Nerd Church - My Favourite Time of the Year (...Despite Everything)

(Warning: this post discusses bereavement, & other bad stuff that's happened to me at Christmas)


This week has been... difficult.

That's the polite way of describing it, anyway.



I don't want to go into the detail because I'm just gonna get really upset again -

- but basically, there's a serious and significant - though thankfully fixable, although in the long-term rather than the short-term - problem with my grandfather's grave.

So, yeah. That's what I've been dealing with in the week before Christmas.

I guess it could be worse - last year, in the week before Christmas, we buried him.

A few years before that, my other grandfather died on Christmas Eve, followed by his wife, my grandmother, four days later.

I Watched The Film First! *Gasps* - 5 Books That I Read Because I'd Seen The Adaptations

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Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.

You know the voice that's just like: 'you've read the book, now see the movie!'

...that voice doesn't know me at all.

I read a butt-tonne of books. 

Like, I read at the 200-per-year kind of speed.

But I watch loads of film and TV adaps. before I read the book.

Nerd Church - Hope, Politics, and the Zombie Apocalypse

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(Please do not make UK purchases with my Amazon links)

Something important happened on Thursday, dearest nerdlets!

What..? The UK election..?

Yeah, that happened too.

We now know which brand of f**ked we, as a country, are stuck with *sighs*



What I'm talking about, though, is yours truly watching a truly bizarre, but amazing, film, called Anna and the Apocalypse.

Have you ever thought, 'wouldn't High School Muscial be better if it was combined with Shaun of the Dead... and it was in Scotland... at Christmas...?'

No? Well apparently someone did!

No, really. That is what this film is.

Nerd Church - The Writer Diaries: Dealing With Self-Doubt

If you've been around my blog at all in the past (love you!) then you probably know that I struggle with...

...Well, that list could take a while, but for the purposes of this post, I struggle with self-doubt.

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

So it's probably not that much of a surprise that I also have doubts when it comes to what I'm writing.

(Even blogposts - this is like my 6th attempt at writing this week's Nerd Church, and about the 3rd possible topic I came up with)

Month In Review(s) - November 2019

November was... it was ok.

I spent most of the month with a revolving-door of colds and viruses, so business as usual I guess! 😅

Nerd Church - London Bridge

(Warning: this post discusses the terror attack on London Bridge and related issues)

Sometimes, when one bad news story follows another, when one terrible event after another plays out on our screens, you can get the feeling that the words no longer have meaning.

But the words have meaning if you give them meaning.



London Bridge was an act of hate by someone who had previously shown themselves to be hateful - who had served their time for planning terrorist attacks and training camps.

But that doesn't mean parole, bail, license, is a bad thing.



Not everyone who makes a mistake will fail to learn from it.

People are people, dearest nerdlets. People are people.

Friday Fics Fix - Angsty Bear

'He set his jaw and raised his eyes at Steve.

“How did you know what it feels like?”

He was genuinely afraid and somehow calm at the same time.'

I'm sure I've mentioned (probably waaay too much) that, at heart, I'm a li'l emo child.

I love the dark sh**, ok? It cheers me up! 😅

And luckily fanfiction has enough Angst (yep, with a capital 'A' - we mean business dearest nerdlets!) to keep even the most gothic of emo children happy.

Comics Wrap-Up - Sometimes You Scare Me, But I Come Around To You

**This post contains affiliate links for Amazon.com (US) which earn me commission on any purchases made**

It's Thursday, my darling nerdlets, and it's time for some awesome comics-y-ness!

Nerd Church - Caffeinated Current Events: What Even Is 2019?

Caffeinated Current Events! Where I drink too much coffee and talk about the stuff going on in the world! That means Trump & Brexit, so this is your fair warning! 

(It'll be as told by me, though, so hopefully bearable!)



Phew! 2019, couldn't you've gone just a little bit easier on us?! 

Crud, after 2016, we've just had one thing after another! Cut us some goddamn slack!

...The US is currently being led by a man who, (and I never thought I'd say this,) has less integrity than Nixon.

How is that even possible...? Does anyone know...?

Nixon actually resigned when he got his hand caught in the sleazebag cookie jar - Trump's just flat-out lying and refusing to budge.

...And I don't think even Nixon would've got away with colluding with Russia and bribing Ukraine.

And somehow people still believe he's innocent and that there's some sort of 'conspiracy' against him - newsflash: if there's a conspiracy, it's for him, not against him #JustSaying.

Friday Fics Fix - No More False Starts

Sorry if you saw this post appear briefly yesterday. I hit the publish button instead of the 'save' 😅 - ok, let's resume our regular service:

'“How was deducing the relationship status of the entire jury relevant?”'

Well-written Johnlock!

Now that that has brought every M/M-loving Sherlockian's head up like a li'l meerkat, lemme tell you about this awesome well-written Johnlock I found!

(Fangirling notes:

Johnlock - John Watson and Sherlock Holmes (usually from BBC's Sherlock) having a romantic and/or sexual relationship.

Sherlockian - BBC Sherlock fan)

Oops!

If Friday Fics Fix appears in your feeds early, ignore it.

I pushed publish instead of save 😅

In my defence, the mouse slipped that time! Blogger really needs to put the buttons further away from each other!

Comics Wrap-Up - But My Hand It Will Be Open, And I'll Try To Fix It

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Thursdayyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Thursday means comics and superheroes, dearest nerdlets! 😁

Micropoetry - October 2019

Micropoetry time again dearest nerdlets!

(Yes, I realise that it's the 20th of November. I have time issues. 😅)

This month's offerings are maybe a li'l weird

...but it was October dammit! You can totally be weird in October! (*pretends I'm not weird all year round*) 😅


As always, for those using a screen-reader, the poetry is in the alt-text, with line breaks marked with a / symbol.

Nerd Church - Think Before You Speak

Social media. 

Love it, loathe it, or (like most of us) find yourself somewhere in between.

Whatever you feel about the ol' socials, sh** escalates fast online!

I... kind of think that a lot of the escalation is related to people not having some sort of filter between their reaction and their mouths/fingers

- (talking and typing - I mean talking and typing. Minds out of the gutter nerdlets!)

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

Friday Fics Fix - 'Round the Houses

'Loki was left-handed and took a broom that was on the very end. He had plenty of flying practice at home, but he was still nervous. His first day had been going so badly, one more embarrassing moment would just be the cherry on top.'

It's a pet theory of mine that at some point, everything in fandom has been crossed with Harry Potter.

Sometimes this is a full-on cross-over, with the characters from the Harry Potter books/films running around with characters from Marvel or DC or Torchwood or whatever.




Sometimes, though, this crossover takes the form of a Hogwarts/Harry Potter AU.

A Hogwarts and/or Harry Potter AU is an Alternate Universe where the characters from a fandom are placed in the setting of the Wizarding World, attend Hogwarts, work as Aurors, etc.

This may or may not involve actual appearances from Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Comics Wrap-Up - There's A Moment In Time, And It's Stuck In My Mind

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(Please don't use my links to make purchases in the UK.)

It's Thursday, I love superheroes and comics, and I hope you do too! (Cos I've got an awesome comics wrap-up for ya!) 😆

Month in Review(s) - October 2019

October... what can I say about October?

October was a month, that happened, I guess! 😅

...complete with colds and a lot of work-stuff. But meh *shrugs* it was fine. Just an average month, really! 😅

Nerd Church - Why I Love WW1 Poetry

Morbid li'l goth-emo child that I am, I LOVE World War One poetry.

I read it all year round: Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen, Isaac Rosenburg, Ivor Gurney, Edmund Blunden, Rupert Brooke...

*sighs happily*

So, seeing as how it's Rememberance Sunday, and it's the 11th of November tomorrow, I figured I'd let you in on the beautiful jewel of life that is WW1 poetry.

(Note: when I use the phrase 'WW1 poetry' I mean English-language WW1 poetry, mainly from British soldiers, with the odd Commonwealth soldier chucked in for good luck.

I'm sure that other nationalities also wrote poetry in a variety of languages and styles, but the WW1 poetry I and most people in the UK are familiar with is that I've just described.)

Friday Fics Fix - Haunted

'Diego was still screaming but his voice was drowned and consumed, overtaken by the dead that hung around him, but Ben was screaming too...'

It's Umbrella Academy time!

...I think a lot of you will have guessed that I couldn't resist an Umbrella Academy fanfiction post for much longer (especially since I read a butt-tonne of Umbrella Academy fanfiction!)

Comics Wrap-Up - This Shining City Built of Gold, A Far Cry From Innocence

It's Thursday, dearest nerdlets, and Comic Wrap-Up is back from its break with all the comics-y goodness!

Nerd Church - Whose Dystopia Is This? A Discussion of Marginalisations in Dystopian Fiction, Focussing On Vox by Christina Dalcher

(Warning: this post discusses persecution of marginalised groups, sometimes in detail)


Dystopia, as a genre, is largely based on the oppression – either knowingly or unknowingly – of groups of people.

...Usually in a way that seems extreme in the context of the author’s cultural background, or else involves sufficient robots and sh** to convince us that this world is The Future™.

Friday Fics Fix - Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble

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'"The handwriting on the first spells is far too legible to be Satan's," Aziraphale reasoned, reasonably, like a reasonable person who had just critiqued Satan's penmanship.'

Halloween may be over, but that doesn't mean we have to retreat from the gothicky side of life, dearest nerdlets!

And what I have for you this week is both gothicky and fun as all hell! (Pun unintended, but now I'm actually quite pleased with it.)

The Five Year Blog Anniversary Post! (Ft. My Wisdomous Blog Advice)

It’s Halloween! And that means it’s my blog-anniversary-thingummy! Woo!

So let’s have an awesome-sauce post with the following awesome features:

• me giving what is most probably contradictory and confusing blogging-advice

• me ruminating on my 5 years (5 years!!!!) of blogging

• me generally over-using both exclamation points and brackets

(There was probably too much caffeine and/or YouTube consumed in the making of this post. #JustSaying.)

Micropoetry - August + September 2019

Yes! She still writes Micropoetry! And she's super-late with posting it! 😅


Why am I posting August and September's Micropoetry at the butt-end of October?

Well, because I'm a poorly-organised, hare-brained, book blogger. 😅

Multi-tasking Queen I may be -

(I'm currently juggling writing/putting together this post while doing work (like, adulting-style work,) and listening to a BookTube video on 2x speed)

- but I don't have all the time in the world, and I tend to forget sh**.

Plus, I have to sleep and eat and stuff, and self-care ftw! 😉



So, anywho, here's the Micropoetry:

As always, the poetry is in the alt-text for anyone using a screen-reader, with / marks showing line-breaks.

Nerd Church - 39

(Warning: this post discusses human trafficking, modern slavery, racism, anti-immigrant sentiment, and the tragic deaths of 39 immigrants)

For those of you outside the UK, who may not know, 39 immigrants were found dead this week in a lorry in Essex.

They were probably Vietnamese, but the details are still a bit fuzzy..

Friday Fics Fix - HP Halloween: The Ones Who Won't Grow Old

Warning: this post talks about war and related trauma

'Even in the summer, it was cold here. Once, Ginny had been used to it, spending most of the year here, but now it was more of a distant memory.'

This is the last week of HP Halloween!

Yes, November is fast-approaching, which means our month-long Harry Potter fanfiction fest is over.

Comics Wrap-Up - Never Made It As A Wise Man

It's Thursday, and I think we could all do with some superhero-y goodness!

Nerd Church - Have A Little Consideration! (...And Treat Your Neighbours Right)

I think that some people - not everyone, but some people - need to re-evaluate their common decency, and the consideration that they may or may not have for the people around them.

Because sometimes, people do sh** that ain't a lot to them, but is, in fact, a big deal to other people.

Image by Prawny from Pixabay

My neighbours have dogs.

They're lovely dogs. Adorable af.

But they like to chase cats. And I have cats.

Friday Fics Fix - HP Halloween: Star-Crossed Rumors

'...But it wasn’t a dream and he was fully clothed. When he looked back over at the group of girls, they giggled even harder, whispering to each other'

Yes! It's time for another week of HP Halloween!

Because October = Harry Potter fanfiction.

I don't make the rules I just... wait, no, I do make the rules! Yay me! 😆

(...I'ma blame the caffeine. #JustSaying. 😅)

Comics Wrap-Up - I Put All Your Books On the Top Shelf

It's Thursday. And that means it's time for some comics-y goodness!

Month in Review(s) - September 2019

September! 

(This wrap-up isn't late, it's casually timed 😎)

September was cool.

I had another cold, but that's pretty much my life tbh.



I also had my birthday! Woo! Birthday!

Although, I did have a few mixed feelings this year...

Nerd Church - Dyscalculia (Part 2: The Real World)

Dyscalculia is a maths learning difficulty that affects a lot of things that other people find easy and/or straight-forward.

Today, I figured I'd give you a real-life example of how Dyscalculia affects me.

You can catch up on my first post about Dyscalculia, which includes a lot of general info., here.

Image by TeroVesalainen from Pixabay

A real-world Dyscalculia example: catching the goddamn train

Friday Fics Fix - HP Halloween: Nostalgia Ain't What It Used To Be

'“To mine” interjected James, the tall boy with mousy hair and glasses. “Padfoot ran to mine and now he’s staying there.'

Welcome to the second week of F3's* HP Halloween!

Yep, October is for Harry Potter fanfiction - the king of fandoms in terms of quantity (you can't deny it, it's totally true!)

*F3 = Friday Fics Fix. It's just easier to say sometimes. 😅

Comics Wrap-Up - Running Around Like A Clown On Purpose

OK, we got some Harley, we got some Joker, we got some other stuff going on. 

It's Thursday, and it's time for that comics-y goodness!

Nerd Church - Dyscalculia (Part 1: What Is Dyscalculia?)

I've mentioned in passing before now that I have a learning problem - condition, disability, whatever you wanna call it - called dyscalculia.

So I figured it was about time (ha, you'll see why that's a pun soon,) that I let you know what that entails, and why that means I struggle with a lot of things that most people find easy.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Disclaimer time: I am not a medical, educational, or neurological expert. I’m a Welsh chick with a blog.

So, what is dyscalculia?


In its simplest explanation, dyscalculia is the maths version of dyslexia.

It affects numeracy, rather than literacy, and also affects a lot of things related to mathematical ways of seeing the world that most people don't actually associate with maths.

Friday Fics Fix - HP Halloween Begins!

'Malfoy looks shocked, like a deer caught in headlights, nowhere to run and just staring wide eyed at Ron, pushing Harry towards him. Suddenly Hermione realises what Luna meant: the bet.'

It's October! Which means a whole month's worth of Harry Potter fanfiction, 'Friday Fics Fix' posts, here at Dora Reads!

(Because that way I can avoid Halloween-themed fics and therefore hopefully avoid reading things I can't un-read. 😅)

Comics Wrap-Up - With A Pad and A Pencil Sat By His Side

It's Thursday, and somehow I end up talking more about DC than Marvel this week! 😯

Still, let's get some comics-y goodness! 😍

Nerd Church - The Writer Diaries: Writing Vs Self-Care

While my aim is to write every day (y'know, like all the advice seems to say you should if you wanna be successful as an author,) some days I just can't.

That's not strictly true - I usually end up writing something in a day: blogging, tweeting, e-mails, work stuff, etc.

But I don't always manage to work on my work-in-progress (WIP) every day.

Friday Fics Fix - Light and Dark

'There was a noise somewhere but he couldn't make it out. He tried to call for help but it wasn't words, just a distressed sound and more tears.'

I love Oliver Queen, aka The Green Arrow, and the show he's the lead of - which is handily named Arrow. 😅

(Also handily, this was the first in the CW's DC series, known collectively as 'Arrowverse')




Oliver's had something of a rough life. 

I mean, the first 20-something years were pretty sweet - he was the priviliged trust fund party-boy with little regard for what substances he was sticking in his body, and the feelings of his romantic partners.

(I was gonna make a dodgy pun there, but thankfully resisted. If you can figure out what it would've been, then you've probably read as much fanftiction as I have! 😅)

Comics Wrap-Up - Nobody Knows What Lies Ahead

I think Thursday comes around quicker every week! 😅

Still, it's Thursday. And that means it's time for comics-y goodness!

Nerd Church - An Unpopular Opinion On the 'Don't Feed the Trolls' Campaign

There's a new campaign in the UK using the previously informal hashtag of #DontFeedTheTrolls.

The Center For Countering Digital Hate advises that you don't engage with trolls. 

Ignore, block, report. Rinse, repeat.

Now, that's certainly not a bad option for dealing with trolling.

And you should ALWAYS feel that you can use the mute, block, report options, or some variant thereof, if you want to.

Cos you owe no-one, and you need to protect your mental health. Take care, ok?




So, what's my unpopular opinion?

Friday Fics Fix - Some Scary Stuff... Sort Of

'Richie is sitting on the corner of the porch, legs dangling over the side. He looks up when he hears someone approaching and almost goes to hide the ashtray full of cigarette butts, but then decides he doesn’t want to go through the effort of lying.'

OK, so my fanfiction reading this week has been... well, honestly, I despair of the human race sometimes 😅

I mean, I know that the pumpkin-sex fics will appear eventually in the run-up to Halloween, but come on people, IT'S NOT EVEN OCTOBER!

Comics Wrap-Up - I Couldn't Bear The Thought of Leavin' Her

It's Thursday! Time to get your cape and cowl and enjoy some superhero-y goodness!

Nerd Church - It's My Birthday! (And I'll Cry If I Want To)

...Not that I'm particularly aiming to. But I'll give myself the option!

Yes, the day this post is published (15th Sep, unless I pushed 'Publish' instead of 'Schedule' again! 😅) is my birthday!

While I'm hoping to have fun and enjoy myself today... I have had some mixed feelings in the days leading up to today.

See, for my entire life, my birthday has been a few days before my grandfather's.

Friday Fics Fix - Nerds Are Secretly Vindictive Emos. Oh, and Merlin and Arthur Got Captured Again.

'“We’re not going to die here,” Arthur snapped. “Someone will come to rescue us.”'

Who wants a dash of angst?

Sometimes I feel like we nerds/fandom members, as a group, are too into angst.

But... meh. 😉

Sometimes you just want to to see your favourite characters tormented - and that's ok.

Comics Wrap-Up - I'm Not What You Think You See

Girl power, Queer power, and a butt-tonne of comics-y goodness! It's Thursday, and it's time for superheroes!

Month in Review(s) - August 2019

August was not as hot here in the UK!!!!! 

Thank whatever deity, divine power, or cosmic entity that may be listening!

Don't get me wrong, there were still days which were officially too hot. But there were less of them. *sighs happily*

Unfortunately, I spent most of August with a cold.

Because I'm one of those people who will catch every virus imaginable after a galandular-fever-like illness screwed my immune system over when I was 16. Good times.

Nerd Church - Caffeinated Current Events: We're Really F**ked (Like, More Than We Were Before)

I'm full of coffee, so let's try to figure out the state of the UK, shall we?

I don't know if you've been paying attention to UK politics lately, but it basically goes a little something like this:

Our Prime Minister is somehow Boris Johnson. 

Because we apparently haven't suffered enough yet.

Friday Fics Fix - Something Followed

'He can feel something else coming through, something uninvited.'

I love horror.

...You may or may not have noticed.

Generally speaking, the less-realistic and more fake-looking the horror is, the more I'm freaked out.

There are some notable exceptions (Pet Sematary *shudders*) but overall, the more realistic and convincing the horror is, the more I'm like: meh, it's a ghost.


Related Reading: Nerd Church - My Real-Life Ghost Stories

Comics Wrap-Up - And Just Don't Tell The World That You're... Sh!

It's Thursday. And not all heroes wear capes. (Comics still rock though.)