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#she just wants Sylvie to be happy I love her priorities
feral-sylki · 5 months
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I love Sophia Di Martino’s interviews and stuff about the show, she clearly has such a deep enjoyment and understanding of her character (I need to find time to listen to that playlist she dropped everyone’s posts about it are making me so excited) but it’s interesting watching people’s reactions to her commenting that Sylvie and Loki’s relationship is a bit “weird” bc they’re the same person and like. I run a blog called “feral-sylki”. Obviously I ship them. I love the ship. And one of the reasons I love the ship is because it’s weird. I don’t think it’s perverse or anything, but it is weird, and I love that! I love getting to explore the dynamics of two variants of the same person! It’s classic sci-fi stuff that I adore, to go hey, wouldn’t it be crazy if we took this concept and ran away with it?
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trutrustories · 6 months
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STUDY IN LOKI ROMANCE
Part 4: Heart of the TVA
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Since we're only a few days away from the last episode, I decided to COUNT DOWN everything we´ve got so far ( that can be interpreted very easily as romantic ) and discuss what the actual fuck is going on with second season. Because even though I shipped lokius practically from S1E2, I absolutely did NOT expect this kind of development. (Not that I´m complaining)
Warning: This is gonna be LONG post, lots of screenshots, lots of SPOILERS, lot of "oh-my-god-they-so-cute" language, and little bit of meta.
I originally thought that this post would be everything at once, but since I have just too many screenshots this time around, I´ll have to split it. so every post will be one episode. Color coding means:
IIIIIIIIII = anything, that coud potentialy be just acting choice.
IIIIIIIIII = everything else (tzn.: whatever was written, and/or carefully prepared by filmmakers. )
side note: I already wrote, about how amazing it is, that Mobius is unable to fight but fights anyway and how beautifuly, and ridiculously brave he is HERE. But this is about Loki/Mobius interactions, so I´ll try my best not to talk about THAT. (Even when I´m really happy, that s2 continues with this formula and Mobius is still his completely defenseless while aggressively brave self. I love him, btw.)
EPISODE 1 HERE
EPISODE 2 HERE
EPISODE 3 HERE
check-list, episode 4 (my beloved): 33) changing clothes together not to be that person, but like... they always went through the door from TVA on timeline in their "camouflage disguises". So Loki couldn't use his magic to change their clothes. I mean... they even make turning off system that prevents magic plot point in this episode So unless they have some special device in TVA (which was never established) It is implied, that these two just spend some time changing clothes together, before going out. And that brings me to this specific moment: At the end of the previous episode we see them going through the time door (fairly soon after Victor Timely, in 1893 clothing) And this episodes starts with Victor ariving at TVA and wondering around the empty hallways. Alone. So let me get this straight: After we see them both walk through the time door, they end in that war room (were they met in ep1), just the two of them. Victor is.... somewhere. who knows where, who even cares? And they though: it is actualy priority number one to change our clothes. Yes, right now. Never mind, we have He Who Remains variant wondering around the TVA and everything is going to explode soon. We have to take our clothes off. RIGHT THE FUCK NOW. I´m sorry, film makers, but what the acual f-
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34) Bickering like married couple (part 4) (but this time with EVERYONE else watching them with question marks above their heads. And these two idiots husbands probably didn´t even noticed xDD )
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Also.... "It´s got your shape" 😳 really? really Mobius? And how would you- oh sorry, my bad, never mind. I almost forget you were changing clothes togheter MULTIPLE TIMES, so of course you would know that. ... right? 35) The "misunderstanding trope"
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This whole scene is just... jeeez! Sylvie screeming at Mobius for wanting cake (while Loki already knows, that Mobius wants it, because he is in a stress.) He tries to stop Sylvie, but she continues. Loki circles around her and ends up right between them (cough...smybolism...cough) And Sylvie starts attacking Mobius because he doesn´t want to know his life on a timeline. While Loki is RIGHT THERE, knowing perfectly well Mobiuses reason´s and how bad she is hurting him, because episode 2 happened. Loki knows. And then she leaves, and Loki follows her. But Mobius doesn´t know, what we know: and that he went to her to DEFEND HIM. Jeeeeeeez writers.... thanks, for this perfect example of romantic complication. Dramatic irony 100%. I´m living for this relationship drama while everything around them collapses and explodes. 10/10 television!
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Also... poor man needed pick-me-up cocoa drink immediately after 😭
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36) Pie scene number two I have to say, I LOVED this scene. EVERY FUCKING WORD. philosophical conflicts? yes please. moral dilemas? give me more! but let´s focus on Loki defending Mobius. Him bringing up Thor into the coversation, and comparing his change on Earth (that he didn´t understand before) to his own change that came from spending time at TVA. spending time with Mobius. And he is standing infront of pies this whole time! basicly him low key comparing Thor´s love for Jane to his love for Mobius
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And let´s not forget how obvious the difference between two pie scenes is! Because the first one is full of relaxed gestures, kindness and understanding. Just Loki and Mobius being intimite and open with each other 🥹 In glaring contrast with that, THIS scene, with Sylvie is full of conflict, tention and disagreements. The are standind, far from each other, and whole room has completely different (horror like) vibe.
37) THIS SHOT. just the two of them, right before the end.
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God I love this episode so much! 💛💛💛
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kiteblue42 · 6 months
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Part 4 of - what the heck is going on with Mobius anyway?
S2e5 - the one with where they get the band back together
Disclaimer- I’m a single parent and found it hard to be objective watching this one. For me this episode was a very perfect reflection of how hard, lonely it can be to bring up children by yourself and how you willingly give up so much of yourself for them. They did this very well - I hope they don’t screw this up in the final episode.
A good life, but not a happy one
Mobius timeline life is good but not super happy. He comes across as struggling and lonely. Mobius works 6 days a week, he tries to sell Loki one of his jet skis that he no longer can use, he’s constantly being interrupted at work by his kids, the house is chaos and he had to leave the boys to fend for themselves selves while he was at work (therefore he has no friends or family to watch them or money to pay for childcare). This is a person struggling to keep it together, but he does manage to do so for his boys and he manages to stay kind and positive towards them. The boys are the top of his list of priorities “I can’t leave my boys”/ “I need to check on the kids” “I got to get back to my boys” “I’ll know”. This all speaks of someone who has given up his own wants for the kids and feels guilty about doing anything for himself.
Given the slightly flippant tone of “long gone” when discussing his wife I think it likely she left rather than died (or blipped) - as that’s not how a grieving widower is likely to speak (especially if he might be overheard by the boys).
The whisper of adventure
There are a number of signs that Mobius has a desire for adventure. His love of jet skis, the fact he immediately agreed to try out the time door, how much he loved the idea of being “Mobius.” (“Mobius is a pretty cool name”)
The idea of being your better self
It wasn’t just adventure for fun that’s calling his name though but also the idea of being something more. Mobius reacted emotionally to the idea of himself as someone that would “save my life when I first arrived”. His delivery of “I sell Jet Skis man” showed how little he thought of himself, but also a desire to be something more.
Loneliness
This exchange killed me:
Loki “you saved my life when I first arrived. You saw something in me I hadn’t seen in myself”
Mobius “Are you really my friend?”
Loki “I am”.
Just the way Mobius says this tell us how much he really really wants to believe he could have a friend like this.
Loki’s view of Mobius
Once again the major topic of conversation between Sylvie and Loki is Mobius (this is becoming a theme - and if they do get Sylvie and Loki together it’s just mad and funny).
Anyway this conversation tells us that Loki believed Mobius when he said the TVA was the “only life he knew” and that he “liked it”. Of course there’s an element of this being wishful thinking on Loki’s part, but he is pretty insistent that Mobius should be given the choice. So Loki thinks (at least until Sylvie talks him out of it) that there is a good chance Mobius would chose the TVA - and himself. And as Frigga once said (Thor: dark world) Loki is “.. so perceptive about everyone but yourself”. So I don’t think we should dismiss Loki’s perception about Mobius. (He is also pretty insistent in his conversation with Mobius that “this is not the life of the man I know”. And there’s enough for viewers to see “Mobius” is more at ease with himself than “Don”.)
Sylvie undermines this and persuades Loki he is being selfish. (Side note - Sylvie puzzles me this season and in particular in this episode- if you watch closely she sees that her McDonalds meal disappears and Loki’s drink in the bar disappear too - but says nothing to Loki and does everything to stop Loki from trying to fix it - is it just denial or something more sinister?)
Last episode
So some theory based predictions for Ep 6
Themes that still need payoff:
- order & chaos
- Partners & Friends & loneliness
- Hard choices
Th end of the last episode has me thinking we may get a happy ending because it would be narratively neat to leave Loki surrounded by his new TVA family - especially after the way last episode was concluded.
It would pay off the themes positively as follows:
order & chaos - Loki (chaos) working with TVA (order) to give balance
Partners & Friends & loneliness - Loki and his misfit friends get to stay together so they don’t have to be alone
Hard choices - this one worries me but it would be possible for a number of hard choices to be made that still ends up in a good place (even if it doesn’t seem like it will at the time).
Hard choices Mobius
I think this is aimed specifically at Mobius - Loki made his hard choice in Ep 5 when he was willing to let this team go. I’m hoping they will be able to square the circle with Mobius and his family, because he’ll *not* be ok without the boys or without Loki (& the TVA).
Given this is a time travel show with magic I don’t see why they can’t find an solution to that - because the issue is about not having enough time to both look after the boys and look after yourself. I’ll be super disappointed if they make this unnecessarily miserable by making Mobius give up either his fulfilling life & friends at the TVA or his boys. Though I also won’t be surprised to see this as a plot point. If they try to sell it to me as Mobius being super happy to return to his life I’ll be doubly annoyed.
In theory the boys timeline should be long gone so this choice should not exist, but they seem to be setting up this hard choice for Mobius in particular ( so maybe the loom explosion was meant to be a full reset).
Hanging threads & wild cards
X5 /Brad /Zaniac - is still in the TVA - is he going to cause chaos as they try to fix the loom?
Renslayer - is in the void - will she tame Alioth? Is Miss Minutes really gone or does she have another instance in the citadel at the end of time?
Kang - is HWR really behind everything? Are all the events just one pre-planned trap of HWR?
Sylvie - Sylvie knew more than she has told anyone (eg she saw the disappearance of items and said nothing). She has HWR tempad. Loki treats her like she has words of wisdom so we also tend to accept she is right or benign, but her last piece of advice was completely wrong. She has been acting pretty oddly all season too - what’s up with that? (Worth remembering she is a Loki variant and they are generally not to be trusted).
Romance
My own reading of Mobius remains that he lost his heart to Loki sometime around S1e2. By S1e5 he’d accepted this, but concluded it wasn’t going anywhere - so conveniently he didn’t need to exactly work out what the feelings were. Mainly because Loki was focused on Sylvie. This episode doesn’t change that since we don’t get any TVA Mobius.
Loki on the other hand did give more away this episode - and it was the first one (for me) where it looked like his feelings could be romantic or at least headed that way. Whenever he talks about saving his friends we all know this primarily means Mobius. I mean how much interaction has he really had with the others? The discussion in the bar was particularly instructive- he wants Mobius to have the choice (this is *after* seeing him on the timeline when he knows what Mobius would be giving up) and he desperately hopes Mobius would choose to stay with him. But Sylvie persuades him otherwise.
Sylvie - there is really no sign of the romance from last season left here. Loki does still greatly admire Sylvie. I’d say Loki almost hero worships her - and especially takes what she says about free will and choice as authoritative (as if she were an expert on it). This is consistent with his romantic feelings from s1e4,5&6 which seemed to grow out of his admiration for her radical / free spirit nature. But by this episode it didn’t seem to be romantic any more - rather a mentor / mentee conversation. Loki did not declare he wanted Sylvie back or even anything close to it - and it would have been the obvious time to do that.
Sylvie has never seemed particularly romantically interested in Loki to me. She kissed him to distract him in s1e6 and no doubt thinks he’s quite hot, but that’s all I’m getting. I actually like this about her as a character (she’s just not that into you Loki sorry). I hope she is a bit more villainous than we know (a bit more basic Loki if you will) otherwise she has been a bit of a spare part this season.
I am not expecting any romance from the last episode though mainly because:
(1) I don’t think there is time to do either romance option justice with all the other plot points to be resolved (2) romance is not central to the plot of season 2 - they have pushed the friendship / found family theme hard and that will do for plotting & emotional payoff purposes, and (3) if you want to be commissioned for season 3 you don’t resolve romantic tension. We’re on Tumblr so we all know there are a significant chunk of fans of any media that follow the stories for the romance aspect - and we all know this audience is likely to be very loyal, vocal on social media and will predictably turn up to watch the next season just to see how it plays out. If they resolve a romance arc either way too early they kill a lot of interest in season 3 - people are always more interested in “will they won’t they” than an established relationship.
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oh-three · 7 months
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Loki S2E2
Subtitle font update??
Just how long has X-5 been on the timeline??Is Brad his real name?
HEY. DON'T TOUCH MY MOBIUS.
This foot chase sequence is really cool actually.
It's nice to see Loki using his magic again. He's lost no talent at all during his time in the TVA.
And it's back to O.B.'s corner.
Loki and Mobius following O.B.'s instructions to work on the TemPad is the funniest thing. No progress whatsoever.
Casey is here to save the day.
Jacketless Mobius feels so wrong. That jacket is part of him.
Shut up, Brad.
Oh. He's trying to convince Loki to go rogue. Interesting.
"He needs therapy." HOW DO YOU BREAK THIS GUY.
Oooh, now he's trying to tempt Mobius.
AYYYYY.
Not the guy I expected to hit him, but okay. We need to let Mobius vent more- poor guy's been through a lot.
Loki recounting the events of The Avengers like it wasn't a couple weeks ago for him is hilarious.
"You've never wanted to visit your place on the timeline?" / "Look, that's the last thing I should be thinking about." He does. Deep down, he really does, even if he won't admit it 😭
Holy shit, the Loom looks really bad.
ACCESS DENIED???
Why. does that doorframe work like that. Like. I would trip. SO MUCH.
Damn, okay, Loki just locked Mobius out. Mischevious scamp.
"This isn't the kind of mischief I was talking about!" Lmao.
Oooh, someone's scared.
"You could kill me with that." / Loki: perks up "Could I?"
Brad brought this upon himself.
Oh. Mobius is one hell of an actor. Nicely done.
"We're all gonna die! Oh, hey, nice to meet you." I love O.B. so much.
THEY'RE ABOUT TO DIE AND CASEY WANTS AN AUTOGRAPH. PRIORITIES.
Sylvie really is just working at some McDonald's. She's got a life; I'm happy for her.
The musiccccc
"My break's in five minutes." I'm surprised she didn't tell him to go away.
"You slapped me in the face. I'm not gonna forget that." / "But I got you a shake!" This is why Mobius is the best character ever.
"Is this a setup?" Oh no. It totally is.
Oh, so now she's willing to help.
DOX GOT DOXXED.
YEAH, YOUR MISSION IS COMPROMISED.
Ooooh, Sylvie came back with.
Nooooooo, they weren't fast enough.
"Do you think you'll be in tomorrow, though?" "Yeah." No, something's gonna happen. She's gonna change her mind.
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justoneofthoseghosts · 11 months
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LOVE the new story and I can't wait to read more Brettsey goodness from you.
Referring to the last Anon, I have to go back to 9 x 2 when Sylvie was the one who put herself out there only to be crushed and heartbroken at the end. In both instances she also doesn't think she's a choice for Matt (lack of communication on both ends has played a big part), in season 9, she thinks Matt's still in love with Gabby because he gives no indication he's not, hasn't told her what he told Sev that she was the only thing on his mind and immediately going out with Sydney after she asks for space. For season 11, all Sylvie knows is what's been told to her, Matt's moved on, he's in a happy place in his life and is enjoying Portland. Again, he doesn't tell her what he's told Boden, that Ben's almost done with high school and he's waiting for the pieces to fall in place to return back to Chicago. I think she would have eventually broke up with Dylan but with everything happening with Julia, her first priority and attention shifted to the baby.
Did she want things to work with both Granger and Dylan, yes because she's trying to move on and because she doesn't know she's an option. I think now that she knows there is a future with Matt, that someday is here, she is never letting that slip through her fingers ever again. She's his choice and everything else in her life.
Sorry if that was way too long of a response.
I couldn't have said it any better, nonny. From my perspective, Sylvie's always felt like she was a second choice (in most of her relationships, not just with Matt) and I'm glad she now knows that she's not.
I am happy that they are on the way to their happy ending. They are two very similar people who love each other so much and are about to have the family they've always wanted 🥰
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Sylki shippers have been extra grating lately. Since season 1, they've really been wanting Loki and Sylvie to have a "happy ending" and become benevolent protectors of the multiverse against Kang together. Loki I could see doing that, sure, the way things have been going this season, that's a burden - one worthy of a god - he'd willingly bear to save lives. But Sylvie?
"Season 2 is like the two of them having to work through that, which I think you see in that one scene in Episode 4 where they have that conversation about, "We are gods." There's something to that, about Loki really embracing that, and there's something sad about the fact that Sylvie, in a way, needs to be reminded of that. It's a life she hasn't really gotten to live." - Kevin Wright, Loki Producer
Sylvie was born the Goddess of Mischief, but the TVA took her when she was just a kid. She didn't grow up living the life of a god, learning what it means to be one. She forgets she is one. Hell, does she even want to be one? She seemed happy in the mundane life she made for herself, and was very upset with Loki for showing up and "ruining" it. She finally has a life of her own choosing, one where she can just live. Her suddenly deciding in the final two episodes that she doesn't care about that and leaving it all behind to go "rule beside" Loki as gods is what really makes her happy would be rushed as hell. It would be the romance taking priority over the character we've been seeing this season.
Reading your ask, I wonder: Is Sylvie better written this season?
If I'm being cynical and thinking of S1, I fear they might show Loki as a proud narcissist who wants to be a god and is obsessed with power, whereas Sylvie is so down to earth and such a good girl that she rejects her goddess status and prefers to go hang out with the common folk.
With that said, if it's done well, it could be pretty interesting for both of them. That's what this series should be about: a show where the Lokis accept themselves and find their own path. That would require they also acknowledge that they're Jotuns but I have no hope in that regard (hey, if I'm wrong, I'll gladly apologize!).
I'm not a big fan of them replacing HWR though. I suppose it depends on how they do it, but to me it makes it seem like they would be giving up their lives in order to dedicate themselves to others and that's not the place I want to see a scapegoat in. I get it can be seen as them being good and protecting others, etc but... can't Loki just have a life of his own for once?
Anyway, I agree with you about Sylvie. She said it herself she barely remembered Asgard and she was only a kid when she was taken. For her to end the series taking on the role of a full-fledged goddess would be weird. It would be interesting though if the discussion was about that god status being something you're born with or something you choose?
I get why the shippers might be mad but Sylvie needs to be fleshed out, she has a lot of potential. Reducing her to a love interest just so that they can have a romance would be a huge mistake.
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pinktwingirl · 3 years
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Why, even ignoring the incest/self-cest, Sylki is still a terrible pairing
1. Sylvie is a terribly written character
Sylvie has virtually no personality outside of being a #girlboss Mary Sue. Her only purpose in the show is to be the “superior Loki” - she gets to be the badass while making Loki look like a blithering idiot by comparison. Even though this show is supposed to be centered around Loki, he does virtually nothing throughout the whole series, and Sylvie is the one they want us to be hyping around, even though we have no prior connection with her. For a creative team that claims to love Loki, they certainly seem to hate him.
2. Sylvie does not give a shit about Loki
If the writers of this show were trying to convince me that Sylvie at any point reciprocates Loki’s feelings for her, they did a terrible job of it, because I do not buy it for a SECOND. They have absolutely no chemistry whatsoever. Any time Loki tries to convey his feelings for her, Sylvie doesn’t look happy or in love. If anything, she just looks uncomfortable. Not to mention, in the scene where Loki gets pruned right in front of her, she has virtually no reaction at all. She isn’t sad or upset that Loki’s gone, because Loki was never a priority to her. She constantly belittles him, invalidates his trauma, and tells him to shut up when he tries to speak his mind. Any time Loki brings up his past, she immediately shuts him down because what she went through was sooooo much worse. That is not what Loki needs in a romantic partner. Loki needs someone who makes him feel valued and understood, not yet another character who uses every chance they get to treat him like shit. But apparently, the way she treats him is perfectly acceptable, because the writers want you to believe that Loki is nothing but a pompous narcissist who doesn’t deserve sympathy or respect and needs to be “put in his place.” The fact that they are trying to pass this off as a positive relationship feels, to me, like an example of the toxic brand of feminism where women push men around and invalidate their feelings in the name of “being progressive” instead of working with them to create an equitable environment for everyone.
3. The relationship is incredibly forced and rushed
We literally spend one 42-minute-long episode getting to know Sylvie before Loki suddenly decides, out of nowhere, that he’s in love with her. In a four-hour-long, six-episode show, that is not nearly enough time to develop a well-established relationship. And for a character like Loki, who they are trying to establish has trust issues, it seems ridiculous that he would allow himself to fall in love with someone and become that vulnerable around them after spending only a day with them. Keep in mind that this is 2012 Loki, a character who has just escaped the influence of the Black Order, where it was heavily implied that he was tortured and mind-controlled. He should be on his guard constantly and be wary of the idea of even being allies with anyone, much less falling in love with them.
Long story short, even if the incest/self-cest thing doesn’t make you uncomfortable, Sylki is still a shit pairing and a clear demonstration of how Kate Herron and Michael Waldron fundamentally do not understand or respect Loki’s character.
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“She’s not my girlfriend.”
Are you sure about that, Loki? Are you extra, extra sure about that?
Because you:
1. Joined a task force to look for Sylvie (even though you didn’t know her then) and entered the same tent she had just disappeared from mere seconds before;
2. Thought that she was you (which later she would disagree with and say “if anything, you’re me” but anyway) and therefore pretty darn easy to locate;
3. Wouldn’t at first accept the fact that she was superior to you (well, y’all are equals, and maybe she’s better than you, but we’ll get to that later);
4. Theorized with your new friend Mobius that she was hiding in apocalypses by stealing his salad and then proceeding to absolutely destroy it doing so;
5. Visited freakin’ POMPEII to prove said theory and then actually proved your theory correct;
6. Used a candy from the future as a clue to find out where she might’ve taken her next steps, and cross referenced it with the many apocalypses she might’ve been in;
7. Actually found an apocalypse that she ends up being in (Alabama 2050);
8. Went to said apocalypse to look for her (you seem pretty invested in looking for her at this point);
9. Found her first enchantment victim who then passed the enchantment onto her second victim (B-15, looking at you), whom you still thought was you;
10. Found her third enchantment victim who told you not to call her a Loki (which she’ll do again, don’t worry);
11. Acknowledged through her fourth enchantment victim that she was different than you for the first time (“I would never treat me like this,” you said);
12. Followed her through a Time Door back to the TVA after meeting her for the first time;
13. Somehow allowed her to get the best of you even though you probably didn’t mean for that to happen;
14. Grabbed her stolen TemPad and landed the both of y’all in yet another apocalypse, the worst one yet actually, one that she’s probably been to before;
15. Tried to shield her from a falling meteor, to which she said she didn’t need your help (I mean, did you have a reason to save her then?);
16. Called her weird (I mean, that’s funny as hell, I gotta give you that);
17. Opened a door for her and let her enter the mining shack first before you did;
18. Literally let down your guard around her (yes, you’re tired from all that running, but still);
19. Somehow didn’t even stop her from putting both her hands on your neck in an attempt to enchant you (it looked romantic as hell, dude, and how were you not even opposed to her doing that, given both of y’all’s antagonism toward each other?);
20. Told her mockingly “In my heart” when she asked you where you hid her stolen TemPad (I mean, you could have said literally anything else but you went for “in my heart”, okay, I see where this is going);
21. Kind of agreed with her when she said you needed her to get out of Lamentis, “you need me” being the key phrase;
22. Asked her where she was going, and followed her;
23. Acknowledged that she’s not a Loki (yay!), or at least the fact that she doesn’t want to be referred to as one;
24. Followed her into an abandoned mining town where you thought you could fool a resident who chose to stay (you couldn’t);
25. Let her get away with teasing you about your failed efforts;
26. Playfully grabbed her by the shoulders from behind as you used your magic to conjure up a guard’s outfit for yourself (which you looked absolutely hilarious in, by the way, that helmet did not help one bit);
27. Sat down with her at a booth on the train, just the two of you (I’m not calling this anything else other than a date, at this point, to be honest);
28. Told her a wistful story about your mother and how she taught you magic and how she believed in you;
29. Showed her a miniature version of the fireworks you said your mother once conjured up for you, in an attempt to make her happy (I mean, those are beautiful fireworks, and she likes them too!);
30. Playfully conjured up a feather and quill to tease her about saying “Love is hate” (she finds you funny, she just doesn’t want to admit it);
31. Asked her whether she’s got anyone waiting for her when her mission’s complete (well, she did give a sarcastic answer but that’s not my point);
32. Admitted to her that you courted both princes and princesses in the past as part and parcel of being royalty;
33. Disagreed on love being mischief (what does that even mean?!) and then told her that you might need a bit more of champagne to really get that line of thought going;
34. Sang (I’m sorry, serenaded is a better word) her a song about a fair maiden waiting for her beloved to return home (you’ll find out how prophetic that would be in due time, don’t worry);
35. Decided that a dagger was your best metaphor for love (what, does being inebriated make you better at metaphors now?)
36. Let her get mad at you for getting drunk on the train (tbh, that’s kinda your fault, but there was literally nothing else to do, so) and breaking her TemPad (honestly, how do you even break a TemPad when it’s hidden in one of your magic pockets?! How?!);
37. Asked her if she felt better after that frustration-fueled scream (I mean, that’s kinda the first time you’re looking out for her, because that’s about to get real routine);
38. Went along with her after she sarcastically suggested that y’all both should try to get the Ark off the moon, fully knowing the impossibility of doing so;
39. Bantered teasingly with her about enchantment;
40. Believed her on a dime’s drop when she said that everyone who worked that the TVA were Variants, just like the two of you;
41. Let her grab your hand before the both of you ran around the back of the Ark’s docking station in order to find another boarding point;
42. Asked her if she was okay after the both of you got knocked back by an explosion (aww, you do care for her, how sweet!);
43. Finally called her by her name just before the Ark exploded;
44. Apologized to her for ruining her mission and dooming the both of y’all to die on an exploding moon;
45. Sat and listened to her explain her motives for her mission, before telling her that though people like the both of you may lose in sometimes painful ways, y’all always survive one way or another;
46. Freakin’ COMPLIMENTED her (that’s a first), and while the both of you sat waiting for the explosion to wipe the both of you off the map, you took her hand for the first time after she put her hand on your forearm (lovely, by the way);
47. Looked longingly and sadly at her when the both of y’all were hauled back to the TVA for interrogation and then subsequently separated;
48. Denied, when interrogated (is questioned a better word?) by Mobius, that you and her are partners (ha, you’ll soon be, in more ways than one, if you weren’t already), with a look on your face that absolutely betrays your true feelings for her;
49. Couldn’t even sell your lie about meeting her to Mobius that he had to lie right back to you;
50. Thought she was dead and felt so worried for her (you should’ve seen your face!);
51. Asked if she was alive and then SIGHED IN RELIEF when you were assured that she’s still alive (oh, have you got it bad for her, and you know it);
52. Denied that she’s your girlfriend the first time Mobius teases you with that word;
53. Spilled your emotions and your feelings for her on the table when you told Mobius about how much you believe her about everyone at the TVA being Variants;
54. Didn’t even deny it the second time he called her your girlfriend;
55. When asked by Mobius if you cared about Sylvie, you didn’t know if “care” was the right word;
56. Straight-up told him, “I believe her” with such emotional conviction it’s hard to see it as anything else;
57. Nodded your head at her when the both of y’all were reunited at the very same elevators you met in front of (how poetic) and she asked you if you’re okay;
58. Literally had her back when the both of y’all fought the guards in the Timekeepers’ chambers;
59. Got distracted when she got knocked down to the floor by Judge Renslayer;
60. Were on the brink of telling her how you feel about her, telling her that revealing your emotions was kind of a new experience;
61. Decided the best option was to place your hands just by her shoulders for whatever reason;
62. Let go of her so that she wasn’t pruned like you were;
63. Admitted in a roundabout way in just three words that she was your glorious purpose (priorities shifted, eh?)
64. Proudly proclaimed that her being terrifying was the very thing that made her so brilliant;
65. Literally puffed out your chest when you said, “she needs me” (she will, much later, don’t worry);
66. Revealed that she’s the only one you do trust (oh, the way your voice just softens when you speak about her…);
67. Planned an unwise sneak attack (that would’ve involved stabbing a cloud, I mean…) on freakin’ ALIOTH because you believed that doing so would bring you back to her when you really had no idea whether it would or would not;
68. Ran down the hill you were on to reunite with her (classic reunion move, pity you didn’t complete it by hugging her, but I guess you’re not there yet) when she arrived by car and asked her if she’s okay (looks like it’s becoming a habit);
69. Hilariously tried to unsuccessfully argue, through telling her that you’ve been in the Void longer than she has (maybe for like, an hour or two? IDK) that stabbing a cloud with a dagger was your best line of defense;
70. Sat next to her and had a conversation with her, during which you…;
71. Said it was cold (whether it was or wasn’t, isn’t important), so you…;
72. Conjured up a blanket for yourself before asking if she wanted one as well and proceeded to deny that your budding romantic connection with her was the both of y’all’s nexus event;
73. Followed that up with revealing that your nexus event with her felt great, it was a nice moment (aww);
74. Proceed to deny it as another TVA lie (you really need to work on talking about your feelings!);
75. Reassured her that you don’t know what the both of y’all are doing with regards to this relationship you both have with each other;
76. Playfully wrapped part of your blanket around her shoulders (double aww, that’s the classic “I’m gonna fake yawn and drop my arm around her shoulders, y’all think she’ll notice” kind of move, and yes, she did, and she likes it) and smiled giddily like the lovesick puppy you are;
77. Acknowledged in a roundabout (and maybe not so subtle) way that she loves you;
78. Pledged to not betray her, to not let her down, because you’re not that kind of person anymore;
79. Adorably nudged her when you asked her what her plans were when all was said and done;
80. Suggested that the both of y’all could figure things out… “together”, you said (triple aww!);
81. Handed the TemPad she gave you to Mobius and told her, “You go, I go” (I mean…);
82. Let her take your hand before you went to attempt to enchant ALIOTH;
83. Interlocked both of y’all’s fingers while y’all were at it;
84. Walked hand in hand to the Citadel at the End of Time;
85. Asked her if everything’s okay after she becomes nervous before entering the Citadel;
86. Got really unimpressed when that creepy ghost clock offered the both of you a chance to rule the TVA together;
87. Stated that “We write our own destiny now”, cementing the fact that you and her are an item;
88. Warned her to not listen to He Who Remains;
89. Tried to stop her by warning her about the possible consequences of her actions;
90. Suggested that the best plan of action was to take a minute to think of whether allowing a multiversal war was better than the alternative both of y’all never wanted (unfortunate as it was to be a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t situation);
91. Got upset when she told you she felt like you betrayed her (don’t worry, you didn’t);
92. Clashed blades with her even though you clearly didn’t want to;
93. Told her “No” when she suggested that you kill her and take a throne you never wanted;
94. Let her blade fall to your neck to get her to stop and consider;
95. Said to her that this feeling of revenge, bloodlust isn’t worth it because you’d once been in her shoes;
96. Told her that you didn’t want to hurt her (after acknowledging that she’s been hurt by the TVA for a lifetime) and that all you wanted was for her to be okay;
97. Shared a kiss with her.
98. Deepened that kiss (you know you did…);
99. Grieved the misfortune of not just losing her but also the outcome of recent events, knowing that what she had to do was her life’s mission that you’d previously supported her on;
100. Went up to a changed Mobius and told him by referring to her, “We made a terrible mistake. We freed the Timeline. We found him beyond the storm.”
And if that doesn’t say “she’s become my girlfriend and I’m damn proud of her”, I don’t know what does.
-
Go get her, Loki. Go get Sylvie back. We’re betting on it.
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wolvesandpetals · 3 years
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Loki x Sylvie Post-Finale Fanfiction (Angst, Rated Teen) Part 1 of 2
SPOILER ALERT.
It's probably just the alcohol, but the beats of the music are starting to sound a little bit like a marching drum that's announcing war. She can feel herself dancing along to it, but her whole body is on alert, ready to switch to fight and flight any second.
"So, cool place huh?" The bloke in the leather jacket asks.
She tries to remember his name. Jeff something. Or maybe Jed. No, not Jed, she's thinking of Star Wars again. That's what happens when you binge watch a multiverse of movies in a single day.
Oh, yeah, that's right. She broke the multiverse.
Another shot of tequila, and she takes not-Jed's hand in hers. It doesn't feel right, at least not the way-
No.
She realises he asked her a question, but she can't remember what, and she just laughs, because that always works.
Encouraged, he leans in close and whispers into her ears. "How about we get out of here?"
"And go where, exactly?" She asks, but she's not sure he understands, not with how slurred the words come out.
She laughs again, and this time, it's bitter. This time, she's laughing at how this is so him, this getting drunk in the face of imminent danger and making a mess of things.
(But I'm not you.)
---
She's frozen in her place the second the glowing yellow door appears. But it's not for her, at least not this time.
She hasn't been on the run for a while. Doesn't need to be. Because even though she is the one who unleashed the chaos, it's the chaos that needs to be contained immediately. She's low on the list of priorities.
The TVA will come for her. But not right now.
---
It's extremely easy pretending to be a psychic. All she has to do is take her client's hands and enchant him, find a memory, describe it back to him.
Sometimes she does it just for fun, just to see the look of amazement on their faces.
Other times, she does it for the money she needs to survive.
"And I see a blonde woman. Very beautiful."
"That's my wife."
The way he smiles, loving and proud, makes her heart drop.
"What do you see in her future? Is she happy? Does she get the job at the magazine?"
There is definitely at least one timeline where she does get the job, but The Enchantress cannot exactly tell if it's this one. She can't actually see the future, after all.
She sees the colors drain from his face as her silence swallows the room. "She's going to be okay, right? I just want her to be okay."
(I just want you to be okay.)
There's that bitter laugh again, because-
No. She can't do this right now.
"She loves you very much", she whispers, to the man in front of her, and to the man who is not there to hear those words.
---
Mobius finds her in the middle of a concert by a Nirvana where Kurt Cobain never died. She can easily slip away, disappear into the screaming, writhing crowd if she wants.
Or she can just take him some place quiet and hear him out.
"Help us", Mobius pleads. He sounds exhausted, and not just physically. "We're outnumbered and outwitted. Our world is in danger."
"This isn't my world", she reminds him.
"Yet, you're here", he retorts.
Her smile is pained. "Where else will I go?"
He is sympathetic, like he always has been. And he offers her a new glorious purpose. "Come with me. We need you. He needs you."
She feels the air find its way out of her lungs the same way she pushed him out of her life- painfully, forcefully. "H-how is he?"
"He's okay... all things considered."
Now there's a cocktail of relief and disappointment that will give her months of sleepless nights.
"Tell him I'm-" she starts, but she doesn't know how to finish that sentence. What can she tell him? That she's sorry for not trusting him when she should have? That she's sorry for making the universes collide?
That she's sorry for betraying him and breaking his heart?
(How will I know you won't betray me at the end?)
"Nevermind."
---
It's been really hard facing the consequences of her actions, watching the timelines bleed into each other and destroy people's lives- families torn, achievements gone, every little anomaly delving into death and destruction. Every headline on the newspaper is her fault, and she has to live with that.
But that seems so easy compared to this moment where she has to face him.
The plan was to send him away, kill He Who Remains, give people their free will back, save the world, then come back to him. Yeah, he'd be mad at her at first, sure, but he'd forgive her eventually, she was confident.
Then the timelines started to branch the minute she stuck the dagger in that terrifying man's chest, and she knew she had screwed up.
She had sunk to the ground in defeat as the realisation of the repercussions hit her, and she did what she has always done- run.
She didn't even realise she had sent him to the wrong universe until she teleported herself into another universe as well. The journey back was long and lonely, but she dreamt of him in colors while the world was bleeding red, and that was enough to keep her going.
She doesn't really know what she'll do when she sees him again. Neither does she know what reaction she expects from him. Nothing he can say to her can be worse than what she thinks of herself.
A part of her hopes he would be overwhelmingly happy, he would come running to her, just like he did at The Void, greet her with the smile that has won a hundred hearts- including hers, and tell her everything will be alright. Another part of her fears that he would be furious, and he would confront her with accusations of unleashing havoc on all worlds- especially his.
What she never expected is this eerie calm that makes her feel like she is standing in the storm center.
His walls are up.
And it causes her to redirect the anger she feels at herself towards him. There's venom in her voice. "So you do get to rule, after all."
"I don't feel much like a king." He shrugs. "I'm more of a multiversal janitor. Mopping up multiversal messes."
"My messes."
"Our messes." He corrects, his features softening around the edges. "We made a mistake." He has been saying that ever since he found himself in the alternate TVA, and that hasn't changed even after getting back to his own version of the bureau. Always "we", never "she". He simply cannot bring himself to blame her without taking accountability for his part in the mess.
"Don't patronize me." Her hands are shaking, just like her voice, a sharp contrast to his steady silhouette, and can he just hold her, please? "I don't need you to take the fall for me."
His eyes go cold, like they were forged in the heart of Jotunheim. "Of course not", he says, fully composed. "You don't need me for anything. It's not like we're in this together."
(Maybe we can figure it out-together.)
---
She now knows her walls don't- can't- keep the hurt out- it just keeps her locked inside this cage of distrust and insecurities. And the price she has to pay for it is too high.
They could have been lying on a beach somewhere, sipping mimosas right now. Instead, they're here, in the vast, silent library of the TVA, sitting on separate tables, reading files on variants.
The only thing worse than bearing the weight of his gaze is having him stare at his files without looking in her direction even once. She can't take it anymore.
"I'm sorry." She suddenly blurts out.
He looks up, confused. "I'm sorry?"
"I'm sorry for what I did." She repeats. It's difficult to start an apology, but once she finds the strength to begin, the rest of it flows automatically. "I'm sorry I messed up everything. I'm sorry I broke the timelines. I'm sorry the world is in danger." She takes in a deep breath. "And I'm sorry I betrayed you."
His smile is the saddest kind. "A Loki betraying a Loki. That's the least surprising thing in the world. What's shocking is how I didn't see it coming. You really had me going with that kiss. Very nice distraction. Very Loki."
Free will comes with the fine-print of living with the consequences of your choices. And she has to live with hers every day. The tears finally spill out of her eyes. She hasn't let herself cry for a long, long time. But now she's breaking down worse than the multiverse. "I didn't do it to distract you. I did it to say goodbye."
He gets up, and she panics that he's leaving. Instead, he sits down in front of her, reaches for her hand, but changes his mind mid-way and lets them fall to his side. "You didn't have to say goodbye."
"It's all I've ever known." She feels like that scared little girl, far from home, running from minute men, with nobody to turn to but herself. "I told you, I don't have anyone."
"You had me."
That's the saddest part of it all, isn't it? Everything else in her life is the TVA's fault. She's torn from Asgard? Hasn't seen her parents in years? Can't remember her brother Thor? Spent her whole childhood running and hiding? All TVA.
But this? This is all her own doing. This is the one time she had something real, something worth holding onto, someone worth fighting against the world for. Instead, she questioned his intentions, didn't hold on, fought him and ruined everything.
"I didn't want to rule, Sylvie", he finally tells her. "I wanted you."
She has dreamed of this moment when he tells her how he feels. They have come so close to it so many times, the words dangling off the edge of his tongue but never quite finding their way out. She has always known- every word, every action pointed to it. But it was so hard to imagine someone could love her.
It's so hard to imagine someone can love her again. The past tense in his wording terrifies her worse than any danger ever could. "Is it too late to fix things?"
His smile doesn't reach his eyes. "We are fixing things. That's why we are here. Saving the universe."
"You know what I mean."
"I don't know how to trust you again, Sylvie." He tells her point blank- no deception, no lies, no Loki-ism. "And you never trusted me to begin with."
That's not entirely true. She trusts him more than she has trusted anyone. "I really thought I was doing the right thing."
"I know."
(Not to be dramatic, but yeah, we're saving the universe.)
---
The Avengers are much nicer than Loki described them, considering they don't kill her for what she has done, instead tell her about their own journeys towards redemption. Wanda tells her about the man she has loved and lost, and the pain she has caused to an entire town. Barnes talks about his past as a brainwashed assassin. Clint tells her the story of Natasha and how she took charge and changed her life.
Thor is the kindest of them all. He talks about how far Loki himself has come. He tells her stories of his version of Asgard, the nine realms, the glorious battles, the beauty of earth.
She still dreams of death, but sometimes she doesn't.
Sometimes, she hopes.
---
(To be continued)
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Lokius Hogwarts AU
All right my dudes, hot take time:
I’ve seen a lot of Hogwarts AU headcanons floating around, and having thought waaaaaay too much about it, I’m here to add my two cents.
( @sortinghatchats has my favorite sorting system I’ve seen to date, since it goes so much in depth into themes throughout the HP series that good ol’ JK barely touches on in her pretty surface level commentary on the subject, so that’s the system I’m gonna use. Go to their blog to learn more about the way the system works bc I’m too lazy to go more in depth than I already have.)
This is gonna be Hella Long tho so I’m putting it under a cut.
Loki: Petrified Slytherin Primary/Slytherin Secondary - sorting: Slytherin House
Perhaps it may seem trite, but Loki really is a Slytherin Primary at heart. Yes he is ambitious and all that stereotypical stuff, but that’s not really what makes a Slytherin a Slytherin. Anyone can be ambitious. No, he’s a Slytherin because he unapologetically prioritizes himself and the people he cares about above all else. 
“Slytherin Primaries are fiercely loyal to the people they care for most. Slytherin is the place where “you’ll make your real friends”– they prioritize individual loyalties and find their moral core in protecting and caring for the people they are closest to. Slytherin’s reputation for ambition comes from the visibility of this promotion of the self and their important people– ambition is something you can find in all four Houses; Slytherin’s is just the one that looks most obviously selfish.”
However, Loki’s trauma has pushed him to something this system calls Petrifying.
“Whether through death, betrayal, abandonment (from either side), or through never having had any to begin with, the Petrified Slytherin has decided that having important people is too dangerous. Having those strong ties leaves you open to pain and weakness, and the pleasure of those connections aren’t worth the despair that comes from their seemingly inevitable loss. In this way, they close themselves off to meaningful connections out of what is ultimately fear (though from the inside, it’s far more likely to be experienced as a rational, sensible decision given the circumstances of the world), and gives them a stony exterior that seems impenetrable, resolute, and cold.” 
Loki wants love and acceptance so badly, but he is convinced that the kind of attachments and relationships that that comes from are far too dangerous and the risk isn’t worth the reward. He pushes people away, hides behind a mask of self-aggrandizement, and betrays others before they can betray him in an attempt to protect himself from potential pain.
In the series, however, we see him slowly unpetrify and move towards a more healthy style of attachment because of Mobius and Sylvie’s influence on him. Whereas his circle of priorities used to include only himself (and arguably Frigga and later, Thor, in the movie timeline), he proverbially “thaws” enough to let Mobius and Sylvie in, and tragically, because of that, the loss of them hurts him so deeply because by the end of season 1, they’re all he had.
His Slytherin Secondary, however, is obvious in his methodology. He’s the god of chaos. He loves improvisation, and plans only exist as long as another better idea doesn’t come along and usurp it. He’ll change and adapt (quite literally) to best fit the situation in front of him, and he takes joy in that. But beneath all the running and his many personas, he has his “neutral state” that he lets only a precious few see. Mobius gets to see it, and so does Sylvie, and as he progresses through the series, he starts to be more comfortable existing in that state where he’s no longer hiding behind everything he feels like the world expects him to be and he can just be himself. 
Mobius: Slytherin Primary (Hufflepuff Model)/Hufflepuff Secondary - sorting: Slytherin House
People like to put Mobius in Hufflepuff, but honestly? I don’t think that’s where he’d be most comfortable. Yes, he is kind and caring to basically everyone, and we see this over and over again in the series. The man radiates comfort. However, like it says in Inky and Kat’s description of the Slytherin Primary, 
“Wanting to help someone doesn’t mean you’re loyal to them. Wanting to help them at the expense of your comforts, your values, your commitments and sometimes even yourself–that does.”
Mobius is kind to a fault. But he is not kind at the expense of himself. Not to everyone at least. He is kind to the child in France, but he is not kind to the point of saving him from the resetting of the timeline, and he doesn’t feel guilty about that. He believes in a duty of care, but he does not believe he has any obligation to go beyond what he thinks that duty of care is. He unapologetically plays favorites, and this is mentioned on multiple occasions. Above all else, Mobius values loyalty as a virtue. Sure, he cares about the TVA and its accompanying morality, and he genuinely does believe it’s his duty to care about and be kind to others. He seems to vibe quite well with the Hufflepuff ideal of caring about people simply because they are people, but this is all secondary to his personal loyalties when push comes to shove. For Mobius,
“dropping that model in order to stand by someone you love, or in order to protect yourself, doesn’t feel like a failing. Sticking to that modelled morality at the expense of betraying or abandoning one of their own would make a Slytherin feel guilty and wrong. Being able to put the things and concepts you like aside for the sake of the people who need you feels more righteous than any moral posturing.”
It’s for this very reason that Mobius gets so angry and feels so betrayed when he thinks Loki has abandoned him for Sylvie, and when Ravonna lies to him and prunes him.
“Betraying your own is the worst kind of crime. Loyalty is precious and terrible; it makes you vulnerable. It’s given sparingly, deeply, and a Slytherin will stand by their loyalties through the same death and fire that a Gryffindor would brave for the sake of doing the right thing, or a Hufflepuff to help someone in need.”
Loki is Mobius’ own. Mobius prioritizes Loki over almost everything else, sticks his neck out for him over and over again, and is willing to sacrifice his own happiness for him. He’s even willing to abandon the whole of his former ideology and prior friendships for this relationship that has become closer to him than his own self, the highest tier of trust and loyalty a Slytherin can give.
“It’s an extreme Slytherin who would let the whole world burn for the sake of a friend, but every Slytherin Primary would be at the very least tempted.”
And Mobius very nearly does exactly that. Even says the words, “burn it to the ground” when Loki asks him what he’s going to do. And he doesn’t feel bad about it. Especially after realizing what the TVA has done to him and the people he cares about. He kicks the TVA out of his circle of care, and doesn’t look back. And he does it for Loki.
Mobius’ Secondary is where people get his Hufflepuff vibes from, I think. A Hufflepuff secondary is marked by “their consistency and the integrity of their method. They’re our hard workers. They build habits and systems for themselves and accomplish things by keeping at them. They have a steadiness that can make them the lynchpin (though not usually the leader) of a community.” And that is what Mobius is. It’s why he radiates that kindness and comfort. He quietly and carefully works at and invests in the relationships in his life to the point that people almost automatically trust him, and over time he has learned how to read people and figure out what makes them tick. 
He approaches new situations with a steady head and gentle hand that Loki is unused to, and it’s this approach that eases Loki into learning how to trust and rely on people. It’s an inherently Hufflepuff approach, and it’s the key to his success as an analyst for the TVA and an understanding friend for Lokis across the timelines.
Tl;dr - Application to an actual Hogwarts AU fic:
THEREFORE! There’s a compelling narrative to be had with a tiny, first-year Loki coming into Hogwarts. He comes from a pureblood family that’s very proud of their Gryffindor heritage (they don’t talk about Hela, and Loki and Thor don’t even know she exists until later in this story), and his brother had been sorted into Gryffindor a couple years prior, and Loki has heard very little other than contempt for Slytherin House and everyone in it. Loki doesn’t want to be sorted into Slytherin. He doesn’t want to deal with the disappointment and shame from his father and the sad eyes of his brother. But the sorting hat sorts him there almost immediately, and his heart sinks. He wanders over to the table miserably but determined. If he’s gonna be sorted into the “evil” house, might as well just run with it, right? Best not to get close to people though. It’s Slytherin. Who knows when someone will betray you.
Enter Mobius, the tiny muggleborn, bright eyed, bushy tailed, and having no clue about the prejudices between houses. The hat takes a hot minute sorting him, giving him the choice between Hufflepuff and Slytherin and telling him Hufflepuff would love a kindhearted and welcoming member like him. But Mobius has been eyeing the little black-haired kid who got sorted before him and is now sitting far apart from everyone, and he can’t help but feel like he needs to be this kid’s friend. And didn’t the hat just say Slytherin is where you’ll make your real friends? Friends are what Mobius cares about, so he’d like to go to Slytherin, thank you very much, so that’s where he goes, and he happily plunks himself down right next to Loki and sticks his hand out.
“I’m Mobius. What’s your name?”
 Loki looks at Mobius’ hand disdainfully and doesn’t shake it, but he does answer, “Loki.”
Mobius’ eyes go wide, and he smiles. “Loki? Like after the Norse god?”
Loki nods, eyeing Mobius suspiciously. People don’t often bat an eye at his name. Not in the wizarding world, anyway.
“Wow, that’s so cool! I loved reading about Norse mythology in school and Loki was always my favorite. Names have power, you know. If you’ve got the same name, then you must be just as awesome.”
Loki has no idea what to do with this kid, but he’s immediately aware of two things:
He’s absolutely sure that this Mobius kid is in the wrong house. No way a Slytherin can be this excited without a single hint of deception in his face.
He’s going to be eaten alive by the other students if Loki doesn’t protect him. What a pain.
Loki is completely wrong on both of these points.
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mxgilray · 3 years
Text
I... have some thoughts on the Loki finale. It was not what I was expecting, but I'm still hopeful for season 2.
This felt like a meh finale, like how a lot of season finales felt in Spring 2020 when they unexpectedly quit filming and had to cut things short by a couple episodes thanks to the pandemic. Only this was the planned out finale, they should've given a bit more oomph. I'm quite a fan of exposition and character development usually, but all the dialog was centered on He Who Remains, so it felt like our main characters were just side pieces.
Plus, the final "cliffhanger" of Mobius not knowing Loki and the statue of HWR replacing the Time Keeper statues felt quite lackluster. Not sure how they could've made it hit harder, but it didn't deliver the "oh shit" vibes they intended, but maybe that's cuz Mobius not remembering Loki has been an expected plot line on tumblr for half the season so it wasn't a blindside.
I get the point of the Sylki kiss. From what I've seen on tumblr so far I feel like the nuance of Sylvies actions was lost to most people (both Sylki fans and antis just Didn't Get It). It wasn't a big declaration of love like the fans are grasping onto it as, and it wasn't shoving selfcest into the canon to keep the heternormativity like antis are accusing it of being; it was Sylvie using Loki's attachment to her to trick him. She needed Loki out of her way, and she knew the only way to get past him and get He Who Remains' tempad was through emotional distraction. She used his love against him and betrayed him, a kiss was simply the most efficient way to do it. I did a whole post last week about Sylvie's feelings towards Loki, but to sum up I firmly believe that while Loki harbors some romantic feelings for Sylvie, she feels strictly platonic towards him, but is very aware of his attraction. She took advantage of his care for her to get the upper hand during their fight. Heck she even foreshadowed it herself in ep 5. "There are more important things than friends" "like taking down the TVA" she told Loki that taking down whoever is behind the TVA comes before everything; it's priority #1 in her book, above friendship or love or trust. Loki proved that his priority now is the greater good of the universe not her revenge, so Sylvie has no use for him anymore (partners only when it's convenient, because she is a Loki and that's how emotionally stunted Lokis behave).
I would like to point out the irony of her being worried about Loki betraying her, only to turn around and betray him. It's in the realm of "people who cheat assuming their partner is cheating" / "not using a turn signal when changing planes to avoid being cut off because when you see someone else use their signal you tend to cut them off", it's assuming other people will behave like you do. Sylvie feared in ep 5 that Loki would betray her in the end because she knew if it came down to it she'd betray him. But the thing is, he's actually grown past that. Loki is finally thinking about how his actions can damage others, not just his own wants and needs. Sylvie saw this moral change in Loki, realized there was no chance of getting him back on the blind revenge boat, and decided to exploit his newfound selflessness and emotional attachment to get him out of her path.
This whole season Loki has been maturing emotionally and growing into the best, most heroic version of himself. Sylvie, on the other hand, still has that deceptive, selfish, can't trust anyone persona that every Loki develops to combat insecurity. She hasn't had the emotional growth needed to see the bigger picture, she's still trapped in her own self centered mindset. As such, she disregards the impact her betrayal will have on Loki, the impact killing HWR will have on the universe. She doesn't even take a beat to consider whether revenge is still the right path cuz she doesn't practice self reflection yet; revenge has always been the goal and she refuses to give herself a chance of changing her mind. I hope in season 2 she'll get some character growth, now that her 1 goal has been accomplished.
Now on to Mobius. I enjoyed his scenes, I wish we'd been shown more of what he did to reveal the truth to the rest of the TVA. Again, I feel like too much time was given to HWR's monologing and not enough was spent on the other characters so Mobius and B-15 got very little screen time to display their plan. I am happy Mobius got the opportunity to throw Ranslayers betrayal back in her face, and his attemp at attacking her...my boy you work a desk job you ain't no fighter, she used to work in the field collecting variants, you had no chance. Also, where the F did she go??? I kept expecting her to show up at the end of time but she didn't. Where did Miss Minutes send her??
I'm sad Mobius doesn't know Loki anymore, but I can't say I'm surprised. I've got a few different thoughts on what the heck is going on with him and the TVA:
Sylvie accidentally sent Loki way back to a time early on in the TVA before HWR created the Time Keepers for anonymity. As such, this is a past Mobius who has yet to meet Loki or even learn of Loki's existence. If this is the case, then I think Loki and Past!Mobius's interaction at the end of ep 6 will be the catalyst for him becoming a Loki expert. The 63 branching timelines Mobius and B-15 are discussing before Loki interrupts are from some currently unknown disaster that'll be a plot line in s2. (This is my least favorite theory, but nevertheless a possibility)
HWR was correct when he said that if Sylvie kills him and destroys the TVA then another variant of him will just start it all up again. This variant didn't care to remain anonymous, hence the big statue of him, but kept all the memory wiped variants working there. Because time is a chaotic bitch, the changeover from one HWR variant to another may have been near seamless at the TVA and just involved a quick memory wipe of anything relating to the Time Keepers, Loki and Sylvie, or knowledge that the TVA are all variants. The 63 branches may be thanks to something Renslayer is doing like killing all the HWR variants in existence in order to negate the need for the TVA. The branching could also be from Sylvie's revenge still, we have no idea how much time has passed between her killing HWR and a new HWR taking over so the branching she caused could still be an issue.
There have actually been multiple TVAs running simultaneously, each in their own multiverse. Each one employs memory wiped variants, each one is in charge of a certain subset of timelines, and all work under the one HWR. Sylvie used HWR's tempad to eject Loki back to the TVA, but she accidentally sent him to the TVA of a different multiverse not realizing that's a Thing. The 63 branching timelines Mobius and B-15 are discussing are indeed from Sylvie killing HWR, but there's only 63 as opposed to the countless we saw diverging from Sylvie's perspective because this TVA only sees branches on timelines within their own multiverse. Mobius doesn't know Loki because he isn't our Mobius and in the multiverse he works in maybe Loki's aren't as much of an issue because none of them ever escaped the TVA like Sylvie did (or none of them have Tom's face so he doesn't recognize him as a Loki). If this is the case, then Loki is gonna have to find his way back to his own multiverse in order to be reunited with his Mobius, and that could end up happening thanks to Renslayer. Miss Minutes gave her a file that I suspect only HWR should have access to. Maybe it was tempad coordinates for other multiverses? It took til the 31st century for the multiverses to be connected despite Tony figuring out time travel in the 21st century because travel between universes is much harder, maybe HWR is still the only one who knows how to do that. (If this theory is correct then all the time travel done during Endgame was through timelines within one multiverse) Also just thought of this but what if the reason there are so many extreme variations of loki that grew to adulthood is because the criteria of "sacred timeline" is different in each multiverse. Classic Loki and maybe President Loki and Kid Loki are from the same universe as MCU Loki, but red haired Loki, Croki, Boastful Loki, etc are all from other universes. Think about it, Classic Loki, 2012 Loki, and MCU Loki all have an exact identical path up until their nexus event (or death in MCU Loki's case). I think other than identifying as female, Sylvie's childhood was identical as well and that her nexus event was coming to terms with her adoption as a child, which erased the catalyst of 2011 Thor's plot and would've changed everything for her future path. Had her adoption remained a secret and she grew up on asgard, I believe her story would mirror MCU Loki's. It mildly hit me weird that there would be such wild variation amongst Lokis, even with him being a shapeshifter, because there's a rigid sacred timeline (that supposedly the MCU movies have all adhered to) and they all felt like too big of a divergence to have been left unchecked so long. If boastful Loki was telling the truth about getting all 6 infinity stones then he should've triggered a nexus event as soon as he got more than the 3 he is "supposed to" interact with, unless in his multiverse the sacred timeline criteria is different. Another theory: the agents employed in each TVA are from multiverses other than the one they're working in. It would make sense, keep them from running into their own past by fully detaching each agent from their home timeline/universe. So the Principal!Renslayer that B-15 found will never in any future become the TVA judge we know. The one we know maybe came from the universe Loki got sent to, and that's how the two of them will end up crossing paths again.
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foxymoxynoona · 2 years
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im so intrigued by all the possibilities of the namjoons in your fics. like amended!joon x gina and meadow!joon x rabbit lady for example. like, what are their backstories there?
as for amended i mean ofc we know what happened: gina and joon met for the first time at that car day thingy, gina moved in to his apartment complex, gina developed feelings for him, joon did too that he eventually dumped his current gf, ginas kids fell in love with joon, they started dating. but are they endgame? what happens to them? i truly hope they are endgame because they just seemed so good together right off the bat sparks just flying. and they like balanced each other so well in terms of personalities, in my opinion. and diego and sylvie obviously adored him enough to subconsciously trust him as their own dad. he stepped up just like jungkook. also like when gina was like “are there any other hot cops like jungkook because i want one of my own too” to bella i instantly went WAIT JOON WOULD BE PERFECT FOR HER!!!! and so i was SO happy when you apparently also thought the same thing and made them a thing!!! BUT i want to know if they are endgame 🥺
and as for meadow!joon x rabbit lady… what’s the backstory?? i haven’t finished reading meadow yet so ill probably find out about it as i near the end (im like 38 chaps in) but really. their story intrigues me!!! who is this rabbit lady? where and how did they meet for the first time? is she in love with him back? how did they fall in love with each other? where is she now?
I love that you're intrigued. My stories are already so long I don't usually get to go very deep into any of the side relationships, but I often long to write those as little stand alone stories. Sometimes they're planned (Namjoon and Yeong-ja/bunny girl) and sometimes they surprise me (Namjoon and Gina). I like to think Namjoon and Gina are endgame but that he takes an oddly long time to propose because he's being overly cautious, and finally Diego is like "Dad, it's time." A little like Jayden in Spoilers! Gina's terrified to meet Namjoon's family back in Korea, she doesn't meet them until they fly in for the wedding, and obviously she isn't anything like they had expected for Joon but they are awesome adn they love her and the kids... ok I'm basically just writing the story LOL. But I think it'd be fun to explore those early moments too where they're each like "wait is this person just being nice to me becasue I'm friends with Bella/JK?"
As for Namjoon and Yeong-ja in Meadow, you learn a little about her mom/family in the later chapters. Yeong-ja is smart but has been underutilized because of being a rabbit. Remember it was illegal for them to even date in Korea, so I thin kthere's a really juicy and tragic (and unfortunately realistic) story there of them meeting and sharing smart interests and falling in love but having to deny it because it's illegal. The trust either of them would have to have in the other to finally confess, that they were going to just turn around and turn them in... and then deciding to run away together and leave everything about their lives behind bcause they want to be together...
I always have plans to write these side stories. I'm just starting the winner of my last Patreon short story priority poll but I think for my next one I'll include some more of my spin off story ideas, if there's interest in them!
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farfarawaygirl · 3 years
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Having read your little add on to that gif of Brett and Casey next to the coffee pot, do you think Matt has had the realization of Sylvie always being a priority for him? Regardless of their relationship to each other.
I was thinking earlier, and while Matt’s feelings run extremely deep, I don’t know if he realizes how essential Sylvie has become to not only his life but his happiness.
I’m excited to see him realize it and go after what he wants.
I love asks like this!
I think Matt has had a couple of really clarifying moments about what Sylvie means to him. The big ones where, when the ambo went over the ledge, when she told him it was never going to happen between them, when she saw him and the billboard girl, and when she sought him out this last episode. All of these moments impact Matt in a really big way.
There is the sad, but distinct possibility that Matt thinks he has lost Sylvie for good at this point. It seems like he’s trying to build a foundation between them again, but I think he’s lost part of the urgency of the situation because of his head injury.
He’s encouraging her to go after what she wants, not really understanding that she wants him. I think two things need to happen:
Matt needs to clearly tell Sylvie that he is not in love with Gabby ( he doesn’t even need to say that he loves Sylvie instead, we just need him to very clearly say that he doesn’t love Gabby )
Sylvie needs to end things with Grainger
Honestly, once that happens, we’re in the clear.
I think that there will be a love confession this season. I think that Matt might cry when it finally happens.
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sylvies-chen · 4 years
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“Take my hand
Take my whole life too
For I can't help falling in love with you”
For brettsey 🥰
She should have seen it coming. 
It isn’t a huge conversation, really. She’s sitting on a fancy chair in a fancy restaurant for what is supposed to be a nice night out for her and Matt. It’s a beautiful restaurant with dim lights that just nail the whole romantic ambiance. But then, she gets a Facebook notification while they’re waiting for their food and sees Hope’s recent wedding photos to some random guy from Fowlerton, sending her shamefully stalking her Facebook page. It’s not like she had specifically planned to bring it up with him, but just. Ugh. Hope sure does bring out the worst in her. 
“Ugh, look at her stupid pretty flowers, and her stupid perfect dress,” she pouts while they sit at their table “Who has roses at their wedding anyway? Rich people, that’s who. My wedding is going to be strictly orchids.” 
“Wedding?” His eyebrows raise at his question.
She backtracks as fast as she can. “Oh, I- hypothetically, I mean.” 
He nods slowly, the awkwardness creeping up on them. 
“I’m sorry,” she knows she should stop herself, but she can’t help it as she asks, “do you, uh… do you not want to get married?” 
“Me? Uh- I mean… Well, we both have had pretty awful experiences with engagements and marriage. So… It just didn’t cross my mind.” 
“Really?” 
“... Nope.” She can’t tell if he’s imagining it but she swears something in his voice is off. 
“Oh… ok,” she nods, blinking back tears and just. She can’t believe what she’s hearing. “I just, uh. We’ve been dating three years now and I figured it was going somewhere. I guess I was wrong.” She can’t stop the tears from trickling off her cheek as she gets up from their table and grabs her coat. 
“Sylvie, wait,” she hears Matt plead as she grabs her coat and dashes. Her heart stings as she leaves the restaurant, the tears blurring her eyes as she fumbles for her keys in her purse. When she gets home, she orders a deep-dish pizza, still hungry after missing out on the food from the restaurant, and passes out on her couch almost immediately after two slices. 
The next morning, she wakes up to two missed calls from Matt. She grunts and puts her phone on silent, getting up from the couch to get breakfast. The only food she has in her fridge that isn’t rotten or expired is the cold, leftover cheese pizza from the night before, so she takes a slice for breakfast and prepares herself for a marathon of Property Brothers. Her relationship with Matt might be slowly crumbling before her eyes but hey, the Scott brothers can be the reliable men in her life from now on, right? 
Her phone keeps lighting up throughout the day with missed calls and texts from Matt. She doesn’t want to hear it. Not yet, at least. Working things out, if even possible, will take hard work and time, and she’s not ready for that yet. Hell, she doesn’t even know if working it out is possible. She’s got a lot of thinking to do and no willpower to do it. 
Two more days pass before her next shift. The second day, Stella and Mackey come over, yanking her off of her couch where she’s been sleeping for the past two days. She had tried to go up to her bedroom the first night but was too upset by the framed pictures on her nightstand of her and Matt. Their trip to Cabo, their first date, the time they went to a carnival. The memories make her head hurt with messy confusion and heartache, so she sleeps on her couch. 
Stella and Mackey drag her to a girl’s day out. They get their nails done and go out for lunch, but Sylvie can tell she’s being a drag when she keeps groaning at her phone. 
“Girl, he’s been calling you all day,” Stella pouts in sympathy for her best friend.
“Ugh, I know. I miss him,” she groans. “But this is just too hard. He basically said he didn’t want to get married! I mean, I know we both haven’t necessarily had the best luck in that department but… I thought we were heading somewhere, you know?” 
“I’m so sorry, Sylvie,” Mackey sighs, rubbing her shoulder tenderly. “You guys will get through this rough patch.” 
Sylvie nods in an attempt to muster up some hope but is unsuccessful. She hadn’t even realized how badly she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Matt Casey until he had told her he hadn’t thought about it. 
They pay for lunch an hour later, and Sylvie leaves feeling only slightly less shitty than she was when she first left the house. 
The morning of her shift after the fight, she’s still asleep on her couch when she gets a knock on her door. She figures it’s Casey, as he normally drives her to work on their shifts together. 
“Look, Matt, I know I haven’t responded to your calls in a few days but I really don’t—” She starts to call out to Matt as she pulls herself off the couch and stumbles on the way to the door. She opens the door though, and her prepared speech about needing more time and space is cut short when she sees Severide leaning against the doorway instead of Matt. 
“You look awful,” he kids.
“Thanks,” she rolls her eyes. “What are you doing here?” 
“Get dressed. I’m here to take you to work,” he shrugs and invites himself in. 
“I thought Stella was doing that.” 
“Nope. It’s me today. Special occasion.” 
“What special occasion is this, exactly?” 
“You’ll see when we get to work. I’m under strict orders not to say anything until we get there.” 
Sylvie hesitates for a moment. The chances of this not involving Casey are slim. Whatever brought about this weird turn of events feels important, but it makes her reluctant to give in. “If this has anything to do with Matt and what happened last time we spoke—”
“No! No,” he frantically exclaims, “Nothing to do with that. Just- come on, let’s go. We’re going to be late.” 
She runs into her room and throws on jeans and a t-shirt. It’s not the nicest outfit she owns but she’s going to get changed there anyways, so she grabs her bag and hops into Severide’s car. 
“You know, Matt loves you. A lot,” he comments as they park outside of the firehouse and jump out of the car. They had been silent the whole car ride and Sylvie’s about 100 steps away from the firehouse as he says it. “I’m sure his priorities are more similar to yours than you think they are.” 
“I doubt that but it’s fine,” she grumbles. 
They walk in through the apron and into the firehouse through the doors leading to the common room. Except as Sylvie walks alongside Severide, she notices that the lights are dimmer than usual. “Are you sure about that?” He retorts as they reach the entrance to the common room and find out why. 
Standing at the kitchen counter facing the entrance is Matt, surrounded by rose petals and lit candles as a soft, familiar Elvis ballad plays in the background on a radio. People are watching from the entrance in adoration, giving her encouraging nods and smiles. The scene is overwhelming and makes Sylvie tear up a bit as her bag falls off her shoulder and onto the ground. 
“I wanted it to be a surprise.” Matt’s voice is low and sweet as he smiles nervously at her. 
“Oh my god… did you do all of this,” she asks in a whisper, her breath watery and shaky with emotion. She’s absolutely speechless. And very underdressed.
“This was supposed to happen after our dinner the other night. It took a lot of convincing for the Chief to let me light these candles in here, what with the fire hazards and all, but he made an exception for an important cause.” She meets him halfway between the entrance and the kitchen, her heart feeling a pull towards him that’s almost magnetic. Severide and the rest of the firehouse are shuffling closer to the entrance as they watch the scene from afar. 
“The cause?” She knows the cause. Knows what’s coming next. She just wants to hear him say it, she needs to hear him say it.  
“Yeah.” Matt takes a deep breath in and exhales shakily before continuing. “I am so sorry, Sylvie.” Her heart is fluttering fast like a hummingbird as he takes her shaking hands in his own, his skin warm and soft to the touch. “I had this all planned out. I thought…” He starts to tear up and it makes the tears fall down Sylvie’s face even quicker as he powers through, his voice shaky and his eyes glossed with tears, “I thought that it mattered… where and when I would propose to you. I got so caught up in making everything perfect… that I nearly ruined everything. But you… you make me happier than I ever thought I could be. And, if you’ll let me, I want to spend the rest of my life doing the same. So,” he pauses as he gets down on one knee and pulls out a ring from his pocket. 
“Oh my god,” she blurts. She’s a blubbering mess by now and she feels her knees give out as she lowers to the ground to meet Matt’s eyes. 
The laugh he lets out is watery and shaky, and his hands fumble as he shows her the ring. “Sylvie Brett… will you marry me?” 
She doesn’t believe it. She thinks she must be having some weird fever dream because this moment is so perfect and happy that it just can’t be true… but it is. It’s true, and she’s smiling like an idiot as she whispers her answer. “Yes.” 
“Yes?” His wide, goofy grin matches hers. 
“Yes!” She repeats it louder this time, letting him slip the ring on her finger. They both stand up as he leans in and kisses her. It’s soft and sloppy and his lips taste like tears, but it’s perfect. 
Their kiss is interrupted by a roar of cheers and clapping. The whole firehouse, still watching intently, comes barrelling into the common room to congratulate them with hugs and cheers and pats on the back. They smile and accept the giant group hug from their group of friends. Even Boden comes over and hugs them, tells them he’s proud of them both before going to blow out all of the candles. 
“Ahhhh!” Mackey and Stella both squeal and pull her in for a group hug. She feels bad for soaking their shirts with tears but they don’t notice as they jump up and down. 
“Girl we were practically dying the other day trying to keep his secret,” Stella huffs dramatically and whacks Casey on the shoulder. 
“Wait, you guys knew?” 
“We’ve known for weeks, girl! We all have,” Mackey gestures to the whole firehouse and Sylvie just. Her heart feels like it’s pouring out of her eyes in the form of tears. It’s so overwhelming and beautiful and just… perfect.
Sylvie laughs, burying her head into Matt’s chest before looking back up to him. She kisses him again, this time slower and deeper, before saying the words that have turned into an instinct for her over the last three years. The words that she has to say because no other words are perfect enough. “I love you.” 
Then, he smiles at her and the words come naturally to him after he kisses her forehead. 
“I love you too.”
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I truly don't understand why the hate for Sylvie this season. Granted this season hasn't been the best written for her character but I could argue it's not just her character who is suffering from bad writing.
Maybe its because she's the only one onscreen for half of Brettsey that we've only watched the breakup from her point of view. I expected her to move on this season assuming that Jesse was not returning back as a series regular. Yes, she should not lower her standards for anyone (bad advice Severide and Violet).
To me, Sylvie is brave to put herself out there again. She gave her whole heart to the man she loved and thought they were going to spend ever after together only for him to move away without much reassurance (season 10 finale). I'm not going to fault her or make her the villain because she's trying again. My only complaint is that they choose the wrong guy for her to move on with, let's face it, Dylan is a dud.
If Jesse returning in any capacity beyond this one episode then I will be rooting for these two fully and I want Matt to fight for them as well. He also needs to provide reassurance for their love. But if his return is just for one episode, they pretty much are in the same place as when he left.
All in all, I just want the two to be happy. Whether that be where they are right now and eventually find their way back to one another down the road, which is my dream!
100% agreed, Nonny. The writing this season for more, if not all, characters has been subpar based on what I've read. Long distance relationships are tough and I felt for Sylvie a lot - two of her friends were in loving, committed relationships and while she loved Matt, maybe that love wasn't enough to sustain their relationship. They were barely together before everything changed. I don't blame her for wanting to take a step back. It was Casey after all that taught her that she could put herself first, that she should be the priority/first choice. In breaking up with Matt, she did that.
I wish they picked a better love interest for her too. I remember when Derek gave an interview on MUAM for the season 9 finale, he mentioned the reason why they cast Jon Ecker as Grainger was because they were looking for a leading man type because that's the type of guy Brett would like. Where was all that during this casting process? Give Brett that leading man type again! Our girl deserves it.
I've said before that they're allowed to be happy. Matt is allowed to move on in Portland and Sylvie is allowed to try again. Could this whole thing have been written better? Absolutely. Do I hope that they get back together someday when the time is right? 100% The friends to lovers, slow burn is too good for them not to be end game in my book.
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Text
Tylenol and Tequila Part 3
written by @anotheronechicagobog​
Warnings: swearing, mature themes, fire, chemical reactions
A/N: This one is REALLY long. I don’t know the word count but it took up ten pages in google docs with size 11 font, so I hope you guys like it!
Also, I came up with the term ‘Hermann Horde’ to describe him and his kids, I think it’s hilarious, but let me know what you gusy think.
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Stella Kidd has always wanted to be a mother. To experience the joy, fear, love, frustration, cheer that being a parent brings. The only problem? She didn’t want to be the one to actually give birth to them and she didn’t agree with surrogacy. But she had been homeless and in the foster system when she wasn’t living with her addict parents, so she knew that there were lots of kids who just needed someone to love them. This had been a point of contention between her and Grant. Biological kid(d)s are the only ones he would accept. It would end in screaming matches, Grant saying at some point that it would happen whether she liked it or not. That should have been a huge red flag for her, but she’d loved him so she ignored it.
With Kelly though, he understood. He understood that if she got pregnant she would have to take leave from being a firefighter for a while, so long as there weren’t complications with the pregnancy that were severe enough to end her career, and that was something he would never ask or expect her to do. When Stella wanted to have a serious conversation about kids he watched her collapse in relief that he shared her opinions. That he thought it would be better for both of them to foster older kids, pre-teens and teenagers.
Kelly had never liked Grant. Always thought that he was a manipulative piece of shit, and every even remotely serious conversation had been about Grant ignoring Stella’s wants, needs, and choices. If Grant showed his face again it would take an army and at least one dragon to stop him from killing Grant.
The only people they’d told were Boden, cause he’d need to know as their chief, Matt and Sylvie because they’d need someone to talk to about it besides each other and references. They’d all been ecstatic for the couple, Sylvie in particular. She didn’t remember much about her time in foster care, but she remembered enough to know how terrible, nightmarish, and broken it was. 
Kylie was the first kid who popped up in both their minds. Her dad was a neglectful cop who had multiple families and her mom was a heroin addict. Kylie did what she could to remain afloat, to distance herself from who her parents are and what they do, but it was hard. Her dad just showing up and doing whatever the fuck he wanted and leaving ruins in his wake, and her mom was only around a third of the time, almost always on a bender with whoever she was ‘dating’ that week. Kylie had spent most of her childhood living with her grandma after being placed there by social services but was dumped back on her mom after seven months after her grandma passed three months in the system. The four months she spent being tossed between group homes and foster families were not times she advertised or wanted to remember. Girls on Fire had brought the support that she hadn’t had for so long into her life. When she missed a Girls on Fire meeting Stella got worried, it didn’t correlate with her character. 
A call to detective Jay Halstead from Kelly brought out the depressing truth. Her mom had gotten high, signed her out of school, and then dragged her to a scummy abandoned warehouse to help her score some product. Kylie managed to slip away and call 911 for help after the dealer smacked her around for saying ‘no’. But he found her at the end of the call, and he didn’t react well. They’d rushed over to the ED when they found out where she was.
Stella actually started to cry when she saw the state Kylie was in. So frail, monitors beeping, covered in bandages, arm in a sling. Kelly tracked down Natalie to figure out what her condition was, and it wasn’t good. Amelia Wood, a social worker showed up just as she finished explaining everything.
“Hello, I’m Amelia Woods from DCFS, here for Kylie Reyez?”
“Of course, Ms. Woods as I was just explaining to lieutenant Severide, Kylie has a minor concussion five bruised ribs, a shoulder fracture, and we’re waiting on the results from her sexual assault kit.”
“And why would you be explaining it to lieutenant Severide? The only relatives listed in her file are her deceased grandmother, ineligible father detective Mark Reyez, and criminally negligent mother Daphne Adams.”
“My girlfriend Stella Kidd runs a program called Girls on Fire, a fire department outreach program for girls, and Kylie’s signed up for it. When she didn’t show up for the last session she had a really bad feeling and Kylie wasn’t answering her phone so we called some people and found out she was here. We rushed over, Stella’s actually with her now. What, uh, what’s going to happen to Kylie?”
“Well she’s not going to live with either of her parents, and she has no other family, so she’ll go into the system.”
“Group home or foster family?”
“... Group home to start... We’ll try to find a foster for her but that’s unlikely at her age.”
“Stella and I are in the final stages of getting approved as a foster family, would it be possible for Kylie to be placed with us?”
“Who’s the social worker assigned to you?”
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After a week in the ED Kylie was permitted to leave, and go to Severide and Kidd’s apartment. Kylie was ecstatic, Stella and Kelly had made it clear that their apartment was a safe place for Kylie, that all she would have to do was be a teenager. There would be some rules and curfew in place but Stella and Kelly were just focusing on making sure that Kylie had a stable home.
When they got home Stella gingerly showed Kylie her room. It was plain, had been seen Matt moved out the year before, but Sylvie had offered to help Kylie decorate it when she was comfortable. “We can arrange for that shopping trip in a few days, let’s just get you settled in first.”
“Ladies, our deep dish order has been placed and should be here in forty minutes. I think that maybe we should take this time to talk about some rules and stuff. Then we can chow down on pizza.”
Stella chuckled at her boyfriend’s attempt at humour, and Kylie smiled at how they looked at each other. “That sounds like a good idea Kel. You ready Kylie?”
“Yeah, let’s hear it.”
“Okay, so curfew is 10:30pm, but if there’s something special going on that night just let us know in advance and we can extend it.”
“School is priority, if you want a part-time job or something that’s fine, but school comes first.”
“Look, we don’t want you drinking or having sex-”
Gagging from Kylie interrupted Stella, “yeah, yeah, it’s gross to talk about with your guardians but we get that as a teenager that’s just something you might get into, so if you need condoms or a ride home or something, just let us know or call, we just want you to be safe. We won’t exactly be happy that you’re partying or whatever, but anything’s better than playing keep-up.”
“And if there’s stuff you want to talk about, we’re here. And if you don’t want to talk to us, that’s okay too. As long as you’re talking to someone, a teacher, guidance counselor, Brett, whoever, just as long as you talk to someone.”
“When we’re on shift we’ll both have our phones on if you need us, we’ll leave you by yourself so no parties, please. If you want to have a friend over that’s fine, but let us know beforehand and we’d like to meet them first.”
“The system actually covers therapy bills so you could even talk to a therapist if you want. And as far as the money from the government goes, we’ll budget it so that some pitches into groceries, and there’s some spending money for your room or stuff you want, but the rest will go into a post-secondary school fund for you, which we’ll also be personally putting some money into.”
“... Really?”
“Yes, really. We are here to make sure that you have support, and that includes making sure you have some money for when you’re out of high school.”
“Thank you...”
“You really don’t need to say ‘thank you’ sweetheart, we’re here to help and love you as much as we can.” The doorbell ended their conversation that left tears brimming the eyes of all three, “I guess it’s time for pizza.”
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There had been some disagreements and adjustments, but overall everyone could agree it had been a complete success. A month later, after the move-in and hours spent convincing Kylie that having money spent on her was okay, Sylvie, Stella and Kylie met up at the nice shopping area of downtown with money to spend. The plan was to spend the morning shopping then meet up with Kelly and the rest of 51 at the park for a picnic with the lovely souls from 51, 21, and MED.
“Where to first, Kylie?”
“Umm, a bedding store maybe?”
“Kylie, we talked about this, it’s okay that we want to spend money on you, okay?”
“Kylie, I went through this too. I still get freaked out when people spend money on me, especially if I didn’t have time to discourage them from doing so. I’m still pretty stingy if I’m honest. I know that it’s hard, you feel panicked and like you’re not worth this, you’re not worth this waste of money. What I find helps is taking lots of deep breaths, going straight to the sale and clearance racks, and remembering that all the stores we’re going to are family businesses, and that by spending money here we are supporting small businesses and people who work really hard to earn money and own a store of their own.”
Kylie thought for a moment, taking in Sylvie’s advice. “Okay, I’ll try that.”
“Okay.”
“So, where to?”
“I could use a couple shirts...” Stella and Sylvie smiled brightly, grabbed onto an arm, and marched over to the nearest boutique.
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After dropping everything off at the apartment the three women made it to the park a thirty minutes after the designated time. “‘Bout time you three showed up!” 
“Cool it, Halstead, besides, shouldn’t you be spending your girlfriend?”
“Hailey is not my girlfriend!” 
“Y’know, it’s kinda funny, Stella didn’t even mention a Hailey...”
“Hey! I have more than enough people on my back about this, I don’t need a kid I haven’t met- oh waiiiiit, you’re Kidd and Severide’s foster right? Well, I’m Jay Halstead, Severide hasn't shut up about you, everyone’s really excited to meet you.”
“Including Hailey.” Jay froze for a second, before an exasperated expression took over his face, then he leaned his head back and groaned loudly before stomping away, leaving nothing but laughter in his wake.
“You know what Stella? I think Kylie should meet Hailey first.”
“Ooooh, yes.”
“Hailey! We have someone we want you to meet!”
They all ran across the field to her after hearing the panicked ‘NOooOOOooo’ from Jay Halstead. The confused blonde greeted them with a chuckle. “Hi, I’m Hailey Upton, you must be Kylie. It’s really great to meet you.”
“You too, I’ve heard a lot about how badass you are.”
“Oh, don’t listen to all that you hear-”
“Ig- *gasp* ignore her. She’s awesome.” A stressed-looking Jay sputtered out as he took his place beside Hailey. “Well,” Kylie slyley started, “I’m not sure that you’re unbiased, but I guess I’ll take your word for it.” Jay panicked, Hailey was confused, Stella and Sylvie were doing everything in their power not to laugh.
“Wha-”
“Maybe she should meet Casey next, hmmm?” He gave a well-placed look to Sylvie and she started to pout.”
“That was cold.”
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It had been a long day, filled with grilled food, cake games, and new family members. Kylie was happy though. It had been a lot, but she felt like she connected with and could count on everyone there. She was full of food and happiness. “That was really fun. It was great to meet everyone.”
“Really you didn’t feel like it was too much?”
“We were worried that we’d overwhelm you.”
“No, I think it was good to do it this way, like ripping off a bandaid.”
“Good. Well we have shift tomorrow, starting at six in the morning. So we should probably head to bed.”
“I’m gonna do the same, I am beat the Hermann Horde really knows how to wear it out of you.”
“The Hermann Horde, oh my god... That describes them perfectly.”
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Shift had gone rather smoothly so far, a couple fire drills at local schools, a few fall-down and PD calls for ambo 61, and a smoke-detector check in an apartment building. All was well and good until around two o’clock when Stella got a horrifying phone call from Kylie.
“Stella?”
“Kylie? What’s wrong your voice sounds really shaky.” Kelly’s head snapped up at her words and she gestured for him to come over, he’d arrived and Stella turned the phone so they could both hear and talk just as they heard screams. “Kylie? Kylie!”
“There’s a fire, it’s getting big and we’re trapped and I don’t know what to do.”
“Okay, where is the fire? What lit it? Has anyone called 911 yet?” Kelly prattled off doing his best to be helpful instead of curling into a ball and crying. “Chem room, sulfuric acid and a chlorate, and everyone else is calling 911.”
“Okay, are you near a carbon dioxide extinguisher?”
“Uh, cupboard next to me... Yeah!”
“Pull out the pin, lift the nossel and aim at the BASE of the fire by squeezing the levers together.”
They didn’t get a response but could hear what was happening, it took a few minutes before Kylie picked up the phone again, “it’s ou-t but smoldering or- smoking a bit? What-ever, it was down enough for all of us to- get out, so- we’re running.”
“Oh thank god. We’ll  come right away- or do you want us to meet you at the hospital? You need to get medical attention if you were near ractive sulfuric acid.”
“Uh, how about I just keep you on the phone as I get checked out, we can figure it out from there?” 
“Okay, we- we’ll wait.” Stella and Kelly just about collapsed in relief, all the members of 51 who had gathered around them smiled and offered them as much comfort as possible. “Hey, um- my foster parents? They’re on the line, they’re firefighters, uh, just want to know what hospital we’re going to, if I’m okay.”
“Well, tell...”
“Stella Kidd and Lieutenant Kelly Severide.”
“Kidd and Lieutenant Severide to meet us at Chicago MED.”
“We’re leaving now.” They both froze and stared at Boden like deers in headlights. “Alright,” in Boden’s usual gruff voice, “mount up everybody. We’re going to MED. We’ll keep our radios on and leave from there if necessary. Kidd, Severide, I’ll need to call in a floater to cover one of you for the rest of shift. It’ll be easier if it’s Kidd, cause at least one of you has to stay with Kylie. I’ll see what I can do about a floater for you though, Severide.”
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Amelia met them at the hospital, there were some incident forms, but because Kylie called them for help and saved herself and her classmates because of it, Amelia just gave them a smile and told them they were doing great. Kylie needed to stay at MED for a couple days because of the smoke she inhaled, but so did her classmates and they kept each other entertained. Then OFI showed up. Seager was quite obviously still carrying a torch for Kelly, but was still very polite to Stella and Kylie. “Well, your story matches up with the evidence we have and the statements collected from your teacher and 29 classmates.”
“Wait, she has 30 classmates, there’s 31 kids in her class.”
“Yes, well, Chad is the only one who’s story is off, but that’s because all the evidence points to him messing around and starting the fire. None of you can say anything to any of the other victims and their families.”
“Got it.”
Seager left with a longing look directed at Kelly, but no one was looking at her. Kylie had started to tear up, the reality that she could have died finally hitting her at full force, and both her parents (what she’d started calling Stella and Kelly in her head) immediately tended to her. Hugging her, letting her know they were there, and that it was okay to cry. So Kylie lay there, shaking and sobbing, as the two people who loved her just as much as her grandmother had, did everything they could to let her know they loved her, and that they had been scared too. That they would be sad if she had died. At some point the tears stopped being about fear and started being about love.
This was the scene that Casey walked in on, he quietly stepped away, knowing just how intimate this moment was supposed to be. He walked back to the waiting room. “Not yet guys, they need some time to themselves. I think it might be better if we came back later with some food or something.” A call came over their walkies before anyone got a chance to agree with their captain.
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Kylie had transferred schools after the fire, the smoke from the chemical reaction that started the fire had gotten into a vent and messed up the entire air con system, meaning the school had to be shut down for the rest of the year while it was replaced. The air quality was deemed too dangerous for students and staff to even retrieve their stuff from the school. So Kylie had been transferred to the same high school as Lee Henry Hermann. He’d shown her around the school and introduced her to his friends. Things had been going really well until 51 got a call to a mattress factory fire. Kylie hadn’t been around when Otis died, but she could still see how everyone was affected by his death. The fire was so bad that the news had been reporting on it since before school even started and new, terrifying developments were still coming. Kylie was scared, her stomach was so twisted she felt what she could only describe as extreme nausea, she couldn’t focus, and she was practically jumping out of her skin everytime she got a notification on her phone. She couldn’t find Lee anywhere either, she had no way of knowing how he’d be handling it. While he was around to know Otis, his dad had been a firefighter longer than he’d been alive. Maybe he had coping methods.
After another panic grab for her phone Kylie was excused from class with a sympathetic glance from her teacher. She wandered the halls for a few minutes, doing everything not to cry, not to feel hopeless, when one of Lee's friends spotted her. “Henry heads to the greenhouse on bad days.” Was all Donovan said before walking away. Kylie took a breath, hiked her bag higher onto her shoulder, and headed to the greenhouse. What more did she have to fear?
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The door was unlocked, so she walked in and... Immediately took off her cardigan. “Lee?”
“Kylie...” His voice wasn’t confident like it usually was, it was hoarse and weak. She maneuvered her way around all the planter boxes before finding Lee sitting on a small, poorly made if she was being honest, wooden bench that was surrounded by peonies of varying colours. It was strange seeing Lee the way he was. Sickly pale, eyes red, exhausted lax muscles. “You’re scared too.”
“Terrified... I don’t know how you’ve dealt with this your whole life...” Kylie couldn’t control her emotions anymore. Lee tugged her by the wrist to sit beside him and wrapped her in his arms. “I don’t know how I’ve dealt with it either. I don’t think I do, really.”
“Does chocolate help? Cause I’ve got some in my bag...”
“Oh, yes. Chocolate helps.” The rest of their last two periods were spent crying, hugging, and eating chocolate in the greenhouse. They didn’t find out until they were leaving that the last of the fire had been put out, and that no first responders had died, and while three had been injured none of them were from firehouse 51.
“This may seem childish, and I know you don’t do this, but I think I’m gonna head to 51... I need to see that they’re okay for myself...”
“The only reason my siblings and I don’t do that is because our mom manages to keep them in the dark still. She used the child safety functions to keep the news from giving us alerts, she only tells us something happened after the ash has settled, or she just tells us that dad had a bad shift a half hour before he gets home. She runs so much interference, but, I... I disabled the child safety stuff when I was twelve, so that I could watch some PG-14 movies, I didn’t find out about the news notifications until a month later. I mean, I saw that news apps were specifically selected when I disabled the setting, but I didn’t think anything of it until they got a call to a train wreck. I had never been more afraid for my dad in my life. I hadn’t fully comprehended just how dangerous my dad’s job was until that day. Every five minutes there was a... higher body count, reports of trouble at the scene, a video of a gas explosion that 51 was barely able to control... I strongly believe that it was the worst day of my life. I wanted to go to the firehouse, I told my mom that I found out from friends, I didn’t want her to turn the news off again... But she told me I couldn’t go see him. I had to wait. It was a long four hour hours. So, I get it. If you want, there’s some time before I have to pick up my brothers and sister. How about we go pick up some doughnuts, then my siblings, and then make a visit to 51.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want you to feel like you have to do this for me.”
“Yeah, this way I get to see my dad after fearing for his life all day and I can use you being worried as an excuse when my mom asks.” Kylie laughed as Lee smirked, proud of his plan.
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“Hey Brett.”
“Hey, I brought you doughnuts, courtesy of the Hermann Horde and Kylie.”
“How annoyed is Hermann that the nickname caught on?”
“Very.”
“So, how do the kids look? I imagine at least Lee Henry and Kylie saw the news today.”
“Kylie looked like she was going to burst into tears when she saw Stella and Severide. Lee looked like a weight came off his shoulders when he saw Hermann. But then, he uh...”
“Hm?”
“Lee Henry looked at Kylie and smiled, really softly, and he got this puppy dog look in his eyes.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I know what I saw.”
“You think there’s something going on?”
“Not yet... But I’m keeping my eye out.”
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