Game of Thrones - The Broken Man

It's been a couple days now since the release of the seventh episode of Game of Thrones season 6 - however, if you haven't watched it, DON'T READ ON - MAJOR SPOILERS.

Okay? Okay. So, I'm going to start off by saying, I never actually thought the Hound had died. If someone dies on Game of Thrones, you're usually there for the entire grisly, bloody thing. There's usually some kind of confirmation of the fact; even despite the hype and confusion and doubt around Jon Snow's season 5 death, the blank look in his eyes and the blood (oh so much blood) was pretty telling that he had actually been killed. But we never got to know what happened to the Hound after Arya left him to die. And that made me suspicious from the get-go, because it just isn't the way things work on Game of Thrones. Also, we were all told that a "much-beloved character" would be returning to the show after a few seasons off. People of course speculated it was the Hound; some people thought it was Benjen Stark after he appeared in the sixth episode, but we saw him for maybe three episodes in season 1, so I didn't really think that statement was about him. So, when the Hound showed up, it wasn't such a big deal - that, and I had never really liked him as a character anyway (shock and horror, I know). I liked him in his interactions with Arya, but I found him rather dull as a character. I hope they get to do some more developing for him. Hope he goes off and kills the Brotherhood Without Banners. That'd be fun.

I was sort of light-hearted and happy when Arya started making moves to return to Westeros - I was all like "Stark Reunion!" and emotions were flying. And then she got stabbed. Pretty fucking brutally. And I was like "oh". But the episode didn't end with her dying, so I'm holding out hope still. I really hate that Waif bitch - she's a total cow. I hope she gets hers, somehow, someday. I wouldn't go so far as to say Arya's a favourite of mine, but I've always really enjoyed watching her storylines. She's always been so brilliantly vicious, and totally against the expected norms of the setting. Ultimate feminist icon - but then, you all know that. It's why she's basically everyone's favourite. She's just too cool. So, I'm holding my breath and just hoping the next episode doesn't break my heart. The Starks deserve a happy ending more than anyone else on this bloody show. Too many of them have died already.

I think there's a new favourite on this show. I'm sorry, but for all the action (inaction) in this episode, it was clear that Lady Lyanna Mormont had stolen the show. Ten years old and probably more capable of ruling than anyone we've yet seen on the show. I love how she just gives Jon and Sansa a piece of her mind - I lost faith in them for a couple of seconds. A little girl weakened their goal to the extent that Davos had to come in and save the day for them. OMG. Jon really doesn't know what to do around high-born ladies, does he? Watching him get tongue-tied as a result of a couple words from the mouth of a little girl was funny, but slightly sad. Like, grow up Jon. For the first time since season 1 I found Sansa a little annoying - she's been so badass and "take-back-the-North" that to see her sort of behave the way she had for the past five seasons was a little irritating. I was sort of like, "grow a spine already". I don't know why the hell she's letting Jon do all the talking, seeing as a) he isn't very good at talking to nobles and b) he's not a Stark. Like she said - she is a Stark. She should do something for herself. And apparently people are wondering who she wrote a letter to at the end of her segment. Well, she's sent Brienne to Riverrun, so it wasn't the Blackfish. It wouldn't be another minor Northern family, seeing as a) they would've been introduced at some point already to make a bigger impact and b) you don't want to risk Ramsay finding out. It's obviously Petyr Baelish. He has skilled Knights at his command; he wants to make reparations for setting up Sansa and Ramsay; he obviously has a creepy, perverted fixation with the daughter of his lost love Catelyn. So my money's on him. We'll see.

And we come to Jaime and the Blackfish at the Riverlands. Honestly, the most boring part of the episode. Not because of the Blackfish, no, nor because of any of the Frey soldiers (they were funny to watch) - because of Jaime. He's an asshole, he's a little sick in the head, but I just really love his character. But not at the moment. He was just so weak in this episode; he's gone soft. Where's the Jaime who spent ages locked up by the Starks and still had something snarky to say? Where's the Jaime who took pleasure in irritating the fuck out of Brienne? Where's the Kingslayer? Nowhere I can see. I hope he straps on a pair of balls and gets shit done. But at the same time, I don't want the Lannisters to win. I hate Cersei - I was almost sympathetic when she did her walk of atonement, but then I was like "nah". I hope the Blackfish holds onto Riverrun, honestly. It IS his home, regardless of what a bastard boy on a pointy throne might say. And I loved Bronn in this episode - "Don't say it. Don't fucking say it." I've already seen memes of this. Bronn rules, hands-down. Don't worry, Bronn; you'll get your castle and your highborn lady.

I don't exactly hate Tommen, but I definitely don't like him. He's weak; it's pathetic to watch him be manipulated by others. Super amusing when Margaery does it though. I've always liked Margaery; I admit that that was initially because of the actress who played her rather than the character herself. Natalie Dormer was in The Tudors before she was on Game of Thrones, playing Anne Boleyn, and her role in that was absolutely amazing. I felt all the feels. So when I heard she was on Game of Thrones, I was like "YES!" because I needed to see more of her epic period acting. But I was slightly horrified by the events of this and the previous episodes - I didn't want to believe she was that breakable, that the High Sparrow had knocked down everything that made her awesome and powerful and just really entertaining to watch. She was so... pious. Irritatingly so. And I thought, the Sparrow would've had to do a hell of a lot more than what he did to achieve such a conversion. I had almost lost all hope until I saw her slip that piece of paper into Olenna Tyrell's hand. A rose. The symbolism was clear - her allegiance was still to her family. The Sparrow had not broken her. In fact, she was manipulating him, as she manipulates everyone. I totally fist pumped the air when I realised this. I hope she does something about Tommen though, because I almost prefer Joffrey to this. Joffrey would have had that old coot executed long before he had made himself at home in King's Landing. He was cruel and slightly crazy, but he wasn't as gullible as his younger brother. Sigh. The day has come when I actually miss the bastard.

The Greyjoy scenes were an eye-opener. For once, female nudity is treated with a different goal in mind; rather than nudity for the sake of nudity, it plays an important function in developing Yara Greyjoy. She always did act rather manly; in the show she certainly looks rather manly. So it does make sense that she is homosexual. Got to admit, I really love her character - I have a crush on her, yes I do. And I love the way she takes care of Theon. It was a big turning point for him, this episode - or so I hope. He lost that little puppy look and straightened up - he looked a lot like the Theon of old in that moment. I was so happy, because Theon's had the shit end of the stick for too bloody long. It's about time things start to go right for the poor guy. I was super excited at the prospect of an alliance between the Greyjoys and Daenerys; I liked the idea when Euron proposed it, though I didn't like him as a candidate for marriage to her. Not good enough. But Yara and Theon banding up with Dany; I can get on board with that. Sansa and Theon are (sort of) friends now, so that would happen in turn, and one big alliance might hopefully form. We know Dany does make it to Westeros - in Game of Thrones, perhaps this is how. They haven't got there yet, so it might not happen. Knowing the luck of the characters on this show it's equally as likely that they drown at sea or something.

So, this episode wasn't quite as action-packed as the last one, nor did it reveal a hell of a lot, but I do think it's an important one. We learn a little more about how Jon and Sansa are approaching recruitment; we learn the Hound has come back, and that Arya is coming home (hopefully); we learn that Jaime is a pussy and Margaery is epic; we learn that a super-cool alliance may be about to be formed. Next episode is going to be action-packed by the looks of the preview. Can't wait!

Thanks for reading!

Some Insta photos for you!

I went on a kinda rampage with the whole glam shots of FUNKO Pops. If the Game of Thrones guys can do it and look cool so can I (lol jokes - I'm never going to be one quarter as cool as they are). Check me out at geek_aesthetic!

You know nothing, Jon Snow.

Featuring Margaery Tyrell, because she doesn't have a tagline as cool as Jon's.

Jon Snow Funko Pop! - Series 4 Castle Black Jon (muddy variant).

I was super pleased with this Pop! The detailing was excellent, and I really loved the muddy paint they sort of slapped over his armour. They gave him a weather-worn costume as well, which I find super realistic and cool. I got this Pop! because of the eyebrows; I love Jon, he's one of my favourites, but I wasn't really feeling his other Pop!s. They just didn't really look like him; with the broody intense eyebrows though, it's really easy to tell just who this figure is! There's a little bleeding on the hairline, and the sword is a little bendy, but I'm really quite fine with that, and the quality is overall pretty perfect.

I also got a Margaery Tyrell Pop! because I really admire her character. Sure, she's a scheming manipulative bitch, but she'd be boring if she was just nice. The way she plays Joffrey and Cersei like a pair of fiddles, though - fantastic. Really love this Pop!, the detailing is super fantastic, and I love how they included Natalie Dormer's 'piggy' nose. So cute!

Margaery Tyrell Funko Pop! - Series 6 Margaery.

I got these from Popcultcha.com; the shipping price was really decent, and these arrived within two days of the warehouse guys shipping them out. I was pretty happy with the quality; more so on the Margaery figure than the Jon Snow one, because there's a little bit of discolouration on the Jon Snow, but oh well. Perhaps that can be attributed to the muddiness of this variation. Overall, I'm really happy to be adding these two to my GoT Pop! collection.

Thanks for reading!

My new Funko Pop... Jaime Lannister!

Jaime Lannister Funko Pop! - Series 5 Golden Hand Jaime.

I seriously have an addiction to these things - but I couldn't help myself, he was just so damn cute. Got to confess, I really didn't like Jaime in Season 1 or 2; he only really became bearable after he lost his hand. Some big character growth from losing that hand, and the scenes with Brienne were really funny to watch!

So I got this Pop of Jaime for a couple reasons, the first being I like his character better in the series after he lost his hand. Also, because the original figure of Jaime (Kingsguard/Knight Jaime) looked really weird online, he had some strange reddish tint to his face and a greenish tint to his hair that clashed big time, so I was like "NO". It was pretty generic, too - you could probably assume he was in any medieval movie/series; there wasn't really anything tying him to Game of Thrones.

I got this Jaime in the store at my university. Most WA universities (I'm not sure about interstate) have this shop - the Co-op Shop, I believe. Anyway, it's great; it has everything from textbooks, reading books and clothes to food, stationery and gift items. It also has an entire wall of Pop Funko figures, and they like to sort them into categories at mine. Makes it super easy to figure out where to find what it is I want. There isn't a hell of a lot of them - any EB Games would have loads more in-store - but they're really great for GoT and Doctor Who, and Harry Potter, because you can't really find Pops from those franchises in stores here. You usually have to order online. Although, I did see a Cersei Lannister and Ramsay Bolton in my local EB Games the other day - but I'm guessing that's only because no one wanted them (the obvious reason - Cersei's a total cow and Ramsay's a creepy sick bastard, no pun intended). You really only find Avengers and Adventure Time in the major game shops, which sucks, and specialty stores usually overprice them WAY too much to bother.

So the Co-op Shop is super great for those main categories - they have an online shop too, which I only found out recently. I was really happy with the price I paid - Co-op discounts them, so what is usually around $20 here actually becomes $17. Three extra dollars is a lot when you're broke and starving! Also, because I paid a stupid amount of money to get a plastic card that tells me I'm a member of the shop, I got the price further reduced to $14! I was really stoked, and I got to buy myself a fancy pen because I forgot to bring my pens to my lecture today. I'm definitely going to buy more often from there - they don't have a lot of variation, but maybe I'll get to like some of the characters they stock (a rule for me - I don't complete collections, I buy characters I like, makes it a LOT less stressful for me).

I may do a review of something soon. Maybe Funko Pops in general; maybe I'll do a talk on Game of Thrones (though I don't really know what I have to contribute to a conversation that, as far as I know, is deeply political and very much heated for a fictional series based in an imaginary world with dragons). Tomorrow, apparently my Margaery and Jon Snow Pops are arriving, so I'll probably do a post then. Jon Snow and Dany are pretty much tied for favourite character at the moment, so... (Sansa too - I don't know why people hate her so much).

Thanks for reading!

Pop Vinyls

I'm really really sorry about the long absence. God, how long has it been? I dunno.

Everything's been super hectic lately. I started university!!!!!! I again changed my mind and decided to do teaching. So, I'm studying a Bachelor of Education for Secondary Schooling at Edith Cowan University, majoring in English and minoring in Social Studies (like geography, politics, history and economics). I'm super excited about it, and I'm having so much fun at university - it's a lot more laid back than high school was, and I'm only there on Mondays and Tuesdays this semester. I have a whole day - 8:30am to 4:30pm - on Mondays!!! It kills, because I'm a teenager and my sleep patterns tend more towards staying up late and waking up late than the opposite. I'm usually about to fall asleep by the time I get into my Discovering Literature lecture.

I have friends too! Wow, the fact that it sounds as though it's surprising is rather sad. I mean, someone I knew from high school is going to the same uni as me, doing the same major and minor courses, and taking all the same classes as me this year! I was so excited, I thought I'd be alone. But I also gained three new friends, people from other schools (and other parts of the state). So I'm happy with that.

I've submitted all my assignments so far super early - I'm usually a procastinator, but I have a thing for excessive Word document formatting and uni requires HEAPS, it's unbelievable. I'm Monica with a formatting fetish instead of a cleaning one. And I've already done an in-class assessment and got High Distinction for it! I'm really happy with myself. And for the first time I feel completely independent of my family, which is another big thing for me - in high school parents are really involved, but uni is all individual and I have to deal with everything myself. It's great.

So, my depression got a little worse during the first few months of this year. I guess it was because of inaction - I legit had nothing to do, because the unemployment rates in my area are unbelievable right now. I've been applying for about a year now, but its all been in the city, because there's just nothing. Nothing. I almost got a job in a bookstore I LOVE, but my uni hours interfered. That's another spanner in the works. I don't know if I'm ever going to get a job - the sad thing is I'm serious. But I've posted about 12 different application letters to random businesses in the area and in the city, I'm so desperate, and there's an opening in a local electronics store for people like me, so I hope that comes through. It's right next to a stationery store, and across the road from the games shop, so I'm game.

Anyway, I'm watching Game of Thrones. I just decided, you know, I'm not going to ask permission because I'm an adult now and I have to start making my own decisions. If you knew me you'd know me doing something like watching an R-rated TV show without permission was formerly a big deal for me. But I guess I don't need permission or validation anymore, I'm doing pretty great. I'm up to season 4 almost. Just one more episode of season 3. And I can confidently say I both hate and love George R R Martin. I won't say anything in case you haven't seen it, but yeah.

With that in mind, I've recently cultivated an obsession with Pop Vinyls by the brand Funko. You've probably heard of them. I always thought they were so cute, but shied away from getting some because you know, they're toys, and I'm an adult and yeah. But I got a couple Harry Potter ones for my birthday last year (Harry and Hermione, my friends know me so well) and I basically started collecting. I'll probably post photos of them when I can be bothered.

But I've wanted a particular one for a long time - Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones. I always loved her character, even watching her storyline on Youtube back when I wasn't actually allowed to see the series. I know a lot of people find her annoying - let's be real, she kinda is - but the entire series is about subverting tropes, and the whole noble, infallible ruler thing is totally negated by a few character defects amongst a sea of potential great. She's kick-ass and gorgeous and slighty crazy, and that works for me.

So I got a Pop Funko of Dany. I really don't like Khaleesi Dany or Wedding Dress Dany (the eyebrows are really awkward and apparently the paint job's shit), so I got the Mhysa Dany. She's beautiful, and so so cute!

Game of Thrones FUNKO Pop! - Daenerys Targaryen (Mhysa).

Yes, I did a mini photoshoot. I took like, three pictures and this one was it. I don't have a desert-y backyard (well, I did once; there was a shit-ton of orange sand out the back which would've been good), so this had to do. But I think it worked nicely, really, and it's probably the only good backdrop-worthy spot in my yard.

So, hopefully I will be updating more often now. Between uni and job searching, I really don't have anything to do, so...

Thanks for reading!

I did it!

I finally finished the dress! I was originally basing it off a long sleeve dress, but ultimately decided that it was wayyyy too much green to put on the doll. The dress itself is a sort of a hybridised version of Sansa's (first) wedding dress and that sort of olive green dress she wears after her marriage to Tyrion. Now I'm done, I need to inject some colour into the other doll because it is so heavily white-based. Probably going to make a dark blue hood for her to break up the monotony of the hair and skirt. Then, when I can be bothered, I'll make shoes for both. However, that's not a priority; I'm going to get crocheting with my nanna's doll soon, maybe after having a little break?

Well, that's me. Hope everyone out there reading this is having a good day. Next time, then!

My crochet so far...

I've finished the one on the left, and the one on the right I am currently working a skirt for. 150 stitches round for 9 more rows will take foreverrrrrr. Erghhhh. Anyway, I hope to have it done by Sunday.

I started this project randomly one day because I was bored. Nothing else to do; no inclination to watch TV and definitely one of those lazy days where your brain cannot even be bothered to process words in a book. Nope. So I got out my wool box from when I was ten and decided to make something. Courtesy to Beth from By Hook, By Hand for providing such an ambitious project! Did NOT want to knit due to my last horrendous attempt at doll making when I was nine;-

Ew. Still, plaiting the hair when I'm bored out of my skull is a good time-wasting enterprise.

I decided to learn how to crochet. I watched a couple YouTube videos on how to crochet in the round and I basically figured I'd give it a go; it wasn't until I hit the halfway mark of making the doll itself that I realised the stitching was technically inside out. I decided I gave zero craps: I prefer the square stitching over the zig-zaggy ones anyway, and anything is a step up from my knitted doll. (I think I based it off Morgana from the Merlin TV series; might just give it another go.) 

I had a limited supply of wool - Browns, blues, skin colours, whites, blacks - so I decided I wanted to depart from the norm and go with white as a hair colour. I searched white haired characters up and a picture of Emilia Clarke in Entertainment Weekly came up. It was so beautiful, and I conveniently had all the colours, so I made a Daenerys Targaryen-themed doll. Might seem stupid seeing as I've never watched the show or read the books, but I certainly made sure to acquaint myself with her character through YouTube. From there I stumbled into Sansa Stark, which I've almost finished making. It's my understanding that a lot of people don't   actually like her character, but after watching a majority of her storyline (I think) I'm inclined to disagree with proclamations of her weakness. She's a little girl trapped in a game she was not raised to be part of, and is certainly too young to understand. Anyway, I love Sophie Turner (she read for City of Heavenly Fire audio) and I love her hair, so I thought I'd make another doll. I've almost finished, just got to finish her skirt off, and then the sleeves. I'm happy with the hair colour choices I made as they are both able to reflect some of my other favourite characters - Elsa and Celeana Sardothien, Tauriel and Clary Fray. :-)

After this I'll make one for my Nanna. She loves knitting and crochet, but her fingers have sorta become deformed due to a sort of twisting of the muscle from an associated medical problem (she's very vague about it), and she can't do it anymore. And she wants a doll that has blonde hair and blue eyes like me (she had an old doll restored a couple years back and I helped her pick out a wig - she was dismayed to find that blonde didn't suit the dolls skin colour at all so we went with a honey coloured one). I'll make it in time for her birthday I think.

Yeah, so that's what I'm doing to alleviate the stress of exam week. And boredom. And for fun, cuz it's pretty cool to make something all by yourself. 

I'm going to sleep now. Thanks for reading!

This is the part where I introduce myself...

Hello, I guess, if anyone ever reads this. I suppose I should tell you my name, which is Emily, and a little bit about myself, which I'll try to extend out because I have a track record of a) writing one paragraph and just giving up, and b) bragging about myself because I was such a massive snob as a child. Seriously, I've had to delete EVERYTHING off this blogging site I wrote like ten years ago because my younger self just makes me cringe. I'll be a legal adult later this year, and I'm currently in my last year of high school.

Why did I start this blog? Well, to be truthful, I'm procrastinating. I have a midterm exam tomorrow for a subject that I'm basically done studying for (religion). I had all these server issues on the internet because I was curious about what I wrote in the past regarding knitting patterns and the like, so I downloaded a new server and I got my answer - diddly squat. A string of enthusiastic posts across several blogs about "how great this will be" and "you'll learn so much from me". No, nothing useful, so I deleted them all. One look at my woefully empty blogspace page and I decided that now I'm older, I might be better at communicating.

What will I do on this space? No clue. Depends on what I'm feeling on the day I decide to update. I'm pretty bad about updating things though, so this might serve to retrain my brain from the lazy-ass habit of giving up when I can't be bothered. Chances are the posts will be nerdy. Books, television, movies, knitting, crochet, cats. Let's face it, I'm so uncool in real life you'd never remember me if you saw me on the street. Anyway - maybe you'll have posts on makeup, hair, clothing, shopping and the like. Again, it depends, doesn't it?

A little bit about myself? I'm a teenage girl. My interests span across a range of different nerdy topics, hence the title. Videogames and the like will sometimes catch my eye fleetingly, but I will emphasise here and now that I am not really a videogamer. I leave that to my friends, who are massive dorks and always call me a noob :) I'm trying to achieve the goal of an ATAR (sorta like SATs I guess) high enough to get me into medicine. The biggest thing to know about me is probably the level of seriousness in which I take my schoolwork.

My biggest problem is books. I have a helluva lot, and a tiny room to put them in. Its getting to the point where I'm thinking of putting shelving above my doorway to make room for them all. So maybe I'm a hoarder, but I'm capable of parting with shit unless its my books or something of extreme sentimental value. But yeah, I'm a compulsive book buyer. My idea of surfing the net is going onto online bookstores and adding books to my wishlist. Pretty sad, huh? Oh well, I am a pretty sad person, so no surprise. I'm also really inappropriate. I make dirty jokes about everything, which amuses me because I have a lot of gung-ho Catholic friends who cringe at the sexual undertones of a conversation with me.

I have a brother, by the name of Jake Matthew. He is almost thirteen, and he's finally hit puberty. Unfortunately, he's going through that pre-teenage phase where he does absolutely everything he can just to piss me off. Oh well, only another ten years of tolerating it and he'll settle down (please tell me I'm right??). Jokes, I love him to pieces. I have a mother and a father, and our stereotypical upper-middle class family unit lives in a cozy suburban household with one psycho rabbit and two cats. Expect a lot of posts on the cats; none on the rabbit, because when she bites it fucking hurts.

My current projects? Getting through the next two weeks. Exams, baby, woo! Finishing (starting) George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones. Convincing my strict dad that because I've read the books, I can definitely see (all of) the TV show. Finishing my current wool project, a crochet bleuette doll (that I've realised the stitching is technically inside out for, but hey - creative license!!).

Until the next time, people. Thanks for reading!