Friday, May 30, 2014

Jash Talks: X-Men Days of Future Past Fiesta (Parts 1 & 2)

Avexle and myself talk about the X-Men movies and talk about medical issues among other things.

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

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

Shipping Confessions: Cassie/Rachel (Animorphs)

And yet again we find ourselves back in the Animorphs series. I must admit that I should've given myself a little more time before talking about this ship. While I remember some good parts, there is the fact that it isn't as fresh in my mind as it should be. Especially since both characters grow and change throughout the series.

This is a ship where opposites attract. Hell, before the series started they were both good friends already.

The ship is Cassie and Rachel.
Cassie is one of those characters that is hated by the majority of the fandom and I don't understand why. She is the moral center of the group and commits some heinous acts, but that makes her realistically flawed and not someone that shouldn't be in the series.

Cassie is the one to discover the Yeerk Peace Movement (YPM) and helps the YPM Leader (Aftran) escape from being killed. She is the one to ask the others about their actions and so makes it so that the surviving Animorphs aren't so badly scarred at the end of the war. It's really only herself, Marco, and Ax that fare the best despite her best efforts.

Cassie is the one to help provide morphs and information on animals to the group. Without her it wouldn't be as easy to get morphs or figure out what morphs they should use. Yes, she did make mistakes like the ant morph, but she usually helps the group very well.

Cassie is a very plain looking girl and doesn't think too highly about her appearance. She is also a POC (specifically African American) and the books that she narrates clearly show her skin color on the covers.
Rachel is the opposite of Cassie. She turns into the weapon that the other Animorphs use as she will do what is necessary to win. This makes her a very bloody character and people often only see that side of her.

Throughout the series she questions how she is changing. She thinks about how she loves the war. So it isn't like she is a ruthless fighter without a conscience. She knows that she's a violent character and even reflects on how the others use her.

Rachel is the one to die and it actually makes sense. She is the one that lived for the war so her not living seems to be the better option. Of course her death affects Tobias so much that he ends up living in the wilderness after the war.

Rachel is always described as a model and so that helps to hide the fact that she is very vicious.
Rachel and Cassie were friends prior to them entering into the war. While they are opposites they very much fit one another.

Even though they have their fights during the series, including Rachel pointing out the fact that Cassie is afraid to become like her, they are always there for each other. No matter how far they get from each other, emotionally, they will always care about each other.

Cassie and Rachel are the opposite of each other and yet they care for each other deeply. From risking their lives for each other to simple things like recording shows.
It's always funny to see Rachel and Cassie talk about clothing. Rachel is one of those people that is very sophisticated when it comes to shopping while Cassie doesn't really know or care about fashion. So it's good that Cassie has a friend like Rachel who can help her with the more mundane things like dressing herself.

If Rachel had survived the war, Cassie could help her emotionally. Cassie could be there to remind her that she is a good person and that she'll always be there for her. I don't think Rachel would ever fully recover, but with a person like Cassie she could at least have a chance at enjoying life.

What will I talk about next Shipping Confessions? One ship that is so canon that it should be canon. A cannibal and an empathetic man from the tv series Hannibal.
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Shipping Confessions Table of Contents

Elementary (Season 2)



Show: Elementary

Season: 2

Episodes: 24

Executive Producer: Carl Beverly

Released: 2013-2014

Rating: 3/6

Basic Plot: A modern take on the cases of Sherlock Holmes, with the detective now living in New York City.
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Irene/Moriarty Gets More Development
An episode or two is dedicated to Irene and I am glad for that. Last Season Finale had the reveal that Irene is actually Moriarty and seeing how Sherlock reacts is good to see. It's good to see how Sherlock Holmes loves and that he still harbors feelings for her. Irene is shown to have a daughter which ends up showing she's both a mother and that she's dedicated to her profession.

Mycroft
I liked seeing this character returning to the show. It is fun to watch the two brothers interact with each other. Mycroft and Joan Watson end up in a little relationship for a short time. I don't mind the relationship as it does open up character development for Mycroft as well as showing some secrets that I won't spoil here. Again, I love seeing him interacting with Sherlock and seeing their relationship explored.

Sherlock and Watson's Relationship
Now it's a well known fact that Sherlock and Watson are supposed to remain just friends. From an artistic standpoint I know that's the best decision. Here is a man and woman who can be together without falling in love with each other. It's a rarity in fiction, especially today when romance seems to enter places it isn't needed. However, I can't help but look at their actions as lovers rather than friends. This is one of those times I'm glad I'm not in charge of the show as I probably wouldn't be able to help myself.

Final Thoughts
This show is better if you watch a Season in a marathon watching style. This is because episodes can be meh generally, but the overarching plots are worth it. Plus Jonny Lee Miller excels at playing Sherlock Holmes giving the character new life. Lucy Liu continues to do well as Joan Watson. I am shipping Watson/Moriarty harder this season. With the ending of this Season I am worrying about Sherlock's stability and what will happen to the other characters.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Let's Play Dead Space: Extraction (Parts 22 & 23)

I continue to kick-butt and take names.


Let's Play Dead Space: Extraction (Parts 19-21)


I start off this session with trying to get to the Ishimura without dying.



New Beginnings and Second Chances 3

Marco’s laughter had seemed to go on for hours. I was even nervous that I would have to demorph soon before anything could be resolved. The whole morphing process was too exhausting to morph, demorph, and morph again quickly. Only an Estreen, like Cassie, could do that. I didn’t want to get stuck mid-morph and not be able to function.

I didn’t want to imagine how a half-hawk half-human body would function or even if it could.

I checked a nearby clock for the fifth time and saw only eight minutes had passed. It was still an impressive amount of time to laugh non-stop, though.

“To...Tob...Tobias, you acquired Mark Ruffalo?” Marco said as he seemed to calm down finally.

“No,” I replied and found Ruffalo’s voice to be a good yet odd match to my own. “I acquired a bunch of people and it just happened that the morph turned out to be Mark Ruffalo.”

I saw Marco struggle not to burst out into laughter again as he replied, “But the coincidence. Shit like that doesn’t just happen on accident.”

“Sometimes it does, Marco.” I said and sighed.

I suddenly noticed that when Marco had been talking to and laughing at me that he hadn’t been looking directly into my eyes. Maybe he’d glance at them but mostly his eyes looked everywhere but my eyes. A smile started to form on my face and then I pushed it away.

I needed to stay concentrated on the moment and not what I hoped would happen.

“You know I...like Ruffalo.” Marco said slowly.

“I do too.” I told him. “He’s not exactly an unattractive man.”

“But what does he think about you morphing him? Or did you even tell him yet?”

“I talked with him. It was really embarrassing morphing him the first time. I didn’t want him to think I was some stalker. I can turn into any animal so thinking you have a stalker like that is just frightening.”

“And he agreed? Mark Ruffalo agreed to let you morph him?”

“Yeah. I promised to always alert him if I was going to morph him in public and to help alert him to anyone purposefully confusing the two of us.”

“You two didn’t discuss morphing in private?” Marco asked as his eyes stayed focused on my hair.

“Well he sort of figured that I’d want an adult form to do stuff like drink and have sex.” I said and grinned as I saw him blush. “It’s really awkward doing stuff like sex with the body of a thirteen year old to say the least.”

“But it never seemed to bother you before.” He said and I swear there was a touch of sadness in his voice.

“Hey, it’s not like I won’t ever morph into myself from time to time.” I said and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Marco then looked into my eyes and got lost in them. I could see why he had been hesitant before as the look he was giving me now was very sexually charged, to say the least. I figured now was as good of time as any to ask him.

“You sure you’re not into guys?” I asked.

“What?” Marco said as he realized that he had been staring for too long. “No. No. Totally a ladies man.”

“Sure?” I asked and purposefully ran a hand through my hair.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” But, as he replied, the words seemed to have trouble coming out of his mouth.

“Listen, I’m not asking for a commitment here. Just maybe a night or two and then we can go to other sex partners.”

“I told you I’m not-“

“Marco, you just got lost in my eyes and before that you were checking me out. You can say you’re not gay or that you don’t like guys all you want, but I know you’re lying. It hurts.”

“And it doesn’t hurt you that all your interactions with me lately have been involving sex?”

“Because losing your girlfriend and having no one to turn to is so easy to deal with. At least your parents are together. My mom doesn’t remember my dad. Hell, it sometimes feels like she has nothing but loathing for him because of the responsibility I was given.”

“So all you’re going to do is fuck me for stability?”

“If I say I love you, how will that matter if you don’t want sex with me? I need sex in a relationship. How can I think of going further with you if you’re not going to admit anything?”

After that outburst we just looked at each other. I both hated and loved Marco at that moment. I loathed him for making me feel guilty and for not admitting what he felt sexually. It was wrong for me to just have sex with him as a crutch, but he could at least admit he liked it.

I loved Marco too because I couldn’t hate him, at least not fully. I could never hate him so much that I would never have feelings for him.

It seemed that we would look at each other for years and that we wouldn’t stop looking at each other until we died. Would he ever decide yes or would it be a no?

Then Marco finally made his move. One of his hands tightly gripped my hair and his lips met mine. I kissed him back fiercely and put a hand on the back of his neck while my other hand went to undo his pants.
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Supernatural (Season 9)



Show: Supernatural

Season: 9

Episodes: 23

Created By: Eric Kripke

Released: 2013-2014

Rating: 3.5/6

Basic Plot: After the angels got thrown out of Heaven, Dean and Sam end up having to try and stop both Abaddon and Metatron.
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Metatron the Douche
At the end of last season's finale you got to see that Metatron was not a good guy. But this season he becomes so horrible that you are in shock. When he was first shown he seemed to be okay but this season shows that is far from the case. His goal this season is to try and become God. While I do hate his actions, he is a fun character to watch on screen.

Castiel is Human for a Sec
One interesting thing that I wanted explored this season was what would happen if Cas was human. How would he react and adapt to a life without his angelic powers? They did show Cas as a human for a little bit and also gave him a budding romance. To say the romance with the woman was cut short is an understatement. While him getting his powers back wasn't as sudden, and ended up having consequences, I would've loved to see more human Cas.

Bloodlines
A spin-off of Supernatural has been heard of for awhile now and this season we got to see the pilot in the episode "Bloodlines". Most people loathed it being the spin-off after the episode aired. Myself, I think there were so many options for a better spin-off. The episode that aired before "Bloodlines", "Alex Annie Alexis Ann", I would've preferred being the pilot of the spin-off. Other people have suggested ideas that would've tied the maker of the colt, the gun used to kill the big bad in a previous season, to the Men of Letters. As an episode it was okay, but as a pilot for the spin-off it doesn't leave a good taste in my mouth.

Final Thoughts
This season was fun for the most part. Even though "Dog Dean Afternoon" wasn't that good the arcs of Abaddon, the Mark of Cain, and trying to beat Metatron more than made up for it. Plus we get more Charlie and Garth! It did have its low points but it did make up for them so that it was an enjoyable season.