude...... NO.

Case #The Never Ending Message Senders:

These men are the worst. So I should explain myself first. I don’t really ever unmatch someone unless it’s for a good reason. Like they’re being disgusting, racist, homophobic, gross, call me fat, ugly, whatever. For the most part I don’t unmatch with someone because in the old days of tinder, unmatching would just PUT THE PERSON BACK IN YOUR CIRCUIT (good job tinder). I’m assuming they did this in case you deleted your tinder, or your app crashed and you had to restart, or you accidentally unmatched someone, whatever. So I don’t unmatch for the sole reason that I don’t want these jerks, who never took the time to respond to my hello or witty opening statement, back in my playing field. I don’t revisit my old matches, I don’t try to restart conversations with them.

If only men could learn the same fucking thing. I have so many men who CONSTANTLY message me. I’m talking like once in every blue moon. It’s like they let the conversation lie for a while, and then BAM another message. The ones I do actually unmatch are the ones that don’t wait a while. They just constantly message, hour after hour after hour until I either respond or unmatch. I don’t know a woman who WOULD respond after having gotten 10 messages of the same “Hello? You there?” “Member me?” (yes one dude has actually said “member me” to me. Not “remember me”...”member me”) etc. etc. in the course of a few hours. Take the hint dude. Please. I don’t enjoy being ghosted, but I know when to take a hint.

A perfect example of such case is the following!

(Context: I just updated the pictures in my tinder account today! So through tinder’s cool new facebook timeline! you can see when your matches update their profiles. to scroll through and judge them even further to see if they’ve gotten cuter or uglier through time).

Please take note of the dates attached to the message. For clarification, “today” is August 27th, 2018!

I have since unmatched him. Buddy. Please. Take the hint. (Also, how fucking creepy of him to say that I’ve gotten closer since a while back....like are you tracking my distance every time you message me? Please dear lord, no).

Case #THE IDIOTS WHO WAIT YEARS TO RESPOND.

This. THIS. THIIIIIS RIGHT HERE. IS WHAT HAS GOT MY BLOOD BOILED SO MUCH I NEEDED TO MAKE THIS POST. THE FUCKING IDIOTS WHO MATCH WITH ME. AND THEN CLAIM THAT THEY DELETED THEIR TINDER. OR THAT THEY LOST THEIR PHONE. JUST REDOWNLOADED. DIDN’T SEE MY MESSAGE. FOR FUCKING. YEARS.

OOOOOOOH BOY. You’ve gotta have some damn nerve to pull that shit. If you lost the app, deleted it, got a new phone, WHATEVER. Your profile would not continue to show up on the matching feed. People would not be able to swipe on your face to find that they matched with you. You would not exist in the eyes of tinder. You would be GONE from the system.

So don’t pull that shit with me. So many dudes have had the audacity to pull this shit with me, and when I call them out on it, most of the time I get either one of three responses: they say “oof yeah I’m sorry, I’m a dick can we move on?”, “Hahaha sorry” and then they continue to ghost me, or people who pull the shit I listed above.

These next photos are from THE SAME DAY AS THE PREVIOUS PHOTOS. Please take note of the date of the first message. (“today” in this sense is technically August 28, 2018 because it’s past midnight.)

Although I deleted his name, I gotta say. My insult was pretty on point. Anyways.

Like how the fuck can you live with yourself with that fucking lie?! Own up to that shit. Be like “yep oops sorry, didn’t think you were cute the first time but this snapchat filter making u look damn good” like don’t be a DOUCHE DUDE. Men are just honestly so fucking frustrating. And yes you better fucking believe I sent that reason for unmatching to tinder. You best fucking BELIEVEEEEEEE I did that. I’m so fucking mad at men. Like how in the hell.

I’ve HONESTLY had better luck matching with MARRIED COUPLES on tinder than I have had with straight men. Married couples at least know how to respect people. God damn.

YOUR MOTHERS DID NOT RAISE YOU TO BE LIKE THIS, MEN. LEARN HOW TO BE DECENT HUMAN BEINGS. JESUS CHRIST.

All in all, if you’ve ever toyed with the idea of downloading tinder: Don’t. Stay out of the fucking awful shit that is Tinder and dating apps for as long as you can. I have my settings set up to men in their 30s, and honestly older men do not mean more mature men. Just absolutely frustrating.

Also, as an addendum: 

Case #Don’t put my height in my bio/or do and say “Cause I guess it’s important/matters”

To all males on the planet earth: PUT. YOUR. FUCKING. HEIGHT. IN. YOUR. BIO. It fucking matters. As a tall as woman, it is so fucking annoying to match with a cute dude and then have them say “Hey I’m 5′2″ is that okay?” um....no. I’m sorry buddy. That is not okay. I have strict height limits for this ride and 5′2″ does not pass the riding restrictions.

We’re gonna call in a CELEBRITY SHOT for this story, I matched with this dude on bumble who didn’t have his height in his profile. (Context: my bumble profile says “5′10″ cause it doesn’t matter” <--a nice jab at all the straight dudes out there) and we go about having this great conversation, we’re clicking, he knows one of my friends from college, we bond, we go on a date. THE FIRST THING OUT OF THIS ASSHOLE’S MOUTH ON OUR DATE WAS “WOW. You’re taller than I expected.” BITCH HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CAN U READ. IT’S THE FIRST THING IN MY BIO.

Sub case: I once had a guy match with me, tell me he was shorter than me, then asked me if I would be okay owning him as my slave. I understand and respect everyone’s fetishes, considering I have a slight dominance fetish as well, but a hello would have been nice first.

Thanks for coming to my ted talk.

[elizabethrobertajones]

I stumbled across my own old post from when I ranked all spn seasons in order of my favorite to least and realized I need to figure out where to add s12... was wondering if you had such a ranking and what it is?

Oh no :P That’s a tough one. I’m still thinking about what @k-vichan said on @superspecpod about liking the emotional/motw stuff of season 12 a LOT but ranking the overall plot really really low. (And I just watched 12x15 so I’m freshly annoyed about this exact thing because Perez tried SO MUCH HARDER than he needed to to make the Crowley and Lucifer stuff interesting and to make it go somewhere - anywhere other than 2 more episodes of Lucifer sitting around chained to a chair in a boring room exchanging the same old samey dialogue - so the rest of the Buckleming episodes after just make it like a lesson in not trying so hard because you can coast by on about 3% of the effort >.>)

Maybe it’s time to start getting more nuanced because it’s really hard to decide and there are other seasons which aren’t so starkly split but still have an imbalance in my eyes. I’ll rank them out of 10 for those categories.

So I guess season 12 is 10/10 for motw, probably like 9/10 for emotional arcs and 1/10 for plot, no offence to Berens and Dabb but… Yikes. 12x13 retroactively ruined 6x04 and somehow 9x21 as well and I didn’t think 9x21 was a strong episode to start with… Other plot episodes in the same season don’t stand a chance. I’m putting the good work into “emotional arcs” from those episodes and backing off, although I’ll allow stuff like the good parts of the plot stuff that affected the emotional arcs some leeway into being enjoyable, like all the times the BMoL were used WELL for family drama. (I did also just watch 12x16 after all.) Overall 20/30

Season 11 I thought had some great motw but also some more average ones… Nothing terrible but there were several which were quite rote, so maybe like 8/10, average lifted by Robbie and Nancy Won specifically for 11x04 and 11x19 :P The emotional arc was fairly simple and stretched waaay too long and some parts not resolved, and the whole ikkiness of 16 year old looking Amara hitting on Dean which even when I didn’t think they’d use it as a proper romance arc was horrendously off-putting for the things we SHOULD have cared about, so maybe 5/10. The plot I think was good despite the emotional arc it created being a drag so 9/10 because I really enjoyed watching along with it for the basic drama and twists like Casifer and the hands of god to fill space with decent pacing in the middle, because it generally tied into interesting episodes, and bringing Chuck back and wrapping up was a nice way to raise the stakes and finish the story. Overall 22/30

Season 10 didn’t have any stellar motw except 10x05 - the rest were mostly tolerable-to-good but I can’t give it over 5/10 for the experience because many were plagued by… The emotional arc, which through sheer attrition ends up at like 2/10 and the only redeeming episodes on that were 10x14 for the plot and 10x22 for remembering Cas had a point to be in the season even if it was horrific to watch. But this is the plot that “went where the story took them” so ick, 3/10. Also, the demon!Dean stuff is great but in a bang your fork on the table and yell for more way, which means it’s the only reason I changed this from a 2 to a 3 because I literally forget 10x01-3 aren’t a mini season all on their own, but they still had Cole in them so it’s not going higher than that :P 10/30

Season 9 I literally quit watching over the MotW and the sort of sticky, itchy feeling they have is even worse than season 10 throughout the season, buuut 9x06 and 9x19 are in there. But Bloodlines was a motw. Let’s call it 4, give Berens a consolation cookie, and move on >.> The emotional arc is very strong and I love it a lot even though it’s all angsty and miserable, mostly because I skipped from 9x05 to 9x18 with a quick easy marathon through the Gadreel fight instead of watching along, and then read all the meta on it at once, and it’s got an excellent Destiel plot which a huge amount of the season rides on, so 10/10 because I said so. The plot, as well, flounders in the middle a bit for the angel wars but I think the Mark of Cain is a GOOD part of THIS side of the season and the demon!Dean build up and reveal was excellent, so I’d say 9/10 because once you apply the “Metatron wrote everything the angels do” theory it mostly all scrapes by. Ignoring the MotW, I usually put this as one of my favourite seasons despite the fact I ragequit it once. Overall 23/30

Season 8 has good MotW for the most part but there’s some eh ones and there’s ones I skip so hard I forget they’re part of canon, like the other weird dog episode, so maybe only 6/10. Robbie has another good year. I like Bitten, fight me :P Emotional arcs are much more painful - I’ve read all the meta on the Sam hit a dog fight but unlike the Gadreel one which I find interesting and complex, it bums me out AND feels manufactured, so 8x17 has got to prop the whole thing up to 5/10. The main plot is good. I love Kevin and the trials and Metatron’s introduction and Crowley as a main antagonist. 9/10 with a point deducted for letting Abaddon out and leaving the hell/purgatory portal open. Overall 20/10

Season 7 is a sneaky fave of mine as well because I’m awful :P Buckleming return and write MotW but Robbie arrives on the scene and I think bats a perfect game on his first try. So 7/10 because the other writers also weren’t awful and Plucky’s happened this season. I also think the emotional arc is harrowing but because I mostly remember this season through rewatches where it was all okay and I never knew Cas wasn’t supposed to be gone for good so his return seems waaay more Destiel to me than it might if you didn’t think the entire season was just manufactured to make Dean sad about Cas then give him back, 8/10. And the Leviathan plot was really nicely handled as a season-long big bad who caused a serious and damaging effect to their lives but then they scrounged up all their resources and killed Dick and also the main plot was a series of Dick jokes. so 10/10. 24/30

Season 6 on the other hand… 2/10 for MotW because this was just a resounding failure to make the MotW part of the main plot on the Eve arc but then make it all low budget dragons and spider dudes and mannequins and what have you. UGH. But there IS the fairy episode and it’s the one dang episode with no relevance to anything at all that season except Sam happens to be soulless in it which just adds to the fun. I am a bit uncertain about the emotional arc - it’s miserable for the most part and I am sad about Dean and Lisa being a disaster and going through all the steps of it being terrible. Dean is *buried* in everyone’s angst and problems and it doesn’t even really serve a purpose or let him break. The light in the dark is 6x20 which is going to haul this all the way up from what would have been like a 2 to 5. The plot is also a disaster and VISIBLY a disaster and even 6x20 has some tiny holes and stretches that can’t make it ALL work, though Edlund gives it his best. On the other hand “plot episodes” include Weekend at Bobby’s, Appointment in Samarra, The French Mistake, My Heart Will Go On, and Frontierland, and I am DYING for another season which delivers its main plot through crack episodes of utter gold star nonsense quality. I begrudingly give 7/10 but it’s marking up from like… 3 or something, instead of down from 10 :P Overall 14/30

Season 5… has awful MotW. I’m sorry, it does. All the ones that look like MotW but then turn out to be plot episodes are great (well, except for 5x09), but all the ones that stay MotW are like… Curious Case of Dean Winchester. Swap Meat. Blaaaaah. 3/10. I skip everything that isn’t about the apocalypse properly when I watch - thankfully there aren’t a whole lot of them. Emotional arc is the pay off of 5 years work and it doesn’t make me cry but it is a pretty great heaping of good emotional arc tying up and probably why a lot of the following seasons are wonky or go for manufactured drama to boot up the story properly. 10/10. Plot is almost omnipresent, mostly well-delivered, and although it is too melodramatic for “we literally knew we had a season 6 lined up” with a side order of “it definitely was meant to look like this all the way through and we didn’t cram in any last minute retcons or deuz ex machinas ha ha” *sweats nervously*, at least the original watch was a MEMORABLE JOURNEY so I give it 9/10 with a side-eye for rewatching and also with hindsight attempting to finish the story 1 or 8 seasons and counting from a reasonable place. Overall 22/30

Season 4 is my favourite but it has 4x11 aka “we want to intentionally write an episode so bad they’ll never air it and no one will watch it haha isn’t this a lark” right in the middle, so 9/10 for motw, 10/10 and 10/10 for everything else. Can you even explain season 4 to people who don’t get it? :P 29/30

Season 3 has the best motw to plot episodes ratio aside from season 12 probably. A WHOLE bunch of classics and only really 2 I dislike in it so I’d give it 8/10 because it is allowed to coast on those, and it’s about to take a hammering for emotional arc, because like season 10 it’s got a simple purpose that Dean Is Not Okay And Sam Wants To Save Him, which combines the same angry, reckless Dean and desperate miserable Sam, only then gets a writers’ strike bang in the middle so they’re even more frustrated and miserable and to no good end so 1/10. And I have a personal grudge against the show for ending forever after sending Dean to Hell because it got cancelled after the strike and I had to live with that for nearly 3 years before it turned out this was not, in fact, what had happened. 1/10 for the inevitable tanking of what looked like a strong start and just no way to salvage it but admit defeat and wait for season 4. Overall 10/30 

Season 2 is just 10/10 for motw, 10/10 for emotional arc and … maybe like 8 or 9 out of ten for plot. Let’s go with 8 with hindsight that season 4 and 5 trashed Azazel’s hard work so hard I see all the time people wondering “why did he have to go to SO MUCH trouble” and the only conclusion I got is “for shits and giggles” or to waffle about how no one knew anything for certain. (The other problem is that so much of what happens isn’t explained, and it saves a point because Croatoan finally got an answer *3* years later.) But I love season 2. Simple and gets the job done and hollows you out along the way and the much stronger follow up to the first season to really explore the characters and their trauma with a much better understanding of them. Overall 28/30.

Season 1 is more mixed for motw. They’re almost all of the episodes but Bugs and Racist Truck deserve the slamming Word of God keeps giving them in the story because they ARE racist and poorly plotted and relying on chance resolutions. I like the urban legends and the different feel it has to any other season as they find their feet with easy hunts but I don’t think a lot of them are classics in the same way season 2 episodes feel much more firmly covered in the show’s fingerprints because these are the patterns they go on to subvert or explore in much more abstract ways. Maybe 8/10. Characterisation is shaky and one note compared to later on some things, and the emotional arc is simple but also relies on John just not talking to them to the point of frustration and Sam and Dean are so isolated it’s claustrophobic at times. 7/10. But plot is simple and works and is the best hook to watch all the rest so 10/10. Overall 25/30

…

and yeah, adding up reasons I like the season against reasons I don’t, season 12 is way more watchable to me than season 10 even though they literally committed the same off-putting crime in the 21st episode both times. Other seasons score much worse for just being kinda meh or having two out of the three main reasons I enjoy something be really bad, like season 3 or 6, so even though there’s stuff I love in them, I think they’re worse overall seasons… 

I don’t know why I spent so much time on this. :P Lack of will to do anything else. Thanks for letting me ramble at you if you read this far :P

[topicprinter]

I grew up watching a show called Ali G. It’s undoubtedly one of the greatest masterpieces of the early 2000s. If you haven’t seen it you’re either 13 years old, over 65, or have terrible taste in TV. Seriously it’s that good of a show.The show involved a guy interviewing a bunch of intellectuals and acting like a complete dumbass during it. Guests even included a young Donald Trump [1], to who Ali pitched the idea of an ice cream glove. Needless to say The Don didn’t invest.Ali would dress like a moron, mispronounce the simplest of words, and say the most absurd roll-on-the-floor-funny things. If you’re not familiar with the show go to Youtube and watch a few clips. [3]Here’s the crazy thing. 90% of interviewees came away thinking Ali was the moron. The idiots couldn’t identify the clear-as-daylight joke being played, nor could they see the fun side of it all. They were so rigid and detached from reality they took everything literally. In turn they came of looking like complete morons..The Dumbest People Always Think They’re The Smartest.Despite the interviewees coming off as stick-up-the-ass stiffs to anyone who watched them, rest assured they came away believing they were smarter than ever. After all meeting such a buffoon like Ali only reinforced how smart and intellectually superior they were.In short they were blind to reality.This is exactly how 90% of the entrepreneur community is. Complete morons. Yet they can’t see it. Let me explain.The whole theme of the entrepreneur sphere is work work work. Focus focus focus. Sacrifice everything. Work 18 hour days, work 7 days a week, work holidays. Don’t buy coffees – instead save the $3 and invest it. Discussions about whether being married or having girlfriends affects success. Don’t take vacations. Sleep 3 hours a day…. And so on.Basically live a life like shit.Don’t get me wrong, I get the premise. The thought being work hard and sacrifice a good time now, for a phenomenal time in the future. I understand the theory completely.The problem with this is two-fold.First, less than 2% of budding entrepreneurs ever become even financially well-off. By this I mean having enough money and savings to live out the last 15 years of their lives without working. The success rate is rock bottom.Second, it’s nothing short of insanity to work away the best years of your life. Time can’t be replaced my friend. It’s about the only thing that can’t. If you’ve ever look back on periods of your life and thought you should’ve used them better – or ever felt old – then guess what this horrid mentality will bite you in the dick later on. This high-work mediocre-pay setup is the ultimate waste of life..Don’t Work Away The Best Years Of Your Life. But Also Don’t Give Up On Earning Money.The world is beautiful baby. Friends, people and lovers are what makes life worth living. There’s fun in the simplest of things. Splashing about in a beautiful clearwater ocean, “wasting” a lazy Sunday afternoon watching a dumb comedy eating pizza, getting drunk and acting like clowns with your friends. That’s what life’s about.NEVER sacrifice all of that just for money. But at the same time understand pizzas, vacations, and hauling your drunk asses into taxis cost money. And the more money you have the more you’ll be able to enjoy the world.Money matters my friend. Anyone saying otherwise is deluded (or wishes it were true so they could be at ease with their lack of money).I’ve always hated the saying “Money can’t buy you happiness”[3]. That’s asking too much from money. But there’s no doubt money helps support happiness if you used smartly – whereas poverty doesn’t..So… What Should You Do?.I didn’t write this article to give you a step-by-step solution. It’s simply a reminder to balance what matters in your life.I quit my office job three years ago because it was killing my soul. I was working something I hated, and giving up my health, relationships and livelihood to do it. I was missing out on the world and what really mattered to me. It’s why I left to work for myself.Admittedly I much preferred working for myself, but it was still at the expense of everything else. I was working every day and barely did or met anyone else. At least before I had my weekends.My bliss came from learning to cut down my hours, by learning to charge a shitload more.In 2014 I was charging between £20-30 an hour – and worked around 45 billable hours [4]. It brought me around £3600 a month. It was mayhem. I felt burnt out. It was shit.Compare this with last year where I worked 19 billable hours total per week. I charged between £100 to £205 per hour and got all the work done from Mon to Wed, giving me four days off to do what I wanted. I brought in close £11,000 a month, and had the time to do more of what I loved. As a result my friendships and relationships with my wife and family have deepened, not to mention I look and feel great.This year I’ve got 4 hours billed at £280 an hour a piece (that’s £4480 guaranteed a month). And I’m hoping to pick up 4 or 5 hours more. And I’m going to get all my work done and dusted on a Monday, and take the other 6 days off to do whatever I want. I’m expecting to earn £8,500 a month.It’s less but who gives a fuck when I get 6 days off. It’s more than plenty to cover expenses, live a life of relative luxury, and put away a big chunk so I can retire hopefully in my 40s (I’m currently 30 years old).For me learning the skill of charging more for what I do has single-handedly transformed my life..The Art Of Charging (Lots) More Money Per Hour.Not everyone is comfortable with charging more money. They either feel secretly guilty to charge so much more than they currently are, or think it’s not possible to get anyone to pay them the kind of fees I’ve talked about.The guilt is a personal issue. Some people mentally can’t bring themselves around to charging a higher fee – even if they have someone who’s willing to pay them. They just wouldn’t be able to quote the fee. If that’s you, I can’t help with that. Either you feel guilty or you don’t. If you do I doubt it’s possible to charge the “super-fees” I’m talking about.If you’re ok with charging the money, but don’t think it’s possible to charge that much – then my friend you are wrong. I understand the thinking, but it’s absolute rubbish.Most people think you need to be an expert to charge mega bucks. They think it takes years of qualifications, experience or you need to have some sort of “reputation” before they have the right to charge even double the average. This is utter crap. You’re self-employed. Nobody chooses this but you.For the record I work in the UK, in an industry where the national average is £22/hour for what I do. You’ll barely see anyone charge even £35/hour. For some reason £30/hour is considered the top-end.As mentioned I have charged £205/hour for what I do. In October I have 4 hours confirmed at £280/hour. Grab a calculator, that’s over 12 times the national average. And remember I only have 3 years of the supposedly sacred “experience” under my belt.Don’t make any mistake about the quality of my work. I’m good at what I do. Truth is most people in any field are shit at what they do. The “average” market rate reflects crap work. If you’re not shit at what you do you should be charging more.There’s always someone willing to spend big money to find the right person. Believe me people piss away big money on dumber things all the time… (Just think of low income people queuing up in their thousands to buy the newest iPhone).Anyway that’s enough for now. Hopefully this little ramble has opened your eyes to the dumbness of working your life away, and more importantly to that you can and should charge more (assuming you can actually do what you claim to).SIDE RAMBLE POINTS FROM POST ABOVE[1] I’m not pro-trump nor am I anti-trump like much of the fundamental left-winged corners of internet and by no means want to be associated with that crap on either side. I respect any man who’s made something of himself – but have absolutely no care for politics. Saying that watch Ali Pitch to Trump here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkuOuxRD1Bc[2] Who knows, maybe this birthed Dragons Den (or Shark Tank for you American readers)[3] Trust me it’s better than the poor ball-less excuses for comedies like Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mum[4] A tired cliché spewed by many including my mum. Did I mention we grew up kinda poor for a while? (Now I think about it, she seemed to say it less once my dad made some more money. Hmmm…)[5] I say billable hours, because I worked outside of that preparing stuff. I estimate it was around 15 hours, so likely worked 60-odd hour weeks. It was a piece of shit time..If you want to learn what I've learnedIf you liked the post and found it helpful or insightful in some way then please upvote and leave a comment. It takes a buttload of time and effort to churn out one of these articles. You pour your heart into it, and a comment means the world to a writer. Otherwise it's like writing for a brick wall.I'm also in the process of writing my new ebook The 10 Dark Laws of Charging (and Getting) Monster-Fees.You can grab it by heading over to my site The High Fee Club and entering the asked details in the sidebar (or bottom of page if viewing on mobile).I warn you in advance that I will ask for your email. That's completely your choice. Remember, I'm not sticking a gun to your head.The book contains the methods and strategies which have worked for me. Every word in the book comes from personal experience. The material inside isn't always pretty, but it works. You won't see me regurgitating material I know nothing about. It's 100% Free but I do ask for your email address. (Simply enter your details into the website sidebar - or at the bottom of the page if you're viewing it on a mobile device)By all means feel free to ask any questions. I'm out and about the whole day so won't be back for a good few hours, but I'd love to answer any cool questions once I'm back.