Nerd Church - Game of Thrones: No-One's Very Happy, Which Means It's A Good Compromise

This post has Game of Thrones **spoilers** EVERY GOD-DAMN-WHERE! Ok? Ok.

It's best to get the spoiler warnings outta the way. 😉

Also, y'know this is Game of Thrones, so general WARNING for potentially distressing content.

Nerd Church - Is This Dystopia?

(Warning: This post discusses the general state of the world. It covers topics including but NOT limited to: the far-right, general bigotry, rape, abortion, violence.)



The year is 2019.

In America, a reality TV star, and well-documented sexual predator* (by his own admission,) is enjoying his third year of power.

*(Warning: Link discusses rape and sexual assault)

Backed by the Russians, this son of a KKK supporter holds on despite numerous scandals and allegations.

In the South of the country, cisgender women and people with uteruses (uteri..? I can never figure out which one to use,) are subjugated when Alabama decides their bodies belong to the state, to the cisgender men who legislate there.

Alabama claims to be pro-life, and supports the death penalty. They cannot see the irony.

Arkansas makes steps in the same direction. (Warning: Link discusses rape.)

Across the country people who are different are made to feel afraid.

People's rights are slowly stripped away. People have no access to affordable healthcare. Life is a pre-existing condition.

And yet many cling on to their guns despite the graves of their children, thinking that a wall will somehow solve their problems.

Nerd Church - The Writer Diaries: Patchwork Writing and Whatever Works For You

(Warning: this post discusses the everyday affects of Depression/Anxiety)

Some people are 'plotters,' some people are 'pantsers' - and I write in patchwork.

For those who don't know, writing fiction is generally split into two camps by the people who split things (whoever they are - I'm not sure anyone's ever met them) - plotting and pantsing.

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Month in Review(s) - April 2019

April - well, April didn't have any work-related nose-bleeds, for a start!

Thanks to everyone for asking if I was ok, etc, last month - honestly I think you guys were a lot more worried about it than I was 😅

On the one hand, April had Easter and chocolate and spring flowers, and all that awesome stuff!

Y'know, lots of fun stuff to enjoy and smile about! 😊

Nerd Church - The 9 Most Annoying Things That Have Been Said To Me About Being A Second-Generation Vegetarian

I was raised Vegetarian.

So even as Vegetarianism and Veganism has become more main-stream, I've been sat here in a unique kind of space, that not many people get to see.

Image by nugroho dwi hartawan from Pixabay

I've spent my entire life as a Vegetarian.

Which, especially when I was younger, before it became popular, did create some tensions... not least because nothing used to be labelled with a 'V' or whatever.

Nerd Church - Hope Against Hatred

(Warning: this post discusses terrorism and hate crimes)

Is it me, or is the world in a free-fall of hate?

Between the Sri Lanka attacks, the murder of Lyra McKee, and the day-to-day hate crimes we see here, there, and everywhere, it can sometimes feel like there's no hope left.

There is. There is hope.

There will always be hope.

Nerd Church - Happy Easter (or, Let's Respect Each Other, Yeah?)

Happy Easter/Pasg Hapus dearest nerdlets!

Image by Couleur from Pixabay

One of the most enduring symbols of Easter is eggs, dontcha think?

Chocolate eggs, painted eggs, eggs with chicks breaking out, eggs just randomly decorating everything!

But I've been noticing some egg-hate lately.

And I don't mean from Vegans - that's a whole different set of issues related to a different set of moral questions - nope, I mean from people who don't know much about history.

Nerd Church - Give Me Gareth Thomas Over Israel Folau, Any Day

Those of you in parts of the world where rugby isn't A Big Thing™ probably haven't heard about the current Israel-Folau-homophobia situation.

For those people, here's a quick summary:

- Israel Folau is a world-class Australian international rugby player

- He's been warned previously about his homophobic posts on social media

- He did it again

- It's likely he'll be dropped from the Australian national team just before the World Cup because they ain't putting up with that sh** any more

- An English rugby player, Billy Vunipola, has also stuck his oar in

Month In Review(s) - March 2019

March was blood, sweat, and tears.

...literally!

March was a month in which I worked my a** off (no change there then!) and learned that apparently when my body's decided I've worked too much, it gives me a spike of Anxiety and a nose-bleed.

I f**k you not.

Nerd Church - 4 Tips For Blogging When Busy

I've been super-busy lately, and I've just about managed to keep up with the blogging.

I haven't got everything done that I wanted to do, but I've kept it ticking over with my average of 3 posts a week, plus answering comments, blog-hopping, Twitter-ing, and all the hidden blog tasks like SEO and finding images for posts.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Phew! When I put it that way, I wonder how I've been doing all this plus running my own business and dealing with regular life-stuff, but I have! (No wonder I've been so tired!)

Also there has been literal blood, sweat, and tears over the past month - I've come to the conclusion that I don't need to add to that with stress over blogging!

Nerd Church - Brexit and Hatred

I almost cried yesterday.

Image by Republica from Pixabay

There was a pro-Brexit march outside parliament, and as I was watching the news, I saw a White Dragon flag go by.

I didn't know wtf it was at first - it looked like someone had poorly reconstructed a Welsh flag after having one described to them by someone who saw a picture of one twenty years ago.

A White Dragon. Facing the wrong way. On a red background.

Nerd Church - The Dilemma of Morally Dubious Media (Ft. American Psycho, Game of Thrones and Harry Potter)

Warning: this post discusses morally dubious media, including but not limited to: rape, murder, incest, general violence.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

American Psycho is about a serial killer that takes pleasure in raping and killing women in the most horrible ways, and the narrative goes into gratuitous detail about it.

Do I have your attention? Buckle up, dearest nerdlets!

No matter what, there is always gonna be media - books, films, TV series, whatever - that is kinda dubious on the ol' morality front.

Is that ok? Is that something we should be consuming? Is that something that people should be creating?

And if it isn't, is that something that we should be supressing?

Should we be, to put it bluntly, censoring it?

Nerd Church - New Zealand. What Can I Say?

New Zealand.

What can I say?

Nothing that can make this horrible terrorist attack better or more bearable.

Nothing that can bring back the beautiful people you lost.

All I can give you is my heart, which breaks for you.

All I can give you is my love, in the faint hopes that it will help in some tiny way to sooth what hatred has done.

Month in Review(s) - February 2019

February was... OK.

Look, I'd love to say it was great. But my Depression has been kind of up-and-down.

So I can't honestly call it 'great' - but 'ok' is fairly accurate.

I survived it. I even enjoyed some of it. So 'ok' is what I'm gonna call it.

Nerd Church - Practise and Prioritise Self-Care, Instead of Working Yourself Into the Ground

I work my a** off.

There are no qualifiers to that - I do.

Image by Prawny on Pixabay

Nerd Church - Save the World

With the world the way it is (*looks out at trash fire and sighs*) the major issue our planet is facing is in danger of being pushed to the side-lines.

But we need to focus on climate change.

Because, contrary to what the loud handful of naysayers say, we are wrecking the planet.

Image by TheDigitalArtist on Pixabay

Nerd Church - The Writer Diaries: Relocating Cymru

If you're familiar with this blog, you're probably aware that I'm Welsh.

(If not, then how on Earth have you managed to miss that? That's actually impressive!)

We win flags, ok?

So it may come as something of a shock to you that in the past I've rarely, if ever, set stories in Wales.

Nope.

In fact, I was more likely to set a story in London than Cardiff - and I've never set foot in London.

History nerd that I am, I probably know more about London 150 years ago than I do London today.

Nerd Church - What Is A Wall?

What is a wall?

How would you define it?

A barrier, maybe.

Yes, maybe. But a barrier to what?

Month in Review(s) - January 2019

January went by in a flash - and not the cool, Barry Allen, kind. (You gotta love nerd humour 😁)

I guess it's because I had an awful cold for half the month...? 😷

And aside from that, I've just been doing the usual, hectic, working-my-a**-off, stuff.

Nerd Church - Rebel Valentine 3: Revenge of the Roses

Is it just me?

No, really, is it me?

Is there something fundamentally unlovable about me? Am I undeserving of romance or love? Is that why no-one’s ever been ‘in the picture’?

Am I broken?




These thoughts are, of course, utter b*llsh**.

But part of me still kinda believes them.

Welcome to Rebel Valentine 3!


If you’ve read previous Rebel Valentine’s posts, you probably know where this is going.

If not, buckle up and prepare for potentially TMI. (I’ll try to keep it lowkey, but no promises!)