Sunday, February 9, 2014

Hershel's Death

The Season 4 Mid-Season Finale left me in tears and in need of my inhaler. It took awhile for me to calm down because of one character's death. Someone I had grown attached to and was originally supposed to be killed off in Season 2.

Yep, I'm talking about Hershel.

I figure that since the second half of Season 4 will start to air tonight that this would be a good time to talk about this death. Since it is relevant and I've had a little bit to learn not to cry upon the mention of this event.

I think the reason I get so emotional over Hershel was the same reason I got sad when Dale died.

Both characters were the heart of the group. They were the ones to go: Hey, maybe we shouldn't do this or else there will be no point in living.

Without Hershel, the second heart of the group and someone who acted as a doctor, the group will have a hard time surviving when they reunite. Not only will their medical needs have trouble getting taken care of, but the morality of the group might start to crumble fast.

Not only is the loss of Hershel going to be felt down the line, but the scene was so well done and induced a ton of tears.

Hershel seemed to have accepted death and didn't look weak when he knew he was going to die (bad ass material there!) and that might have been due to the strength he saw in Rick. No one really thought that The Governor was going to spare him and we were all just begging for The Governor to kill him already so we wouldn't cry so damn much.

New Sweetheart Mortiking and Swampie

Hey! More cute new Subeta pets!

On the left is the Mortiking that is looking happy for once in its life. My eyes are especially drawn to the spines on its back and the position of its upper body. All good things, mind you.

On the right is the Swampie that is wearing a necklace. It works but is a little off putting at first glance.

I remember a time when I would have hated these pets because they were pink.

Friday, February 7, 2014

Token Shop Bonanza and Wizard Quests

Info Found HERE
This week's Weekend Quest is the Wizard Quests. While I love the Wizard, having it being the Weekend quests two times in a row devalues the Wizard Tokens too much for my liking.

However, this time I don't mind as the Token Shop is having a big sale all this weekend. For those unaware: the Token Shop isn't stocked all the time and the items it sells are usually pricey little gems of goodness.

This sale will sell old gems like:
And new treasures like:
Also, if you're reading this and not a member yet: why not click on the link at the bottom of this post? This has nothing to do with THIS piece of news...maybe...

Jash Talks: The Comeback


I answer questions about how I write, the upcoming Robocop remake, and talk about somethings that interested me this week.

If you would like to send questions for the next live show just comment below and they will be answered during the next live show!

Also go to my twitter (@jashykins) to look for updates about the next live show!

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "T.R.A.C.K.S." Review

This episode had pacing that might've been odd for some viewers. What it did was a shit load of time jumping so you could follow what happened to every character this episode. I don't mind this form of storytelling but revrezner was bothered by it.

The time jumping and the fact that Skye is looking close to death by the end of the episode bothered him. I nearly laughed out loud when revs stated that people should stop dying and I satisfied myself with telling him, "We've [aka us Whedonites] been telling Whedon that for years!"

Simmons has a great moment where she tries to get into a persona for her undercover duty. In a season or two I hope she develops more so she's able to handle fieldwork and so the scene would be awkward in future seasons. Coulson isn't sure what to expect and so his reaction is just priceless.

May kicked ass this episode and my favorite moment of hers this week was right before commercial break when she kills a guy. Coulson and Ward are both highly confused and then I had to wait a few...okay, I dvred it so was able to fast forward through commercials. But my point still stands that this was an excellent placement of a scene.

Skye makes a very rash decision and ends nearly dead by the end of the episode. People have said that she was stupid for doing this but I find nothing out of character for her in this episode. She is used to running in, chaos happening, and then things being alright by the end. Fitz, who ends up letting her go in alone, had worked with her before so was probably thinking she'd be okay.

Ward blames someone for Skye getting hurt. He probably blames either Coulson or Fitz, but it wouldn't be odd if it was both.

Guess what happened this week: Stan Lee Cameo!

I'm dreading a love triangle in this show. Coulson and May were having a moment when Ward walks in and looks jealous. Earlier in the episode Ward finds out Coulson knows about Ward banging May which makes Ward not happy with May. I hope if a love triangle is done that it is done to good effect.

And if there's one person I trust with fiction it's Joss Whedon.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Shipping Confessions: Science Husbands (The Avengers and Iron Man 3)

Image Found HERE
When The Avengers came out in 2012 it seemed everyone was shipping Tony Stark and Steve Rogers together. I really didn't see it and when I finally did I wasn't a big shipper of it. The movie, of course, was great since it was helped by Joss Whedon who can do no wrong (all hail Whedon our lord and savior).
When I finally decided on my OTP of the movie I found myself putting two scientists together.

The ship is called Science Bros if you ship them as a bromance (aka nothing like a lover) or Science Husbands if you ship them romantically. You can tell by the title of this post which way I ship them. It's between Tony Stark and Bruce Banner.

Let's cover the sexier of the two first: Bruce Banner.
Bruce Banner's alter ego is the Hulk. It's a persona that was accidentally created when he was testing something science related. Because the jackass that basically seems to head the project seems to think Bruce is now his property, Bruce has to run and hide.

His Hulk persona (aka the other guy) is very violent and nearly impossible to control. Bruce has to constantly be on the lookout so that he won't transform when he doesn't want to. When he does control the other guy it's a force of good, but when he doesn't control the transformation (which leaves him unable to control the other guy once he reaches full transformation) it's a chaotic force of destruction where he'll hurt those he considers friends/allies.

These two things make Bruce a very tortured character. Those that know about the other guy treat him differently. When all Bruce wants to do is help, it makes his life a living Hell. Any hope of a normal life has been dashed. At one point before The Avengers, he even tries to commit suicide but finds that he doesn't even have the choice of ending his own life.

Tony Stark seems to be a direct contrast of Bruce's socially awkward personality.
Tony is an egomaniac and if it wasn't for the events leading to him becoming Iron Man, he would still be a self-entitled asshole like he was before.

Through the events of the first Iron Man movie he's confronted with the fact that he needs to change. He starts caring more than he used to while still keeping to that jokester side of him. Tony is very smart but still struggles with how to treat people. Not to the extent of Bruce as he doesn't appear as odd, but he can still be rough around the edges.

In The Avengers Tony is the one to treat Bruce like a human being most often. Am I saying Tony is the first one? Hell no! Betty did but the movie and Iron Man 3 both don't mention her. And, even if they did, Tony's kind actions towards Bruce wouldn't mean any less to me.

Mostly everyone treats Bruce like he's about to turn into the Hulk or they use him for their own needs (whether they be for his genius or brute strength), but Tony treats Bruce like a normal person which must be so great for Bruce to feel.

At different points Tony teases Bruce. This may seem cruel, but Tony is basically saying, "I know you can control yourself and so I'm not afraid of you. You're also just like everyone else here. You're not a monster."
The most moving Science Husbands scene to me in The Avengers is where Bruce talks to Tony about not feeling like  a real person and that he should've died. Tony comforts Bruce by pointing out the similarities to their two different situations.

Tony "I Treat Everything Like a Joke" Stark takes his time to comfort a friend.

Near the end of the movie Bruce in his Hulk persona (aka where he can't react like he does when he's human) catches Tony without anyone telling him to. He has to care for Tony A LOT for that shit to happen.

I admit the following is my personal headcanon as Iron Man 3 neither confirms or denies it: It was Bruce that helped take out the arc reactor from Tony and so he knew the whole story before Tony told it in the movie. Tony, being one with a huge ego, tells the story to Bruce over and over while embellishing it more and more. So when we see Bruce in the Post Credits scene he has stopped putting up a pretense of being interested and just falls asleep (and when he says he's not that kind of doctor, he doesn't mean he won't listen but he can't put up with how Tony insists on telling the story).
I love this pairing so SO much. Tony and Bruce is my OTP of The Avengers. I'd love to see Betty again since she is such a kick ass character, but Science Husbands always makes me feel a mixture of pain and happiness that I will never give them up.

What will I talk about in the next Shipping Confessions? Science Husbands forms a reason for me shipping a caring, sarcastic boy and a boy trapped in a bird's body from the Animorphs book series.


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Shipping Confessions Table of Contents

Marvel's The Avengers (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo in Blu-ray Packaging)

New Sweetheart Devonti and Tigrean


Some cute new arrivals!

The one on the left is the Devonti and the one on the right is the Tigrean.

I love the Devonti as it looks cute and fluffy. I just want to pet it and hug it. I want to love it forever and ever.

The Tigrean on the other hand...the eyes look off. The rest of the body is great but the eyes are really distracting to me.