#why would Marc wear a mask for a team he’s clearly

[mad-as-a-box-of-frogs]

No more fights over Marc’s screentime, or his characterization, or the absence of Jake and Steven

Comic incels are annoyed because What If Moon knight isn’t wearing his mask and that’s a win for me 🏆

Great work, team! Everyone hit the showers, next round’s on me 🤝

[afaimsarrowverse]

Top 30 Arrowverse Storylines we never got to see:

30.  Ray and Barry as Friends hanging out and superheroing together (The Flash/Arrow/Legends of Tomorrow)

I am not really sure why this never happend. Grant wanted it, Brandon wanted it, the fans wanted it, but somehow Ray ended up not even getting invited to Barry’s Wedding, while Sara, who never even interacted that much with Barry before, did. „All Star Team Up“ did work very good and showed that Ray was quite a good fit for Team Flash, but when „Legends“ came along letting those two character interact outside of Crossover became a problem, but still the writers could have them have interact more during the Crossovers or at least, you know, have Barry invite Ray to his Wedding!

 29. Jacob finding out thaz Kate is Batwoman at a point where it still matters (Batwoman)

Seeing how Anti-Batwoman Jacob was, it would have been a very big moment when he would finally find out that Kate is the one wearing the mask. One can argue that is was still a big moment, but Alice telling him flat out when Kate is not around anymore does not have the same impact or consequences this storyline was supposed to have. It would have been interesting to see if he would have changed his tune (probably) and how much. In the comic Kate’s Father is actually one of her biggest supporters Batwoman-wise, and while I don’t think that we would have gotten to this point quickly, it would have been interesting to see the Crows working with the real Batwoman with Jacob’s grudging permission and what impact this revelation would have had on his relationship to his daughter.

 28. Laurel Lance Lives (Arrow)

Laurel was never supposed to die, but the writers were pressured into killing her of, so Oliver could be with Felicity instead. But you can’t just kill of the Black Canary! She is arguable one of the most important female superheroes of DC Comics, maybe the most important one right after Wonder Woman. Which is why we got a whole line up of new Black Canarys after her death. But the Original One (not counting Sara, who never actually called herself that on the show, I mean we don’t refer to Shado and her father as Green Arrow either, do we?) was the best one and was the Female Lead of the show and would have deserved to go to amazing places after Season 4 and would have gone there if she had had the chance. Too bad shipping is more important than storylines, characters, and legacy to The CW, Warner, and DC.

 27. „Green Arrow and the Canaries“ Spin-Off (Arrow)

We waited almost a year for the news that this is not happening after all, after everyone pretending it’s a go for a very long time. Which is a major disappointment. Not so much because the show would have been that great - the Backdoor Pilot did not look like it - but because many storylines remained unresolved and will probably continue to remain that way because of the cancelation, inculding William’s abduction, the question who gave JJ his memories back and why, the whole mystery about Dinah and the Black Canary, and the question what Laurel is really up to. It’s said that not the whole show would have taken place in the future and there would have been a Laurel Storyline in the present, but in any case it would have been „Arrow“s Legacy Show, where many of the characters from the old show could have popped up, not only those features in the Backdoor Pilot, and it would have finally given the Canaries the spotlight they deserve and the Shadowhunter-Fans another show to watch, so in short: Why make false promises for over a year, if you are not willing to deliver? Not cool.

 26. Kara‘s and Kate’s friendship replaces Barry‘s und Oliver’s after Crisis on Infinite Earths (Supergirl/Batwoman)

Marc Guggenheim promised us this when „Crisis on Infinite Earths“ aired and the world was still sane. Things were looking really good for the Arrowverse, and no one had any idea the world’s newest health crisis would turn life into „mere existing because suicide is bad“. At this point pregnancy, Shut-Down, unfinished seasons, Melissa not extending her contract, and Ruby Rose exiting hers were unthinkable. We should have at least gotten one more Crossover which would have delivered on this promise – in the current season to be exact. But someone decided not to recast Kate Kane because of their Super Ego, so no .. this only happend Off-Screen in Season 1 of „Batwoman“ and that’s it. I am not even sure Kate will be mentoned in the final season of „Supergirl“ at all, however even if the „Whatever happend to Kate Kane“-Storyline should get resolved in Season 6 of „Supergirl“ rather then in „Batwoman“ that would be the end of that and in no way be a worthy heir to the epic seven years spanning Olivarry Friendship.

 25. „Supergirl“ and „Superman& Lois“ airing side by side

 That was the dream. Has been the dream for fans since Season 2 of „Supergirl“ when Tyler first appeared, and has been the plan of the producers since around „Elseworlds“ when they started planning the Spin-Off. Now, Covid and Pregnancy combined and pushed Season 6 of „Supergirl“ backt to who-know-when, while „Superman & Lois“ got a much shorter season then it would have gotten under normal curcumstances, so they won’t air on the same night or even during the same period of time. Which also means that all those mini-crossovers we would have gotten – remember back when „The Flash“ first started and how many Characters from „Arrow“ ended up crossing over into the new show? – won’t be happening now. Which is a shame and very frustrating.

 24. „The Atom“ Spin-Off (Arrow/Legends of Tomorrow)

Now, this one was fist mentoned when Ray Palmer showed up in „Arrow“ back in Season 3. Instead we got „Legends of Tomorrow“ with him as the de-facto Male Lead in it. Which was probably the better Spin-Off then, but now Ray has left„Legends“, they did introduce Ryan Choi, and yes, if I could pick the Spin-Off I would want to see right now, it would be „Atoms“ starring both Ray and Ryan along with their wives. I have no idea how Fairy Godmother Nora would fit into „The Atoms“, but I am sure if one tried, one would find a way. But of course there is no way this is happening anytime soon or anytime at all. Not only because Brandon is now in „The Rookie“, but mainly because someone behind the scenes is clearly pushing for baggage-less Spin-Offs like „Wonder Girl“ or „Nomi“. We did not get „Green Arrow and the Canaries“, might not even get „Painkiller“, and are most definitly not getting an „Atom“-Spin-Off. Which is just wrong and missed opportunity in the size of the Moon.

 23. Harry and H.R.-Team Up (The Flash)

I never expected the Arrowverse Shows to be „Orphan Black“, but until recently they had all those Doppelgangers and hardley ever did something with them. Now Harry and H.R. are the only Main Characters ,with whom the writers actually did something with the fact those two are Doppelgangers and around at the same time, but to be honest, this makes it even worse, the carving for those two to meet, interact, and riff of each other. Because they actually worked well together, and it’s a shame they never got a storyline o rat least en episode where they had to team up and so something together. The Council of Wells is nice, but mainly just for fun. H.R. is the least Wells like Wells, and Harry everyone’s favorite Wells (Eobard does not count), so why did no one ever write something great for those two before they went and killed H.R. off?

 22. Sam sacrifces herself tos top Reign and Alex adopts Ruby (Supergirl)

First of all, I do like Sam, I didn’t want her to die. But the problem is that literally everything about Season 3 was building toward this. Normally everyone bitches about the writers killing off characters, but in this case, it was a grave mistake not to kill off someone. Sam’s Guilt about Reigns crimes, Alex’s bond with Ruby – all of this was literally for nothing and stopped dead with Sam not dying. Somehow getting rid of Reign magically solved everything for Sam (or not, because she was written out between Seasons, we don’t really know if she ever got over her trauma), while Alex’s Adoption Storyline went nowhere and was put on indefinite hold after that one episode in Season 4, where she almost got a baby. Worse, the writers actually admitted that they had planned this, but then changed their minds because they did not want to take a mother from her child. Which just means they were and are cowards – if you compare „Supergirl“ to the other Arrowverse Shows, there is one major difference and it’s exactly that one – only villains and side-characters die on „Supergirl“ (and M’yrnn whose storyline bascially was dying), in other words less heartbreak but also less courage is found here.

 21. Nora dates Spencer Young (The Flash)

Spencer Young was conceived as Nora’s Love Interest, who was to lure her into the Young Rogues at a later point of this season, but something went awry behind the scenes with the actress it seems, so the storyline was pushed back and back, and Spencer was replaced in every episode she was meant to be in after the first one by other characters, until she was eventually dropped alltogether and Bug Eyed Bandit got her gadget, so that a least some of that storyline could get a pay off. As for Nora’s Rogue Love Interest Weather Witch ended up getting this role, which just about works, but given that there is no real foundation there, the romance was only implied and never took off, which is too bad for the shows‘s Queer Record.

 20. Cat remains Kara‘s boss (Supergirl)

„Supergirl“ has changed so much over the years, that is actually kind of impossible to say how the show would have turned out, if certain elements would have sticked around. One of the biggest casulties of the change in style and tone was the loss of Cat Grant as a regular character, and it’s hard to say what the show would have looked like after the first Season, if she stuck around, but it would sure looked have very different. Now I am not so sure we would have gotten Lena Luthor the same way into the show we got her in reality, if Cat wouldn’t have left, but there is no telling, after all Lena quickly went from a kind of mentor character to a female friend, so maybe not much about this would have changed. However James‘ Storylines and all the back and forth with who is owning and running CatCo would of course not have happend like that either, and I think „Supergirl“ would in the end have been a more coherent show because of that. Plus Cat was the best character in the show and having her around would have made everything better anyways.

 19. Anissa meets the other Heroes of the Arrowverses (Black Lightning/ The Other Shows)

This could still happen in the next season or so, if the actress is willing to go to Canada and come back to Anissa Pierce after the end of „Black Lightning“, but even if it happens, it wouldn’t be the same. Due to curcumstances „Black Lightning“ ending up on Earth Prime was just for cosmetics, which is sad, because what’s the point of a Shared Superheroes-Verse if your characters can’t interact? Am I the only one who would have wanted Anissa to meet Kate (never going to happen now), Sara, Barry and Kara? I don’t think so. Sadly it wasn’t to be.

 18. Iris and Kara have a Journalist Team-Up (The Flash/Supergirl)

 This is the one thing fans have been asking for, the producers pretended to listen to, but still ignored. It could happen during the current season, but I have my doubts. The window has closed, and no one knows why this never happened. We did have Iris team up with Lois and Clark during Crisis though to recrut the Paragon of Truth, which was a Journalist Storyline, if you will, but all the fans always wanted both Iris and Kara to have actual Journalist Storylines, but we rarley got them. Yes, teaming up on an Inverstigative Story was always difficult while they were living on different earths, but it would haven been possible nevertheless. And on Earth Prime even more, but no, it was more important to do that endless Mirrorverse Storyline than to have, I don’t know, Iris and Kara break an Investigative Story about Lex to bring him down. Well, maybe we will get another Iris/Lois-Team Up with Journalism rather than Multiverse Saving Topics instead at a later point, but we sadly won’t get a Iris/Kara/Lois Team Up like that.

 17. Amaya meets Charlie (Legends of Tomorrow)

I don’t know why they did not do that. After all Charlie pretend to be Amaya in Season 4 so often, it kind of would be obvious to have them meet at some point. It’s the same actress for God’s sake! But I guess the main reason we never saw that was that „Legends“ has short seasons. Season 4 had only 16 episodes and Season 5 only 15, of which one was the Crossover, so only 14 they could use, and they just ran out of space to insert a meeting between those two ladies that would have had any reason to happen beyond the fact that fans would have wanted it to happen. I am normally all for things happening for storyline reasons and not only for them to just happen, but in this case, I would just have taken it happending without any compelling reason.

 16. Leo meets Leonard (The Flash/Legends of Tomorrow)

I would have payed extra-money for this to happen. But I do get why it didn’t happen, because if you come right down to it, we only had Leo for five episodes across two shows, two of those episodes being part of the Crossover, which left three episodes, that really had other things to do than to bring back Leonard just to have him meet Leo. On the other hand those two were so different, it should have been an obligation for the writers to make it happen somehow. Maybe at least in a vision or a dream or something like that. Gah, I wish Wenworth Miller would just come back in the flesh as any of those two to our shows….

 15. Joe and Cecile as Older Parents for a Newborn (The Flash)

This Season 5 Storyline was cut short, when Jesse L. Martin had to take medical leave from the show. Which is too bad, because it was the very reason why Cecile became a Main Character in the first place, and was an important part of the original Seaon 5 plan, which would have three sets (or rather two and a half sets) of parents: Barry and Iris, Joe and Cecile, and Orlin. Now we got a sort of aimless Cecile for the most part of the season, and the very problem the show actually wanted to avoid in the first place: Jenna merely existing, but not being there for most of the time (but this got way worse in Season 6, if we are honest). Real Life can really be a bitch sometimes.

 14. A Flashback about Sara joining the Legaue of Assassins (Arrow/Legends of Tomorrow)

We were promised this before Season 3 of „Arrow“ aired. Of course the only reason we were promised this was to obscure the fact that Sara would be killed of in the premiere. Same for all those fotos featuring her a part of the main cast and all that jazz. Still, Caity was contracted for Season 3 and showed up in a handful of episodes, but all we got was Maseo saying that he joined the League around the same time Sara did. Since then Sara came back to life, and we still have not gotten that flashback. Why? I know the initial statement was a purposeful lie, but that does not mean we did not want to see that. On the contrary we have been waiting for this since Season 2 of „Arrow“! And we are still waiting. But it does not look like we are ever going to get it.

 13. Oliver meets Jefferson (Arrow/Black Lightning)

I am kind of miffed about that. I wanted Oliver and Jefferson to growl at eacht other, showing us who is better at it. Jefferson only came into Crisis after Oliver was already dead and did point out in Part 5 himself that he never met the man. But he should have. The two oldest Arroverse-Vigilantes apart from the Bat should really have met, just because they are the first ones. But now it will never happen, even if Oliver comes back somehow. (Unless the the new Crossover Strategy is bringing back the characters from the shows that are not around anymore, and future Crossovers will feature Oliver, Kara, Jefferson and his daugthers in the still existing shows instead of having characters from the still existing shows meet, which I kind of doubt, but if that leads to them meeting, I will take it.)

 12. Pay Off for the Tommy Elliott Storyline (Batwoman)

Given how much of Season 1 built that storyline up, an actual pay off would have been nice. But instead the storyline got killed off in the first episode of the new season. And now, before you argue: no, that was not Pay Off. Pay Off would haven been someone other then Luke, who was close to Bruce and knows he was Batman (like his loving cousin called Kate, you know) interacting with Fake Bruce. For episodes. Tommy actually knew Bruce pretty well, so he might have been able to pull a long con. Maybe Kate would have believed him, but Luke would have gotten distrustful, or the other way around, and this would have lead to friction between those two. And maybe this storyline would have eventually even led to the real Bruce Wayne or at least to a clue of his whereabouts. Like I said: Pay Off and not Kill Off. Wouldn’t that have been something.

 11. Laurel comes back (Arrow/Legends of Tomorrow)

Everyone got resurrected in the last episode of „Arrow“, except for Earth-1 Laurel because of the whole „There can be no more Doppelgangers“ business. Now I really don’t see why we can’t just have both of them, but the real kicker is, that the main reason Laurel-1 was not brought back is the Spin-Off, that never was, „Green Arrow and the Canaries“, that was supposed to star Earth-2 Laurel. Now that Spin Off was not picked up after all, and Marc Guggenheim stated that they probably would have brought Original Laurel back in the Finale if it weren’t for the Backdoor-Pilot. Now of course Laurel 2 was the MVP of Season 8, so it would have been a mistake to let her cease into nothingness in the Finale. But they could have just shown her alive and well on another earth in a scene and have Earth 1 Laurel in the other scenes instead. But why did they never bring her back before that? I mean, there was a whole subplot around that in „Legends of Tomorrow“ which ended with Sara not bringing her back, which would be alright, if it weren’t for the fact that another lost sibling that couldn’t be brought back came back on „Legends“, namely Zari’s brother Behrad, which yes, deleted Zari from the timeline and replaced her with a new version of herself, so it wasn’t a cheap fix, but it is just one more reason to be miffed about the fact that Laurel obviously was not important enough to anyone to be brought back anywhen in „Arrow“ or „Legends of Tomorrow“. But maybe there is still hope, I mean two alternate Versions of Laurel were introduced in „The Flash“, so maybe she can still come back there, or at some point in „Legends“ as long as the show is still around.

 10. Ralph and Sue get together and become Partners in every sense (The Flash)

This could of course still happen sometimes down the road, if they do recast Ralph after all, or if Hartley is allowed to come back at some point. Or they could just say it in a random episode that only features Sue. However, it won’t be in the way the the show has beeing building toward since Season 5 (actually 4, but that’s not the point). Back when Sue was introduced, we were blown by the chemistry between those two, dreaming about their own Spin-Off etc. and what has become of it? 2020 destroyed so much….

 9. Two Zaris for Good (Legends of Tomorrow)

Tala wanted that, the fans wanted that, even the writers kind of wanted it and thought about doing it, but in the end, like I mentoned before, „Legends of Tomorrow“ is not „Orphan Black“. „Legends“ already is the most complex Arrowverse Show to shoot, having Tala do double duty for good would have complicated the shooting process even more. Still we love both Zaris, and while it’s understandbale and even right to focus on Zari Tarazi for now, Zari Tomaz is better not gone for good. We might get two Zaris at the end of Zari’s storyline anyway, but until then the best we can hope for is a Caitlin/Killer Frost situation, which might be a problem for both Nate and John, and also is not likely to happen soon, so, yeah, that would have been great, but we are never going to get it.

 8. Ronnie and Eddie return from the Singularity (The Flash)

Well, yes technically Eddie is dead, but his body was sucked into the Singularity, which did not need to happen, if they just wanted to kill him. And Ronnie never actually died, he just was sucked into the Singularity, never seen again, and assumed to be dead (well, without a Partner to replace Martin to merge with him, he should have died by now, but let’s ignore that for a moment). Anyhow the fact that those were sucked in, but Jay’s Helmet came through it, led to the believe that there would be consequences to those two being sucked into the Wormhole. But nothing ever came from it. Not even for one of those two. Season 2 did go down a very different route, and while we are still waiting today to learn what actually happened to those two, it does not look like we are ever going to find out. Which is strange, considering how much time was spend emphasizing this stroryline in the earlier seasons.

 7. Chas returns (Constantine/ Legends of Tomorrow)

It’s still not confirmed „Constantine“ took place on Earth-1, but we always assumed it. And also Chas was refered to in Season 5 of „Legends of Tomorrow“, and let’s face it: John Constantine without his Chas is just not right. Aside from the fact that Chas‘ „Constantine“ Storyline is still unresolved, John need his oldest friend in his life. So not only fans of the „Constantine“ Series would really love to see Chas Chandler on „Legends“. But sadly I doubt this will ever happen - with any actor that is.

 6. Lois and Clark as Parents of Baby Jonathan in „Superman & Lois“

This was after all the initial promise. That the show would pick up where „Lois and Clark“ ended, with the pair as parents, but as parents of a baby not of teenagers. And it was set up this way. Of course we know all the reasons: The claim that Action Series with Leads who have a baby do not work, the problems revolving around Babies and Little Children on Set, the need to write for actual characters instead of mute crying little things, and the fact that storylines for older kids are more interesting than for younger ones, but while we understand all of that and recognize „Superman & Lois“ will be the more interesting show with Teenage Sons in it, the fact remains it is not the show we were promised.

 5. Sydney Palmer (Legends of Tomorrow)

This was set up in Season 1, Brandon did talk about it with the writers and was expecting it to happen as much as we did, and then … nothing. Now he is gone from the show, and we will never get to meet his illusive twin brother. Everything concerning Syndey is strange, starting with the fact he never seemed to be around, even when Ray was a kid. Of course this might be because the Palmers had a „every parent takes one twin“ situation going on, but even if you consider the fact that Ray und Sydney obvioulsy weren’t on good terms, the fact remains everything about him is weird. There even is fan therory that Ray does not have a brother, and Sydney actually is his alternate personality. Which at least makes more sense than the fact that we never got to see him.

 4. The „Whatever happend to Mon-El“- Flashback in Season 3 (Supergirl)

Normally, if a main character disappears for a certain amount of time, and then turns up again, and the stuff he or she had beeing doing in-between is important for the current storyline of the season, we are told what he or she has been doing, and I don’t mean in words, we are talking about television after all, it’s show not tell. This is why I did assume that we would get at least one episode in Season 3, that would show us what happened to Mon-El in the future. At least a flashback subplot in an episode. Something for God’s sake! But I waited and waited and waited – and nothing, not a single scene. Now they did have the Legion Cruiser, they could just have used that set, and they could have only shown us Imra and Brainy, if there was no other way, but we did not even get that. I never understood why we have never ever gotten to see a single scene in the future, where three of our main heroes have spend a significant amount of their time in, why we never got to see someone from the Legion who isn’t Mon-El, Winn, Brainy or Imra (at this point we never even got to see Nura!), but this particular storyline was teased and actually essential to Season 3, and it still never happened via images, and that I really never understood. There is just no excuse for it.

 3. General Eiling hunting Meta-Humans (The Flash)

Whatever happened to this storyline? I guess the Singularity sucked it up. I don’t think they even picked it up in Tie-In Comics or Novels. It went away when Clancy Brown declined to come back, I guess, but I am not so sure they even asked him. You see, even if the argument was, that he was too traumatized from Grodd to go after Meta-Humans any more (which he wasn’t, we all saw the last scene with him), some underling could just as easy have taken over. I mean Eiling knew about at least two Meta-Humans personally, Barry and Martin, and had kidnapped Firestorm in the past, and cleary did not learn anything from his run in with Grodd, which only came about because Eobard thought he was too dangerous and knew too much to be running around freely, but Barry and the others did set him free at the end of Season 1. Even if he would have been too thankful to come after Team Flash, why wouldn’t he come after all the criminal Meta-Humans out there? This storyline was cleary set up for Season 2 and then dropped like pretty much almost everything else in Season 2 that had been set up to be continued before. Lazy! I know it’s kind of X-Men, but the military going after Meta-Humans kind of was a Must Happen that never happened. But there might just be something along those lines happening in Season 7. However  it does not invovle General Eiling or anything else related to the Earth-1 storylines, I fear.

 2. Green Arrow and Black Canary as Street Fightning Hero Partners – with an without masks (Arrow)

This was the initial promise of the Pilot and all of Season 1 and still remained a promise until that episode of Season 4, I guess. Everyone who knew anything about Green Arrow was expecting this from the show, instead we got what we got, which has not very much to with the actual Green Arrow or DC Comics. I mean. we kind of got a brief glimps at it in Season 2 with Sara and Oliver, but that didn’t last very long. However the writers were still fighting for that end-goal, when Season 5 rolled around, because it sure seemed like Dinah Drake was considered as a Love Interest for Oliver at the beginning. But nothing ever came of it, and Dinah even gave up the Black Canary inbetween, so … no, we never got this, only ever on Earth-2 with Adrian-2 und Laurel-2, where he even called her Pretty Bird. In the end this is the initial broken promise, the first lie of the Arrowverse, and it would be the gravest one, if it weren’t for a certain other Arrowverse-Show that bascially died between Season 1 and 2.

 1.      An actual proper Season 2 of „Batwoman“

Do I even have to say it? I can’t even blame Ruby Rose for that, if I were in her shoes, I would have left too. The person I blame is Caroline Dries. Not only did she not recast Kate Kane, no she also refused to make an established character into the new Batwoman. Politics is only one reason. Sophie Moore is black after all. The other reason is an oversized ego. She wanted to create her own superhero. Which is fine, if you make your own show, but not if you replace your main hero, who your whole show revolved around, after one Season with an Original Character and in the same instance kill off your own story. It would have been better to cancel the show than to do this. I mean, what’s the point? It’s not like Alice can’t function without Kate, but why should we care about the things she does anymore, when her main nemesis is just gone?( Ignoring the fact that she is going to be replaced by Black Mask as the main villlain of the show in this season anyway.) Literally everyone in the show was defined by their relationship to the Wayne-Kane-Family and/or the two Bats. Bringing in someone from the outside does just not make any kind of sense. I mean Luke has a sister in the comics, who actually was Batwoman in an Alternate Realitiy, just saying. So yes, this is the gravest broken promise of all the Arrowverse: The promise that we would actually get a second Season of „Batwoman“, which we did not get, no matter what The CW and Caroline Dries and even Greg Berlanti the traitor are calling the Adventures of Ryan WhatsherFace Wilder.

[kittinoir]

Phantoms Ch. 4

Read on Ao3 here

Adrien considered himself a kind, forgiving person, but even he stiffened as a familiar high-pitched voice grated against his ears.

“Hi, Adrien!” the voice chirped, right beside him now. Stifling a sigh, Adrien hauled his professional mask into place and opened his eyes, his relaxing thirty minutes in the hair and make up chair clearly over.

“Hi, Lila,” he said. Did she notice the undercurrent of tension in his voice? Did she believe the warmth in it? He certainly didn’t. He’d have to try harder than this. “Did you have a nice trip with your mom?”

“Oh, yeah,” Lila said breezily. She tugged the lapels of her jacket as she sat, straightening out an invisible crease. “It was so great to be home and soak it all in. Your dad even asked if I’d have time to sit down with him and talk about the latest Italian trends for his spring collection - after we shoot this winter one, of course!”

Adrien fought the urge to raise a brow at the lies that rolled off her tongue but her words had hit a nerve. His father didn’t even make time to have dinner with him; as if he was going to sit down with Lila to discuss her fake trip. He had to admit, he was beginning to see why Marinette had such a tough time stomaching Lila. It was harder than he’d realized.

“Of course,” he managed. At least he could avoid looking at her as Ava, his make up artist, tilted his face this way and that. He didn’t know how to navigate their uneasy agreement anymore. He’d kept her at bay for the better part of six months, trading on the only thing that was of any worth to her - his fame. But even that no longer seemed to be enough, and what more she wanted, he could only guess at. Her trip to Italy the past three weeks had been a welcome reprieve. He could only imagine how she would have reacted if she’d been in Paris during his endless hunt for Ladybug. It hadn’t been good the week immediately after his partner’s disappearance.

She seemed fine now, though, as she preened for Marc, her own make up artist. If anything, Lila seemed in higher spirits than he’d ever seen her. One upon a time Adrien might have thought she was beginning to find her place with their friends, but he held no such beliefs about her now. Maybe it wasn’t totally fair to compare her to his arch enemy, but Lila was every bit as dangerous and conniving as Hawkmoth. It had taken nearly losing Ladybug to an akuma to realize it. He wouldn’t underestimate her again. Especially now that he knew Lila’s two enemies were the same person. He didn’t even want to think about her discovering that little truth. They had enough problems to deal with as it was.

“I was thinking,” Lila said, her green eyes sliding to his, “Why don’t we grab some hot chocolate after the shoot, Adrien? You can catch me up on everything I’ve missed and we can spend some quality time together - you know, as friends?”

Adrien suppressed a wince, but it was impossible to miss the thinly veiled threat. The truth was he had a Chinese lesson waiting for him after the shoot and, had it been a normal night, a patrol to prepare for.

But normal was different now, and Viperion and Tigress had patrol covered. If Luka and Juleka’s mom noticed them missing, she never made mention of it - even if band practice had suddenly moved from their house boat to Ivan’s garage. At least, that’s what they’d told her, and the unfortunate truth was Chinese could be put off for an hour or two. Would have to be, if he wanted to uphold his end of their bargain.

“Sure,” Adrian said lightly. “My treat.”

“Like a date?” Lila said smoothly, raising a brow.

Adrien froze, his fingers white-knuckled on the arms of his chair. “What?”

“If it’s your treat,” Lila said, facing him, “Doesn’t that make it a date?”

“Not at all,” Adrien said, fighting for calm. “You can get it next time. Since we’re friends.”

He steeled himself for the tantrums that usually followed when she didn’t get her way, but instead, she just regarded him sadly. “Still not over Kagami?”

Adrien blinked. Kagami. If only. She’d barely spoken two words to him since he’d ended their relationship months ago, unable to move past his feeling’s for Ladybug. He didn’t blame her. But no, Kagami had never really held his heart. It wasn’t her laugh and her eyes and her warmth that he missed.

But as he took in Lila’s glittering eyes, he decided she didn’t need to know that.

“I just…don’t have those kinds of feelings for you,” Adrien said, giving her a facet of the truth - the most important piece of it. “I’m sorry.”

“I see,” Lila said with a short laugh. “My mistake. But I wish you would give me a chance, Adrien. You’d see what a positive influence you’ve been on me. How much I’ve changed. I think you’d be impressed.”

He doubted it, but Adrien kept the thought to himself as he stood. “I’m glad to hear it, Lila. See you out there.”

A blush didn’t even warm his cheeks as he made his way to his trailer. Dozens of girls confessed to him, every single day. He’d gotten used to it since he’d done his first campaign. Most of them didn’t bother him. After all, it wasn’t like any of them knew him personally. Lila did, but there was always an angle with her. She was after his name and the celebrity that came with it. If she had to go through his heart to get it, she would.

Luckily, his heart was guarded by the most formidable woman in Paris. And unfortunately for Lila, she didn’t hold a candle to her.

Still, the back of Adrien’s neck prickled as he got changed for the first look of the shoot. He’d never known Lila to go down without a fight once she had her mind set on something. He’d bet her sympathy was about as real as her sit down with his father. But she hadn’t forced his hand. Why?

His suspicions pestered him throughout the entire shoot. Was it that she genuinely wanted him to care for her? Did she really want him to be ready to move on before she pushed her agenda? And, the most far-fetched of all - was it at all possible she’d had a change of heart?

No, he decided as Lila simpered for the camera, cold even where she leaned against him. There was more to this - more to her rivalry with Marinette and her alter ego - than either girl was letting on. A rivalry he was beginning to realize he was somehow at the centre of. If only Lila realized there wasn’t a competition - Marinette didn’t want him. Not the way he wanted her.

“How about a kiss for this last shot?”

Lila’s voice shattered Adrien’s musings, bringing him abruptly back to the moment at hand. Had she said kiss? No, she hadn’t changed one bit.

Adrien glanced up to where Lila was pointing at the roof of the set. Someone had hung mistletoe from the rafters so that it just dangled into the frame, completing the winter wonderland theme that had been chosen.

Thankfully, the photographer saved him.

“No, no,” Vincent said with a shake of his head. “Romance is not the theme. Sharp, cold lines, minimalism, harsh beauty, that is the vision for Mr. Gabriel’s new line.”

Dramatic, Adrien thought, but from what he could tell, the set up did compliment his father’s designs - and thankfully, saved him from Lila.

“Of course, Vincent,” Lila said. “It was just an idea. I only wanted to show the clothes in their best possible light.”

Vincent waved her off, directing them into position as a light was adjusted.

“I know what you’re doing,” Adrien murmured as Lila stepped up beside him and laid a hand on his shoulder.

“I don’t know what you mean,” she whispered back, a smile dancing around her lips.

“I meant what I said, Lila,” Adrien warned. “I don’t - ”

“I know,” she interrupted, annoyance flashing across her face as her facade finally cracked. “I just think you need a little help mending your broken heart.”

She wasn’t going to stop, he realized. She was going to try to wear him down. It would take the whole truth - as much as he could say - to get her to back off. He hoped.

“Sorry, Lila,” Adrien said, “But my heart isn’t broken. It’s just elsewhere.”

Lila’s head whipped around as those calculating eyes searched his face. Adrien wasn’t sure what she found there, but whatever it was made her scowl.

“Who,” she demanded quietly as Vincent called for them to take their position.

“It doesn’t matter,” Adrien said, lacing his fingers through hers where her hand rested on his shoulder. “It’s not you.”

They fell silent as Vincent began snapping away. Adrien had no doubt this shot would be the pinnacle of his father’s collection; certainly enough frigidness had formed between the two of them to be palpable on film.

“That’s a wrap!” Vincent called ten minutes later. “Great job everyone!”

Adrien relaxed, immediately stepping out from under Lila’s fingers.

“I can make you love me.”

Adrien froze, then slowly turned to face Lila. The girl was staring at him, determination blazing in her eyes, her hands clenched into fists.

“I really don’t think you can,” Adrien said quietly, a hard edge creeping into his voice. “I won’t say this again, Lila. We’re friends. Just friends. And if you want to continue being the face of Gabriel with me, you’ll respect that.”

Dangerous, but he’d figured out why she was suddenly pushing for more from him; she didn’t need his fame anymore. She had her own. Modelling for Gabriel had given her that, along with several other modelling jobs and a sponsorship from a cosmetics line.

But being fired from Gabriel would jeopardize that. It was hard to use someone’s name to open doors when you didn’t work for them anymore, and though Lila might not know it yet, her leverage over him had evaporated the day Marinette had revealed her identity to their team. He’d kept up the charade for convenience - and it was no longer convenient.

“It’s Marinette, isn’t it.” Hatred burned in Lila’s eyes. “It’s always Marinette.”

Adrien pursed his lips but stayed silent. There was no point in denying it. Everyone would know soon enough anyway; the way he felt was impossible to hide. It didn’t matter if she didn’t feel the same way about him. He’d been down that road before. He’d never ask anything from her she couldn’t give, but he’d never been good at hiding his feelings.

But loving her was the one thing he could not, would not apologize for, ever.

“Good bye, Lila,” Adrien said, turning back to his trailer. “I’ll see you at school.”

“Wait a second,” Lila said. He heard her take a few steps after him but she didn’t lay a hand on him again. “We have a date.”

“Not anymore,” Adrien said without turning around.

“You’ll regret this, Adrien,” Lila snapped. “I will own your heart!”

“A heart isn’t something you own, Lila.” Adrien smiled. “It’s something you give. And I’ve already given mine away.”

[totesmccoats]

Doomsday Clock #2

After explaining why he had new-Rorschach break Mime and Marionette out of prison, Ozymandias warps the four of them out of their dimension just as a nuke is about to drop, and into Gotham City. He sends Rorschach to search for this new world’s second smartest man – Bruce Wayne – while he meets it’s smartest, Lex Luthor.

But things aren’t exactly peaceful in Gotham. Bruce and Lex are at each-other’s necks more than usual as LexCorp threatens to buy Wayne Enterprises out from under Bruce; something Wayne’s board is strongly considering in the fallout of the “Superman Theory;” which posits that metahumans are concentrated in the United States because of government experiments on the metagene carried out by biotech companies like Lex and Wayne’s.

Ozymandias and Rorschach eventually find their targets, neither of whom are happy to see the intruders, and both with surprises prepared for their guests.

This issue starts off with a bit of a stumble, with a flashback that isn’t signaled as such which makes it confusing when the same characters seem to be in two places at once. But hey, time is only linear because of human limits of perception, right? After all, in comics, time is more clearly perceived as space, and by scanning a page we can see past and future simultaneously…

But yeah, no, I had to read that part a few times before I understood oh – flashback. Frustrating.

Things do pick up once the Watchmen characters crossover, starting on the first page we see them enter the DCU – the lights of the Owl-ship becoming eyes in the shadow of the Bat-signal. The issue delivers on some more fan-servicey things as well, like Rorschach discovering the Batcave, or the meeting of the minds between Ozy and Lex. Overall, Frank continues to illustrate this story fantastically, and makes great use of the nine-panel grid, breaking out from it only sparsely, and effectively.

And of course, seeing Ozy and Rorschach’s last moments on their Earth forces us to ask what will even be left to save by the time they return? Nukes are already dropping. “Smartest man on the cinder” indeed.

  Batman: Creature of the Night #2

We open after a time-skip. Bruce is at Harvard, and his inheritance has ballooned into Wainwright Investments, making him fabulously wealthy. But at nights, he still summons the Batman to fight crime in Boston. And, still inspired by the comics of his youth; Bruce becomes a philanthropist, sponsoring orphans, and using his money to wage a campaign for fairness. Coming out of his childhood tragedy, Bruce Wainwright is living his best life.

Because of the time-skip, this issue devotes a lot of time to reestablishing what we’re supposed to know about this world and it’s characters. Wainwright continues to grow into the mould of Bruce Wayne, even as the broad extremes of childhood temper into the nuances of young adulthood. Bruce is as idealistic as ever, but he understands that – despite his experience with Batman – he can’t just wish a better world into existence, you’ve got to put some money behind it. He’s also just become a more understanding person, able to realize why his uncle Al kept the distance he did in his childhood, and accepting him for it. He invests in a company with a black CEO because it’s the right and smart thing to do despite racism making it a potentially risky investment. He tries to give other orphans the same opportunity and privilege he had.

There’s very little conflict in this issue; Bruce’s tragedy has past, the ones he deals with now are more distant from him, and he’s able to be proactive about correcting them. The issue tells us that Bruce is still somewhat remote, unable to truly expose himself in front of others because of Batman; but we never really see how it affects him negatively. Just some lost sleep and a light obsession with crime. Unlike Wayne, Wainwright doesn’t even put himself in any physical danger on his nightly patrols.

Of course, as the retrospective narration tells us, the worst is still yet to come. And at the very end of this issue, we’re given a hint as to what that “worse” may look like.

  Nightwing: The New Order #5

The Titans break Jake and themselves out of the government holding facility, but internal conflicts start up as soon as they’re back on base. Dick wants to take Jake back home, while the other Titans, and now Jake himself, want to try to develop a cure for what Dick did to the world. The Titans knock Dick out and head towards Metropolis, where they meet up with…well, exactly who you’d expect them to meet up with in Metropolis. Maybe not exactly exactly.

The second and third acts of this issue are doing an interesting thing in showing us that, despite all that’s happened, Dick hasn’t learned a thing. He’s still a fascist. He thinks he should be less mean about it, but he still believes that superpowers are unilaterally bad and people should be controlled. And by the final page of the issue, it’s made clear that he’s definitely still a villain.

On the flipside of Dick is Superman, who’s still patrolling Metropolis despite the loss of his powers. He’s teamed up with former enemies and is still putting his life on the line for people who would see him locked up. Despite what he may have done in the past to cause Dick’s change of heart; Jake can still tell the difference between the two men – that Superman is inherently generous and good while Dick became stubborn and selfish.

  Spider-Men II #5

Bendis wraps up this crossover with a bit of a non-ending that still asks more questions than it answers. The Spider-Men face off against Taskmaster one more time, other Miles crosses over into another dimension, and Peter apologizes for saying Miles shouldn’t be Spider-Man in that Bendis way that’s more “ums” and “yeahs” than words that mean things. It’s not just that this story has felt pointless, but that Bendis has already done it better, and in a single issue – Generations: The Spiders.

The art team on this issue do great work, as they have for the entire series, although there are times where they can’t track of whether Miles is wearing his mask or not, and there’s one really gratuitous ass-shot near the end.

  Black Panther #168

The Dora Milaje ask Ramonda, the Queen Mother, to supply an army for them to rescue Ayo and Aneka from Azania. She tells them that, while, under the new constitution, she cannot unilaterally provide them an army, and in doing so declare war on another country; she has not forgotten her duty to her people. Meanwhile, T’Challa and his royal coterie are struck down over the desert that used to be Lake Nyanza (Victoria), and ambushed by an army of the originators.

If Coates’ first arc on Black Panther could be seen as a bit of a refute of the claim that superhero stories are inherently fascistic; this arc doesn’t even seem interested in having that conversation. The issue begins with a strange royalist argument, as Ramonda tells the Doras that the reason she can’t help them is because of democracy, and that if Wakanda was still a monarchy, they’d already have their army. Of course, this is coming from the Queen Mother, so, some resentment of parliament and their hesitation to start a war is to be expected.

But Wakanda is, at least unofficially, at war on two fronts – against the Originators and Klaw, who has manipulated Wakanda’s neighbors against her; and as most war, this one requires decisive action. Whatever T’Challa’s plans were are derailed somewhat by crashing, but his crew have proven more than capable of taking care of themselves. And despite not being “allowed,” he and Ramonda also have a plan to help the Doras; democracy be damned.

  Moon Knight #190

The avatar of Ra explains to Bushman and his army that Ra and Khonshu have sent avatars to Earth to war against each-other through all of history, and that while the Moon Knight has always won, this cycle will be different. And as Marc and Jake duke it out in their shared mindspace, Ra and Bushman visit the house of Marlene – Marc’s ex whom he is very not over.

After the previous two volumes of Moon Knight; starting with Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey’s run in 2014 and running through Jeff Lemire and Greg Smallwood’s take earlier this year; took Moon Knight into darker and more psychedelic and complex spaces, this run just seems too tame, standard cape-fare, kinda boring. Taken on its own, it’s a perfectly fine comic book, but it’s perfectly fine at doing what dozens of other books are. This is no longer a Marc Spectre confused by his perceptions of reality and unsure of what is real, or who feels like the pawn of divine whim – he’s just a superhero who thinks he’s three slightly different contentious superheroes.

Comic Reviews 12/26/17 Doomsday Clock #2 After explaining why he had new-Rorschach break Mime and Marionette out of prison, Ozymandias warps the four of them out of their dimension just as a nuke is about to drop, and into Gotham City.