Neko

Same, here. Even if it comes on the radio, I have to switch the station. I can't stand it. Anyway, I'm 36, so maybe I'm just too old to "get" Taylor Swift, but I just don't understand what she is trying to do as an artist. All I ever hear is how she's a force to be reckoned with because she writes her own songs, but a good number of those songs are about things that happened YEARS ago. That is some serious stagnation, there. She reminds me a lot of Christina Augilera in the sense that she's relying on the same formula that worked for her before, and seems to think that will keep her career going, but the public will eventually lose interest, if they haven't already. I don't know, maybe the rest of this album is amazing, but I have zero desire to check it out because I'm so damn sick of her and her attitude. I don't care who wronged you, or when, or why. What else have you got? One more thing: "Look What You Made Me Do" is a creepy title. It's what an abuser says as they're beating the shit out of you. Eek.

Arya has become one creepy pod person. I was never her biggest fan, but what the fuck is going on with her this season? She's almost as detached as Bran, and all she wants to do is kill someone. It's disturbing, but I guess that's the point. I mean, it's not like you can be trained by a league of creepy, faceless assassins and not be screwed up for life. I gets it.

So, once again, we get the speech from Dany about how she plans on "breaking the wheel". My question is, how does she plan on doing that? It's not enough just to say it, she has to present the common people with a plan. Of course, if you have three fire-breathing dragons and you believe it's your birthright/destiny to rule, I suppose you can say whatever you like, but still, give me something to work with, baby girl. This shit is skating dangerously close to Crazy Town.

I feel stupid, because when Cersei put her hands over her middle and said she and Jaime were fighting "for this", I thought it was a callback to Jaime's "the battle for Cersei's cunt" line, and that Cersei was really pointing to her hoo-ha. Then, a split second later, I realized she was talking about another incest fetus. I should have known, lol.

Loved the way nonchalant way Davos introduced Gendry to Tyrion after Gendry hammered two men to death. "This is Gendry." Oh, Davos, you better survive this thing. If you don't, I will be heartbroken. I don't believe that Cersei is really preggers, but if she is...it would be even more of a statement or whatever for Jaime to be the one who takes her out. Extinguishing the Mad Queen and their unborn baby as a capper after all the shit they've caused by being incestuous assholes and putting their offspring on the throne? Goddaman. That's heavy, as Marty McFly would say. Don't really care about the Sansa/Arya conflict. I guess Sansa is a huge bitch by sleeping in their dead parents' quarters, and Arya doesn't trust her at all because murder is the solution for every problem? I dunno. I just want to see Littlefinger die at the hands of a Stark. That's all I want for Christmas this year. Kind of wondering what the hell happened to Yara, Grey Worm, and Theon. I guess time will tell.

I agree. I enjoyed Wonder Woman, but it wasn't exactly a fun movie, and if I'm going to shell out money to see a movie in the theater these days, I want it to be fun. That's just me.

Okay, it wasn't stupid for Jaime to charge a fire-breathing dragon full-on. I take it back. ;) Perhaps I should clarify: I actually still kind of like Jaime and I want him to be redeemed, I just think he's made a TON of stupid choices lately, and it's hard to watch just how stupid he can be when we know he can be better than that. Both Olenna and Tyrion, two of the smartest people on this show, have called him a fool. His sick obsession with Cersei (won't call it love) has completely blinded him, and it's so disappointing to watch. But, I'll ride it out because I still love the show and I actually trust D&D when it comes to redeeming characters, and what-not. Maybe I'm the fool. IDK.

Poor Meera. She hauls Bran's broken ass across the north for years, loses her brother in the process, and only gets an icy "thank you" at the end. I wanted to give her a hug. That was brutal. My heart hurt when Drogon started going down after being hit with the ballista. Another scene that was hard to watch. I hope Cersei isn't planning on making a dozen more of those contraptions, but of course, she will. They know they can bring down a dragon now, and that ain't good. Jaime is as brave as he is stupid. I can't with his character. He's really pushing it, and I can't even root for him a little after all the dumbass things he's done. It's a shame, since I really liked him during his travels with Brienne back in season three, and was invested in his redemption story. Keeping my fingers crossed that it's still coming, and that he takes out his bitch sister in the end, before being found by Brienne and dying in her arms. That would make it all better with me.

Finally got around to seeing this last night. I have never read any comic books, so I'm not familiar with the Spider-Man story, but I really enjoyed the movie, and I had a good time watching it. I've grown tired of the dark, brooding superhero origin stories, so seeing something more colorful and lighthearted was refreshing. I thought Tom Holland did a great job and captured the essence of the character wonderfully, and I wasn't even on board with him when I heard about his casting, so he really surprised me. I thought Michael Keaton also did a great job, and I always enjoy seeing him on the screen, no matter what he's doing. The MJ reveal at the end actually made me a squee a bit, lol. Thanks to the Raimi movies, I've grown used to seeing Mary Jane/MJ as this bland, soft-spoken, generic love interest, so Zendaya having a personality and doing her own thing is simply awesome, as far as I'm concerned. From what my comic geek brother has told me, MJ has more spark and personality in the comics, so the character has gotten the shaft, movie-wise. Good to see they're changing that. And I thought Zendaya was actually funny and turned out a good performance. Anyway, yeah, nothing but embarrassing praise over here, lol. This was the first movie I had seen in a while that made me feel like I was having a good time, and...*blush*...it's actually my very first Marvel movie. I've only seen parts of the first Iron Man, but that's it. I know, I know, I'm like 60's version Aunt May, an old crone who doesn't know what's up. I'll have to check out more of their movies. Speaking of Aunt May...I liked the change they made with her. I've always loved Marisa Tomei, and if Aunt May isn't a great-aunt, she would be much younger, so I had no problem with that. I also liked how Peter didn't have a true love in this movie, just a girl he went to school with and liked and wanted to go out with. Much more realistic for a fifteen year old than that drippy, twu wuv crap the Raimi movies gave us (haven't seen the Andrew Garfield movies, though I'm betting the Gwen Stacey storyline was similar, despite Emma Stone being a pretty good, vivacious actress). I didn't mind Tony Stark leaving Peter to fend for himself at all, because I just didn't. In a narrative sense, it didn't bother me. I just kind of went along with the ride. One very minor nitpick is that I would have loved to have seen a little love triangle between Karen, Peter, and Liz, just because I think that would have been funny. If Karen got jealous for a moment, that would have made me laugh. But, it's not even a problem for me, it's just a small thing I cooked up in my brain that made me chuckle. So, yeah, two thumbs up, holy shit, I actually enjoyed going to see a movie, and I never thought that would happen any time, soon. I loved it.

I knew that was Elizabeth Perkins as soon as she opened her mouth. Good for her for aging naturally in Hollywood. It's refreshing to see an older woman look like and older woman an still getting parts.

I find it troubling that Sansa can't know anything without it being a subject for discussion about how she isn't that smart or capable. It reeks of misogyny.

I think Olenna was one of the saddest deaths on this show. There is something so depressing about watching a sharp, powerful woman lose everything and resign herself to her fate, even if she does it in a badass way. Diana Rigg really sold it when she told Jaime she lost because she lacked the imagination to battle a monster like Cersei. Oof. Speaking of Jaime, what is he smoking to think Cersei gives a crap about building a better world for the common folk? I know, they're painting Jaime as a lovesick puppy, but goddamn, buy a clue. Once she destroys her current enemies, she'll only find new ones. Did all those talks about they are the only two people in the world who matter mean nothing to him? I really liked the Varys/Melisandre scene, and Dany/Jon went exactly the way I expected it to, so I wasn't disappointed. Of course Dany would not budge an inch the first time she met Jon. They aren't going to make anything easy this final season. I was okay with it.

Alan Rickman's death was also shit. Snape was/is my favorite HP character, and I thought he played the role perfectly. He was brilliant before that, as well. I feel like I should have been sadder about David Bowie's death than I was, but while I really like his music a lot, I didn't grow up listening to it. I did grow up listening to Prince. I think that makes a huge difference. I thought Garry Shandling was one of the funniest people to ever exist and that "The Larry Sanders Show" was one of the best TV shows of all time, so that one also hit me hard. Gene Wilder was sad, but since he had suffered for a while, I wasn't *as* sad when he died. It's the sudden deaths of relatively young people that did me in; Prince dying before the age of 60 all because of stupid pain meds, George Michael dying at 53 because of a bad heart, and now Carrie Fisher dying at 60 because of the same. Seriously, this year has been absolute BALLS when it comes to super talented, colorful, witty people dying WAY before their time. Enough, already.

I'll echo those who say Prince was the biggest gut-punch death of the year. He is my very favorite musical artist, so I was crying like a baby when he died. RIP, Carrie Fisher. Let's hope some dumbass minor celebrity doesn't tweet, "Beam me up, Scotty" in her honor. Ugh.

So sad to hear about George Michael. I love his music, almost as much as I love Prince and Bowie's. This has been a really shitty year when it comes to losing musical talent. :(

I also hate Piper and Alex, even though that's not really an unpopular opinion anymore. The entire prison population is being affected by racial tension and sadistic, asshole guards, and we have to listen to these two talk about how they are craving a grass-fed beef hamburger? It brings the show to a screeching halt. Not even Alex killing the hitman brings those two back into the loop. I will say that Piper's branding was memorable, but even then I couldn't help thinking that it was totally avoidable on her part, and that she wouldn't have a Windows '95 logo on her arm if she had just kept her head down for the three whole months she had left on her sentence, instead of fucking with real life, hardcore gangstas. So, instead of being horrified by it, I just kept thinking about what a colossal dumbass Piper was. Alex, I have never liked, for the simple reason that she feels zero remorse for being involved in an international drug ring. She's so damn hollow...here she is, face-to-face with addicts, the very people whose lives she helped to destroy, and all she can think about it how glamorous it was and how she was so good at it. I don't see her attitude changing with time, either. Maybe that's because Laura Prepon is a mediocre actress who can't do subtlety very well, but I just don't see it. Piper and Alex, easily the worst characters on a show full of criminals and sadists and methheads. WTF. Another UO of mine? I don't like the neutered Pennsetucky of seasons three and four, and I think her backstory was over-the-top. No matter how backwoods and ignorant a mother might be, I have a hard time believing she would tell her daughter to lie back and start taking rape at the age of ten. The dialogue in that scene was so over-the-top, I rolled my eyes. I think a more realistic approach would have been for Tucky to have been molested at a young age and have her mother blame her for it, telling her she was "tempting" men with her developing body and that it was all her fault. It would have been a more difficult scene to film, I know, but I think it would have been more realistic than the "Lie back and take a bee sting" approach they used. Ugh.

Piper is one dumb fuck. She has a 15 month sentence and she manages to get a swastika branded on her? Brilliant. *slow clap*

I'm thinking they'll FF through that and show Jaime *trying* to love Cersei after what she's done, because that's all he knows and giving up on that love will be terrifying. He won't be able to do it, of course, but he will try, and he will be a hollow shell of a man once he finally realizes it's futile.

Great White Plays Westeros. Too soon?

I just realized that all three Lannister siblings are kinslayers, now: Jaime killed his cousin, Tyrion killed his father, and Cersei killed her uncle.

There is. Jon is Azor Ahai, the Prince That Was Promised. His destiny is to lead Westeros in the fight against the White Walkers.

Margaery wouldn't have been satisfied being Hand of the Queen. Like Sansa, she was raised to be a queen herself, not exactly a ruler, but an influential figurehead who acted like a lady, did good deeds, and popped out heirs. She played the game the way she knew how to play it and she played it well, but that doesn't mean she was on the same level of political scheming as Littlefinger or Tyrion. HotQ would have been all wrong for her.

Not much to say that hasn't already been said, except...I think the final shot of Dany sailing had to have been from Dorne or Highgarden, since there were Dorne and Highgarden banners in the background. So, that scene happened after she had already landed in Westeros and gained Ellaria and Olenna's support. Varys does not have a magical teleporter, unfortunately. I wonder if Cersei will consider marrying again to make new heirs? And if so, who will she marry? The only person she would want to be with is Jaime, but there is no way he would go along with that now, even if Cersei is Supreme Darth Ruler and can make her own rules. Who does that leave? Littlefinger? That would make him King Consort, and he would be quite pleased with that. He could bring the Vale with him, and a Cersei/Littlefinger/Vale combo would be a formidable enough foe for the North. Too bad Cersei was too stupid to not check in on the younger, more beautiful queen across the water with three dragons and an ever-growing army. She was so convinced the YMBQ had to be Margaery, she forgot all about Dany. Just like she was so convinced the Volanqar had to be Tyrion, she didn't even entertain the notion it might be Jaime. Classic, dumbass Cersei move. Add me to the list of those who are ICK at the thought of Jon and Sansa marrying. I'm sorry, but they were raised as siblings, and they just can't cast that aside and bang, even if this is a world where siblings bang/marry each other. Jon and Sansa were not raised with that as the norm, so I can't see them going, "Oh, we're just cousins! Let's go for it!". Oddly enough, though, I don't feel quite so strongly about Jon and Dany. Since they weren't raised in the same household and never knew each other as kids, I wouldn't be *as* grossed out by them as I would Jon/Sansa. Go figure. Great casting choice for Lyanna Stark; that girl looked *just like* Kit Harington. And, because it can't be said enough, great music. The first twenty minutes was highly disturbing, and the music added a lot to that. *applause*

I couldn't stand Arcadia. I felt so detached while reading it, I couldn't connect with it at all. That was a problem.

This is one of my favorite chapters of the whole series. Not only do we get the Queen of Thorns, but Sansa finally gets to release some of her pain and misery. It's heartbreaking.