#as glad as I am to get rid of Marisol

[watchyourbuck]

You know what I’m actually so glad Buddie isn’t canon this season because Eddie is so clearly a mess he’s paired up and on a date with another woman bc she reminds him so much of his dead wife ?? This man needs to solve his shit and we’ll all be here for him but boy,,,,,,,

[ravenadottir]

I’m not sure if this has been asked before, but what would the S2 LIs be like meeting MCs parents? And along similar lines, what would the LIs own parents be like? This one might need splitting into separate questions, not sure x

li's behavior when meeting mc's parents?

i'm definitely splitting into two lol

bobby. nervous, blabbering, bringing a lot of dessert in hopes to make them like him, even though they already do. trying so hard to not tell a lot of jokes because he thinks they perceive him as a clown. once he relaxes all that charisma shows up.

carl. absolutely bricking, avoiding the conversation about meeting them because he doesn't think he leaves a good first impression. certain they're gonna hate him. once they're introduced he captures the attention because of how soft he looks when he talks about mc.

elisa. powerful, confident, slightly cocky, but mostly charming and talkative. "mom's love me, dad's appreciate how protective i am trust me, babe, this is a piece of cake."

gary. already getting his barbecue utensils and a cooler for a barbecue. that's how he thinks he makes a good impression on dad's. as mom's go, he delivers the lame "but you look like her sister" line, which works because let's face it, the guy is charismatic as fuck.

hannah. just like bobby, but instead of baked goods it's books' quotes about love, sometimes being about suffering and death, like romeo and juliet.

henrik. initially nervous because they watched him bring blake back but overall chill after addressing it, confident that they will like him because mc does. doesn't try hard but goes to the kitchen offering help to whoever is cooking, places the seats on the table, talks about fun anecdotes from trips, he thrives.

ibrahim. nervous, bricking, quaking, afraid of what they're gonna say about his conduct during the show. once they talk about it, and he tells them his thought process i don't think he calms down. the relationship will take some time to come together because of how nervous he gets when thinking about them and their opinions.

kassam. feeling nervous, quietly making an ok impression. it's really hard for him to find something to bond over, especially with older people. unless they have a good collection of music somewhere, it's hard for him to find things to talk about.

lottie. she's confident until they get to the door, then she thinks back to the things she did in the villa and says "that's all gonna back to bite me in the ass, innit?". needs lots of reassurance because thinks whatever negative comments are most likely directed to her. paranoid about their opinions.

lucas. nervous and paranoid they'll hate them because of the blake thing. overall he charms mothers and dads quite easily, but that's "when there's no clouds over my head". he does, however, address it quickly, by saying mistakes were made and he was glad he made them, because the relationship is stronger than never.

marisol. confident as fuck! she walks in like she belongs, not afraid of saying anything because that's the exact reason mc likes her, and that's what she cares about. offers help with the food, places the seating quite nicely, even brings dessert and wine. marisol is really good at meeting parents.

noah. NERVOUS. after everything that went down there's a chip on his shoulder that he can't just get rid of. it's gonna take a lot of convincing to take him there, because he's certain they hate him for everything that happened. and if that happens he has a speech prepared, about how afraid he was to get involved and hurt, and how much he has grown after dating mc.

priya. partially bricking because this might be the first time (or the first in a very long time) but also partially confident she can use a very large glass of wine to bond with the mom. telling crazy real estate stories and overall sharing what a discovery it has been to being in love with a girl, i think she charms her way into the hearts of mc's parents.

[rambunctiousreader]

Topics I just need to touch on from Lord of Shadows (MAJOR SPOILER ALERT)

Emma and Julian

- I’m really glad their friendship went back to normal after some time. The distance between them was unlike them at all and I hated it. I know it was necessary because they both had to process how things had changed between them, but that doesn’t mean I liked reading it.

- Okay so I think the curse is seriously coming into play here. Cassie never outwardly says that the curse is already occurring, but she drops multiple hints throughout the book. For one, all of a sudden, Emma and Julian can communicate telepathically. I don’t know but I’m pretty sure that’s not supposed to happen. Also, um, they caught a STONE building on fire?! Stone? All-powerful runes? Ring a bell?????

- During the church scene and many, many other scenes, there’s so much sexual tension between Emma and Julian. Literally. I think there’s more in LOS than LM because at this point they’ve had sex and seen that intimate side of each other. At this point, they both have privately acknowledged that they are in love with the other. I think that plays a huge role in their relationship and how it has evolved since Lady Midnight.

- That huge fight that they had when they were staying at Malcolm’s cottage literally broke me. I was on the verge of crying while reading that. I’m just glad that it didn’t take long for them to make up.

- Their conversation about the Shadowhunter family mottos BAHAHAHAHA

- This is their second sex scene and honestly I loved it so much. It was so perfect. I almost burst into tears crying when Emma admitted to Julian that she’d been lying about her relationship with Mark.

- Emma still hasn’t told Julian that she loves him and I keep wondering if this is an important detail that will be used in QoAaD. Am I the only one who noticed this?

Diana Wrayburn

- It’s not like I hated Diana in Lady Midnight, I just didn’t know her very well and didn’t see the depth of her character. Once I read her backstory, I grew to love her. She is such a strong person and honestly I just want to be her best friend.

- Diana and Gwyn? Um, can you say hella cute couple?

- Once Cassie told us that there would be a transgender character reveal in Lord of Shadows, I knew from the start that it would be Diana. In Lady Midnight, it talks about how she has lots of secrets and a dark past. We knew that she’d been through a lot, so it wasn’t a huge surprise for me, but still a monumental moment in the book nonetheless. 

- Summed up into four words, I can say “I love Diana Wrayburn!”

Kit Herondale

- From the moment we found out in Lady Midnight that Kit is the Lost Herondale, I knew that he would be an interesting character to read about. I was not disappointed.

- It’s truly heartwarming to watch Kit grow from a person who is denying himself as a Shadowhunter and the culture of the Shadowhunters to fully embracing it and finding a home with the Blackthorns. That scene where they’re fighting the Seven Riders and Ethna (or whatever her name is) is about to kill him and he’s all like “I’m Christopher Herondale.” I just loved that and I almost cried. 

- At this point, I still don’t really know where his relationship with Ty will lead. I know for sure it will be either a romantic relationship or a parabatai relationship, and I’m perfectly fine with whichever. For me, it’s hard to tell right now. Cassie has a habit of pulling large plot twists on us, and I don’t know what to think. All I do know is that I like Kit and Ty as friend or lovers. I think they compliment each other very well and are so cute. (The Sherlock and Watson comparisons?! Cute af!)

Julian Blackthorn

- I’m honestly so scared for Julian and I have two main theories for him. Neither of them are happy. He’s either going to literally go off the deep end and go full evil and be really bad or he’s not going to survive to the end of the series. Like I said, I don’t really like either option.

- Julian’s hidden ruthlessness is touched upon several times in LOS like in LM. This is NOT coincidental and Cassie is foreshadowing. His ruthless nature and his undying will to protect those he loves will play a major role in the plot of QoAaD, I’m sure.

- I don’t even want to think about how Livvy’s death will affect his family, but especially Julian. He’d devoted his life, time, and heart to protecting his family and doing whatever it takes to keep them alive and safe. He’s failed to do that. Because of Livvy’s death, he will blame himself and I feel like it will really push him over the edge. 

- There is this undeniable dark Julian that we all know exists. Few of us actually acknowledge that this is a part of Julian because we don’t want to imagine our baby Julian like that. Our baby Julian, who has been in love with Emma for god knows how long. Our baby Julian who ran an Institute when he was twelve, killed his own father, who became parabatai with Emma even when he knew he was in love with her because he didn’t want to lose her. Jules, Julian, who paints her in secret, who hides his feelings for her. He is an incredibly selfless person and I feel like that it could seriously be his downfall and weakness ironically.

- Basically, I think that tough times are in the forecast for Julian Blackthorn. :(

Five Main Character Deaths

- Jon Cartwright: I was really surprised about his death and didn’t see it coming. I was just a lil sad but overall it wasn’t that bad. I will miss him though. I hope Marisol will be okay.

- Arthur Blackthorn: I was also very surprised about this death. In Lady Midnight, Arthur is written as this insane, depressed, and sad individual. We don’t like him because he was supposed to run the Institute, not Julian. In the last few pages of his life, he was completely lucid and actively gave up his life to save the younger Blackthorns. I was very taken aback and thought it was very honorable. It instantly redeemed his character for me. I was sad to see him go.

- Malcolm Fade: I never really believed he was dead tbh. I actually laughed when he truly died. Literally, this dude spends 200+ years dedicating his life to bringing a girl back from the dead, and when he does she just kills him?!?! I died it was actually really funny. I realize how sick that sounds and I’m sorry but it was so funny.

- Robert Lightwood: Never did I think a character from another series would be killed off. I set myself up for sadness when I assumed that. I was very sad when Robert died; not only was he Emma and Julian’s only hope to fix things between them, but he was also just mending his relationship with his children and it broke my heart when Alec was calling for his dad. I can’t remember exactly, the last few pages of LOS were a blur of tears and emotions and words and I’m pretty sure I started crying when Alec was calling “Dad, please, dad.”

- Livvy Blackthorn: Oh my god. Oh my god. Livvy’s death caught me by complete surprise and it crushed me. Livvy had so much ahead of her. She’d found out that Julian had been the one that had taken care of all of the younger Blackthorns since the Dark War, and she’d wanted to be like him. She’d kissed Julian on the forehead. It was so cute and it warmed my heart. SHE NEVER GOT TO RUN AN INSTITUTE. All Livvy wanted was for her family to be together and when Helen and Mark finally came back and everyone was together, she died. She never got to see her family reunite, and I think that’s the saddest part. I truly will miss Livvy. And when the clock rang? Oh my god, I was a hot mess. There are dried tears on the last two pages of LOS. I cried myself to sleep that night when I finished it.

Side note on Livvy’s death: maybe this is a grieving me just searching for a way to bring Livvy back but there was a quote in either Lady Midnight or Lord of Shadows (I think its LOS) and one of the characters (I think a faerie or something) is like “Oh, how foolish of u to regard death as something so final.” Will this tie into Livvy’s death? WILL LIVVY COME BACK?

Characters I Literally Cannot Deal With

- Jaime Rosales (taking advantage of Dru like wtf)

- Annabel Blackthorn (she fucking killed Livvy and Robert ugh)

- Zara Dearborn (I don’t really need to explain this, do I?)

- The Cohort (see above)

Characters I Didn’t Pay Much Attention to Before but Now I Like Them

- Mark Blackthorn (sweet bby oml)

- Kieran (ur not as bad as I thought, pal)

- Diana Wrayburn (I explained above. Never hated her or anything, just didn’t know her)

- Gwyn ap Nudd (PROTECT THIS ACTUAL TEDDY BEAR OML)

- Dru Blackthorn (don’t make her babysit plz)

- Ty and Livvy (I have a twin and I wish he was like Ty lol)

Emma Carstairs 

- hot mess of angst and emotions throughout the book (as expected) 

- Julian Blackthorn Julian Blackthorn Julian Blackthorn Julian Blackthorn

- She slayed one of the Seven Riders like holy crap girl ur a legend

- She and Julian had sex again. Have I talked about this? Yes. It was amazing. I loved it. I enjoyed every second of it.

- I love how whenever someone does anything mean or says something bad about the Blackthorns, Emma freaking goes apeshit on them

- When Emma made Diego stand in the antpile.... OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS GIRL

- She’s so sassy and I love her sass. Did I mention I love her sass. 

Further comments

- WHAT THE FUCK IS THE DEAL WITH CORTANA BREAKING THE MORTAL SWORD. WHAT THE FUCK. I NEED ANSWERS.

- will Emma and Julian seriously ever get rid of the parabatai bond

- how will Livvy’s death affect her family

- when will Mark, Cristina, and Kieran have their eventual threesome I need to know

- how the fuck is Bridget still alive

- ALL OF THE TID REFERENCES WHILE THEY WERE IN LONDON AHHHH MY HEART

- what is happening to the warlocks oh my god don’t touch my Tessa and don’t touch my Magnus

- is Ragnor alive or nah

- what is the history of the Black Volume

- Clary better not die or I fucking s2g

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1304

Monday, March 9, 2020

 I want to thank my partner Chris for another successful Capital Comic Book Con at the Delta Hotel in downtown Ottawa yesterday. All of his hard work pricing and preparing our stock and setting up our booth paid off. I am glad that I get a day to recover as the old muscles are aching today. I saw many old friends and customers which made for a fun social event as well. There's a full moon out tonight so get out there and give a howl. Then come back inside and wash your hands.

 Daredevil #19 - Chip Zdarsky (writer) Marco Checchetto (art) Mattia Iacono (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). A gang of super villains paid by the Stromwyns is destroying Hell's Kitchen. Can Daredevil save his home? There's a lot of destruction and the citizens try to defend themselves but it doesn't look good. I like the wild card showing up. I wonder if they will help or hurt?

 Lois Lane #9 - Greg Rucka (writer) Mike Perkins (art) Andy Troy (colours) Simon Bowland (letters). Lois and Renee need to find the assassin Kiss of Death and they get some help from a friend. Batman's appearance was a hoot. This story has been great so far. You should also be watching Greg's TV show Stumptown. Cobie Smulders is killing it as Dex.

 Doctor Strange #6 - Mark Waid (writer) Kev Walker (art) Java Tartaglia & Antonio Fabela (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Someone has stolen Stephen's magical artefacts and could be mass producing them for evil purposes. He has to team up with Doctor Druid to stop that from happening. This new story is spellbinding.

 Superman: Villains #1 - Brian Michael Bendis, Matt Fraction & Jody Houser (writers) Art, colours and letters done by a bullpen full of others. This $5.99 US one-shot is a muddled mess. It confused me right out of the gate when Superman visits his parents on the farm. Ma and Pa Kent are there. I thought Pa died. Then Superman tells Pa that some Batman tech is going to keep them safe like it does for the Batcave. That was four pages of WTF for me. So that segues into a scene with Lois, Clark, Perry and the new owner of the Daily Planet, Marisol Leone. We find out later that Ms. Leone is the head of some sort of Mafia. Then there's two pages of Lex Luthor and a laughing answering machine message that made me think it was the Joker calling to mock the bald baddie. I can go on and on, like why Bizarro? I hate Bizarro. Also, what is up with Supergirl? Is she still infected from Year of the Villain? All the different art styles didn't help either. This did not make me want to read more DC comics.

 Black Cat #10 - Jed MacKay (writer) Kris Anka (art) Brian Reber (colours) Ferran Delgado (letters). It's a fun-filled, action-packed team-up with Wolverine in Madripoor. How do you like them hyphens?

 Savage Avengers #11 - Gerry Duggan (writer) Butch Guice (art) Alex Guimaraes (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). Doctor Strange's astral form observes the origin of the evil wizard Kulan Gath. It's this story that reveals the way to finally kill the sorcerer. But first, he and Elektra must find Conan. This was my favourite issue of the run so far.

 Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown #2 - Saladin Ahmed (writer) Luke Ross (art) Nolan Woodard (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). I love these outrageously improbable adventures. Conan chases the Black Cat to get a ring back. This issue takes place in Las Vegas so it's a good chance for the Scarlet Spider to make a guest appearance. Conan does retrieve the ring but how he does made me go "huh?". I really got a chuckle when I saw where Conan and Nyla are zapped to. I'm sure this will cross over with Savage Avengers at some point.

 Strange Academy #1 - Skottie Young (writer) Humberto Ramos (art) Edgar Delgado (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). I expected a fun debut from Skottie Young and he delivers. We meet a lot of kids and a lot of teachers in this new magical school of magic. This reminded me of Avengers Academy and I think I'll like this new crop of young magicians.

 Batman #90 - James Tynion IV (writer) Jorge Jimenez (art) Tomeu Morey (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). Catwoman has a secret that will destroy Batman's love for her and this flashback story tells us what it is. It was disappointing that I guessed what it was before the big reveal on the last page. This new villain, the Designer is kind of interesting and I want to see if Mr. D succeeds in his goal.

 Miles Morales: Spider-Man #16 - Saladin Ahmed (writer) Cory Smith (pencils) Victor Olazaba (inks) David Curiel (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). There are two stories this issue. The first has Miles babysitting his little sister and you just know that things are going to get hairy. Then Uncle Aaron walks into a trap laid by his new boss Ultimatum. What happens next doesn't bode well for Miles. This is another book that I'm thinking of benching. My fondness for the character is waning but I do still like the art.

 Marauders #9 - Gerry Duggan (writer) Matteo Lolli (art) Edgar Delgado (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). This issue has Emma and Bishop dealing with the bad guys. It's really cool how Emma can mess with minds.

 Dryad #1 - Kurtis J. Wiebe (writer) Justin Osterling (art) Jim Campbell (letters). This new fantasy story is about Morgan and Yale and their two teenage offspring Griffon and Rana. There are big swords and monsters and a mysterious ancient race. The mixed race marriage reminded me of Saga. Morgan is an elf and Yale is human. The kids go exploring and open a door leading to a peck of trouble. The characters didn't grab me and this issue didn't spark enough interest in me to want to read the next issue. You might like this if you enjoy books like Rat Queens.

 Strange Adventures #1 - Tom King (writer) Mitch Gerads & Evan "Doc" Shaner (art) Clayton Cowles (letters). Adam Strange is back on the racks in this 12 issue maxi that has him being framed for murder. When Batman passes up the case he's got to go with another hero to clear his name. I really liked how Alanna was handled and that's why I will read the next issue.

 2020 Rescue #1 - Dana Schwartz (writer) Jacen Burrows (art) Scott Hanna (inks pages 17, 19, 20) Peter Pantazis (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). I know from reading Avengers that Tony is alive and well trapped in the past but Pepper Potts thinks he's dead. This story has Pepper trying to find a way to clone Tony using his biological parents' DNA. I picked this off the rack because of Jacen Burrows's art but the writing wasn't even half as good as the old Ironheart used to be so I won't be reading any more.

 Spider-Man Noir #1 - Margaret Stohl (writer) Juan Ferreyra (art) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). This is Peter Parker as Sam Spade, the Shadow and Spider-Man all rolled into one circa 1939. The web-shooters and 45s are jarring to me. Anyways, the art is suitably dark and gorgeous and the murder mystery will have Peter globe trotting to find the killer. If you like hard boiled crime this is the 5-issue mini for you.

 Doctor Doom #6 - Christopher Cantwell (writer) Salvador Larroca (art) Guru-eFX (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). This is like a Bing Crosby and Bob Hope "Road to Terlingua, Texas" movie starring Doctor Doom and Kang. Doom is trying to find a way to keep a black hole from destroying the earth and Kang is just tagging along for giggles. Doom does get what he's after, rids himself of the annoying Kang and figures out how to save the earth. Now he's heading back home with the device and I want to see how he uses it.

 Marvel #1 - this $4.99 US 6-issue mini is for all those Marvel Maniacs pining for stories from the days of yore. Alex Ross curates this anthology of new stories that read like reprints from the sixties. The two stories this issue are:

 "Spider-Man: Make My Day" by Sajan Saini (writer) Frank Espinosa (art) & VC's Clayton Cowles (letters) features a fight with Rhino and an argument with Mary Jane.

 "The Boy…and the Brute" by Kurt Busiek (writer) Steve Rude (art) Steven Legge (colours) & Steve Rude (letters) features Rick Jones, the Hulk and the Avengers.

 These are nice little vignettes and are interesting for the creators involved. They're fun to read and that's what comic books are all about.

 The Flash #750 - It's been a while since I've read a Flash comic so I thought I'd catch up by snagging this $7.99 US anniversary issue off the racks. There are 6 stories inside featuring a bunch of Flashes but mostly concentrating on Barry Allen. Jay the Golden Age Flash and Wally West are here too. There is also a lot of hopping around in time, dimensions and universes that left my head reeling. It looks like future issues of the Flash are going to speed through many divergent plots and I don't want to work that hard to keep track of everything. This issue did not make me want to return to the Flash fold.