The End, At Least For Now (#150)

Hi. So, I know this is sudden. And I feel pretty bad about this. But recently, a lot has been happening in my life. I have a lot of majorly important exams coming up in the next year or two, which will determine my future. This means I have to focus a lot of my time at home on revising and doing a ton of homework, which, along with this blog, means me feel like I sometimes just don't have enough time to do what I want to do and it's kind of been depressing me lately. That's one of the reasons why I've started to post a lot less often. I mean, think about it; ever since I began this blog in June, the amount of posts I've published has steadily decreased each month, with one exception in September. In fact, in June, I wrote and uploaded 39 posts, some of which were fairly long. But this month, November, is nearly over, and and I've only created around 15 or so (I'm not completely sure since I'm typing this up a few days before it'll actually be posted).

It's not that I'm not happy with this blog or anything, or because hardly any people have read it or anything like that. I love this blog. It's been one of the most satisfying things I've created and I've put so much effort into it in this last almost half a year. But I'm just finding it increasingly harder and harder to find motivation to do this, especially since I go to sleep all the time feeling unsatisfied after not studying enough or not spending enough time enjoying myself and doing things that I want to do for enjoyment in my life. And as much as I love being the creator of this, I will have to admit, sometimes it's too stressful thinking about when I need to make a post next, and always having to stop what I'm doing when I'm watching something on Netflix and playing a fun game to open my laptop and spend half an hour with a TV show or video game paused to think of an interesting way to talk about what I've been doing for the past two or three days, or how excited I am for that upcoming movie or how awesome that game is that I bought yesterday, etc, etc.

But as the title says, this doesn't have to be permanent. Honestly, I really don't think it will be. Trust me, there are always times in my life when I've given up on things like this (a lot, lot sooner than with Awesome Fantasy News, though, which I'm proud of) and months or even a year later I start feeling productive again and I want to try something like this. It happens with me all the time, trust me. It's happened three times with blogs, and a load of times with wanting to make videos or something, but that never really works out, unlike this. Just look at post #127 and you should see what I mean.

Think of this more as an indefinite hiatus. I'm almost certain I'll be coming back to this but I have no idea when. It could be near the end of the year, it could be sometime next year or even late 2016, and there is a small chance that this is it. But that's really unlikely, like I've said. See, in the past when I've felt like just going on the internet and making something for people to see, I always start fresh and begin making something brand new, like a new YouTube channel or a new blog and, again, most of the time it usually lasts for days at most. But with this, I think I've finally gotten something solid and successful, so if, and most likely when, I do want to make something on the internet, like a blog, something to write about, something to report news on, this time I have something to fall back on, something to come straight to and click 'New Post' instead of clicking 'New Blog' and practically erasing all the progress I built up the previous time.

I put my heart into this post. I hope you can see that from the things I was saying. With AFN I have something that's taken much, much more time and effort to build up than anything else I've made to express my feelings and interests. I don't think it will end here forever, because I've tried too hard to create this and make it a steady news/journal site to just throw it all away. Honestly, this post just feels like I'm having to put down some kind of sick pet or something.

There is an alternative way that I think could play out. Instead of kind of ending this temporarily, perhaps I could just make posts when I feel like it? Instead of sticking to a schedule and always worrying about how long it's been since I last posted and how people are going to be annoyed because I'm unreliable and can't keep to when I promise I'll upload, couldn't I just write stuff about news and feelings and things happening in my life when they happen and when I legitimately feel motivated or inspired to upload something? It's better than pushing myself when I really don't want to because I get worried that people will think I'm dead, or gone, or have abandoned the blog if I don't say anything for a week without explaining myself.

Maybe I'll do that.

For what I doubt is the final time, but at least for now is my last farewell.
Thomas

Edit: One day or two before this post was released, the trailer for Captain America: Civil War was actually uploaded onto YouTube even though I thought it was going to debut with Star Wars VII (I'm sure it will still play with it though). So as my last kind of send-off, before I go, I know you've probably seen it by now since I'm writing this days before this post will be put onto the internet, but you can click here to see the trailer for the third Captain America movie. It looks pretty damn amazing, and I'm intensely looking forward to it now. I think I'm going to start watching the six Star Wars movies again now since I want to rewatch them before I go to see VII in less than a month. Goodbye, and again, maybe I'll come back to this in a few months or even less. We'll just have to see if I have the time.

Thanks to all of you that read any of my posts, and to the person who gave so many of posts a '+1'. I don't know who you are but it's nice to feel appreciated like that, as if I have a fan following AFN.

My Thoughts On: Jessica Jones - Part 4 (#149)

Well, we're here with the final part already. This is the last post in the 'My Thoughts On: Jessica Jones' series, and so covers episodes 10, 11, 12 and 13, the last four. Scroll down for the finale.



Episode 10: AKA 1,000 Cuts

Synopsis: A discovery has the potential to change the entire game -- if Jessica can refuse Kilgrave's offer.
Quote: "I bought Jessica her bloody childhood home and restored it perfectly. If that's not a grand romantic gesture, I don't know what the bloody hell is." -- Kilgrave, speaking with Wendy Ross-Hogarth.
Favourite Part: When Wendy is told by Kilgrave to kill Jeri Hogarth by giving her a thousand cuts, and she begins to do exactly that. It shows how people will do exactly as Kilgrave tells them too, and I kept wondering how many cuts she was going to inflict before somebody stopped her. I can't really remember but I think it was 30 (or at least around that number).
My Opinion: This episode followed up from episode 9, which is hands down one of the best and possibly the greatest episode in the whole season, like I said last time. This one was more of a 'recovery' episode, as I like to call it; things cooled down a tiny bit and got a little less crazy after last episode as Kilgrave escaped and the other main characters all separated. However, this doesn't at all make it a bad episode; the villain is still on the movie (edit: supposed to say move, but it'd be cool if Kilgrave was in a movie, and I'm not talking about David Tennant acting in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) and a lot of tense things are still happening. At the end of the episode, there is a scene where Hope commits suicide in a restaurant and Kilgrave orders Malcolm plus the members of the 'Kilgrave support group' to hang themselves. They escape luckily, but a key characters has still just died so that Jessica can rid the world of this mind controlling monster.
Rating: 4/5




Episode 11: AKA I've Got The Blues

Synopsis: Jessica searches the morgues for clues. Trish goes all out to keep Simpson from getting in Jessica's way. Malcolm has an epiphany.
Quote: "I'm gonna-gonna kill him (Kilgrave), but she (Jessica) just keeps getting in the way." - Sergeant Simpson.
Favourite Part: The cliffhanger of the episode: we finally see Luke Cage again after not seeing him for a lot of episodes, but at a cost; Kilgrave made him blow up his bar.
My Opinion: More of the truth is revealed behind these mysterious and seemingly dangerous pills that Simpson has been taking recently, and this actually relates to the episode title, since if you take a red pill without taking a blue pill, your brain forgets to tell your lungs to breathe. Trish takes a red and gets superhuman strength for a while, which brings her up to Jessica's level and helps her to defend herself more, at least more a while. After all, Patricia Walker is Hellcat in the comic books, so this was probably referencing that. Also, I believe Sergeant Simpson is supposed to be the MCU version of a Daredevil villain in the comic books, so if there's a season 2 maybe he'll become a main villain in that? (Speaking of which, I hope there's a second season of JJ.)
Rating: 3/5




Episode 12: AKA Take a Bloody Number

Synopsis: The hunt for Kilgrave reunites Jessica with Luke. Trish receives some unexpected information about Simpson and Jessica.
Quote: "When I, uh, when he (Kilgrave) made me kill Reva I didn't realise it at the time, but I think it severed the hold he had on me." -- Jessica Jones.
Favourite Part: Kilgrave confessing to Jessica that, for the previous episode or so, everything that Luke Cage did and said was under his control, so all the sweet, tender moments she shared with Luke recently, she was technically sharing with Kilgrave (as seen in picture above).
My Opinion: The penultimate episode of JJ. After the sudden events that occured at the end of last episode, Jessica is reunited with Luke again and the two work together as super heroes for a while to try and continue Jones' plans to find and kill Kilgrave (so basically Kill-grave? Heheheh (also his name in the comics actually is Zebediah Killgrave AKA The Purple Man)). However, a devastating and rage-fuelling plot twist hurts Jessica's friendship/relationship with Luke as Kilgrave reveals that he had been controlling Luke the whole time, and orders him to kill Jessica which results in a large brawl between the two super powered citizens. In the end, Jessica has no choice but to shoot Luke straight in the head, leaving him possibly dead and leaving us to see what happens in the next episode. I have to say though, something struck me as odd here. If Luke Cage has unbreakable skin, and Jessica shot him in the head, wouldn't it have no effect since the bullet wouldn't be able to enter his skull since it wouldn't be able to pierce through his skin? Maybe I missed something, but I don't think I did. At first I actually thought episode 13 would start with him waking up and being fine since the bullet didn't actually go through his skin and he just fainted or something, but no, I guess he really did get shot. I think they probably should have explained this better though, unless they did and I didn't catch it or wasn't paying attention.
Rating: 4.5/5




Episode 13: AKA Smile

Synopsis: Jessica and Luke get help from someone else in the neighbourhood. Kilgrave gears up for a major test of his powers against Jessica.
Quote: "If Patsy or I ever hear from you, or see you, see anyone who looks like you, she will slit her own throat." -- Kilgrave.
Favourite Part: Seeing Claire Temple first appear at the Metro-General hospital, linking the show to Daredevil. Remember, in the MCU, 'it's all connected'.
My Opinion: The final episode of the series (at least for now). The first half of the episode features Jessica taking Luke Cage to the hospital, where she meets Claire Temple. The two of them go back to Jones' apartment where Claire can properly treat Luke Cage, as she has previous experience nursing super heroes back to health. In the last part of the episode, our main character finally confronts Kilgrave at the docks where, despite his attempts to escape with her best friend/foster sister Patsy, she ends his abusive reign by snapping his neck without a second thought.
Rating: 4/5



That's the end of My Thoughts On: Jessica Jones. I hope you enjoyed it, but like I said when I was creating Top Ten Turnabouts back in September, these multi-part review projects are really hard and draining to make and I don't really want to do those much any more. Two or three parters are pretty fine, but anything above that requires a lot of time spent typing on my laptop.

Stay tuned for a post that you probably aren't going to like. It was hard for me to write but I poured my heart into it and although I'm sad about it, it's just how it has to be right now. If I say any more, it'll probably spoil to you what it is, so wait until tomorrow when it will be uploaded.

Edit: Actually, I thought about it and I might as well upload it now, since there's not really any point in holding it back. I would speak more about it, but, well, you can just look at the post itself. It'll be uploaded straight after this is up, within a minute or even less. It's fairly long but it's definitely worth reading through, I think.

Oh yeah, if you want to see part 3, the previous part, click here.

Thomas

My Thoughts On: Jessica Jones - Part 3 (#148)

Onto the third part. This post covers episodes 6, 7, 8 and 9, which means that the fourth part of this will be the last and will cover the last four episodes. Not much more to say about this, so enjoy. Episode 9's coverage is longer than the others because I really liked that episode.



Episode 6: AKA You're a Winner!

Synopsis: Luke hires Jessica to help him find someone who may have skipped town, but she fears he'll learn too much about her history in the process.
Quote: "You touched me with the same hands that killed my wife, while you knew." -- Luke Cage, after Jessica tells him that she was the one who killed his wife, under Kilgrave's control.
Favourite Part: When Luke Cage waits until the end of the bus route to confront the man who he believes responsible for ending his wife's life. If a guy like Luke with that much strength and unbreakable skin was after me, I would be so terrified. Also, I forgot about this so I'll choose another favourite part: the bit literally right at the end when Kilgrave moves into Jessica's childhood home and it's slowly revealed to the viewer as Kilgrave scrapes off the wallpaper in the house to reveal Jessica's name on the wall, and also when the camera pans out to show the streets that she lists whenever she needs to calm down during her PTSD.
My Opinion: I forget exactly what happened in this episode since admittedly it wasn't as memorable as some of the others. I'm not saying it was bad, but from what I remember more stuff happens in a lot of the other episodes. However, it was very climactic and satisfying  when Jessica finally stopped hiding the truth from Luke and told him what really happened between her and his wife. It was also quite upsetting to see them break up and take their separate paths, even though they do reunite again in the last few episodes of the season.
Rating: 3/5



Episode 7: AKA Top Shelf Perverts

Synopsis: Malcolm, Simpson and Trish go rogue to prevent Jessica from carrying out an extreme plan to outwit Kilgrave.
Quote: "Supermax only houses the worst criminals. Top-shelf perverts, cannibals, serial killers who make mosaics with their victims' fingernails." -- Jeri Horgarth.
Favourite Part: I really liked the scene where Kilgrave mind-controls all the police officers into pointing their guns at each other, and you keep wondering if everybody was going to kill each other. That was a really iconic part of the trailer for me and I was looking out for this scene ever since I started watching.
My Opinion: Another fairly nice episode, not too much happens in it if I remember correctly but it's important because it's a prologue to to the following several episodes which all make up possibly the highest point of the season. I also thought it was pretty funny and ironic how one of the main themes of the episode being that Jessica was trying to get herself locked into a supermax prison.
Rating: 3/5




Episode 8: AKA WWJD?

Synopsis: Jessica experiences a strange homecoming courtesy of Kilgrave. Hogarth's conflict with her estranged wife reaches a tipping point.
Quote: "How am I supposed to know? Huh? I never know if someone is doing what they want or what I tell them to!" -- Kilgrave.
Favourite Part: Right around the end of the episode where Jessica tricks Kilgrave by drugging his chef and maid and then taking him out. Cool, unpredictable plan.
My Opinion: This was a very enjoyable episode. We see Jessica having to live with Kilgrave despite how much she fears and hates him, and it was interesting to see her kind of lull him into a false sense of security while she pretended that she could get to love and live a life him if he could try being more of a hero and helping people. Also, the acronym 'WWJD?' in the title means 'What Would Jessica Do?' and it relates to how Jessica tries to teach Kilgrave to act more like her and use his powers for good. As Spider-Man would say, 'with great power comes great responsibility.' And also, I can't wait for Spidey's appearance in the MCU. He debuts in Civil War in just around half a year!
Rating: 4.5/5


Episode 9: AKA Sin Bin

Synopsis: Just when Jessica has Kilgrave where she wants him, Hogarth's involvement complicates the situation. Details of Kilgrave's past emerge.
Quote: "Scared like a little mama's boy. Come on, Kevin. (In a mock British accent) Be a good boy for mummy and daddy." -- Jessica Jones, while making fun of Kilgrave (Kevin) inside his glass prison.
Favourite Part: As I will talk about below, it has to be the part where Jess goes into the glass room with Kilgrave and starts beating him up really badly. I thought she was done for, but I guess he had the upper hand after he didn't retaliate and made her look like the bad person in all of this.
My Opinion: Probably my favourite episode of the show. The whole thing was so tense, with Kilgrave trapped inside the glass cage with the water underneath him rigged to an electric current, being forced to watch videos of his childhood self being badly mistreated by his parents. And speaking of which, the part near the end of the episode where he forces his mother to stab herself with scissors, and he escapes from the glass cage and all the characters fall into chaos. Seriously, I'm one of those people who usually doesn't laugh or get tense when watching shows, not because I'm not enjoying them, but I usually only laugh out loud when I'm joking with people in real life. However, the part where Jessica goes into the small room with Kilgrave and starts attacking him brutally actually had me shivering, as I felt he was going to completely destroy her and kill everybody in sight out of anger. Alternatively, I was very cold at the time I watched it so that could explain the shivering, but I think the episode also had an impact on it, at least partially.
Rating: 5/5


Click here if you'd like to see the previous part, or here if you'd like to see the next and final part (once it's posted, of course).

Thomas

My Thoughts On: Jessica Jones - Part 2 (#147)

Hey, welcome to part 2. This part covers episodes 2, 3, 4 and 5, since I didn't want this to drag on like a certain other multi-part review-type project that I've hosted on my blog on the past. So, below you'll find nice little fact files for those four episodes. Enjoy.


Episode 2: AKA Crush Syndrome

Synopsis: Jessica vows to prove Hope's innocence. even though it means tracking down a terrifying figure from her own past.
Quote: "He made me jump for hours, as high as I could." -- Hope Schlottman
Favourite Part: Luke Cage and Jessica fighting against the sports team in Luke's bar. It's cool because we get to see Luke's powers and how his skin truly is unbreakable.
My Opinion: This episode further presents Luke Cage and introduces us to his unbreakable skin. We also get to see Kilgrave's first appearance, and although it is a short appearance right at the end much like the Kingpin's intro in episode 3 of Daredevil, it is a very chilling one as we can see just how controlling and uncaring Kilgrave is.
Rating: 3/5



Episode 3: AKA It's Called Whiskey

Synopsis: It won't be easy to acquire or deploy, but Jessica thinks she's found a weapon to use against Kilgrave. Luke and Jessica bond over their similarities.
Quote: "Okay, there's you, me, the big green dude and his crew. You think there's more of our kind out there?" -- Luke Cage
Favourite Part: When Officer Simpson gets into Trish's apartment and turns out to be mind controlled by Kilgrave. I thought he was actually acting as a genuine cop and I didn't see that coming.
My Opinion: It was suspenseful to see Kilgrave actually meet with Jessica for the first time in the show and to see how truly ruthless he is, as he tells a police officer to kill himself by jumping off a building with barely a second thought. We also get to see that chilling moment from the trailer where Jessica walks into Kilgrave's room full of pictures of her.
Rating: 3.5/5


Episode 4: AKA 99 Friends

Synopsis: A new case demands attention as Jessica tries to find out who's spying on her for Kilgrave. Trish's radio show yields unexpected consequences.
Quote: "And you haven't had any conversations with a British man? Dark hair, well-dressed?" -- Jessica Jones, while talking to a client about who referred her to Jessica.
Favourite Part: Finding out that the person spying on her for Kilgrave is actually one of her close friends and flatmate, Malcolm.
My Opinion: I thought it was pretty interesting to see how the woman who hired Jessica (I forget her name but I think it was Audrey something?) was actually trying to trick her and lure her to her home so she could shoot Jessica as vengeance for what happened to somebody in her family in the Battle of New York as a result of superheroes making a mess. It was very reflective of how mutants are treated in the X-Men comics and films, and I'm sure situations like this will have a big impact on Captain America: Civil War, due to the controversy of superhuman beings like the Avengers and the question of if they cause more pain and damage than they prevent.
Rating: 3/5


Episode 5: AKA The Sandwich Saved Me

Synopsis: Despite Jessica's objections, Trish's new friend Simpson gets involved in the hunt for Kilgrave. Jessica recalls a pivotal moment in her life.
Quote: "I won't come near him. If you do his job for him. Keep the pictures coming. Say, one a day at 10:00 am? Don't forget to smile." -- Kilgrave, while talking about Malcolm being a spy for him.
Favourite Part: When Jessica saves a little girl while dressed as a giant hoagie and we find out what the episode name means. I was clueless before that.
My Opinion: This episode was tense and great because, despite how terrified Jessica is of Kilgrave and how much she fears his controlling influence, she goes ahead with her plan to work with Patsy and Simpson to knock him out and essentially kidnap him. I felt unsure whether he would wake up or not and I was expecting him to be deadly furious when he did, which made me want the main characters not to mess this up and let him slip away. Unfortunately, our bad guy was thinking ahead and got the best of them...
Rating: 4/5


If you want to check out part 1 of this 'My Thoughts On', click right here. Want to continue to the next part? As soon as it's uploaded, you can click here.

Thomas

My Thoughts On: Jessica Jones - Part 1 (#146)

Okay, here we go with my second 'My Thoughts On'. It's been a while since I did one of these (almost a hundred posts, actually) and I thought I'd try another. Originally I had planned to make more of these whenever I watched (or maybe played, but mostly watched) new things that had recently been released, like movies and such. Since I watched the last episode of Marvel's awesome new Netflix show, Jessica Jones, around two hours ago, I thought it might be nice to do another one of these posts. If you have no idea what a 'My Thoughts On' post is, I don't blame you since the only other one I've done before was published back in July. It was about Ant-Man, and if you want to check it out, you can find it here. However, if you don't feel like looking at that, don't worry, it's really simple. These posts are just my opinion about recently released things that I'm interested in and have watched. They're basically reviews, except like I said, these are MY OPINION, so you might feel completely different about what I'm writing about. These posts are mainly going to be positive anyway, especially since when I make them (I won't do them often since I don't want them to get repetitive and overused) I'll probably be talking about stuff I enjoyed a lot, rather than didn't. But I might make some about stuff that I hated or was heavily disappointed by. We'll see.

Now that that massive opening paragraph is done, let's begin! Yeah, these will probably be fairly long as well just like my Ant-Man one, though this one likely won't be as long as that. Okay, so as I said, I watched the last episode of Jessica Jones this afternoon, and as satisfying as it is to finish a great show like that, it's disappointing since, well, it's over. Other people who binge-watch: you know my pain. If you were wondering what my viewing schedule was, on Friday I watched episodes 1-3, on Saturday I watched 4-6, yesterday I went all out crazy and watched 7-12, and like I said I watched 13 today. I'm glad it lasted me a few days since I really didn't want it to be over fast.

As you can see from the title, I've decided to split this into several parts (a lot, actually), since it's a TV show and not a movie like Ant-Man. I did this for two main reasons: if I did this all in one post it would probably be way too long, and two, I wouldn't be able to finish this post today so I would've left you for four days without a post, and I've only written 12 so far this month, which is an all time low. No, I don't listen to that band.

This first part will cover the first episode. I'll write a kind of fact file about each episode, and give it a rating out of five. I'll also include a cool, memorable quote from the episode and probably a picture (at first I was planning to write a plot summary for each episode but I decided not to since I can't remember the exact details of each 50 minute episode and I don't have time to rewatch them. However, if you want to know more detail about the episodes I recommend you either watch the show or look at this Wikipedia article with episode descriptions) and maybe my favourite part of the episode (or at least one of my favourites, in some episodes it'll probably be hard to choose). Oh, and I will also include the episode synopsis, as shown on Netflix. I've said this before but the show is more adult-themed and dark than most of the stuff I usually write about, so don't read these posts if you feel it's best not to. Okay, without further ado, no holding back, for reals this time, no joking around, I can tell I'm really annoying you now... let's get this 'show' on the road. ;)


Episode 1: AKA Ladies Night

Synopsis: Jessica Jones is hired to find a pretty NYU student who's vanished, but it turns out to be more than a simple missing persons case.
Quote: "Knowing it's real means you gotta make a decision. One, keep denying it. Or two... do something about it." -- Jessica Jones.
Favourite Part: Near the end of the episode, when Jessica is walking down the creepy hotel corridor and has flashbacks about Kilgrave.
My Opinion: I think this was a good way to start off the series. We're introduced to Jessica, Patsy Walker, Luke Cage, Hogarth, and a slew of other recurring characters. Even though Kilgrave doesn't appear and is only mentioned, we can see how terrified of him Jessica is, and the episode leaves us wanting to know more about her history with him.
Rating: 3.5/5

I hope you liked this beginning part. When I do a 'My Thoughts On' for TV/Netflix shows in the future (*cough*cough*Daredevil*cough*) I think it'd be best to do it in this layout. After seeing David Tennant's great acting as Kilgrave in this show, I've actually been compelled to start watching Doctor Who again, resuming from where I left off after season 2. I'm watching the first episode of season 3 now.

Look out for part 2 of this tomorrow (or possibly the day after). When it's been uploaded, you'll be able to find a link to it here.

Also, I know that since this post just covers the first episode, this seems like this is going to take at least two or so weeks to complete since if I do one episode per part it'll take at least thirteen days. I decided to just include episode 1 in this post since I already wrote a ton of content in it and I don't have time to do more today since I really need to do some revision and some other stuff. But in future parts I might include two to three episodes, instead of just one. This is just a possibility, and I'm not promising anything since this takes longer to write than it looks. But yeah. Maybe.

Bye!
Thomas

Jessica Jones: Out Now! (#145)

Woohoo! Marvel's Jessica Jones releases today, and I've been excited since early this morning (well, at least since I got on my school bus and actually realised what date it was). After getting home and finishing my homework I started watching episode 1 and I'm around 10 minutes away from the end of it now. Something I've noticed after looking at the names of the episodes on the episode list is that even though the show's name was originally going to be 'A.K.A. Jessica Jones' before it changed to just 'Jessica Jones', each episode name has A.K.A. in front of the title. So that's cool. The show's definitely the darkest and most adult entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far, even more so than Daredevil, and I imagine that will be a main theme of these MCU Netflix shows. I had a big scare about an hour ago when my internet stopped working about five minutes into the episode, but luckily after turning it off and back on it worked. Thank god... I'm watching this on my Wii U, by the way.

I'm really, really looking forward to seeing more of David Tennant's character, Kildare A.K.A. The Purple Man and find out what happened with him and Jessica Jones around a year (or however long it was) ago.

Edit: Crap! Crap crap crap crap crap crap crap. I know I said that David Tennant's character is called Kildare, but I got it wrong. It's Kilgrave. I literally just found out that I've had it wrong this whole time after hearing Jessica say 'Kilgrave' for the first time in the show, moments after publishing this post. I'm pretty sure I've also called him Kildare in previous posts too. Oops! I've just heard the name 'Kildare' before so I must have gotten it confused with that word for some reason, sorry. I won't go back and find old posts where I got his name wrong, not because I can't be bothered but because 1) I don't like editing old posts unless it's for spelling/grammar mistakes because I like to keep them mostly as they were when I first published them because like I said one of the main reasons I do this is to be able to look back at stuff I wrote in the past and keep it almost exactly as it was when I first wrote it, and 2) I want to continue watching Jessica Jones right now, but that doesn't mean I can't be bothered, because it's heavily related to the post, right? Riiiiiiggggghhhhtttttt? Okay bye.

Second edit: My god, I am fickle. I decided to include a small edit in post #139 (which is about one of the Jessica Jones trailers) saying that his name isn't Kildare, but Kilgrave. I didn't actually change the original stuff I wrote though, I just added the correction in brackets. Okay, bye, for real now. I've been home nearly four hours and I really need to finish this first episode.

(That was a long sentence in that first edit, there.)

Thomas

Thanks For Any Support (#144)

I just wanted to say thanks to all those who have been reading my blog. I know not many people have seen this yet, and again, one of the main reasons I do this isn't to get views and attention but to record interesting parts of my life to look back at in the future, while at the same time writing about things related to games/films/comics and other things like that, so that other people on the internet who don't know me personally can still understand all or at least most of the stuff I talk about. Even if some of it is personal and unbelievably random. In fact, as of this moment, the blog has 3001 pageviews, and even though I'll admit that a couple hundred of those are probably actually from me since I always like to open the blog in a new tab when I publish a post to see that it looks good and check it for any faults, that's still a lot of times when people online have possibly clicked on my blog.

I just realised that in a year or so, when the blog reaches 9001 or
more pageviews, I'm going to have to make a hard choice whether
to make that obvious joke or not. Let's be honest; I probably will.

By the way, since this is very relevant, remember that 'mysterious +1 person' I mentioned a few months ago? Well, I still don't know who they are, but they're still +1-ing a lot of my blog posts, so thanks, mysterious friend. I got my first +2 the other day, though I know who one of the two people are.

It might seem tiny and insignificant, but it's a small step and it shows that this blog project is getting more recognition, even
if only slightly. 

Also, I kind of forgot to mention this on here, but R.I.P. to the victims of the recent terrorism incident in Paris. I know I don't really talk about real life news on this blog, and I'd like to keep things that way, but I just wanted to say that, well, I'm sorry to hear about it. Tragic.

Thomas

One Month Until VII + Films: Too Short? (#143)

This is just a small random post to talk about a few little things, and like the title says, there's only one month left from today until Star Wars Episode VII releases. At least in the UK. I think it comes out on December 18th in the US. But yes, that's very exciting, and after waiting for over a year (less for me since I only really got into Star Wars around April) the film's almost finally here.

Like I said, this little post will just contain some very small and unrelated topics. Might do some of these often since they're great when I have different things to talk about but not much to say about each.

I'm considering watching Daredevil Season 1 again before the release of Jessica Jones on Friday, although I might just watch it in a few weeks instead. We'll see. Something I prefer a crap load about shows like Daredevil and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is the fact that each episode is forty/fifty minutes long. One of the only things I don't like about films like those in the Star Wars and MCU franchises are that they seem short to me. I know that might sound a little ridiculous since they're like 2+ hours each, but think about it this way; all the episodes of just Daredevil's first season put together total roughly 650 minutes (assuming each episode has an average of 50 minutes (yes, I know I'm getting nerdy here)) which is around 10 hours and 50 minutes, or 11 hours if we round up. Each Star Wars and MCU film each have an average of, say, 2 hours. So, think about it: just one season of Daredevil equals more than 5 films in length, plus we get all thirteen episodes of each season at once. This is why I am especially excited for JJ (Jessica Jones), because that's practically 11 hours of good quality Marvel content, all released to us in one day. Let's not forget that as well as JJ, we have a second season of Daredevil coming and at least one season (possibly more) of Luke Cage, Iron Fist and The Denders (edit: that's supposed to say Defenders but I thought it was a little too funny to leave out) coming in the next two-ish years. And again, we could get another season of JJ and maybe even a third season of Daredevil (please please please please please).

Anyway, I was planning to say something else here that's pretty small but I'll save it for another post, the stuff above about Daredevil and stuff wasn't going to be that long but when I start writing/typing I kind of get in a 'fever' as my English teacher says. :P

Thomas

Ultimate Mysterio: Lookin' Awesome (#142)

So you know how I said I was reading the Ultimate Spider-Man comic book series? Well, I finished reading all 133 issues in Volume 1 (2000-2009) last night (technically this morning since it was around 2:30am) plus the three annuals and the special 'Wizard 1/2' issue or whatever it's called. Oh, I also read all sixteen or so issues of Ultimate Marvel-Team Up since Spider-Man is pretty much the main character in that series and it also features the first appearance of Ultimate Lizard who doesn't really appear in Ultimate Spider-Man properly. Plus, I read the five-issue Ultimatum series which sucked and I can see why people say it's possibly the worst comic event of all time. they just kill off a stupid amount of beloved characters needlessly and it doesn't feel genuine or realistic like other comic stories where people die.

Anyway, after reading the two issue Ultimatum: Spider-Man Requiem (which was a lot better than Ultimatum itself and really makes J. Jonah Jameson a much more heartwarming and redeeming character) I started reading Ultimate Spider-Man Vol 2 and I read issue 1 about an hour ago and am about to start issue 1. Spoilers if you haven't read it, though most of you probably don't care since it came out in 2009: this issue marks the second appearance of Ultimate Mysterio since the third annual and his character seems very cool so far. Within seconds of him showing up he kills the Kingpin (finally somebody got rid of that law-avoiding, crime boss piece of crap!) which leaves the issue with a great and sudden cliffhanger. He also looks very different to his Earth-616 character (that's the mainstream universe for you marvel scrubs) as instead of wearing a fish bowl and cape (sounds funny when I say that, actually) he has a black costume and a blue head of flame. Woah.

Mysterio always was one of my favourite Spider-Man villains,
mainly because of his cool appearance and vivid colours.
A lot of Spider-Man's enemies are like that, which is
why I love his Rogues' Gallery so much.

He looks even more mysterious here. I
love how Earth 1610's (the Ultimate Universe's)
villains are all different to their mainstream
counterparts in appearance and personality, but
still stay true to their original versions in some ways.

I also have a few issues of Ultimate Spider-Man collected in a volume I got a few years ago called Death of Spider-Man: Prelude. I barely understood any of the plot when I got it since I hadn't read any issues of Ultimate Spider-Man before, but the issues I'm reading now lead up to that so I'll probably read that when I get to it. I might post a picture of it sometime to show you what I'm talking about.

Thomas

Nintendo Direct - 12/11/2015 (#141)

Yesterday, Nintendo released a forty-five minute long Nintendo Direct, and the first since the passing of Satoru Iwata. Quite a lot of games and additions for already-released games were announced for both Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. I'm not going to cover everything shown in the Direct because there's quite a lot, so if you want to watch it yourself, click here.

Okay, so here's one of favourite things they announced and it was right at the beginning: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, releasing on Wii U on March 4th, 2016. I was thinking about replaying Twilight Princess a while ago so this works out nicely. Zelda Wii U will also release in 2016. There was some more information presented about Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam, Star Fox Zero and Xenoblade Chronicles X, and a list of upcoming indie games, one of which looked really interesting to me and I might consider getting (it's called FAST Racing Neo and it's for Wii U). The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks are both now available on the Wii U eShop. I haven't played them before and I've actually been interested for a while since they're kind of sequels to Wind Waker, but I'm already planning to get them for Christmas and I don't really like how the Wii U's DS Virtual Console works. Hyrule Warriors: Legends will feature a new female version of Link called Linkle, and some Pokemon games and a Red, Blue and Yellow remake were announced. Mega Man Legacy Collection will release for 3DS early next year, which is actually really nice because I've been playing Mega Man a lot recently. I finished Mega Man 2 yesterday and I started Mega Man 3. I have the first 6 on Wii U but I haven't played them all yet. Anyway, there's more news than all that, so you should really watch the Direct, or at least skim it.

Thomas

X-Men: Apocalypse Trailer Announcement! (#140)

So remember how I made a post saying that the first trailer for Captain America: Civil War would air with Star Wars: The Force Awakens? Well, here we have even greater news! According to Fox, the first trailer for the next X-Men movie, X-Men: Apocalypse, releasing in May 2016, will air with movie screenings of Star Wars Episode VII! How amazing is that?! Not only are we getting a new Star Wars movie after ten years (and a great looking one at that) that finally tells us the story of what happened to our favourite space heroes after the original trilogy and doesn't feature Jar Jar Binks, we're also getting the exclusive first trailer for two extremely hyped up Marvel films! Oh my God. Wow. If you didn't already have a reason to watch this movie, you sure as hell should now.

Thomas

Jessica Jones - Official Trailer 2 (#139)

The second major trailer for Jessica Jones dropped one or two days ago and I'm assuming it'll be the last one. I don't have a ton to say about this but the trailer can be found here (update: wrong link. Try here. And also it's got some adult content in it so just be careful if you're like 12 or under). We get to see some more of Kildare (edit: he's called Kilgrave, not Kildare. See post #145), the mind-controlling super villain played by David Tennant (which is pretty cool since I was talking about how Malekith and the ninth doctor are played by the same person... here we are again with Doctor Who/Marvel actors) and he looks pretty awesome. I believe in the comic books his name is the Purple Man, and I actually learned about him for the first time last week while reading a comic where I saw that character for pretty much the first time. Nice coincidence.

Only nine days until the show's release date! I think I might watch Daredevil again in the next week. Seriously.

Thomas

Reading The Ultimate Universe (#138)

So since I got this Marvel Unlimited Membership last Sunday I've been using that website/app every day and it's definitely one of the best and most generous things I have ever had when it comes to comic books. Since about Saturday, I've been using it to read Ultimate Spider-Man, a really cool modern re-imagining of Spider-Man that launched in 2000. In the past two years I collected the first fourteen volumes (there are even a few at my school library, but I don't really like borrowing them because a) you can't keep it forever so it's not as personal or enjoyable and b) everybody's had their hands on these things and because nobody cares seems to care about keeping stuff in good condition all the comic books are tattered and ripped) and I really enjoyed the series so far. I was thinking about getting volume 15 and 16 for Christmas (which cost about £10 each) but thanks to MU I can read every issue for a much, much cheaper and more affordable price. I'm up to issue 97 right now, the first issue of the Ultimate Spider-Man Clone Saga.

I've been thinking about reading all the comics (or at least the main series) in the Marvel Ultimate universe, especially Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Ultimate X-Men and the Ultimates (basically Ultimate Avengers, though I think there's a separate series in the UU (Ultimate Universe) with that name. We'll see what happens, but I'm loving it so far.

I watched Thor: The Dark World again yesterday. Like Iron Man 2, I don't know why everybody hates it. Everyone's a critic. And Malekith is played by Christopher Eccleston!? The guy who played the ninth Doctor in Doctor Who?! Wow! I could never have told you that from Malekith's looks alone.

It's a good thing that woman's not adopted, because everybody would be
calling her Jane Foster Parents.

Also I just realised, we're already a third into this month! Man, my life is going fast...

Thomas

Miitomo: Nintendo's First Smartphone Game (#137)

In the past year (or however long it's been, I have no sense of time these days) Nintendo announced their intentions to begin making games for smartphones to appeal to a wider audience since that's what a lot of people are into these days, while still making the video games that all us hardcore players know and love.

The company have announced that their first mobile game will be called Miitomo, and will be heavily themed around Nintendo's Miis, which have become a main part of Nintendo;s consoles since the release of the Wii. The game will be released in March 2016, and will be a little like a communication tool and a little like a virtual pet. Maybe kind of like Nintendogs? Players will be able to have conversations with the Miis they create using the game, and share answers to questions with friends. We don't know what platforms the game will be available on yet, but I'm hoping iPhone.

Thanks to Wired UK for this information.

Thomas

Pom Klementieff: Mantis (#136)

Apparently, actress Pom Klementieff will be playing the character Mantis in 2017's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Marvel haven't officially announced this yet, but various different sources claim to have been told by people on the inside that the French actress will star as the part-Vietnamese and part-German superhero. Mantis is the daughter of Libra in the comics, who has been involved with the Zodiac organisation and has spent time as an Avenger and Guardian of the Galaxy. She also has martial arts skills and psychic powers.

What a Groot picture.

Pom Klementieff.

Thomas

Marvel Unlimited Opportunities (#135)

As you've heard, I've really gotten back to being majorly excited and interested in the Marvel Cinematic Universe again, and I've watch up to Phase 2. After watching Iron Man 3 on Sunday, I've stopped watching for a few days, mainly because I want to wait a week or two until watching the next film, Thor: The Dark World, since I'd rather watch it when I have more time and don't have a crudload of English homework. Curse you, Shakespeare.

But anyway, on the subject of Marvel, on Sunday I subscribed to this really affordable monthly membership called Marvel Unlimited, which pretty much lets you read any Marvel comic released in the past 50+ years (except those released in the past 6-ish months) from start to end. No, seriously. It's that amazing. There are over 15000 comics to read (yes, 15000, that is not a typo) and I'm pretty sure I read that there are 17000 plus a bit more altogether. May I add that this only costs $9.99 a month, which equals around £6.50. And all you need is an internet connection. You can also read up to 12 comics offline of your own choosing.

This means I can now achieve one of my biggest life dreams of being able to read practically any classic or modern Marvel comic I want. I plan to read hundreds of issues of Fantastic Four, X-Men, Avengers, and possibly Guardians of the Galaxy, but for now I've started with Spider-Man. Last year when I had to spend a week or so in hospital I read around the first 200 issues of the Amazing Spider-Man comic Volume 1 (through non-legitimate methods, but I was desperate and didn't know about Marvel Unlimited). This was a while ago so I've forgotten most of the plot, but instead of pretty much erasing all my progress and starting again from issue #1 I've started reading from issue #150. Also I'll be able to read the hundreds of Marvel comics set in the Ultimate universe plus nearly 200 Star Wars comics if I want to, so this is one of the coolest thing that's ever happened to me when it comes to Marvel. I love you, Stan Lee. And the rest of that beautiful company, of course.

Amazing Spider-Man Vol 1 #150

I read the first four issues of this year's new Star Wars comic, Volume 4. There are twelve issues out but only 4 issues on Marvel Unlimited so far since they add new issues about 6 months after they release in stores. Anyway, I really enjoyed the comic, and will read future issues.

Star Wars Vol 4 #1

Thomas (the biggest and most excited nerd ever)

Civil War Trailer: Airs With Star Wars (#134)

The first public trailer for Captain America: Civil War, releasing in May 2016, will air along with Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens in cinemas. This means that those who are going ti watch The Force Awakens will be able to sneak a first look at the third Captain America movie, which is the first film in Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I was already going to watch Star wars 7, as you already know, and I was wondering when the first Civil War trailer would be available to watch for us fans who couldn't go to D23, so this is very good.

Also, happy Halloween for yesterday. I've always liked Halloween, especially as a kid, since it's all so mysterious and it only happens once a year. Hope it was an enjoyable one. I guess I'm too old to go trick-or-treating these days though.

Stay spooky,
Thomas