#Would’ve manipulated someone else to get to the Collector

[shakespeareaddict]

gritting my teeth every time I see an owl house fic with “luz talks to the Titan!” “luz keeps the Titan powers!” “luz is Chosen for a special destiny—“ no you are falling into a TRAP you need to rewatch Witches Before Wizards! but I don’t say this because it is rude to go onto peoples fic and comment “I’m sure you are having fun but you’ve misunderstood the entire premise of the show” esp when I suspect most of the fandom is. Teenagers having fun.

[sepublic]

Odalia’s Plan?

Looking back, I remember people wondering what Odalia thought she could possibly get from helping Belos commit genocide; How can you live like royalty without a society left? I think at face value, Odalia has the snails from the many Abomatons that Belos bought from her, and was planning to revel in that wealth to rule over the survivors. She must’ve thought Belos would spare her from the draining spell for her contribution, maybe she never got a sigil as some suggested. But with the hindsight of S3…

Odalia knows that those who aren’t covenbound will be the true survivors; And that this includes her kids. I presume she thought there would be an exception for her and Alador, on account of helping Belos; Kikimora hoped the same! And speaking of, Odalia was trying to butter up Kikimora and get on her good side on the Day of Unity… But why do that?

Look at what Kikimora did; She took control of a bunch of surviving kids through a manipulated child ruler after the Day of Unity. She leveraged her position as an adult, and didn’t even need to use force despite having Roka, an Abomatron made for her on Odalia’s orders… And Odalia is someone shown to be very good at manipulating kids and even her own husband.

I think Odalia was expecting Belos to do a Kikimora (and Kiki was specifically inspired by him) after the Day of Unity; With almost all adults dead, there’s only a bunch of scared kids left. But Odalia has an army of Abomatons who are unaffected by the draining spell and will obey any order. And there will be a ton of resources and material goods left behind by the deceased for an army to claim. And there would’ve been a factory to produce more Abomatons.

I think Odalia was hinging on establishing a new era with her family right under Belos, and with Kikimora there, Odalia felt it necessary to foster a good working relationship with a fellow commander. Of course, Odalia overestimated how much Belos cared for Kikimora or honoring his own promise with either of them (karma for Escaping Expulsion), because she was devoid of the actual context and motives behind his genocide.

And even though Belos didn’t go through with that, even with the Abomatons no longer in her control or production thanks to Alador’s sabotage, Odalia and Kikimora still attempted that anyhow? The Collector was definitely a huge wrench in everything, but it was a situation Odalia could adapt to, they might actually prove more useful to these plans, rather than an obstacle; Or so she thought!

Because while she seems to have hinged on manipulating yet another child, one far more powerful than Belos ever was, who has the magic to single-handedly rule over the isles, with the puppeted adults replacing and more useful than any Abomatons… The Collector is not impressed with Odalia. She has no leverage, no physical power over them whatsoever. They’re somewhat wary after Belos lied to them, and they have King anyhow; And given King sabotaged Odalia’s plans by helping Alador rebel against her abuse, he would do the same with the Collector (And now I have to imagine Odalia seething over this connection as King casually owns up to it).

Conversely, Kikimora had a lot more success, playing by the old fascist playbook of necessitating tyrannical rule because of an outside threat people need to be strong against, and turning down any plan that would resolve said threat, and thus render her micro-reign without justification.

In short: Odalia thought Kikimora and the Blights would lead an army of Abomatons under Belos to conquer the scattered children who survived the Day of Unity, and groom a new population into their working class. When Belos disappeared and the Collector took his place, Odalia attempted to adapt by replacing Belos with the Collector as someone both stronger and a child she could control (placing herself in top, even better than the original plan!), but instead found herself under someone else’s thumb. She couldn’t even go through with the bit of conquering the isles, not in the way Odalia envisioned it, due to the Collector wanting to play Owl House; Again another sabotage by King!

It is worth noting that Adrian Graye, shortly beforehand, attempted to bind a lot of kids into the coven, including Odalia’s own children; He didn’t know about the genocide and with the coven heads always backstabbing each other, it tracks they don’t communicate with one another on their various operations.

Maybe Odalia passed off Adrian’s attempt because it ultimately failed (though he’s just the first illusionist messing with her plans), but she certainly rooted for his impending death now. And if Belos can make an exception to her, Alador, and Kikimora’s sigils, the same can be said for the kids right! Except Belos can’t make an exception to any sigil, not even his own; Maybe if he’d designed the bindings that way from the start, but of course he was adamant on no exceptions if they could be avoided, and couldn’t imagine anyone being able to place a sigil on him.

And with the Abomatons programmed to keep people from escaping, I can see how Belos had to explain it to Odalia and spin a lie, because she would’ve noticed that suspicious detail, because why would they escape. Why is there a contingency for that, why do you expect them to suddenly want to flee from ‘utopia’ once they see it…???? Alador voices a similar question just from observing and asking why there needs to be so much security in utopia. Who knows, maybe Odalia blackmailed Belos with this knowledge; Thus, the lie, which guaranteed continued shipments of Abomatons to the ritual. Appropriately, Kikimora is relegated to this, as someone in the same knowledgeable yet duped situation.

I’ll also add; In addition to everything else like payoff to Labyrinth Runners’ ending and whatnot, the Hexside subplot in For the Future could also have the benefit of giving proper context to Odalia’s motives and thought process, and thus the entire conflict in Clouds on the Horizon to begin with! And of course set up an Odalia confrontation in the Archives, with her being a much less successful Kikimora.

Again, broken record; But knowing we had a deleted scene with Odalia in the finale and apparently some manner of resolution with her (at the very least an Enemy of my Enemy situation), it really does drive me mad wondering what would’ve happened. The obvious answer is Amity capping off her arc one more time, but I wonder what else would’ve been revealed/clarified, if Odalia would’ve reflected, etc. I really need someone to ask the writers about this!!!!!!

At the very least, this theory makes Odalia seem a lot smarter, adaptable, and opportunistic, with her own agendas even Belos has to work around; Even if she’s still an idiot by the end of the day, like him. It’s a step up from being scared of his Golden Guard and helpless to the regime assimilating Odalia’s company, to Odalia taking advantage of this to guarantee her own survival, somewhat strongarming Belos for just a moment. And it technically works (in a way she didn’t expect), as giving Kikimora the Abomatron allowed her to fly off with Luz to the skull, which led to King following and working with Kikimora to stop the Day of Unity together, which saved Odalia’s life.

So her little investment in Kiki actually paid off there, and Belos using Blight Industries to guarantee the genocide goes as smoothly as possible actually screwed him over; Alador found out and helped bring the kids, particularly King, to the skull where the Collector was. Putting Odalia and Kikimora away in the same spot to prevent their interference led to both supplanting him, technically. Because in the end, Odalia is technically a victim of Belos too, as a child raised in his regime, who was at threat of being betrayed and murdered. So even the worst witches deserve their W here.

[annoyed-galaxy]

Arrival Aftermath

Mass Effect really said "give me your heart strings" with the Arrival DLC. There was a lot to unpack during it and Lyris Shepard needs immediate therapy. Just some small stuff I wanted to write because yes, angst and fluff.

Your galaxy is in sight. You final days are at hand.

I will die never having seen the Reapers’ blessing.

You’ve taken them away from me. I will never see the Reapers’ arrival.

You have become an annoyance Shepard.

Prepare for the Arrival.

The voices floated around in her head, in the mixer in her hand, in the oddly colored liquid that poured into her glass and down her throat. The stars sped past her as she drunkenly stared out of the view port. Each star she imagined getting brighter and brighter before consuming their systems in a massive explosion.

What the hell happened out there, Shepard?

Even as she had filled out the report while Chakwas examined her for any wounds, she really couldn’t have described what happened. God, what if she was going crazy? Was the countdown accurate? It had to be. The Collector General wouldn’t haven’t appeared otherwise if it wasn’t. The Alpha Relay had to be destroyed. Since the keepers at the Citadel had been reprogrammed to ignore the Reapers’ signal, the Alpha Relay was the closest choice they had.

But now it was gone. The Reapers wouldn’t be able to make it across the galaxy to consume the life they wanted through FTL. It would take them years. One star system destroyed to save trillions of lives. It was worth it. She could have warned the colonists within that system, but there were under two hours left when she activated the Project. There was no way three hundred thousand people could have evacuated in time.

Still...maybe she could have saved some of them. But they were batarians. They wouldn’t have been grateful for her help. She was human. They would’ve probably cursed at her, claiming she destroyed their homes for nothing. After all, literally no one else wanted to believe her about the Reapers except for those working with Cerberus.

Maybe they were all insane. Maybe Saren was manipulating them all.

Lyris shook her head and threw back another shot of the awful tasting, yet strong, liquor. She just committed mass murder. She has killed many people in her life, but never quite the way as destroying a mass relay and causing a supernova-like explosion. If Ashley was right and God did exist with Heaven and Hell, Lyris knew she had a one-way ticket straight to Hell.

The door to the port observatory opened as Lyris poured herself another shot. She could have sworn she asked Kasumi to give her some space. Maybe so much time had passed that Kasumi wanted her room back. But that wasn’t the case as Lyris saw in the corner of her eye a familiar shape grab one of the stools by the bar and place it next to her.

She had been with Garrus long enough to learn his turian facial expression of worry and concern. Shit, it felt like just an hour ago she was holding in a laugh at the obscene metaphor he had made. She felt something touch her leg and looked down to see his hand resting on her thigh. The guy must’ve done some research on human contact, that’s for sure.

Lyris didn’t say anything. How could she? She had committed mass murder for what may or may not have been a real invasion and possibly thrown her entire race into a war against the batarians. She had officially reached the status of a monster. Yet, Garrus was sitting next to her, staring at the stars, slowly caressing his thumb in comforting circles on her thigh.

Lyris downed another shot before offering the glass to him. “Want one? It’s dextro-DNA friendly.” She loved the way his mandibles lifted away from his face whenever he chuckled. Turian facial expressions were so interesting.

“I’m good. Someone has to stay sober to make sure you make it to the toilet when you throw up,” he replied. She could hear the joking tone in his voice layered with worry and concern. Probably more about her mental stability rather than physical injuries. Chakwas had cleared her of all those when she got back.

“Your loss,” Lyris shrugged and took another shot. The events of what happened at the asteroid hung over them like a thick cloud. A knife could cut through the unspoken tension between them. She sighed and then finally put her hand on top of his. “Look...I don’t want to talk about what happened,” she whispered, looking down at their hands. For someone with only two fingers, his hand was still bigger than hers.

“I know. I want to ask about it, but I figured it’s probably best to just...be here,” he replied, his dual-toned voice quiet.

She smiled a little bit. “You’ve been doing some research.”

He chuckled. “Humans have different emotional needs compared to turians.”

“That tells me you’ve been considering more than our little tiebreaker,” Lyris nudged him with her elbow.

He finally turned and looked at her. He wasn’t wearing his lens so both of his eyes were clear to her. Eyes, no matter the species they belonged to, spoke millions of words, expressed thousands of emotions. They truly were the window to the soul. This was especially true for Garrus whose eyes looked at her with such a fierce emotion, she couldn’t quite place her finger on it. “I told you before, you’re the only damn friend I have left. I care for you. I know that what you did was something you didn’t do lightly. Shit, we all know you’re not afraid to punch your way to an agreement but destroying an entire system? That’s not even on your level of extremes.”

She couldn’t tell if he was trying to be comforting or guilt tripping her. “Ouch,” was all she could say.

Garrus sighed and she felt his hand shift under hers and grab it. “I didn’t mean it like that, Shep. I just mean...you’ve been through hell. You’ve done a lot of things that most of us could never do. I’m just concerned if this was one of the final straws. I feel like you’ll break at any moment. Even before you died, when we were busy fighting Saren and the geth, I could tell you were dealing with some deep shit beforehand.” Garrus looked down at their hands. “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

She didn’t know whether she should cry or smile. Someone in this galaxy was looking out for her. She squeezed his hand. “I’ll be okay, Garrus. I promise. Just...stay by my side.”

His mandibles moved slightly in which she interpreted as a smile. “I can do that.”

She was not mentally stable at all. She knew that. But just having someone next to her, making sure she could still push on even after she dragged herself from hell...the future looked promising. If she died on this suicide mission, then so be it. But if she lived...she would have something to look forward to.

[deans-haunted-baby]

The Last Rites

*So, many fans including myself were unhappy with Adam Milligan and Michael’s exits out of Supernatural. This is my fix-it or at least my interpretation of what happened after 15x19 and 15x20. Enjoy!*

Summery: Chuck now human is a bitter bin collector and part-time serial killer stalking his latest victim. Little does he know that the dynamic human vessel/archangel duo Michael and Adam have been stalking him.  

"Damn that Sam and Dean and that little brat for making me human! But I'll get the last laugh," he says as he makes his rounds and choosing his latest victim. Plotting all the terrible things he plans on doing to the Winchesters. “I’ll get them all for this!”

As Chuck follows this person out to their car in the middle of the night, knife in hand. All off a sudden he hears wings flapping and turns around in horror. His eyes bug out when he sees a figure standing before him in the shadows.

"W-who's there?"  

Michael/Adam step out of the darkness wearing a "surprise-bitch" look on their face: "Hello...father" by the darkness of his ton Chuck knows his son hadn't forgotten the last time they saw each other. By that lakeside where he'd killed him for helping the Winchesters.

"No i-its impossible... You're dead I killed you. You should be in the Empty."

Michael hesitantly shakes his head. "Not anymore."

"How?"

"Let's just say I made bail thanks to my nephew and Castiel as they needed my assistance in Heaven's rehabilitation. And I humbly obliged."

"Castiel? He's alive too?! And you're working for them?! Why? That little brat took my power!" Chuck screams in anguish. "NO you both should be suffering in the Empty for all eternity!"

Michael/Adam looks at his hands flexing them into fists. Recalling the last second he drew breath being smited by his father. Regretting his decision to ever forsake his duty for humanity for his father. And his anger burns like acid.

"After what you did to me the last time we spoke...all I've cherished was this moment," the archangel Prince darkly replies. Adam's soul quietly astral-projected is in the background roots on his buddy. "Jack and Castiel offered me a chance to atone myself for wrongly choosing you over that which I’ve swore an oath to protect. That I could leave the Empty and reclaim my throne in Heaven if I stayed on Earth and helped the Winchesters clean up your mess."  

Chuck glares "So you're their bitchboy now? Ha, pathetic." He chortled in his throat. "I always knew you were weak, Michael. Being in that cage all those years with Sam and Dean's forgotten little bro has made you soft."

Michael's cheeks throb angrily. But he maintains his restraint. "Oh I'm not doing this for them," he reveals; stepping a little closer to his father. Shoulders squared. "Being stuck on Earth is also my punishment. But I've accepted it...I deserve my fate...just as you deserve yours right now."

Chuck then scrutinizes his son suspiciously. Looking from the archangel's fists to the face of his vessel Adam.

"What so you're like an archangel superhero now?" He can't contain a laugh. "Wow those Winchesters must be really desperate to resort to sending you here instead of facing me themselves."

Michael shook his head. "As I've already stated...I'm not here for them, he says. "The one called Dean, my original sword, has already fallen in battle and has inherited his place in my nephew's paradise. And his brother Sam sought out his other brother Adam, my chosen vessel. They've been working together ever since."

"And that's when Jack sent you."

“Yes."

"Dammit!,” Chuck swears this wasn't suppose to happen. If he killed a Winchester in his story the other brother left alive was suppose to take his own life in grief. No this couldn't be happening. They changed his ending AGAIN. "THIS WASN'T THE ENDING I PLANNED! I DIDN'T WRITE THIS!"

Michael cocks his head sideways; basking in his father's frustration. It was music to his ears. Then he's serious; raising his hand and forwarding his palm in a power-up.

"Your reign if tyranny is over father. You will not be scribing another's fate ever again. Not while I'm around."

At that Chuck's face is ghostly white. "Wait, what are you doing?" He puts up his hands submissively. "I'm human now, you can't just smite me. I'm part of the humanity that I created for you to protect!"

"Oh you don't have any rights here," growls the archangel sternly. "You gave up those privileges when you chose to use your newfound humanity to blindly murder others. Your arrogance and hatred for mankind was your own undoing. And now your death shall be your punishment, father."

Chuck trembling now resorts to begging for his son's mercy. "Michael, wait son we can talk about this." He showcases a nervous smile. "We can still make this right."

"No we can't." Michael scoffs. "The centuries of my allegiance to you have also perished. And I've wanted nothing more than to watch you beg forgiveness as you draw your last breath."

"Wait please show your father mercy, my son! Please!"

"Like the mercy you demonstrated to me that day by the lake shore?"

Chuck nodded still keeping his hands up. Okay so Michael was still pissed about that. "Fine you're right that was a mistake. I should've never hurt you like that. I was wrong and I see that now."

Michael's expression is smug, giving a mild throat chuckle. Then his cold expression shifts into anguish. "I hate myself for ever believing in you and turning my back on humanity. I will never be able to forgive myself for making that choice. For allowing you, Lucifer and my devotion to you to manipulate me from doing what was right."

"This doesn't have to get ugly Michael, we can still talk this out." Chuck begs. “Come on, what do ya say?”

"No we're done talking father." Michael's eyes glow like silvery blue light.

Chuck back peddles "Wait j-just give me another chance. I can prove to you I'll change I will."

Michael chuckles darkly, "Like the chance you were about to give that civilian you were following just now? Or the others you’ve murdered since?"

He eyes the knife in his father's hand. Suddenly Chuck realizes this and impulsively drops it onto the pavement.

"No, this isn’t what it looks like. I-I wasn't going to hurt anyone else. I swear!"

"You'll never learn will you father," Michael shrugs apathetically. "It's a shame. You were given a gift by your own flesh and blood and you've squandered it."  

"WAIT MICHAEL, PLEASE LET'S JUST TALK ABOUT THIS!"

No, no the archangel Prince was done talking. He'd said all he needed to say and with that throws Chuck's own last words to him right back in the short man's face.

"SAVE IT!" smiting him instantly on the spot. Blasting his father in a blinding light, erasing him from existence. When the dust settles Michael eases his tense shoulders releasing a sharp intake of breath.

Adam's projected soul then takes it upon himself to console his friend. Who is clearly bitter about destroying his own father even if he was an evil bastard.

"You did the right thing you know," the pre-med student/hunter in training reassures him. "Your dad would've killed that person if you hadn't intervened."

But Michael doesn't want to hear it. "I didn't do this for that person. I did it out of my own volition. I wanted my father to pay for what he'd done to me and my broken vow."

"It still doesn't change the fact that you saved someone tonight, Michael,” Adam insists. “And you proved that you can be better than Chuck ever was."

Michael frowns lowering his gaze to the ground melancholically.

"Or maybe I've just demonstrated that I am no better than him. I betrayed my sworn oath," the archangel squeezes his fist tightly. Putting all his anger into that hand. "And for that transgression alone I shall never be redeemed."

Adam recognizing the sadness in Michael's expression, throws his celestial pal a genuine smile, kneading his shoulder. "There's always redemption for all of us," he says gently. "I believe my brothers were capable of that, even if they never cared about me. Knowing you and even getting to know Sam has taught me so much more about myself, my family and what I'm meant to do with my life."

"What like being a hero?"

"Yah and it's kinda cool I get to kick some ass with an archangel."

"So, you want to honor your family. Despite what fate they'd left you to."

Adam shook his head. "Sam and Dean were far from perfect. I don't think I'll ever fully forgive them for what happened," he reveals. "BUT I think it changed me for the better. I got to become friends with Heavens MVP and I care about their cause now. They wanted to protect the world from evil and that's what I want to do. It's not about honoring the Winchester's legacy I want to do some good in this world. And you know what...I think you do too."

The archangel smiled to himself. "Well I did get some amusement out of watching my father squirm," He says lightly then adds. "Alright kid, you win. We shall continue our eternal quest for justice."

"Good, but we can continue that quest another night," the pre-med checks his wristwatch. "I gotta get some rest I have classes in the morning."

Michael scrutinized Adam. "You do know that you no longer require rest now that I've possessed this vessel or has that notion escaped you?"

“Oh yah I forgot," Adam laughs. "I guess I won't be needing sleep anytime soon then. Let's go home anyway I want to check out the bunker some more. Find any hidden passages or something."

"As you wish. I imagine your canine companion is also getting famished without us around to feed it."

A light bulb went off in his head. Right Sam and Dean's dog Miracle was in his care now. He loved that scruffy mutt even if he did drool a lot. Time to get home.  

"Miracle, okay we gotta get home stat!"

And with that Michael flew back to the bunker.

[magicmastered]

Plot Holes in Infinity War

If you don’t want to see criticism of Infinity War, I suggest that you don’t read/filter your tags/block me.

Now.

Avengers: Infinity War is one of Marvel’s biggest movies, being among the longest MCU movies and quite successful in the box office. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean it’s a great movie. The storyline that calls itself a plot is smashed together in whatever manner makes a few specific scenes happen. That style of writing has its trademarks—plots that could almost be used as cheesecloth. I’m not kidding; there’s tons of them. Some are within the movie. Some fly in the face of the rest of the MCU.

Here’s all the plot holes that I can think of. After the first couple scenes the chronological order gets messed up a little, but here goes.

1. Starting at the beginning here. So...Loki has the Tesseract. Why didn’t he use it to make a portal to get the Asgardian refugees out (or as many as he can, anyway)? We know he can use it. Why didn’t they just start a ship-chase to buy a little time and use that time to evacuate?

2. So, Loki knows Thanos, right? He’d know Thanos’ M.O. Wouldn’t he know that Thanos would go for Thor? Why not stuff Thor in his pocket dimension beforehand? Did Thanos and the Black Order block him from doing that? That’s not what I remember seeing. Loki was standing off sort of on his own at the very beginning of the scene.

3. Where has the Hulk been? Yes, “we have a Hulk” is a cool callback and it looks good as an entrance, but wouldn’t a Hulk be good to have when Thanos and the Black Order were slaughtering the Asgardian refugees? Why was he staying back the whole time? It doesn’t make sense. If he hadn’t been staying back, Thanos and co. would’ve known about him, and the surprise-attack wouldn’t have been a surprise. Was he just sitting on his butt listening to the refugees dying until he heard the words “we have a Hulk”?

4. Once Hulk does attack, Loki dives for Thor and drops the Tesseract. What. Why not just hold onto the Tesseract, grab Thor, and portal out of there? Wouldn’t that make more sense than dropping it for someone else (Ebony Maw) to pick up?

5. Heimdall. Why does Heimdall rescue the Hulk instead of Thor, Loki, or both? He’s known Hulk for maybe a day or two. He’s known Thor and Loki for over a thousand years. What’s going on with that? Why does he save the one he just met as opposed to the ones he’s known since their infancy?

6. More about Heimdall. Since when has he been able to summon the Bifrost? This is a major point of TDW. If Heimdall had been able to summon the Bifrost without the actual structure, Thor and co. wouldn’t have had to break Loki out of prison. How can he suddenly do it now? Why hasn’t he used it before?

7. Where did Loki go during the Hulk-vs-Thanos fight? He disappears after going for Thor for several minutes. Where to? I know people have brought this up before, but I want to know.

8. Why doesn’t he stay there? He’s stuck in a ship with five people who’ve just killed half the refugees his risked his life to rescue, who’d be more than happy to kill him (at best), and they’re more or less ignoring his presence where he currently is. Why go out and deliberately draw their attention?

9. Loki attacking Thanos at all. What is Loki doing?! He knows Thanos better than any other protagonist on that ship. He just saw Thanos beat Hulk one-on-one. Why does he think this is something he should do?!

10. More on that stupid, stupid attack. Loki’s got plenty of powers and abilities. Super-strength, durability, insane reflexes, freaky intelligence, combat skills, ice manipulation, illusions, invisibility, teleportation (this is canon, check out Thor: Heroes and Villains), shapeshifting, telekinesis, off the top of my head. I probably forgot something. Loki overpowered Odin. He has all this and likely more at his disposal, and he attacks Thanos with what? A knife. One knife that barely reaches Thanos’s throat.

11. Another thing about this attack. Considering the above, he probably knew he was going to die. So why did he do it? People say that he was sacrificing himself for Thor. Except...him dying wouldn’t have stopped Thanos at all. Thanos could’ve just killed Thor after Loki’s death. Loki dying or Loki being alive wouldn’t change a thing. And besides, Thanos all but did that anyway when he blew up the ship.

12. Thanos killing Loki. The Russos said that Thanos killed Loki for ‘disobedience’. Presumably this means Loki’s ‘disobedience’ in Avengers (2012). But...death is not what Thanos (or his underling the Other, rather) threatened Loki with for failure/disobedience. The threat was, “if you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon or crevice where he can’t find you. You think you know pain? He will make you long for something sweet as pain.” That is...not death. Definitely not what Thanos actually did.

13. Still more on Thanos killing Loki. Let’s look at the insane stuff Loki’s survived so far: falling into an unstable wormhole (in the prequel comics, Odin claims that this should have scattered Loki across the universe), a year of torture from Thanos, getting thrashed by the Hulk (who’s nearly as strong as Thanos), taking a sword through his chest and back, and getting knocked out of the Bifrost (note that Thor seems somewhat surprised with his “you’re alive!” in Ragnarok). And now apparently getting his neck broken is going to kill him.

14. Okay, finally done with the first scene. How did Heimdall know about the Sanctum? How did he know to send Bruce/Hulk there? How did he know about Strange? Thor and Loki didn’t know that Earth had wizards in Ragnarok. How does Heimdall know? Did they tell him? When? They’ve been pretty busy.

15. Dr. Strange keeps a list of threats, but he doesn’t know about Thanos. He doesn’t even seem to know that a threat so large exists. I suppose this could be a case of Thanos simply never having been to Earth, but it still seems off. Wouldn’t Strange at least know that there’s something huge out there? Given that the Masters of the Mystic Arts know about beings around the multiverse and all.

16. How does Bruce know so much about Thanos and the Infinity Stones, or that Thanos sent Loki? He knows what Thanos does. He knows that Thanos is after the Stones. How? No one tells him this stuff onscreen. Was there some mysterious conversation somewhere between Ragnarok and Infinity War where everyone shared all the information that they had? Wouldn’t they have been busy organizing the refugees in the ship/finding quarters for everyone/figuring out how to get food and water for the trip? You know, stuff that’d seem more immediately relevant?

17. How does Thor know that the Aether was on Knowhere? This is never discussed onscreen. I’m seriously suspecting that info-dump conversation. But still, why were they having an info-dump conversation? Wouldn’t the things mentioned in item 15 be more immediate concerns? It’s not like they all knew that they were about to need this information.

18. Thanos’s plan and “making sense”. No plot-hole list of IW would be complete without this. Thanos believes that there is too much life in the universe for its resources to sustain. For the sake of argument alone, I’ll assume that he’s correct for the duration of this point on the list. Thanos has decided that in order to save all life in the universe, he needs the Infinity Stones to “balance” the ratio of life to resources. Okay, that’s fairly logical. He can do anything with the Infinity Stones. Here comes the weird part. He decides that the only way to “balance” the universe is to kill half of all life...including (according to the Russos) plants and animals. AKA resources. Remember, he’s devoted decades at minimum to the development of this plan. And this is the best he can come up with. He’s got unlimited power. Couldn’t he use the Space and Reality Stones to move beings around to other planets with more resources? Couldn’t he use the Reality Stone to make more resources? No, gotta kill half the life he’s ‘trying to save’ and the resources they use as well. That doesn’t change the ratio at all. It doesn’t accomplish his stated goal.

19. Gamora. How does Gamora know what the Soul Stone is? The Collector had to explain Infinity Stones to her as well as the rest of the Guardians in GOTG Vol 1. So how would she know what the Soul Stone was, let alone where it was?

20. What exactly did Thanos do to the Zen-Whoberi (I think that’s how you spell Gamora’s species)? In IW, Thanos says that the remaining population of her planet is thriving. However, in GOTG Vol 1, it’s stated onscreen that Gamora’s the last of her species. Did Thanos kill all the Zen-Whoberi or half of them? If the latter, did the other half die off because—gasp!—his plan hadn’t worked on their planet? In that case, is Thanos just even more massively deluded than I previously thought, is he lying, or is it someone else who’s thriving on Gamora’s home-world?

21. How did Steve, Sam, and Nat wind up exactly where Wanda and Vision needed them to be? They’d moved quite a bit from their initial location during the fight with Proxima and Corvus. I know, I’m nitpicking, but still.

22. How does Nat, an unpowered but skilled human, manage to overpower Corvus Glaive, a member of the Black Order who’s presumably far stronger and also highly skilled? Yeah, she took him by surprise, but it shouldn’t have been easy at the very least.

23. Steve denying Vision the choice to sacrifice himself. As others have pointed out, Steve made a very similar decision back in CA:TFA. He chose to dive a plane into the ocean, which would—he thought—kill him, to save many lives. Now, Vision’s decided that Wanda should destroy the Mind Stone in his forehead, which would kill him, to save many more lives. Why is Steve denying Vision the ability to make the choice that he made himself? (Hint: It’s so they can have a cool-looking final battle to save Vision and then have him die anyway.)

24. Speaking of destroying the Mind Stone. Isn’t destroying Infinity Stones supposed to be impossible? This was another major point in TDW. Jane only came across the Aether (Reality Stone) in that movie because there was no way to destroy it and Bor had to settle for hiding it. Malekith gets the Aether because they still couldn’t destroy it. Infinity Stones are either indestructible or they’re not. Which is it?

25. “We don’t trade lives,” says Steve, right before he decides to trade hundreds if not thousands of Wakandan lives to save the life of his friend (who’d already decided that he wanted to sacrifice himself). Um, what?

26. T’Challa agreeing to risk his countrymen is iffy. He’s agreeing to send hundreds (if not thousands) or his people to their deaths to save one person with a lengthy, experimental procedure. And again, that one person has already voiced the opinion that they should just destroy the Mind Stone while they still can, whether it kills him or not. Wouldn’t T’Challa respect that decision, especially since it’s the one that saves the most lives?

27. When the Titan crew pins Thanos, why are they just trying to take the gauntlet off his hand? Tony at least has been in/witnessed (it’s been a while since I saw IM3) a fight that involved cutting off the villain’s hand. Wouldn’t he have thought of this during the planning stage? They could’ve stuck Thanos’ wrist through one of Dr. Strange’s portals and cut it off. No gauntlet, no snap.

28. How does Thor know to come to Wakanda? I get that he knows there are Infinity Stones on Earth. But last time he was on Earth, Vision was in New York, wasn’t he? How would he know that Vision was now in Wakanda? How would he know that the battle was there? Does Rocket have an Infinity Stone-sensing device? Why didn’t this come up?

29. Why did Thor go for Thanos’ chest? Thor generally goes for the head when he’s fighting. Except, of course, for this time. Why? Wouldn’t he want to make absolutely sure that Thanos was dead? (Besides so Thanos could win?)

30. If not the head, why didn’t Thor at least go for the gauntlet hand? In TDW his and Loki’s plan to deceive Malekith involved Loki pretending to cut Thor’s hand off so he couldn’t use his weapon. Wouldn’t Thor have some vague memory of the whole ‘if you remove your enemy’s weapon hand, they won’t be able to fight’ thing?

I guess it’s pretty obvious where I spent most of my time looking.

I’ve probably forgotten some, seeing as I watched this thing, what, one and a half times last year, when it came out and shortly afterwards. Any additions?

@lucianalight @lokiloveforever @philosopherking1887 @mastreworld

[somethingfoe]

You’re SPECIAL (FO4): Tacticians

This took some time as well, didn't it? Considerably longer than my Medics one, considering that I had that scheduled for release but got pulled back as a result of me moving out. Why? Well, Fallout 76 was as much of a fucking disasterpiece as I feared. It's barely even wearing the skin of the Fallout franchise as it tries to be some rust clone 3 to 5 years late on that bandwagon, with rehashed out assets from Fallout 4 with all kinds of dialogue interaction skimmed out for audiologs spitting out diatribes. It seems to me that Bethesda have rested on their laurels way too long to give Fallout the kind of treatment it deserves, and don't give me this bullshit that it's just merely a 'side' project and won't have any effect on future titles. Fallout 4 was basically them testing the waters of the settlement crafting system and attempting to skim down the dialogue options prevalent in previous titles, if Fallout 76 would've succeeded off it's own laziness, guaranteed that Elder Scrolls 6 would've had the same treatment as well as other future titles. Considering that not barely a month into release and Fallout 76 has been knicked off half it's retail price is probably a tell tale sign that Bethesda have fucked far beyond just making their typically buggy games, and that they seriously need to reevaluate their ethical decisions for the long run, because at this point, the fucking fans are making better games than they are. Fallout New California, a 6 year old mod based off of the working parts of Fallout New Vegas, just came out and is indefinitely superior in what Fallout is conventionally known for, save for the isometric view and turn-based combat. As a result of this disappointment, I found it really hard for me to continue on this You're SPECIAL series considering that that was primarily why I even wanted to make a 'FO4' version of it, but alas, I must continue with the ones I made prior. With that side note out of the way, here is the tacticians of the respective FOE and PH lores! I figure that I first cover the Main protagonist's companions across all boards before doing the side entries like Malevolent Relics and Main Antagonists, which means that the Odd One Outs (or Pets) will be the next entry on that. I'm not sure if I intend to slash their base SPECIAL attributes Like I did previous, maybe just lower their level cap a hair and see where I can skew some of the attributes too. With the nods in mind, the Xenith art was by :DevClutterCluster: and the Lacunae art was by :DevInLucidReverie:, and boy was the Lacunae art fucking hard to make work in this format, what with the huge flowing mane that I had to cut out but not too much to make it obvious. As with Saboteurs and Medics, This is taking into account a build that is at Level 65, with 12 perk points put into the actual Attributes themselves, pitting it at 40. If you're curious how I decided the Attributes, like with the others, the link for the original is right here https://www.deviantart.com/somethingguy912/art/You-re-SPECIAL-Xenith-VS-Lacunae-525076774 since I'm going to have to explain why I chose what perks. With that, here is the technical mumbo jumbo, as always.

STRENGTH

Strong Back <u>Xenith</u> :star: :star: :star: :star: - Seeing that Xenith lived all her life as a slaver, I'd imagine that her being forced to lug around huge items was a day to day part of her life. Not to mention how Xenith was capable of carrying Littlepip unconscious on her back after Littlepip's attempt to save both of them from captivity of Red Eye is a impressive feat on it's own. Armorer <u>Lacunae</u> :star: :star: - Seeing that Lacunae is not keen on either fiddling with guns or armorer, we are merely talking about the hypothetical armorer work in that Lacunae can project a 'bubble' around herself as a means of protection, what with being a Alicorn under manipulation by The Master of Maripony. Iron Fist <u>Xenith</u> :star: :star: :star: :star: - Xenith is the master of Fallen Caesar, a sort of close quarters combat brought down through the generations even beyond the apocalypses attempt to eradicate it, and with Xenith being a hard boiled gladiator for the mere spectacle of the other raiders, Xenith is not one to be tussled with in close proximity.

PERCEPTION

Refractor <u>Lacunae</u> :star: :star: :star: :star: - Borne of a weird radioactive experiment and being artificially made into a Alicorn, it only makes sense that being so attune with magic can make nearly resistant to any sort of plasma or energy weapons to the point that they might as well bounce off of her! The aforementioned protective bubble also helps to confirm this notion. Night Person <u>Xenith</u> :star: :star: :star: - Being thrown in a dark, dingy cage outside of having to fight in a dark, bloody arena would make one a bit more perceptive of the goings on during the night, so it makes sense that Xenith would have superior eyesight during those times. <u>Lacunae</u> :star: :star: - While Lacunae does sport some of that same ability as well, not to mention by her being previously a trained assassin post-apocalypse, Lacunae's innate ability to project light out from her horn in times of darkness gives her less of a edge when it comes to matters of the night. Still, having a weird connection to other Alicorns across the globe helps too. Demo Expert <u>Lacunae</u> :star: :star: - Lacunae is a big guns babe, and she likes all things big, from Miniguns to heavy grenade launchers, so Lacunae does sport some fascination with the big and loud and brutal, even if it makes her a sort of open target for ongoing attacks. Awareness <u>Xenith & Lacunae</u> :star: :star: - Both these lasses sport the same skill in awareness, with Xenith's more isolated nature helping to observe things around her, and Lacunae being a agent of misery for the Master's worst parts. You need the Nuka World DLC to get a 2 star in awareness, so if you don't have it, Xenith would get a one star in Pickpocket, whereas Lacunae would get Three stars in Demo Expert.

ENDURANCE

Adamantium Skeleton <u>Lacunae</u> :star: :star: :star: - Being irradiated with pure magic makes it quite difficult to knock down someone, and Lacunae has that in spades. Barely able to even get hurt, save for the perchance of getting a train dropped on you, Lacunae is completely numb to the idea of having limbs damaged. Rad Resistant <u>Lacunae</u> :star: :star: :star: :star: - Almost in comparison to resistance as Steelhooves is, perhaps being doused in radiation makes you almost nearly immune to it, to the point that it might beef you up too! Who'd funk that! maybe everyone should just dump in radiation...oh wait, it doesn't quite work THAT way! Chem Resistant <u>Lacunae & Xenith</u> :star: :star: - Again, both lasses are pretty resistant to chems, even if both don't really use it that much. Probably Xenith for Med-X what with her battle scars and slight trauma, and Lacunae's inherently somber nature needing some version of AntiDepressants? Lifegiver <u>Lacunae</u> :star: :star: - Being a large body Alicorn would tend to give you a bit more resilence, even if Lacunae doesn't really need the help. Her protective bubble, and her slightly regenerative radiation also gives her a bit more longevity than most. Lead Belly <u>Xenith</u> :star: :star: - Both hated as a Zebra and a outcast, Xenith has had to take the worst from others in order to survive, so I wouldn't be surprised if she's been able to tolerate some otherwise dirty water to keep going. Toughness <u>Xenith</u> :star: :star: :star: :star: :star: - Being beaten, bruised, raped, tortured, and splayed as a exotic attraction for the arena, Xenith can take the worst that anyone can bring upon her, assuming that it's not to the expense of her lost daughter. <u>Lacunae</u> :star: :star: - Lacunae can similarly take some beatings, but not nearly as much as Xenith has. Lacunae does have to endure with all of the negative feelings that the Master pumps into her, but not much more beyond that.

CHARISMA

Lone Wanderer <u>Lacunae</u> :star: :star: :star: :star: - Lacunae is absolutely isolated from everyone else, despite being tied with Unity and the other alicorns. Treated merely as the ugly duckling of the pack, and vilified on sight by anyone else, Lacunae is the very definition of a lone wolf. this requires the Far Harbor DLC, so if you don't have it, Lacunae will get a additional point into Cap Collector. <u>Xenith</u> :star: :star: :star: - Xenith is almost equally in measure to being isolated from everyone else, but unlike Lacunae, being a Alicorn, Xenith is not immediately killed on sight, so I guess she does get 'some' interaction, even if it is almost entirely abusive. Xenith could be considered a 'Haphephobe', which is being afraid of being touched by others, a trauma that Littlepip had to learn once she got to know her better. Lady Killer <u>Lacunae</u> :star: :star: - I know this might seem strange, given Lacunae's demured nature, but Lacunae does catch some eyes, like with Paladin Stronghoof, in spite of her Alicorn nature and personality. You could also say that Lacunae's more quiet nature does give her a bit of a allure to others as well. Cap Collector <u>Lacunae</u> :star: - In the most basic means, Lacunae can collect caps, if merely as a half measure. More interested in trying to lead Blackjack to the goddess more than anything, I merely put this in on account of Lacunae's desire to keep her black dress in check so others don't immediately recognize her as Alicorn.

INTELLIGENCE

Nuclear Physicist

<u>Lacunae</u> :star: :star: :star: - while Lacunae is not one to delve in using specifically energy weapons, Her innate alicorn abilities more than compensate for that and factor into her ability to use a multitude of abilities to either fire projectiles out of magic, or cast shields for herself and allies. Robotics Expert <u>Lacunae</u> :star: :star: - Seeing that Lacunae can master levitation with relative ease, she can inadvertently use enemy robots on her side by merely directing them towards another target for her own purpose. She can even use her own magic to literally shred robots to pieces, from the inside no less if need be! Chemist <u>Xenith</u> :star: :star: :star: - Supporting the stereotype that Zebras tend to delve in the alchemical, Xenith is one such, being able to brew unusual potions that help with wounds or other ailments if need be, even if it's a rare thing for her to do. Science! <u>Lacunae</u> :star: :star: :star: - Again, while Lacunae is not keen on using technology to win the battle, her intense knowledge stemming from her connection to the other Alicorns around her, and her fascination with heavier weapons gives her some desire to amp them up from their initial build. <u>Xenith</u> :star: - Another stereotype of Zebras is that they are technophobes, which I guess requires some idea as to how weapons and technology works to be afraid of them, so I guess Xenith gets merely a one for her paranoia of it. Scrapper <u>Xenith</u> :star: :star: - with the aforementioned technophobia, Xenith doesn't tend to let those weird do-hickys stay functional, vying to scrap them or strictly warn others of using them. Basically she is the bane of the philosophy behind the BoS. Gun Nut <u>Lacunae</u> :star: :star: :star: - While Lacunae isn't quite the aficionado when it comes to all things gunpowder, Lacunae still enjoys using the otherwise unwieldy weapons to great effect, like with the Anti-Material Rifle for example. Medic <u>Xenith</u> :star: :star: :star: - Xenith does surprisingly sport some knowledge of healing ailments, what with her being somewhat capable of deterring Killing Joke as well as her ability to use healing powder during her time as a slave to heal some grievous wounds. <u>Lacunae</u> :star: :star: - While Lacunae can indeed 'heal', so to speak, she really only can do it for herself. Other with her being able to levitate friends out of trouble, or give them a protective bubble, Lacunae cannot gift her friends her healing ability.

AGILITY

Blitz <u>Xenith</u> :star: :star: - Xenith is almost entirely melee based, so it makes sense that her prowess in Fallen Caeaser would require that she needs to close the distance with her enemies, thus giving her maxed out in Blitz. Ninja <u>Xenith</u> :star: :star: :star: - Xenith is quite a sneaky zebra if you give her the ability to get out of her cage, metaphorically or no. A lot of Zebras have a good knowledge of what amounts to Sun Tzu's the Art of War; covert attacks. Seeing that Xenith is equally melee based as Rampage is, it only makes sense that Xenith would want to quickly make that distance. Moving Target <u>Xenith</u> :star: :star: :star: - Continuing to be agile and fit as she is, Xenith got her recognition as a deadly fighter in the arena, being nearly untouchable as a result of her nimble ways. Action Boy <u>Xenith</u> :star: :star: - Xenith has to keep moving, goddammit! she's moving to avoid enemies, moving to close the distance, and moving to stay out of sight, she's got to have as much action points in order to win! Sneak <u>Xenith</u> :star: :star: :star: :star: - Xenith would more than likely prefer to hide than be seen by a crowd to be mocked at until she drove their face in the dirt. This also confirms the suspicions that Zebras adopted Sun Tzu's tactics of hit and run and subdue the enemy psychologically then moreso. Commando <u>Lacunae</u> :star: :star: :star: :star: :star: - Lacunae is a star when it comes to all weapons two handed, and seeing that Miniguns, Launchers and .50 Cal Sniper Rifles are ostensibly two handed, it only makes sense that Lacunae would have a fondness for them.

LUCK

Mysterious Stranger <u>Xenith</u> :star: - this might be a strange inclusion for me to put on here, but Xenith does have the help of her lost daughter later on to get the slight upper hand, as both are very good at sneaking and attacking when necessary. Bloody Mess<u>Lacunae</u> :star: :star: :star: - Lacunae can tend to get a little out of hand with her excitement of heavy weapons, often times literally making paste out of her enemies once Unity starts to control her moreso than other times.And that is it with the Tacticians! I have a photo run planned to do sometime tomorrow, as I have only one day off and I figure that I do one considering how long it's been since my last proper one! enjoy this for now!

[sepublic]

I think the Collector attacking King and the others over a misunderstanding actually works out, in hindsight of the finale. Because a paranoid Collector forcing King to choose between them, and Luz & Eda, caused King to choose the latter; And this led to the Collector recognizing they couldn’t figure out how to get what King has with Eda and Luz, which is why they listen to the LEK trio afterwards to find out how to make it happen.

Seeing the trio laugh together and bond even during the tribulations pushed the Collector to lower their guard, and essentially ask, and truly listen. Because they want to learn and are lonely and desperate enough to push aside their borders, and learn on someone else’s terms. That willingness to have honest, real conversations with real people, is supported by Luz’s photos (courtesy of the memory tweezers from last episode) beginning with her rejecting Adegast’s echo chamber, itself also consisting of puppets;

In other words, the Collector’s arc in the finale really does go back around to being about Luz’s growth (and a retrospective on our main trio’s journeys), and what allows Luz to accomplish her dream shortly afterwards, something also set up in the same episode as the Adegast memory; That’s what the finale to this show, her show is about! And the Titan is not the only watched who’s watched The Owl House in this meta way, now so has the Collector.

So the misunderstanding actually catalyzed the Collector’s development, rather than go against it. The immediate conflict led to the Collector realizing, perhaps more quickly than they otherwise would’ve, that there was something wrong in their dynamic with King that more adventures couldn’t just fix.

Plus, it’s not as if the conflict is resolved by just clarifying what King actually said —this is never even addressed and didn’t need to be— and at its core it’s just a misunderstanding; It’s also very much the Collector’s pride refusing to learn what King is telling them, or at least making painstaking progress because earlier in FtF, King DOES talk to them and they just brush him off. The way the two left off —even before the eavesdropping— still had a lot of work to go through.

So the resolution is about addressing the very real problems that King himself was still struggling with. It was resolved by discussing the issue with the Collector’s behavior in general and them listening, because that talk would’ve happened anyway. In the long run, the misunderstanding, also very much manipulation when you have Belos as a factor, amounted to the nightmare sequence and at least three games. Which isn’t much but it IS enough time to go possess a Titan’s corpse, alas.

But yeah, it’s not as if there was nothing wrong with the Collector and suddenly there was. There WAS a problem and the frustration was always something that could’ve motivated the Collector to lash out anyway, because they still hold power over King and might’ve decided they were tired of his games as they were Belos’, which they say as much too. How else could they be as susceptible to Belos’ manipulations if the Collector didn’t already have a latent, paranoid jealousy towards Luz, and interpret her return as a threat?