A Flight of Links

- Yes, I'm tired of it, too. 
- Interesting mini-analysis of character relationships on TNG
- Red Letter Media reviews the new Hobbit
- GRRM is pissed at Sony too
- Sony seems to be planning to dump the movie for free
- Amazing science images from 2014
-  Groovy Earthworm Jim pics
- Yet another devestating Hobbit review
-  Marco Polo review
- Which GOT season is best?
- Renaissance super heroes
- I don't think that's a good idea. Marvellous efford, yes, but I can't imagine the end product being much fun. Chronologically is overrated to actual editing.
- Analysis of "The Interview"
- Shamus answers reader questions
- MovieBob's ten top movies 2014
- Wertzone reviews Breaking Bad season 2
- And Walking Dead season 4
- MovieBob reviews American Sniper
- And talks about the new Star Trek director
- Analysis of the latest change in trailer style
- Romans vs. Chinese? I'm sold. 
- Sean T. Collins continues reviewing The Wire
- Jennifer Lawrence, Box office returns and the lack of non-whites
-  Finally
- Interesting opinion argument
- New theory for trips to Mars

A Flight of Links

- More thoughts about a Mario movie. I still don't care.
- Such. A. Bad. Idea.
- Yathzee has some really interesting thoughts about facial animations in Bioware games. 
- Five feminist moments in the history of video games
- Tim Burton on the Marvel bandwagon
- io9's critique on the Hobbit movies
- The psychology of duelling
- Alien: Isolation best horror game of 2014
- Aaron Paul is Luke Skywalker
- Sonic Boom review
- Sean T. Collins reviews more of "The Wire"
- 538 about The World of Ice and Fire 
- Another devestating critique of "The battle of the five armies" 
- MovieBob actually likes it 
- Robert Rath looks at how exact Far Cry 4 represents Nepal
- The best Polygon features of 2014
- One of my favorites
- Great essay by Steven Attewell

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 58

Thursday is court day!

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.
Casting Call: We're searching for guest judges again! If you like to participate, even if you have been part of previous rulings, send us an email.

And now, up to ruling 58 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Todd, who started reading the books upon a recommendation from a friend and with the goal of staying ahead of the show, which he is in the process of convincing his wife to watch.  He is currently on his third re-read, learning more each time through.  He's mostly a lurking member of the community, but took part in the TOTH re-read series. His Beat Train pseudonym comes from his time as a runner at the University of Notre Dame.

A Flight of Links

- Apparantly, the new Newsroom episode sucked. 
- I mean bad. 
- Alan Sepinwall about Sons of Anarchy. 
- Toys are more divided by gender than they were 50 years ago
- MovieBob about the Target-GTA-boycott
- Sean T. Collins rewatches The Wire. Fuck Yeah!  
- The reason I put up with Sorkin
-  Exodus: Gods and kings seems pretty bad
- Wertzone reviews the new Hobbit
- Yathzee about RPG elements
- And about Dragon Age: Inquisition
- The Smiler and the Slayer
- The Rising Sun of Winter
- MovieBob drafts a Mario-screenplay
- Christopher Nolan's cosmos
- Marvel's Civil War storyline is a right-wing fantasy
- Read this great article on Danaerys' arc
- Is the biblical epic dead?
- Someone leaked the draft of Superman v Batman
- Political reinterpretation of The Lord of the Rings, tongue-in-cheek

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 57

Thursday is court day!

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.
Casting Call: We're searching for guest judges again! If you like to participate, even if you have been part of previous rulings, send us an email.

And now, up to ruling 57 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Marcus Roberts, head of research for a British think tank and spends almost as much time strategising his Game of Thrones board game moves as he does planning election campaigns.

A Flight of Links

- I need one of those. It's essentially a come-up. 
- Why Terminator 2 is still relevant today.
- Teeth of the Rising Sun
- How the new Hunger Games is not a blockbuster, seriously
- Dornish letter theory
- MovieBob on Bill Cosby
- And about feathers on dinosaurs.  
- Bran III
- There have been a lot father-daughter-stories lately. 
- Wot I think: Game of Thrones
- Great essay about Aegon's conquest. 
- Filmschool Reject also looked at the Terminator trailer.
- Colbert talks about the new Star Wars trailer. 
- Why some franchises repeat the same story
- Why Assassin's Creed Unity's main character sucks
- Far Cry 4 review by Yahtzee 
- Yes, I remember. Ah, ye olden days.  
- One does not simply assume Sean Bean dies a lot
-  Epic fanmade Hobbit-trailer

Impressions from the Terminator trailer

The first trailer for the corny-titled "Terminator: Genisys" has come out (watch below the break). My first impressions, in chronological order:
- That speech by John Connor sure sucks. It has a sign of "bad pathos-ladden stuff" all over it.  But perhaps it will be better in context, like "cancelling the apocalypse".
-Also, the future lacks the gritty element of the 80s original.
- Kyle Reese looks like a ringer. But that's an improvement over the whiny teenager from the trainwreck that was Terminator Salvation.
- WHERE ARE MY TERMINATORS? I don't know if I will get used to Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor, but I'll give her a chance.
- CGI Arnold against Arnie the Pensionaire. Don't know which looks more ridiculous.
- I mean, seriously, the altered timeline can't avoid having logic holes big enough for trains to fit through and groan-worthy explanations for stuff. It comes with the territory. One time travel is bad enough, but this? They collaps the timelines of four movies, containing already three altered timelines, and build up yet another one on top. If they pull that off, I'm really impressed. Judging from the impressions of the trailer, I seriously doubt they will.
- I don't know where the old movies play in this. The beginning especially clearly caters to the fans, invoking the classic pictures, but I can't imagine that they will be that important later on. Would drive off the younger audiences. This is essentially the same trick as in Star Wars Episode VII, I'd assume.
- After touching a car, a bus is flipping through the air like it's a bouncy ball. Physics, who needs them?
- Now CGI Arnie the Pensionaire skydives into a helicopter. This could be fun in an unintenioned way.
- Oh, boy.

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 56

Thursday is court day!

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.
Casting Call: We're searching for guest judges again! If you like to participate, even if you have been part of previous rulings, send us an email.

And now, up to ruling 56 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Tyler Kendal, a teacher of history and literature. He is a moderator of the A Song of Ice and Fire subreddit at www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf.

A review of Telltale's "Game of Thrones"

Warning: Mild spoilers for the first episode ahead. 

Telltale is by now a household name for dramatic storytelling in video games, with well developed characters and intriguing, entertaining plot lines. Games such as "The Walking Dead" or "The Wolf Among Us" have shown new heights that can be reached even with mediocre source material, and the recent "Tales from the Borderlands" shows that they also succeed at comedy. Their track record gave rise to hopes for a good "Game of Thrones" game, of which there haven't been much lately. So, did Telltale succeed? Not to beat around the bush too much: most of the time, yes. 

Boiled Leather Audio Hour Episode 35

Four Against the World: A “World of Ice and Fire” Roundtable feat. Steven Attewell and Amin Javadi

Celebrate Cyber Monday the old-fashioned way: in boiled leather! The Boiled Leather Audio Hour is back for our second episode in one week, and once again it’s our biggest to date. Since no one episode, and no two hosts, could contain The World of Ice and Fire, Sean and I have tapped Race for the Iron Throne’s Steven Attewell and A Podcast of Ice and Fire’s Amin Javadi to join in the discussion of George R.R. Martin, Elio M. García Jr., and Linda Antonsson’s seemingly inexhaustible world book. We tackle many of the topics we missed in our first episode on the book, and double back on a few besides.

One more note and then it’s on with the show: Thank you so much for your generous donations to BLAH’s emergency tech-crisis fund. Your support has done a great deal to help defray the cost of the new computer and software Sean needed to continue recording the podcast. If you haven’t already, and you’re still in a spending mood after all those hot online deals, and if you enjoy the show or the blogs enough to warrant it, you can donate via paypal here or here. Any amount is extraordinarily appreciated.
Alright, that concludes our message from the Iron Bank. Check the links below for a host of posts and podcasts this fearsome foursome has already done on the book, then listen and enjoy!

Donate here or here.
Mirror here.
Sean & Stefan’s previous BLAH episode on TWoIaF
Amin interviews Elio & Linda about the making of TWoIaF for A Podcast of Ice and Fire
The whole Podcast of Ice and Fire gang discusses TWoIaF
Steven’s chapter-by-chapter analysis of TWoIaF
Sean’s Rolling Stone article: The 10 Craziest Things We Learned from The World of Ice and Fire
Stefan’s “ruminations” on TWoIaF for Tower of the Hand
Previous episodes here.
Podcast RSS feed here.
iTunes page here.
Sean’s blog here.
Stefan’s blog here.
Amin’s podcast here.
Amin’s twitter here.
Steven’s blog here.

A Flight of Links

- First Jurassic World trailer, looking surprisingly good. Didn't even know Chris Pratt was in this. 
- Welcome Home, music video
- Intercepting ravens
- Wot I think: Tales from the Borderlands, episode 1
- You have to earn your apocalypse
- Why the new Assassin's Creed fails at the French Revolution. Oh boy, I so feared it would turn out that way. Same thing with the American Revolution.
- If you're interested in the most powerful woman on the planet, you should read this astonishing (and long) piece. 
- German article about Kickstarter.
- Broken movies
- Anita Sarkeesian as title story on Bloomberg business week
- The history of deleted scenes of Star Wars
- Quick and slow time events
- Robert Kirkman's big regret shows that he isn't a good storyteller in my opinion.
- Stormsongs reacts to the Star Wars teaser
- Tyrion V
- Escapist reviews the new Assassin's Creed Rogue
- As does Yahtzee for Unity
- Wertzone reviews the World of Ice and Fire
- And True Detective
- Dragon Age: Impositions
- Game responsiveness is about more than framerate
- Beautiful short film

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 55

Thursday is court day!

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

And now, up to ruling 55 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Joanna Lannister, one of the admins of the ASOIAF University.

Boiled Leather Audio Hour, Episode 34

Around the World: Discussing “The World of Ice and Fire”

We’re back, and a world awaits! Released with deserved fanfare a few weeks ago, The World of Ice and Fire, the long-awaited world book by George R.R. Martin and his co-authors Elio M. García Jr. and Linda Antonsson of Westeros.org, has proven to be an extraordinarily fecund source of information, speculation, and general wonderment. That’s a pretty fair characterization of this episode of The Boiled Leather Audio Hour, as a matter of fact: No muss, no fuss, just me and Sean the best and most baffling moments of this extensive fake history in our biggest episode yet.
But before you begin, a quick housekeeping note: Sean and I haven’t been able to record a podcast since July, as a series of professional, personal, and (most insurmountably) technical issues scuttled half a dozen different scheduled recording times. The resolution of these issues necessitated the purchase of a whole new computer and set of software, which Sean was happy to do, but which obviously took a hefty chunk out of the old Boiled Leather budget.
So if you enjoy The Boiled Leather Audio Hour, boiledleather.com, The Nerdstream Era, or any of our assorted projects, please consider clicking here to donate a few dollars to help offset the cost of the show via PayPal. (There’s also a Donate button at the top of boiledleather.com and in The Nerdstream Era's sidebar). You all have been so tremendously complimentary and supportive, and we’re extraordinarily grateful that you listen!

Donate here.
Mirror here.
Sean’s Rolling Stone article: The 10 Craziest Things We Learned from The World of Ice and Fire
Stefan’s “ruminations” on TWoIaF for Tower of the Hand
Sean’s essay on the Deep Ones
Sean betting sixty bucks that Tyrion is Aerys’s son

Previous episodes here.
Podcast RSS feed here.
iTunes page here.
Sean’s blog here.
Stefan’s blog here.

A Flight of Links

- MovieBob reviews Dumb and Dumber To
- And talks about the time when Jim Carrey was a super star
- Steven Attewell takes on So Spake Martin
- Mildly amusing
- Hey, Daniel Brühl goes Marvel! 
- Sean T. Collins about the magic of water
- And about The World of Ice and Fire in general
- Great essay about Westerosi economy 
- The new Assassin's Creed is getting some heat some heat in France 
- Call of Duty Advanced Warfare review by Yathzee
- Live Action Disney movies that need to be made
- Moviebob reviews the new Hunger Games and likes it
- Telltale releases a teaser for GOT
- Natalie Dormer wants more male nudity on GOT

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 54

Thursday is court day!

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, The World of Ice and Fire (new!) and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

And now, up to ruling 54 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Dan (aka witlesschum), who posts on the Podcast of Ice and Fire forums and occasionally appears on VOK episodes, where he played a Frey on a full castle recording and got to say “Nuncle.” In real life, he lives in Kalamazoo, The North, where he works as a journalist and knows way too much about college football, along with A Song of Ice and Fire.

A Flight of Links

- So, John Oliver knows a lot of people
- If you always wanted a montage of the protests in Eastern Germany of 1989, here it is. 
- Painfuilly obvious shortfilm. 
- Historical parallels to GOT
- Legacy of the Void announced
- CoD Advanced Warfare review
- And another one. 
- Yahtzee trashes Evil Within a little more. 
- In game criticism, everything goes
- Overwatch trailer. I'm interested, to say the least.
- Confirmed: No Bran in season 5
- Crash Course will be expanded. Good news everyone!
- Bill and Ted without nostalgia.
- On the nature of Westerosi feudalism
- 7 war movies for people who don't like war movies
- Don't censor me!
- About Bayonetta's gender
- Wit and Wisdom of GRRM
- Awwwwwwwww
- Telltale reveals details about GOT
- HBO options the Foundation Trilogy 
- Sunset Overdrive review

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 53

Thursday is court day! It's exactly one year now that we started this series. Hipp Hipp Hooray!

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, The World of Ice and Fire (new!) and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

And now, up to ruling 53 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week, as in our first issue, is Steven Attewell, who is the author of Race for the Iron Throne and has recently published a book entitled: Race for the Iron Throne: Political and Historical Analysis of "A Game of Thrones." He recently finished a chapter-by-chapter analysis of A Game of Thrones and is now doing chapter-by-chapter analyses of A Clash of Kings. He has a PhD in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara where he studied the history of public policy. Recently, Steven became an adjunct professor of urban studies at CUNY's Murphy Institute(!!) In addition to Race for the Iron Throne, Steven is also a co-podcaster on Game of Thrones at Lawyers, Guns, and Money.

A Flight of Links

- The overwhelming mass of must-see movies in November
- Jon Snow's political skills discussed
- Happy Valley sure sounds good
- Neil Galman about Alien
- Yahtzee reviews Bayonetta 2
- MovieBob reviews Interstellar, and doesn't like it. 
- Game development psychology
- Why you play games 
- Seems like Walking Dead gets better in its fifth season, judging from these two reviews. Only watched the first episode so far.
- Andrew Sullivan's take on Gamergate. I don't agree with his biological explanations, but there you go.
- Spoilery pictures from GOT filming. 
- The latest episode of POIAF
- Another Interstellar review
- Captain America 2 as an 80s movie
- Putin's crazy new history
- Warcraft movie reveal
- Iron Sky 2 trailer, with Hitler riding a T-Rex
- Who's who in the Warcraft movie

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 52

Thursday is court day!

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

And now, up to ruling 52 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! This week's guest judge is Zach, a curator and regular host of Vassals of Kingsgrave and prolific poster on the A Podcast of Ice and Fire forums. He’s podcasted on nerdy topics of all kinds. Video games, movies, TV, and of course, A Song of Ice and Fire. Zach is currently planning a VOK episode on Patrick Rothfuss’ Kingkiller Chronicle.

A Flight of Links

- Evil within music video
- GRRM talks about The World of Ice and Fire
- Robert Kirkman debunks stupid fan theories about The Walking Dead
- Mysoginists of the world are now uniting behind #Gamergate, even if they are no gamers 
- Please read this piece by Arthur Cho about #Gamergate and Felicia Day 
- Stephen Colbert also has some tough love on the matter  
- Six ways franchises end
- Judge Dredd vs. Dredd
- Anita Sarkeesian's New York Times column. Just in case you're still wondering who's winning the culture war.
- 11 alternate WWI scenarios.  
- In the light of the upcoming 25th anniversary of German reunification here some facts.  
- Steven Attewell is commenting his read on A World of Ice and Fire: here, here, here, here. And here.
- This is very, very funny.
- Yes, I have. 
- No, I haven't. 
- Terminator: Genysis sounds godawful
- GOT will have seven seasons, perio.d 
- Evil within review.  
- More weird stuff about Superman Lives

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 51

Thursday is court day!

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

And now, up to ruling 51 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is James Ranson, an itinerant wordsmith on an indefinite road trip and the founding editor and chief word coach at heldforranson.com. He is also a TEDx speaker coach, all-purpose tenor, professional writer/speaker/provider of feedback, and giver of amazing hugs. James discovered A Song of Ice and Fire in 1998, served two years as a moderator in the online community Westeros Sorting, was a founding attendee at Ice & Fire Con, and proudly serves House Lannister in all his endeavors. Connect with him on heldforranson.com and @HeldForRanson. 

A Flight of Links

- How we got trolled by the dishonest fascists of Gamergate.
- Sean T. Collins interviewd Anita Sarkeesian
- Compare Iron Man throughout all MCU trailers. 
- MovieBob reviews Fury. 
- Bound women: why games better don't put in a damsel
- Chapter by Chapter: Tyrion IV
- Beyond Earth review
- Yathtzee about storytelling in Shadows of Mordor
- How the Golem went from Jewish myth to D&D monster
-18 weird German words that really exist (I knew all but two :))
- Ten Germans trying to say "squirrel"
- Yahtzee reviews Alien: Isolation 
- io9 review of the same
- You can fit every planet of the Solar System between earth and moon
- Ambition

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 50

Thursday is court day!

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

And now, up to ruling 50 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! As a surprise feature for our 50th anniversary, we have two guest judges this week. John Spinella is a member of the community. Travis A. is a fan of A Podcast of Ice and Fire and contributor to the offshoot Vassals and Bastards of Kingsgrave podcasts.  You can follow him at @travisotraviso for random musings on Game of Thrones, beer, and Destiny.

A Flight of Links

- 10 grammar mistakes that aren't
- The Future of the Culture Wars is here, and it's Gamergate. Read this.
- Heartwrenching trailer of the new Civ game
- Will Marvel adapt the Civil War storyline?
-  Final verdict of RPS on Shadows of Mordor
- And the one of Yahtzee
- Wanna know what happens when three expert fighters take on 50 novices? 
- Yet another example of Gamergate violence misfiring spectacularily 
- A documentation of 4chan harassment in Gamergate. 

- Shadow of Mordor is an infantile revenge fantasy. Can't stress that enough; true of so many games.

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 49

Thursday is court day!

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

And now, up to ruling 49 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Paul. He is known as Pod's Plight on the APOIAF forums where he enjoys dabbling in artistic pursuits via MS Paint drawings. He is also an occasional contributor to Vassals of Kingsgrave.

A Flight of Links

- The three lives of Blizzard
- Civ: Beyond Earth
- Culture wars are back, and we can win

- Stop supporting Gamergate

- Robin Hood expanded universe? Seriously? 
- Dracula goes full ISIS on the muslims 
- Moviebob's take
- Birdman movie, totally happening
- 10 types of apocalypses and what they mean
- 12 technologies we need to develop
- New TOTT essay
- Creature Feature: Alien
- Great anti-harassment ad
- Dredd is back
- Best Fall movies
- Past the Koolaid point
-  Middleaged white men making bad movies
- On secret Targaryens

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 48

Thursday is court day! This week, however, problems arose. Sorry for that.

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

And now, up to ruling 48 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Calvin (aka KCenturion), he is the copy editor for encyclopedia entries on Tower of the Hand. He lives in the UK and is one of the regular members of the APOIAF CockneyMoots. You can also follow him on Twitter @CassiusGren.

#Gamergate is not one debate, but two. Plus, it's a culture war.

In my latest post linking to Sarkeesian's latest video, I talked about her and the other "Social Justice Warriors" winning the fight. One reader then asked me the following: 

Stefan, i'm wondering where you're getting your sources on GamerGate because i've seen lots of one sided pieces on each side of the aisle and as someone without a dog in this fight I have to say that a lot of the feminists sites like some of the posts you've linked to don't talk about any of the negative things there side are doing. There supporters have done plenty of doxxing, threatening and throwing there weight around as well. I'm not even a video game player anymore but i've found this whole saga interesting. Anyway, read this interview today with developer Brad Wardell and I think it's one of the few examples of someone able to talk about the plusses and minuses of each side.

I initially wrote a comment, but my argument grew longer, and so I'm making a blog post about it. Advantage if you're the owner of the damn thing, I know. ;) So, on to the argument.

Video: Anita Sarkeesian at XOXO

Don't know, but from my vantage point, her communication strategy seems pretty clever to me and, above all, working. I can't see her as finished, and despite the partial success of the #Gamergate crowd in their boycotting of critical media by bullying Intel into withdrawing ad money (shame on you, Intel) I also don't see the backlashreaching any point (yet) at which the industry as a whole would disavow her. Despite Intel's appalling behavior, and of course the not even debatable degeneration of the Gamergaters, the paradigm shift Sarkeesian talks about is happening, and the elites that matter (as in popculture critics and developers) have flocked to the cause in droves. They are notably absent on the #Gamergate side of things, which consists mostly of the fanbase itself and many of the traditional video games review sites and magazines. The irony of this is, of course, that the #Gamergate people, who claim to attack corruption in the video game industry, have thrown their lot in hook, line and sinker with exactly those elements of the business that are known to be the most susceptible to corruption and getting influences by the industry they maintain way too close ties with. 

Video after the break.

A Flight of Links

- David Fincher will direct the whole first season of HBO's new mystery series "Utopia". Count me mildly intrigued.
- Destiny wants your money
- Ask Polly: Am I shallow? I love how she draws the connection to pop culture tropes. Spot on.
- Twilight comes back. Yay?
- The Angry Birds movie catches a ridiculously good cast. 
- Wot I think: Shadows of Mordor
- Don't know whether this looks intriguing. Strange. 
- Watch this brillant fake Tetris trailer
- Why does your voice sound different on recording? 
- Bill Nye predicts the end of Creationism. Let's hope he's right.
- Symbols and Stories in Westeros
- Mathematical calculation which GOT POV dies next
- Laci Green interviewed on TV
- Amazon has a disclaimer for Tom and Jerry for being racist. More of this, please.
- How the Vampire became less frightening. 
- Ice Age maps
- 23 years after its release, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves doesn't hold up. Maybe, but I fucking liked that movie.
- Alien: Isolation reviews here, here and here
- Throwdown: Alien vs. Aliens 
- Collected Information about TWOW 
- This GamerGate-crowd really sucks ass. 

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 47

Thursday is court day! 

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

And now, up to ruling 47 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Alix C, a show-watcher turned book-reader, forum member of Podcast of Ice and Fire and occasional speaker on Vassals of Kingsgrave. You can find her on tumblr at brownwizardofwesteros.tumblr.com.

Review: Noah

Warning: Spoilers for "Noah" ahead. Seriously, I'll spoil the whole movie. 

I finally got around to watch "Noah". I have found this to be a really, really disturbing experience. "Noah" is the weirdest piece of movie I saw since "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", and it left me deeply unsettled. The imagery, the story and the characters all align into something that doesn't fit any category, and the movie switches with ease between different genres, watching first some post-apocalyptic flic, then reenacting the battle of Helm's Deep before we get "The Shining 2" aboard the Ark. So why is this, and does it work?

This! Is! Noah!

A Flight of Links

- Vox reviews Gotham. 
- Netflix has its own spoiler site. Enter at your own risk. 
- GOT set of Winterfell
- Details about the new X-Men. Without Halle Berry.
- Please Marvel, don't do a Hawkeye movie
- This is the most insane hacker scene in a movie ever. I laughed my ass off and facepalmed in turns.
- Destiny review by Yathzee
- Consider this a pretty definitive statement on Gotham. Plus the one I added to my infamous list. 
- The Equalizer review 
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ayn Rand edition
- An open letter to Sam Pepper. This even rhymes, sort of.  

Video: Laci Green about Sam Pepper

Laci Green, who I think I never recommended on the blog until now but have been watching quite some time, made a video about the Sam Pepper prank stuff (she explains it, don't worry) which I can only recommend to y'all. Watch it after the break.

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 46

Thursday is court day! 

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

And now, up to ruling 46 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Michal H, a Show-watcher turned book reader, forum member of Podcast of Ice and Fire and speaker on Vassals of Kingsgrave.

A Flight of Links

- Should every game allow you to choose your gender? 
- Oculus Rift: first impressions. Very interesting.
- Why should we overanalyze stuff?
- Bran II, great read
- Sexism in comics rebuked
- Snyder and Abrams battle hilariously
- 10 webcomics that should be TV series
- Is Indiana Jones a bad archeologist
- Is Pirate speak a myth?
- Mazerunner review

Discussing Sarkeesian with 16-year-olds

Today, I used Anita Sarkeesian's "Women as Background Decoration" in class. The pupils are 10th graders, which in Germany means they're about 16 to 17 years old. The class is small, consisting of ten boys and one girl. Much testosterone to fly around, I can tell you. Since I know that all of the ten boys are playing video games, asking them whether they heard of #Gamergate, I expected some positive answers. In fact, two people had heard of it, and two others joined in once they understood what I meant. The term itself was new to them. We watched the aforementioned video together, with me pausing several times to explain some of the heavier vocabulary, but refraining from taking sides. During watching, they constantly shouted out their disapproval, citing that men get beaten and killed in these games, too, and that it's just "normal", and that if Sarkeesian didn't like it she should stop playing. Two pupils grew a bit more thoughtful after a while, pondering the arguments, but didn't get on Sarkeesian's side. All pupils stated how dismayed they were at the fact that Sarkeesian countered all their own arguments in advance, calling it unfair.

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 45

Thursday is court day! 

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

And now, up to ruling 45 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is J Alex Keene, a member of the community.