In other news, Elinor Burkett’s picture is being put next to the word “TERF” in the upcoming Oxford Unabridged English Dictionary.

They looked controversial.

There have been a lot of people passionately defending this choice, and maybe it works within the context of the show and the way the characters have been modified for HBO, but I really don’t think it holds water for the books on numerous counts. Even if Shireen is somehow to be sacrificed, it would be impossible for…

I hear that, and I’ve heard similar takes from people who’ve only watched the show. A lot of central figures make some pretty big narrative shifts when they’re transposed into the TV version, which in some way renders them different characters altogether. HBO Stannis is portrayed as a much “darker”, more…

Was in a fraternity at a liberal arts school (not even a stereotypical Animal House 20,000+ student state school, we’re talking an undergrad with less than 4,000 students), and some of the other frats there engaged in similar stuff. This isn’t going to turn into a #NotAllFrats post, but this kind of hazing really is…

This might be kind of an unpopular opinion, but I feel Stannis killing Shireen was a really manipulative setup. They intentionally make her up to be the sweetest, most endearing character the show has introduced in a while, and then send her on an express trip to being murdered by her own father in the most…

Yeah, and good call on that one. If what we’ve heard about GRRM’s creative plans are true, Shireen probably ends up getting burned. That may be set in stone. It’s just that Melisandre going rogue and burning Shireen while Stannis sits unawares outside Winterfell is very different in terms of character arch for Stannis…

Yeah, this right here. I’ve had some back-and-forths with people about this, and I guess the sticking point is that Stannis murdering Shireen might easily be the most extreme character deviation (in terms of a single deliberate action) from the source material seen thus far on the show. We’re talking way out there…

Yeah, as a Book Reader (TM) that whole thing came across as left-field and kind of arbitrary despite the show’s foreshadowing. Shireen is really peripheral in the books, and they made her more central in the TV show. And to their credit, she was really endearing and the actress who played her was great.

“Josh Duggar Molestation Bonanza” was the worst Arkansas state fair theme ever.

Yeah, and this could well have been a long time boiling considering what her father did. If you read the psychiatric literature, suicide among teens is so common in part because histories of child abuse come spilling over once the kid hits adolescence. All that stuff, compounded over time, can become too overpowering…

What a lot of the jackoffs trying to defend the father in this situation seem to not get is that forcefully cutting off someone’s hair is a humiliating, controlling invasion of their physical person. And it’s one that can be seen obviously and open, so the child is constantly reminded of what they were put through. It…

To put a finer point on it, she previously dated a guy who looks like this:

Ayup, that right there. The obligatory backpacking through South America/Europe photo, a resume in place of a profile blurb, and the assertion that they’re not looking for hookups. The other demographic is the southern belle transplant (even if they’re from Maryland) whose profile includes a lot of tailgating/sorority…

DC dude here. Tinder in this area is, broadly speaking, a cesspool. Went on a Tinder date a few months ago with someone who told me she was “tired of sleeping with guys who end up being republicans”. Assured her I was a both a staunch democrat and a west coast transplant. We had an unapologetically horny one-night…

Yeah, I mean that’s likely the reason when all is said and done. The appearance of assertiveness and self-esteem could have been the dealbreaker for a place like that. Me saying this is will probably be a case of “look bro, no one cares about your boner” but I think she’s cute. Like really, really cute.

That was utter poetry.

I know this was at least partially tongue-in-cheek, but it looks like it’s that time of year for this type of thing again.

I was dadbod-esque by my senior year of college (drank pretty hard during the latter half of undergrad), and I stopped drinking almost entirely after I graduated. I started exercising more, and my ability to stay lean and maximize muscle mass skyrocketed. I think that in a lot of ways minimizing or cutting out alcohol…

Guy here - I can confirm through anecdotal evidence that I wake up inexplicably horny. As in I’ll roll out of bed any given Saturday AM with a libido that could topple Byzantium, and then it happens to die down within the hour. Then horniness rears its head again by mid-afternoon, which is great on the weekends and…