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gwydionae · 3 years

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So I have been trying to read the paper on the destruction of Asgard for days now, and I was hoping to get some input/theories on it. I first wanted to read it because I was curious if Loki actually knew the Hulk was involved in Ragnarok in some way after using him in his salad example (or if he just simply was thinking about getting back at Hulk for what happened in Avengers lol). But the whole thing ended up being more interesting than I thought it would be, and I wanted to share my thoughts and hear from anyone else who would like to share their own.

After much zooming and squinting, here is what it says (anything in [brackets] is my best guess based on font, word length, and sentence structure):

EVENT INQUIRY DESTRUCTION OF ASGARD EVENT DETAILS

Event Analysis: Ragnarok (Class Seven Apocalypse): Total planetary body deletion of (1) Asgard (file: IPB-ASG-001)

Casualties: 9,719 (Entire Civilization Annihilation) (file: IPB-ASG-010)

Time Status: Displaced by 000:000:002:162

Cause of Displacement: Codename: Revengers (IPB-SAK-324) (see case file: IPB-ASG-012) see case files: IPB-ASG-004, IPB-ASG-005, IPB-ASG-157, IPB-ASG-892

Event Summary: Full event analysis may be requested. Please see IPB-[TVA-452?]. IPB-ASG-001 fell 000:000:002:162 off [schedule in?] an attack by IPB-ASG-012. IPB-ASG-012 was one of four (4) [possibilities?] for the event [IPB-ASG-893?]. These alternatives can be found on Page 7 of the IPB-ASG-895. Cause of displacement of the event was due to IPB-SAK-324 (see: Revengers), but with the completion of the event, the time variance displacement has been [deemed?] inconsequential by IPB-TVA-001. IPB-ASG-012 of IPB-NIL-001's destruction of IPB-ASG-001 has been deemed in totality. IPB-ASG-895 will be the final file of the IPB-ASG sequence. All other files regarding the further events of the people of IPB-ASG-001 can be found in IPB-ARK-001 and onwards.

RELATIVE CASE FILES Planetary Body: IPB-ASG-001, IPB-NIL-001 Event Causes: IPB-ASG-004, IPB-ASG-005, IPB-ASG-010 Displacement Causes: IPB-ASG-004, IPB-ASG-005, IPB-ASG-157, IPB-ASG-892, IPB-SAK-324

(Further case files can be found in IPB-ASG-895)

(This gets very long... I’m sorry. XD)

First thing I want to touch on is all the dang CODES in this freaking thing, lol. Here is a (possible) full list of all of them:

IPB-ARK-001 IPB-ASG-001 IPB-ASG-004 IPB-ASG-005 IPB-ASG-010 IPB-ASG-012 IPB-ASG-157 IPB-ASG-892 [IPB-ASG-893?] IPB-ASG-895 IPB-NIL-001 IPB-SAK-324 IPB-TVA-001 [IPB-TVA-452?]

There are two we know for certain what they stand for:

IPB-ASG-001 = Asgard IPB-SAK-324 = Revengers

These are explicitly stated in the document. Knowing this, ASG seems to stand for “Asgard” and SAK would be “Sakaar”, which is where the Revengers were first formed. The other code letters used are ARK, NIL, and TVA. The last one is pretty obvious, and one could guess from context that ARK is likely referring to the Statesmen ship the Asgardians escaped on as it would be likened to an ark taking them to a new home and the fact that the letters have nothing to do with Tønsberg, Norway or New Asgard:

All other files regarding the further events of the people of IPB-ASG-001 can be found in IPB-ARK-001 and onwards.

Another possibility is it standing for “after Ragnarok”, but as ASG was referring to a physical place and not a time, it seems unlikely.

That would leave NIL. Let’s look at the context:

IPB-ASG-012 of IPB-NIL-001's destruction of IPB-ASG-001 has been deemed in totality.

IPB-NIL-001 seems to be another planet, one that IPB-ASG-012 is coming from. But this struck me as strange. The above sentence is talking about who is responsible for destroying Asgard, but the being in question has an ASG designation. Surtur is from Muspelheim, which not only doesn’t match the ASG code but doesn’t match NIL either. You could argue that Loki - who summoned Surtur - would fit ASG, but NIL doesn’t work for Jotunheim either.

Hela - who had long been banished to Niflheim - would, however, be a match on both counts. And to further bolster this theory, look at this line:

Cause of Displacement: Codename: Revengers (IPB-SAK-324) (see case file: IPB-ASG-012)

The Revengers formed because Thor and Valkyrie wanted revenge against Hela, so it would make sense that to get further backstory on the Revengers, you should go look up Hela’s case file. So by this logic, this document is listing Hela as the one who destroyed Asgard, not Surtur or Loki.

I find this very interesting. I was under the assumption that Thor, Loki, etc got all of the remaining survivors out, but the death total of 9,719 made me wonder if that wasn’t the case. However if these are deaths caused by Hela, it could be that she killed over 9,000 people before Loki summoned Surtur to destroy the planet, so my initial assumption could still be true.

As for other unknown codes, IPB-ASG-010 could be referring to either the population of Asgard as a whole or the prophecy of Ragnarok based on these lines:

Casualties: 9,719 (Entire Civilization Annihilation) (file: IPB-ASG-010)

Event Causes: IPB-ASG-004, IPB-ASG-005, IPB-ASG-010

The first use seems to lean towards the population but the second leans more towards the prophecy.

IPB-ASG-895 seems to point to Ragnarok in general as it’s own file as it is the last of the Asgardian files:

IPB-ASG-895 will be the final file of the IPB-ASG sequence.

And on top of that, the file we can read - pertaining specifically to the Hela side of the destruction - says to look through IPB-ASG-895 for further details:

(Further case files can be found in IPB-ASG-895)

And IPB-TVA-001 is pretty obviously either the Timekeepers or the TVA in general. So knowing/guessing all we do of the codes, let’s insert them into the file:

EVENT INQUIRY DESTRUCTION OF ASGARD EVENT DETAILS

Event Analysis: Ragnarok (Class Seven Apocalypse): Total planetary body deletion of (1) Asgard (file: Asgard, planet)

Casualties: 9,719 (Entire Civilization Annihilation) (file: Asgard, prophecy)

Time Status: Displaced by 000:000:002:162

Cause of Displacement: Codename: Revengers (see case file: Hela) see case files: IPB-ASG-004, IPB-ASG-005, IPB-ASG-157, IPB-ASG-892

Event Summary: Full event analysis may be requested. Please see IPB-[TVA-452?]. Asgard fell 000:000:002:162 off [schedule in?] an attack by Hela. Hela was one of four (4) [possibilities?] for the event [IPB-ASG-893?]. These alternatives can be found on Page 7 of the Ragnarok file. Cause of displacement of the event was due to the Revengers, but with the completion of the event, the time variance displacement has been [deemed?] inconsequential by the TVA. Hela of Niflheim's destruction of Asgard has been deemed in totality. Ragnarok will be the final file of the Asgard sequence. All other files regarding the further events of the people of Asgard can be found in the Statesmen files and onwards.

RELATIVE CASE FILES Planetary Body: Asgard, Niflheim Event Causes: IPB-ASG-004, IPB-ASG-005, Asgard, prophecy Displacement Causes: IPB-ASG-004, IPB-ASG-005, IPB-ASG-157, IPB-ASG-892, the Revengers

(Further case files can be found in the Ragnarok file)

---------------

There are still a few file codes we don’t know. I had initially wondered if these codes:

Cause of Displacement: Codename: Revengers (see case file: Hela) see case files: IPB-ASG-004, IPB-ASG-005, IPB-ASG-157, IPB-ASG-892

were meant to be for the members of the Revengers themselves (Thor, Valkyrie, Hulk, and Loki?), but Hulk isn’t Asgardian and therefore shouldn’t have an ASG designation, and Hela is #012, but she was born before Thor and Loki (who might actually have a Jotunheim code rather than an Asgardian code, come to think of it), so it’d be weird if they had lower numbers then she did. I suppose the #004 and #005 could be Odin and Frigga, but other than being Hela’s parents, I don’t see why their files would be listed under the cause of the event and displacement.

Which leads me to what the file is actually saying, which personally I find fascinating! But first off we have to address the elephant in the room:

The “Zero Variance Energy Detected” that is so prominent in close ups is not actually in the document. Obviously this was simply an oversight, and they didn’t want to redo the entire page, so for ease’s sake, we’ll just pretend it’s in there.

So, based on that, it’s easy to see how Loki came to his conclusions about the variant being able to hide in apocalypses as this file directly states that there WAS some amount of time displacement caused by the Revengers during Hela’s attack but that no energy variance was detected. But even more interesting is this line:

Hela was one of four (4) [possibilities?] for the event [IPB-ASG-893?]. These alternatives can be found on Page 7 of the Ragnarok file. Cause of displacement of the event was due to the Revengers, but with the completion of the event, the time variance displacement has been [deemed?] inconsequential by the TVA.

Hela was only one out of four different possibilities to destroy Asgard, so when Mobius says that “it’s more complicated than that” in response to Loki saying that a nexus event is caused by “someone doing something they’re not supposed to do”, he wasn’t kidding! I wonder what the four different possibilities were. Was Surtur considered one? Who else could possibly be in that position to not only cause the destruction of the planet but also have killed all those people? Just how much wiggle room is there in this Sacred Timeline?

And this wasn’t even the 100% “correct” version of events! Remember, the Revengers did something that either brought the event on quicker or caused it to happen later than the Timekeepers planned through their Sacred Timeline. Thor did say that Loki was “late” in showing up, so maybe this is a nod to that line from the film.

Anyway, it is getting quite late, and I have written a lot. I’m not entirely sure it all makes sense anymore, but I have been thinking about this a lot and wanted to put it out there in case anyone else had any differing ideas that made more sense, lol. If you made it this far, have a virtual high five! XD

(I’m just really loving this show so far, ok? lol)

#loki #mcu #marvel #mcu loki #marvel loki #spoilers #loki spoilers #loki series #loki series spoilers #loki disney+#heck i don't know what tags people are using lol #gwy writes a literal essay #although i supposed this is more of a research paper lol #...i have been obsessed with deciphering this page man #my sister is so annoyed with me right now XD #but there are so many fun little tidbits in it #shut up this is my idea of fun lol

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delyth88 · 3 years

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Loki series first reaction

So, yeah, spoilers.

*sits at her desk to type*

…

First things first, there was enough of the Loki I recognised to keep me engaged. I’m very relieved. Sure there were bits where I suddenly found myself fascinated with the set design for a moment, but overall there was enough Loki in there for me.

Things I liked:

They way they showed the dawning realisation that the TVA was beyond Loki’s ability to beat. It needed to be convincing, and I think they did a good job of it. They showed him attempting to escape, they showed him running out of options. They showed him going from cocky and sure of himself to lost and afraid. They never did this in Infinity War and that was one of the reason I had trouble accepting that scene. So I’m glad they bothered here. One of the benefits of TV over film I guess.

How disheartened he was to find those infinity stones stashed in the draw like used paperclips. I thought that was really well done. I think that was the moment that sold it to me as someone who knows Loki’s strengths that this might actually be beyond him.

The scene where he’s alone and watches his future play out. That they showed him caring for his mother, not just once with his initial reaction, but again, and deeply, when he comes back and plays through his alternate life.

His reaction to seeing his alternate life. I am sooooo glad they didn’t gloss over that or make it light-hearted. Or a joke. I think we as an audience (or at least the fans) needed to see that. I’m glad he didn’t turn away, or turn it off in anger, or otherwise reject it. I can’t fathom what it must be like to see your future, and see it play out LIKE THAT. And realise you’re at risk of death in your current situation and if you can work out how to return to your old timeline that you will die there too, and that this will be enforced. There is no chance to escape. No chance to change your future. I am haunted by his face.

And then the way in which he says “glorious purpose” afterwards. Ugh! My heart!

I think I enjoyed this scene on a personal level too – it reflects how I felt after seeing Infinity War and Endgame. So sad that all his actions seemed so futile, that after all his suffering and trying so, so hard, that he wasn’t even allowed some time to enjoy life before Thanos caught up with them.

I think they did a really good job of showing us a scenario in which Loki would appear willing to give up his connection with the world of TDW/Ragnarok/Infinity War. I was worried they’d just give some flimsy reason and for plot purposes Loki would agree, but this was satisfying enough for me. And I like his growing realisation and grief about having no place to go back to.

Despite my perceptions of Mobius based on the trailer material, I really appreciated how he was sympathetic at that moment.

I’m glad they addressed “but the Avengers were the time criminals” thing head on. Bit arbitrary, but I guess bringing back half of the population of the universe is probably a good enough reason. Lol

I also kinda liked how they described Loki’s purpose as bringing out the better parts of other people. Assigning him some purpose for the greater good, not just telling him he’s a useless waste of space. It might not be what he wants but he has worth all the same.

How young and hurt and vulnerable he looked sitting on the edge of the room with the tesseract in his hand.

Things I wasn’t so keen on:

So, yeah, there’s a lot of moments that are just a bit too different from the Loki I’m used to for me to be comfortable just yet, but I think as the series goes on I will adapt to it and notice them less and less. For example the cringey trying to do magic moment in the court. Not a fan. But it did remind me of the similar moment in Ragnarok when Thor mistimes with Mjolnir. So it was kinda helpful to me to be able to recall an instance where they did that joke with an outright hero.

I was disappointed that they seem to not want to mention Thanos or his influence. There was a perfect moment for him to bring it up, and for a while I thought that might have been what Mobius was angling at. But no. Though if I had to choose between Loki responding to his mother’s death or his time with Thanos then I’m glad they went with Frigga. I guess we can assume that if an Infinity Stone is powerless in the TVA then Loki is now out of Thanos’ reach, so perhaps he felt he could keep that one buried.

I wa a little disappointed that the DB Cooper thing was just a flashback – it was fun, and I enjoyed it, I just would have like to have seen more. And it means that the line mentioning Heimdall and his brother mean nothing, nor does the bifrost. I’m wondering now if the little flashes of Asgard are just flashbacks too. Though the Thor 1 outfit is against a different design of throne than the one actually in Thor 1, and I would assume if they were going for a flashback they would build it to look like the original, but maybe they just wanted to make something “new and fresh”. Ugh.

That damn graphic death scene! Again! Will we ever escape this!? Or will every future Loki-related show/article/advertisement include it? Is there some bizarre legal requirement to include it! :p So yeah, tw, they go there. Again.

And the little speech near the end where he was explaining that he doesn’t like hurting people and it’s all just a cover – that seemed a little too direct and open to me. But after everything he’s just seen, and realising he’s just lost his entire life, even if he’s still alive, I can accept he might feel he has nothing to lose, that it’s not worth hiding anything anymore.

Other thoughts:

I was interested in the Jetsons-style Multiverse 101 spiel – that there were multiple universes before and that they had been brought down to one. That’s not what I was expecting. That multiple universes were a bad thing. That’s puts a new light on Dr Strange and Multiverse of Madness.

They didn’t show the Your saviour is here! Scene? Will that come later? Or was that just for the trailers? They seem to have had quite a few moments that were different than in the trailers. Nothing big, but they chose different takes to go into the actual episode a few times.

Some of the reviewers had talked about a surprise twist at the end of the first episode. Ha! Was anyone actually surprised?

That scene where Loki has the tesseract in his hand in the office and nobody seems at all bothered by the person wandering around in a prisoner’s uniform without a collar in their workspace. That still seemed odd, and I can see why we thought there must have been something significant about it. But I guess that’s just showing us the downbeat disinterest of office work!

Interesting that most of the trailer material seems to have been taken from this episode. I hope that means we get to see a lot more outside the TVA.

I’m going to be watching this again on Saturday with a friend overseas so I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts after that. Well actually I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts while I brush my teeth and get ready for bed! Who am I kidding! :D

So overall, I’m relieved that this will be something I can find enough in to enjoy. I’m liking the scope that we’re seeing so far, and how they seem to be okay with the emotional stuff. This is definitely not Ragnarok again.

#spoilers #loki #loki series #loki series spoilers #loki spoilers #loki series review #my review #loki episode 1 #loki show

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assemble-revengers · 3 years

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Nexus Split

**Contains spoilers for Loki**

Pairing: Loki x Reader

Word Count: 2203

Prompt: “Why does it sound like you’re saying goodbye?”

Author’s Note: I woke up and chose violence today.

Time was hard to grasp before this whole mess began, but it at least had some structure regardless of how ethereal it seemed. There was structure and a time and place and you just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time so it seemed when you also made a move to snatch up the Tesseract the second you saw Loki move in New York. That’s how you got into this mess and honestly there were many things you had regretted initially. For instance, why couldn’t you have minded your own business?

Well, if you had you wouldn’t have had the opportunity to meet Loki, and at the moment? That felt worth more than anything. It hadn’t started that way -- the two of you were practically at each other’s throats and when you weren’t bickering between each other you were being confused by the politics of the TVA and time in general.

In a wild turn of events you became an unpaid intern all over again. You supposed it was better than dying or “being pruned”. You still were confused as ever by the lingo and even though you had tried your best to pay attention to the onboarding process, but frankly you were still wrapping your head around the prospect of the TVA in general. How had no one even considered this being a possibility? Where did these people come from? It seemed that it just...was? But if that was the case, why was there an onboarding process?

Miss Minutes was terrifying -- she was just so...eerie and popped up randomly and honestly you just wanted a nap. Or to wake up from this bizarre dream.

The worst part was the notion of running into other variants, namely the fact that a variant that had been targeting members of the TVA happened to be a Loki-variant.

“Wonderful,” you retorted, interrupting Mobius with disdain, “There’s another one of him.”

The aforementioned god was sitting across a table from you and you weren’t entirely sure how he was taking the whole thing. According to him, the tesseract was useless here. A paper weight. Another beyond weird thing that the TVA brought.

“We should team up,” a voice interrupted your spacing out and it took you a moment to realize that the voice belonged to Loki. And he was talking to you.

You blinked a few times incredulously, “You have been nothing but cruel to me since we met. Why would I ever help you?” Honestly, the audacity of men.

“I am sorry about that, by the way,” he answered, “I was going through something.”

You couldn’t help the laugh you let out, covering your mouth immediately to try to mute the sound and avoid any more attention. “Aw, that makes it all better.”

There was no reason to hide your sarcasm, and he knew that. You could tell from the way he blanched for a moment before resuming his composure, obviously trying to turn on some godly charm or something onto you, “I was. I truly am sorry.”

“Loki, you stole the Tesseract, tried to take over the world and brought a bunch of crazy alien things into New York City,” you listed, counting off the things on your fingers, “And now because you went after the stupid Tesseract again, with a room full of Avengers I might add, I cannot return to my life which wasn’t that impressive, but at this moment? I kind of miss it. So, no, I don’t accept your apology.” He was silent after that and you went back to your mind palace spiraling about the logistics of what was happening to you.

It was not a great day for you. Week? Hour? Time was weird. It was even more weird when you were suddenly having to do research into the Loki-variant-assassin. Going through files and files of different instances in time was tedious. It was interesting in that some of the things had already happened, were going to happen, and were happening in places you had never even heard of. It was during this that you and Loki had begun to work more collaboratively.

In fact, the moment you guys had made the connection that it was apocalypses? You taught the god of mischief the importance of a high five. Or rather, never leaving someone hanging because you chased him down, yelling at him until he returned the high five before you even allowed him to present your findings to Mobius. The bond continued when you both were treated like unhinged criminals or starved, ravenous animals by pretty much everyone other than Mobius who was...friendly as ever.

You did not have a lot of options in terms of trust. While Mobius seemed genuine, there was no way you could possibly know. The issue was that the only thing that was any level of normal in your eyes was Loki which was...laughable, but he was from your timeline. The two of you were in this together sort of because at this point you wanted to go home and it seemed he did too after the whole semantics of this whole thing. Or maybe he wanted to take over the TVA. Regardless, it gave you some hope that he might be kind and put you into your timeline where you belong.

The feelings came out of nowhere. In fact, you hadn’t even realized it happened until there was a chance for you both to chase after the Loki-variant (or Sylvie as you would learn later) and before Loki went through the portal, he reached a hand out for you, Mobius yelling and you found your feet moving on their own accord, turning to mouth ‘Sorry’ to Mobius before grabbing Loki’s hand and rushing through the portal.

Sylvie was interesting and endearing and was someone you instantly found yourself drawn to. You felt sympathetic to her story, and maybe that was dangerous. Dangerous, but gave you another sliver of hope despite the fact things were bleak. Very bleak. Being on Lamentis-1 about to explode and everyone die bleak. Despite this, the two of you sat and chatted in your booth at the bar while Loki got absolutely hammered and even began to softly serenade you in what you assumed was Asgardian (this was after he sung to the whole room) and you found yourself pulling him back down to the chairs and pulling him into a hug while you laughed.

“Loki, I have no idea what you’re saying,” you giggled, pulling away from him, “But I think you’ve had enough.”

“Darling, I think I’m just getting started,” he answered with the smoothness of butter on a hot pancake. You couldn’t help the burning of your ears and the rest of the blush that began to dance across your features. Sylvie coughed. Moment interrupted (Thankfully? You don’t know). Back to the business of the world ending and no way out. Maybe that’s what let all of you decide to unload tales of the past. Yours was boring and...uneventful comparatively which led you to remain relatively quiet as both Loki and Sylvie talked.

Hearing all of Sylvie’s plight and what brought her to that moment had both you and Loki feeling empathetic. You felt anger that this whole this was allowed and deemed ‘okay’ by the TVA. An entity that really had no checks and balances as far as you could see. You pretended to ignore Sylvie and Loki bonding. You felt your stomach tighten. Envy was ugly and green really was never your color.

But that triggered the TVA rolling up and taking the three of you back. You weren’t sure what you were expecting. You weren’t expecting yourself to start fighting. Your restraints, the situation, the fact you were separated from Sylvie and more importantly Loki. You were utterly alone in your cell, screaming for them to let you out. The person interrogating you entered, tried asking you questions that you just couldn’t hear. Your head was swimming and it was almost as if you were hearing things like you were underwater. Fight or flight and apparently your entire being chose to fight.

Per someone’s orders you were moved, you lit up the moment you saw Loki and soon you were joined by Sylvie. Your restraints were removed and your eyes began watering as you rushed to Loki’s side, grabbing his hand as he gave yours a reassuring squeeze, moving so that he was shielding you from the front. The next thing you knew and before you had a moment to process, Mobius was pruned in front of you and Loki moved to shield you further.

Surprisingly, you were not entirely useless in the fight that ensued, but couldn’t help but feel entirely out of your element. The closest you had ever been to being in a fight in the past was when you were five and some girl stole your crayons and had the nerve to try to eat them.

Your adrenaline was pumping when you turned to Loki a feeling like being shocked by a plug while also being burned by a pan that had been on the stove. You were confused, Loki was yelling something. You couldn’t hear. You reach for him, desperate to calm him down or maybe it was because you subconsciously knew what was happening and you were terrified. The hot, electric feeling spread across your body before what felt like you were dropped in ice cold water and suddenly...your eyes blinked awake. You weren’t at the TVA.

Instead, you found yourself on the run (you hated yourself for missing out on all that gym time because your cardio could use some work) from a cloud that ate things. You would learn that you were in The Void, the evil vacuum of the cloud was called Alioth, and that there were even more Loki variants. One was an alligator. He was your favorite.

Your Loki also turned up and you practically threw yourself into his arms in relief, “I thought I lost you, you idiot.”

“I could say the same to you, pet,” he responded, murmuring into the crook of your shoulder. Reunions had to be cut short after you introduced the other variants, (“And this Loki is an alligator! How cool is that! He’s my favorite of all of you, no offense.”) and now you were seeking shelter to hide from Alioth and...well survive you supposed.

President Loki and the other Lokis were...a lot. In fact, there were so many Lokis that you were beginning to get a tension headache trying to keep up with everything that was going on. Some of them seemed to recognize you, including President Loki that informed you that you were late and with the wrong people (“No? I don’t even know who you are?” “You will.”)

Reuniting with Sylvie and Mobius brought even more relief. Sylvie seemed to think she could enchant the Alioth. You protested quite a bit before she was able to convince you otherwise. There was a way out. You had a chance to go back to the TVA and sort things with Mobius. Maybe go back to where you belong. Maybe stay. You weren’t sure, but it seemed Loki, your-Loki was hesitating.

Mobius was opening the portal behind you to the TVA. You stood with your hand firmly within Loki’s, fingers interlaced as you bid Sylvie a small, quiet ‘good luck, you’ve got this’. You and Loki were right by the portal, a sliver from stepping in before Loki stops, pulling you so that you two were facing each other, your back to the portal.

“What’s wrong?” you ask concerned.

“I’m staying,” Loki affirms, “To help Sylvie, to...do this.”

“Okay,” you lament. You were staying too. You tried to move to leave the portal Loki gave Mobius a heartfelt hug, which ended up being a group hug since Loki wouldn’t let go of you. In fact, as soon as Mobius was released from the hug, you were engulfed into Loki’s arms where you practically melted. The hug ended far too soon, but Loki didn’t release you, holding your face in his hands as he pressed his forehead to yours. It made your heart warm and peace washed over you.

“Loki…” you sigh, feeling an entire lifetime of emotions flooding your system, “I…”

“Shh,” he cuts you off, “I know. I feel the same...but I can’t bear to hear it.”

“Why does it sound like you’re saying goodbye?” You inquire, voice cracking. You felt frozen in place as panic began to bubble up under your skin.

“Because you’re not staying with me,” he murmurs weakly, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead, “I love you, Y/N. Remember that, please.”

Before you could respond, you were shoved by a great force. You couldn’t even react as your grip was easily broken, your sense of balance knocked out from under you. Mobius had already stepped through the portal...surely it wasn’t still up? You landed on the ground, having been knocked off your feet, but you were no longer in the void.

You felt your heart shattering. You couldn’t even cry. He was gone.

#loki x you #mcu loki #loki x reader #loki x y/n #mcu x you #mcu imagine #mcu x reader

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messrmoonyy · 3 years

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35 for sylki on that touching list. Please

Ah, another prompt I tell myself I’ll keep short then go off on a tangent for that is you squintttt you’ll see the prompt lmao. Anywho. Enjoy my sweet anon.

I’m gonna start posting these requests to my AO3 too if you prefer to read there!

Prompt from this list

Prompt: kissing their bruises and scars

Pairing: Loki Laufeyson x Sylvie Laufeydottir

Warnings: mentions of injury, mild language

Check my masterlist for all my other writing, requests are always open for prompts from lists or not!

Finding Sylvie again had been just as difficult as Loki had imagined. She’d spent her entire life hiding from people and only letting them find her when she needed them for something. And amongst the madness of new timelines popping up by the second…. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. But Loki had been determined. In fact it had been his one and only point of negotiation when Stephen Strange had caught up to him, agreeing to work with him and fix the mess… only if they could locate Sylvie first.

He wasn’t sure she’d even want to see him. She’d cast him through a time door after all. But he believed he understood her reasons, her motives. She had spent her entire life looking for the man behind the mask, the person in charge of the TVA, the reason she’d been plucked out of Asgard all those years ago. And she’d finally found him. There was no way she was going to simply walk away from that. So he kept looking for her, determined to find her and hoping his thoughts were correct.

Though she didn’t seem to want to be found. Every trail they found ran cold, but there was always a little something that made Loki know she’d been there. So maybe, just maybe, she was waiting for him after all. Leaving him clues but needing to keep moving. Situations on some timelines were getting rough and he found his fear peak everytime he found a trace of her, wondering if she was hurt. She had survived in apocalypses, he knew she could take care of herself. But this was something else.

Loki felt himself almost waiting for Stephen to tell him they weren’t going to look any longer, that clearly she had fled and wasn’t planning on coming back. But he held up his end of the bargain and Loki helped him regain order on some of the timelines they came across, looking for Sylvie in the process.

Though as time went on and Loki lost track of the amount of timelines they had crossed, he could feel his hope beginning to slip. Only still going forward on pure stubbornness alone. Stubbornness to not want to lose someone he loved again. He’d lost everyone he loved up until this point. Frigga was dead. Thor believed him to be dead. Mobius didn’t even know who he was anymore. He had no friends. No family. Just her. Just Sylvie. His Sylvie. So he would remain stubborn and keep searching for her.

And stubbornness clearly payed out.

“ as far as I can tell there’s no Kang variant here. We should be safe for now. But don’t get too comfortable “ Loki looked around the planet they had arrived on. He got the strangest sense of de Ja vu as he looked at the small village in front of him “ this planet seems peaceful enough but nothings usually peaceful for long anymore “

“ where are we may I ask? “

“ planet called… Lamentis-1. It’s completely wiped from existence in a few hundred years time. That’s probably why Kang had no use for it and left it alone “ Loki wanted to laugh to himself, of all the planets. All the timelines. They had to end up there.

“ she won’t be here “ he was still balancing on the knifes edge of wondering if whether or not she hated him or not. And if she did, she wouldn’t go back to Lamentis. The place their connection was established. The place he felt that shift in his chest by the lake. Had she felt that too? Had her heart dropped deep into the pit of her stomach as she sat there holding his hand, looking at him as if he were put on the earth solely for her? had she felt that too?

Or had he simply over reacted about the entire thing, his purely desperate need for affection simply clawing it’s way out in the fear of his impending demise?

“ well we’re here. So. Let’s look around I’m not wasting my time “ Loki gave a nod and followed him through the village. He remembered passing through there with her, but it had been deserted before. The neon sign he had ‘foolishly’ suggested she tried to charge the tempad with, was glowing brightly by the side of the road. It made his head hurt and he turned away, suddenly feeling too bright for his eyes, instead looking at the people that didn’t know their planet would be nonexistent in a few hundred years. At least those on it now would be long dead by then.

“ why did you think she wouldn’t be here? “ Stephen asked as he dodged a man carrying a large stack of boxes of some exotic looking fruit. Loki hesitated for a moment and shoved his hands into his pockets.

“ I er- we. We have been here before. Myself and Sylvie “ Stephen glanced over at him as if silently probing for more information “ when I first met her… we escaped the TVA and I accidentally brought us here. Right on the day the aforementioned ‘wiping from existence’ happened to be in full swing. We were very nearly wiped out with it “ if he thought hard enough he could remember every moment of that day. Right down to the smell of the ash that filled his nose, the feel of the soft seats on the train, Sylvies fingers on his neck in her attempt to enchant him.

He shook his head slightly to free himself from the thoughts.

“ our… ‘ connection’ was first established here. It created a rapid branch on the timeline. The TVA showed up right before a chunk of rock could take us down “ Stephen hummed slightly in understanding and then came to a stop.

“ then you might have an idea of where she would go if she were here? “ the lake. His head told him immediately though he knew it was stupid. She might still hate him, why would she go back to such a place? But… he guessed it was worth a try.

After telling Stephen his hunch they stepped through one of his portals, much more simple than the previous trek he and Sylvie had made across the planet.

He stepped out of the glowing ring, coming to an immediate halt. Partially because the lake looked a lot more beautiful when it wasn’t being destroyed by parts of a planet. But mainly because there was a woman stood there at the edge of the water. He knew it was her simply by her hair and the same black leather outfit she’d had when he last saw her. Even if it was a little more ragged looking now.

“ Sylvie “ he practically gasped her name, shock and relief washing over him at the thought he’d finally found her. The woman froze stiff for a moment before turning around quickly, arm outstretched with a sword pointed towards him. Her face was bruised, her lip split in one corner, blood dried around her nose and a gash through her eyebrow. She looked a mess quite frankly.

But it was her. It was her. Sylvie. No mistaking. Even under the purple of her bruises. He’d not forget a face like hers, he’d been dreaming of it for.. how long had it even been since he’d last seen her? He wasn’t sure.

“ Sylvie “ he tried again, more confident and strong than before “ I’m not going to hurt you. It’s okay “ her eyes were wild, filled with confusion and fear and she didn’t drop her sword “ Sylvie “

“ How do you know my name? “ her voice was the same, If a little hoarse. Exhausted. How long had it been since she’d slept properly? Drank? Ate? He wanted to scoop her into his arms and take her back to the sanctum sanctorum, protect her from what ever had caused her harm.

“ you told me it yourself. Right here on this planet, granted it was a few hundred years ahead of now. It’s me, truly “ he racked his brains for a few moments to think of some way to prove it to her then remembered what was in his pocket. He carried it around with him everywhere just in case he finally found her. His TVA tie. She’d only ever known him in his increasingly grubby TVA uniform. So he assumed it was a good place to jog her memory of him.

He raised his hands in a surrender, the tie in his hand, before taking a few more steps closer.

“ close enough “ she grumbled when he was close enough to be only a few centimetres from the end of her outstretched sword.

“ alright. I understand “ he lowered his hand slowly and draped the tie over her sword. She took a sharp in take of breath at the sight of it, holding it in her hand and looking as if she might cry “ I’ve been looking for you. For a long. Long time “

“ why “

“ because I- “ he cut himself off with a short sigh, deciding now was not the time for him to be making deep proclamations of his love for her. Not when she had a sword pointed at him “ I wanted to make sure you were okay “ he opted for instead.

“ I sent you away “ she said, her eyes darting up to meet his. Clearly she didn’t believe him.

“ to the TVA. A place you believed me to me safe, back to my friend “ he wasn’t sure if he was totally believing that himself as he said it, more so using it as a way to see if that was truly what she’d done. Or if she had just pushed him across space and time to get him out of her way. Kissed him as a mere distraction.

“ but you’re not safe. You’re here “ he nodded again and chanced another tentative step towards her.

“ things are a little… complicated. But we have a safe place. So just come with me, you’ll be safe now Sylvie. Stephen- “ he nodded backwards to where he was still stood observing the two of them “ - is helping us fix our mess “

“ our? “ she croaked, her eyes welling up. It was breaking his heart to look at her in such a distraught manner.

“ yes. Our “ she dropped her sword then and fell into his arms, clutching at him as if he were a lifeline. And he guessed, from the looks of her, he probably was. He held her back just as tightly, trying his best to voice to her that she was safe now. She was home now.

“ we should get back “ Stephens voice attempted to break their moment but Loki refused to let her out of his grasp. He placed a kiss to the top of her head and then shuffled around her slightly so that his arm was tightly around her back, never letting any points of contact drop. To his mild surprise she let him help her walk through the portal, leaning into him slightly and trying and failing to hide a limp in her leg. He’d almost expected her to bark her orders that she could very much walk on her own. But she didn’t.

If fact she was quite quiet after that. Not speaking a word as Loki explained where they were now and that it was safe, talking to her like one would talk to a scared child. He felt as if that was what she’d needed. He didn’t expect she’d had much comfort in her life and he was more than happy to offer it to her now. She didn’t protest when he suggested they get her cleaned up, or when they did just that and she fumbled with the buckles of her leathers and he silently went over to help her. She looked even smaller and afraid without her armour, just the torn undershirt and her trousers.

She was still uncharacteristically quiet as he went to work cleaning her wounds. Sitting her down on the edge of his bed and wiping away the dust and debris of wherever it was she had been. She was Asgardian after all and had her own magic flowing through her veins, so most of her smaller wounds had already began to heal themselves. Though he found a few that were a little worse and silently patched her up.

“ I’m sorry “ she said as Loki finished up, so quietly he wasn’t even sure he’d heard her correctly at first “ I’m so. So sorry Loki “ he looked up at her to see her eyes already on him, tears spilling down her cheeks. Loki reached out for her, his hand cusping her cheek, his thumb brushing away the tears.

“ what happened to you “ was all he said, still shocked by how much weaker she seemed. So vulnerable. So afraid “ Darling, tell me “ the name fell past his lips before he could stop it, but she simply leaned into his touch more at the name. She was simply as starved for affection as himself.

“ a lot “ she said with a sniffle, closing her eyes and letting out a shaky sigh “ a whole lot of shit” Loki waited for her to continue, getting her to open up wasn’t a particularly easy thing he’d learnt. So he wasn’t about to try and push and break what he’d seemed to be building on now with her “ after I killed him. I thought. I thought I’d feel brilliant. I’d have some magical awakening and feel like I’d finally accomplished what I had to. Some relief. And I did. For the briefest second then I just…. Nothing. Just pure regret and remorse, hit me so hard I felt sick with it “

Her hand came up over his in her cheek, pulling it down into her lap and holding it tightly. He’d noticed she had thing for holding his hand. He wasn’t exactly against it himself, he wanted to contact as much as she did. Needed the contact as much as she did. If he focussed enough he could sense the magic thrumming below her fingertips, he’d always been able to sense magic. But it felt stronger with her.

“ I ran then “ she continued after a few more moments of silence “ only thing I’m good at. I wanted to look for you. Kinda missed having you being a total arse by my side “ he smiled at that, knowing she had missed him too. It hadn’t just been him pining for her after all “ but the timelines…. It’s mental out there now. People trying to take over and growing more powerful everyday…. Plenty of you out there you know. Right evil bastards some of them “

“ they did this to you? “ he questioned. She shrugged. That was a yes then.

“ some of them. Not all as smart as you’d think. Ran rings round them “ she looked up at him then instead of their intertwined hands “ I didn’t think you’d want to find me again… or if you did you’d just want to kill me. Get me back for what I did “

“ I could never. You had your reasons. I understand “ she seemed to hesitate for a moment before her free hand reached up, her fingers gently grazing over his cheek and his jaw.

“ I missed you, you know “ she said softly “ you absolute arse “ he chuckled slightly and his smile grew when one tugged at her own lips.

He couldnt help but think how beautiful she looked, even with the bruises and scrapes littering her skin.

“ you’re staring “ she commented quietly, her fingers creeping closer towards the nape of his neck and toying with the curls of his hair.

“ I am “

“ narcissist “ she teased, clearly returning back to herself again. He preferred it.

“ maybe “ just looking at her was making his chest tighten. He wondered if his past self would have been quite annoyed at him turning to mush about a woman, found the whole thing funny. But he found that he didn’t even care now. Because hisself that lived on the sacred timeline had a different purpose. A different glorious purpose. But his? It was her

“ what are you thinking about? “ she asked quietly and he struggled to find the words to tell her. He’d never been the best at voicing his emotions. Especially something like this.

“ I- Sylvie- “ he cut himself off with a frustrated sigh and she raised an eyebrow at him before pressing gently to the back of his neck, the faint prickle of magic on his skin. He looked at her and understand what she was asking. And for the first time he didn’t block her as she dipped into his mind, let down the walls he used to keep her out and let her swim around through his thoughts. She closed her eyes, focussing on the clearly difficult task of scrambling around inside of his mind. He tried to keep his mind as clear as possible, the one and only simple thought of I love you floating around on the top. And a minute or so later her eyes snapped open again.

She looked at him as if trying to figure out if he was joking or not. There was a moment of silence between them before her fingers at the back of his neck applied pressure again, this time tugging him into her just as suddenly as she had done the first time. All that time ago back in the Citadel.

He’d wanted to be the one to kiss her the second time though he wasn’t complaining. But when she began to pull away he pulled her right back in again, revelling in the way she almost melted against him. She was still tugging at his hair in a way that was almost painful, but it was all very… Sylvie. So he didn’t even mind. His hands were cautious on her, in the way they always had been. Always careful not to touch her unless she wanted him to.

He pulled back from her lips slowly, trying to savour every last millisecond. Then found his lips moving to brush over the purple bruises that were littered across her face, the cut that sliced her brow, following the landscape of injury over her pale features and down her neck. He finished with a lingering kiss to a fresh scar on her shoulder, having touched every mark of hurt and hatred he could see with love. Every angry moment replaced with a tender one, shifting slightly then so his forehead rest against her shoulder.

She turned her head to the side, nuzzling her nose into his hair, her hand sliding up to cusp the back of his neck again and hold him in place. Neither of them spoke for a few moments longer, not really needing to. Just holding each other, being thankful to finally be back by the others side.

He lifted his head after a few minutes pressing his forehead to hers instead, his thumb brushing across her tear stained cheek.

“ I promise you, with all my heart, that I won’t let anyone hurt you again “

#messrmoonyy writes #I wasn’t going to post today because I was in suu a down mood bc of Helen. but writing makes me happy so. yeah #Loki tv #Loki #loki laufeyson #sylvie laufeydottir #sylki #sylki fanfic #loki x sylvie #marvel #mcu #one shot #pro sylki

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agoldengalaxy · 3 years

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Paradox

read on Ao3

Croki sniffed the faded horns, whimpering softly. And Kid Loki exhaled shakily, sitting down fully in the dirt, holding the horns in his lap. One hand stayed atop them, the other coming to rest on Croki’s head. “He isn’t coming back,” he murmured bitterly, staring up at the remains of Alioth, swallowing the lump in his throat. “He’s gone.”

or, Kid Loki deals with the aftermath of episode 5.

The old Loki never returned. Despite the old man’s blatant fear of Alioth, refusing to get anywhere near it for the few years they lived in the Void, the monster was what had got him in the end. He had found his ‘glorious purpose’...and he’d left Kid Loki alone.

Footsteps crunched the dead, dried grass below as Kid Loki stared ahead. Croki bumbled along beside him, sniffing the air. Some rubble was still left behind from the fight, but the giant structures that the old man had created were in ruin, just like the real Asgard. It hurt to look at. To know the older Loki would never return, and neither would many of the other Lokis.

He turned his gaze toward where the beast had once resided, its purple now reduced to a dazzling green and parted to the side, billowing quietly, almost as if it were asleep. Or dead, he thought bitterly, wishing it had been so. The older version of himself and Sylvie both had ventured beyond Alioth. Perhaps they would be returning soon with answers…or perhaps not. Whoever was in charge of the TVA would no doubt be a tough adversary. Despite himself, he hoped that they would get through this okay.

His foot kicked something, and he stopped to look down at it. Surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, it was a pair of old horns. Some of the gold was chipping, and it was covered in a thin layer of dirt, but he recognized them. Each Loki’s horns looked different, and he’d seen these almost every day for a long time. Slowly, he crouched beside them, trying to ignore the burning in his eyes and the lump in his throat. He took them gently in both hands, swiping his thumb across the middle to wipe some dirt away.

“That old fool,” he whispered, staring at his own reflection in the gold. The breeze whipped at his hair, and he hated how broken he looked. He almost looked just like a regular child, but he wasn’t a regular child, not by a long shot. Regular children didn’t accidentally kill their brothers. Regular children didn’t have to depend solely on themselves for survival.

Although, he supposed he hadn’t really been on his own since he came to the Void. Not really. The old man had respected him from the beginning. They had come to some sort of understanding: Lokis didn’t trust, but they could get some mutual benefit by working together to survive, so they did. But somewhere along the way, the boy had begun to think of the old man as a friend. He figured he was the one sane Loki left (that wasn’t a crocodile). He was his only friend, and now he was gone.

Croki sniffed the horns, whimpering softly. And Loki exhaled shakily, sitting down fully in the dirt, holding the horns in his lap. One hand stayed atop them, the other coming to rest on Croki’s head. “He isn’t coming back,” he murmured bitterly, staring up at the remains of Alioth, swallowing the lump in his throat. “He’s gone.”

Lokis were always meant to end up alone. He knew this. So why did it hurt so bad?

A tear slipped down his cheek before he could stop it, plopping on one of the gold horns. It slid downward, leaving a clear trail in the residue. He almost scoffed. Perhaps his ‘glorious purpose’ was just to be left behind by everyone else.

Suddenly, a door opened up behind him. Shocked and confused, the boy held the horns closer and picked up the crocodile, scrambling to his feet. If the TVA had come here to pick a fight, he was ready to fight back. Maybe a good old fashioned fight was what he needed to feel better. But when he turned around, he was surprised to find a familiar face.

Agent Mobius stood there, wind whipping at his suit jacket and hair, an exhausted look on his always-kind face, masked with a smile. “Hey there, Loki. You wanna get out of here?”

Originally, he had agreed to stay behind with the older Loki. The Void had become their home, despite it being unsafe, and the old man especially was ready to do what it took to defeat Alioth and make sure the TVA was brought down to its knees. And he’d never admit it, but Kid Loki didn’t quite like the idea of staying here without him. He didn’t want to be on his own again. He was sick of doubting everyone. He didn’t want to have to worry for his life every time he tried to rest. Alioth was down for now, but it wouldn’t be forever. So he tightened his grip on the crocodile and on the horns, and approached Mobius, perhaps a bit warily. He knew the agent had good intentions. He just had to keep his guard up for now.

Mobius gave him another smile and ushered him through the door. He almost expected to emerge in the halls of the TVA again, but instead he found himself on a windy cliffside overlooking an ocean. Behind him was a small but earnest house. Furrowing his brows, he turned to look at the man, who tapped the TemPad to close the portal behind them. “…Where are we?”

“Colorado, 2023. Found this old abandoned house, figured I could spruce it up a bit. Sorry it’s a little cold right now, it’s the middle of fall.”

Loki breathed in some of the fresh air, staring out at the waves that crashed along the rocks. “The cold doesn’t bother me.” He closed his eyes for a moment, then turned around, eyeing the other, who was watching him with slight curiosity. “And what of the TVA?”

Mobius smiled a little. “Loki and Sylvie found the one behind it all. So, naturally, it’s being burned to the ground.” He clasped his hands together, blowing on them to warm them. “I might need an actual fire out here, though. You wanna come inside?”

The boy considered him for a moment. A mere mortal who cared about Loki variants, and who had no qualms with doing the right thing and admitting when he was wrong. Mobius was a strange man. Perhaps that was why Loki, and all the other variants, liked him so much. He glanced down at the horns in his hand, at the streak his tear had left before. “No. I think I’m going to stay here for a while. I want to see the ocean.”

“Okay, suit yourself. Come on in when you wanna warm up.” He watched Mobius ascend the stairs, the door slamming shut behind him, and he was alone again. Carefully, he turned back to look out at the ocean. The wind here felt different. It was cleaner. It smelled like salt, and there was a distant cry of seagulls. Loki had never been to Midgard, but he figured he could get used to a place like this.

Carefully, he sat down in the long grass, surprised to see it was green and alive. Setting Croki down beside him, the crocodile happily settled in that grass, and Loki stroked his back. “Maybe one day you’ll get out to that ocean,” he said softly, glancing down at the horns in his lap again.

He wasn’t sure what the old man would say now. Would he be happy that he escaped the Void? Would he feel betrayed to have been left behind again? His grip on the horns tightened a little as the tightness in his chest grew. First he’d lost Thor, and now he’d lost the old man. And it just wasn’t fair.

Lifting the horns up to his eye level, he looked at them for a moment, then rested his forehead against them. He’d never been the sentimental type, but it had been a while since he’d allowed himself to love again. And this was why he was better off on his own. When a Loki loved, they also hurt and betrayed. It was the paradox of their being.

Behind him, he heard the door open and slam shut again. He didn’t bother looking and just set the horns back in his lap again. A moment later came the footsteps, and a large knit blanket was draped over his shoulders. With a small grunt, Mobius sat beside him in the grass nursing a mug, though he didn’t sit too close.

Despite himself, the boy pulled the blanket more snugly around his shoulders. He didn’t dare look the other in the eye. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” He took a sip from whatever liquid he had, squinting out at the water. “I would have gotten you some, too, but I know my Loki doesn’t really prefer tea. Figured you’d be the same.”

It was then he finally allowed himself to look at the other man and take him in. He had deep shadows under his eyes, and his neat hair rustled a little with the wind. He looked tired. Loki couldn’t help but wonder what ‘burning it to the ground’ really meant, but he decided against asking for the time being. “Yeah.” He let a moment of silence pass, then asked, “Why did you come back for me?”

Mobius met his gaze over the mug, and Loki wondered if he was imagining slight amusement. “The TVA took your life, Loki. I think you deserve another chance at it.”

“What could I possibly do?” he scoffed, holding the horns in his lap closer.

Quietly, Mobius regarded him, his gaze shifting toward the horns. “He decided it was never too late to change. He was a good man -“

“He was a fool!” he shouted, emotion bubbling up in his chest, and to his surprise he couldn’t stop it. “A right idiot for thinking he could…he could take on Alioth…” his voice broke, his vision blurring with tears that welled up in his eyes. “He forced me to stay behind, Mobius. I couldn’t do anything but watch.”

“He did what he thought was right,” came the soft reply. Mobius genuinely looked sorry. “Maybe it was stupid. But he had a need, a drive, to help. Without him, we never would have found out who was behind the TVA.” He scooted a little closer, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “He cared about you. That’s why he told you to stay where it was safe.”

Tears began rolling down his cheeks, but for some reason he didn’t mind crying in front of Mobius. His lip quivered. “I miss him, Mobius.” He was disgusted by how quiet and broken his own voice sounded, but there was nothing that could be done about it.

“I know.” The hand on his shoulder moved to his opposite shoulder, pulling him closer. Loki leaned against Mobius, a strong arm around his shoulders, the faint smell of cologne entering his nose, oddly comforting. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to suppress the sobs with little success.

They sat like this for a long time. Mobius didn’t tease him once; he just held him and let him cry. And for the first time in a while, Kid Loki thought that maybe, just maybe, he didn’t have to be alone in this world.

#marvel #mcu #loki #loki series #loki laufeyson #kid loki #mobius m mobius #I love kid loki #I hope he comes back #rip classic loki I miss you every day <3 #my writing #agoldengalaxy #my post

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aster-ion · 3 years

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Sylvie x Loki Might Not Happen and Here’s Why

***SPOILERS FOR LOKI TV SHOW***

1. They are basically siblings

Even though they have different personalities, backstories, and physical appearances, that doesn't change the fact that they are the genetic equivalent of siblings. No matter what Timeline you're looking at, both Sylvie and Loki are the offspring of Laufey and whoever he had children with. We know this because they are Variants of the exact same person, meaning that if either of them were born to someone other than Laufey, they would have been pruned as a baby. And since they weren't, that means they must be just as genetically similar as siblings are.

Because of this, the idea of Sylvie and Loki engaging in any kind of romantic or sexual relationship is extremely disturbing to a lot of fans. It's too big an oversight to brush past, especially when the show has continued to remind us over and over that they are, in fact, both Lokis. Maybe if them being the same person wasn't such a major plot point, it would be easier to ignore the facts, but it is, and that means that Marvel is basically pushing either an incest or selfcest (depending on how you look at it) type relationship. And that’s extremely risque for a corporation as large as Marvel, especially with a character as beloved by fans as Loki.

2. It is terrible LGBTQ+ representation

And before anyone says anything, no, it is not because Sylvie is portrayed as female and Loki as male. I've seen a lot of Sylvie x Loki shippers say that the reason people don't like the couple is due to it being one between a male and female, but that's not true. Loki and Sylvie were both confirmed to be bisexual, meaning that they can engage in a relationship with anyone of any gender. It would be completely valid for either of them to pursue romance with someone of a different sex and still be bisexual. No one is arguing against that, and if they are, I definitely do not agree with them.

However, the problem comes in when you take into account Marvel and Disney's (who owns Marvel) long history of queerbaiting. There have been countless times that Disney advertises their "first gay character!" only for it to be a single line of dialogue or a brief shot. Marvel in particular has used the popularity of certain LGBTQ+ ships and headcanons in their fanbase to generate media popularity that they don't actually follow through with in their movies/shows. So when Loki was confirmed to be both genderfluid and bisexual in Episode Three, lots of people felt like they were finally getting a win for representation.

But those people, myself included, appear to have been let down again. The first two official queer characters had so much potential to go off and be with anyone they wanted, but instead, the show has set them up to be in a romance with each other. Now, this wouldn't be problematic on it's own, but when you take into consideration the questionable nature of their romance from Point One as well as the fact that the show has explicitly referred to it as "twisted," it raises the question of whether or not this is actually good representation. Because the fact is, in one episode the writers went “look, it’s two queer people!” and in the next, they said “their relationship is disgusting and demented.” Marvel’s first bisexual characters being borderline incestuous/selfcestuous does not sit well with me at all.

All of this is made even more confusing when you take into account the background of the Loki crew, most notably, the director Kate Herron. She also directed the Netflix series Sex Education, which has quite a bit of very well done representation of all kinds. So how is she managing to fail so badly on this project? It makes me wonder whether she truly is just losing her touch or if this is all a misdirection. Personally, I'm hoping for the latter.

3. It does not send the "self love" message people seem to think it does

The writers, director, and cast of Loki have said multiple times that the relationship between Sylvie and Loki is meant to act as a metaphor for self love. And in a way, that makes a lot of sense. Despite creating different identities for themselves over time, they are still ultimately the same person and therefore share a special bond because of it. And there's a lot of potential that can be done with that concept.

Loki is an extremely complex and intriguing character. He has experienced a lot of trauma in his past that has shaped him into the person he is today. And that person is clearly very broken. He has never given away or received any kind of love, with the exception of his mother and possibly his brother, Thor. Other than that, he's had no healthy friendships, romances, or perception of himself. It makes sense for him to be confused by this pull he feels towards Sylvie, who is both alarmingly alike and vastly different from himself.

Something this series does exceptionally well is breaking Loki out of his comfort zone. He is finally forced to see himself from other people's perspectives. It started with the file Mobius showed him in the first episode. Loki was able to view his actions apart from himself, and was hit with the realisation that he had been hurting people, and he didn't like that.

Loki is also confronted by the existence of the Time Keepers and the TVA, who describe him as an antagonist and nothing more. To them, his role is to make those around him look better, even if that means he repeatedly gets the short end of the stick. Mobius mentions that he disagrees with this and that Loki "can be whoever and whatever he wants, even someone good," adding another layer of depth as to who Loki could be in the future of the series.

Another huge moment for Loki's character development is while in the Time Loop Prison with Sif. Though he starts out annoyed with the situation and recalls not feeling apologetic when he cut off Sif's hair, the longer he is in the loop, the more he changes. Loki admits things to himself that we have never seen him say aloud, such as the fact that he is a narcissist that craves attention. Sif telling Loki over and over that he deserves to be alone makes Loki question whether or not he believes that to be true, allowing him an introspective moment where he really has to think about who he is.

Now with all of that being said, I'd like to tie in why this is important to the writing of Loki and Sylvie. They act as a mirror to one another, representing both the flaws and strengths of "what makes a Loki a Loki." For once, Loki gets an honest, unbiased look at himself without layers of expectations or self doubt. On Lamentis, he calls Sylvie "amazing" and praises her for all her accomplishments. That's a huge moment for him because it shows that despite also finding her irritating, he can look past those traits and see someone worth being a hero underneath. And through that realisation, he begins to understand that he can also grow to love himself. That kind of character development for Loki is incredible to watch, and it's the kind of character development I want to see from this series. Unfortunately, them possibly engaging in a romantic relationship will ruin it.

Whenever I'm feeling insecure about myself and my abilities, the solution has never been to look at who I am through a romantic lens. Self love is an entirely different type of love from romantic love, so if the series tries to push this relationship as a romance, it will fail to truly represent the arc that they are trying to show.

4. Nobody likes it

This one's a little on the nose, but it's true. Almost no one likes this ship, and more than that, most people actively hate it. Yes, there is a small minority that like Loki and Sylvie together, but there is an overwhelmingly larger group that is disgusted and angry by the fact that the show paired them up.

After Episode 4 aired, I ranted for about an hour and a half with a friend about how much we didn't want them together. My aunt whom I have never texted reached out to me to say that she hated their relationship. My homophobic neighbour came over and told me that she would prefer any other romance to this. Friends that I haven't talked to much since school let out for summer have all agreed that they collectively dislike Loki x Sylvie. This ship has brought people together purely because everyone hates it more than they hate each other.

There is no denying that the general feedback for Loki and Sylvie being a couple has been negative, even if you support them getting together for some reason. So if there are so many people out there who don't like it, I'm confused as to how it would be approved by a team of professionals.

5. The contradicting information we have gotten so far

Before the release of Episode Four, Kate Herron said that the relationship between Loki and Sylvie was “not necessarily romantic.” During the interview, she continued to refer to them as friends and people who found solace and trust in each other.

However, after Episode Four, the head writer, Michael Waldron, and other members of the crew spoke up about Sylvie and Loki. They said things like “it just felt right that that would be Loki’s first real love story” and “these are two beings of pure chaos that are the same person falling in love with one another.” These kinds of comments very heavily imply something romantic, directly contradicting what Kate Herron said. Even Tom Hiddleston, the actor for Loki, has assessed the situation, highlighting the differing viewpoints. He’s also said before that the end of Episode Four ultimately has Loki getting in his own way.

Now, this could all just be a misdirection on either side to build suspense for the show, but as of right now, it is entirely unclear who is telling the truth. Though it is more likely that the statements made by Michael Waldron are more accurate (as he is the writer), there is still a slight possibility that Loki x Sylvie won’t happen. I’ll link the articles I’ve found on this topic below so you can read them and decide for yourself.

Kate Herron Statement - https://www.cbr.com/loki-sylvie-relationship-not-romantic/

Michael Waldron Statement - https://www.marvel.com/articles/tv-shows/loki-sylvie-in-love

Tom Hiddleston Statement - https://thedirect.com/article/loki-tom-hiddleston-sylvie-romance

6. It is still salvageable

The odds are not in our favour, I’m afraid. It is highly probable that the show will put Loki and Sylvie in a romantic relationship with each other. Yet there is still a way to salvage it and turn their bond into something incredibly satisfying. Like I mentioned in Point Three, the relationship between Loki and Sylvie has the potential to be incredibly empowering and provide both characters some much-needed growth. And I believe that while unlikely, it can still do that.

The only mention of them being romantically interested in each other came from Mobius, who at the time was angry, betrayed, and doing anything he could to get Loki to talk. Then, at the end of the episode, right before Loki is about to confess something important to Sylvie, he is pruned. This results in no explicit confirmation from either Loki or Sylvie that they are in love with each other. The audience is left not knowing whether Mobius was correct in his speculations, and honestly, I don’t think Loki knows either.

Loki is no expert on love, as I explained earlier. It is entirely possible that he doesn’t grasp how he feels about Sylvie and defaults to romance because of what Mobius said. There is undoubtedly some sort of deep bond forming between them, and I would love to see that being explored in the next two episodes. I would love to watch Loki’s journey of realising that he doesn’t want anything romantic with Sylvie, and was simply confused by the new things he was feeling towards her. Loki even says “this is new for me” when talking to Sylvie at the end of Episode Four. Him momentarily believing that he wants to be a couple with her then shifting into them becoming friends who help each other grow is still a reality that could happen. And ultimately, I think that would benefit them both as characters as well as strengthen the overall message of the show.

In a show about self love, acceptance of yourself, and figuring out who you want to be, Loki very much needs people who support him. He has that in Mobius already, and now he’s beginning to have it in Sylvie as well. I just hope that it is done in a way that resonates with the audience and subverts expectations, which just cannot be done through some twisted romantic relationship. I’ve spoken to others watching the show and seen people talking online, and everyone seems to agree that Loki and Sylvie work much better as platonic soulmates or found family than a couple.

Of course, my hopes aren’t that high up. While I’d love for this to happen, I’ve been let down by Marvel before and wouldn’t be surprised if they went for the easy route of pairing characters up rather than dealing with the emotions correctly. Still, I have hope for this series. Everything else about it is wonderful and perfect in every way. It has the potential to become a masterpiece and easily the best thing that Marvel has ever done. However, this romance would ruin it for me and so many others. We already feel incredibly disappointed by Loki x Sylvie being suggested, so I can’t even begin to fathom how people will react if the show makes it canon. I’m begging Marvel to please do better than this. They have a wonderful story to tell and a wonderful team to do it, and I hope from the bottom of my heart that they don’t throw that away.

#marvel #loki #sylvie #mobius #loki x sylvie #loki x mobius #kate herron #michael waldron #disney #lgbtq #representation #tva #loki tv

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r-antaures · 3 years

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In Our Void At The End Of The World

Marvel’s Loki (2021)

Mobius M. Mobius/Loki -- Fluff and comfort, mostly.

After his conversation with Sylvie, Loki came to realise the fragile nature of this human companion.

I have an idea about a drawing to accompany this fic. I might do that after next week--first week of school, and to start online, hectic!

Anyway, hope you enjoy.

This is also in AO3 here if you prefer to read there.

Loki walked back to the half-collapsed cabin, and although Sylvie herself was sitting on the hill he had just left, his blonde counterpart’s words were still ringing in his ears.

‘Mobius isn’t so bad.’

'Or so good. I think that's why we got along.'

'He cares about you.'

‘What have you done to him!’ He snarled, his canines bared, aiming for throats.

When he reached the safehouse, which came to think of it, didn’t look or feel quite safe, the other three Lokis greeted him with a particular look on their face. That was when he noticed how the time agent was draped on what seemed like a rundown barber chair like a ragdoll or a puppet with his strings cut. The orange light of the flames licked his face pale.

All three of them made a shushing noise of their own.

‘Nothing! It’s alright,’ the kid said, ‘he’s okay.’

‘He’s just fallen asleep, quite rudely I must say, in the middle of conversations,’ the old man added.

Loki squeezed past them, circled the fire and whatever kind of meat was burning over it to reach his friend. From this closing distance, he could hear the older looking man’s deep and content breath. One of his hands was dangling at his side, the other fisted in his own salt and pepper hair. His plump lips slightly parted, lashes danced on his cheek. Despite the obvious shadows under his eyes, he did look like he was at peace.

‘He’s only human, after all,’ Loki whispered more to himself. How long had he been in the void before they met? The god wondered. The man was, well, just a man, and Loki had absolutely no idea how long it had been since he had last rested.

The crock growled and whatever it was, it made the old man flush.

‘What?’

‘He said…’ the old man hesitated, ‘he said he finds him adorable as well.’

Loki could feel his own face heated up. He stumbled over a reply, but before he could muster something up, Mobius chose that moment to bring his arms to his chest and sloppily cross them. His frown deepened and his lips pressed into a thin line when a shudder ran through him.

The crock gave another growl which somehow sounded softer this time. The old man translated, ‘he’s cold.’

‘I don’t need an alligator to tell me that. Even when that alligator is a Loki.’

Having said that, he stepped closer to the sleeping man, all while conjuring up a blanket. He draped the fabric over Mobius, who seemed to be too deeply asleep to notice. He must be exhausted, Loki thought. His hand went up to brush the silver locks of hair that fell on his face, but he stopped himself.

‘I doubt he would mind,’ the old man quipped, watching how his fingertips hovered over the soft-looking hair. ‘It seems to bring him comfort.’

He didn't grace the old man with a reply, neither because he for once had nothing to say, nor because he didn't like how the old man could read him so easily. He would hate it if the old man thought he was taking his advice which was in all honesty unnecessary. He followed it anyway. His fingers brushed carefully against the sleeping beauty's temple. He didn't stir, and Loki linkered a little, his thumb dragged lightly against the lined cheek.

Time was so unjust with these midgardians. She moved differently in the TVA, but they still have to dance with her nonetheless. A dance which afterwards left them with scars and dulled skins and took away the springs in their steps. Though Mobius had said he himself had no idea how long he was there and though his appearance showed for it, Loki believed the man could not be older than him, physically at least.

The god couldn't help but wonder, if time had been merciful as she had been to his race, or if they had met before she had the chance to leave him grey, how would the man look like. His features bore the proves of life and time, but still beauty was eminent. His eyes were bright and as blue as Asgardian sky, never a moment dulled. And the hair, still soft and inviting, could not have always been colourless. He remembered noticing small flickers of gold when the man ran his fingers through it. Could he have been a blond? Had he worn it differently in the sacred timeline?

An image of Thor's long blond hair made itself known in his mind, and Loki pictured it on his human. The idea was captivating. Beautiful. And the god let a soft smile spread his lips.

'He cares about you,' Sylvie's voice echoed in his head, and it brought him such joy, such pride, that a fragile human such as this man dared to care about him, a god.

Let me return the favour, he thought, mischievous grin replaced the soft smile on his face, and he could feel the eyes of the other Lokis watching him uneasily. He gave them no mind.

Giving himself no time to change his mind, the god godly leaned in, thinking of his mother and what she taught him about a witch's kiss and how they would weave protection into it, and gently pressed his lips against the man's forehead.

Blue eyes found him when he retreated. They were tired and only half-opened.

'Loki, I…' the man tried to push through his groggy state but was shushed by the green-eyed god.

'You are still exhausted, Mobius. Rest. Go back to sleep.'

All he got back was a frown. For a good few minutes, Mobius narrowed his eyes at the god and just watched him in silence, his eyes unfathomable. Then Loki, still thinking of the only other person who had ever been gentle with him, reached out to carefully cradle the human's head and pressed his thumb between the brows to lightly smooth out his frown.

The time agent let out a breath that was a cross between a hum and a sigh, then pulled his eyelids together like a curtain in front of a stage. In a heartbeat he was asleep, breathing deep and relaxing against Loki’s hold on his head.

Is this man naive or simply stupid? Did he not know how easy it was for a god like Loki to kill him? He could shove him against the wall with a fractal of his strength and that would break the human’s spine. Even now with just a little pressure from his fingertips, he could crush his fragile skull as easy as a human crushing an egg, but the man still let himself fall asleep in his hold. Right when Loki was about to admire his intellect.

The god carefully freed his hand from under the man’s head. The hair was, indeed, soft, and warmed by the human’s body heat that almost scorched his fingers. Being a different kind of being altogether, Loki wasn’t sure if it was normal. Apart from looking worse for wear, Mobius did seem to be alright. His lips might be parched, but still healthy pink and full with life.

He realised he had been staring, so he busied his hands with tugging the blanket around the man, all the while evaded his eyes from any glimpses of skin. A surge of magic flowed through his fingertips and spread warmth into the fabric and he could hear Mobius made the same humming sigh.

This should keep him from the cold, he mused, allowed himself one more glance at his human before moving away to find his own seat. This should be enough to keep him comfortable.

When Sylvie came back to the safehouse, her four counterparts were quietly talking. The alligator was basking near the fire and it greeted her with a soft growl. The goddess followed the creature’s longing gaze to the time agent curled up under a blanket, his booted feet against the footrest of the chair.

‘No, you can’t eat him,’ she halfheartedly whispered.

The lizard gave another groan, and this time she could clearly hear the adoration in his reptilian noise.

‘I don’t think Loki would let you keep him, either.’

Speaking of Loki, she could feel her counterpart’s magic in the air around the human. Its traces told her the blanket was his doing, and if the goddess noticed how this blanket was way softer and in no way the tablecloth he had conjured, she didn’t make any remark. She smiled to herself, to the happiness that was eminent in her other self’s magic, and got up to tell the group about her plan.

#loki 2021 #mobius #lokius #fanfic #how do I tag?#marvel

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iamanartichoke · 3 years

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In which I react to the trailer, bit by bit, because why not?

This post is long and image-heavy; sorry, dashboard.

So first of all, the line that keeps running through my head is a line from a fic AU - Have Tesseract, Will Travel by WinterDusk - wherein Alternate Timeline Loki catches up with Post-Endgame Thor. It’s a glorious series and everyone should go read it right now.

“The Tesseract skids to a stop at Loki’s feet. Loki, not being entirely stupid, picks it up.”

It’s such a good line that it should be, like, a narrative voiceover or something. But anyway.

I have to say, I love seeing Loki’s “old” armour again, as opposed to what he was wearing in Ragnarok/IW (and what he died in, sorry, what?). His hair is definitely doing something inconsistent, but I’m not terribly bothered by it. (I’m glad his hair looks natural and a bit chaotic, as opposed to the stiff, awkward wigs.) And he’s landed in a desert - so, where has he ended up? On Earth? On another planet? Another galaxy? I guess we’ll find out.

“You’re taking me somewhere to kill me.”

I think it’s interesting that Loki assumes that they’re going to try to kill him. He doesn’t look afraid, he doesn’t look surprised, just resigned: You’re going to kill me. I think it makes sense that this would be his reaction, in that he can’t fucking catch a break and he knows it. I’m interested to see how they managed to overpower him enough to get that collar around his neck, which I’m assuming is something that suppresses his magic. A fight scene?

Another note: the scar on his forehead has already healed up; depending on how quickly he heals, this could be a few days or a few weeks after the opening shot. Either he wasn’t captured right away, or he’s been sitting in a cell for awhile before they deign to bring him elsewhere.

Also, I didn’t recognize Owen Wilson right away. He looks like a kinda weird combination of Howard Stark and General Ross, lmao.

Idk about the “you love to talk” line bc Loki doesn’t really like to talk - but, it’s also fair to say that the assumption could be made if one was basing his understanding of Loki on what we saw in Avengers (similar to how Tony says Loki’s a “full-tilt diva,” it doesn’t make it true, just makes it someone else’s perception).

I really like Loki’s “wtf” expression when he looks at Owen Wilson, though.

Friendly reminder that Loki is the protagonist in his series, which means he’s probably going to going up against whatever big bad this is. Which means we get to see him in the context of being the one the audience is rooting for, instead of the villain.

I think Loki looks the most beautiful here. Look at that face, that tiny little smirk, that luscious hair. Aw yisss. More of this Loki please (for aesthetic purposes).

I like his expression here; reminds me a bit of when he’s brought in front of Odin in TDW, but a bit more uncertain - as if he’s thinking, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m not going to let you know that I’m concerned. If that makes sense.

I also dig the music.

I wonder if they’re showing Loki possible futures (considering he’s now created a new timeline) or if it’s strictly Loki-Prime’s life, and if it’s the latter, I am super curious to see how he reacts to the loss of Asgard and the subsequent run-in with Thanos. I hope he does not get shown his death because, butter-knife-stupidity aside, it was so brutal that showing it to him would just be cruel, I would think.

This shot is interesting to me bc it’s from Loki’s POV - it’s what Loki sees when he realizes he’s surrounded. So where are these images coming from, anyway? Maybe the collar isn’t a magic thing, maybe it gives them the ability to see inside of Loki’s mind - or, to at least pull images from it. Idk. I like how Loki is still not showing much emotion, though; he’s just sitting there, arms folded, like okay, sure.

Until here. What does Loki see that makes him close his eyes and turn away? He looks annoyed, he looks exhausted, he looks fed up. My first thought was that he was turning away at the shot of the Avengers - the reminder that he lost, or that he failed. Maybe Owen Wilson was saying something taunting about it. But really, it could be anything. It’s a really interesting moment, though, because it’s a genuine reaction from Loki and I’m hoping that it implies he feels some kind of way about New York and perhaps will talk about it - like that he lost on purpose, or he’ll mention Thanos, or something. Again, Loki being the protagonist means that there’s a ton of potential for really getting Loki’s side of things, and if they’re going through his memories, then we might get to see Loki talk about those memories.

This looks like Loki’s gone from being the TVA’s prisoner to working for them, which is interesting, but not entirely unexpected, if we’re to assume that the TVA’s interests lie in defeating the hooded big bad from before and they need Loki to do it. I’m also curious if they never intended to capture him long-term at all but, in fact, sought him out because of his magic/skills/etc in order to help them. That would also make sense - that it’s more of a recruiting thing than a punishment thing - considering that Loki isn’t even the one who fucked up the timeline to begin with and that the Avengers are the ones responsible for that.

We love a flippy-knife Loki, don’t we?

Post-apocalyptic future? Potential of what could have happened if Loki (and, by extension, Thanos) had won? Or an alternate timeline altogether? I have no idea. Loki looks so smol though, all alone in the ruins.

I really hope this is a wig and Loki didn’t cut his hair, bc this just looks like Tom with short black hair, lmao. Like the Night Manager with a Loki smirk. It’s not bad, I just don’t care for it. I wonder how Asgard will react when Loki shows up looking like that.

Action shots! Loki doing stuff! Fighting! Random twirly girl! I’m here for all of the action sequences and I’m not sorry.

Imagine being that girl. Hoo.

Everyone was talking about Sam jumping out of the plane without a parachute and haha, another one like Steve, but just look at Loki’s bad ass soaring through the clouds. Also, I am a loser, but the one inconsistency in the “Loki is DB Cooper” theory - for me - is that I thought it was night time and raining when DB jumped. But, that’s just me.

Also, has Loki always pronounced Heimdall like that? HeimDAAALL, like with a hard A? Or is that also just me?

And there’s the Bifrost, pulling short-haired DB Cooper Loki to Asgard.

(That little window for the Falcon trailer came up and I couldn’t minimize it, sorry.)

I have no idea what is going on here, but I have to say, that gravelly come on! What did you expect? is all kinds of pleasing to me. I have always loved Tom’s deep Loki voice. I am assuming this is something from the comics or that it’s an alternate reality Loki or something like that, but again, context matters and this was really the only part of the trailer that (the first time) made me go, uh can we not? Who knows.

And there we are. My honest opinion is that, while some of it seems questionable, it overall seems kind of promising to me? I think that if you read between the lines, so to speak, and pick up on all of Loki’s little tells and micro-expressions, what we’ll probably end up seeing is a combination of Thor 1/TDW Loki with a side of Avengers and some Ragnarok-flavored sprinkles. I also think that the trailer has probably sliced up and served the juiciest bits to appeal not just to Loki’s core fanbase but to the Ragnarok fans and to the casual MCU fans who may want to tune in for fun.

Again, we’re getting approximately two full-length movies worth of a story in which Loki is the protagonist. And I’ll just say it: my initial overall reaction was that I liked it. I’m apprehensive, but I’m hopeful. Look at it this way: nothing in this series will be worse than what we already had to endure in Infinity War.

So, yeah. We’ll see what happens, but I think it’ll be okay and, even if it’s not? Well, on the bright side, there’s more footage and content to inspire brilliant fanworks (fics, music vids, art, etc), which is just the new life that needs to be breathed into the Loki fandom right now. In my opinion.

#plus can i just say #i am SO GLAD #there was no kiss in the trailer #if there was romance in the story - or if romance was a big part of the story - i'm sure they'd have played that up #by showing loki kissing someone in the trailer #the lack of it leaves me hopeful that a love interest #is not a priority #loki on the small screen #is my new tv show tag #i am creative #loki series positivity #loki pokey artichokey #long post #image heavy post #sorry

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ishouldreallybeelsewhere · 3 years

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okay so that loki video essay thing was going well, and then like a day into writing it i lost the hyperfixation so it's never gonna be finished. i still think it's alright, completely unedited, entirely a train of thought, i hope you like commas and pacific rim, it's only 2.8k

btw if something doesn't make sense, i was writing this while watching some video essays, and also haven't read it

Introduction

Loki is a show, well you know that, but a show that does everything right, until it doesn’t (crazy, I know). If you’re here, I assume you’ll already know a fair bit about it, but if you don’t, here’s a quick refresher. Spoilers for everything MCU.

Loki begins in 2012, technically, just after the Avengers go back through time from Endgame to meet themselves and grab the infinity stones. Unfortunately, the plan goes awri, and Loki ends up in possession of the Tesseract, the mind stone. With this, he teleports to a desert in [a place] and is quickly arrested and apprehended by the Time Keepers for ‘Crimes Against the Sacred Timeline.’ Sounds a bit cult-y if you ask me, and given that you’re stuck here, you will ask me. Essentially, his actions (taking the tesseract) were not supposed to happen. They created a branch, a new timeline, and, according to the TVA, if left unchecked, the timeline could cause a multiversal war that would result in the end of time. This is, to put it simply, a very interesting premise, and the first two episodes do a wonderful job of exploring the TVA and searching for the mysterious Loki variant who causes chaos and mischief, all while evading the time cops.

What is the TVA? Well, it’s the Time Variance Authority, which clears up nothing to those who haven’t seen the show. I would let a clip explaining it play, but I think I’d get a copyright strike, even though I’m fairly sure it’s within fair use. Regardless, the TVA is an organisation supposedly created by the Time Keepers, space lizards who brought together all of time into a singular sacred timeline. Had they not done this, time itself would have ended, how they did this is unexplained, and likely either impossible, or they are greater than gods in their power. Loki is immediately doubtful, but can’t deny that they must hold some power, because not only does his magic not work in the TVA, but infinity stones are useless too. Time is also stranger there too, more an idea as opposed to a set part of their reality. Many theorise that they reside within the quantum realm, which makes sense, as that is how one travels through time, at least in the marvel universe, but we can’t be sure until we get an explanation. Of course, I’m writing this long before I’ll see the finale, so who knows, perhaps I’ll have to rewrite it.

Now I’ve said all that without explaining what the TVA actually does. It’s pretty simple, similar to Stephen Hawking’s (???) ideas of the multiverse, every decision you make has the ability to make another timeline, one that is not part of the sacred way of time, and therefore must be pruned by the TVA before it grows enough to cause another multiversal war, despite multiverses being well-established in the MCU, but I know that’s different. Or perhaps the Time Keepers are lying (spoiler, they are, just not exactly in that way). Anyway, when someone makes a decision or takes an action that creates a new timeline, the TVA arrives. Minutemen arrest the ‘Variant’ responsible, despite their lack of intentional crime, and prune the new timeline, which we are told destroys it. Then Variants must stand trial for their crimes, in which they can either plead guilty or not, but really, that doesn’t make much difference, as they’re unable to make a case, let alone get away as innocent. Before they reach the court, however, Variants are dressed in TVA jumpsuits, have to sign off every word they’ve ever said, and a snapshot of their temporal aura is taken, for some reason. Yeah, it’s not really ever explained why they have to go through all that, like, why don’t they just prune them all, or just send them straight to court. It seems like they’re putting on a big show for nothing. Of course, if you have to go through all that, you probably won’t have time to think about the whys of your situation, which I’m sure the TVA uses to their advantage.

Now, we’re heading into real spoiler-y stuff, just in case anyone here hasn't watched episode three. If you haven’t, why are you here? Go, finish the whole series, and then come back. Alrighty. Now that everyone’s seen it all (apart from me at this point) we can continue.

Everyone working at the TVA is a Variant, and they don’t know it. The Time Keepers are said to have created everything within the TVA, every analyst, Minuteman, and whatever the other roles are. But that’s not true. They’re all variants who’ve been taken from their own timelines and had their memories wiped. This gives an explanation for the courtrooms, and the process to get into them. Robots will be melted from the inside out if they go through the temporal aura machine thingy, and I have a feeling it’s harder to reset a robot’s memories. Living beings are let through, and their actions in the courtroom could give a good overview of their strengths and intelligence, so it can be decided whether they’ll be pruned or ‘reset’ which we are told is killed, but with the information of them all being variants now available, is more likely having all their memories hidden, replaced with the idea that they’ve been at the TVA their whole lives, and that they were created by the timekeepers. Though why would space lizards create workers in the image of humans instead of like their own lizard-y selves. The TVA as a whole, as we are introduced to it, feels very cult-y. Things such as the videos Variants are shown upon being arrested, the whole ‘Sacred Timeline’ thing, the Time Keepers being viewed as almost gods, and that when one of the TVA’s own minutemen is told the truth (C-20) she is, well, removed. The TVA views Variants as criminals of the highest order. How dare they violate the sacred timeline?!!? Only, no variant knew that what they were doing was wrong, or that it even mattered, but if you’re late to work on a day where you weren’t supposed to be, then you’re removed from your timeline and charged. The sentence? Essentially death, or removal of all your memories and being lied to about everything, which might be worse depending on your stance on that kind of thing.

Anyway, the minutemen themselves are another issue that the TVA has. They respond with violence at every available opportunity, like when a young french child from the 1500s walks into a church, the first thing a minuteman does is reach for his weapon. This is also the scene where we’re introduced to my favourite character, Mobius, but more on him later. For now, I need to stay on track and keep in mind this part of the view has to remain consistent. All I can think of are the nerds I split. It seems I have an inability to stay on topic, however, I’m gonna try so you have fun keeping up with that.

Loki stood trial for crimes against the Sacred Timeline and, like any logical person may in that situation, relentlessly questions the validity of his conviction. The answers he’s provided with he just,, kind of,, disagrees with, which is fair. The concept of the TVA and the sacred timeline as a whole is absurd to him, as who would a god serve?

Part one: Glorious Purpose

Loki, in his own words, it ‘Burdened With Glorious Purpose.’ I’m so glad no one but me is gonna read this draft cuz I managed to spell many of those words wrong. His glorious purpose, in his eyes, is becoming the ruler of all, removing free will and choice from those beneath him, in a twisted attempt to make it easy for all living things. He believes in free will, at least, the free will of himself, and also believes that, out of everyone in the universe, he is the one who is right, the one who can make the world better, that is his burden. Now, you may look at that and think, ‘hey, for a god of mischief, that doesn’t seem very mischievous,’ and you’d be right. It isn’t. He’s evil, like, without a doubt, an evil person in his ideals and views of the universe, however, the change from mischief to villainy was rapid, as it’s shown that he was D.B. Cooper, and, when asked, said it was because he was ‘young and lost a bet to Thor’, which, like, okay, but that was the 60s or something. 50 years aren’t a lot in the face of 1,500, but a lot can happen then

Part something: ethics

So, as you’ve probably gathered by now, I’m a pretentious asshole, and with that comes three years of philosophy classes and a superiority complex, though perhaps that comes from the whole leftist thing. Anyway, as per usual, I got sidetracked. I’m watching a really good video atm, so lots of things are happening in my head right now. Back to being pretentious, I’m going to be talking about ethics, fun, and how that relates to the TVA, the sacred timeline, Kang, sorry, he who remains. Regarding the whole Kang thing, I haven’t read a single Marvel comic since I was a member of the comic book club 4(???) years ago. Gods, I’m so old. Yup Percy Jackson took up too much of my childhood. Sidetracked again! I apologise, anyway, everything I know about Kang the Conqueror comes from Tumblr, so I’m not going to spend any time talking about any parts of the character that aren’t shown in the show. I really want to be writing about Doctor Who right now but I have my notes up so I’m gonna do this. Okay, right. Ethics. I hope I don’t go into free will right now because I will never stop going on about that. Anyway, let's look at the TVA, ignoring Kang, not for simplicity, but to see if the ends do in fact justify the means as Mobius said. And by that I mean, if what employees of the TVA think is true, are their actions justified? Finally got to the point, after how many words? Too many, anyway, let’s start from the start (kinda).

In an actual, proper, organised essay, I think that whole last paragraph was supposed to be 1 (one) sentence long, maybe. I have been writing year nine level essays for many years, despite not being in year nine for many, many years, so, be glad you’re reading something I’m interested in. Back to the topic at hand, please. Sorry I just got distracted again. I shouldn’t have Tumblr open atm. Anyway, what are the TVA’s means? So, I’ve already explained what the TVA is, and what it does, but let’s use a fun example to show what they really do. Imagine you’re a kid (or maybe you are a kid, so imagine you’re a younger one) and you just got home from school. You just made an awesome new friend who believes in you and loves your art. This sparks your interest in art, leading to countless pieces, days and days spent drawing and painting and having a great time. Your art begins to take hold on the world, speaking to people, letting them believe in themselves, thousands upon thousands of people inspired to start their own art, to rebel against the system of capitalism and teach people that there’s more to life than a job. This begins the global radicalisation of the working class, and with that, rebellion and the downfall of capitalism. I’m in a good mood rn, feeling optimistic, so don’t worry about what’s happening. Anyway, with the downfall of human exploitation and eradication of poverty comes a branch in the Sacred Timeline, and as the root of it is you as a child making a friend, your 5-year-old self just committed a crime that, according to the TVA, is worthy of what they believe to be actual death, like, being pruned.

Now, this was a very umm, off-the-top-of-my-head example, and entirely makes no sense, but give me two seconds and I’ll remember my original point. Right. The risk of allowing the downfall of capitalism is the end of all time. Always. Maybe? But, in the eyes of the TVA, kidnapping a 5-year-old, putting them through a dehumanising process to be shoved in a courtroom and being accused of crimes against the sacred timeline, and what was the crime? Making a goddamn friend. As a child. Being supported in art. Doing what you enjoy, destroying oppressive systems that will eventually be the downfall of us all and so entwined with all the problems in the world that any chance of saving it revolves around its deconstruction. I’ve been hunched over too long and my back is really starting to hurt, but the essay must go on. And remember, the domino effect of that friendship never actually happened. The timeline was pruned before it could happen, so the crime is literally making a friend. Very extreme example sorry, but shock makes your point go across faster, and also sparks outrage, which I don’t want to happen, but with doing literally anything comes backlash, like stepping on the wrong leaf, or a butterfly. I hope you guys know that this is unplanned and probably unedited. Okay I need to watch Pacific Rim again. Okay imagine now they kill the child. Right. That’s likely what would happen. Children are weak (usually, Sylvie is just on another level of awesome) [author’s note, Crimson Peak is a horror movie and I’m very upset by that cuz now I won’t be able to watch it]. Alright, so, kill a child, or destroy all of time. Always. Maybe. The way we see the TVA in the first two episodes is through Loki’s eyes, as a cult-like lie with a cool retro/futuristic aesthetic (like Doctor Who, but more on that later). I have been sitting here for 4 hours and I can confidently say my cat is an asshole whose sole purpose in life is to want to come in right when I’m in the middle of a point only to not want to come in but allow me to lose exactly what I was about to say, meaning I’ve gotten next to nothing done. Hi, I'm back. I got distracted by My Little Pony and Pacific Rim. And checkers. Issues with pacing? I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Okay, so, I’m going to say something possibly controversial. When the stakes are the endings of the entirety of time, it’s okay to let a child die, and technically they might not die they’d just be sent to be either devoured the void or saved by a ragtag team of loki variants. Which is not great. That might sound like I agree with the TVA, but trust me, I do not. Not in the slightest. I hate the slimy bastards. (I do love every single character though, like all of them are awesome) The prickly pricks will bury us all!!! I don’t agree with them because I think there is a better way to handle the multiversal problem and the issue that arises regarding the particular cause of the multiversal war. That made no sense. You’re really just gonna have to guess at this point, however, for the solution, we must look into the finale and the reasoning behind He Who Remains’ plan. I said I wasn’t going to talk about him, but I lied (rule number one). Basically, from what I understood of his plan (which wasn’t much, I’m pretty stupid) was that there were two options; option number one was to leave him there, looking over all of time, preventing free will, so that the infinite variants of him that would come from timelines wouldn’t once again attempt to conquer all of the timelines (though if there are infinite ones, how would that work? Just kidding, you’re not allowed to question this). He dictates all. There’s no such thing as free will, and if you dare veer off the path, you will be pruned, and your timeline destroyed. His plan is to hand that power over to Loki and Sylvie, because he’s getting old and has lived long enough. The other option (and the one that’s taken in the show) is to allow Sylvie to kill He Who Remains and let the multiverse unfold, allow free will and chaos to reign, with the possibility and established likelihood of the destruction of time itself. Now, just putting this out here, what if there was a third option? My proposition is based of knowing next to nothing and not having seen Loki in a while, and that is,

#loki #loki show #loki series #loki tv show #i don't even know what this is #uhhh i don't think i agree with all the points i made and i also used some very crap example #this is not a good peice of writing and it's from several months ago #if you talk to me about it i won't get back to you.

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nonbinarylowkey · 3 years

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Hi its me again, that dude who asks about what would past Loki react thingy, anyway. Can you do a small headcannons where the “future” s/o was paired up with the past Loki and wearing some mask to cover up her face and stays quiet while helping him on his mission from the entire series. Pleaseeeee

Sure I can! This might be a little different from what other people think because Loki doesn’t have a canon S/O to base the personality off of and this is just what I think his S/O will be like, but here we go:

At first S/O tries to distance themself from Loki. They might have to go on this mission together, but they don’t have to be close. And they’re not really interested in getting close to a version of Loki that they will almost certainly not be able to spend their life with. As far as S/O is concerned, this version of Loki is one that’s being used for certain missions that are best suited to his skillset, and then he’ll be set back to his own time to live the life he was meant to live before Tony’s botched attempt at getting the tesseract.

Loki is a menace about the mask. He doesn’t understand the need for S/O to hide their face. So he makes a game of catching S/O with their face uncovered. It’s extremely distressing when he manages it and S/O lashes out, nearly quitting the mission. It’s not really that they think Loki is in danger of recognizing them without the mask - this version of Loki never met them, after all. The problem is that when Loki doesn’t recognize S/O without the mask, it drives the nail in the coffin of the love they once shared. S/O’s Loki is gone. This Loki might look, smell, talk, walk, act like their Loki but he doesn’t love them. Their life together is done.

So once Loki sees S/O’s face, S/O goes to the TVA and demands to be let go from the mission. S/O refuses to work with Loki anymore. Naturally, the TVA doesn’t allow this. S/O has to carry out the mission. (I’m leaving the mission vague, I don’t think it really matters to this). So S/O goes back to where they left Loki and continues to lash out at him. Loki doesn’t understand what’s going on and thinks that S/O is just fucking batshit. This drives a bigger wedge between them.

Now, S/O and Loki are continuing the mission, but the wedge is making everything go wrong. They aren’t working well together. They keep messing up because they won’t communicate properly. They’re making stupid little mistakes that put everything at risk. Eventually, this culminates in S/O getting hurt. Loki doesn’t particularly like S/O at this point, but they are his partner for this mission so he takes them to a safe place and does his best to heal them.

During the healing process, Loki swallows his pride and apologizes for looking at S/O without the mask. He doesn’t understand what the big deal is, but obviously it was a big deal to them and this fight is putting their lives at risk. It isn’t a good apology. It’s not the worst, but this is a version of Loki that hasn’t had a chance to really heal from everything he went through with Thanos or even finding out that he’s actually a frost giant and his whole life as an Asgardian prince was a lie. So the apology toes the line between sincere and insincere. He says things that are more insult than a request for forgiveness. But it’s an apology, and it is clear enough that he’s trying to mean it even if he’s not doing a great job.

S/O just starts bawling at this point. The tension between them has been eating them up inside and they just can’t hold in their emotions and it comes out in one awful sobbing mess. Loki doesn’t know how to handle this. He just stands there awkwardly and debates the merits of leaving S/O to fend for themself while he finishes the mission now that their life isn’t immediately at risk. But S/O asks him not to go. So he doesn’t. Because there’s still a small, unbroken piece of him that Thanos and the Other couldn’t touch and that piece is the piece of himself that wants to be better. It’s the reason he’s helping the TVA and not taking every chance he can to just escape.

Nothing is really resolved at that point. But the S/O seems to do a complete 180 personality wise, at least as far as Loki is concerned. See, S/O had been doing their best to be the exact opposite of the person Loki fell in love with in their timeline. After Loki saves their life, however, they don’t have the energy to keep it up. The relationship S/O had with their Loki might well and truly be dead, but this is still a Loki. A version of Loki that their Loki once was. And their love for Loki is still there and while time might have let the intensity of that love fade, the TVA hasn’t given S/O any time. So now that S/O doesn’t have the energy to pretend to be someone else, they’re retaking the personality that their version of Loki once fell in love with.

Loki likes this “new” personality much better. So he and S/O get closer until after a while he genuinely considers them a friend. He opens up to S/O a little bit. He lets his guard down and becomes more of the version of Loki we get in Ragnarok. He’s still hurting and masking that hurt with wit and sarcasm. But there’s also an openness and willing to reveal pieces of himself that he never thought he’d want revealed.

S/O and Loki find themselves at a bar on some planet neither of them have ever been to before. They get drunk on alien wine and before S/O realizes what they’re doing, they kiss Loki. Loki, who thinks this is just going to be a drunken friends with benefits situation is like, fuck yeah! I’m getting laid tonight.

They have sex.

S/O wakes up in the morning, has a complete breakdown when they realize what happened and now Loki is thinking “oh fuck, I just ruined the only friendship I have.”

In the midst of their panic attack, S/O pulls out something that has always helped them calm down in the past, but gasp! Loki recognizes it. Turns out that S/O’s comfort object is actually something that their version of Loki gave them. It’s something that Loki managed to save from his rooms in the Asgardian palace before Asgard exploded. He had given it to S/O on their first anniversary as a romantic gesture of using his past as a building block to his future with S/O.

Obviously, the version of Loki that S/O is currently with doesn’t know any of this. This Loki thinks that this particular item should still be in his rooms in Asgard where he left it. Once S/O has calmed down enough to talk, Loki asks about it. How did they get this, why do they have it? Is this some sort of trick?

S/O, out of energy for lies and wanting nothing more than to come clean about how much Loki actually means to them, tells Loki the truth about their relationship. It’s a long explanation, one that Loki doesn’t immediately believe. But he also can’t deny that what S/O is saying just feels... right. This version of Loki may not be so sure that he loves S/O at this point, but the idea isn’t repulsive. It’s nice, actually. And more than that, when he actually thinks about the time he’s spent with S/O while they’ve been on this mission, he realizes that there have been little pieces of evidence pointing to their past relationship all along.

But he doesn’t know how to handle the truth of everything. It’s just one more life changing truth he’s been given and while this is far more positive than Odin revealing the truth about him being a frost giant, it’s still something he isn’t equipped to properly handle. That night, he leaves. He takes the mode of transportation he and S/O have been using and leaves. Where he goes doesn’t really matter. He goes to try and sort his own thoughts out. To see if he can calm his racing emotions.

Naturally, S/O is heartbroken. They don’t leave the room they’d been staying in for days. They have meals brought to them by the staff of the place they’re staying in and wonder what they’re going to do now. As far as they’re concerned, Loki has rejected them and left them stranded on a foreign world.

A few days later, Loki returns. S/O is furious. They scream and cry and shove Loki until their throat can’t take it anymore. Loki lets them do this because, well, it was a pretty shitty thing for him to do. And when S/O is done, he apologizes. Sincerely. It’s probably the most sincere thing this Loki has ever done in his life. Then he explains where he’d ultimately gone: to the TVA, to demand they show him any footage they had on his relationship with S/O. It was... a lot. Especially the parts where Loki and S/O discussed Thanos and the abuse Loki suffered at his and his lackey’s hands. But the footage gave him some perspective and he wants to do right by S/O. Obviously he can’t promise to be the same Loki they fell in love with, but he wants to build a new relationship. S/O wants the same. There is no denying it. They tried and it only led to this moment.

So they do try. It’s a long process. Things aren’t the same as they were with the other Loki. There are times S/O just wants to quit and there are times Loki wants to quit. Ultimately, they come together and create something beautiful. Maybe at some point they’ll have to deal with this version of Loki having to go back to the timeline he’s supposed to be in, but for the moment they have each other and they’ll fight anyone who tries to take that away.

So, yeah! That’s my headcanon for what would happen. You asked for small headcanons and I gave you 1600 words so I hope that’s okay lol I honestly didn’t think I’d have much to say, but here we are. And this is the version where I keep things sorta vague to account for all the things we don’t know about the show yet. Kept the gender of the S/O neutral.

#loki headcanons #loki x reader #loki x ofc #loki x oc #i hope you like this anon #i know i got carried away #Anonymous

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sparklegemstone · 3 years

Text

Taking a break from work so time to write up more of my Loki trailer thoughts since all the cool cats around here seem to be doing it :-D.

In chronological order:

1) Personally I was 'meh' about the trailer starting with the Endgame scene just because I think the Russos did a terrible job matching the tone of that scene with the tone of the original Avengers film's conclusion and I want the Loki series to feel like a continuation of Avengers. Alas, the Endgame scene grates on me as feeling inauthentic to the story it's supposed to take place in. But I certainly understand the practicality of needing to put it in to give the audience the context for when/how this new story with Loki is taking place.

2) But five seconds later on the other side of the wormhole…yay, Kate Herron fixed the tone! This feels much closer in tone to when Thor and Lok depart for Asgard at the end of Avengers. Excellent job Kate.

3) Was so pleasantly surprised by Owen Wilson's portrayal! Very different than any of the comedic characters I strongly associate the actor's acting style with. I like his character a lot with what we've been given so far. It's instructive reflecting back on the potential concerns I had and that were being discussed in the fandom when we were working with scraps and rumors that we now know don't have merit: things like 'Hiddleston is only there to narrate the series' and 'How comedic in tone is this going to be if Waldron from Rick and Morty is hiring Owen Wilson?'. Ah the good old days of baseless speculation.

4) I mentioned the frequently low camera position in another post -- it does a poor job of conveying how Loki carries himself, tall and straight and elegant. It makes him seem more ordinary, but maybe that's the point -- equalizing him with Mobius rather than it being an Asgardian in a non-Asgardian's presence.

5) The way Loki goes from locked down and not letting any sense of what's going on his head slip to Mobius (what I feel is in-character for Loki) to suddenly being a lot more open with what he's actually feeling and having less guarded, more friendly/casual attitude toward Mobius is weird to me. I think it's a cut just for the trailer and hopefully it will make more sense in context, but Hiddleston's acting here and the way he has no qualms about being physically guided out of the elevator by Mobius is one of the points where it felt more like Hiddleston playing a different character than playing Loki to me (and lacking Loki's costuming doesn't help that perception certainly). Which I know is nitpicky, but I was just curious to see to what degree this would actually feel like 'fresh off of Avengers' Loki and so I'm paying close attention to what feels in and out of character for me. Does Mobius say something to really throw Loki for a loop that would cause him to drop his guard like that?

6) "Glorious" -> YAASSSS that's the Loki I wanted to recognize. He's back! I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around how blessed I am, but we've got him back for more screen time. Also, with him back in Stark Tower and the later image of post-apocalyptic Manhattan, I am super intrigued by the possibility of Loki (and me too!) experiencing different ways things could have played out on Earth, if he'd succeeded in his conquest for example.

7) Loki's going to learn about what happened in the main timeline and the choices he made in the future?! That's huge! Should be a fascinating character moment. This bit of Loki turning away from the projector gives me a lot of hope that the writing in the show is actually going to explore, honor, and authentically run with where Loki was as a character at the end of Avengers and the context of what he experienced rather than Marvel just plopping the "general" character of Loki into a genre-fied crime thriller show basically disconnected from the events of Thor and Avengers so they can say they made a Loki show.

8) Do I like Loki in the beige detective jacket? Nah, not really. But I do appreciate that even with the earth costume they kept Loki's style of being completely covered up. Also creates contrast with him not being in control when he's in the TVA prisoner jumpsuit that has short sleeves.

9) Thought that was Nat on Voromir at first because of the purple environment. Been reading some thoughts on how that's probably not Nat, and while the theories make sense, if that's true, why would Marvel put in a shot of a character that looks so much like Nat that it would cause confusion and maybe get her fans' hopes up?

10) I agree with @delyth88 on the D.B. Cooper scene. Didn't think I'd want Loki looking like Hiddleston, but I don't mind it / it's not taking me out of the scene as I might have expected.

11) The fight choreo and edit into the twirling -- I already discussed this before, but the physicality of it is giving me human-strength!Loki vibes. If instead the guy he's fighting is also super strong, wouldn't the plastic or metal disc thing between them break upon impact? Also the fact that it seems implied that Loki would get hurt by jumping out of the plane w/o Heimdall’s help to catch him.

12) The twirling -- is Loki legitimately, celebratorily, uninhibitedly happy? I feel like we've never seen him like that since the Thor cut scene before they all made that fateful trip to Jotunheim. I read a theory that the roman numerals on the building in this frame might mean he is in Pompeii the year the volcano erupts, which is interesting.

13) Loki saying "Brother”, “Heimdall", coordinating with at least Heimdall, traveling on the Bifrost -- HOPE! BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL, HOPE! I was honestly expecting the show to make no mention of anything connected to Asgard, except maybe segueing into Thor 4 at the very end, so the fact that Loki is (indirectly) interacting with Heimdall -- calling Thor "Brother" (even if not to Thor) !!!!!!!!!!!! -- interesting!

14) The idea of him being D.B. Cooper is very fun! (though I didn't know who that was in advance). It's very easy to pretend that Loki is real and has been an unidentified part of our history all along.

15) I do not like the last scene with comics!Loki suddenly being brought to life. In fact I had a very kneejerk dislike of it the first couple times I watched the trailer (so many watches ago :-P) because it presses a very personal button of mine, which is how the MCU is moving toward becoming more spectacle-driven and comic-book-y and therefore away from the grounded, character driven storytelling that I enjoy about the MCU. I'm here for the character of Loki that I love as he is already established in the MCU, not the comics versions of the character. Also, IMO the acting is out of character for MCU Loki and more goofy.

That said, I'm hopeful context will help a whole bunch here as @iamanartichoke has said. Given all the timey-wimey multiverse shenanigans, it's probably not even Avengers!Loki anyway, and I'm certainly not going to begrudge the many fans who are excited to see comics references on screen.

Overall impression? Very excited, very hopeful. Would I selfishly want a story that's just a direct continuation of the Avengers and hyper focused on the exact context of the character of Loki as he was in Avengers, fleshing out the off-screen bits and up-until-now only implied emotional impact of what Loki experienced between the end of Thor and the start of Avengers, digging into his relationships with the Black Order, and family, reconciling with his heritage? Uh…duh ;-).

But you have to give an audience what they need as opposed to what they think they want, and from a craft perspective, this has to be its own story. The Thor and Avengers stories are their own stories, they're told, they're done, even if certain emotional threads were left hanging / implied / off-screen that we as very detail-oriented Loki fans would like to see dealt with explicitly.

But given that this was always going to be its own story, I'm very hopeful that the series has an explicit creative goal of telling a story that also does a great job with emotional continuity and exploring the fallout of Thor and Avengers and what that means for Loki's character; of honoring, picking up from, and running with Loki as a character in the context of who he was when he surrendered to the Avengers and where he goes from there.

The Marvel Studios executives could have easily decided to make an isolated story featuring Loki that general MCU fans that don't think overly deeply about the character would have been very happy with and probably it would be very successful, and I would have gladly taken that over nothing. But I'm optimistic that that isn't what we're getting and that they chose to ground their story in the specific context of Loki's character. We'll see!

#loki #loki+

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i-want-my-iwtv · 7 years

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Hi, I was wondering if you know where it is first mentioned that Armand made a vow never to make fledgelings? I don't remember reading about it until QoTD, but it seems so important to him that I'm sure it must have been brought up earlier. I can't remember whether it was talked about in TVA either... thanks :)

Well I found it! In TVL, when Armand is telling Lestat and Gabrielle his story:

“In quiet allegiance to the Dark Ways, Armandcontinued to serve. Yet in the centuries of his long obedience, Armandkept two secrets to himself. These were his property, these secrets,more purely his than the coffin in which he locked himself by day, orthe few amulets he wore. The first was that no matter how great hisloneliness, or how long the search for brothers and sisters in whom hemight find some comfort, he never worked the Dark Trick himself.He wouldn’t give that to Satan, no Child of Darkness made by him.”

Hit the jump for more, cut for length.

Still in TVL, that quote above is right after he’s gone over how he’s seen so many vampires die:

In this particular, letArmand observe that there was no vampire then living who was morethan three hundred years old. No one alive then could remember thefirst Roman coven. The devil frequently calls his vampires home….

He had witnessedthe inevitable dissolution of covens, seen immortality defeat the mostperfectly made Children of Darkness, and it seemed at times someawesome punishment that it never defeated him. Was he destined tobe one of the ancient ones? The Children of the Millennia? Could onebelieve those stories which persisted still?

He’s also mentioned that the Dark Trick is not an exact science (also TVL):

Butlet Armand understand here also that the effect of the Dark Trick isunpredictable, even when passed on by the very young vampire andwith all due care. For reasons no one knows, some mortals when Bornto Darkness become as powerful as Titans, others may be no morethan corpses that move. That is why mortals must be chosen withskill. Those with great passion and indomitable will should be avoidedas well as those who have none.

So Armand’s reasons for refusing to turn Daniel, if you trust him to be honest about the ones he’s giving, seem to be that:

Not everyone has the stamina for vampiring

Mortal life is better and Daniel should appreciate it more!

The Dark Trick is unpredictable and could leave Daniel in worse condition than mortal life ;A;

Armand really underscores that mortal life is better, also bc of the tragedy he’s experienced in his own vampiring.

Armand has his own enemies to deal with (“I’m like any beast on the prowl. I have enemies who are older andstronger who would try to destroy me if it interested them to do so, I am sure.” - QOTD)

There’s also the threat of extermination happening to alot of vampires in QOTD so... bad timing. (”What matters is that the endmay be at hand… There is a vague repeated cry ofdanger, but no one seems to know whence it comes. They only know that we are being sought out andannihilated, that coven houses, meeting places, go up in flames.“ - QOTD)

Later, in QOTD, Daniel refers to it as a vow, maybe that’s he terminology Armand used when he told Daniel about it:

[Daniel says:] "Of course I believed you. The vow you made, you explained everything. But Armand, this is my question, towhom did you make this vow?"

Laughter.

^He made the vow to himself ;A;

[Armand says:] "So you would have me break my vow. You would have what you think you want. But look well at thisgarden, because once I do it, you’ll never read my thoughts or see my visions again. A veil of silence willcome down.”

1. I think this is definitively where Daniel realizes Armand’s not going to turn him:

Then the realization had come to Daniel as they stood together in the ruined dining room with its famousmurals of ritual flagellation barely visible in the dark: He isn’t going to kill me after all. He isn’t going to do it.Of course he won’t make me what he is, but he isn’t going to kill me. The dance will not end like that.

2. Then Armand starts trying to get Daniel to understand his reasons for not wanting to give him the Dark Gift

“Give me what I want,” Daniel had demanded.

“I’m giving you everything you could ever ask for."

"Yes, but not what I have asked for, not what I want!"

"Be alive, Daniel.” A low whisper, like a kiss. “Let me tell you from my heart that life is better than death.”

3. … which intensifies:

Ugly fights, terrible fights, finally, Armand broken down, glassy-eyed with silent rage, then crying softly butuncontrollably as if some lost emotion had been rediscovered which threatened to tear him apart. “I will notdo it, I cannot do it. Ask me to kill you, it would be easier than that. You don’t know what you ask for, don’tyou see? It is always a damnable error! Don’t you realize that any one of us would give it up for one humanlifetime?

#Anonymous #anon #ask #the vampire armand #the dark gift #dark gift #quote #actual quote #TVL #QOTD #Daniel molloy #yes I would like to vampire plz

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